Page 33 of Viktor's Temptation
"Are you ready to keep going?" he asked, his tone steady and reassuring, masking the storm of thoughts beneath.
When her eager nod came, Viktor felt a surge of determination. Whatever came next, he’d walk this fine line—guide her, support her, and protect her. Even if it meant protecting her from himself.
A movement to her right drew Gracie’s attention. She squinted, her heart skipping a beat. Was that…a dog? No, two dogs!
Scratch that. Two enormous, furry nightmares trotting their way toward them!
“Viktor!” she gasped, clutching at his arm. “Big… big dog! Huge dog!”
“Relax, Gracie. It’s okay.” Viktor’s voice was calm, almost amused, which only irritated her more.
“Not…okay!” she hissed, shoving at his shoulders as if she could push him into action. “That’s not a dog! That’s a…a bear in disguise!”
Viktor chuckled, turning leisurely to face the so-called “dogs.” “Actually, Jace is a wolf-shifter. As is his mate, Anikka.”
Gracie blinked. Wolf-shifters? What in the ever-living supernatural hell was happening here? The two gigantic wolves stopped a few feet away, their glowing eyes fixed on her.
“A wolf-shifter? Really?” she whispered, inching nervously closer to Viktor as she tried not to stare into the wolves’ unsettling eyes. “That’s…a thing?”
One of the wolves, the larger black one, tilted its head at her. Then—Gracie’s jaw dropped—it grinned.
“What the…?”
Before she could finish her thought, the black wolf began to shift. Before her very eyes. The fur melted away, the wolf stretched taller, and then it was…a man.
A very tall, very naked man.
Gracie’s jaw dropped. This was no ordinary man. This was Greek-statue-level naked. Every muscle was perfectly defined. And that part of him? Well, let’s just say that if she ever wrote a novel, she had her cover model.
“Uh…wow,” she breathed, unable to stop her wide-eyed stare. As a nurse, she’d seen plenty of bodies in all shapes and sizes, but this? This was not on the medical charts.
“Gracie.” Viktor’s voice cut through her thoughts, but she barely registered it.
“Gracie!” Fingers snapped in front of her face, and she blinked up at Viktor’s scowl.
“Sorry!” she squeaked, her face heating like a furnace. She spun around so fast she almost tripped over her own feet. “Sorry, sorry!” she repeated, hands flying up to cover her burning cheeks. But that…impressive mental image wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
“What the hell, Jace?” Viktor snarled, his tone laced with irritation.
Behind her, the newly transformed—and unabashedly naked—man chuckled, a deep, rumbling laugh that only made Gracie’s embarrassment worse. Did everyone in the supernatural world have to be this ridiculously confident?
Before she could compose herself, something soft brushed against her hand. She yelped, jumping back, only to realize the other wolf—a slightly smaller, brown one—had crept up beside her. Its striking blue eyes gazed up at her with a mix of curiosity and…was that amusement? Was the wolf laughing at her?
“Oh, goodness, you’re beautiful!” Gracie breathed, her panic momentarily forgotten. She crouched down instinctively, reaching out a cautious hand. “Hi there, gorgeous,” she cooed.
The wolf’s tail thumped once on the ground, as if accepting the compliment.
“Gracie!” Viktor snapped, his tone sharp as he yanked her to his side by the waist, shielding her from the brown wolf. “Don’t get too comfortable.”
The black wolf—now a man—laughed harder, clearly enjoying Viktor’s irritation. “She likes Anikka more than you, Viktor.”
Gracie’s eyebrows shot up. “Anikka? The wolf?”
“She’s my mate,” the naked man explained casually, scratching the brown wolf—Anikka—behind the ears. Anikka closed her eyes, clearly loving the attention, while Gracie stared in amazement.
“And she’s not…going to shift? Like you just did?” Gracie asked, trying to keep her eyes firmly on the wolf and not the man’s uncomfortably well-defined…everything.
Jace grinned, his sharp teeth on full display. “Not unless you’d like her to. Although,” he added with a wink, “she’s a little shy about shifting in front of strangers.”
