Chapter 9

Khaki and the rest of the squad stayed to help with the cleanup operation. Once the DPD realized how bad the mess was, they’d called everybody—EOD, ATF, the fire department, even the state environmental office. It turned out that Reynolds had been brewing up batches of homemade explosives and storing them throughout his subterranean maze. Some of the tunnels had collapsed, trapping sensitive explosives and hazardous waste under hundreds of pounds of dirt. It would take a week to get all the contaminated soil out.

By the time they finished with the worst of it, the sun was setting. Khaki was starting to come down off her endorphin high and was more than ready to fall into bed. But they’d taken the suspect down alive and saved a little girl, getting her back to her mother in one, albeit slightly dirty, piece. Just as important, everyone on the team had made it through with no injuries. Even as new as she was to this SWAT thing, she recognized that today had been a big win.

Khaki was just telling the guys that she couldn’t wait to get home when Xander came over.

“No one’s going home yet,” he said.

“Why not?” she asked. “I thought we were finished here.”

“We are.” He grinned. “But I just finished briefing Sergeant Dixon on how well you did today and he decided you’re ready to come off limited-duty status. That means it’s time to celebrate.”

Beside her, a smiling Becker fist bumped an equally happy Cooper. On the other side of her, Hale, Max, and Alex were grinning too.

She looked at Xander. “Seriously? But it’s only been a week.”

“A week during which you’ve shown that you can do the job. So stop complaining.” His smile broadened. “Now let’s get back to the compound and clean up before the bars run out of booze.”

Khaki rode back with Cooper and Max, listening as Cooper once again related the story of how she’d found Melissa Kincaide simply by following the little girl’s scent.

“I couldn’t smell anything but dirt, chemicals, and stale sweat down there,” Cooper said. “But Khaki led us straight to the girl regardless of the fact that she was buried in a steel box under a foot of earth. That kid would have been dead in another ten minutes if it wasn’t for Khaki.”

Max glanced over his shoulder at her from the passenger seat. “That’s frigging epic.”

She felt her face color. “Don’t go giving me a medal yet. I probably would have gotten us all blown to pieces if it hadn’t been for Cooper and Xander.”

Behind the wheel, Cooper’s eyes met hers in the rearview mirror. “You did good down there, Khaki, so just accept the compliments—and all the drinks—that’ll be coming your way tonight. You deserve them.”

Khaki felt a surge of pride. She’d done it. In less than a week, she’d won over her new teammates. The training had been tough, and every day hadn’t been enjoyable, but other than the standard teasing, the guys had been amazingly supportive through it all. She still wasn’t sure where she stood with Xander, but she was happy with how far she’d come in such a short period of time.

Cooper and Max had gone from complimenting her to ribbing each other over some imaginary mistake the other had made. Ahead, the other two vehicles carrying the rest of her teammates were pulling into the compound’s parking lot.

Khaki smiled. Her teammates. That had a nice ring to it.

Inside, they got the gear cleaned and put away, then headed into the admin building to take showers. She let the guys go first, figuring they’d only be standing around at the bottom of the steps complaining if she didn’t.

While she waited, some of the guys from Mike’s squad stopped by to congratulate her.

“Aren’t any of you guys coming with us?” she asked Remy.

She spent so much time with her own squad, it felt like she barely knew any of the other guys on the team. But Remy shook his head.

“Nah. You all trained together to get you to this point, so the celebration should be private too. The rest of us will hang out later.”

Khaki could see their point, but she wouldn’t have minded if they wanted to join them. She was still trying to convince Mike’s team when her squad bounded down the steps. She glanced at her watch. Crap, it had taken them only fifteen minutes to shower and change. They’d better not expect her to get ready that fast.

She passed Xander on the way up the steps. He’d changed into jeans and a button-down shirt, and his dark hair was still slightly damp from the shower.

“Don’t take all night,” he told her. “I don’t know how long I can control these guys. They’re ready to do some serious partying.”

A naughty part of her wondered if Xander would come up and check on her if she took too long. Maybe this time, she wouldn’t even bother to wrap a towel around herself.

