that she’d at least said something to him. Even more important, he didn’t look frightened by her. He didn’t look away.
“My name is Baylor Quinn. Bay, for short. I’m with a group called Pack Dynamics, and I’m here to help you.”
“You said that already. There’s no way to help me. Look at me.” Belly full, finally more angry than frightened, Manda pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. She had to catch the edge of the table for balance. She held her arms out, displaying her smock-clad body as best she could. “I’m a freak. An example of what happens when you sin. I’m cursed. You can’t help a curse.”
“You’re not cursed. You’re caught halfway between shifts.”
Manda shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I know it doesn’t, but it can. It will. You have to trust me, though. I want to show you what I mean, but you need to trust me. Don’t be afraid, don’t scream. Most of all, don’t run away.”
She frowned. “I can barely walk. Running’s out of the question. Where would I go? Besides, why would I want to run away?”
He laughed, but he stayed well back from her. “Because you’re going to think I’m absolutely nuts. I’m not. Nor am I a pervert, but I have to take my clothes off if I’m going to do this right.”
Manda laughed. She couldn’t help herself. In fact, she realized that in some perverse way she was actually enjoying herself. What she’d feared for so long—discovery—had finally come to pass. The worst that could happen to her had happened and she was still alive. For now. “You’re kidding, right? You think you’re going to just barge in here, eat one of my steaks, and tell me not to weird out when you take your clothes off? I may be a freak, but you’re certifiable.”
“Maybe.” He unzipped the heavy black leather suit and peeled it off. There were regular clothes underneath. Manda realized he was much slimmer than she’d first thought. Once the suit was off, he started unbuttoning his shirt.
“What I have to show you has nothing to do with being naked, and everything to do with who and what you are. What we are. For the record, I have a very good friend who looked almost exactly as you do. He’s now a very handsome man with a wife and new baby…and sometimes he’s a wolf.”
She was still trying to process what he’d said when he slipped his muscular arms free of his long-sleeved cotton shirt and draped the shirt over the kitchen chair. Manda hadn’t seen a man’s chest for years, and she’d never seen one like his, so perfect it made her sex tighten in anticipation and terrified her at the same time. What was it he said? He had a friend just like her? Impossible.
He reached for his belt and she turned around.
“No,” he said. “I want you to watch.”
She snorted. “You really are a pervert, aren’t you?” She didn’t turn away. Couldn’t. Just knowing how she’d reacted to the brief sight of his lean, muscled chest with the dark swirl of hair between his nipples warned Manda anything else might be too much. Still, shouldn’t she be afraid? A stranger had forced his way into her home, eaten her food and now was undressing and asking her to watch?
She must be just as perverted as he was. Or maybe she was merely desperate.
“Please. You need to turn around and watch this. I’m not going to hurt you.”
She heard the sound of his boots hitting the floor, then the rustle of his jeans. Tried to imagine the lean strength of his hips and whether or not the hair on his groin matched the dark pelt on his chest.
“You really do need to watch me if you’re going to understand.”
Manda sighed. What was the point? She pivoted slowly, awkwardly, and caught the briefest glimpse of him naked. Tall, lean, and muscular with the kind of body that could provide plenty of fuel for any woman’s fantasy…even a freak’s.
Then he was gone. So quickly Manda barely had time to gasp.
In his place was a wolf. Black overall, with amber eyes that glistened against the ebony fur, the beast sat patiently in exactly the same spot where Baylor had been standing.
Manda’s twisted legs gave out. She fell to her knees, caught herself with one hand braced on the floor. She reached out and touched the animal’s face, scooted closer and ran her fingers the length of an ear. “Baylor? Is that you?”
The wolf nodded. Such a human response was almost too much. Almost. She touched him with both hands now, hands that weren’t nearly as much like paws as his. He held up one foot, almost as if he knew what she was thinking. Manda took his big paw in her own, compared the ebony nails, the thick pads on his, the longer fingers on hers.
It couldn’t be. It was impossible, but then wasn’t she impossible as well? “How?” She sat back on her fanny, hard, and it hurt because the stub of a tail that had never quite become anything other than a stub got in the way. Scrambling to her feet, Manda held out her hands. “Tell me. How?”
Then, as if she’d blinked and missed something miraculous, Baylor Quinn stood in front of her again. He was closer though, his lean body so sleek and perfect she wanted to weep at the wretched ugliness of her own.
She clasped her hands in front of her waist to keep from touching him, stared unabashed at his male perfection, the lean cut of his belly, the thick length of his dark penis. It wasn’t quite flaccid, nor as hard as she knew it could be, resting there against the heavy weight of his testicles.
Manda knew all about those parts of a man. Knew they were supposed to bring pleasure but in reality gave only pain. Knowing what she did, why did she still want to touch him? Another part of that damned curse? It must be.
He bent over and grabbed his underwear off the floor and quickly stepped into the cotton boxers. He pulled on his jeans and his shirt, but didn’t say a word. He buttoned the fly on his jeans, left his shirt undone, his feet bare. Manda practically quivered with the need to know, but she didn’t ask again. He’d come here to help her. She had to believe.
She had no choice.
Bay sat down on the couch and patted the seat beside him. Manda limped tentatively across the room and sat on the soft cushions, but as far away from Bay as she could. He knew she’d tried to make it look as if she merely wanted to be comfortable, but her barriers had fallen when Bay shifted and she’d broadcasted her thoughts like an open book.
He still terrified her, but for different reasons. He wondered what had happened to make her so afraid of men. Whatever, it went beyond the mere fact of her appearance or the fact he was a stranger. He tried probing her mind, but her chin snapped up and she glared at him, obviously aware he intruded.
Bay took a deep breath and wondered where to begin. It hadn’t been all that long ago that Jacob Trent had done to Bay exactly what he’d just done to this young woman. Shifted from man to wolf, and in the process, turned Baylor’s world upside down.
Then, just as quickly, Jake had righted it. Answered the questions that had plagued Baylor all his life. Questions that couldn’t possibly be as confusing as the ones this young woman confronted. He couldn’t imagine going through life looking the way she did. Well, he had to start somewhere. “Will you tell me your name?”
She
