Page 29 of Triumph of the Wolf
“I can imagine,” I said with sympathy and rested a hand on his shoulder, brushing the strong tendon in his neck with my thumb.
His eyelids drooped as he shifted under me, snuggling me closer against him. The heat radiating from his hard body seeped into me as I inhaled, his masculine scent mingling with the popcorn aroma in the air. It was intoxicating.Hewas intoxicating.
“What movie shall we watch?” I murmured, though it hadn’t escaped my notice that he didn’t have anything paused on the phone. The screen wasn’t even on.
“I’ve got exactly what I want to watch right here.” He squeezed me, then freed a hand to offer me the popcorn bag.
“I’m not very exciting.”
“You knowthat’snot true. I just told you how much I enjoyed seeing that punch. Maybe I’ll replay it over and over in my mind as we exquisitely explore each other’s bodies.”
He slid one hand under my shirt and up to stroke my breast, sending a streak of hot desire through me. There was nouncertainty in his eyes or hesitancy in his touch that suggested he worried that I might not want his hand there, that I would punch someone else tonight. By now, he knew I was into him, that I longed for his touch. Why had we waited so long to get to this moment?
I bent to kiss him, sliding my tongue along his lips, tasting the lingering salt and butter from the popcorn. He returned the kiss, his mouth hard and hungry, and groaned as his arm tightened around me. His free hand slid up to peel off my bra strap, giving him unfettered access to the sensitive skin of my breast. I might have groaned too, shifting my chest toward him so he could more easily touch me. I gripped his shoulders, wondering why I’d insisted that he put on clothes, and reveled in his stroking fingers. Already, I was thinking of requesting—or demanding—that he take me to bed.
This time, we weren’t wearing our medallions. We longed for each other—lustedfor each other—without the presence of their magic. I pushed my fingers up into Duncan’s hair, using my nails to massage his scalp. His roving hands slid my shirt off my torso, leaving it and my bra on the floor next to us.
Giggles outside made us both pause.
Duncan’s eyes opened, and he looked out the windshield. “Hm.”
I kept my focus on him, hoping that whoever it was would get quickly into their car without wandering in this direction. Perhaps, we should move into the rear of the van where equipment and tinted windows would block the view of the bed from passersby…
More giggles sounded, and I turned enough to follow Duncan’s gaze out the windshield.
Not ten feet away, the two twenty-something tenants with ghostometers and other paranormal monitoring equipment were setting up on the sidewalk. Cameras on tripods pointedtoward the woods, the grounds around the closest apartment buildings, and at the parking lot. A weird funnel attached by a cable to equipment in a suitcase aimed right at Duncan’s van.
The girls were looking at something on one of their phones and might not have spotted us making out in the driver’s seat, but I wasn’t sure about that. It could be that the camera feed of us was showing on their phone. With a zoom lens activated? The thought made my cheeks heat in embarrassment and indignation, and I grabbed my clothes off the floor, hurrying to put them back on.
“Should I go over there and assure them that there are no ghosts in my van?” Duncan asked.
“I don’t even know if they’re looking forghosts.” I recalled that one of the women had witnessed a fight in the parking lot where I’d turned into a wolf. She’d sent a photo to the police.
Duncan raised his eyebrows and touched his chest.
“We may well be the target of their investigation.” I didn’t know if they’d figured out yet that their property manager was the wolf they’d caught on camera. “It’s too bad they have good credit, pay their rent promptly every month, and don’t break any of the rules of the complex.”
“Meaning you don’t have an excuse to evict them?”
“Sadly, no.” I probably couldn’t justify going on a rampage and breaking all of their equipment either.
“We could adjourn to your apartment and a more private setting.”
“The bed in thereislarger.”
“Just not surrounded by SCUBA gear and treasure-hunting equipment.”
“You say that like that’s a downside.”
“I do get excited by being among my favorite things.”
“I think I can get you excited even in the barren and inhospitable habitat that is my bedroom.”
“I suspect that’s quite true.” Duncan winked at me, tossed a couple more pieces of popcorn in his mouth, and reached for the door handle.
Before I could slide off his lap or he could open it, an engine roared.
I grimaced, afraid the motorcycle thugs were back. Hadn’t they learned at the movie theater to leave werewolves alone? Duncan and me specifically?
