“I’ll do it.”
Jazzy almost slipped her neck out of joint, turning around at the sound of Beth’s offer. “You’d put his studs back in his…his…whatever?”
Beth nodded, but her usually dark olive skin blushed brick red.
“You’d do that for me, Beth?”
She nodded again.
“I’ve got a JL, a Jacob’s Ladder. At least I had one. That’s why you found so many of ’em after I shifted. I used to have barbells running the length of my dick.” Nicky stood up and tightened the towel around his hips. He grabbed Beth’s hand, scooped up the little pile of silver barbells she’d left lying on the spread, and tugged Beth along behind him. “We’ll be in the other bedroom.”
Jazzy stared at the door Nicky closed behind him. “Who’d of thought Nicky had a JL?”
Deacon just shook his head and laughed. “Who’d have thought quiet little Beth would offer to put those suckers back in? Especially when they’ll just fall out again next time he shifts.”
“What do you mean, next time he shifts?” Once again Logan was pacing like an alpha dog on meth. Jazzy realized she was finding him less and less attractive.
“Tala said we’re all shapeshifters.” She stood up and glared at Logan. “I, for one, believe her. Haven’t any of you been having the dreams?”
Logan blinked and looked away. Matt slowly nodded agreement and Deacon gave her a high five. “You, too? And here I thought I was the only one flipping out.”
Jazzy nodded. “Yep. Me, too. Dark forests, the sense of running, hunting wild game. It’s like some sort of freaky feral memory.” She wrapped her arms around her waist and shivered. “I can’t wait to do it for real, if you want the truth.”
3
Beth followed Nicky into the second bedroom. It was as big as the first one, the colors all dark browns and greens and pale blues. Colors that suited both of them with their not-so-white skin, dark amber eyes, and darker hair.
Nicky sat on the edge of the bed. The towel still covered his nakedness, but he was obviously aroused and there was no way the terry cloth could hide anything that noticeable.
Beth stood in front of him, not quite between his knees but still close enough to touch him if she wanted. She couldn’t believe what she’d offered to do for him. Her hands shook so badly she was afraid even to try picking up one of the little silver barbells. No way in hell would she be able to touch him there and actually stick something into a hole in his skin. The whole idea grossed her out….
Turned her on.
Made her wet.
“Are you sure you want to…?”
“Are you sure you want me to…?”
They both laughed. Nicky hung his head. “I couldn’t say anything out there but there’s something weird going on with me.”
“You mean besides turning into a wolf?” She cocked one hip and tried to play it cool, but her whole body trembled.
Nicky shook his head. “Yeah, besides that. I feel like I could crawl out of my skin, like if I don’t shoot my load right now I’ll explode. Beth, I have never felt so horny in my life. Never, but ever since I…” He raised his head and stared directly into her eyes. No way could Beth turn away from the need she saw on his face.
He raised one hand, as if to touch her face, then let it fall to his lap. “Fuck. I’ll live if I don’t get off, but I did it, Beth. I’ve been dreaming about running on four legs for so long now that when it happened it felt right. It was right. It was me, who I am. Who I should be.”
“Did it hurt? I mean, your bones changed and everything, and…”
Nicky shook his head. “No. Not at all. It was fucking fantastic!”
“You killed that kid, Nicky. You ripped his throat out, but no one’s saying anything about that part of you changing at all. Those people act like it didn’t happen. AJ just brushed it off when Logan called him on it.”
“I saw that punk grab her breast and everything went dark.” He turned away and gazed out the window. “I sort of understand their feelings, though. It’s like…” He took a deep breath. “That guy threatened a member of their pack and I protected her. They understand that. It’s why they got us out of there so fast, so I wouldn’t get busted. It’s hard to explain, but I see things differently since I shifted. I feel differently about stuff.”
He took Beth’s hand in his. His fingers were warm and strong. Protective. She felt safe with Nicky. Felt as if she understood him better than the others.
“You do, Beth.”
“What?”
“That’s another thing that’s really weird. I can see what you’re thinking. You just thought about how you understand me better. You do.”
A cold chill ran down her spine. What other things had she been thinking over the past few minutes? Beth put her hands on her hips and struck what even she considered a defensive pose. “Do you really want me to put those studs back in, Nicky?”
He shook his head and grinned for the first time since he’d changed. “No. They’ll just come out again next time I shift.”
“I want to watch when you do it. Do you really think I’ll be able to shift, too? Tala said we’re all able to turn into wolves if we just eat more of that grass. I really want to…”
Nicky put his fingers over her lips and smiled. “What I really want you to do is get naked with me.” He raised his head and cocked one eyebrow.
Beth burst out laughing. It took her a minute, but she got herself under control and really looked at Nicky. Nicholas Robert Barden. She liked the sound of his name almost as much as the way he looked. Tall and slim with his dark hair and smooth, dark skin, he could be anything from Native American to Middle Eastern. He looked different now, without the studs in his eyebrows and the tattoos that had covered his arms and chest.
Quiet and introspective, he was usually reading a book when he wasn’t working. He’d been the first of them to find the garden in the park. The first to chew the thick stems of that weird Tibetan grass.
The first of them to become a wolf.
He’d also been the first and only male she’d ever considered choosing to have sex with. It wasn’t like she was a virgin or anything. Her stepfather had seen to that, and life on the streets wasn’t always the safest place for a young woman, but she’d never willingly had sex before.
Well, that was about to change. She was twenty-one years old and it was time. Slowly she began unbuttoning her shirt. Nicky’s eyes went wide and he pulled the towel tighter around his waist.
“I was…I didn’t…Beth, I was teasing.”
She shook her head as she slipped her blouse over her arms and felt her long hair brush her naked shoulders. “I’m not. I’ve wanted to get naked with you for weeks now, but you never paid me any attention. Whether it’s the grasses or the changes in my body…or just you, I don’t know, but I’ve never felt so needy in my life. I’m not going to pass up this chance.”
Nicky dipped his chin almost to his chest. “You weren’t watching very closely if you think I haven’t been paying attention.”
Beth paused with both hands on the snap of her jeans. She raised her head and he raised his, and once again she found herself falling into Nicky’s amber-eyed gaze. “You were?”
He nodded. “I was. Most definitely.”
“Oh.”