«Never spent that much time in either. They this muggy?»
«Just about. Georgia especially.» Carmen tilted her head and sighed. «You don’t have to go with me, you know. You must have things to do.»
His sudden smile bordered on roguish. «Plenty. You going to make me do them instead of giving me an excuse to get outdoors?»
He’d told her to back off, and yet he kept flashing her those wicked looks, as if he couldn’t help himself. «I’m not your mother,» she told him. «I’m not going pace myself so you can keep up, either.»
«That so? If you’re going to invite a wolf to a chase, you’d better make sure you can outrun him. Unless getting caught is the point.»
«I think you’re forgetting something.» She stepped off the porch and turned to face him. «I’m not entirely human.»
Her vague memory supplied a general direction, and Carmen dug in her heels and ran.
At first she wasn’t sure he’d followed. A quick glance over her shoulder proved he was following, all right, just keeping his distance. Not to mention checking out her ass.
She ran faster, something instinctive pushing her to push him. A gentle rush of empathy told her he was enjoying the chase and, surprisingly, so was she.
Because you know he’ll catch you. He could deny it, fight it, and it didn’t matter.
Carmen slowed and spun, walking backwards. «How long have you lived here?»
«This house?» He slowed too, to a casual amble. «Bought it…oh, nine or ten years back.»
«And do you do this often?»
«Run? Or chase women through the woods?»
«That’s chivalrous of you, to keep pretending you’re the one doing the chasing here.»
One eyebrow quirked up. «You’re right. If I were really chasing you, you’d be under me already.»
«Now there’s a thought.» She had to get used to the blatant, idle flirtation. She couldn’t get aroused every time he said something like that, or she’d be perpetually horny — and frustrated. «I meant your obvious role as protector and mentor. Do you have a lot of new wolves beating down your door?»
«A few,» he acknowledged with that infuriating little smile. «Someone has to take care of them, and I’m good at it.»
And he needed it. She might never hear the admission from his lips, but she felt it plainly. «Thank you.»
«You’re welcome. You’re going to trip and break your neck if you keep walking backwards on this path.»
She stopped. «I was trying not to be rude.»
He jerked his chin toward the path. «Quarter mile, maybe a little more. There’s a nice clearing. I’ll give you a ten-second head start.»
The predatory glint in his eyes stole her breath and kicked her heart rate into high gear. «Head start for what?»
«Before I chase you. For real.»
She had to be crazy to consider it, even if the thought made her body buzz. «And then what? More dirty talk because you can’t sleep with me, but you can sure the hell torture me with your eyes and muscles and ridiculously hot voice?»
He actually laughed. «Can’t do much to fix any of that. I could back off, I guess, but you’re not going to like that much better.»
«No, I suppose I wouldn’t.» She didn’t feel like a crazed animal, but she’d never been quite so moved by feral instinct, either. «Go easy on me, would you?»
Pacing herself wasn’t a problem, not if it was only a quarter of a mile, so Carmen ran hard, pushing herself almost at a sprint. Soon, the near-echo of trampled brush drifted from behind her, and she smiled through her panting.
He let her get three long strides into the clearing before he tackled her, somehow twisting their bodies as they fell so she sprawled across his chest. His low, delighted laughter curled around her, warm as the arms that circled her waist. «Easy as I get.»
Too easy. Too intimate. She wiggled out of his arms and landed on the ground beside him. «You smile like you’re not used to it, did you know that?»
Laughter died, and he twisted his head to stare at her. «It’s been a while. Only other person willing to poke at me until I laugh is Kat. I always figured she did it because she knows I’m not going to kill her, even if I’m glaring like I want to. An empathy thing.»
«Maybe.» She wanted to reassure him with her touch, but she thrummed with a sexual awareness he could surely sense. «Is everyone else so careful with you because they’re scared?»
«Some of them are.» He slid his fingers over hers, his hand a heavy weight. «What do you feel? Beneath the sex, what does my power feel like?»
Dominant. Implacable. «You’re strong, and you’re intense.» All things so wound up in her attraction to him that there could be no separation.
«And I’m a little crazy. Or I act that way enough that everyone thinks it’s true. Better if most of the scary people in town are wary of pissing me off.»
«Makes sense.» His hand was huge, warm and a bit rough. She wanted to feel it on her body, sliding down her back and curling around her hip to hold her still for a hard, demanding thrust.
The mental image formed so quickly that all she could do was bite her lip as she blinked and willed it away.
His fingers tightened around hers. «I hate not knowing what to do. If I’ll hurt you more leaving you alone, or by giving you what you crave. I don’t want to hurt you at all. Do you have any fucking idea how long it’s been since I didn’t know what to do?»
«You’re too hard on yourself,» she admonished. «It isn’t your job to keep me from hurting, and no one knows everything all the time.»
«It’s my job to keep from hurting you.» He lifted his hand and hers with it, sliding it up until they pressed into the grass over her head. Then he released her and rolled to his side, propped up on his elbow so the bulk of his body loomed above her. «It’s all a damn excuse. It’s my job, and I’d be doing it anyway…but that’s not why I’m doing it now.»
It was the most nonsensical thing she’d heard in a while. «Are you saying you want to protect me?»
«I’m saying I want to protect you.» His free hand landed on her stomach, skimming up to skip over her breasts and land on her collarbone. «You’re not scared of me. Even when I’m acting crazy.»
«Because you’re not crazy.» She caught his hand and held it still. «Don’t do this just because you think I need it. It’s not worth it.»
His eyes looked so dark they might as well have been black. «Honey, I thought you were an empath.»
«You know what I mean. If you still think I’m not in my right mind, the guilt would kill you, and I only want you to feel good about this.»
He considered that for a moment, then guided her other hand up above her head. «I’m going to kiss you. Deep. Hard. You okay with that?»
He’d urged her into a position of submission — both hands over her head, her body stretched out beneath his — and it made her shake with anticipation. «More than okay.»
«You want me to stop, you say stop.» One hand curled around both of her wrists, gentle but unyielding. «You want more, ask for it. Okay?»
Carmen pulled against his grasp, not to free herself but to test his strength. He held tight, and her eyes fluttered shut under a wave of need. «Yes.»
His free hand settled at her hip in a possessive grip. Power built in the space between them, a slow, steady rise that mirrored the dark heat in his eyes as he lowered his mouth, lips barely touching hers. «Let me in.»
The command released something inside her, a tension she hadn’t noticed before he eased it, and she closed her eyes again. Honesty was one thing, even a kiss…
Don’t think, Carmen. Feel.
She obeyed, loosening her tight hold on control, gasping when the first waves of empathic feedback echoed off him to heat her own body.