Shifting the Night Away (49 page)

Johanna snorted into her glass of water and traced the rim. “No you haven’t. Her name’s Kate. Hey, pick me up for lunch at two and tell me about your renovations. Those are my orders.”

“Done.”

“Promise?”

“I’ll always come when you call.”

Chapter Four

She woke up the same way she’d fallen asleep, thinking about Baron Wyatt. He’d been the perfect gentleman, driving her home and leaving her with a chaste peck on the cheek. Something about him…

And his scent…

And the hardness of what pressed against her belly when he gave her that kiss, told her chaste pecks weren’t to be considered routine. She swore to herself that the drinking wouldn’t be either. She knew she’d be safe with him, physically at least, but the only way to protect her heart was to stay perfectly sober. Too many times last night she’d almost believed their charade had been real.

She’d play it smarter today.

It took five cups of coffee and eight hundred dog years to find something to wear. It needed to be business appropriate, but hot for her lunch date. Even more important was what she’d wear underneath. Pickings were slim: Granny Panties, Period Panties, Holey Panties and Panties with Questionable Teddy Bears.

Going commando wasn’t an option. Just thinking about the man did things to her.
 

Wet things…and she wasn’t alone in this. It’d been impossible to miss the desire cascading off Tony, Belinda and the other girls for Baron.

“Baron.” She said his name aloud, tingling at the way it rolled off her tongue. Felt natural. The man was a rare creature – a wolf, without an attitude. One willing to cede power.
 

For the first time in ages, she didn’t begin her workday with a sense of dread. Even having to take a cab to the office didn’t bother her. What would her coworkers think about that?
 

Did it matter?

Nope.

Well…

No!
 

What mattered was that she’d met a man willing to make her smile. When she looked at him, excuses sorta fell away. All muscle, dark hair and midnight eyes, he looked like the kind of guy who worked his way through women. Maybe he was.

But for now, he brought a little much needed excitement to her life. She didn’t trust him to stay interested, no man ever did, but that knowledge freed her. Why not enjoy him? There was no good reason to reject what he offered. She just had to keep a little emotional distance.

Walking into work went mostly how she expected it would. Hushed whispers and sidelong glances greeted her before she put her bag down. What she hadn’t anticipated were the ‘embarrassed
for
you’ looks.
 

Tony eagerly filled her in as to the cause. He tugged at the hem of his pinstriped jacket and straightened his neon pink tie. The man’s pale face reddened all the way up to his bleached blond roots.

“Belinda’s telling people you paid him to say those things. I defended you, of course, but it is going around. I thought you should know what you’re walking into.”

His eyes widened in hopeful expectation of her response. She didn’t give him one.
Flipping traitor
. She’d prepared herself for every question or comment but this one and made a mental note never to underestimate the bitchy pettiness of Belinda again.

“You do realize she’s lying, right?”

“She says the same thing about you, girl.”

“Try not to enjoy this so much.”

“I’m not. Hey, I stood up for you.”

Maybe he had. Tony came loaded for drama, but deep down she knew he cared. But the image of being talked about and laughed at behind her back turned her stomach to knots. Made her defensive. Adios, confidence.

The first customers of the day provided welcome distraction and she threw herself into her work, even as the eyes of her coworkers burned holes of humiliation in her skull. If they’d watched her this hard in the past, she’d have had that promotion already. It would probably never happen now.

Baron was right. She needed to put as much distance between herself and this place as possible. Kate had said as much for ages, but from Baron, it meant a little more. He hadn’t spent every year of his life telling her what to do. He’d simply spoken about how he saw things.
 

This whole mess was his fault and yet she couldn’t quite blame him for any of it. His weird interruption in her life rushed along a realization she was bound to come to at some point. While Miles wasn’t the size of New York City or Albany, the town wasn’t tiny. She had financial skills. There were tons of banks or other county offices she could slip an application in, and would, as soon as she got the chance.

Maybe.

Her eyes drifted to the clock on her computer between customers. Every timestamp brought her closer to Baron.
 

She scented him around one thirty. He reeked of sweat, but sported a bright grin from ear to ear. He didn’t bother coming in - he just sorta waved to her from the door, paint smeared hands and all. She wasted no time in closing her till and clocking out. “I wasn’t sure you’d come.”

“Ditto, but I’m glad you did. I could use a bit of un-stressing,” he said and locked his arm around her waist.
 

It was too familiar a move for someone she just met, but deep inside her inner wolf told her this felt all right for now. She even dropped her head on his shoulder, content to let this fantasy play out. “Tough day? You smell.”

“Like a man? And yes. I spent the first half of the morning getting a new loan package. That took forever. Then I had to rush it over to the scumbag realtor – never trust a Connecticut elf – but at least the thing is closed and I’ve got the keys. Been cleaning for the last two hours. I don’t care, at least it’s mine, ya know? My business, my rules. I don’t know how you do it. It’s crazy to work at a place you hate.”

She stopped in her tracks. The truth did that sometimes…just slapped you upside the head.