While that thought was tempting, she dismissed it. It was more likely that Becker would be the one who came up to hurry her along, and having Becker see her naked wasn’t as appealing as Xander. Sorry, Becker.

Khaki forgot to ask where they were taking her to celebrate but figured it would probably by someplace casual. Still, she decided to go a bit sexier with her makeup than she did during the day. It would have been nice if she’d had something dressier to wear too, but she’d have to make do with the jeans and tank top in her locker.

She made it downstairs in thirty minutes—a record for her.

“Damn,” Hale said when he saw her. “You clean up nice.”

She opened her mouth to say something witty in reply when she caught a glimpse of Xander standing off to the side, his dark eyes practically smoldering. Apparently, he seemed to think she cleaned up nice too.

* * *

They took her to some hole-in-the-wall barbecue place she never would have found, much less stopped at, if it weren’t for the guys. But while the decor didn’t look like much, the food was delicious. According to Xander, it was almost as good as the barbecue in Kansas City, where he was originally from. Cooper told her that was high praise coming from Xander.

Since this was the first time the whole squad had gotten a chance to talk since rescuing little Melissa Kincaide, most of the conversation centered around Khaki’s unique sense of smell. She tried to answer their questions as best she could, but she didn’t really know why her nose was so much better than everyone else’s. The guys echoed Xander’s sentiment about the skill coming in handy on the job.

Khaki expected to call it a night after dinner, but Becker looked at her like she was crazy.

“Hell no.” He grinned. “It’s time to party!”

By party, Khaki assumed he meant hit up a few clubs, but instead of stopping at any of the half-dozen bars they passed, Cooper pulled up in front of a tattoo shop called Tiny’s. Xander and Alex parked behind them.

A bear of a man covered in tattoos practically up to his ears came out of the back of the shop and gave a manly hug to each of the guys. After he’d greeted all of them, he turned to give her an appraising look. As if she was a blank canvas that needed a lot of work.

“Is this her?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Xander grinned. “This is her. Tiny, meet Khaki Blake. Khaki, meet Tiny, the SWAT team’s personal tattoo artist.”

Khaki thought she nodded at Tiny, but she couldn’t be sure. Xander was standing so close they were almost touching, and it was distracting. The evening was turning muggy, and the light sheen of sweat on Xander’s skin smelled so insanely delicious when combined with his freshly showered scent, it made her want to rub up against him like a kitty.

A completely inappropriate thought for a werewolf, to be sure.

She was so intoxicated by his scent that it took a moment for the rest of his words to register.

“Wait a second,” she said, sure she’d missed something important. “He’s the SWAT team’s what?”

Xander moved a little closer to her. He couldn’t possibly know what his presence was doing to her, could he?

“Tiny is the artist who does our wolf head tattoos,” he said.

Right. The snarling wolf tattoo that every member of the team had on the left side of his chest. She’d seen some of them up close, and the work was first-class, as were the muscled pecs the tattoos were on.

“He’s the only person in town we trust to ink us,” Xander added.

Khaki nodded, still thinking more about Xander’s well-muscled chest and smooth, perfect skin than tattoos. But as Xander continued to regard her, the implications of why they were here suddenly became clear. She looked around to see the rest of her teammates eyeing her expectantly.

Oh. “You want me to get a tattoo like yours.”

It wasn’t really a question, but Xander nodded anyway.

She broke eye contact with Xander before it became obvious she enjoyed looking at him way too much, and glanced at the rest of the Pack. “Um, now?”

Alex grinned. “Yeah. It’s what we always do to celebrate when someone comes off limited-duty status.”

“That makes sense.” She bit her lip, hesitating. “I definitely want to get the tattoo, but I’d rather not get it while you guys watch.”

“But that’s the way we always do it,” Max said.

“I get that,” she said. “But I’m not getting my tattoo in the same place you guys all have yours.”

“Why not?” Becker glanced down at her breasts, then jerked his head up, as if he just realized what part of her anatomy he’d been eyeballing. Was he blushing? “Oh.”

She smiled. “Yeah. And to get the tattoo in the place I have in mind, I’ll need to take off some of my clothes, and I’m not going to do that in front of you guys.”

Becker looked down her body again as if trying to figure out what clothes she’d have to take off. This time, he definitely blushed.

