Page 21 of Grey
“Are you okay?” she asked, a bolt of worry spearing through her.
“I want to show you something.” He gave her hand a squeeze and led her into the barn where they’d spent the night in the apartment.
“What do you want to show me?”
They stopped in the middle of the barn, and he got such a serious look on his face that she was worried what he might say next, even though she couldn’t imagine what it might be.
“I need to tell you something about me. It’s kind of a family legend. But what I’m going to tell you is so important and so…unbelievable. But I need to know that what I tell you, what I show you next, will stay between us. You can’t tell anyone what happens tonight. It has to stay a secret. Forever.”
“You’re kind of freaking me out,” she said. “What is it?”
“I’m crazy about you, Tatum. From the moment I met you, I knew that you were the one female on the planet for me. My soulmate. The reason that I know that is because there’s part ofme that I’ve kept back from you, something secret I had to keep close to my heart.” He paused, and her heart thudded, nerves and curiosity swirling inside her at how serious he was being. “I think you know in your heart that I’ve been keeping something from you.”
“Yeah, I could feel it.”
He blew out a breath. “I’m sorry, but it’s because it’s a secret, an important one, that I needed to keep it from you until I knew that you cared for me. You do, don’t you?”
“I do,” she said.
“I’m a stallion. A horse shifter. I was born this way, with the ability to turn into a horse whenever I want. And it’s not just me. My friends are stallions too, and we use the farm as not only a place to live and work, but as a cover for our horses so we have a safe place to run in our shifts.”
She stared at him.
Was he serious? He thought he could turn into a horse?
She was about to ask him if he’d lost his mind when the barn door opened, and Nancy and Dexter walked in.
“I can see that you think I’m nuts,” Grey said, “so I’m going to show you. I’ll be stuck as a horse for a few hours, so I wanted Dexter and Nancy here to talk to you. Remember that I’m still me, I’m just a horse, okay?”
She scoffed, but couldn’t come up with the words to say that she didn’t just think he was nuts, she thought he’d walked off the bridge into insane territory.
He took off his shirt and tossed it to a nearby workbench.
Nancy walked over to her and said, “I’m not going to watch your soulmate strip, but I’m going to stand here with you. I don’t want you to freak out.”
“Okay, all right,” Tatum said as Grey reached for his belt. “Hold the phone here, what the heck is going on? Are you—are you nuts? You think you can turn into a horse? That doesn’t evenmake sense! If you could turn into an animal, why wouldn’t you pick something cool, like a wolf or a dragon? I mean, a horse? Holy crap, Grey, are you making fun of me thinking legends and myths are interesting that you think I should find this charade appealing?”
“It’s not a charade,” he said. “I know you feel like there’s something more going on between us than just us being attracted to each other and falling for each other, and it’s because I’m not human. I’m a stallion and you’re my soulmate.”
“Stop saying that!”
He tilted his head, and for a moment, he looked hurt. And then he said, “You’ll see.”
“I’m not seeing anything, I’m going home.”
Nancy put her hand on Tatum’s shoulder as she turned to face away from where Grey continued to strip. “Just wait, honey. I promise he’s telling the truth.”
“Not you too?”
Grey stripped fully and Tatum ignored how much she liked to see his sexy body on display for her because she was so pissed that he was…wait, what?
“What’s happening?” she asked with a harsh whisper as his body changed from sexy man to huge white-and-gray horse.
She didn’t think she blinked for a full minute.
“Did I just see that?” she asked, her voice squeaking with disbelief. But shehadseen it. She’d seen sexy Grey turn into a horse. Likereallyturn into a horse.
The horse whinnied, tossing back his head like a nod.
