fraction allowed her to touch skin, and she hissed out a breath and jerked away as desire jolted through her. “Would you have asked me out if you’d known I knew about werewolves? Or is this all just because I am one now?”
“I would’ve.” He smoothed his hands down to her shoulders. “I wasn’t about to start something based on a lie, that’s all.”
That was how every relationship in her life had felt. “It’s not easy. Even when the lie’s not yours.”
“Doesn’t matter now.” He stepped closer, looming over her. “Nothing else to hide.”
Her insides were melting. She’d screwed around with enough guys in college to know she’d like giving up control to him when the time came—
When the time came. “Is this the part where you handcuff me to something?”
He bent his head and kissed her, his tongue edging her lips apart as soon as his mouth met hers. Nothing tentative this time, just an unrelenting kiss, deep and a little rough, and she rocked up on her toes and shoved her fingers into his hair to drag him closer.
His tongue slid over hers, and a moan vibrated deep in his chest. Only a moment later, he broke the kiss and rested his forehead on hers. “This…is where we have dinner.”
The world was still spinning in lazy circles, but all the built-up tension had vanished. “How do you keep doing that?” she whispered. “She twists up inside me until I think I’m going to pop, and you make it all go away with a kiss.”
“Don’t know.” A low chuckle escaped him. “Talent?”
“Maybe.” She rubbed her cheek against his. “I don’t know werewolf rules, but if we’re not having a—a thing here, you’d better tell me now. I’m feeling territorial.”
“Dinner,” he said again, firmly this time. “The rest is up to us.”
It wasn’t enough of an answer to satisfy her, but it didn’t look like she’d be getting a better one. Biting back a sigh, she stepped away. “You said you wanted me to make a salad?”
“Unless you want to go strictly carnivore tonight.”
“That is uncomfortably appealing.”
He grinned. “Do we dare?”
The smile was infectious. Eden laughed as she rolled up her sleeves to wash her hands. “No. I need something to do while you’re burning meat.”
Jay clucked his tongue and shook his head. “Always a good girl, huh?”
“Don’t taunt me, Chief Ancheta.” She lowered her voice to a husky promise. “I might decide to try my hand at naked cooking.”
He passed her a bamboo cutting board and pulled a knife free of the block. “Sounds kinky.”
“Maybe I am kinky.” She eyed the knife with a grin. “Not that kinky. But I do work in the building with all the books, even dirty ones. Good luck shocking me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of trying, Ms. Green. Not for a moment.”
Jay woke with a start. He watched the ceiling fan turn slow revolutions above him, every sense on high alert.
In his bedroom, Eden whimpered, a sound cut short by a sharp gasp. He shot off the couch, kicking away the blanket that tangled around his legs.
She was staring at the ceiling, wet lines of tears tracking down her face to disappear in the damp hair at her temples. Jay knelt by the bed. “Eden? What happened?”
She wiped at her cheeks with trembling hands. “Nothing. Just…dreams.”
Nightmares. “What do you need?”
“I was going to turn the lights on, but I guess I don’t need them anymore.” She reached for him with one hand. “You were right. I can see in the dark.”
“It takes some getting used to.” He tucked her hand between his. “Family stuff?”
Eden wiped at her cheek again with a watery little laugh. “I guess that’s where it all comes from, but it’s never that clear. I don’t dream about the past. Just about the farm. Being trapped there with ghosts or serial killers or monsters…”
And he’d brought it all to the surface, poking around in the shreds of her past. “You have a chance to reclaim that place now. Turn it into something good instead of what you remember.”
She just stared at him. “Do you believe in ghosts?”
He believed in echoes, the kinds that followed people no matter where they went. “I think we can be haunted by things, yes. By the past.”
“I always thought the farm was haunted.” She rolled to her side and reached for him with her other hand. “The whole pack has so much to be haunted by. I hope there’s room in the house for all the new