Someone was in the room with her. She could sense their presence, which was peculiar since she’d never had that sort of sixth sense before. If she wasn’t so damn hungry, she’d stay there for the rest of her life, pretending not to know someone was watching her, pretending her life hadn’t just taken a right turn … into a ditch.
“Are you hungry, babe? You must be starving.”
Alejandro. She’d recognize the unique lilt in his voice anywhere. And she was so bone tired, she didn’t even want to fight her attraction to his Latin self right now.
She rolled over and found him sitting in the chair next to the bed, leaning his forearms over his knees. How long had he been like that?
No matter what, he must really like her to be so persistent.
“Ryan is getting you something to eat.”
“I don’t even want to ask how he could possibly know I’m awake.”
The smile she gleaned through the moonlight streaming through the window was genuine. He didn’t attempt to placate her, which she appreciated.
Right on cue, Ryan backed into the room. “Are you up? You’ve been dead to the world for hours. That pill of Kara’s must have been strong. I bet you’re starving.” He turned to set a tray of steaming food on the dresser. He was rambling. She could feel his nervousness wafting off him.
The smell of Kara’s beef stew tugged at her stomach, which took the opportunity to growl loudly.
“No one can resist Kara’s cooking.” She sat up, noticing she now wore a T-shirt of Kara’s over her bra. It was better than the last time she’d woken.
Two men eagerly fiddled around her, arranging the blankets and settling the tray in front of her. Ryan pulled a bottle of water seemingly out of thin air and handed it to her. Bless him.
“I can get you … well, anything you want, from the kitchen that is, just name it.”
“Why are you both still here? Don’t you have lives? I know it’s a Saturday and all, but did you spend the entire day hanging around here basically waiting for my lucid moments so you could weave tall tales of shape-shifting every time I opened my eyes?” Lindsey gulped. They were tales, right?
“Yep,” Alex replied. “We are here to stay. Well, not here precisely, but in your life.”
“And if I don’t like that idea?”
“It’s rare.”
“What’s rare? That a woman rejects your advances?” That she could believe.
“You could … turn us down that is. But you most likely won’t. I’ve never known it to happen.”
She had just stuck the first forkful of the mouthwatering stew between her lips when he spoke, and she turned her face to see Alex’s self-confident sincerity.
She swallowed the spicy tomato sauce. “Do you know how ridiculous and cocky you sound?” She took another bite, the potatoes, beef, and carrots melting on her tongue.
“Do you know you moan aloud when you enjoy your food?” He smiled.
“Does she do that often?” She jerked when the other male model in the room spoke from where he’d perched himself on the other side of her.
“Every time. Makes me squirm in my seat wishing those lips were wrapped around me instead of that damn fork.”
“Did you seriously just mention wanting a blowjob? I’ve been awake all of three minutes and that’s the best thing you can think to say?” Why exactly did the idea make her cheeks inflame? Ignoring the telltale signs of her own arousal, she continued, not bothering to wait for her mouth to be empty.
Hey, if these guys were as attached to her as they seemed to be, they could surely overlook a little talking with her mouth full. She was so hungry she could eat a wolf. They didn’t need to know that. Their heads would grow.
In the most mocking, squeaky, sing-songy voice she could conjure, she repeated their words. “Listen to yourselves—‘You could turn us down. But you most likely won’t. I’ve never known it to happen.’” She raised an eyebrow and glared at both men through the dimly lit room. “Not one woman has ever turned your sexy asses down? Surely, not everybody in the world finds you as attractive as I do.”
Alejandro the Spanish stud just smiled.
“That’s it? No witty comeback?”
“I didn’t mean it the way you took it.”
“Really, now. How was I supposed to take it then, stud muffin?”
Ryan interjected, “He didn’t mean to infer that no woman had ever turned him down, though I doubt they have to be honest. What he meant was it’s rare when wolves find a mate for her to reject them. In general.”
“Wolves again? Are we back on that topic?” She thought back to her conversation with Kara, the one she’d conveniently suppressed since awakening this evening.