Annalise smelled Jaxon way before she saw him. He was all dominance and fur and some sexpot cologne that probably got him into a lot of girls’ undies. The thought of him with other girls caused her to rattle off a snarl. When She-Devil made her imagine a pile of bodies, it reminded her of why she couldn’t have pretty things—like Jaxon.
His monster truck was parked at the top of the hill, and he was leaning against it, looking down at the ground, wearing a black T-shirt and dark jeans over scuffed work boots. His arms flexed where he had them crossed over his chest, and the inky tattoos along his forearms were dark against his pale skin. His hair was messier on top than it had been earlier, as if he’d been running his hands through it. A nervous habit maybe, but it made his hair look sexy in that just-woke-up way, the kind that said he didn’t care overly much about the way he looked or about being perfect.
When he noticed her, she expected his dark eyes to match the night around them, but she was surprised to find them lightened to a bright green. “You came,” he said low, pushing off his truck. Jaxon lifted his chin higher and let his fists fall to his sides. Tension rolled off him in waves, and Annalise stopped in her tracks as her inner animal growled out a warning.
“I won’t hurt you,” he said in that deep, gravelly, inhuman voice.
“Then why do you look and feel so different?”
“Because you said you got bit.” When a rumbling sound came from his chest, Jaxon shook his head hard. The sound stopped suddenly, but his eyes blazed an even brighter shade of green. It was like rain-bloated moss in the early morning. “I’m mad because someone hurt you. Who?”
Her mind skittered away from the night she became She-Devil, though. It was too hard to think about, too hard to dwell on. She’d worked very hard to block those memories completely, and he was scratching at the edge of them. She-Devil snarled and writhed inside of her.
Annalise bit her lip hard, fighting the Change her panther demanded. She dipped her gaze to his work boots. “There were times I wanted to tell you everything, but you seemed so anti-shifter, and I got scared. I didn’t tell anyone this happened to me. I know you’re mad, but I want you to know it wasn’t just you I hid from. I cut myself off from everyone in my old life.”
Jaxon ran his hand down his beard and took a careful step closer. “I wanted to tell you what I was, too.”
This was the game then—trust. He had just rewarded her honesty, and now she would reward him…by taking a step toward him. He kept his eyes trained on her sneakers as she did.
“I got on that dating site because I was so lonely I thought I would die of it,” she whispered, unable to hold his gaze.
Jaxon took another small step forward, and now only five yards separated them. He smelled so good.
He scratched the back of his neck and admitted, “I got on that dating site looking for a human companion.”
“Why?”
“You ain’t ready to talk about your bite, and I’ll never be ready to talk about why.”
“No step forward for that one, mister. You didn’t give me anything.”
“I’m a rogue,” he ground out.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I have no crew. I never pledged to one.”
“Ben said you’re a Gray Back.”
He made a single ticking sound behind his teeth and stared off into the woods. “Ben doesn’t know me. Nobody does. That was the crew I was born into. The alpha’s name is Creed. He’s good. There are beasts in that crew. Brawlers and trackers. A seer. I never pledged to it though. I’m a nomad. I wander, and then I go home, and a couple days later, I wander again. Nothing holds me. Nothing anchors me.”
“Did you get on that site to find an anchor?”
He dipped his chin once, blazing green eyes locked on hers.
Sadness washed through her. “And you found me instead.”
Another nod.
He’d earned the three steps she took toward him.
“Admission, I came up here determined to tell you to leave,” she whispered.
He took a step. “Admission, when I drove away today, I was determined not to come back.”
Step. “Admission, I’m really glad you did come back.”
Step. “Admission, I want to kill whoever bit you, and I wanna do it slowly, inflicting maximum pain.”
Annalise closed her eyes and inhaled sharply at how good it felt that he was protective of her. If he saw what she was really capable of, he would run, but if his animal urges matched hers, perhaps she could keep him longer. They were so close now, just a couple feet away from each other. He was tall and strong, straight-backed. Fists still clenched at his sides, chin held high and proud, eyes blazing that striking green.
“Admission.” She closed her eyes tightly because she was too big a coward to watch his face when she said this part. “I always imagined what it would be like if we met, and I got to touch you. You said you wished you could hug me. That you would make a bad day okay.” She dragged in a sharp, emotional breath and tried to control her emotions. “Jax, it’s been a really bad fucking day. A lot of bad days actually.”
The softest brush of his fingers touched her cheek, and her response was instant. She sagged forward and slid her arms up his strong chest around the back of his neck. Jaxon didn’t hesitate. He bent down and lifted her against him until she had her legs wrapped around his hips. She held him tight, and his arms went strong around her back as he crushed her in place against his chest. He didn’t rock them side to side, or gentle the hug. This embrace felt like desperation. He slid his massive hand up her spine to the back of her neck, and he squeezed. She should’ve felt trapped here against the brick wall of his solid body, held in place by his impossibly strong arms. But all she felt was safe.