Dark Wolf (Spirit Wild) - By Kate Douglas Page 0,30

was normal after sex, wasn’t it? At least with good sex. Hell, exquisite sex—sex unlike anything she’d ever experienced in her life.

He claimed he wasn’t Chanku, but they’d linked so easily, as if they’d already mated. She knew her parents experienced this kind of connection during sex, but Lily hadn’t. Never. Not even with Alex, a man she knew as well as she knew herself.

Now, having experienced it, she didn’t know if she was terrified or thrilled. She had to give Sebastian the capsules, see if he changed. He had to, or there could be no future for them. Not if he wasn’t Chanku.

She’d heard too many horror stories of Chanku living with humans, none of them good. After a while, the frustration and emotional isolation eventually destroyed whatever love had brought them together. Chanku were pack animals. Lily had always been part of the pack. Not even love could make her give it up.

And then there was the aging thing. Humans got old. Chanku didn’t. End of story. Good way to kill a relationship.

She ran the cloth over her arms, preternaturally aware of Sebastian bathing behind her, but she kept her back to him. The intimacy in and of itself wasn’t a bad thing. She had no shame being naked with either man or woman, but the intimacy she’d experienced with Sebastian had left her shaken and vulnerable.

She had so many questions about him—hell, he had questions. He’d lost almost half an hour tonight. Half an hour when he’d pursued her as if she’d been prey. He’d tried to mount her—the wolven version of rape—but she didn’t blame him entirely.

Something had happened. Just as something had happened at the reception, when he’d turned and looked at her. The pain that knocked her flat had come from him. No doubt there, but she didn’t think he’d been the instigator. No, he’d been a conduit.

But for whom? And why?

She turned to find him watching her, and she reached up to smooth away the frown between his amazing teal blue eyes. “What’s the matter? You look worried.”

“I am worried. I’m not a man who likes mysteries, and yet I have more questions than answers. Why did you collapse tonight ? I felt pain at the moment you went down, but it came from somewhere else. And later, when we were running. I remember shifting, and I remember chasing after a rabbit, then nothing. I don’t recall anything else until those two wolves attacked us.”

She glanced away, remembering the look in his wolf’s eyes. There’d been no sense of the man behind those eyes. He’d been nothing but a feral beast, pursuing a female. “We need to talk.” She leaned close and kissed his chest. Ran her finger down his breastbone and felt his skin shiver beneath her touch. “But I can’t do it when we’re standing here naked.”

He laughed while she rinsed off. When she stepped out of the shower, she handed him a soft robe that was hanging beside another identical robe.

He dried off and slipped the robe over his shoulders. She noticed the frown was back.

“What?”

He shrugged. “You live here alone, but you have two robes by the shower. Is there someone in your life?”

She smiled and thought of all the snarky things she could say to tweak his male possessiveness, but finally decided honesty was best. “I’m Chanku. We’re pack animals. I often have packmates here overnight, especially when they’re in town on business. CGI, Chanku Global Industries, is huge. I run Cheval International, which is merely a small part of the entire conglomerate. Though most of us live in Montana, all the main offices of the company are headquartered in the Bay Area.”

He glanced away and then focused on her. “Thank you. I really have no business asking you something like that, do I?”

She smiled to take away the sting. “Not really, but I don’t mind. Better to get that sort of thing out of the way. There is a lot about the way we live that’s different from humans, and most of the differences are tied to our sexuality. You should know what you’re getting into with me.” She laughed and tugged his hand. “C’mon. It’s late, and I actually do need to go to the office in the morning.”

“I should go home.”

But he didn’t look as if that’s what he wanted. “No, you should stay. We need to talk.” She ran her finger over the small scratch on his nose. “You’re healing quickly. That’s good.” Then