He offered the peppermint to Willow. The donkey’s soft lips swept it from his palm and her ears wiggled appreciatively as she sucked on it. Most would crunch, but Willow liked to savor her mints, especially as she didn’t get many.
Zach’s lips twitched into a lopsided smile as he checked on the other horse he’d left in the barn for the day and topped up his water and hay. Then he headed for the house. Time for a shower and bed.
As usual, Willow made a determined bid to follow him through the door and into the kitchen. She’d managed it, more than once, if he wasn’t paying attention, or didn’t properly latch the door. When she slipped through, he’d find the contents of his mudroom scattered across the floor. She’d pull everything out and kick his shoes clear into the living room. Or steal them altogether. His footwear vanished regularly.
“Not tonight, fuzz ears.” Zach pushed her back from the door as he let Spike pass by. Dogs, yes. Donkeys, no.
Willow snorted at him one last time and flattened her ears in disapproval as he left her on the porch.
As he latched the door, Zach’s thoughts returned to Jessie.
He spent too much time alone. He knew it. There were reasons for it.
Who would want to go out with a guy who was a freak? Who read emotions like a bad novel? How many women would believe him if he told them he could?
Maybe he was crazy to even be considering a date with Jessie. But what if she handled the truth? What if she saw past the freak to the real him?
If he didn’t call her, he’d never know.
He’d do it tomorrow. See if she was up for muffins. Or rather, cupcakes.
And if it went well, he’d take it from there.
3
The moonlight painted the thistle flowers silver as they nodded above prairie grasses swaying in the night breeze.
This was unfamiliar territory. Kade’s dreams usually involved forests—tall trees with thick underbrush. Places where it was easy to run unnoticed as a beast.
He was in human form. The pale light chased across the muscles of his chest, and down his flat stomach. As though modest, it left some things in shadow but followed the curve of his thighs to where his legs vanished in the grass.
He was naked. Human. But not alone.
A woman appeared at the other end of the meadow. She walked slowly toward him. She wore green scrubs, as though she were a doctor or nurse. The shoulder on one side had been ripped away, revealing scars. The marks were distinctive—the punctures of giant canines, long healed. Who had bitten her?
The mark meant something significant to a Were. It was the mark of a mating bite.
She drew nearer. The light played across the loose clothing, emphasizing where breast and hip pushed against it. The breeze teased the dark, curly hair around her face. She didn’t seem alarmed at finding a large, naked man standing in her path. Instead, she walked straight to him and stopped.
Her pale eyes transfixed him, and for a moment, he struggled to describe them.
Moonlight. They were the color of moonlight.
His heart accelerated. Kade opened his mouth to speak, but no words emerged. Apparently, this dream had rules. Some did. But “no touching” didn’t appear to be one of them. She reached up and trailed narrow fingers over his face. Ran them along his jaw. Traced his lips.
The shock of it reverberated through him. It had been too long since anyone had touched him like that. Not since—
His mind sheered away. No. This dream was a welcome escape from his reality. Let it continue without the intrusion of memory.
She stepped in until her body heat fired every nerve along the full length of him. Her eyes searched his face, as though seeking answers to unasked questions. And then she wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down to her.
Her lips were soft as rose petals, and Kade’s rumbling purr echoed through them both. He reached to pull her closer, but his hand passed straight through her.
Like she was a ghost.
And now, as he pulled back from the kiss, her entire form began to fade. No. He wasn’t ready for this to end. He made one last, desperate grab for her. But she was already gone. He was alone in the meadow, with the nodding thistle flowers.
Kade blinked awake. The ceiling fan spun slowly, rasping with every rotation. He lay stretched out on the extra-long couch, and the remnants of supper lay scattered across the low table.
