“He can’t go around acting that way,” the night manager said to their retreating backs.
"Come on," she instructed unnecessarily since Talon was right next to her. He looked completely relaxed and totally oblivious to the fact that he had nearly landed himself in jail. His flip-flops made slapping noises against his feet. She looked up at the ceiling, wondering how the hell she had gotten herself into this. He fell into step next to her. "You couldn't make it one night on your own?" She spoke under her breath.
Talon shrugged. “I was doing fine.”
“Almost getting arrested is not doing fine.”
“I’m not sure what the big deal is. The balcony was a part of my room.” He shook his head. “I stepped out for a few seconds to get some air.” He shrugged.
The guy was for real. “Yeah but people could see you and you were naked. It is a big deal.”
“I couldn’t help the other time. I got locked out of my room.”
“You didn’t even try to cover yourself though.”
“I am not embarrassed or ashamed of my body. I am how I am.” Another one of those shrugs.
She huffed out a breath. “I think they’re being a bit harsh, although, you can’t go around naked. Not ever. It’s not how we do things.” She sighed. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do with you.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not, you’re homeless right now. I don’t know you well enough to take you home with me.” He was practically a stranger. Potentially dangerous. He wasn’t one hundred percent of sound mind. That much was clear.
“I will find another hotel. You pay them money and they give you a bed and food.”
“I doubt we’ll find a hotel that will check you in at this time of night.” She shook her head.
“There must be one.” He looked her way.
“Um … if it’s open, it’s not the kind of place you want to be spending the night in, trust me.”
They reached her car. Talon put his hand on the roof and turned to face her. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I don’t need much sleep anyway. I’ll see you in the morning. Thank you for coming to get me. I told Peter I would leave, that he didn’t need to call you, but he insisted.” Talon sort of smiled. The edge of his lips twitched and his face relaxed for a second or two. Then it was all business again. All intense and brooding. His eyes bright, despite the dark. “Thank you for coming to help me out. I appreciate it. See you in the morning.” Talon turned and began walking away.
Oh hell! The guy might be a bit crazy, but he was sweet. She doubted he would hurt a fly. At least, she hoped not because as it turned out, she was losing her mind as well. “Wait.” Please don’t let me regret this.
He paused but didn’t turn back. Shit! She was tempted to let him go, but she had a bad feeling he would end up in jail or worse if she let him leave. The guy had absolutely no clue.
“You can crash at my place,” she mumbled. Argh! She prayed, all over again, that she didn’t end up regretting this.
He finally turned back to her. “I’m fine. I’m a grown male. I can make it a couple of hours on my own.”
Doubtful at best. Vicky shook her head. She pressed the button and unlocked the car. “Get in. I live in a one-bedroom apartment so you’re going to have to sleep on the sofa.”
“Are you sure? Because, you don’t look sure.”
“Like I said, I don’t know you. I don’t normally take guys I don’t know home with me.” Especially if they smack of crazy.
His frown deepened.
“I mean it, Bright Eyes. Get in the car before you end up in jail … or worse. It’s not safe out here.”
He finally smiled. For real this time. Good lord! He was pretty cute when he smiled. “Not safe.” Then he chuckled. “Okay, if you say so, Vicky, but know that I would never harm you.”
“That’s what they all say.” She smiled back.
“Really. You can trust me.”
She'd heard that one before. "Just get in the car before I change my mind. I plan on calling Maggie and leaving a long, detailed message; if anything were to happen to me, they'd know it was you."
“I would never harm a helpless person. Honor is very important to my kind but if it will make you feel better, contact your friend. I don’t mind.” Another small smile.
Lord help her!
Chapter 5
A squeaky noise left her throat and she almost fell over in her low heels. The squeak sounded strangled.
That was some ass!
Meaty and firm … She sucked in a breath. And it was also some back … broad and muscled. The longest, most muscular back she had ever seen. And those shoulders … Man, oh man, those shoulders. Wide … so darned wide. Her legs would look good slung over a pair of shoulders like that.
