B008IJW70G EBOK (12 page)

      She plucked the helmet off her head and passed it to Hunter. He took it and hung it carelessly from one of the handlebars.

      Riley fluffed her fingers through her hair, trying to stop it from lying flat to her head before he turned back around. But she didn’t take off the jacket, not yet. It felt too good. Like she was wearing part of him against her bare skin. 

      “You look great,” he told her. 

      Riley felt heat crawl up her neck before hitting her cheeks. If she could just stop blushing all the time she might not come across as so unsure of herself. 

      He came up behind her and touched the jacket at her neck, waiting for her to slip out of it. She did. Reluctantly. 

      Hunter let it fall over his arm then reached for her hand. Hers slipped into his large one like it was made to fit. Riley couldn’t resist it, wiggling her fingers until all of theirs were interlinked. 

      Her face was on fire again, but she didn’t care. This time he was beside her, not looking straight into her burning cheeks. 

      “You all right?” he asked.

      She nodded. 

      Hunter stopped. “You sure? You’re kind of quiet?”

      “Just shell shocked after the ride here.”

      He laughed. “You’ll get used to it.”

      She wasn’t so sure. Hanging on to him, perhaps, but not getting on the motorcycle.
Never
.

      Hunter started walking again, and she fell into step beside him. It seemed so weird. If anyone else looked at them, they’d just think they were two normal kids on a date. Out for dinner, holding hands, nothing out of the ordinary. 

      But what she and Hunter shared, it went way beyond that. She’d come here a teenager, and she would be leaving an adult shifter.
If she left.
There was a whole other world out there that she was part of, that still didn’t make sense, and they were just carrying on like two teenagers heading out for a date. 

      And it was Hunter,
her date
, who’d been by her side to help her discover all this. To show her the way. 

      Riley shivered. It didn’t go unnoticed. 

      “You cold?”

      He let go of her hand and hugged her against him. Cocooned her with his arm.  

      This was even weirder. How could he just pretend like… like they were actually, already, together? She still felt the flutter of every touch, jumped when he brushed past her, blushed when he looked at her. 

      He didn’t seem to feel any of that. 

      Which only made her wonder again if he was acting on autopilot. Just because it was starting to seem real to her, like they’d been dating forever when they’d only really met, didn’t mean it should be so easy for him. Didn’t mean he should find it such a casual idea to sling his arm around her or kiss her lips. 

      The diner was busy, bright, bustling. A waitress appeared when they walked in.

      “Any table you like.” She waved her hand. 

      “Window?” he asked Riley.

      “Sure.”

      Hunter still hadn’t let go of her, but his arm did drop lower as they picked their way to the small table by the window. 

      It was a long time since she’d been here. As a kid, she’d come to visit Sophia with her parents and they’d been for a meal. Years ago. 

      She sat down. Hunter did the same, his jacket cast over the back of the chair. 

      “Hungry?”

      Her stomach growled in response. Hunter laughed. “Guess so.”

      She giggled back. It felt good. Like she was hanging out with a friend. 

      “What do you recommend?”

      Riley pretended to look at the menu, but she couldn’t even make her eyes focus. Hunter’s knee was resting close to hers. If she just pressed forward a tiny bit, they’d be touching. 

      
Oh
. 

      He’d pushed his knees forward so they were both resting against hers. Riley’s eyes dashed up to meet Hunter’s. They were smiling at her, mirroring the expression on his lips. 

      He shuffled even further forward, his knees pressed more firmly into hers.  

      
It was too much. 

      She’d gone from relaxed to being like a coiled spring. 

      “How about a cheeseburger, fries and coke?”

      She nodded. “Okay.”

      Riley had almost lost her appetite. Her mouth was dry, heart hammering away wildly, and she could hear a loud ringing in her ears. 

      He waved the waitress back over and ordered. Then he turned his attention back to her. 

      Riley played absently with a sachet of ketchup. Anything to busy her hands and get her mind off Hunter. Or the feeling of their jean clad legs jammed together, skin on fire through the fabric. 

      “So,” he said, fingers tapping a burst of rhythm on the table top, “tell me about you.”

      She looked up. When he watched her like that, relaxed, she could almost deal with it.

      “I’m a senior, but then you probably already know that. I’m a little young for my year.”

      He nodded. “Any plans for college?”

      She caught her lip beneath her lower lip. “I did. But I guess that depends.”

      He nodded again. “Let’s not talk shop, okay?”

      That was a relief. “So tell me about you?”

      “What do you want to know?” he asked.

      She angled her head and searched his face. “Age?”

      “Twenty.”

      “Twenty!” Riley slapped her hand over her mouth as a few other diners swivelled their heads toward her. “I’m sorry, it’s just …”

      He grinned. “Don’t fancy an older man?”

      She shrunk into her seat again, but he was having none of it. 

      “It’s not even three years. What’s the big deal? You’ll be eighteen soon.”

      Riley shrugged. When he put it like that, sure. But seriously? Twenty? Her mom would have a fit. Not to mention what everyone else back home would say.

      Their cokes arrived and she slurped happily. At least she didn’t have to ask any more questions while she was drinking. 

      “Favorite color?”

      His question took her by surprise. She set the bottle back on the table. 

      “Um, it changes. Sometimes emerald green, sometimes purple.”

      Hunter reached for her hands and took them, loosely. He held them across the table, his eyes searching her face as he toyed with her fingers. 

      “Emerald green,” he repeated. “The same color as your eyes.”

      “And yours?” She choked out. 

      “Hmmm, let me see.” He kept playing with her hands, his fingers tracing circles over her palms as she turned them over. “Onyx black.”

      “Black?” She was having a hard time concentrating on anything except the feeling of his warm skin skimming hers, but she did register his answer. 

