She smiled and stepped back. “You seem to know an awful lot about me, Grady Chastell.” The rose smelled sweet, and she inhaled its fragrant perfume.
“You like to read, watch chick flicks, and you’re really into the color pink, which is odd considering you’re not a girly girl. But I have to admit, you look good in it.”
“Not a girly girl? What does that mean?” Was she not feminine enough?
He grinned. “Remember, honey, I’ve seen you maul Hunters. Does that make me a weirdo that it turned me on?”
She flushed.
“See? There’s that pink I like so much on you. Maybe it’s my favorite color too.”
“Shut up.”
He chuckled and started unbuttoning his shirt. Mesmerized, she watched those long fingers release each button, exposing a broad chest corded with muscle. No chest hair on him, like most of the Ac-taw.
The wind blew his sandy brown hair, which looked in need of a cut. But she liked it a bit long. Wild, like the cat before her.
“Don’t make me get naked all by myself,” he said in a deep voice. “I’ve been looking forward to this all week.” His amber eyes glinted with heat. “Besides, nudity is no big deal to our kind.”
“Right,” she drawled and tried not to let her hands shake as she gripped the bottom of her long-sleeved henley. “And that’s why you have no problem flaunting your ass around the ranch. Because you’re so comfortable letting everyone see your manly parts.”
“Hell, Gabby. Nobody cares what I look like. The other females are mated, and the guys are just guys. It’s not everyone I want to see me. Just one stubborn, foxy feline who’s spent the past few months ignoring me.”
She would have asked exactly what he meant by that when he shucked off his shirt, toed off his boots and dropped his jeans. He wore nothing underneath. As before, when around her, he seemed perpetually hard. And God, what a sight. Grady Chastell naked was a walking piece of temptation.
“Oh yeah. I definitely need to not be the only one naked right now.” He winked at her, finally catching her gaze when she glanced away from his cock.
“You’re enticing me on purpose.” She wanted to be annoyed at his flagrant attempt to discomfit her, but she liked looking at him too much.
“Why? Is it working?”
She shook her head, laughing, and took off her shirt. Like him, she removed her shoes and pants but remained standing in her underclothes.
“Gabby.” He swallowed as he studied her from head to toe. “You are without a doubt the most beautiful woman I know.”
“Grady.”
“Seriously.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “But I’m trying to be a gentleman. And it’s really, really hard.”
“I can see that.” To her astonishment, his cheeks turned pink. “Grady, you’re blushing.” Delighted, she laughed. “You’re right. Pink is my favorite color.”
“Woman, quit making fun of me. Get naked and shift before I forget myself and we get busy right here, right now. You can see I’m up for it.” He inhaled and his grin widened. “From the scent of things, I’d say you’re more than ready as well.”
She couldn’t control her arousal around Grady, and knowing he knew it only made it worse. “Well? Are we going to shift or what?” She quickly stepped out of her panties and unhooked and dropped her bra.
“I’m for or what. God, I want you, baby. So much.” His eyes shifted, the pupils slit, as his cat took prominence. His fingernails sharpened, and the hint of fangs showed when he opened his mouth to better catch her scent. Then he seemed to bear down on the shift and forced himself to return to human.
“L-let’s run first.” She paused. “Does it matter which one?”
He frowned. “Which one…? Oh.” Interest blazed. “I’ve seen your cat and your fox. Both are amazing to me. You pick. We’ll run enough that you can exercise both.” He said something uncomplimentary about her aunt and uncle. “Hiding who you are was a terrible thing for them to do.”
She agreed. It had taken her years to ignore what her relatives said about her ability to become not only a fox, but a cat as well. Feline like her father, vulpine like her mother. Gabby wasn’t cursed. According to the town, she’d been blessed. Trust her obnoxious aunt and uncle to try to ruin a good thing for her.
“Okay. Here goes.” She let her animal spirits decide. The cat won out, only because she’d been closeted for far too long. Now the animal took every opportunity to show off her lean lines, the reddish coat a shade darker than Grady’s golden pelt. She felt the change overcome her and eased onto the ground on all fours. A blurring, warmth, and then her claws dug into the ground. The rich earth welcomed her roughened paws, while the scent of wildflowers, animal spoor and verdant evergreens encouraged her feline senses to explore. But all of that paled in comparison to the ripe, masculine scent of a male she intended to mate—make love to, she corrected her cat.
“Man, I love seeing that.” Grady grinned and followed suit, moving to his hands and knees. A shimmer of fur covered him in seconds, and he blinked those large, golden eyes at her.
“Ready to run, beautiful?” he asked in the way of the Ac-taw. When shifted, Ac-taw spoke to each other with their animals’ nonverbal cues, augmented by a telepathic ability. If the bond between Ac-taw was strong enough, they could telepathically communicate from human to animal as well. Gabby wondered if she and Grady could manage that. And if they could, what it might mean.
She flicked her tail, her whiskers twitching as the scent of a deer beyond the trees found her. “See if you can keep up, hot shot.” She darted into the woods, his low growl of laughter close behind.
The stretch of sinew and muscle felt amazing. She used every rock and tree root to her advantage, pushing off with her strong legs to maximize speed. The deer drew her, a prize to be won when—not if—she beat Grady to the animal.
She heard him close by and changed her angle to cut him off. When they hit an open area, she jumped over him to avoid knocking him over. Talk about fast. She thought she’d had an edge over him, having started first.
“Did I mention the winner gets the loser to dance for her?” she teased.
He showed his teeth before disappearing between the hemlocks and cedars once more. Loving the chase, she ran with abandon, determined to outdo her competitor. She wanted to show him just what she could do, her feline instinct to make him work to beat her as strong as her human compulsion to impress the man.
They didn’t use stealth when approaching their prey, so it was no surprise when the deer fled before they’d reached where it had been grazing. But having so much fun, Gabby didn’t care. She and Grady panted and took a short rest, eyeing one another in challenge.
Gabby pretended to stretch, but when Grady would have pounced, she darted away, running headlong into the trees once more. “Race you to the sunning rock.” A small, flat boulder the cats used to take in the overhead sun, it was a favorite spot of Grady’s he’d shared with her after she’d moved to the ranch.
“You’re on. I want that dance.” He threaded his way behind her, most likely keeping himself deliberately behind.
She liked that Grady could be devious. His pranks, his sense of humor, his need to win—all of it suited her. But she wanted more. They’d danced around each other long enough. She wanted to feel him inside her, to join with her completely. Her cat loved the idea, so she increased her reach, racing like the wind until she could no longer hear Grady behind her, intent on reaching the sunning rock first.
Except when she leaped up, she saw the cocky cat lazing on the rock, his head on his paws, completely at rest.