“Oh, now you're at a loss for words?” Flora asked, a short laugh coming from her.
“What do you mean? She was just like you, or you’re just like her.”
“Just like me? What am I like?”
“Powerful, elegant, caring, you know?”
“You know?” Flora asked.
“Beautiful,” Dylan complimented.
Flora looked up to see a light blush cover his face. She gave him a shy "thank you”, becoming aware of the hot, sweet energy that hung in the air around them.
“Beautifully annoying,” Dylan teased.
“You calling my mom annoying?” Flora questioned, the fire rising in her eyes.
“Nah, that’s all you, porcupine.”
“Not a porcupine,” Flora yelled as she skipped toward their car.
7
FLORA
“Beautifully annoying, my ass,” Flora mumbled, opening her apartment door. Laughing as she stepped aside, she let Dylan go in first to conduct his usual search. Letting someone take such an immense amount of control of her life had been internally difficult. Having the security of someone watching her back offered more comfort than she imagined it would. In the end, or even just for the time being, it was worth it.
Her eyes scanned back and forth outside; this was one of the only times she was left partially alone. Currently, Dylan was physically away from her, and the pressure was on. She pressed her back into the rough textured wall between her apartment door and the next. She’d never met her neighbors, but maybe she should spend some time getting to know them. Making friends normally was a bother but as Willow and Luxe grew closer to her she thought maybe it was time to branch out. Be friendly for a change.
“Clear!” Dylan yelled out. He flipped on the lights as he walked back to the door to take off his shoes. That was another thing she had to let go of. Wearing shoes in the house was a pet peeve of hers but to search the house, Dylan had to be ready for anything. Shoes stayed on until he was done, she decided. Leaving her fears at the door, she scurried into her apartment, slamming the door shut. Locking, unlocking, then locking it again, she pulled on the door handle to make sure it was secure before relaxing.
She unlatched her heels, walked inside, and dropped onto the couch.
Her animal was restless. Normally, she could go a week without having to shift but now that she was in constant danger, her animal felt a need to come out more often. Curling into the fetus position, Flora groaned. She closed her eyes, trying to relax.
“What is that all about?” Dylan asked, taking a juice from her fully stocked fridge. Getting food for Dylan was a pain in the ass, now that he was staying at her place 24/7. Not because it was an extra expense — in fact buying him food was fun and filled her with a sense of pride. What made the task annoying was that he wouldn’t ask for anything. Flora had to walk around the entire store and pick things up for him based on his long stares and second looks.
Getting to the self-checkout was a whole other issue because he wanted to pay for everything. Flora bought the food to fill upherhouse; they werehergroceries. Once, after arguing in front of everyone at the self-checkout area, Flora let him pay for her groceries. Now that she knew what he liked, she would go by herself the next time, she told herself. Once she could go anywhere by herself, of course. But if she could go out without him, then she wouldn't need to buy Dylan food because he wouldn’t be around. The sudden thought of Dylan not being a part of her life fueled the dread already taking over her stomach.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Turning on the TV, she tried to distract herself. Her panther pawed at the front of her mind, whining constantly. That little panther needed to run badly.
Flipping through the channels, looking for anything to drag her mind away from her panther, Flora laid back and stretched her legs out. Other people’s problems normally did the trick, so she put on reality TV. A human family with rich people’s problems always distracted her for at least a few hours.
Suddenly, Dylan stormed into the room. His dark blue flannel-covered arm reached over Flora. She looked up at him. His nearness set her body off, she could feel the sweat building on her skin. Why did he get so close? Did she smell good? He sure did. He was practically on top of her, and Flora’s body itched for him to just drop his weight on hers. Take charge of her beyond her security. She gazed into his eyes, only for the moment to go from sweet to sour, as he snatched the remote sitting beside her and switched off the TV.
“What the hell, Dylan?” Flora grumbled, reaching her arm out for the remote.
“You think I can’t tell?” he asked, using his arms to prop himself against the back of the couch. Scooting so that she was sitting up, Flora just looked at him with an eyebrow raised in question. “You need to shift, why deny it?”
“I didn’t want to worry you.” she said, curling Dylan's blanket from that morning around her body. Dylan’s scent filled her lungs. She continued to relax as the fuming Shifter stood in front of her. His glare could make anyone scared, but goddess, he was cute when he was mad at her. All riled up over her. It made her panther want to purr, too.
“Why would it worry me?”
“Because you, being you, would find somewhere for me on Pack land to shift and I’m not part of your Pack. It's wrong for me to shift on your land,” Flora said. Embarrassment was evident in her tone, though she wasn’t sure why.
“It's not wrong.”
“It should make Jackson uncomfortable, especially since he doesn’t know my animal — he’s got a Pack to protect.”
