Jo woke up to feel something warm and wet bathing her face.

“Hey . . .” She tried to push the thing away and then touched the place where it had been rubbing. Her right temple ached fiercely but not the way it usually did when she needed Reese’s touch, she thought blurrily. It was more of a stabbing pain than the dull throbbing she was used to.

The warm, wet something came back, rubbing gently over the sore spot on her temple. Jo winced away from it.

“Hey,” she protested again. “What . . . who . . . ?”

At last she came more awake and opened her eyes . . . only to see the face of the enormous Fox bending over her, nearly blotting out the moonlight.

“Ahhh!” Jo sat up so suddenly a sharp bolt of pain stabbed through her injured head. She tried to scramble away in the dead leaves but the Fox was having none of it. Lithe as a big cat, he leaped in front of her, blocking her way. Then he curled his big body around her, making himself into a round, furry donut with her in the center.

Jo froze, uncertain what to do. She felt trapped—caught in a living net. She stared fearfully at the Fox’s big eyes, which still glowed gold in the moonlight. He simply returned her look, however, and then put his head down on his paws, almost as though he was trying to appear less threatening.

“R . . . Reese?” she ventured at last.

The Fox looked at her and raised its head long enough to give a single, firm nod.

“So it is you,” Jo said. “I mean, of course it’s you. I saw you change.” She remembered the way he’d ripped out of his clothing, doubling and trebling in size as he Shifted. “But you’re the wrong size,” she continued. “You’re supposed to be little and fuzzy and cute.”

The Fox turned his eyes up to her and sighed deeply, his entire furry body moving with the gesture.

“Yes, I guess you’re right,” Jo said reluctantly. “Little and cute wouldn’t have scared off that bastard who attacked me.”

The Fox made a low growling sound in his shaggy throat but Jo somehow knew it wasn’t directed against her.

“Yes, he was an asshole,” she said in agreement. “Did you catch him?”

The Fox made a soft whining sound and shook his head from side to side—no.

“Damn.” Jo frowned. “I would have liked to know who he was and what the hell he wanted with me.”

The Fox whined again.

“It’s okay,” Jo told him. “You did your best and you showed up when it counted. I don’t know where I might be right now if . . . if you hadn’t come when you did.” The reality of the attack seemed to hit her all over again and a sob rose in her throat. Jo swallowed it down as best she could even though her eyes were stinging with tears. “Thank you,” she whispered to the fox.

He whined softly again and his long pink tongue came out to bathe her face.

Jo gave him a small, tentative smile and reached out hesitantly to stroke between the huge animal’s ears—this was something he loved, at least in his smaller form.

Sure enough, the Fox’s eyes nearly closed with pleasure and he made a soft, approving sound in his throat somewhere between a purr and a growl.

“You like that, boy? Hmm?” Jo scratched harder, using both hands to reach around the bases of his huge, furry ears.

She was beginning to feel more comfortable with the immense animal now. After all, it was still Reese in his Fox form, just scaled up—way, way up. And she often talked to the Fox this way during the hour she spent with him before bedtime each night.

But as much as she enjoyed spending time with the Fox, they couldn’t sit here in the dark forest all night.

“Reese,” she said. “We can’t stay out here—we need . . . need to go back home.” The word seemed to stick in her throat. Home—she had to admit Reese’s big old house had begun to feel like her home too, not just a place she was staying for a while.

“Well?” she said to the Fox when it didn’t move. “Why are we just sitting here?”

In answer, he twitched his soft, bushy tail, which was almost as big as a blanket, so that it covered her shivering body.

“Oh . . .” Jo cuddled down under the soft, warm fur. “You want to warm me up first, before we go?”

The Fox nodded. Then he whined gently and lifted his head to lap gently at her right temple with his long tongue.

“Ouch!” Jo winced. “I must have hit my head when I tripped on a root and fell. But I’m all right now—not dizzy at all,” she told the Fox.

He seemed to give her an appraising look and Jo marveled at how expressive his face was, even in animal form. She could almost see him weighing her words, considering if he thought she was well enough to travel. At last, he nodded.

“Good. Then let’s go.” Jo started to get to her feet, but the world seemed to spin around her. “Whoa . . .”

She reached for a nearby tree trunk but the Fox’s broad back insinuated itself under her hand instead. Then he nudged her thighs and looked at her.

“What?” Jo asked him as he nudged her again. “I wish you could Shift back to human for a second and just tell me what you want.”

To her surprise, the Fox began to shrink and change, its orange-red pelt, so like the color of her own hair, disappearing as reddish-brown hair with a slight curl appeared atop his head. In a matter of five seconds, Reese was standing there naked.

“God it’s cold!” he muttered, rubbing his hands together and blowing on them.

“Oh!” Jo was surprised and a little uneasy—he was so big and naked and male standing there in front of her. The sexual tension, which she never felt when he was in his Fox form, suddenly filled her body with longing. “I never,” she started. “I mean, I didn’t mean you had to—”

“Look, let’s make this quick,” Reese interrupted her. “I’d like to know why the hell you were out in the forest in the middle of the night—were you running away because of what happened between us?”

“No,” Jo denied quickly. “No, I—”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Reese cut her off. “It’s fucking cold out here in human form—especially with no clothes on.”

“All right,” Jo said at once, glad to put off that particular discussion. “Then Shift back to your Fox form—your little Fox form—and lead me home. Um, back to your house, I mean.”

“It’s your house too, darlin’, as long as you stay with me,” Reese said frowning. “I’ll shift back but I’m going to be my ‘holy shit’ size again—sorry.”

“Your ‘holy shit’ size?” Jo was surprised into a quick burst of laughter. “Well, I guess that’s one way to put it. But can’t your little Fox get through the forest more quickly and easily?”

