Both Jackson and Stewart took a couple steps back, staring. Yeah, he got that kind of reaction from some people, more often from other males. He stood at six and a half feet tall when he wasn’t slouching, and his body was all muscle.
Usually females took a few steps closer.
Stewart whispered, “Holy snot.”
“Where did she go?” Luis asked Jackson. He rotated his shoulders carefully and stretched stiff neck muscles.
“She went to the bars,” Jackson said. “Been gone about an hour now.”
Luis snapped out a curse while he ran another mental check on his condition. He needed to get to his supplies, but first he needed to get to Claudia to make sure she was all right.
What the hell was she thinking, going out? She had seen up close and personal what Scott Bradshaw and his friends were capable of doing, and thanks to Rodriguez, her role in today’s events would be well-known by now.
The nearest bar was almost a mile away. Could he run it? Yeah, he could, but it would be uncomfortable, since his ribs were still healing. In another day, maybe two, that wouldn’t matter and he would be able to run the day away, but he wasn’t there quite yet.
“I need clothes,” he said. “And I need to borrow your car.”
Jackson shook his head. “Sorry to disappoint you, son, but I ain’t got any clothes that’ll fit you.”
“He might be able to squeeze into some sweatpants,” Stewart said. “Or a loose pair of boxers, if you wear them. You know, to at least cover the basics…” The human waved a hand vaguely in the direction below Luis’s waist, looking away.
Another time the human’s discomfort with his nudity might have made Luis grin, but not now. His muscles were jumping with adrenaline, and every word they spoke felt like a delay. He could change back to a dog and make that uncomfortable run for the bars, but he didn’t want to give anybody plausible deniability for shooting a dangerous stray they found running loose through town. Better to stay in human form and take a vehicle.
From outside the trailer, another man called, “Dan, Stewart—what’s keeping you back there? Are we playing poker any time soon?”
“I’ll try on anything you’ve got,” Luis said to Jackson.
“Right,” Jackson said.
Even as the two humans turned to leave, lights flashed across the trailer windows. A car pulled around the corner of the house and rolled to a stop. The headlights cut out. Luis gently nudged the curtain away from the window, looking outside as the trickle of adrenaline running through his veins became a flood.
The car was a 1984 BMW. Claudia climbed out of the driver’s seat. She still wore jeans and a black sweatshirt, her lean, graceful body and hard, composed face illuminated by the light that shone from the house’s windows. Metal glinted briefly as she tucked her Glock at the small of her back. Luis relaxed as his immediate sense of urgency eased. He let the curtain fall back into place.
“Be right back,” Jackson said. Stewart had already stepped out, the frigid night air swirling into the trailer’s interior.
Luis nodded. He glanced at the older male as he said, “Thanks. For everything.”
Jackson returned the nod then shut the door behind him as he left.
Luis twitched the curtain aside again. He watched Jackson intercept Claudia, and they stood close together, talking. Claudia glanced at the trailer.
He turned away and looked around the interior. After a moment’s hesitation, he strode over to the shadowed alcove of the bed, took a sheet, folded it a couple of times then wound it around his waist. You know, to at least cover the basics.
As he knotted it, the trailer door opened again and Claudia stepped inside, talking as she entered. “Jackson told me about the healing potions and that you were able to—” Her voice cut off abruptly.
He turned to face her, one eyebrow raised, and a vain part of him felt intensely satisfied as she looked as poleaxed as Jackson and Stewart had, her vivid green gaze stricken.
Then one corner of her beautiful mouth lifted. She said, “Boy howdy, Precious, you really are one big son of a bitch.”
“Yes,” he said.
He walked over to her, moving gently. The distance was not far, perhaps four paces. Her expression changed and grew wary, eyes watchful, but, he was glad to see, she didn’t retreat like Jackson and Stewart had. Ready to pull back at any sign of aversion, he bent and tilted his head. He noticed she held her breath, but he didn’t. He inhaled deeply her warm scent that carried a hint of gun oil and now held a hint of beer.
So goddamn hot. And that was no longer hypothetical.
He pressed his lips lightly, quickly, to the high, firm curve of her cheekbone and drew back to look into her eyes. He said quietly, “Thank you for saving my life.”
The stiff wariness eased from her long body. She gave him a faint but real smile. There were tiny laugh lines in her smooth, tanned skin, at the corners of her mouth and her eyes.
“You’re welcome, Luis.”
Really shaken for the first time that evening, Claudia tried to hide the impact that Luis in his human form had on her.
He was so tall, she noticed he had to be careful that he didn’t scrape his head on the trailer’s ceiling. His body was massive, heavy muscles overlaid on strong, sturdy bones, with a wide, powerful chest that tapered to a long, washboard stomach. His smooth, brown, silken-looking skin wrapped the whole package like the world’s most extravagant Christmas gift, and that sheet he’d knotted at his lean hips was the bow. He had dark, bitter-chocolate eyes, boldly molded features and a mouth that was so full and sensual, it should have looked girlish but didn’t. His thick, black, gleaming hair held a hint of curl. It was a touch too long for the style he wore and flopped in his eyes, as though he were a couple weeks’ late in getting it cut.
As he walked toward her, he moved with a fighter’s easy, athletic confidence, and when he brushed her cheek, his mouth was very warm against her chilled skin.
She was used to big, tough men, and experienced with commanding them in combat missions. In some ways, Luis’s physical presence was so damn familiar it was comforting on a visceral level. That was disturbing all on its own, because her gut insisted that she recognized him and his presence filled a hole that had been inside of her ever since she had lost the others in her unit and retired.
