What’s New Pussycat(33)

She’d just never had one like it.

And you don’t want one now, do you?

Affirmative.

Now what she wanted was to figure out how to deal with Escobar when he found out she’d thrown up his magic like a day-after hangover.

Eventually, he was going to come hunting for her to collect what he called his.

Another violent shiver raced along her flesh. “Can you take me back to Derrick’s, please? I have no idea where I am.”

He hitched his clean-shaven jaw. “Hop on. I’ll piggyback you.”

“But I’m naked,” she squeaked.

“Yep. And fifteen miles from Derrick’s. We could walk it, if you want. Or you could shift into your cat form. Though fifteen miles is still a long haul as a cat. I have super speed, even if I can’t fully shift. We’d be there in no time, and I’d never do anything forward. Derrick would kill me.”

He couldn’t fully shift? Martine couldn’t tell if it upset him or not, and she didn’t want to pry.

But she didn’t have to. Jerry offered. “I’m sorry if I scared you when you first saw me. I’m a defective werewolf. I’m pretty sure Derrick told you about the curse and us affected weres. I’m the product of one of the weres who was experimented on. So I can’t shift, and yes, that sucks. But it would suck a lot more if not for Max and Derrick. They make me feel like I’m a productive part of the pack even though I’m, in all truth, kinda lame.”

If she wasn’t so damn cold, she’d melt right there on the spot. She vaguely remembered Derrick telling her about the affected weres, she just hadn’t realized the extent of it.

Her heart flipped in her chest when she looked up at him, his eyes no longer red, his expression full of hesitance. “I don’t think you’re lame at all, Jerry. I think you’re a real knight in shining armor for saving a mess like me. Turn around,” she ordered, placing her frozen fingers on his shoulders and hopping onto his back.

“I promise, no funny business,” he said before he took off.

Everything became a blur around her due to his insane speed, and as trees sped by, and the muted lights of Derrick’s house grew closer, she hunkered down against Jerry’s back, grateful.

Very grateful.





Chapter Nine

“Jesus, Martine!” Derrick yelled when Jerry pushed his way through the door, depositing her in the living room.

Her hair began to melt almost instantly, dripping snow in splotches in the middle of the room all over the beautiful hardwood floors. The jacket Jerry had loaned her clung to her in soggy patches, her toes were so numb she almost couldn’t walk.

Derrick scooped her up immediately while Nat grabbed a throw from the back of his couch and ordered her brother to put Martine in the chair in front of the fire.

Nat knelt down in front of her, helping her peel Jerry’s jacket off, tucking the blanket around her naked form. “Oh, Martine, what happened?”

Well, I was doing your delicious brother and poof, just like magic, I ended up fifteen miles from here, naked and a belly full of stolen magic. Swear, it was like I’d gotten myself knocked up. Then I yarked it all over your beautiful forest and I think I set a couple of things on fire. So sorry. But you should have seen it. It was spectacular—like the Fourth of July.

Martine shook her throbbing head, wincing when Nat began to rub life back into her legs. She couldn’t say that. So she lied again. For now. Until she could gather her wits about her and explain. “I don’t know. I—”

Nat squeezed her arm through the blanket, her eyes so warm and blue they brought tears to Martine’s. “Don’t say another word. Just warm up.”

“I found her in the snow. She was freezing. As soon as I found her, I brought her right back here, Derrick,” Jerry added, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“What were you doing in the woods this late at night, Jerry?” Derrick asked, definite suspicion in his voice.

“Taking a walk,” Martine interrupted with a croak, her throat sore and on fire. “He was just taking a walk.” They’d forged an unlikely bond back in the woods, and she intended to keep him out of trouble for just a little longer.

She heard Derrick slap Jerry on the back from her position on the chair. “Thanks, Jerry. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I’ll make her some hot tea. She needs to warm up,” Jerry offered, dropping his shoes by the fire and shooting her a conspiratorial wink.

Derrick was there then, his blue eyes roving her face. He brushed a long, wet strand of hair from her cheek, letting his thumb caress her skin. “What happened, Martine?”