What?
Wait.
What in hell had made her think that? It was the first time she had thought about sex since … That line of thinking evaporated when Talon pushed the fridge closed, the bottles and jars clanging. Then he turned. Turned. Jesus and Mary and all of the saints! All of them. All. They weren’t burning that shirt of his after all. No way! Big cock wasn’t boasting. Big cock was being conservative. He also had abs and pecs to match the monster swinging between his legs.
Talon cleared his throat. When she finally locked eyes with him, his were narrowed and amused. “Good morning, Vicky. Did you sleep well?”
She swallowed thickly. “Yes, thank you, and you?” Too polite. “You look well rested. By the way, why are you naked? We spoke about this last night. You can’t walk around naked. That’s what got you kicked out of The Plaza.”
He shrugged those beautiful, broad shoulders of his. “I hadn’t given it too much thought. This is how I sleep. This is not a public place, is it?” He could obviously see that she wasn’t buying it because he added, “Besides, I was hungry. This,” he gestured to his naked, toned, honed body, “is perfectly natural. I went to sleep and woke up hungry and here I am.” He spread his arms.
Here he was alright. In all his glory. “Natural for whom?” she choked out. Don’t look at his dick. Don’t do it!
“For me. This is normal for my people. For everyone, surely? There is nothing wrong with being naked.”
“You walk around naked where you come from? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“Mostly, yes.” He nodded nonchalantly.
Her mouth fell open. “All the time?”
“Most of the time. It makes shifting easier.”
“Of course it does.” Nuts deluxe! She was even more nuts for taking him home. What was she thinking?
Thing was, Talon was delusional and potentially schizophrenic, or something. Right now, she thought it was a pity that she'd majored in relationship counseling and not in full-blown psychology.
Despite his mental state, he was some fine piece of man-meat. She had to work really hard to keep looking him in the eyes, which was weird because she wasn’t normally a pervert. She really wasn’t. She didn’t generally find naked men quite so appealing. This, though. Right now. Talon. He was something else. But hey … Come on …
A shifter?
Yeah, right.
Why did she care if he was crazy? What difference did it make and why had she just had that thought in the first place? Like she was considering … something. With him. Nah! She suppressed an internal laugh. No way! Forget it. “Don’t you guys get sick? Or cold? Must be kind of drafty walking around like that.” She nodded towards his nakedness. All five hundred acres of smooth, sun-kissed skin over nicely honed muscle. Sheesh!
Great, now she was starting to sound like a romance novel. Not that she had anything against romance novels, mind you. She didn’t. She read at least two a month. She didn’t like sounding like one, though. Shit, she realized she’d been ogling him this whole time. His eyes were definitely filled with amusement. They really were quite beautiful eyes. Even the color had grown on her.
That full lip of his twitched again.
“Ever?” Yeah right!
“No, never.”
There was a loud meow from behind her. “Oh, Oliver,” Vicky said as she caught sight of her tortoiseshell cat. “You no-good street urchin.” She smiled. He only came home for breakfast and dinner. Otherwise she never saw him. He used her for food and that was it. “I must warn you—” The rest of her sentence died a sudden death as she watched her cat run up to Talon. Not only that, he proceeded to rub up against his legs, purring and meowing with enthusiasm. “That’s weird,” she said, mostly to herself.
Talon reached down and scratched Oliver behind the ears. Her cat lapped it up, purring even louder.
“Very strange,” she muttered. “He was born feral and—”
“Feral.” Talon nodded. “Yes, of course.”
Huh! Was she missing something?
“He doesn’t normally like to be touched. I’m allowed to pet him on the very rarest of occasions. I’ve never seen anyone else come anywhere near him. He hates strangers.” She huffed out a breath, putting her hands on her hips. “I don’t get it. He even hated Jeff, tore up his arm once. Tore up his leg once too. Come to think of it, he’s a good cat.” Had good taste in people.
