Yeah, right. Maybe next he’d try to sell her oceanfront property in Arizona. She might be running a sexual deficit these days, but she wasn’t bankrupt enough to chance a condomless encounter with Jake Hunter, no matter how gorgeous he was.
While she sat in the easy chair, he paced the living room, eating from his ice cream bowl as he roamed around. Probably walking it off—it being the large erection she’d felt when they’d been so close together she wouldn’t have been able to slide a DVD between them.
Pausing in his circuit of the room, he faced her. “You wanted to know more about the werewolf community, right?”
“Sure.” He was trying to get on her good side, and she had to admit he was going about it the right way. She was dying of curiosity. She suspected that Duncan’s book wouldn’t be available at a normal bookstore or online outlet, but she wanted a copy. If Jake fell asleep, which he’d have to do eventually, she’d go read the rest of it while she had the chance.
“Naturally Weres can’t use the Internet without being found out, so we’ve created our own digital communication system that only Weres can access. Duncan has a blog on it. I have a website for WARM there, too. We also have a version of Twitter, only we call it Sniffer.”
Rachel couldn’t help smiling. “That’s funny.”
“Want to see it work?”
She gazed up at him. “You know how to tempt a girl, don’t you, Jake?”
He didn’t deny it. “I could get in huge trouble for showing you this, but . . .” He shrugged. “I’m already in huge trouble, and you’ll learn more about us this way. Maybe that’s a good thing, like you said.”
She wasn’t fooled. “You’re going to round up some support for your claim about not needing condoms while you’re on this Sniffer thing, aren’t you?”
“It’s a thought.”
She fell into a fit of giggles. “Were or human, male animals are all the same. They think with their dicks.”
“Hey! I’ve wanted to seduce you for three years! I’ve controlled that urge because it was inappropriate. I didn’t give in until you were right under my nose. You’re damned right I’m focused on my cock.”
“Fair enough.” She glanced around. “Where’s your computer? I don’t remember seeing one when I . . . when I was here earlier.”
“What you meant to say was you didn’t see one when you invaded my private space late this afternoon. Isn’t that right?”
She finished the last of her ice cream and scraped the bowl with her spoon. “I felt justified.”
“Want more ice cream?”
“No, thank you.” She stood and walked into the kitchen with her bowl. “FYI, you have some broken dishes in the sink.” She thought about why they were broken and sexual excitement curled within her.
“It was almost worth it.”
She walked back into the living room. “Smart-ass. It’s not my fault that you came to the party without a present.”
“I don’t need a present for that particular party, but you won’t believe me.” He set his ice cream bowl on an end table and walked over to the duffel bag that still sat in the entry. “Let’s go on Sniffer and see what information we get on the subject.”
“I just realized you haven’t unpacked from your trip.”
“I’ve been busy.” Crouching down, he unzipped the duffel and pulled out a laptop. “I should thank you, by the way. Until you managed to coax the powers that be to lay cable up here, I was dead in the water when it came to going online. That was going to be a big problem for gathering supporters for WARM. You helped the cause.”
“Oh, goody.” She wasn’t sure how she felt about his cause. It sounded elitist to her, but then, she wasn’t a werewolf living in fear of discovery. She should remember that before passing judgment.
After crossing to his bookshelf and turning on a modem tucked in with the books, he sat on his sofa with the laptop. Soon he’d booted it up. “Come on over. I’ll show you what Sniffer looks like.”
Unable to resist, she sat on the sofa next to him. He was giving her entrée into a secret society, and that was the stuff of novels and movies. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about this, ever.
As Jake typed his log-in and password, she thought about how her parents would react if she tried to tell them about Jake and his underground community. She wouldn’t, of course. She would keep this secret forever, and once Jake believed that, they could go about their separate lives.
But it was still interesting to imagine what sort of response she’d get from her folks. Her dad would think she’d gone stir-crazy up here in the woods. Her mother would want to believe, but she might eventually side with her husband and decide Rachel was imagining things again.
Realizing that she’d never convince her closest family members comforted her. A secret wasn’t particularly fun to tell if nobody believed you and instead hustled you off for a psychiatric evaluation. Jake might be worried about exposure, but Rachel didn’t think it was all that likely.
“So here we are. This is Sniffer.” He pointed to a screen that closely resembled Twitter. “Let’s see what I can dig up without alerting anyone as to why I’m asking.”
“Because you have your reputation to protect?”
“Exactly.” He typed in “Researching origins of condom-free Were sex. Was it always this way?” Then he hit the Send button and sat back.
“I see you’re following Duncan MacDowell on Tw—I mean Sniffer.”
“Have to. He’s a lunatic and I have to keep track of what madness he’ll suggest next.” Jake seemed to relish the idea of going toe to toe with MacDowell.
Rachel took note that Jake, like many of the human males she’d known, enjoyed the challenge of a worthy opponent. Duncan seemed to fill the bill. His posts were funny and intelligent, just like his book. She’d like to meet him someday but doubted she ever would.
She watched in fascination as messages popped up on the screen accompanied by a little snuffling sound. Sniffer, indeed. Werewolves seemed to have a sense of humor. “Who’s @Kate Stillman? Duncan references her a lot.”
“His mate. She’s being groomed to take over the alpha position in the Stillman pack, which is based in Denver. That’s where the first annual conference was held last fall.”
“A werewolf conference?”
“Yep.”
“Denver was full of werewolves and nobody knew about it?”
Jake glanced at her. “We’re very big on security. Kate organized the conference and did a great job. The sad part is she hooked up with MacDowell during that conference and changed her stripes. She used to be firmly aligned with us, the conservative contingent. Now that she’s MacDowell’s mate, she’s more wishy-washy.”
