SEAL Wolf In Too Deep(66)
“I think she’s in good hands with Allan. You know how much he cares for her. He’ll handle this right.”
“I hope she’s not too angry with all of us. I wonder if he told her that she has my wolf genes.”
“As long as it didn’t make her pregnant and it saved her life, I’m certain she’ll be all right with it. Speaking of napping and having a rough night of it…”
She sagged against him. “If you’ll give me a back rub.”
He smiled and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll give you much more than that.” Then he led her to their bedroom.
Chapter 18
Allan woke to find a naked woman curled up against him, only he was still all wolf. He shifted and pulled the covers over them, wondering what the next phase in training would be. He realized that’s what this was going to be for a while. An in-house boot camp for a lupus garou until Debbie could get her shifting under control. He’d never really thought anything about the full moon, except that he loved how it lighted the whole sky at night.
Because of the situation with Debbie, he was counting down the days when the new moon was here, and she wouldn’t be able to shift for a week. He planned to pack in a month’s worth of outdoor activities in that week—searching crime scenes, diving, shopping trips, eating out, and movies, anything that she wanted to do that she couldn’t during the rest of the month until she could control her shifting better.
Maybe if she had a week of scheduled activities crammed in, she’d be ready for three weeks of not going places as much. At least he hoped that’s what they could do. He’d propose it to her when she woke.
Her naked body resting against his had stirred longings again for something more. He felt driven to make her see the benefit of having him for her mate. Someone who could protect her, show her the ropes, and love her unconditionally. They would be perfect for each other, he thought, as much as they had been compatible before she was turned. He really believed if she hadn’t been turned, and he hadn’t been a wolf, they would have been perfect as human companions.
So he wasn’t giving up on the notion.
He thought about what she’d said earlier. That she’d woken as a woman, naked against him. She must have fled the bed right away or he would have noticed.
Would she flee the bed when she woke this time? He hoped not. If not, he figured she had to agree they were dating, of a sort. Wouldn’t she?
*
Debbie couldn’t believe she had woken and found herself naked against Allan again, except this time she was sleeping against his naked body. And he had to have known it or she wouldn’t be wrapped up in his arms underneath the covers in a totally human way.
She had to admit she loved being held in his arms like this. Loved the way he was so tender. She wished they could have done this as humans and she didn’t have to deal with this wolf business. But she was glad she was alive and better than fit. She had to remind herself of it every time she shifted and was furious over it.
Right now, like this, she wasn’t sure what to do. Unless she quit coming to bed with him as a wolf, she was bound to keep waking up against him as a naked woman so she might as well just get used to it.
He must have felt her tense, because he opened his eyes and sighed. “I’ve been thinking—”
“I’m not dating you.” She closed her eyes and snuggled against him, giving up the pretense that she wasn’t happy with this—here, with him.
“Okay. But I was thinking about the week of the new moon.”
“Which is three weeks from now.” She couldn’t help but be irritated about it.
“Right. We’ll do everything during that week. Investigations into the murders, diving, rescuing. Wherever we’re needed. We’ll do our investigative work at home until then. Internet searches, whatever we can run down. During the week you’re free from shifting, we can go to the movies, eat out, shop, whatever you’d love to do.”
“I can’t really go anywhere for three weeks, can I?” she asked, hating that she would be confined like that. She loved the outdoors and she loved her job because she could go diving and help rescue others or help solve crimes. She hated that she’d be cooped up in the cabin for weeks on end, which she suspected would be the ultimate case of cabin fever.
“After a time, you only will have trouble during the full moon. We’ll have get-togethers with other pack members. If you have to shift, you can do so in a bedroom, and then you can rejoin the party.”
“As a wolf,” she said skeptically.
“Yeah. But we’re all lupus garous, so everyone will understand and have no problem with it.”
“But me.”
“It would be a safe way to learn to get used to it. After a while, it will seem like no big deal to you.”
“I don’t see how I’ll ever get used to it.”
“You will. Do you remember Michael, the artist?”
“Who paints pictures of wolves? Is everyone a wolf but me?”
Allan smiled. “He’s fairly newly turned. He’s just as happy as can be.”
“No wonder he paints such beautiful portraits of wolves. I thought they were drugged so that they could sit and be photographed with people or out in nature.”
“Nope. He’s one of us, and the portraits he does? Only of the lupus garous who are willing to sit still long enough to have their portrait taken.”