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Are you all right?
Her breathing slowed, and she nuzzled against him, warmth bursting in his heart.
Nothing I couldn’t handle.
They decided that their adventure for the day should come to a close. So they returned to their clothing, shifted, and embraced. They hugged one another silently in the forest, naked, their bodies slightly more scarred than they were that morning when they woke next to each other.
Franco left the woods with Violet once they’d dressed, feeling an oily sense of guilt stirring inside him.
ELEVEN
VIOLET
Violet was enraptured after shifting into her human form once the fight had ended. Her skin was acutely sensitive and buzzing like she had drunk an exorbitant amount of coffee. She had never been in a fight like that, and despite the danger presented, it had thrilled her more than she could have ever imagined.
Having Franco there, her fated mate, made it all the spicier.
She had wanted to go after the wolf that had attacked her, but Franco had stopped it promptly. His attitude toward it was serious, so she tried to dampen her spirits which were flying high.
Franco’s energy had greatly diminished from the morning, which she had felt next to her like a revving engine. He had a long face, and she noticed a light stream of blood sliding down the edge of his hairline once they’d moved upstairs to her hotel room.
“You’ve got something there.”
Violet spoke softly, reaching up on her tiptoes to dab at the fruit-punch-colored blood. She licked her fingertips and used the edge cuff of her long-sleeve shirt to pat it away. She spotted Franco’s eyes lighting up as she did it but only for a moment.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
They were standing outside her room, an awkwardness between them that Violet thought had been obliterated last night after they had finally given in to their yearnings. She wanted to welcome him into her room and offer an idea for them to shower together. She had thought of many ways that she could make him feel better beyond the lathering up of each other’s bodies while hot water pummeled their aching skin.
But Violet sensed that he wasn’t in the mood. In the past, that kind of inclination wouldn’t have stopped her as she was a woman who wasn’t afraid to go for what she wanted. It was a strange, fresh sensation.
She crossed her arms and leaned against the door, tilting her head with a casual, curious look.
“So what do you think that was?” she asked, trying not to sound too concerned or too lighthearted.
Franco squeezed his eyes shut and then shook his head, the same way he had when they were in their animal forms. It was slightly irking. She didn’t like being blown off or left in the dark about something she was directly involved in. Her tiger huffed in agreement.
“I don’t know,” he said, not sounding certain. “All I know is that I don’t want anything like that to happen to you ever again.”
He looked away toward the wall, eyes unfixed and forlorn as he spoke. Violet tried to catch his eye as she bent her neck further, searching those dark seas.
“You don’t want anything to happen to me?” she asked, scoffing. “Franco, I don’t think you realize this, but I’m a nobody. Whoever they were, they were certainly after you.”
His eyes slid back to hers. There was still a crestfallen essence to them, but even then, damn it, he was beautiful.
“Certainly?”
She nodded, pressing her arms tighter against her chest and elevating her breasts to catch his attention.
“You are a famous driver, Franco. I’m just some chick from Philadelphia.”
Finally, a smile grew on his face. He tilted his head against the wall, and Violet was dumbstruck with attraction.
“Well, you’re not just ‘some chick’ to me. You’re way more than that.”
His voice had a sensual lilt to it, one that only made Violet’s pull toward him even more palpable. Her face bloomed with a blush as she looked away, a schoolgirl with a crush.
“I really do appreciate that,” she said, feeling her chest vibrate with her purr.
