Karri

“I’m sorry.”

The words washed over her like thick, warm honey, trapping her, keeping her feet planted on the sidewalk right then and there. His voice was angelic. Deep and powerful but smooth and melodic all at once. She just wanted to stay there and listen to him talk.

“I know you,” she found herself saying as the sounds of the hapless individual he’d sent tumbling down the street faded away. Karri barely even turned her head to watch.

“Yes,” he replied. “We…came across each other last night. I’m sorry for that, and then for this today.”

She hadn’t actually seen her rescuer the night before; she’d been too busy trying to protect herself from Al’s forced advances. Now though, Karri took a good long look at him. He was tall, like all shifters, but without the colossal nature of a bear shifter, of which she’d seen many before. He was still built like a tank, but there was a slightly more lean aspect to him. He wore a tight beige-colored shirt with red sleeves on the top of the same black utility pants that every shifter seemed to wear. She wondered sometimes if they owned any other pants.

Thick hair in an interesting grayish blond covered his head, swept forward and narrowing up to a point over his forehead. She immediately determined that the color was natural, and not as a result of him going gray. Eyes that were nearly as blue as her own shone from within the center of a facial structure that made her want to lick her lips. Thick cheekbones and a jaw that all men craved were accented by thick lips that forced her to stop imagining how they would feel against her skin.

He was so attractive it was intoxicating in a literal sense. Karri felt her body responding to him even though he’d not made any sort of advance on her in the slightest. It irritated her to feel her nipples harden as if seeking his attention, or the flow of blood that rushed through her body, pooling heat between her legs as if she were just going to open them for him simply because he was attractive.

“It’s fine,” she said, waving off his apologies, trying to put her brain back into some semblance of order and function. Yet another part of her that he’d turned upside down simply by looking at her.

“Are you sure?” he queried.

Karri bristled slightly as he questioned her statement. “Yes, I am sure,” she said, managing not to snap at him. “Why would I say it if I wasn’t?”

To his credit he didn’t back down from her challenge.

“Many people will say they are okay when they are actually not,” he replied. “For appearance’s sake, or to be polite. There are many reasons. I simply wish to ensure you are not employing one of those now.”

Karri relented a little at his above-average honesty. “No harm was done,” she said. “Last night or tonight. I probably won’t sleep well for a bit, but in the end, I will be just fine. Thanks to you,” she added after a moment, feeling silly when she realized she’d yet to thank him for saving her.

It irked her that she’d even needed saving. For most of her life Karri had prided herself on being able to get herself out of situations, so to have had this shifter come in like a knight in shining armor was annoying, to say the least. But she couldn’t deny that if he hadn’t, her life would be extremely different right now.

“I’m glad,” he said. “I’d like to avoid any more work if I can.”

Karri nodded slowly, trying to keep her face calm. Inside, she was repeating the same two words to herself over and over again.

Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Don’t ask.

“What do you mean?”

Seriously? I said don’t ask. That’s very much the opposite of what you just did. Why the hell do you have to do that to me? It was an easy task, and yet you got it backward. Idiot.

“Ah, I’m the Cadian envoy,” he explained. “So when any of us screw up, it’s on my shoulders to deal with it. I decide on appropriate punishments and sometimes have to carry them out as well.” He paused. “Plus there’s all the paperwork that goes with it. So I’m glad I don’t have to do any more of it for today.” The shifter shook his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get all serious on you like that.”

“It’s fine,” she said, brushing him off and trying to make good her escape before she did something else stupid.

Behind them the door to the bar opened and feet scraped on the pavement behind her. She didn’t turn around, her attention caught by the way the shifter turned his attention to the newcomer. She could see him tense, prepared to move between her and whoever had exited the building.

She felt her blood boil. He didn’t need to protect her at all times.

“Oh, hey there, cutie. What are you up to?”

There wasn’t even time for her to react. She’d only started to get irate at the words the obvious drunkard had said before the shifter slid smoothly behind her, using his size to block her off.

“Saying anything more would be a bad idea,” she heard him say.

