the time. I walked the cat a few feet into a clear area, changed, and then sat naked on the log.
“It’s getting late.”
Frost’s owl jumped up on the log and stared at me. Damn, he was a huge fucking owl. And beyond beautiful.
“You’re gorgeous. Can I touch your feathers?”
He stretched a wing out in invitation — or perhaps he was saying not to pet him on the head. My cat hates that, too. I gently ran my hand down his wing, and then did it with a little more pressure. Lots of muscle, which wasn't surprising.
“Thank you.”
The owl bounced two times backwards, and then the human was standing on the log.
“Do all owls shift that fast?”
“Probably not, but those with power do. Your cat changes without a lot of angst. It’s pretty quick.”
“Yeah, but yours is almost instantaneous.”
“There are steaks and pre-baked potatoes in the refrigerator. I can grill the steaks and pop the potatoes in the oven. They’re still in the foil, so they shouldn’t be dried out. There’s also butter and sour cream, and I have pink salt in my saddlebag.”
“Pink salt?”
He shrugged. “It has different minerals in it. Tastes better. It’s what I like, and I didn’t trust the people doing the shopping to get it right.”
“Thanks for trusting the cat.”
His oh-so-blue eyes softened, and he jumped off the log and stepped to me. “She’s huge. Much bigger than I expected, but I adore her.”
“She liked you. I couldn’t believe she actually followed you into the forest, but that was all her. I didn’t pilot her at all.”
He held his hand out, I put mine in his, and we walked to the back door. He keyed the code in and went to the kitchen. I went to the living area to put my clothes back on. Shifters don’t worry too much about nudity, but I didn’t want to give him the wrong idea.
He merely said, “I should probably put my jeans back on, since I’ll be manning the grill. Do you want tea? They have an assortment in the cabinet, and there’s a kettle to the right of the oven.”
Before long, we were sitting down to eat, and I marveled at how normal it felt. This was Frost. I’d never in a million years thought he’d see the real me, much less be so nice.
But I hadn’t seen the real Frost back then, either.
“I liked you, before, but I didn’t really know you. I mean, not this side of you. The more I get to know you, the more I like you.”
“Ditto. I missed you. Not just the sex, though I admit that’s part of it, but the time after. I rarely just lay with someone after, and I did with you. I guess that should’ve been a clue, but I had so much going on, it didn’t register. I’m glad you were working so we ran into each other.” He looked around. “I don’t have to be anywhere until eleven tomorrow. We could stay over, leave at seven and get a nice country breakfast, and still have time for me to take you home and then make it to church.”
Church was the MC’s weekly meeting. Technically, I didn’t have to be anywhere until around three the next day — in time to start dinner for the kids. However, I wasn’t sure spending the night with him was a good idea.
Or, maybe it was.
It wasn’t like we’d never had sex, but it was going to be different, now.
“Are we ready to complicate whatever this is with sex yet?”
“It isn’t like we haven’t already been there, but if you want to wait, we don’t have to do anything. You can keep your cute little panties on if you want.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You didn’t see me undress or dress. How do you know my panties are little and cute?”
Those clear blue eyes held my gaze and my heart beat faster. To be so icy blue, they had heat in them, and we weren’t outside anymore, so that wasn’t it.
“They always are.”
I laughed. “Actually, they aren’t always cute. It’s a trick my aunt taught me. If you don’t want to have sex with someone, but you think you might not be able to stand strong, wear old granny panties and don’t shave your legs.”
He sat back. “Did you follow your aunt’s advice today?”
“The legs don’t matter because I changed, but no granny panties because I didn’t know we’d be coming here. I thought we were going for