Squaring her shoulders, she crossed the thick carpet and placed her hand in Zan’s. Instant warmth suffused her chilled body from that simple contact. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Are you okay?”
She let out a nervous laugh. Seriously, how was she to know which Zan was the real Zan? The soldier, anxious for battle. The lover, sweet and concerned over her welfare, or the shifter, instinctively needing and wanting his mate at his side for all time?
“Not really, but it’s not like I have a lot of say, is there, Zan?”
“I don’t understand.”
A heavy sigh escaped. “And therein lies our problem.”
His lips pursed. “Dammit, Jackie.”
“Nope. Don’t start. Let’s just go downstairs and get this over with.” She shot him a hard look. “Just like you said.”
He was on the verge of growling at her when Russell bellowed from the bottom of the stairs. Jackie slid free from Zan’s grip and started forward, but the possessive wolf caught up to her and took her hand again, adjusting his stride to match her shorter ones.
The skin-to-skin contact remained a physical bond between them as they reached the first floor. Then Zan guided her down into the basement where a game room was set up next to the gym. Jackie had peeked in last night when Marion had given her a tour, but she hadn’t done more than gape before following the human female back upstairs.
Now she stepped into the large tiled-floor room. A pool table and foosball game dominated the center. Along one wall stood several arcade games including pac man, frogger, and a pin-ball machine. A black leather sectional and two cozy oversized fabric chairs faced another wall where a large screen TV hung above an entertainment center housing several video game counsels such as an X-box 360 and Wii. Country music was streaming from hidden speakers, loud enough to hear but soft enough to talk over. A standard size refrigerator hummed behind a bar situated next to the door she walked through. Trays of thick sandwiches and cookies and bowls of potato salad and chips lined the countertop.
Scott, Joe, Russell, and Marion were already in the room, the men embroiled in a battle on the screen with some alien creatures while Marion sat curled up in one of the chairs, Russell at her feet on the floor. At least Jackie thought Marion was only watching with mild interest until she shouted out in victory and Jackie saw the remote control unit clutched in her hands.
Jackie grinned at the sight.
“It’s about frickin’ time,” Joe said without looking behind him. “Marion said we couldn’t eat until you got down here, and I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving,” Zan said dryly, leading Jackie to the unoccupied chair and pushing her gently into it. “That’s nothing new.”
“Hey, gorgeous,” Scott grinned at her, eliciting a growl of warning from Zan. Jackie greeted everyone and then watched, riveted by the huge screen as armor covered men shot lizard-looking creatures. Despite Joe’s insistence for fuel, the friendly banter continued for some time before they called a break to eat. Afterwards, they played a game of pool, followed by Foosball, and then more creature shooting.
In spite of her worry, Jackie was having fun. She might be out of her element—the last video game she’d ever played was on a PC—but Zan rarely left her side. He was an attentive date. Not that this was a date, but Jackie could almost believe they were just a bunch of friends sharing several hours of fun and camaraderie, rather than a group of hard-arsed soldiers blowing time until the real world attacked.
She refused to let the knowledge ruin her day and threw herself into every game, whether it be video or at the pool table. Making more memories to take with her. Hours later, she curled up into one of the overstuffed chairs, sleepy, and watched as the men raced souped up cars over ridiculously rough terrain.
It seemed even tough-as-nails soldiers needed playtime.
She fell into a surprisingly deep sleep and woke to a slight, high-pitched buzzing noise, and complete darkness.
With a gasp of panic she bolted upright and knocked her forehead into someone’s chin. Her exclamation coincided with someone’s soft curse. “Woman. You have got to stop hitting me.”
Jackie knew that voice. Intimately. One hand on her aching brow, she glared up in Zan’s general direction. “Well excuse me, but I can’t see a damn thing. Unlike you, my shifter genes do not enhance my eyesight.”
“Nor do you have claws which at this moment, I’m extremely thankful for. Otherwise you would have swiped first and asked questions later.”
Truth. She was never coherent when she first woke and any surprises upon waking made her beast lash out in confusion. Zan should have learned that two nights ago when she blackened his eye.