“Fascinating.” Rachel could have been listening to a politician from a red state talking about a turncoat colleague, except, once again, Jake was discussing werewolves. “But how can Kate serve as the Denver pack alpha when her mate Duncan’s from Scotland? I read his bio in the front of his book, and he lives in some place called Glenbarra.”
“He’s relocated to Denver, which doesn’t please me. He’s charismatic and he’s liable to do more damage in person over here. I wish he’d stayed in Scotland.”
“I see.” As they sat huddled over the laptop, Rachel didn’t miss the coziness of the setup. Jake’s big warm body next to hers had a predictable effect. She scooted sideways but stayed close enough to read the messages.
“Afraid of me?” Jake didn’t take his attention from the screen.
“You’re too damned sexy for your own good, Hunter.”
“Thank you.” He swore under his breath. “Now MacDowell’s suggesting private nightclubs where humans and werewolves could meet. What a moron.”
“If he’s so big on mating with humans, why did he choose a werewolf, and a budding pack alpha, at that?”
“He didn’t intend to, but he fell for her, and that was that.” Jake typed something to @DuncanMacDowell on the subject of Were-human nightclubs. “Aha! There’s a Sniff responding about condoms. And there’s another one. Three more. Looks like a popular topic.”
“Let me see.” Rachel leaned closer as the computer erupted in a chorus of Sniffs directed to @JakeHunter.
Thank God Weres don’t need those blasted things!
Another reason for Were-Were sex. No explanation needed.
Ready to give up on human chicks. They all insist on one. Yuck.
No offspring until I was mated. Great system, eh?
The Sniffs kept coming, piling on top of each other. Rachel finally stopped reading and leaned back against the plump cushions of Jake’s sofa. It seemed that he was telling her the truth—werewolves didn’t need condoms.
And why wouldn’t it be true? She’d fallen down the rabbit hole and discovered an alternate universe where anything could be true. The world she’d thought she knew reasonably well was nothing like she’d imagined.
She’d just been introduced to a Were-only digital messaging system called Sniffer. Jake had casually mentioned that someone named Kate Stillman was being groomed to be the alpha for a pack in Denver. A blogger named Duncan wanted to set up private Were-human nightclubs.
And last, but certainly not least, she was sitting within a few inches of someone who looked like a man but could turn into a big black wolf. She should ask him more about the logistics and timing of that maneuver, too. If they were going to spend quality time together, and it looked as if that might be in the cards, she didn’t want to wake up and find herself in bed with the big bad wolf.
“Convinced?”
She nodded. “Yes.” Standing, she began her round of pacing. They had more to discuss, and she needed to put some space between them while they talked. Earlier she’d let herself be swept along on a tide of lust, but that was when she’d thought sex with Jake, as long as he stayed in human form, would be like sex with any man.
But if he had built-in birth control and some sort of natural shield against disease, what else was in store if they got friendly between the sheets? She needed full disclosure before she got nak*d again. Any smart woman would demand that, even from a hottie like Jake.
He turned off his laptop, shut the lid, and set it on the coffee table in front of him. “So if you’re convinced that we can have sex without a condom, why are you pacing like a caged animal?”
“Because I’m finally beginning to understand how different you are, both inside and out, and I don’t want any unpleasant surprises.”
His smile was pure sin. “How about nice surprises? Are you okay with those? Because I have some moves that I think you’ll—”
“Stop it, Jake. Don’t flirt with me when I’m trying to get important information. It’s distracting.”
“God, I hope so. If not, I’d be worried that I’d lost my touch.”
“Be serious! I want to know about this shifting thing.”
His teasing expression vanished and his green gaze grew kind. “Okay, sorry. Ask me anything.”
“Is shifting spontaneous or can you control it?”
“I can control it, but I had to learn how. We develop our shifting ability during puberty, and at first it’s very spontaneous, which means we have a rougher adolescence than human kids.”
“No kidding!”
“Each of us reacted differently, of course. For some the stress of a big test would bring on a shift. For me it was females, especially the beautiful ones.” He winked at her. “I outgrew it. Just FYI so you’re not insulted because I didn’t spontaneously shift once I got you nak*d.”
“That would have terrified me.”
“Understandably so. But I’m not dangerous to you. I hope you believe that.”
She nodded, although if he changed into a wolf right in front of her, she might still scream. “Did you go to a special school so no one would notice when you suddenly sprouted hair?”
“The pack usually homeschools young Weres for a couple of years until we get the hang of how to manage our shifts.”
She became conscious of staring at him the way she might stare at an alien who’d stepped out of a spaceship. That was rude, and she glanced away. “Do you ever wish . . .” She paused, thinking even her question was rude. “Never mind.”
“That I wasn’t a werewolf?”
She met his gaze. “Do you?”
“Never.”
“Why not? Wouldn’t life be easier if you weren’t?”
“Maybe in some ways, but it wouldn’t be a good trade-off. You already know about our built-in birth control. Our immune system is far superior to a human’s, and my sensory perception is wolflike, even in human form. I don’t know if a guy with normal twenty-twenty eyesight would have seen that bear from across the lake. I used binoculars to make a positive ID, but I didn’t really need them.”
“Okay, what else?”
“Stamina.”
“You mean like for running and stuff?” Sexual excitement curled low in her belly.
“Yeah. Running and . . . stuff.” His eyes lit with amusement.
“You’re flirting again.”
“Just answering your question.”
“And implying something about your staying power, I might add.”
“You can interpret it any way you like.” He leaned forward and pinned her with a look. “The truth is, I’m big and I’m strong, which isn’t bragging on my part, because most Were males are. So the answer is no, I wouldn’t trade places with a human male and give up the advantages I’ve inherited. I’m grateful to be Were.”