Page 31 of Feral

“Not at all. I’m the same way when it comes to books. I can’t help it, when I see one I have to pick it up.”

My voice faded on the last few words because Fraser was staring at me, his hands curled into fists at his side. The look in his dark eyes could only be described as feral, as if I were a rabbit caught in a trap and he was about to devour me.

I swallowed, willing my pulse to slow as I took a hesitant step in his direction. I realized too late that I’d forgotten to put socks on, so my feet slapped against the hardwood floors, my bright red toe nails peeking out from the hem of my sweats.

“I hope…I mean, I just wanted to be comfortable,” I said.

His gaze intensified, darting down my body in a way that made my hands shake with nerves. Was it appraising or judgmental? I’d had my fair share of both, and I couldn’t help hoping that Fraser was looking at me with former instead of the latter

“It’s…it’s fine,” his brogue was rough, growly even.

I nodded, willing myself to think about this clinically. This was…this was…

An experiment! I am about to participate in something most people don’t know anything about. So, it’s like a research experiment. I’ll take in all the sensations and then make notations of it in my book. Yes…this is an experiment.

It barely helped the drop of my stomach as Fraser’s eyes snapped back up to mine.

“Have ya ever seen a Werewolf?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“Not in person.”

He let out a long breath through his nose.

“I can’t do the bite with my glamour on. But I didn’t want to scare ya.”

He said it with genuine fear, which made me wonder if others had made him feel monstrous in his true form. The thought gripped my heart with compassion. I, too, knew what it was like to be judged on appearance alone, and while I’d worked quite hard to be comfortable in my own skin, it still stung when others carelessly formed their opinions about me.

“It will be fine,” I said.

“Ya don’t ken that.”

His voice was low, hesitant, and I couldn’t help reaching out to him. The second my hand landed on his arm, Fraser’s gaze turned hot and the words I was going to say died on my lips.

“I…I’m not afraid,” I finally got out.

How had we gotten so close?

I craned my neck to look up at him. I could see the green flecks in his dark eyes, the sensual curve of his mouth, half hidden under his thick beard. His arm flexed under my hand and a second later, his large hands were on my hips, kneading the flesh there in a possessive way that stole my breath.

“What are ya doin’ to me?” he demanded, his head lowered, breath hot and fast against my cheek.

“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The air was suddenly thick, charged with a scent I couldn’t quite place. It was heady, making my thoughts spin as if I were high on something. I came just to the middle of Fraser’s wide chest, but his head was bent so that his mouth was dangerously close to mine, and his canines were elongating. Were those claws on his hands now, biting into my skin?

“If ya don’t stop…”

“Stop…what? I don’t…Fraser is this part of—”

“Naw, it’s not...”

Now, instead of skin there was luxuriously soft fur, dark as midnight under my hands. I stared up into golden eyes, flared and filled with molten heat that sent shivers down my spine. His snout was shorter than I expected and I longed to run my finger there to discover if it was as velvet soft as it appeared.

I’d barely raised my arm when Fraser spun me around, my back to his suddenly bare front. One long, strong arm banded around my middle and pressed my hips back so that my ass was now flush with something very hard, and very long.

Oh my god, that can’t be what I think it is.

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