As I helped her sit up, the sheet fell down to her waist. Gail glanced down at her breasts, bare except for the black tape crossing above and below them. She raised her eyes to meet mine. “Hoss, you want to explain where my bra went?”
“Ah, that’s a long story. Let me get you untied and I’ll explain.”
“Yeah, I’m dying to hear.” She wiggled her butt a little. “At least you left me my panties.”
I choked off a laugh. “Who says I’m not a gentleman?”
Gail eyed me coldly, but she remained silent.
I slipped the leather binding off and quickly unsnapped the cuffs and the silver chain. As she massaged her shoulders, I undid her collar and set it aside.
“So,” she asked. “How’d you get the bloody nose and black eye?”
I moved to the foot of the bed and released the rope holding her feet. “You started changing right after I got the rope in your mouth. I hadn’t put the silver in place yet, so I had to hold you down and put the silver on you anywhere I could.”
I unfastened her anklets and chain and looked up to see her pulling a silver medallion out of the back of her panties.
“I guess that would explain this?” she asked, holding it out to me.
I took it and grinned, it was still warm from her body. “Yeah, I thought I got them all out and redistributed. I guess I missed one.”
“I guess so,” Gail said, releasing the cuffs from her wrists. “And while you were shoving silver down my pants, I cocked you one, sounds like it was deserved.”
I held up one hand. “Nothing like that, I swear.”
She gave me a bit of a smile. “Just teasing, Jesse. And my bra?”
“Well, I was shoving silver under it when you bucked me off. It tore pretty easily.”
“It was lace dumbass; of course it would tear easily. You’re not supposed to use it for a handgrip.”
I felt my face grow warm. “Ah, yeah, I see that now.”
She waved a hand in dismissal. “Never mind—occupational hazard. How about the werewolf?”
I unwound the silver chain from her ankles while Gail did the same with her wrists. “He came in when I was still struggling with you. I shot him a few times, I guess enough that he realized he wasn’t wanted, and he ran out the front door. I was lucky.”
I finished with her ankles but was reluctant to remove my fingers from her skin. Almost of their own accord, my fingers traced the muscles of her calves. Gail finished with her wrists and unfastened the chain around her neck.
My fingers were getting bolder and her thighs were so tempting.
She caught my wrist in her hands, carefully to avoid touching the staples. I met her gaze. She smiled. “I appreciate the attention; it makes a girl warm to feel wanted, but first things first.”
With that, she cradled my face in her hands and kissed me softly on the lips. Our noses bumped, but I hardly noticed the stab of pain.
“Bathroom,” she said as she pulled back.
“Ah, back wash?”
She laughed as she leapt to her feet and scurried into the bath, closing the door behind her.
I hadn’t expected anything more. I went into the kitchen, preheated the oven for the biscuits, and then poured two cups of coffee.
At the bathroom door I could hear the shower, I knocked and called, “Coffee anyone?”
“Yes, please.”
I slipped into the bath, leaving the door open. I was leery of not being able to watch the cabin’s interior. For a moment, I wondered if all the hunters were as paranoid as I was becoming.
Gail was pretty much like I’d found her the previous morning, but she hadn’t gotten around to lathering her hair yet. She cracked the door and took one of the cups. I made myself comfortable and enjoyed the view.
When she finished the cup, she handed it back to me, apparently remembering how I had finished it when she didn’t.
“So,” I said.
Gail, lathered, holding her head free of the spray that splashed across her breasts. I sighed.
“So what?”
“So, now that we have a month before the next full moon.”
She stopped lathering and grinned at me. “You have a one-track mind, Hoss.”
“You did say once the hunt was over—”
“You think the hunt is over? He’s still out there, Jesse.”
She turned and leaned her head back under the shower to do the rinse, lather, repeat, bit again.
“Well, yes, but you won’t be changing again for a month, so we have time to track him down before the next full moon.”
Somewhere between the rinse and repeat, Gail shook her head. “Jesse, he can change anytime he wants. In case you don’t get the significance, it means he can create a completely new pack by the next full moon. We’ll be right back where we started two days ago, and you’ll have to fight a new pack by yourself again.”
I loved watching her rinse. It almost took my mind off what she had said.
“I’m perfectly willing to shoot the bastard for you. We even know where he works.”
She turned off the water and opened the door. I held the unfolded towel and waited. When she reached for it, I pulled it back out of reach. She studied my face for a moment and then stepped out onto the floor. She raised her arms away from her sides. I took my time drying her, if she wasn’t ready for sex, then so be it, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t make the wait fun. Gail started to turn when I’d dried her front, but I gripped her shoulders and shook my head. A curious smile rose to her face. She held still and I moved closer, reaching behind her to pull her in tight to me while I slowly dried first her shoulder blades, her lower back, and her cheeks. When I’d finished, we both were flushed.
“There you are, my lady, all ready for a new day.”
“Yes,
