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“Oh God,” she cried. “Did that hurt? The popping and cracking?”
She watched as the wolf very clearly shook its head no. That made her feel somewhat better. She got out of bed and stood up.
“Can I touch you?” she asked, feeling both curious and timid at the same time.
In answer, he circled around the bed to where she stood and rubbed against her thigh. Taking that as a sign, Moira reached down and stroked a hand over his fur.
“You're so soft,” she said. She felt like a gawker of the first order so she added, “I'm sorry to be weird about it, but this is the coolest thing I've ever seen.”
She could see his silvery-blue eyes glowing. He licked her hand playfully. It looked like he was almost...smiling. She wasn't sure whether or not that was possible, but she'd like to think it was.
He stayed by her side, seemingly content to let her stroke her hand over his fur for a few minutes before she climbed back into bed and said, “Your wolf is beautiful, Ronan.”
He stepped back from her, then she saw the transition back into man start. She winced and closed her eyes when the cracks and pops started. She couldn't imagine the sounds coming from his body would feel pleasant. She felt guilty for even asking him to shift.
“Moira,” Ronan said. “You can open your eyes now.”
“I'm so sorry. That just looks like it hurts like hell. I wouldn't have asked if…”
Ronan stood next to the bed, staring at her for a moment. “It doesn't hurt. It feels like…” He paused for a minute like he was looking for the words. “You know when you wake up in the morning and you stretch for the first time? Like that but ten times better.”
Relief flooded her system and she said, “I felt so awful thinking you would hurt yourself just because I was curious.”
“Feels good,” he said, shrugging. He hovered next to the bed, looking uncertain.
“Why are you just standing there?” she asked. “Come back to bed.”
“Yes, ma'am,” he mocked as he slid back under the covers with her. His tone more serious, he added, “I wasn't sure if you'd want me to. This is a lot to take in.”
“Uhh. This is your bed. If I had a problem with you, I'd sleep on the futon of death you've got in the living room, or I'd go somewhere else entirely, Ronan. I knew you were different before I even met you. That's the reason I came to your bar. It'd be a little hypocritical to judge you now.”
“Fair enough,” he said, propping his head up to look at her. “You're something else entirely, you know that?”
She took in his grin and asked, “Something good, I hope?”
“Real good,” he explained, tucking her up against him. “But, um...if you could maybe not share this with anyone.”
“About us?” she asked him, confused. “I think you probably let that cat out of the bag when you told the whole bar you'd break their hands if they touched me again. Sorry.”
“Not that,” he chided, nudging her in the ribs. “I mean the whole shifter thing.”
“Oh. Jesus. Of course I wouldn't tell anyone. They'd turn you into some kind science experiment.” She frowned and then added, “That's gotta be a little scary.”
He nodded in acknowledgment. “It really can be. That was part of the reason I freaked out on you when you just blurted it out in my office. I was hoping to scare you into keeping your mouth shut. Pretty much everyone in the bar is a shifter of some type.”
“So you're not all wolves? Is that normal?”
“Nothing about this community of shifters is normal. Like me, most of them left their pack or the equivalent. Either by force or due to some unfortunate circumstance. After I got out of the Army, I gravitated here. We don't have any kind of formal structure. No alphas. No real rules. It's more of an extended family. We protect each other when it needs to happen, but don't make any other demands on each other.”
“Sounds nice. You're a family by choice,” she murmured.
He stroked a hand lightly over her hair and said, “It's a life I can enjoy.”
She smirked and said, “By the way, that whole hair pulling thing you did probably didn't have the intended effect. It's the first time I've been turned on while being yelled at.”
Ronan was completely silent for a moment before he asked, “Like it a little rough, do ya?”
“Honestly, I didn't think so till last night. Despite all evidence to the contrary, I really don't have a whole lot of experience. You were right earlier. You're nothing at all like the college boys I'm used to.”
