by Dianna Love
“Adrian ... “ She’d intended that to come out with authority, not to sound husky.
“Mmm?” he murmured.
“I need, uhm ... “
“Help washing your back,” he suggested.
No, no, no. She had to get him out of here. “Clothes,” she grumbled at him. “Get out of my way.”
“Just a joke,” he smiled as if he hadn’t just lied. “Where are your clothes? I’ll get them.”
Why did he have to keep acting so nice?
Dragging up patience from where she kept it for special occasions, she angled her head to her right. “In a box under the bed. Should be a pair of jogging pants and a T-shirt in there.”
She waited while he found the cardboard box and dug for the clothes. That shouldn’t take long. She only had a couple changes Sam’s wife had been nice enough to pull together for her.
When Adrian came back, she expected him to make a comment about no underwear, but he didn’t. He leaned past her and dropped the clothes on the closed toilet lid.
His masculine scent brushed her sensitive body just as if he’d touched her with those long fingers.
“What else can I do?” he asked.
That back wash sounded pretty good.
She shook off her momentary lapse of sanity. “Nothing. I’ve got it from here.”
He held her gaze for a long moment. “Need me to help you get in the tub?”
She gave the sexy brute a push in his chest. “You’re not staying while I bathe.”
He grimaced, but quickly covered the reaction with a phony smile.
She’d scented dried blood earlier and brushed it off as an injury healing, but why had he grimaced?
Adrian asked, “Change your mind about the back wash?”
She bumped on her power to test his ability to catch a lie. “No.”
His eyebrows jumped and he grinned.
“What’s so funny?”
“You just lied.”
What the devil? Why couldn’t she get a lie past him?
Thoroughly confused, she hobbled back a step and shut the door then dropped her forehead on the painted wood surface.
She couldn’t keep her distance with him so close.
She also couldn’t lie to him and protect him from her dangerous life.
By midnight, her bones would be fully healed and she’d have a plan for escape.
Chapter 10
Adrian stared at the bathroom door.
No underwear. Not in that box.
How did she expect him to get no underwear off his mind with her in there naked and wet?
Jaz wouldn’t care. She’d tell him it was his problem to deal with, just as his hard dick was his problem. What was he doing here drooling over her?
His target.
He couldn’t look at her and think target. His brain refused to accept everything bad he’d heard about her. Had he lost the ability to be objective? Maybe.
As for his conscience, that was a whole different issue. When he’d been miles away without Jaz close enough to smell on every breath, he’d had no trouble sticking to his plan to bring in Kaiser’s killer.
But he believed Jaz when she said she had not murdered Kaiser.
She’d tried to run a lie past him twice tonight, nothing noteworthy. Had those been tests? Did she think the damage he and his wolf suffered had altered his ability to use his senses?
It didn’t matter, because he’d caught both attempts.
The fact that she’d tried at all called up suspicion, but he couldn’t say he wouldn’t do the same in her shoes.
He’d never been in conflict like this.
Not about a mission, but this didn’t feel like a mission. That had to be his fault for allowing his mind to stray off the intellectual path and wander into dangerous emotional territory.
While Jaz bathed, Adrian pushed his mind back on task. He took in her room, searching for anything that would tell him what she was doing in this place. But all she possessed additionally from the last time he’d been with her were the clothes in that box.
They smelled like different humans.
Had someone given her the clothes?
He should start with finding out what she was doing here, but he couldn’t get her to talk if he turned into cop mode. He might get her to talk if he acted more like the person she’d fought alongside. The same person she’d talked to when they were in adjoining cages in a tiger clan’s compound.
Recalling that moment, Adrian frowned when he recalled questioning why she hadn’t washed the grime off her face when it had been raining on them. He’d insulted her and wanted to kick his own ass for that.
Now her keeping the mud on her face made sense. She constantly had to hide her scar, which identified her as the Golden Kodiak wolf shifter.
He’d seen a bandage on the ground near her clothes.
Had she been wearing that to hide her scar and lost it when she shifted?
At the sound of water draining from the tub, he turned to find her hobbling out of the bathroom. Wet hair fell loose around her face and the loose-fitting workout clothes shouldn’t be sexy. That outfit wouldn’t be if it didn’t cling in all the right places.
She hopped to one of two chairs at a table large enough to hold two paper plates.
“I saw you flinch when I touched your chest,” she accused.
He hadn’t expected that. “It’s fine. My wolf fought a pair of wolf shifters on our way here.”
Crossing her arms, she asked. “Was that in the woods about eight miles south of here?”
He opened his mouth then closed it. Every word he said at this turn of topics would bury him. Then they’d be right back to talking about him hunting her.
She must have taken his silence for guilt. Not giving up, she said, “You found my trail in the woods with a pair of wolf shifters and scents from two humans, right?”
He nodded.
“That’s how you found me?”
“Pretty much.” He admitted, “The sheriff one town over helped. He told me about a woman named Janet who helped save a hunter, then sent me to Clarenceville.”
Rubbing her temples, she said, “Back to your chest. What else is injured?”
