Was the woman a witch?
Something rubbed against Jessie’s legs and she flinched. A glance revealed a fluffy cat with gorgeous gray fur and sparkling blue eyes.
“Oh, hello.” Jessie leaned to pet the animal. It arched into her hand. “What’s his name?”
“Her name. Still working on that. I’m holding on to her for a friend,” Cara stated. “Have enough of my own.”
Until then, Jessie hadn’t noticed that there were cat beds placed strategically among the potted plants. And that many were occupied. Some furry residents watched her with mild interest.
Kade came down the stairs into the kitchen. He’d changed into jeans and a tee shirt. The jeans fit him like a second skin, and the muscles beneath the shirt stretched the cloth close to the point of failure. Jessie guessed that thrift stores lacked a sufficient quantity of larger sizes. She found herself staring and wrenched her gaze away. She’d never seen such musculature. Were all his kind like that?
He offered the harem pants back to her. Mesmerized by the bulging biceps threatening to rip the tee shirt’s sleeve clean off, it took Jessie a moment to react.
“Um. No. You keep them.”
“Seriously.” Kade grimaced. “I have a reputation to uphold.”
“Really? I thought they looked rather good on you.” Jessie smiled as she poured herself tea.
“They did look good on you,” Cara agreed. “Very sculpted.”
Kade snorted and tossed them over the back of a chair. “You’re funny, old woman.” As he left the kitchen, he said. “Be back. Have to fertilize the plants.”
The door opened and closed. Jessie looked at Cara and raised her brows.
Blue eyes twinkled at her. “I have a few plants that prefer a carnivorous lifestyle.”
Carnivorous? Then she remembered Kade had brought the body with him. Jessie swallowed. “That’s not normal.”
“No. There are Cryptid plants too. I provide haven for a few in exchange for certain services.”
Jessie most often took her tea black. But today, she decided sugar was in order. She had a feeling she was going to need all the mental stimulation she could get.
* * *
As Kade carried the Were body through the gate, his thoughts weren’t on the Dire Weres and how he was going to stop them.
They circled rather firmly around the woman he’d just rescued. When he’d first seen her, he’d frozen for just an instant. Despite the difference in hair color, there was no doubt she was the woman in his dreams.
Then her scent had hit him. And it was like getting nailed by freaking lightning. By the time he’d shifted back to human, his entire body had gone nuts. Only by curling his hand into a fist, and driving claws into his own palm, was he able to retain any control.
Then he’d muttered some stupid comment about his hair. His hair?Way to impress a lady, Kade.
Kade didn’t understand why he reacted to her like this. Why had she penetrated his dreams? Had he seen her on the news and just not remembered? Because despite the fact her scent just about put him over the edge, she didn’t recognize him. So whatever the dreams were, they weren’t the living connections that Weres sometimes shared.
But this was more than just imagery. He’dsmelledher in his dreams. What was up with that? He had no reference for it. No previous experience to tell him if it were just a coincidence.
His job required that he step in to ensure that the Cryptid world revolve quietly through the human one, and not raise any eyebrows, furry or otherwise. Over the course of performing those duties, he ran into a large number of both humans and Cryptids in distress. None had strayed into his dreams—until now.
What a woman, though. Humans that stumbled on the Cryptid secret were most often terrified. One look at a Sabre in beast mode, and they’d bolt. But when he’d stepped into that bedroom in his full furred mode, Jessie hadn’t run in terror. She’dattackedhim.
Well, sort of. Bear spray and a hunting knife didn’t constitute much of a threat to a Were. The point was, she’d been terrified. And yet she’d fought back.
When Cara had revealed Jessie as Cryptid, it surprised him. He hadn’t suspected it. Not unusual as Cara was special. Her senses for detection were much more powerful than his own. So somewhere in that luscious female body, beat the heart of a Cryptid. Was that why Jessie had been so brave? Because she wasn’t human?
Kade had his doubts. He’d met plenty of Cryptids that were also terrified of him. The Sabre Weres had a well-earned reputation. Most understood that the teeth and claws weren’t just for show.
There’d been blood on that knife. Jessie hadn’t just attacked him. She’d attacked Braden, too. And this far into the attraction associated with the viral bond, that was no small feat. This woman was one tough cookie. Kade respected tough.
