Page 39 of Venice Heat (Urban Heat 2)

“We need to work on you learning to center yourself more. We’re running out of time.”

She waved her hand. “The full moon is still two days away, and you said turning is the most natural thing in the world.”

He moved to grab her hand and brought it to his lips. A tremor raced down her spine. His piercing eyes arrested her. “You pretend not to be afraid, Shae. I know you are scared. I’m not going to leave you.”

She looked away. “You know what I am, or rather who I am.”

“I can’t change it.”

“Change what?”

He raised her chin and kissed her lips, then entered the house. She followed. He’d used that cryptic way of speaking before, and it pissed her off. At first she thought he had just forgotten some words, and she also knew in the Japanese language, they used far fewer words to express themselves than English speakers, but Eiji meant something else. She was sure of it.

She grabbed his arm to pull him back, and desire licked her flesh at their contact. Her heart sped up. Lately, the feeling between them had intensified. “Explain it to me so I understand, Eiji!”

His gaze swept over her body, and her temperature rose. Her nipples pebbled, and moisture started between her legs. He sighed, but she saw the need in that dark gaze that could go so pale when they made love. She found she wanted it to happen now.

“I’ve marked you.”

“What!”

He pushed hands through his hair and paced away. “I didn’t mean to do it. It happened when you opened yourself to me while we were in bed. After I realized, I pulled back.”

“But you said that can’t happen until I’m fully wolf, and I have to want it!”

He looked at her. She dropped onto the couch and ducked her head. She had wanted it. She’d wanted to belong to him and nobody else. That’s why she couldn’t stand the thought of leaving him.

“We’re not mates, are we?”

“No, we aren’t. We can’t until you change, but…”

“But what?”

“I expect Darryl to find us sometime today.”

“What? Why?” Panic set in.

Eiji spoke in that infuriatingly calm voice that, at the moment, grated on her nerves. “He will have felt his connection to you weaken. He will know what it means, and he will come for you.”

She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out. “Then we have to be ready. Do you have any weapons in this house?”

“Don’t worry.”

“Don’t tell me not to worry. I am worried! I’m not letting him take me again, Eiji. You don’t know what it’s like to have someone in your head, controlling what you think and what you feel.” She started searching through drawers and closets without his permission. “Besides that, he’ll probably bring all his people, and you’re fine as hell—you look awesome as a wolf—but you’ll need backup, and I’m it.”

He leaned on the back of the couch, arms folded over his chest, and a rare smile lighting his handsome face. “I like my odds.”

She grinned. “You better, or I can kick your ass too.”

Before he answered, she looked past him and spotted something over the mantel. “Cool, is that real?” She took down the sword and unsheathed it. The blade gleamed.

Eiji strolled up behind her and brought his arms around her. “This is a katana. Do you know how to handle it?”

“Swing and don’t miss?”

He began instructing her, guiding the movements of her hands, the balance of her weight in her legs. Shae had handled knives, even short swords, but the katana was much longer. At first she found it awkward, but determination to remain free while helping Eiji made her work hard. She’d give anything to have her own weapons, left back at the house in her car, but she would make do.

“I don’t like waiting. We should go find him.”

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