“Are you a doctor, Jaz?” Isn’t that what she’d tossed at him earlier?
“As a matter of fact, I’m a healer,” she countered with a load of cockiness. “Just save us both time and answer me truthfully, Adrian. Where else are you hurt?”
Well damn. That beat his ace. “My arm, too.”
She waved him over. When he moved to stand right in front of her, she lifted his shirt and grimaced at the wound that had stopped seeping blood, but still showed dark bruises. “How long ago did you get injured?”
“About an hour before I found you.”
She studied the claw marks and gouges. “Why haven’t you healed?” Concerned eyes lifted to his.
“To be honest, I’m not sure. Even with my wolf problems, we’ve always healed fast. Not this time.” He could guess and say it might be tied to Mad Red pulling further away from him.
She studied his chest more than he thought necessary, which he took to mean she deliberated on a decision.
Sounding resigned, she said, “You can lay down and give your body a chance to heal.”
He dropped his shirt down. “I’m dirtier than you were. I’ll be fine.”
Still staring at him as if he were a puzzle she’d wanted to solve for a long time, she asked, “Where are you staying?”
“I haven’t decided.”
“That might be the truth, but not all of it,” she mused.
He’d rather not share what happened in the hotel or that he’d decided to only sleep outside for the time being.
When she got tired of waiting on him to speak, she surprised him with another option. “Tell you what. You can clean up and sleep here tonight, but you have to promise to leave by daylight.”
“Thanks, Jaz, but I can’t do that.”
Her fa
ce fell. “In other words, you didn’t mean it when you said let’s call a truce. Was that only to get here? Inside my apartment.”
He protested, “That’s not what I meant.”
“Really? Then what do you mean?”
Walking around in a small circle, he turned back to her. He didn’t want to share his vulnerabilities with anyone, but Jaz had already been with him when he lost his grip on reality.
“I need sleep, too, Adrian. I don’t want to spend the night with one eye open, worried you’ll try to handcuff me and call in SCIS.”
“First of all, I’m not here for SCIS,” he said with steel in his voice. “I wish you’d believe me when I say I’m not here in any official capacity and that I won’t trick you.” Sure, that sounded surly, but after all he’d been through, he didn’t like having his character questioned. “I’ve never acted without honor, especially with a woman. Even if one attacked me. If she used no lethal weapon, I tried to contain her without harming her.”
“I ... didn’t mean to insult you.”
He waved it off. “Don’t worry about it.”
She grabbed a fist of her wet hair and grumbled, “I’m confused. Let’s just play this straight. I don’t need anything sugar coated. You won’t accept my offer to rest and heal, because you won’t leave in the morning for fear of me escaping. That’s it, right?”
That stepped on his last good nerve. “No. That’s not it. If I sleep here tonight, you won’t survive the night.”
Silence landed hard in the small room.
Their gazes clashed in a standoff.
Then she smiled as if she found something amusing, thoroughly confusing him.
Tilting her head in question, she said, “Let me get this straight. You won’t trick me, but you’re going to kill me in my sleep?”
Screw it. If she used what he told her against him, then he deserved it for coming after her. “I get caught in nightmares sometimes. When that happens, my wolf comes out. We destroyed a hotel room in Spartanburg last night. I don’t think my wolf would harm a person, because he gave me his word. That doesn’t fix when I black out and he uses that time to punish me. He ... hates me.”
Her smile crashed. She allowed a thoughtful moment to pass before her voice turned serious. “My wolf would never allow your wolf to harm me. Take a bath and get some sleep. I won’t be ready to sleep for a while.”
Adrian couldn’t believe his ears. Was she really going to trust him after what he’d just admitted?
His wolf had a possessive streak for her wolf, but that’s when they were both lucid. Adrian had no idea what frame of mind Mad Red was in when in the throes of nightmare.
On the other hand, could Adrian trust Jaz when she knew he was here about Kaiser’s death?
Chapter 11
Jaz sat quietly, waiting for Adrian to make up his mind to stay or leave. She had some concern about him losing control of his wolf if he had a nightmare, but she believed her wolf capable of handling that red wolf once hers had healed.
Even as she sat here, she felt bones mending and pain receding in her leg. Her nose had stopped throbbing.
Adrian clearly struggled to make up his mind.
Now that she had a chance to take him in from head to toe, his tired eyes were sunken. In better light now, his skin appeared gray compared to the robust healthy color she remembered.
Adrian looked rough. Not from fighting the shifters so much as ... being weary.
A bond-deep fatigue from internal battles.
She couldn’t imagine battling her wolf. Maybe, just maybe, if she helped him rest he’d be reasonable about walking away.
She urged him toward a decision. “I’m not your enemy, Adrian. Not tonight.”
Tension pouring from him dissipated and his whole body seemed to relax. “Okay, thanks. I’ll clean up and grab a power nap, then I’ll leave.”
Unlike her, he hurried through his bath and came out of the bathroom towel-drying his hair. He wore a second towel wrapped around his waist.
The skimpy towel barely covered all that male.