“Listen pal…”

Karri wasn’t sure what the shifter did, because by the time she could turn around and slip to the side so she could see what was going on, the drunkard was nodding, his eyes wide with horror. He looked at her and then took off down the street.

“Neat party trick,” she remarked.

He snorted. “I’m so done with idiots today. They are causing me far too much stress.” She watched him rotate to face her, once again looking at the gray-blond hair on his head, focusing on that to ignore the look of his eyes as they gazed at her, seeing something only he could see.

“Tell me about it,” she muttered. “That’s why I go jogging.”

Uh-oh.

His eyes ran over her black leggings and the pink sports bra showing from underneath the loose tank top she wore, as if reevaluating why she wore it or something. Karri really didn’t know.

“Jogging,” he mused. “May I join you?”

Yep. That’s what she’d been expecting from the moment she sort of gave him an invitation to join her. Fuck. What was she supposed to say now? No? That was just rude, and he hadn’t really deserved any rudeness from her.

Crap. She actually sort of owed him. The option to say no to him was always on the table, Karri knew that. While she did owe him for rescuing her the day before, that didn’t make her obligated to open up her life to him. Still. What was the harm in letting him run with her? She could direct where they went, and wouldn’t have to worry.

“Yeah, sure,” she said, then took off again without waiting for him.

If he wanted to run with her, he was just going to have to keep up. Her short legs moved gracefully as she moved down the sidewalk at her own pace. Seconds later a much heavier footfall sounded, and shortly after that the tall shifter appeared at her side, moving effortlessly to match her pace.

“What is your name?” he asked after a handful of minutes of silence.

“Karri,” she said, exhaling. Having a conversation while jogging was not something she was interested in doing. Silence please.

“Andrew,” he replied, though she didn’t ask. She didn’t want to waste her breath.

She hated the way he didn’t sound like he was even breathing hard. It was like he was just walking casually along next to her.

Aggravating is what it was. Instead of letting it get to her though, Karri just let it go, feeling the impact of her feet on the ground as she ran on, leaving her stresses and anger behind her. She made no effort to speak, though she sensed that Andrew would be up for it if she did. Eventually she came out of her trance as her mind told her that she’d arrived.

Oh hell. You had to take me home?

When Karri went jogging, she often lost herself in the run and the exhilaration of it all. She’d done it now, and her subconscious had guided her back to her house. Which now meant that Andrew knew where she resided. Which was lovely. Just lovely.

“This is your place?” Andrew asked, looking up the drive at her property. “This is a nice place.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve worked hard for it,” she said more harshly than perhaps was necessary. A lifetime of being told she’d earned nothing and had everything given to her had created some automatic defenses within her.

“I never said you hadn’t,” Andrew replied calmly, seemingly unfazed by her response.

“Sorry. I’m just not used to people genuinely complimenting me,” she explained. “It’s usually a lightly veiled insult suggesting that I didn’t earn it, or it’s unwanted flattery in an attempt to curry favor with me.” She gave him a shrug, as if that should be explanation enough.

“Why is that?”

“Umm, never mind,” she said, trying to brush it off, not really feeling like getting into a complex explanation of her father, the relationship between them, and everything else associated with that. “Thanks for the jog,” she called over her shoulder, moving up the drive, leaving him there.

“Wait,” he called to her.

Karri turned to regard him evenly. If he thought he was going to weasel his way into her house, he was in for a rude awakening. She prepared several retorts to possible ways he might go about it. Just in case. When he didn’t immediately start speaking she lifted her eyebrows questioningly.

“Would you like to do it tomorrow?” he asked, frowning at something unseen. “I found this to be quite relaxing.”

Against her better judgment, Karri shrugged in agreement. “Sure, I guess. Be here at five tomorrow morning.” She didn’t always go for morning runs, but this way she could fulfill her obligation by agreeing to run with him, and also brush him off.

There was no way he was going to show up. Not that early. Without waiting for a response she continued up the driveway.

“I’ll be there.”

The words drifted up after her, carrying just far enough that she could hear them.

Somehow I doubt that.