go out there." She knew it was ludicrous, how crazy it sounded, that she'd rather stay in the cave with some unhinged panther guy she didn't know she could trust, than to be faced with a few miles trip back to her own home. Of course it was illogical. Phobias weren't logical. But logic didn't change how she felt.
"I assumed as much. And if that's all right with you, I'll do that as soon as I've found the pup's family. Whatever you need to make it easier. I also took care of your window. I've got a guy working on it right now. When you get back home everything should be secure. Just like before."
Before you came crashing into my life, you mean?
There was still that part of her that was sad about the prospect of going back to her house by herself. Because as screwed up as this whole situation was, when and where was she going to meet another guy? Even if she could go out and mingle like normal people, the odds of meeting another one this hot were slim.
Therians tended to have the animal magnetism going, but they didn't often mingle with magic users socially - not since that website with the therian blood started up. There had always been suspicion between the magic users and the therians. Neither could ever trust the motivations of the other, and now, they didn't need to.
How many decades would pass before another eligible man just showed up at her house and busted through her window? Men weren't like pizza delivery. Sadly. It was the one thing she couldn't order off the Internet.
Even if she met a guy, how was she going to date him? The kind of man who would only be interested in coming over to her place and not going anywhere, wasn't the kind of man she wanted. She didn't want to be somebody's late night booty call. Besides, it was beyond embarrassing that she'd made it to twenty-seven without losing her virginity. She wouldn't know what to do. They'd assume something was wrong with her, or that she was freaky religious.
Still, she wasn't going to throw herself at the panther, especially since he looked like the kind of guy who had enough experience to write a sex manual. She didn't want to be his poker-with-the-guys story about the clueless chick who didn't know her way around a man's body.
"All right, then," Z said. "Are you hungry? I'm afraid the extent of my kitchen skills are cardboard box plus microwave. But I've got a stash of everything in the deep freezer."
"Don't panthers hunt?"
"I do. But I've got a high metabolism. Hunting is great, but I like to think my whole life doesn't revolve around it." He waved the frozen food box in her direction. "I've got mac and cheese, here. You interested?"
Why not? "Sure. Mac and cheese sounds fine."
Fiona couldn't stop looking at his tanned upper body as he opened boxes and peeled the clear plastic cover off the food. She was a great cook, but she wasn't about to insist he run to the store for her so she could make something proper. She bet he'd never had homemade macaroni and cheese before.
She shook herself out of the thoughts of making him a home-cooked meal. That was not the appropriate response when someone kidnapped you to turn you into an indentured werewolf nanny. Fiona wasn't sure there was an appropriate response to that circumstance, or that anyone else had ever had it happen to them before.
A few minutes later he passed the first macaroni entree to her, along with a fork, then he tossed his in the microwave and pressed a couple of buttons.
"Milk, cola, water?"
"Water is fine," she said, standing beside the counter. She didn't bother sitting because the kitchen table was covered in papers and random crap he'd left piled on it. He was definitely a single male. Or he was if what she'd seen of them on TV shows was in any way accurate.
He put an antibiotic pill in her hand and she tossed it back, not bothering to argue.
"How do you have electricity and indoor plumbing here?"
"How do you have it in your house?"
She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. This is a cave."
"It's a home just like any other. It can be wired up... a little more difficult with all the stone, but not impossible. It just took some creative thinking."
He tossed her a plastic bottle and leaned against