Emilio just kept on panting, his eyes no longer holding a challenge.
“Well now he’s just taking advantage,” Darius said, and I laughed again, reaching up with my other hand and rubbing the tips of his ears.
“Remember our purpose,El Lobo,” Darius teased. “Everyone loves a good stroke, but we’ve got a lesson to teach.”
Emilio turned his head toward Darius and growled, then tipped his head up, exposing his throat.
“He’s showing you his vulnerable spots,” Darius said, continuing with the lesson. “His throat, his belly. If you’re attacked by a shifter in his animal form, your best chance is to inflict damage where he’s got the least protection. Unfortunately, that requires getting close to him. In a situation like that, you’d better be packing magic. Most animals won’t give you the option of submitting—they’ll simply go for the jugular.”
I swallowed hard, remembering Emilio’s sharp fangs.
I touched my fingers to my throat, feeling very human, and very breakable.
Emilio finally retreated, and I got to my feet, refusing to take my eyes off him. He’d cheated me out of seeing him shift into wolf form; no way was I missing the change back to human.
He loped back over to the other side of the yard, stopping by the tree where he’d left his clothes. His wolf form elongated and thickened, bones snapping and reshaping, the thick coat of hair fading.
Moments later he stood before us, all man once again.
“You might want to close your mouth, love,” Darius said, helpful as always.
“As long as I don’t have to close my eyes.” I smirked, fully enjoying the view while Emilio put his clothes back on.
“Not too bad for your first shifter attack,” Emilio said, grinning at me as we regrouped at the center of the lawn. “We’ll try again tomorrow. I just wanted to give you an introduction.”
“Thank you,” I said, lowering my eyes. Heat rose to my cheeks. I’d just seen the man naked—twice—and all wolfed out, but suddenly I felt shy. Humbled. In a small, quiet voice, I said, “You really are amazing, Emilio.”
“You’re not so bad yourself,bruja bonita.”
“Hey!” I finally met his eyes again. “What happened toquerida?”
Emilio smiled. Like me, he was blushing. “Just trying a new one on for size.”
“What does it mean?” I asked, though I was pretty surebonitameant pretty.
Before he could answer, Darius was there with another helpful suggestion. “If you two are planning to spend more time rolling around on the ground together, you should probably get over this bashful thing.”
“Does it bother you, vampire?” I asked playfully.
“It’s sickeningly sweet,” he said. “My fangs are getting cavities just being in the vicinity.”
“Don’t listen to him,bruja.He’s just jealous that I never gavehima nickname.”
“Preposterous,” Darius said, but he was grinning, the mood among us lighter and happier than it had been all day.
I rolled my shoulders, still feeling pretty good. Feeling like I could go another round.
“You ready to call it a night?” Darius asked.
Emilio headed back to his spot at the side of the yard, but I shook my head. “Not while I’ve still got some blood left in me.”
He didn’t ask me if I was certain, didn’t nod to let me know he was ready. He simply launched himself at me.
I turned just in time to partially block him, but my shoulder took the brunt of the impact. The pain was intense, reverberating down my arm and my back, making my fingers go numb.
I squeezed my eyes shut, but there was no time for licking my wounds. Darius disappeared in a blur, attacking again from behind. But when he reached forward to grab me, I leaned back, an unexpected move that threw him completely off balance. The momentum carried him forward, and I twisted out of the way, sticking my foot out to trip him. He went down hard.
Wasting no time, I jumped on his back and shoved an imaginary stake between his shoulder blades.
