He'd saved her. She was alive.
In that moment, with all the endorphins coursing through her, she felt as if she could fly.
Jess couldn't move with her cradled against him as she breathed raggedly in his ear, sending chills down his arm. Every inch of her body was pressed against his. And deep inside, he felt something in him stir. Something he hadn't felt in a long time. Before he could rethink his intentions, he nuzzled her neck. A low moan escaped her lips. He started to pull away, but she cupped his head, stopping him.
Then she did the most unexpected thing of all.
She kissed him.
For a full minute, he couldn't breathe as he tasted her. Her lips were incredibly soft as she swept her tongue against his, teasing and warming him. He couldn't remember the last time a woman had kissed him with this much passion.
Abigail knew she shouldn't be doing this. In the back of her mind was the voice that tried to remind her that she hated him. And yet he'd saved her life. More than that, he felt like heaven. Never had she experienced anything like this.
Like she belonged.
There was no explaining it. It was something deep within that welcomed him even while her mind called her all kinds of stupid.
But before she could examine that thought further, the floor started rumbling again.
They pushed themselves to their feet and then away from the hole as some unseen beast from below began a fierce howl. It sounded like a pack of hungry coyotes....
Backing them up, Sundown put himself between her and the hole. He retrieved his gun from the floor.
An instant later, six men and one woman shot up from the opening. With dark hair and eyes, they curled their lips in a purely canine fashion as they stalked toward the two of them.
Jess braced himself for the attack he knew was coming. He'd never much cared for shape-shifters, and these were going to be brutal. "C'mon, punks," he goaded. "You want to fight or sniff each other's crotches?"
The leader ran at him. With a bright flash of yellow, he turned from a man into a coyote. Jess reversed his shotgun so that he was holding it by the barrel. Using the stock like a bat, he knocked the coyote into the wall, where it hit with a heavy thud.
The others changed form and came at him full force.
"Run!" he said over his shoulder to Abigail.
She didn't listen. Rather, she ripped the tacky antlers off the wall that Andy had put there as a sick joke-that boy had never been right in the head-and held them to defend against their attackers.
It was a bold move, and he seriously hoped those antlers broke during the fight so he'd never have to look at them again.
Even though Jess had a feeling he was wasting his time, he went ahead and loaded his gun with the shells in his pocket, then opened fire on the coyotes. The first one he shot yelped, skidded sideways, rebounded off the wall, then kept coming.
Yeah, all it did was piss the coyote off and give him some target practice. But what the hell? He kept shooting until he was empty again while he and Abigail backed down the hallway.
Until she stopped moving.
He slammed up against her.
"You're about to be in daylight."
He glanced over his shoulder to see the truth of that. Had she not stood her ground, he'd have been in some serious pain right about now. "Much obliged." With no choice and with their retreat cut off, he took a step forward to fight.
The coyotes launched themselves at the two of them.
Jess moved to hit one, but they never made contact.
The coyotes slammed into an invisible wall that magically appeared around him and Abigail. Yelping, the coyotes tried to attack again and again-they couldn't.
Yee-haw on that. He just hoped whoever was shielding them was a friend.
Abigail moved to stand beside him. She reached out to touch it, and apparently there was nothing there. She waved her hand around but it contacted nothing. Meanwhile, the coyotes couldn't touch them.