"So, Damien, what made you run into the big woods half-dressed?"
He cut me a quick glance at the sudden change in subject, then shrugged and picked up another glass to polish. I was reminded of his chest beneath the wavering moonlight, the smooth flow of his skin over rippling muscle. I took a third sip of soda.
"Have you ever seen a forest fire?"
Another lightning quick change in subject. I was getting dizzy.
"Not up close."
"You don't want to. They sweep across acres in minutes, killing everything in their path. Sounds like a train coming at you, and there's nowhere to go, nowhere to hide."
His eyes were hazel - very light - a combination of green, brown, and yellow. They made me wonder what else he'd seen. What else he'd done.
"I was getting ready for work and I smelled the flames, followed the scent until I found you."
"But you managed to put on some pants first?"
"Would you rather I hadn't?"
Yes.
The word whispered through my head, but thankfully it didn't come out of my mouth. From the expression on his face, he'd heard me anyway.
"You followed the scent of the fire through the forest?" I repeated.
"Got a problem with that?"
A big one. This guy's nose was too damned sharp for a human. Too bad I was going to have to kill him.
But a werewolf was a werewolf, and even gorgeous ones had to die.
"Can you show me my room?" I asked.
Jessie had given me the key and I hadn't needed help finding anything since I was ten, but he didn't need to know that. I wanted to get him outside. Even I balked at mertzing someone in front of a dozen other someones.
"Sure." He tossed the dish towel onto the counter. "Cowboy, I'll be right back."
The little man lifted a little hand and kept talking to the old woman.
As we left, I felt a dozen pairs of eyes on my back. Why were they so interested in me? Or maybe they were just interested in Damien. I know I was.
Hell. I was too interested. Even now, my hands were clammy; my heart beat too fast. I didn't want to kill him, and that was new. Usually I couldn't wait.
Of course I didn't often meet my prey. I never spared the time for a conversation.
We left through the back door. A set of stairs led up the outside of the building. His cabin was tucked into the trees, very small, damn near decrepit. I was glad I had the room instead.
Most people would be worrying about what they were going to do with the body, how they would explain where this man had disappeared to. I didn't have such troubles.
I'd burn the body, and the J-S society would take care of the rest. Edward employed an entire division devoted to such explanations. Having the sheriff of the town on my side didn't hurt, either.
I did pause to consider if I was dancing too close to the line between human and psychopath. Sometimes I wondered. Usually late at night when I was all alone, rarely during hunting time with the silver moon shining bright in the sky and my memories alive in my head.
Damien opened the door. It hadn't been locked. Nothing new in town like this, I was sure. But considering the odd crew downstairs and the even odder ones loping through the woods, I'd be locking that from now on, thanks.
Reaching inside, he flipped the switch. I wished he hadn't. I couldn't bear the sight of blood beneath electric lights. Too many memories, too much pain, so damn red it hurt my eyes. I reached past him, planning to shut it off.
His fingers closed around my wrist and tightened. In an instant, the awareness was back, so powerful I couldn't make myself pull away. He could easily have killed me as I stood there wondering what his mouth would taste like, what his skin would feel like.
"What are you doing?"
His voice had lowered to a growl, rippling along my skin like a tactile sound wave. He was so close I could feel his heat, smell his skin, a tantalizing combination of air and water with a hint of pine. Or was that just the flavor of the wind?
Since he held my right hand in a tight grip, my left crept for the gun at the small of my back, not the most comfortable place to carry one but definitely the most secret.