She glanced at the tattoo artist. “Or you either, Tiny. No offense.”

Tiny held up his hands in surrender. “None taken. I completely understand. My wife’s a tattoo artist too. She can ink you anytime. Her work is probably cleaner and more feminine than mine anyway. Just give me a call and we can schedule it.”

That seemed to satisfy the guys. Then all they were interested in was where she planned to get her tattoo.

“You’re just going to have to use your imagination,” she told them.

Cooper snorted. “Becker is screwed then. He doesn’t have any imagination.”

Becker punched Cooper in the shoulder hard enough to send him stumbling backward a few feet. “This coming from the man who reads comic books.”

Cooper laughed again, thumping Becker in the chest just as hard. Khaki winced. Both of those shots were going to leave bruises, for sure. Men were so strange.

“Knock it off,” Alex said. “If Khaki isn’t getting her tattoo tonight, let’s go party.”

Telling Tiny they’d see him around, Alex and the other guys headed for the door. Khaki turned to follow when she realized Xander was still standing there regarding her with that same glint she’d seen when she came down from the locker room back at the compound. Was he imagining where she was going to get her tattoo? Heat pooled between her thighs, making her sway a little and she quickly turned and hurried to catch up with the guys. She resisted the urge to glance over her shoulder at Xander again—but just barely. Thank goodness he’d driven his own truck. She wasn’t sure she trusted herself to ignore him if they were trapped in such a tight space.

The club the guys took her to was loud and the beers were cold, and she settled back in her seat to enjoy both. But she hadn’t taken more than a sip of her beer before Becker grabbed her hand and dragged her onto the dance floor. She laughed as he found a space for them.

She never would have thought it, but Becker could dance his ass off. Despite how tired she was, she got into the beat. She hadn’t danced in a long time and almost forgot how much fun it was.

Two songs later, Hale cut in. A few songs after that, Cooper did the same, followed by Trevor. When Alex came over to take his turn, Trevor stayed out on the floor with them. Before long, all the guys except Xander were dancing with her at once, twirling her around so many times it almost made her dizzy.

They probably would have kept her out there all night if some other women hadn’t been bold enough to move in and join the party. Khaki took the opportunity to escape back to the table for a break.

She dropped into her chair with a laugh as she watched the guys work their moves on their new partners. The women were clearly enjoying it, if the smiles on their faces were any indication. Khaki couldn’t blame them. The guys knew what they were doing on the dance floor. Tall, gorgeous, muscular men who could dance had a way of making women smile.

“Tired already?” a deep voice said from beside her. Khaki turned to see Xander claiming the chair across from her, a bottle of beer in his hand. “I thought you’d be out there dancing all night.”

“It’s been a long day. I’m beat,” she said. “How about you? Why aren’t you out there entertaining the ladies?”

Xander set his beer down on the table. “None of them really interest me.”

Something about the way he said those words, or maybe it was the smolder in his eyes when he said them, made her body hum in a way that had nothing to do with the music. Khaki found it scary that such an offhanded comment could provoke such a powerful response in her.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and took a long swallow of her beer, hoping it would cool her off. It didn’t.

Khaki cursed whatever part of her body was responsible for the visceral reaction she had whenever she was around him. She also cursed the fact that Xander was so hard to read. One second he acted like she was nothing but a pain in the ass, the next he was heaping praise on her for a job well done. Other times, like now, her werewolf intuition told her he was feeling the same things for her that she felt for him.

She licked her lips and tilted her head to look at him. “Who does interest you then?”

Xander’s gaze never wavered from hers. “That’s a good question.”

Khaki stifled a growl of frustration at the blatant nonanswer. But it was her own fault for asking such a stupid question. What the hell did she expect him to say, that hot werewolf chicks in SWAT tactical gear did it for him? While that was a nice thought, she knew it wasn’t going to happen.

She should have dropped the whole issue and changed the subject, but Xander was still gazing at her with those molten eyes of his, making her insides do slow rolls and flips.

Khaki reached for her beer again, just to have something to distract her. But the intensity of Xander’s gaze only increased as he watched her lift the bottle to her lips and take a sip. She probably should have felt self-conscious, considering his eyes were locked on her every move. But she kind of liked him looking at her so intently.

