In the Company of Wolves(37)

That’s when she realized it wasn’t just her fingers that were tingling. Crap. What the heck was going on? It was like she was sixteen again, getting a chance to make out with the hot guy at school. She licked her lips and surreptitiously glanced at Eric, hoping he hadn’t noticed her less-than-casual interest in his muscles.

But apparently he had noticed. That gold flare was back in his eyes, and for a second, they stood there face-to-face, so close that Jayna could feel the warmth of his breath on her cheek.

She licked her lips again, and she saw Eric’s sharp eyes follow the path her tongue made with the intensity of a predator. For a moment, she half expected him to lean forward and kiss her. She wasn’t sure she would have stopped him. Her lips were tingling now along with the rest of her body. The urge to lean into the kiss she thought was coming was so powerful, it was hard to ignore—and more than a little scary.

Jayna mentally shook herself and took a step back. She’d never liked feeling out of control or scared, even if those feelings were the result of a sexual response stronger than she’d felt in a really long time.

The golden glow immediately dimmed in Eric’s eyes. Giving her a small smile, he unzipped his backpack and took out a shirt and dragged it on. Even if she knew it was for the best, it was still hard watching him hide those muscles from sight. She could have gazed at them all day.

“I couldn’t help but notice how close you and Megan are,” Eric said, casually leaning back against the kitchen counter. “If you didn’t look so completely different from each other, I would have guessed you were sisters.”

Jayna was surprised by the change in topic, but grateful. It was like Eric had somehow realized she was having a momentary emotional crisis and was trying to help—another point in the big guy’s favor.

“In a lot of ways, she is my sister,” Jayna admitted. “When we first took Megan into our pack two years ago, she was in pretty bad shape.”

“What happened to her? Before she joined your pack, I mean,” Eric said, then added, “If you don’t mind me asking.”

Jayna didn’t answer right away. “Megan’s house caught on fire a few days after she turned eighteen. She woke up when she smelled smoke, but by then the whole place was already burning. She tried to get the rest of her family out, but they’d already succumbed to smoke inhalation and she wasn’t strong enough to carry them.”

“Shit,” Eric whispered. “Did any of them make it?”

Jayna shook her head. “No. A firefighter found Megan on the stairs beside her little brother. The guy got them out, but it was too late for her brother. Her parents and her older sister died in the fire too.”

“That had to be hard to deal with.”

“Yeah,” Jayna agreed. “When she woke up in the hospital a few days later and they told her, she didn’t handle it well. She blamed herself for being too weak to save them. She threw a chair through her hospital window and jumped out—from six floors up, onto the parking lot pavement.”

“Damn,” Eric hissed.

“Yeah. Damn.” Tears filled Jayna’s eyes like they did every time she thought about what had happened to Megan. “Megan should have died immediately, but the fire had brought on her change and the werewolf inside wouldn’t let her die. She was hobbling her way onto the freeway when Liam picked up her scent. I don’t know how he used to do it, but he could tell there was a werewolf in trouble. Somehow he realized that he couldn’t save her though—that I was the only one who could.”

Eric frowned. “What do you mean?”

Jayna shrugged. “Megan wanted to die, and she would have kept trying until she found something that worked. So Liam had me stay with her 24-7 for weeks. That was when our bond formed, and with it, she somehow found the will to live again.”

Jayna wiped away the tears, remembering those long, dark days, when suddenly Eric was there at her side and his arms were going around her. She didn’t stiffen or feel the sense of panic that usually came when a guy got in her space. She just felt warmth.

She relaxed against him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his chest. A few more tears slipped out, but she decided to ignore those in the comfort of the moment.

But on the heels of that warm, comfortable feeling, another sensation crept in, and Jayna’s heart started beating faster as her jaws and fingers started tingling—like she was on the verge of shifting. She wasn’t stupid. She knew what was happening. She was aroused—so aroused it was almost bringing on an involuntary shift. The intensity of it scared her.