“Pssst,” came louder this time.
He turned. Rianna poked her head around a tree.
“Why are you hiding behind a tree?” he asked.
Her bottom lip quivered. “Because I shifted into a frog, and the scouts chased me, and Jeremy threw his soda on me, then kicked dirt on me…and I’m naked! I want to go home.”
Oh, no, she was about to start crying. He couldn’t handle tears. Nor the sad eyes turned his way, or the pouting lower lip that looked very kissable right now.
He quickly looked away. “Where are your clothes?”
“The boys tossed them in the trash can.”
This was exactly what he’d been afraid of. His mother would not be happy that he hadn’t explained things well enough. He could only hope she wouldn’t find out.
Kristor ignored his guide and looked around. He spotted the can, and walked over to it. When he reached inside and pulled her top out, it was covered in food and drink. He retrieved her car keys from her pants pocket and walked back. “Your clothes are ruined. I can go to your house and get more.”
“Don’t leave me!”
What was he supposed to do? Even though the sun was going down, he didn’t think she would want to run across the park naked, although the idea appealed to him. There was only one thing to do. He tugged his shirt over his head as he walked toward her.
“Stop! What are you doing?”
“I was going to give you my shirt.”
“Oh.”
He took another step closer.
“Wait.”
Now what? “Do you want my shirt or not?”
“Yes, but toss it over.”
Women. He tossed it toward her, but it got hung up on a bush. She leaned forward. Kristor caught a flash of tempting pale skin, and realized he was in a pretty good situation. Except she jumped back behind the tree.
“You did that on purpose.”
“No, I didn’t.” But if he’d thought about it, he might have. But he hadn’t, so her accusation was false. “It snagged on the bush. I’ll untangle it.”
“No!”
“Then what would you like me to do?” This was getting tiresome.
Labrinon was right, but Kristor would still need to get her to his craft and he didn’t think she would go quietly—naked or not.
“Turn around,” she ordered.
“Let me at least get it out of the—”
“Turn around.” Her teeth were gritted when she spoke and her eyes flashed fire. At least the tears were gone.
“Okay, but do you realize you’re not in a position to give orders?” He turned his back to her, heard the bush rustle, and visions of a very naked Rianna filled his head. Sweat beaded his brow. “Do you need some help?”
“No!”
“I wouldn’t mind.”
“I just bet you wouldn’t,” she mumbled.
He grinned, admitting she was an interesting creature.
“You can turn around now.”
He did. His gaze slowly worked down from her head, past the white T-shirt that didn’t hide as much as she probably hoped it did, especially when she tugged on the hem. Then his gaze slipped down her long legs. A rush of heat infused his blood with sexual need.
“You can stop staring.”
“Why?”
Her eyebrows drew together. “Because it makes me uncomfortable.”
“It does me, too, but I think probably in a different way.”
Her gaze dropped, then jerked back up, her cheeks turning a bright shade of red. “I need to get to my car,” she ground out.
“And how do you propose we do that? Other than run very fast. Or shift into our animal guides.”
“A hawk? I don’t think so. Besides, once was enough.”
Kristor had a feeling it would take a lot of convincing to make Rianna see her animal guide as an extension of herself, rather than a nuisance. Although sometimes he wondered about Labrinon.
Maybe that would shut up Labrinon, for a while at least. He looked around, seeing that the park visitors had left. “I think we can make it to the vehicles without being spotted.” She nodded, but then stopped before going out into the open.
“My keys,” she said, reaching her hand toward him.
Kristor dropped them into her hand.
“Follow me home. I have questions.” She strode past him, expecting him to follow.
A desirable woman, but also very demanding. And he did follow. The temptation was too great.
As soon as she cleared the cover of trees, Rianna began to run. Even though his shirt reached mid-thigh on her, when she ran, the hem kicked up in the back showing a nice portion of her buttocks. Labrinon was right about one thing: Kristor had gone too long without mating. He straddled the motorcycle and followed her car.
Her home was a bright canary yellow, different from the others. He liked it. She hurried into the house, leaving the door open. He closed it after he went inside. When a door slammed in another room, disappointment filled him. He had a feeling she was putting on more clothes. A shame.
He wandered around her front room. It was comfortable, with pillows and rugs, a sofa, and a chair.
He glanced down as a black-and-white cat came into the room. He reached down and scratched behind her ear. She in turn, rubbed against his leg. After a few moments, she curled up on the chair.
The house was small enough that he could hear when Ria turned the shower on. For a moment, he closed his eyes, indulging in a vision of water cascading over her naked body, and how she would take the soap and lather over her breasts, down her stomach.
He drew in a sharp breath. Being around Rianna was not going to be easy if all he could think about was mating with her.
Kristor sat on the sofa, thumbing through a book on the table in front of him to take his mind off what was happening in the other room. The book was a picture record of Rianna’s life. He settled against the back of the sofa with it.
By the time she joined him, he’d caught up to her current life. He set the book down and stood. Her hair hung in damp tendrils.
She handed him his shirt. “Thanks for loaning me something to wear.”
“Of course.” He watched as her expression went from grateful to irritated.
“Do you think you might have mentioned that after I shifted back, I would be naked?”
“There’s much I would like to tell you, but in the past you refused to listen. I believe you said I was crazy, a
