“Go on,”he says.
“What happened in there?You looked ...different ...when you came out.”
“Aslar, he...”
“What?”
“He knows about us.”
“He does?”My gut twists.
“Yes, and it’s not an issue, Elias, not the way you think it is.”
“How can it not be an issue?”
“He says times are changing and you are a good man, and he wants me to be happy.”
“He said that?”
“Pretty much.”
I’m quiet for a moment then,“I do not think the wolf clan is as progressive.”
“Have you asked?”
“How can I without blowing our cover?”
“What cover?Fraser saw us earlier together, he will have smelled sex, all of us came, there is no hiding anymore.”
We carry on walking.Maisey’s apartment block comes into view.My mind is whirring with this new idea that the panthers don’t condemn Branson for being with me.He’s also right about Fraser.He didn’t snap and snarl when he discovered us together in an apartment that must have reeked of satisfaction and pleasure.Though of course he could have completely believed my explanation about us both looking out for Maisey.
“You like her...a lot,”Branson says suddenly.
“So do you.”
“I can’t deny that.”
We move from the shadows of the park onto the sidewalk but stay clear of direct light.
“But you’ve never been attracted to a woman,”I say.“Ever.”
“It’s more than that.”Branson pauses as a domestic cat hisses at us and then darts off.“It’s her, the whole package.Not just her female body that’s to die for but her kindness, her magical presence, her moral compass.I feel like I’d kill anyone who looked at her wrong, who made her upset for a moment ...this Paul, her boss, I hope I never meet him.”
“I agree.”
I stop under a bus shelter.“We should shift.We’re only a few steps from the apartment.”
Branson stops and does just that, becoming a gloriously naked, incredibly sexy man in a matter of seconds.I do the same and instantly my furless skin is blisteringly cold.
“Come on, get inside.”Maisey rushes to open the door to the block and then we scoot upstairs.A light flicks on, for a moment I panic at the thought of a neighbor finding two men naked on the stairs, but then I realize it’s a motion sensor light.
Soon we are in the warm apartment that smells of jasmine and roses and the rich alluring scent of Maisey.Branson shuts the door with a resounding click and I walk to the window.There is movement below where we just were.My heart does a little flip.What on earth is it?
And then I see.
“Maisey, come here,” I say.
She moves to my side, shrugging out of her coat as she walks.“What is it?”