Well, mostly. Talon made a purring noise of his own. It came from deep in his chest. A growly vibration. It was weird yet oddly sexy. Was that even possible? Oliver meowed again, rubbing up against Talon even more. Not that she could blame the cat. It would be nice to rub against all that.
She gave a shake of the head. “You should get dressed.” It was time for all this perving to be over.
“Come get your breakfast, Olly.” She shook the container that held his kibble, causing it to rattle. Sure enough, her cat came running, dashing out of the way when she tried to stroke him. “Not fair, Oliver. Not fair at all. You’re all over him, when I’ve fed you and loved you from afar ‒ not my choice ‒ for three years.” He didn’t listen to her. His eyes were on the container. She poured his food into his dish.
He eyed her wearily. “Fine,” Vicky sighed and moved away.
She heard the front door opening and turned in that direction. “Where are you going?”
Talon paused, hand on the doorknob, the door halfway open. He was wearing a pair of briefs and nothing else. Must have put them on when she was feeding Olly. Might as well be bare-assed though. "I need to go and bathe."
“Like that?” She pointed at his crotch area. In those tight briefs, she could easily make out his long, thick … Stop!
Talon grimaced. “I put these on.” He pointed to the briefs. “Do humans bathe with their clothes on? You really are a complicated species.”
“No, we don’t. Thing is, you’re about to go out into public almost naked. That is also not okay. If you did though, blue balls would take on a whole new meaning. It’s freezing out. Besides, there’s no need.”
“I told you, I need to bathe. There was a lake … I’m not sure where it is now, but I’ll find it.”
“You want to bathe in the lake, the one in the middle of the park? Okay …” She squeezed the bridge of her nose. “It’s unnecessary when I have a perfectly good shower. Not only that, you would be arrested for indecent exposure before you make it one block. If you learn nothing else from me while you are here, it needs to be that you can’t go out in public naked or practically naked.” She emphasized the words. “You got that, Bright Eyes? You have to be fully clothed at all times.”
He nodded once. “My name is Talon.”
“It’s a nickname. Are you sure you understand what I just said?”
“Of course I understand. Well,” his brow furrowed, “I’m not sure what a shower is but I understood everything else just fine.”
"Oh, brother." She shook her head. "You've never heard of a shower?" Bull-freaking-shit! He was putting her on and in a bad way. He seemed so sincere. Like he believed what he was spewing.
“No.” Deadpan.
She didn’t believe him, but she would play ball. “Follow me.” She headed for her bathroom, her cheeks heating when she spied her clothing from the night before strewn on the floor next to her bed, including her underwear. Give a girl a break. It had been the middle of the night ‒ make that, early morning by the time they got home. Talon didn’t even look though. Not even one side glance. They walked into the bathroom and she opened the stall. “This is a shower.” She pulled out the handle and water rushed out.
Talon took a step back and cocked his head to the side. It was an odd movement she’d seen him make before. She could see the wheels turning inside his head. “Oh, I see. A shower is a type of small waterfall.” He put his hand under the stream. “Mmmmm, warm too.” Then he pulled off the briefs and jumped right on in. Her mouth dropped open as she watched Talon step under the stream of water. He looked amazing wet. Good lord! This picture should be on the cover of a magazine somewhere. Maybe from the waist up, or it might be a bit of a sleaze rag. Then Talon began running his hands up and down those acres of bronzed skin.
Wow. Wow. Wow.
“Wait.” Why was she still there? She was a pervert, that’s why. “You might want to use the soap.” I would love to see you all lathered up.
“Soap?” He frowned.
“Use that.” She pointed at the shower gel on the glass shelf. “Use it to clean yourself with. She made circular motions just above her own body. “Good lord, you’re not paying me enough for this. Not nearly enough,” she lied through her teeth. She should be paying him right now.
“How much more do you need?”