At least he was paying attention to her now.

She took a long, satisfying swallow of beer, then gently placed the bottle back on the table, locking eyes with Xander. He didn’t look away, and neither did she.

The eye contact made the quiver in her stomach move south. She was so wrapped up in his soulful, dark eyes that she almost forgot she had a keen sense of smell until a sweetly masculine scent hit her.

She didn’t know what the scent was, but it was the same one she’d smelled at his apartment the other night. Why was it so mouthwateringly delicious? And if it was coming from him—which it was—why didn’t she smell it all the time?

Khaki squirmed slightly in her chair, trying to ease the sudden ache between her thighs. If she hadn’t been sitting in a crowded bar right now, she would have slid her hand down for a caress or two.

But since she couldn’t touch herself like she wanted to, she’d have to be satisfied with a little thigh-on-thigh action and some covert wiggling. Even that slight movement caused the most blatantly sexual scent to waft up from her aroused pussy. She might have had jeans on, but her sensitive nose picked up the uniquely feminine scent with no problem at all.

Xander’s eyes momentarily flashed yellow-gold, then darkened again. That had been a partial shift. She’d seen him and the other guys do it dozens of time at the compound. Then he lifted his head a bit, mirroring something she did herself frequently when she was trying to get a better grip on a particularly interesting scent.

That was when it hit her. Xander could smell her arousal too. And it was having an effect on him.

She realized something else. The masculine scent she’d smelled before—the one that was growing stronger by the second—was coming from below Xander’s belt. He was just as turned on as she was, and it was because of her.

Before she jumped across the table at him, Khaki slowed for a second to ask herself how sure she was of that last part. What if his body was responding to the pheromones she was putting off? Mac had said the guys would pick up on it if she kept lusting.

That didn’t quite fit. Yes, she’d gotten tingly gazing into those seriously sexy eyes of his, but those scent-laced fireworks of his had started before hers, she was certain of it. Which meant he’d gotten aroused from simply gazing into her eyes. She’d smelled the same thing at his place when he’d been teaching her to see in the dark, then again this morning during the PT session. She just hadn’t realized what it was.

The lightbulb that came on was so bright it almost hurt her eyes. Xander had been telling the truth back at her apartment. He didn’t have a problem with her being on his squad. And he definitely didn’t dislike her. Maybe he’d kept his distance because he was dealing with the same level of primitive attraction she’d been fighting. Like her, he’d been trying to put a wall between them.

Her boss was hot for her, and she was hot for him. What the hell was she going to do about it?

Thoughts of professional behavior, team chemistry, and the greater long-term good all floated through her head. And every one of those perfectly reasonable thoughts disappeared just as fast.

He wanted her as badly as she wanted him. That was all that mattered. And right then, the urge to have sex with Xander Riggs was seriously overwhelming.

* * *

Xander wanted Khaki so badly it physically hurt. Whereas before he’d hoped he could come up with a way to get her to leave the club with him, right at that moment he wanted nothing more than to tangle his fingers in that long, dark hair of hers, drag her across the table, and make love to her right there in front of everyone. Judging from the pheromones coming off her, he suspected she might just let him. But considering the rest of the team was out on the dance floor and would probably notice if he and Khaki started having sex, going somewhere more private would definitely be a better idea.

He’d started the day sure he was doomed to the painful existence of watching Khaki from afar, never getting to tell her how he felt. He was her squad leader and he couldn’t see how he could ever be anything else.

But what had happened down in those tunnels had changed all that. When the booby trap had exploded—when he’d thought he was going to lose Khaki—he stopped caring about all the reasons they couldn’t, or shouldn’t, be together. He’d known deep in his soul that his life would stop having meaning if he couldn’t be with Khaki. He normally wasn’t prone to dramatics, but he was sure he’d die if they couldn’t be together.

When they’d climbed out of that tunnel into the light of day with Khaki carrying the little girl, he knew right then he couldn’t hide his feelings from her anymore. She might not feel the same way about him, but she was damn sure going to know how he felt about her.