As if that weren’t enough to knock her off balance, his presence had an intense vitality filled with a sexuality that ran dark and hot. It was sultry, powerful. It was knowledgeable. He carried that knowledge in his DNA, and it manifested in every languid, graceful move of his body and in those dark, intelligent eyes.
This was a man who’d had a whole lot of sex and he really, really liked it. And why wouldn’t he? By the time he hit puberty, every female he met and probably several of the males would have fallen over in invitation the moment they laid eyes on him.
And she was not immune either to his particularly potent brand of alchemy.
She had not felt sexual interest or desire in over three years. She had really been okay with the thought that perhaps that part of her life was over, which made it doubly shocking to have her sexuality come roaring back to life like a lit match thrown on a lake of kerosene. Heat washed through her body, and she could tell by his small smile that he knew it. He would be able to tell by her scent she was attracted to him.
The final sucker punch? He was so goddamn young.
Goddamn.
Young
.
Good Christ, even taking into account that he was Wyr and not human, she was fairly confident that he was somewhere in his mid-twenties.
Which meant she was a good fifteen years older than he was.
Fifteen years. It was actually, physically possible that she might be old enough to be his mother.
She turned away. She didn’t know what to do with her hands. She looked down at them. They were shaking. She clenched them into fists and willed the shaking to stop.
“Jackson said you went out to the bars,” he said. With that slight touch of accent, his voice was just like the rest of him, low and dark and sinful like melted chocolate.
What happened to that insulation she had worked so hard to maintain for the last few years? It had been stripped away by the desert sun and an animal’s suffering, and now she felt raw and critically vulnerable. She had to clench her teeth a moment before she could reply.
“I bought you—us—some time,” she said.
“How?” He was light on his feet and so silent she didn’t even know that he had moved until she heard the fridge door open. “Mind if I have some of this tea?”
“Help yourself.” Having gotten herself marginally under more control, she turned around. His immense back was still marred with faint marks where the skin was newly healed, and a shadow of muscle rippled as he twisted the cap off the bottle of tea and tilted his head back to drink. His skin would be warm. She wondered if it was as silken as it looked, and she closed her eyes against the sight. She remembered he had asked her a question, and she told him, “I attracted the attention of Bradshaw Junior and company.”
In the next instant, she felt his hands close over her shoulders. God, he was so fast. His grip was very large and strong. If anyone else had grabbed her like that, she would have put them on the floor, but she didn’t do that this time. Instead, she just opened her eyes.
He looked tense, dark gaze concerned. “What did they do?”
“They were working themselves up to come after you,” she said. “I was worried they might try something like that. The sandstorm had blown in, the phone lines were down, and you were too bad off to travel. I had no idea Jackson would become so innovative, and scare up some healing potion. So I got them alone, and I broke some bones.”
“Broke some bones,” he said. His face went blank.
She smiled. “Someone should find them before morning. If they aren’t headed to the nearest ER by now, they will be soon. Luis, they are out of commission. That will draw attention from Bradshaw Senior, which will probably make things worse in the long run, but with cell reception and landlines down, someone will have to drive the news out. I also expect that Rodriguez will show up here sooner or later, but I figured it was the right price to pay, so that you, Jackson and his poker buddies would be safe for the night. I wouldn’t want to relax too much in case Rodriguez gets extra enthusiastic, but I think things should be quiet enough until dawn.”
“You’re sure,” he said. His grip had become bruising. She didn’t think he realized it. “You’re sure they’re out of commission.”
She found her footing again. Suddenly calm and steady, she held his gaze. She said gently, “I’m quite sure. I knew what I was doing, and I promise you, I put them down hard.”
The expression on his face had turned raw, and those beautiful dark eyes of his filled with a remembered nightmare. He whispered, “Damn, I wish I could have seen that.”
His pain reached her again. She had to swallow because a lump had grown in her throat. If she could just get some time alone, she might be able to find a way to insulate herself from shit like this.
He still gripped her shoulders hard. She put her hands over his, her palms sliding over their wide, corded strength. “I wish you could have seen it too,” she said. “Right now, though, you need to explain to me what’s going on. It has something to do with the mine, doesn’t it?”
That snapped his gaze back to the present.
He said, “Yes.”
A quick rap sounded at the door, then it opened and Jackson stepped in, carrying a bundle of clothes. “I dunno, Precious,” Jackson said. “I guess you might be able to find something in this to tide you over for the night. Do you still need the keys to my truck?”
A sudden twinkle lit Claudia’s green gaze, and Luis bit back a grin. Reluctant to break the connection with her, he didn’t look away, nor did he release his hold. He said, “My name is Luis Alvaraz. Now that Claudia is back safe, apparently the transportation issue is no longer quite so urgent.”
“Huh,” said Jackson. “Well, that’s got to be a good thing, right?”
“Yes, it is,” Luis said. “For the moment.”
Then he had to give in to the inevitable as Claudia pulled gently out of his hold. She said to Jackson, “I still want you to leave for Fresno, as quickly as possible. Would you do that, please?”
Jackson nodded thoughtfully. “Guess we no longer need that all-night poker game, do we?”
“No,” Luis said. He accepted the bundle of clothes from the older male and looked through them. He added, “Please tell Stewart that I will make sure his clinic is reimbursed for the healing potions.”
“Will do,” Jackson said, and he paused. “You ever gonna tell me what’s going on?”
“There’s trouble with the mine,” Luis said. He glanced at Claudia and fell silent.
Jackson poked his tongue in his cheek, and looked back and forth between the two of them. Then he sighed. “All right, I’ll leave, but only if you promise to tell me the whole story sometime.”
“I promise.” Luis offered his hand and said gravely, “I owe you more than I can repay.”
Jackson shook his hand. “So that means I can sock you with your own vet bill?”
He grinned. “I expect you to.”