“Yes, but he can’t carry you on his back,” Reese said, frowning. “Which is where you’re going. That head injury has made you too dizzy to walk.”

“That’s not true,” Jo objected. “I’m fine now.”

He sighed roughly. “God damn it, Jo—why do you have to fight me every step of the way? Would you rather I carry you in human form? I won’t be as warm and cuddly but I’ll do it if you’d rather.”

“No, I’d rather walk on my own!” she exclaimed, beginning to get irritated. The idea of being swung up in those big, muscular arms and held close to his broad chest made her heart skitter nervously behind her ribs.

She took an unsteady step away from the tree and then another, swaying slightly. Her head still ached fiercely but she was damned if she’d let him make her into an invalid.

With a low curse, Reese came up to her. Without warning, he reached down and swung her up into his arms.

“Reese!” she gasped, pushing ineffectually against his broad chest. “Hey, what are you doing? Put me down!”

“I’m taking you home,” he replied shortly. “And if you won’t ride on my Fox to get there, I’ll have to carry you this way.”

“Let me down—you don’t have to do this!” Jo protested. He was so big and warm and so close she could smell the spicy, masculine scent of his skin. It made her pussy throb and ache being so near to him—made her nearly crazy with desire.

Feeling so much heat—so much need—made her panicky. She wriggled in Reese’s arms.

“I said, I’m perfectly capable of walking!”

“Right. Which is why you’re falling all over the damn place when you try to take two steps,” he growled sarcastically, tightening his grip. “I’m not going to argue with you, Jo. I’ll carry you home in human form or Fox form but you’re not walking.”

“Fine!” Jo nearly shouted. “Fine, your Fox form then. Anything is better than—” She broke off abruptly, seeing the look on his face.

“Anything is better than being close to me, being held by me. Is that right?” There was a bitterness in his deep voice Jo hadn’t heard before.

“Reese—” she began but he was already putting her down. Without another word, he Shifted back, growing into the huge Fox once more so quickly she would have missed it if she’d looked away for even a second.

The Fox gave her a long, steady look, then crouched low so she could get on his back.

Feeling miserable, Jo obeyed the silent command. Throwing a leg over his furry side, she climbed aboard and held on to his ruff. The Fox cast a glance over his shoulder, as if to make sure she was well settled.

“I’m fine,” Jo told him. “You can go.”

He nodded once and began picking his way with surprising delicacy through the forest. For such a huge animal, he made hardly any noise, and he was good at avoiding any tree branches that would hit her or scrape her off his back.

His fur was warm and soft and Jo found the ride surprisingly comfortable—or she would have if she hadn’t been so miserable.

Why did I say that? she asked herself. Now Reese thinks I hate him, when actually I . . . What? How did she feel for the big Shifter? She’d only known him a little over a week but she’d found Reese to be kind and intelligent—not to mention patient and generous. Don’t forget hot, muscular, and mouthwateringly sexy, whispered a little voice in her head.

Jo tried to push it away. I’m only feeling like that because of that stupid spell, she thought. The stupid spell she still had no way of breaking since she hadn’t gotten the night-blooming jasmine after all. Damn.

Anyway, that was the reason Reese was feeling for her as well—the spell. And maybe it had something to do with the Shifter hormones Fiona kept talking about, though Jo was still skeptical about the idea of being a Shifter herself. It seemed to her that the physical changes in her body could be explained by magical means as much as hormonal ones.

“You know,” she told the Fox, since he was easier to talk to than Reese in his human form. “You only think you care about me—that you like me, I mean.”

One pointed ear swiveled back as though he was listening and the Fox made a short, sharp yip that sounded like a negation to Jo.

“It’s true,” she insisted, as they reached the edge of the forest. “It’s that stupid spell I cast on both of us—it’s making us both crazy for each other. Or maybe it’s the whole Shifter thing—I don’t know. But I think it’s more likely the spell. I—”

They were back in Reese’s backyard by now. With no warning, the Fox Shifted and twisted under her. Jo gasped as she suddenly found herself straddling Reese’s naked, muscular torso and staring down into a human face instead of his Fox.

“Oh!” she gasped in surprise.

“Is that really what you think?” Reese demanded, glaring up at her. “That I only care about you because of some spell?”

“Yes, all right?” Jo snapped. “It’s driving us both crazy and it needs to be broken. That’s what I was out doing tonight—I wasn’t running away. I was trying to get an ingredient to put in a spell breaking potion I found. Look . . .” She scrambled up off of him and stood aside so he could stand. “Come in the house and I’ll show you. And, uh . . .” She could feel her cheeks getting hot as her eyes flicked over his big, naked body. “You can put some clothes on too.”

“All right. Let’s go in.” He stooped to pick her up again but Jo stepped hastily away.

“I feel better now. I really can walk.”

“Fine. But it you start to fall I’m going to catch you whether you like it or not, darlin’.” Frowning at her, Reese held out a hand in an “after you” gesture.

Jo was feeling steadier on her feet by now. Her temple still throbbed, but the world had stopped spinning and swaying. She walked carefully but quickly up the back porch steps without falling.

Once inside, she headed for the upstairs area and went to get Miranda’s book of Shadows. She would prove to Reese once and for all that she’d had a legitimate reason to be out tonight and that she hadn’t been running away.

Are you sure about that? whispered a little voice in her head. Don’t you think trying to find a way to break the spell is a form of running away? Running away from what you feel for Reese?

Not now, Jo told the voice firmly. She wasn’t ready to think about how she felt for the big Shifter. She might never be ready.

Pushing the thought aside, she went to find the book.