Emins’ Mate(10)
Emin, again, found himself choosing not to answer one of her questions. For his own sanity. “I said you could sleep as tiger. Whatever you wish.”
“Well, I’ll-” She bit her lip and was obviously gathering her thoughts. “I’ll be human when you’re human. That’s what I always did with my mother.”
Emin again said nothing. He stalked over to his coffee maker and flipped it on. Then he grabbed some more clothes for her from his dresser. “You can change in there,” he pointed to the bathroom. “And shower if you wish.”
“Shower?” she asked, tipping her head to one side as she rose and accepted the shirt and pants from him.
Whoops. Land mine. No way in hell was he explaining that to her. He was trying to get on speaking terms with his cock again.
“Never mind. My mother will explain. At her house. Just put those on.”
Glory went into the bathroom and shut the door and Emin quickly shucked off his own clothes. They were sweaty and restraining and smelled like her.
God. What he needed was his bear. And fast. But he also needed Glory to be safely inside some baggy clothes from now until forever. He knew she would shift if he did. So he bit down on that desire and pulled on his clothes. Grateful for their cool, dry haven. He refused to think about her shimmying into his clothes.
She came back out and Emin poured coffee into a thermos. He flipped on the faucet and let it run cold. Put some in another thermos for her. Certain she wouldn’t like coffee.
“We go to Mama’s. It is only a mile or so down mountain.” He’d yet to turn and look at her. “We will walk in human form.”
She wordlessly took the thermos of water he handed her and waited until she saw him sip his. Studying the contraption, she took a deep drink as well.
“Oh, yum,” she hummed. “I was thirsty.”
They stepped out to the front porch and Emin stepped into the boots he had there. He cursed when he realized that she didn’t have any shoes. Shit. They couldn’t walk through the woods with her barefoot. And he already knew he couldn’t handle watching her strip and shift.
The car, then.
***
This had to be one of the most interesting days of Glory’s entire life. She’d learned what it was like to sleep in human form, something she’d never even considered trying before. Tiger form was just so cozy. But she had to admit, it had been cozier to be next to Emin.
Another first for her. A man. Speaking with a man. Looking him in the eye. And then sleeping all curled around him. It had been for warmth. But she’d soon realized that it had created a warmth on the inside to be that close to Emin.
He was very firm. His body so different from hers. She’d wanted to indulge herself in running her hands over his shoulders, over the springy dark hair on his chest. She’d wanted to run her fingertip over his perfect nose. One that curved like a crescent moon. And his low, dark brow that kept his eyes in shadow. So handsome. And his lips. They frowned in sleep and she had wanted to press her own to them. But he’d been sleeping and she felt like that was something she should ask about before she did it.
And now she was riding in a car! She’d seen them before, of course. But she’d never been in one. Though, she supposed the bad people probably put her in one to take her to the lab. But she’d been asleep for that.
Glory frowned at that thought, but it was quickly washed away when she caught a scent.
“Something smells so good,” she murmured as she looked around the car. Emin looked very serious as he drove the car with two hands. She took a moment to study him. He wore a white t-shirt and what she knew were jeans. It was almost the exact same thing that she wore, though she’d had to roll them up at the waist and ankles to make them fit. His skin was gold next to the white of the shirt and made her hungry for honey. “Is it you?”
She leaned over the console to sniff at Emin, trying to get to the bottom of the delicious scent.
He grunted as the tip of her nose came in contact with the side of his neck.
“Nope. Not you. Although you do smell good,” she blushed with the words and wasn’t sure why. She was just telling the truth. She followed the trail to Emin’s thermos. “It’s your drink!” she said, picking it up.
“Coffee.”
“Coffee,” she repeated the word and then took a sip.
He looked away from her as she pulled her face at the flavor.
“It doesn’t taste the way it smells, but I think I like it.”
He dragged the thermos away from her as they pulled up in front of a house. “Careful. Coffee has zip.”
She had no idea what that meant but she was too excited and distracted to care. “Your mother’s house?” she asked, flinging the door open and hopping out of the car before he’d barely gotten the damn thing in park.