Although the idea of telling Khaki how he felt had seemed simple and straightforward in the afterglow of their near-death experience, the reality of doing it turned out to be much more difficult than he’d anticipated.

He hadn’t been able to talk to her at all during dinner at the barbecue place, and the episode at the tattoo parlor had come closer to a brawl than a deep, meaningful conversation. It wasn’t until Khaki had sat down at the table that he’d had a chance to even say two words to her. And then he’d discovered he had no clue what to say. How did you tell a woman who worked for you, one who barely knew you and was trusting you to train her to be the best SWAT officer possible, that there was some cosmic force out there that meant you and she were destined to be together?

She’d probably call him a weirdo, slap him for getting fresh with her, then storm out of the club.

So instead, he’d gazed into her eyes. But he couldn’t stop. She was just so damn beautiful. The way her heart was beating so loud after all that dancing she’d done combined with the incredible scents rolling off her amazing body all came together to arouse him like nothing he’d ever felt with anyone else. It was tough as hell controlling the urge to take Khaki’s hand and drag her out of the club and straight back to his place.

Just thinking about it made him rock hard.

That was when a tantalizing new scent suddenly registered. It was so primal and powerful that he shifted involuntarily. It came so fast, he’d barely controlled his body’s urge to change.

It took him two seconds to figure out where the scent was coming from—Khaki. A moment later, he realized what the scent was—arousal. And now that he knew what the scent was, its effect on him was that much more devastating. His heart was racing, his body was doing everything it could to shift into its wolf form, and his cock was throbbing so bad, he was sure it was going to start thumping against the underside of the table any second.

There was no way he could ignore his desire for Khaki any longer. And considering how turned on she obviously was, maybe it was time he stopped trying.

He was just about to suggest they leave when Cooper and Becker came back from the dance floor with the rest of the guys in tow. Shit.

“This DJ sucks,” Becker said. “Too much slow stuff. Let’s go hit some other places.”

Xander bit back a growl. The six of them had been two-stepping with half the women in the bar for the past hour and now they decided to blow the joint?

“So, how about it?” Trevor asked when he and Khaki made no move to get up.

Xander glanced at Khaki. She looked as eager to go club hopping as he did. He turned back to the four other werewolves.

“Another time, guys,” he said. “Khaki’s pretty beat. I’m going to take her back to the compound so she can grab her car and head home.”

“You sure about that, Khaki?” Cooper asked. “This has the makings of a seriously epic night of drinking. And werewolves don’t get hungover, in case you didn’t know.”

She laughed. “No, I didn’t know that. Thanks for telling me.”

Becker looked at Khaki as if she were crazy, then shook his head with a laugh. “Damn, you really are new to this werewolf thing, aren’t you? But okay, go home and get some sleep. Next time, we’re partying until we close down the bars.”

Xander waited until the guys left before turning back to Khaki. She smiled.

“Thanks,” she said.

“No problem.” He cleared his throat. “So, you ready to get out of here?”

She hesitated. “We could do that. But it’d be a waste of a good song.”

It took a moment to process what she meant, but he had a good excuse. He was too turned on to think straight. When he finally focused, he realized she was talking about the slow country ballad the DJ was playing. Xander had never heard it before, but then again, he didn’t listen to a lot of music, country or otherwise.

On the other side of the small table, Khaki was looking at him expectantly. She wanted to dance. He wasn’t much of a dancer, but if it meant getting to hold her in his arms, he could fake it.

“You sure you’re not too tired?” he teased.

Her eyes sparkled, and for a moment he thought she was shifting. But no, that was just Khaki’s natural sexiness shining through.

“I think I can stay awake,” she said. “Though I might have to lean on you a little—just for support.”

Xander liked the sound of that. But then Khaki’s expression suddenly turned serious. “Are you sure it’s okay? What if the guys come back and catch us?”

The thought hadn’t even entered his mind, but it was a valid concern. Then he remembered what he’d promised himself earlier today, after they had clawed their way out of those tunnels—that he was done worrying about what other people thought was right and wrong. There was something going on between him and Khaki that was bigger than the rules. That wasn’t exactly something he was going to say out loud.

“Why should we be worried?” he asked instead. “We’re just going to dance, right?”

She considered that, then smiled again. “Right.”