No barrier stopped her wayward mind from painting a mental picture of him underneath.
She hadn’t been with a man since leaving Alaska and that had been a temporary arrangement they’d both wanted. She’d never been mate material and wasted no energy bemoaning it.
But she had this unexplainable urge to be with Adrian.
“Stop looking at me like that, Jaz,” he warned.
She flicked her gaze up from where the towel covering his lower part began tenting.
Hell. That was her fault. “You’re safe, big boy,” she teased. “I’ll always look, but it means nothing more.”
He arched an eyebrow at that.
“Are you calling that a lie?” she asked.
“No. Just wondering if you have someone back home, wherever that is, in Kodiak.”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Truth.” He smiled, clearly happy with her answer.
Finished with the towel he’d used on his hair, he dropped it on top of the one she’d left on the bathroom floor. He stood there a minute, looking over his shoulder into the bathroom, then back at her. “Hope you don’t mind. I rinsed my clothes and they’re drying, but I’ll wear them damp.”
“Sit down, Adrian. You’re so uncomfortable, you’re making me uncomfortable.”
He chuckled and sat in the only empty chair. “You’re not like any other female, that’s for sure.”
“Oh? Why do you say that?”
“You show no fear no matter what you face. You and your wolf are tough.” He stretched his legs out.
She commended herself on not looking down. “Yes, I’m not exactly a female fantasies are built around. You call it as you see it.”
He put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. That heady masculine aroma poured off him and rocked her senses. He said, “That’s where you’re wrong. Your confidence, your ability, your attitude ... it’s all sexy as hell. Even that scar. It’s the mark of a warrior.” Then he sat back in his chair.
She had no words for that.
The men from her Kodiak family found her attractive, but those men admired strength. They couldn’t mate a fragile female. Even so, they preferred their women to not have scars on their faces. And to not be a wolf shifter.
Many of the men she’d met in this part of the country gave much more merit to cosmetic appearance.
She’d had plenty of disgusted looks once they saw the long scar down the side of her face.
Not one man had ever said he found that flaw attractive.
Adrian yawned. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. You’re supposed to be catching some sleep.”
He scratched his head. “I can’t risk my wolf hurting you, Jaz.”
“Here’s the deal.” She waited for him to turn to her then said, “I’m sitting next to the door if I need to leave. Worst case, if you start shifting, I’ll wake you up. Have you had anyone wake you?”
Blinking slowly, he seemed to consider that. “No. Still ... let me talk to my wolf. If he agrees not to attack you, I can do this.”
“You don’t have control, but you trust your wolf’s word?”
“Yes.” He glanced at her then away. “At one time, we were very close. The one thing we still have is truth. If he tells me he will or will not do something, he means it.”
Fascinating. She waited as Adrian stared straight ahead.
His brow wrinkled at something then he shook it off and turned to her. “He says he won’t harm the golden wolf. I asked him to clarify if that extended to you or just your wolf. He said he would not attack the golden wolf’s human. Mad Red has never separated out a shifter that way. Until now, the shifter human and animal side was one in his book.”
“You call him Mad Red?” she asked, horrified.
“Yeah, I know it sounds bad, but he was Red to me for many years when we were close. He prefers Mad Red now. I think he likes the barrier bet
ween us before and us now.” Rubbing his hands over his eyes, Adrian said, “You have something I can throw on the floor?”
“No. Get in the bed. It’s just a bed, not a commitment.”
This time, he burst out laughing. “Okay, fine.” He reached over and covered her hand with his, then rubbed his thumb over her skin. “You’re something.”
Her heart wiggled at the compliment in his honest words.
They would be an interesting pair. Too bad for the gulf of differences between them. She ran from the law and he represented them in some capacity.
Would he believe the truth she’d stated about Kaiser’s death and go back to his people with only that in hand? Not a realistic outcome. Should she tell him everything?
That reminded her to find out his connection to Kaiser’s pack. “How are you involved with Tanza?”
Adrian had stood. “I was in a special military unit with her brother, Leonard. He was my best friend and saved my life. He told her to contact me if they ever needed help.” His eyes were sad. “I want to do right by her, but I also want to hear your side, Jaz. I really was not blindly racing forward to accuse you of murder. I sincerely came here to get the truth. You said you didn’t murder him. I believe you and I want to help clear you.”
She arranged her face into a pleasant expression. “We’ll talk when you wake up. I’d like someone to hear my side.”
That relaxed his shoulders. “Thanks.” He made it to the bed and dropped down, face first then fell asleep in minutes.
She covered her eyes with her hand.
Leonard connected everyone.
She’d been friends with him. Adrian had shared a close bond with Leonard. Tanza idolized her brothers, especially Leonard.
Her heart thumped with hope, though.
Adrian could be the one person who might believe her side. He said he did, but she now realized he had to hear it all.
She watched him as he fell deeper into sleep. His breathing evened out. He stayed like that for a half hour.
Then he began twitching and shaking his head. He muttered garbled words. He howled suddenly.
Jaz jumped up. Her heartbeat raced.