      “Black for your hair,” he said, reaching out to play with a strand that had fallen over her shoulder. “And black for your fur when you’re a leopard.”

      Riley pulled her eyes from him and stared at her hands again. 

      “Favorite animal?” His voice was softer now, lower as he questioned her, changing the subject.

      “Leopard,” she whispered, not knowing what else to say. 

      A week ago, she would have said horse. Cat even. But now leopard was the only animal on her mind.  

      “Here we are, folks.”

      Riley jumped back, not realizing the waitress had returned. She placed two huge plates in front of them, but Hunter still hadn’t taken his eyes off her, like he wanted to find out everything there was to know about her. 

      “Favorite movie?” he asked. 

      Riley stuffed a fry into her mouth, not wanting to answer. She’d had enough of the twenty questions. It wasn’t doing her nerves or her heart any good. 

      “Hunter, can I ask
you
something?”

      He smiled, inclining his head. Then he followed her lead and ate a fry, giving her some breathing space to question him. 

      “Am I safe here? Really safe?”

      He looked relieved, like he hadn’t known what she was going to ask. “I’m here to protect you, Riley. I made a promise to Sophia, and I won’t break it. Not for anything.”

      She watched as he bit into his burger. She wanted to do the same but she just had to ask him. Riley felt like she could be sick but she made herself say it. Forced the words out. 

      “And that’s why you’re showing interest in me, right?” She watched his face, but he was careful not to show any emotion. His smile didn’t waver, eyes still burning with tiny flecks of gold amongst the green. “You promised my grandma and you don’t want to let her down. Or the pack, right?”

      He finished his mouthful. His throat moved, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “Yes and no.”

      Riley fought the urge to stand up and storm out. She had to be calm. He was just doing his job, honoring his duty. It wasn’t his fault she was so attracted to him. And she’d wanted him to be honest. She couldn’t be angry with him for telling the truth. 

      “So which is it? Yes or no?” she asked.

      He stared at her, the lines of his face fixed into a hard expression. 

      “I don’t break a promise, especially not to Sophia. She indicated we were matched, and I accepted that.”

      Riley wanted to cry. Emotion, anger, frustration, caught in her throat. She couldn’t respond. 

      Hunter reached for her hand again. She tried to pull back but he’d caught her wrist. And he was stronger than her, far more powerful. She couldn’t have escaped his hold even if she’d tried harder. 

      “There’s a big difference between duty and want, Riley.” His voice was low, husky. “I can’t fake wanting you, but I will be here for you, no matter what happens. Whether you want me back or not.”

      A sliver of hope spiked within her. Did that mean he hadn’t been pretending? That he actually liked her too?

      “I don’t understand.” She went back to playing with her fries when he released her hand. 

      “Let’s just say that going on dates and hanging out at Sophia’s place aren’t part of the bargain.”

      It was the first time she’d seen his face flush. Had she actually managed to embarrass him? Cause a mottled red stain to color his cheeks?

      His words, his reaction, emboldened her. “So just to get this right, you would have asked me out sometime even if I wasn’t promised to you?”

      He seemed to chew on her words, rather than his food. Then he gave her that wolfish grin she’d grown to love. 

      “If I wasn’t promised to you, I wouldn’t have been half as gentle.”

      Her body shook. She wasn’t even sure exactly what he meant by that, but she got the hint. 

      
And kind of liked what he meant. 

      “How about
your
favorite animal?” she wanted to change the subject before things got a little too hot for her to handle. 

      “Same as you,” he said simply. 

      “Leopard?” she repeated. 

      “Black leopard,” he corrected. 

      She shook her head, but he ignored her. She got the feeling the new subject was hotter than the last. 

      “I like sleek, shining black fur.” He held her eyes again, held her within the web of his gaze. “Paired with green eyes and sharp white teeth.”

      He’d turned the conversation back around to her again. 

      Hunter surprised her by laughing. 

      “What?” she asked him. 

      “You’re looking at me like I scare you.”

      She glanced up at him beneath her lashes. Hunter watched her, concern crossing his face. Like he’d realized he did scare her. 

      The moment passed, but it rattled her. 

      She
was
scared of him
. Of her reaction to him. Of the intensity of her feeling. The way her heart hammered, the way her eyes flickered over his, the way he looked back at her. 

      And now he knew it. But she didn’t want him to back off. No way. Not unless she was finally getting used to the idea.

When they left the diner, Hunter slung his arm around her again, as if it were the only natural thing to do. She wanted to resist him, to prove to herself that she could, but it was impossible. She was addicted to the feel of him, to the hardness of his body. To the way his strong muscles held her so gently against him as if he were shielding something of importance, something breakable. 

      Riley sighed and let her eyes drift shut for a moment as he pulled her along in his wake.  
      “Riley?”

      Her eyes popped open again. They’d stopped next to the death trap. Getting on it again wasn’t something she was necessarily looking forward to. 

      She looked up as Hunter twirled her around and sat her on the seat of the bike. He stood in front of her, close but not touching. So close that she wished they
were
touching. 

      “I’m sorry if things got a bit,” he paused, “intense in there.”

      Riley shrugged, but inside her body was screaming out. She was scared of the intensity but she craved it. Wanted him with her, against her, more than she could ever have imagined wanting it. Wanting another human being. 

      “It’s okay.”

      He took a deep breath. Almost looked vulnerable. “It’s just, I’m…”

      What? She needed to know.

      “Attracted to you,” he said, voice hitting a low note. “
Really
attracted to you.”

      She gasped. Seriously? So it
wasn’t
just duty guiding him? 

      
Hunter inched closer, until he was bent over, a hand resting on either side of her, his face hovering above hers. 

      
“I want you.”
      

      
Her pulse started its frantic pace. “You do?”

      
Now it was him laughing at her. “Could I make it any more obvious?”