Xander got to his feet, praying he didn’t have any obvious bulge in the front of his jeans. Luckily, his hard-on was positioned in such a way that it didn’t look too blatant, though he was pretty sure Khaki already knew how turned on he was. And if she didn’t, she’d sure as hell figure it out when they started dancing.

He could live with that. Like he’d decided, he was done hiding how he felt about her.

As soon as they found a space on the crowded dance floor, he pulled Khaki close, holding one of her hands in his while letting his other hand slide down her back to the top of her jean-clad ass. He moved instinctively to the slow rhythm of the country song, all his attention focused on Khaki.

She felt so right in his arms. But standing this close to her, looking into her eyes and feeling her warm body pressed up against his, he found it difficult to even breathe, much less think. Fortunately, being with her didn’t require a lot of thinking.

Her scent enveloped him, making him dizzy with its intoxicating mix of her natural fragrance and the scent of her arousal. It made his cock throb even harder, but Khaki didn’t seem to mind. She pressed closer to him, resting her cheek against his chest as she swayed in time to the music. His heart beat a little faster.

“Is it bad that I’ve wanted to get close to you like this for a while?” Khaki’s words were so soft that Xander wouldn’t have heard them if he didn’t have a werewolf’s enhanced hearing. Knowing she’d been feeling this thing between them—and fighting it—as long as he had did crazy things to him.

“Probably, especially since I’m your squad leader,” he said just as softly. “But if it makes you feel any better, I’ve been thinking about doing more than just dancing with you.”

She laughed, wiggling against the bulge in his jeans. “I can tell.”

That brought a growl to his throat and he dipped his head to bury his nose in the long hair hiding her neck from him. He inhaled deeply, letting his lips move teasingly across the warm skin there as his hand glided down a little lower on her ass. She was the one who growled then, and damn if it wasn’t the sexiest thing he’d ever heard.

The song ended and another began, and they didn’t even miss a step. Xander trailed his lips up and down her neck, practically getting drunk off the sublime taste of her skin. He could have stayed right there on that dance floor and done that all night, if his body hadn’t been screaming that it wanted even more of her.

He was so wrapped up in his blissful fantasy, he didn’t realize she was squeezing his shoulder until he felt her claws dig into his skin. He jerked his head up and saw that the claws on the hand cupped in his were extended as well. They might have been more feminine and graceful than any other werewolf’s he’d ever seen, but they looked exactly like what they were—claws.

Xander glanced down at Khaki. Her face was still buried against his chest, but he could still see the tip of one fang as it protruded over her lower lip. He wished he could get a better look. On her, he had no doubt that werewolf fangs looked good.

“Khaki, you’re shifting.”

He felt her stiffen, but her claws didn’t retract. He could only assume her fangs were still out as well. It was hard to tell because she pressed her face even more tightly against his chest.

“I can’t make it stop,” she said.

The panic in her voice made his gut wrench. He held her closer. “Shh.… Relax, I’m right here. I’ll take care of you. We’re going to walk off the dance floor and slip out of here without anyone noticing.”

She trembled against him. “But what if someone sees me?”

“They won’t.” He turned, keeping his arm protectively around her as he headed for the exit. “Just keep your arm around me and your head down.”

She nodded, slipping one clawed hand in the back pocket of his jeans while trying to hide the other in the material of his shirt. It would take more than a casual look to realize they were anything other than extremely long fingernails. He hoped.

They made it out the door and started down the street to where he’d parked his truck. Khaki still kept her head on his shoulder. He sure as hell didn’t mind. It felt good.

“Why is my sense of smell suddenly so much stronger?” she asked softly.

“The closer we are to our wolf form, the better our senses work. Your sexual arousal has pushed you to the edge of a full shift. What can you smell?”

She was silent except for the cutest sniffing sounds he’d ever heard. “I smell everything—people, cars, asphalt, the burgers they’re cooking back at the bar. But stronger than any of that, I smell you. Your scent is driving me insane.”

He stifled a groan. “Trust me, the feeling is mutual.”

They made it to his pickup without freaking out any locals. The moment they got inside, Khaki flipped down the passenger visor and used the mirror to get a good look at her fangs. She kept turning her head, clearly mesmerized at how the city lights glimmered off her long, white teeth.

