The Last Warrior (Shifters Unbound #13) - Jennifer Ashley Page 0,47
her hair had been fantastic. Not that Ben minded the softness of Rhianne pressed to his side.
“I don’t think I can explain how petrifying it was,” she said softly.
“I’m going to comfort myself by thinking you mean the shifting.”
“Of course I do. Stop trying to make me laugh.”
Ben turned his head so they were nose to nose. “It’s what I do. Diffuse a tough situation with humor. You’re a strong woman, Rhianne. If you weren’t, what Walther did to you, not to mention being suddenly thrown into this whacky human world, would have broken you.” Instead, she’d yelled invective at her captors and taken her first motorcycle ride into New Orleans with Ben and had a blast.
“Walther is an ass,” Rhianne said dismissively. “And with you, I feel safe.” Her little smile sent a warm throb to Ben’s heart. “Suddenly turning into a bird of prey is a different matter.”
“Exactly. One you need to face. Tell me everything you can remember about it.”
Ben could see she didn’t want to relive it, but he wasn’t wrong about her strength. She nodded.
“I was watching Jaycee,” Rhianne began. “Thinking how unselfconscious she is. She disrobed without shame and then she eased so gracefully into her leopard form. I remember thinking, so that’s how it’s done, and then deciding there was no reason I shouldn’t.”
Ben had watched Rhianne skim off her clothes, leap sinuously to the railing, and suddenly become an eagle. She’d done it effortlessly, while some Shifters always struggled with the change.
Ben brushed back a lock of her hair. “The way I figure, there are two explanations. Maybe you’ve had this innate ability inside you all your life, but you were never around Shifters. They have a magic about them that they will forever deny. It’s not obvious like casting spells or your words of power, but their magic touches others and enhances any latent magic it senses. Like when they go into mating frenzy and make everyone else horny.” He forced himself to cease touching her before he acted on that thought. “Or, you, insanely powerful Tuil Erdannan, decided to learn a new skill.”
Rhianne frowned. “Just like that?”
“I bet you have wells of ability you’ve never tapped. Probably why the menfolk of Faerie want to grab on to you. Make you do whatever you can do for them.”
“Which is why my mother sent me here.” Rhianne sounded understanding, but the knowledge hurt her. It was hell being a thing to be used, he well knew. “But what if I can’t stop the shift the next time? What if we’re in a restaurant? What if I’m in bed with you?”
She could kill him without meaning to. What Ben liked most about the question, though, was the assumption that she’d be in bed with him again.
“Well, it would be a novelty,” Ben said, straight-faced. “Sharing a bed with an eagle. Feathers everywhere.”
Rhianne grabbed the nearest pillow and whacked him with it.
This led to a pleasant tussle, with Rhianne ending up beneath him, surrendering to Ben’s kisses.
The interlude might have segued to something even better, but Jaycee’s voice sounded in the hall. “Rhianne? You awake?”
Rhianne’s eyes widened. She wriggled out from under Ben, and Ben yielded, rolling away from her. Just before Jaycee opened the door, he raked the covers over his head, trying to look like an innocuous blanket lump.
Jaycee paused in the doorway. “How about a shower?” she said to Rhianne.
Rhianne had pulled up the sheets to shield herself, which put her bare hip next to Ben’s nose. He licked her hip, stifling a chuckle when Rhianne jumped.
“A shower?” she squeaked.
“You know, stand under a nozzle that sprays you with water. Do you have showers in Faerie?”
“We do.” Rhianne slid toward the edge of the bed, still clutching the sheets.
Jaycee moved to the closet, her footfalls catlike. “I have a robe in here you can borrow.”
A slither of fabric landed on the blanket right over Ben’s feet. Rhianne said a grateful, “Thank you.”
“Come on. I’ll show you the shower.”
Rhianne’s legs disappeared and her weight left the bed. More silken sounds as Rhianne donned the robe and then the patter of her bare feet as she left the room.
Ben remained still, but Jaycee’s voice floated back to him. “Morning, Ben.”
Damn Shifters and their sense of smell. Ben’s scent must have screamed itself to her loud and clear, not to mention the sight of his clothes strewn all over the floor. Jaycee was probably laughing her ass off.