Now he held her safely against the darkening day . . . No, the dark. The window was black now, the fire burned out, and only a weak light shone in the corner of the room.
Maria should get home. Tomorrow, Connor was to pick her up early and drive her to where she’d take her SATs. She had to be ready.
No, she had to stay here with Ellison. He’d get her home and to bed in time. It was nice to lean on someone, to have him hold her and keep all the bad things away.
Except that he was gone. Maria woke fully to find herself alone in the trailer, the door moving on its hinges. The light was out, the night was impenetrably dark, and Ellison wasn’t there.
Chapter Ten
Maria got herself up off the bench. She was out in the middle of nowhere, inside a trailer belonging to a man she’d never met before today, and the Shifter protecting her was gone. Ellison might trust this Granger, but who knew what the man could or would do? Maria wasn’t given to trust as easily as—well, anyone.
She softly opened the door and stepped outside. Moonlight filtered through the trees and filled the little clearing with white light. The fire had died to a tiny glow, and the smoke had gone, leaving the air clean and fresh.
Maria’s thoughts were much clearer now too. She needed to find Ellison and get back to Shiftertown. She had to know what Liam and Dylan were planning to go after the man trying to abduct their cubs, and she wanted to be part of it. Ellison had been right to bring her out here to cool her down, but her concern for the cubs’ safety rose.
But where to look for him? If she went blundering around in the dark, she’d get lost or maybe fall into the lake or something. Plus snakes would be everywhere. Texas crawled with rattlesnakes, especially after dusk, when they came out of their holes to soak up the last of the day’s warmth. In spring hordes of baby rattlers joined them.
Maria sank down onto the front steps and pulled her feet up under her, in case snakes decided to come out from under the house and investigate her ankles. She had her cell phone, but a peek at it told her she was out of range of the rest of the world.
What was she doing? The cubs could be in trouble, and on top of that, she was supposed to take her SAT tests tomorrow. How on earth could she concentrate on those between worry for the cubs and running off into the wilderness with Ellison?
The trouble was, she’d felt more alive today than she had in many, many years—since that day at the lake with her grandparents.
What filled her mind was Ellison, the memory of him pressing inside her, spreading her, breaking apart her defenses. She could still feel his hands hot on her back, his strength holding her, the hard plane of his chest against her breasts. He’d been hard and hot, deep inside her, the feeling glorious.
She’d feared sex, which before had hurt whenever she’d felt anything at all. She’d climbed upon Ellison in a moment of daring, her fears laughing at her.
And now Maria couldn’t stop thinking of him. The wild burst of pleasure, the joy of watching his face soften with passion, the water holding them—these things would mark her forever.
A step, nearly soundless, but audible in the stillness, made her raise her head. Maria studied the line of trees circling the trailer, but she saw nothing.
She stared hard at the place from which she thought she heard the noise. The sound came again, barely a whisper of movement against grass.
Then a huge gray wolf stepped out of the woods into the clearing. Moonlight brushed his fur with silver, outlining his large, lithe body and pricked ears. He turned his face to her, his eyes as silver as the moonlight, then he looked away, scanning the woods as Maria had done.
The wolf turned his steps to the trailer, picking his way in silence across the ground, blending into the shadows. He halted when he reached Maria and sank to his haunches beside the narrow steps.
He was huge even sitting down, his body nearly twice the size of a wild wolf’s. Maria wasn’t afraid. The wolf was beautiful, though she knew he was deadly, but all that deadliness now protected her.
Maria stroked his back, shivering at the wild strength of him. His fur was wiry and soft at the same time, and held heat and comfort.
“Everything all right out there?” she whispered.
Ellison turned from scanning the woods and nuzzled her, rubbing his furry face against hers. Then he licked her.
“Ay,” she said, laughing softly. “No wolf spit.”
He made a rumble like laughter. Ellison scanned the woods again, nose working as he tested for scent. Then he rose to his feet and transformed himself with a crackle of bone and flesh to Ellison.
Naked Ellison, towering above Maria, his scent full of spice. The night was warm, sultry, back here in the woods near the lake, the air heavy and damp. It seemed right to be here, alone in this strange place, with only a Shifter to protect her, because that Shifter was Ellison.