Baron jerked to a stop right along with her. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Doesn’t matter how you meant it. You said it and you’re right. I was considering my exit strategy this morning. Don’t take this in a weird way, but maybe I needed your brand of crazy to shake things up.”

“Really? Then we both have something to celebrate. Let’s go.”
 

“Where to?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“A surprise?

“Eh, okay, I’m making it up as I go.”

“But what about lunch?”

“Oh c’mon. We’ll grab something.” His warm hand locked onto hers and he ran, looking back with a fool’s grin. She was sure she matched it and followed him to his black Jeep a few streets away. They drove to the park on the edge of town, one backed up against acres of forest. The day was too beautiful for it to have not been packed with families, many of them eating on blankets and chairs. “A picnic?”

“I was thinking a run.”

“Are you insane? It’s the middle of the day! I have work.” But she may as well talk to the trees. He shook his head harder than the wind that moved the branches above them.

“I’ve already checked out these woods. We go in deep.” He slid his palms across each other. “And then we take off. Unless you know a better place for this?”

“Not this close to town. Anyway, I don’t really have time for that these days.”

“For what?”

“Runs.”

Baron’s nostrils flared. His cleft jaw clenched. In full few view of at least two dozen men, women and children, he pulled her close and sniffed. “That’s what we do. How long since you’ve been in your fur?”

Of the mixed up things that had happened to her over the past forty-eight hours, this was sure to be the most humiliating. “A while.”

He didn’t let her get away with it. “Try again. Days? Weeks? Aw, come on! Months? Holy hell.”

“It’s not my fault.”

“Pretty sure it is.”

“I used to shift all the time, but you know, people grow up.”

“Grow up? I’m not hearing this.”

“Life happens. Mom and Dad started traveling, Michelle moved away and Kate’s…well…Kate. I didn’t have anyone to run with.”

“You’re so lucky I came into your life.”

“That’s awfully cocky of you.”

“There’s a joke there, but I’m letting it go because this is serious business.” He jerked his head toward the woods. “March!”

There was no point in lying to herself. Her thighs and fingers prickled at the memory of reshaping into lupine form. They walked until the fields gave way to weeds, and the weeds gave way to brush so dense that they may as well have been in an undiscovered jungle.

“I promise to have you back at work before nightfall.”

“Baron!”

“You’re quitting anyway.”

“Well, not this minute.”

“One hour, Johanna. I promise. Less even. I’ll have you back in forty minutes.” He lifted the gray tee shirt over his head and tossed it to the ground below.
 

Great.

Just as she suspected. The man really was cut from rock, with every muscle pronounced and piggybacking on another one. She knew she’d been busted staring when he flexed his pecs. “Your turn.”

She readied herself to fake up some confidence and found she didn’t need to.
Odd
. She’d always struggled to shift in front of others. The nudity, the half-second of vulnerability between forms often suffocated her.
 

Often, but not now.
 

Not with him.
 

Baron’s desire hit her with the heat of a volcano. She made that happen. Every current rolling off him was her doing. That wicked part of her was back again and she didn’t shoo it away. “Help me?”

Without a word he knelt before her, lifting the hem of her black dress up, up, up. He took in a very audible breath as her own scents started flowing. He didn’t stop though, pulling the rest of the dress until it joined his pile of discarded clothes.
 

Either of them could have shifted by now, but he yanked her tight against him, her breasts pinned against his chest. Impossibly large hands ran down the length of her back until they cupped her cheeks. “You’re built for a wolf. You know that?”

“Is that codeword for chubby?”

“That’s codeword for perfect.”

Then he kissed her and the heavens damned near opened for glory. Total situational overload. His tongue, raw heat, begged for permission at the corner of her mouth. She didn’t have the will to deny him.

She also didn’t have enough hands for what she wanted to do, but Lord knows she tried. She touched his face, clawed his chest and gripped his cheeks until one of her hands found its way to his manhood.

She’d never been this forward before. Everything in her human mind told her to stop. Reminded her that she didn’t know him. Luckily for her, her wolf took precedence.

Baron groaned into her mouth and nipped at the side of her lips when her hand closed around him. Well, as much around him as it could. Laid across a QWERTY keyboard, the man was ASDFGHJKL and maybe the ENTER key too.

She wanted to see what she held, but that would require her mouth leaving his. Neither of them seemed intent of having happen. Instead, his hands wandered down until they lay upon the damp hair between her legs. His fingers didn’t enter her, but he rubbed his rough palm against her core until her knees threatened to give way.
 

“You’ve been like this – ready for me since the moment we met. I’ve smelled it on you and been waiting to find out what it tastes like.” He dragged his hands against her one last time before pulling back to look her in the eyes. He shifted his tongue - just his tongue - and licked off the evidence of her lust from his hand, before sending it back for seconds. “You told me to lick you from top to bottom. I intend to.”

In the seconds it took him to drop to his knees, she told herself to keep her heart in check. No expectations.

Just this.

Just him.

Just now.

And just for the moment, she felt womanly, desired and gave herself permission to be free and to harbor no regrets.