Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 113944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
As they were nearing the checkout stand, he let out a low growl that made her think of an idling motorcycle. She threw him a questioning look, surprised to see his nostrils flaring.
“You’re wet,” he said in a low, deep voice.
Her cheeks reddened. “You have no one to blame for that but yourself.”
Once they’d bagged the groceries, they loaded them into the trunk of his SUV. She’d wanted to take her truck, but he’d rightly pointed out that as the Moores knew her vehicle, they’d know to look for her if they saw it around. Unable to argue that, she’d agreed to let him drive her to the store. Done loading the trunk, Zander drove en route to the house.
Resting one hand on her thigh, he asked, “Did Yvonne officially adopt you?”
Gwen sighed. “You’re so damn nosy.”
“Answer my question, and I’ll answer one of yours.”
“All right. No, she didn’t. She just fostered me, the same as she did Marlon and Julie. Your turn.” She lifted a brow. “You ever had anal sex?”
He did a double take. “What?”
“I’m curious. How’d it go?”
Zander gritted his teeth. “I know what you’re doing, Gwen.” She was trying to make the conversation superficial, trying to keep him at a distance. That wasn’t going to happen. He wasn’t interested in fucking a stranger, and he wanted to know her better. “No, I haven’t. Shifters tend to save anal sex for their mates. Now, I have another question for you.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” she mumbled.
“How long have you lived with Yvonne?”
“Since I was eight. Now you. What do you prefer—tits or ass?”
“Gwen.”
She turned to the window. “Fine, don’t answer.”
“I’m more of an ass-man. And you, by the way, have a hot little ass. One last question.” For now, anyway. “What happened to your foster father?” he asked softly, already suspecting the male was dead.
“The first one died in a car accident.”
He frowned. “There was a second one? What happened to him?”
“Karma.” She sighed. “So, you like to use toys in bed?”
Zander grinned wickedly and lightly squeezed her thigh. “You’d be my toy, baby.”
Her whole body seemed to flush at that. She’d heard about sex with shifters. Heard it was rough, intense, mind-blowing. What was the dumb phrase the shifter groupies used? Once you go shifter, you’ll never go back. She’d always snickered at that. But while Zander’s potent sex appeal swamped her, and she fairly ached for him, she suspected that he would leave a lasting impression on her. She couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
As they pulled up in front of the B&B and she spotted a familiar Audi, Gwen’s libido instantly cooled down. The owner of said Audi was standing on the porch with Marlon, and they were having some kind of standoff.
Zander studied the thin, lanky male standing on the porch. Zander didn’t recognize him from Half ’n’ Half, and he was pretty sure he hadn’t seen him around. “Who’s that?”
She unbuckled her seat belt. “My ex-therapist, Aidan.”
Zander’s brows snapped together. The idea that she might have suffered some sort of trauma made anger surge through him, but he kept his voice even. “Why did you have a therapist?”
“For therapy.”
Impatient, he pushed, “Why did you go to therapy?”
“Because Julie wouldn’t go unless I did.”
He gritted his teeth at her evasiveness. “Gwen.”
“Do you have to be so fucking nosy?”
“When the fucking subject’s you, yeah.”
Huffing, she hopped out of the SUV and slowly climbed the steps onto the porch. She felt Zander’s body heat, knew he was close behind her despite his not making a sound.
Aidan’s face softened in a way she couldn’t help but find creepy. “Gwen.” His eyes slid to Zander, who now stood at her side so close their arms touched. And the therapist clearly didn’t like it. “I’m Aidan Rogers. You are?”
“Why are you here?” Gwen asked, tone flat. Aidan would just love to get some sort of emotional reaction from her to evaluate it. She’d give him nothing.
“I wanted to check on you. Julie told me that you declined my offer of support and didn’t want to see me. I respect that—”
“Do you?” rumbled Zander. “Because if you did, you wouldn’t be here.” He didn’t know anything about this asshole, but he did know that the human felt something for Gwen. It was plain to see, and it rubbed Zander the wrong way. His wolf stalked forward and pressed against Zander’s skin, taking a good look at the male. Weak, the wolf decided. No threat. Still, the beast wanted him gone. So did Zander.
Aidan ignored him, keeping his attention on Gwen. “Could we speak privately?”
“No,” she said.
Aidan’s mouth flattened. “Julie mentioned that you have guests offering to help. Shifters. I’m guessing the man beside you is one of them.”
Folding his arms across his chest, Marlon asked, “Should you be sharing anything that Julie said to you, given it’s all supposed to be private between you and your patient?”