“Alana,” he drawled out, warning in his voice.
“I know. It’s okay. I get it. Let’s just forget this conversation and hang out until I go. Best buds and all. I swear I won’t fangirl out on you anymore.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Act like this doesn’t change things. It’s not like I don’t find you attractive—”
“Do you?”
“Fuck yes, Alana.” He gestured to his crotch, where indeed he had a giant erection. “It’s bonerville central every time I’m around you, but I’m not meant to pair up. Especially not now.”
“Why?”
“Because of my job. Because I don’t have control of my animal like I should. Because I have the King of the Asheville Coven trying to kill me. Because I’m trying to find my place in a new crew. Because I won’t be any good at being a mate. Because my life is fucking complicated, and I don’t want you to get hurt by it!”
“Sounds like a lot of excuses that will keep you good and lonely for the rest of your life. I understand, though. Really. You aren’t ready, and for me, I’m in a different place.” She offered him a sad smile. “Our timing is off.” The story of my life.
Aaron let off a low growl that filled the room and lifted the fine hairs on her arms. Right before he stole his gaze from her, his eyes turned frosty. He strode into her bedroom, and when she padded in behind him to see what he was doing, Aaron was putting her shirts onto the hangers that were scattered all over her bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Cleaning up because this is my fault.”
Baffled, she asked, “The clothes?”
“Yeah, the clothes, the feelings, the almost-kiss, all of it. I fucked up.”
Alana sucked in air at the pain of those last three words. “That’s mean, Aaron.”
“I can’t do this! You smell sad, and my bear…I want to… Dammit, Alana, I told you we had to be friends. Just friends.”
“Caw!” Outside the window, a big black raven sat in the small tree in her landscaping.
Alana startled hard, but Aaron snarled and yanked the curtain over the window pane. “Fuck off, Wes!”
“Who’s Wes?”
“No one.”
“Is that a shifter out there?” she asked, jamming her finger at the swishing curtain. He looked like the one in the tree last night. “Why is he looking through my window?”
No answer.
“Is he in your crew?”
Aaron went back to hanging shirts like she didn’t exist, so she shoved him hard in the arm. “I’m not just some groupie you can ignore, Aaron. That shit doesn’t fly with me. Lock up when you leave.” She left her bedroom and grabbed her purse off the table by the door. Asshole could have all the silence he wanted in here. She was out on this.
The doorknob was cold in her hand as she yanked on it, but in an instant, the door slammed closed and Aaron’s giant hand was splayed against the wood. “You think this is easy for me, and it’s not.” Alana tried to face him but Aaron held her in place and murmured, “No, just let me say this.”
“Okay,” she whispered, rocked by the rawness in his voice.
“I feel good around you. My animal settles when you touch me, and I haven’t been able to think about anything else since I met you. And that scares the shit out of me, Alana. There is a hundred percent chance of my life hurting you. Hurting you, do you understand?”
No. “Yes.”
Aaron wrapped his arm around her middle and rested his forehead against her neck. He inhaled deeply and let off a long breath. “I don’t like you mad. Don’t like you upset, but I can’t help this awful feeling in my gut that I’m going to be the one to hurt you.”
“Then don’t. Just…don’t, Aaron. I’ll go easy on you. I’ll keep my expectations low, and we can just see how this goes.”
He huffed a humorless laugh. “Woman, you don’t understand. That’s not how it works for shifters. There’s no seeing how this goes. There’s choosing a mate, or not choosing. You. Feel. Dangerous.”
She rolled her eyes closed because, damn, it felt so good to hear him say something real. She didn’t know about shifter instincts, or the ins and outs of his culture or nature, but she understood what he’d just said. His animal was either in or out on a mate, and she felt big to him.
She understood that feeling. Even with her dull human instincts, Aaron Keller had taken up most of the space in her heart in a matter of days.
Slowly, Alana turned in his arms. She dared a look up at him, but his eyes were averted. There was a soft rumbling sound in his chest, so she pressed her palm there. “Look at me.”
Aaron grimaced, but let her see him. Green-gold eyes in a man’s face would’ve been terrifying before she met Aaron. Now, they were just beautiful. She cupped his cheek, her palm resting on the short blond scruff there. “You don’t have to hide from me.”
He looked at the scar on her lip, but just as she grew self-conscious, she noticed a difference in his growl. It was softer. Content sounding, somehow. Maybe he wasn’t looking at her scar like everyone else did. Maybe he only saw her lips.
Aaron dragged her waist against his and lowered his mouth to hers. His kiss was gentle, moving against hers easily. He seemed calm and steady, but inside of her, a fire had started in her middle and was expanding cell-by-cell outward. She slid her arms around his neck and parted her lips slightly for him. When Aaron brushed his tongue against hers, he tasted divine.