“Another twenty, at least?” She threw out on a laugh, not actually serious.
“Fine.”
As much as she needed the money, he was already paying her one hell of a lot, she couldn't take more. Those two bundles weren't twenty large ones each but thirty. If she played her cards right, by the end of this, she might just end up one hundred and twenty thousand bucks richer. For a couple of weeks' work. "I was only teasing. I'm not taking any more of your money." As much as she wanted to, she couldn't do it.
He shrugged, pouring some of the gel into his hands before sniffing it.
Talon was far too naïve. There were those who would take advantage of him. Then he began to rub on the gel, using the same circular motions she had demonstrated. Flip, she was right, he did look good all lathered up. Amazingly good. The suds all dripping down, down …
“Do you also need to bathe?” He stepped to the side, making room, for her. Looking all innocent and sweet. So much so that she was inclined to take him up on the offer. Maybe jump in with him even though she’d had a shower already. She contemplated joining him for a second because she was feeling a little sweaty.
“I’m fine.” She cleared her throat. “Here’s a towel, to dry with,” she added, just in case he wasn’t aware.
“I know what a towel is,” he said, as he started washing his junk. As in, gripped it in his hand and fisted, up and down and all around.
Her girl parts gave a little clench. It made her feel sensitive down there. Flip! She was turned on. Oh god! What the hell? She was actually turned on. No! Come on!
“Are you okay?” More squeezing and grabbing of his junk. Soap suds dripped down his thighs.
“Ah … um … yeah.” She quickly shut the shower door with a bang. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
Talon started humming some or other tune she’d never heard before. He had an amazing voice. Melodic, fresh, yet masculine and deep.
Okie dokes. The plan was to get him a new wardrobe and then to find him a new hotel. He couldn’t stay here again tonight. No way, José!
Talon put the same pants back on. He had a fresh shirt in his bag which he pulled over his head. He was sure the human would like this one better. He knew for a fact that she liked the animal on the front. That, at least, was good news. He pushed his feet into the shoes and made his way to the other room.
He groaned as he entered the room. It smelled of tantalizing aromas that had his stomach grumbling.
“I take it that you’re hungry?” She held a cooking instrument and was using it to put food onto plates.
“Yes, very much so.” It came out as another groan.
“Good. You take a seat over there.” She pointed to a place at the table, glancing his way. “Wait a minute.” She narrowed her eyes, looking at his chest.
He stopped mid-step, eyes on her.
She clenched her teeth and pressed her lips together, like she was trying to stop herself from laughing. It was that, or she had a stomach ache. Then she put her hands on her hips, trying to look stern. “What are you wearing?” She shook her head in clear disbelief.
Talon was instantly confused. “You gripe at me when I’m naked and you gripe at me when I’m dressed. A male can’t win.” He sighed.
She finally cracked a smile. The female was pretty when she smiled. Who was he trying to fool? She was pretty any which way. Full strawberry lips, long, dark brown hair and the bluest of eyes. “Your shirt has a picture of a cat on it with the word ‘magnet’ underneath.”
“A cat.” So that was the name of her creature. “You like cats, don’t you? You have one … Oliver.”
She laughed. A quick short burst that made him want to smile. He held back. Vicky bit down on her lower lip and nodded. “Yes, I like cats very much. Another word for cat is pussy, so your shirt says ‘pussy magnet’.” She looked at him expectantly.
He wasn’t sure what she was trying to tell him.
The human sighed. “Let’s start with the magnet part of the whole thing. Do you know what a magnet is?”
“Of course I know what a magnet is.” He could see that she didn’t believe him. “It’s an object that produces a magnetic field. This field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable properties of a magnet.” He briefly considered naming some of the properties. “Each magnet has a north pole and a—”
“Okay, okay!” She held up her hands, her eyes wide in what looked like disbelief. “I’m impressed. So, you know what a magnet is. That it attracts other objects.”
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