Xander couldn’t help but laugh at the stunned expression on her face. “Yeah, they look pretty frigging awesome, don’t they?”

“They’re so…sharp.” Khaki glanced at him, her brows puckering. “They don’t look…freaky, do they?”

He reached out to brush her hair back from her flushed face. “They’re beautiful, just like the rest of you.”

Unable to resist temptation any longer, he kissed her. It was a first for him, kissing a girl with fangs. But Khaki’s soft lips paired with the sharp tips of those teeth were a perfect metaphor for Khaki. She was definitely soft and feminine in some ways, but she came with her fair share of sharp edges too.

Even though it was light and tentative, it was the most amazing kiss he’d ever experienced.

Khaki apparently agreed, bringing up her hand and tangling it in his hair, pulling him close and deepening the kiss. The taste of her mouth was so sweet, it almost pushed him into shifting himself. But he couldn’t let that happen, not here in a crowded parking lot in the Entertainment District.

He reluctantly pulled back, chuckling as Khaki protested and tried to follow him into his seat. “Let’s get you home before we end up doing something compromising right here.”

She looked disappointed but didn’t argue. Pushing the center console of the bench seat up, she wiggled in close, putting on her seat belt as he did the same. He cranked the engine and put the truck into gear, then draped his arm over her shoulder and pulled out of the parking lot. She let out a sigh and snuggled close. God, he could really get used to this.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Khaki’s perfect, pink tongue slip out to trace along the points of those sexy-ass fangs of hers. That was so freaking hot!

“Am I going to have fangs and claws every time I’m aroused?” she asked.

He chuckled. “No. Strong emotions—good or bad—can bring on an uncontrolled shift. You’ve probably noticed that some of the guys shift during training when they get really fired up. Especially those who are newest to this werewolf thing.”

“Like me?”

“Like you.” He grinned. “Don’t worry. When you calm down, everything will go back to where it’s supposed to.”

He felt Khaki’s hand on his thigh, and glanced down to see her sliding her fingers up to the bulge in his jeans. She started caressing, and he damn near drove off the road.

“So I guess you’ve been a werewolf for a while,” she said in a sexy, laughter-filled whisper. “Getting excited doesn’t cause you to shift uncontrollably?”

Xander growled. His gums and fingertips ached with the need to shift, not to mention his cock. “Normally, no. But I’m having to work damn hard to keep it under control right now.”

Khaki laughed again, this time in his ear. The feel of her warm breath against his skin had his heart racing.

“That’s good to know,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to think this insane attraction I’m feeling is only a one-way thing.”

Khaki nibbled his ear as she squeezed his hard-on through his jeans. Xander tightened his grip on the wheel. He wanted her so badly. The urge to pull over to the side of the road and take her right there was damn near overwhelming. It didn’t help that he could smell the excitement pouring off her in waves. She was just as turned on as he was. And even though his truck’s cab probably wouldn’t be the most comfortable place for their first time together, he knew she’d be up for it. But he forced himself to calm down and keep the truck on the road. No way in hell their first time together was going to be in his truck.

Xander gave himself a mental shake and moved his hand down to stop her playful caresses. “Oh, the attraction is definitely mutual. But if you don’t stop that, we’re going to end up in a ditch, and that would put a serious dent in the rest of the evening.”

Khaki reluctantly pulled her hand away with a sound halfway between a laugh and a low, sexy growl, and rested it casually against his chest. His cock complained, but he told it to shut up.

Khaki behaved herself the rest of the way back to her place. She was so quiet, Xander thought she’d fallen asleep on his shoulder. But the moment they pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex, she sat up and popped the buckle on her seat belt. In the glow of the overhead dome light, he could see that her fangs and claws had retracted, though her eyes still had that beautiful green glow to them.

“You want to come in?” she asked softly.

He leveled his gaze at her. “You know what’s likely going to happen if I go in there, right?”

She didn’t blink. “Yeah. That’s why I’m asking.”

The hunger in her eyes was unmistakable. She could get him rock hard with a simple look. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like once they both got naked.

But he was eager as hell to find out.