Whatever she had done right to get Jonah Lucas naked in the driver’s seat of her car, Lyla hoped she would be able to repeat again and again.
Still, the situation was excruciating, and she wanted nothing more than to get back to her house where she would be able to try to push the night’s events out of her mind and do her best to go on with her life as usual. Right now, Jonah naked in her front seat was definitely not the usual.
“Where did your sister get off to?” Lyla asked, doing everything she possibly could to distract herself from the mounting arousal building up in her loins. She had never felt such a powerful attraction to anybody before, and the temptation to look at him again, to feel like whatever this was might be okay, was overwhelming.
“She’s headed home to make some pie,” Jonah said half-heartedly. It was clear that his sister was the last thing he wanted to talk about right now. And if she was being honest with herself, it was the last thing Lyla wanted to talk about too.
“You’re going to want to take a left here,” Lyla said quietly.
The energy in the car was wild. She could tell Jonah’s wolf was calling the shots right now, something she never would have thought she would live to see. He was such a calm, cool, and collected person that it seemed impossible he might ever lose that impressive exterior. But she had shifter blood in her too, and it was confirming that Jonah was as close to his animal instincts as she was ever going to see him. And for some reason, it thrilled her.
“Are you all right?” Jonah asked as he turned.
“Yes, I’m going to be fine. I might even stop shaking this week.”
Jonah grinned. “Glad to hear it.”
“How did you know what to do?” Lyla asked. She was still in a daze. As much as she wanted to forget it had ever happened, she simply couldn’t. The event kept replaying in her mind.
Jonah hesitated before speaking. “I’m supposed to be on the lookout for that kind of thing here.”
“Here…?” You mean you’re on some kind of a mission?”
Jonah nodded, though it was clear he was feeling uncomfortable.
“I can’t say much about it but no, this isn’t just a vacation for me.”
“Somehow, I didn’t think so,” Lyla said. “And that bear has something to do with it.”
Jonah nodded again. “I’m not sure what yet, but there is something bad going on. I think…”
Lyla waited patiently for Jonah to continue speaking. He seemed like the kind of man who, when pressured, would clam up. That was the last thing she wanted. Finally, he spoke again.
“I think the bear was a hybrid. Part wolf. And that’s why nobody could sense him until I smelled him from the car.”
Lyla closed her eyes and leaned back in the seat, battling the nausea in her stomach. “I couldn’t be more glad that you did.”
Jonah glanced over at her, a comforting smile on his handsome face, and her heart tremored mildly before he turned his eyes back to the road ahead.
“So you live alone all the way out here, huh?” Jonah said, driving soothingly down the familiar street. “That’s unusual.”
“Why is it unusual?” Lyla asked, suddenly on the defensive. It was hardly Jonah’s place to judge things as unusual, considering he showed up out of the blue after completely abandoning his sister. Her agitation at him surprised her. The night had been so tense.
“It just seems like shifters in this area are more conservative…they aren’t always very welcoming of those who aren’t already part of the pack.”
“Well, according to my grandfather, these assholes are my pack. But I’m not so sure about that.”
Jonah grinned, keeping his eyes steadily on the road. Lyle inhaled sharply. God, he was handsome.
“I don’t know that they are, either. A pack should be welcoming, no matter what. A family is family. It doesn’t matter whether your shifter blood mixed with anything else.”
Lyla’s blood turned to ice. Jonah’s words reminded her of the bear that had tried to attack her that night.
“Have you seen a hybrid before?” she asked, her voice low.
Jonah hesitated before answering.
“Yes,” he finally said. “But I don’t know what it means.”
“We didn’t sense it at all,” Lyla said. “It was here the whole time and nobody could tell. What’s going on?”
Jonah exhaled. “I’m not sure, but I swear to you, if it’s something dangerous, I’m going to find out. I won’t let anything happen to you or anyone else here.”
“That’s not right,” Lyla said.
Jonah looked at her, his handsome face creased in puzzlement, and she laughed.
“I just mean it’s not right for you to be too concerned about it. You can tell the council about it. You shouldn’t have to be the guy to fix everything.”
She expected Jonah to laugh, or at least crack a smile, but somehow, her words made him seem even more serious.
“It’s always my job to protect others,” he said, slowing for a stop sign. “I’m a SEAL.”
Lyla was shocked into silence. Betsy had mentioned he was a high ranking man, and it was obvious that something weird was going on in Stonybrooke. And, if her intuition was right, and it usually was, that would mean Jonah was there to take care of it.
***
“You’re hurt!”
Lyla was horrified when Jonah strode through the back door and into the golden light of the kitchen.
He glanced down at himself and shrugged half-heartedly.
“You should drink some water. I’m pretty sure you were pretty close to going into shock back there.”
“Forget about that!” Lyla exclaimed, grabbing Jonah’s hand and dragging him into the living room. “Sit down right now. I’m going to bandage you up. That looks awful.”
“It’s really nothing,” Jonah said, but his voice was already distant as Lyla hurried down the hallway to retrieve bandages and alcohol to sterilize his wounds.
When she returned, Jonah was holding one of her lacy pink pillows over his groin. Lyla tried not to laugh as she came toward him, holding out a cloth tentatively. Again, Jonah tried to resist her care, but soon, he was sitting silently as Lyla dabbed at the wounds on his chest, back, and shoulders as carefully as she could until the blood marking his broad, muscular body was mostly gone.
Jonah kept his eyes glued to the floor as Lyla bandaged his wounds carefully, until she was satisfied he was going to be all right. She knew she shouldn’t worry – shifters heal quickly – but she was really beginning to care about Jonah.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Jonah said, standing up quickly the second Lyla was finished. He refused to meet her eye, and Lyla swallowed hard, unable to resist taking another long look at Jonah’s lithe, muscular body. He was holding the pillow in front of his crotch awkwardly, and another flash of heat ignited her loins. She wanted nothing more than to be near him again, to hold him close just as she had in her moment of fear just after the bear attack. But there was no excuse to do something like that anymore. They were just two people standing in her living room.
“I should get out of here,” Jonah said, his voice gravelly and dry. Was he nervous about something? He always seemed so calm and in control. What could possibly shake a man like Jonah?
“You don’t have to leave so soon,” Lyla whispered.
Jonah’s dark eyes flickered to her, holding her gaze with an intensity that made her knees weak. Suddenly, it became clear what his reservation was. He wasn’t nervous. He was just doing his best to stay in control.
“I think I do.”
Now that she was looking him in the eye, his expression began to change. Soon, Lyla was no longer simply looking at Jonah. She was looking at the wolf. And it wanted control.
Lyla’s breath caught in her throat and she took a tentative step forward. She had been raised not to fear the wolf; she respected it. In fact, right now, she craved it.
“Stay with me,” she whispered, her cheeks flushed hot as she reached her hand out to touch Jonah’s arm. He flinched away from her, and Lyla was suddenly in awe of Jonah’s willpower. No man she had ever met was able to muster the discipline he had; but when his eyes turned to hers again, she knew it would take more than a small invitation to break down the wall.
Frustrated, Lyla took a step forward and took Jonah’s hands in hers. The pillow dropped to the floor, and suddenly, he was pulling her close to his body, lifting her and swinging her in the air, pressing her against the wall. Lyla cried out in bliss as Jonah’s mouth found her lips, and the sweet taste of his tongue against hers overwhelmed her senses.
Jonah’s eyes flashed dark, need etched in every line of his face as his body worked to hold her up against the wall and his hands moved up and down her body, his fingers spreading fire in their wake. Lyla’s heart pounded so hard she nearly thought it would burst, and her mind became empty but for one sensation; pure, unbridled desire.
Jonah let out a deep grunt as Lyla wrapped her legs around his waist, suddenly feeling the massive bulge of his erection pressed hard against her middle. She shuddered in ecstasy as he thrust his hips against her, his hard muscle grinding the most sensitive nerves in her body through the light red fabric of her gown.
Lyla shuddered in delight as she surrendered to Jonah, and came face to face with the wolf inside him. There was no point in denying it now. She was his.