Change of Heart

cold."
    "It's just you," he said, his eyes all over me. "I always tremble when you touch me."
    "No, you don't." I smiled at him.
    "I do." He exhaled slowly. "I'm just normally good at hiding it."
    I took a breath. "Lean forward."
    He did as I asked, and as I washed his hair, using the pitcher Koren had brought me to rinse it, I saw the water change from clear to pink.
    "I'm gonna drain this out and turn on the shower at the same time. There's too much blood in the water. I don't want it to get back on your skin."
    "Whatever. I don't care," he whispered. "Just keep your hands on me. Please don't leave."
    "Can you stand?"
    "I can do whatever you want."
    But standing proved to be more difficult than he thought it would be, and I ended up under the water in my jeans, T-shirt and hiking boots to keep him from falling. It was funny; I always thought of myself as big, but with Logan standing 230
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    over me, a full head taller than I was, I felt suddenly small and fragile.
    "Jesus, you look good wet," he growled, and it was deep and sexy, his left hand wrapping in my hair as he tilted my head back, exposing my throat. "You are so beautiful... my mate, my reah."
    But he had the body to die for, not me.
    I felt his mouth on my skin before I even realized he had bent toward me. The kisses trailing over my collarbone were feather-light. "We need to get you back to bed."
    "Whatever you want," he said hoarsely, his hands on my shoulders. "Just stay here."
    I didn't respond, just helped him out of the tub.
    Wrapped in towels, Logan was able to move back to the freshly made bed mostly under his own power. The room had warmed, and the food sitting on the tray beside the bed smelled amazing. Looking at it, though, there wasn't nearly enough protein. I asked Koren, who was stoking the fire, to go downstairs and bring me back some meat. He told me to give him my clothes and he would get them dried. When I started peeling off my shirt, I heard Logan say my name. I was surprised when I turned to look at him to see how dark his eyes had become. He looked exhausted, completely wrung out, except for his eyes. They were molten with anger.
    "You will change in the bathroom and bring your clothes to him. There is a towel there, and you will cover yourself. No one but me sees your bare skin, reah. That is the law."
    I knew he was right, even though it was ridiculous. Being a mated reah carried a long list of do's and don'ts. Most were 231
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    observed so the semel didn't feel the need to rip anyone who got too close to his mate to pieces. I realized that was the reason that Koren and Russ had not touched me earlier; the reah was supposed to invite others to touch them, and the semel agreed or not. As I saw the way Logan looked at his own brother, I understood the reason for the rules. The semel could be rational and logical about all things but his mate.
    Reason fled in the face of the bond.
    I darted back into the bathroom, changed, and came back out wrapped only in a towel.
    "I'm not a woman," I told Logan, "so a lot of those antiquated rules won't pertain to me. I don't need to be completely covered in front of everyone but my mate, and besides, I was naked in front of your entire tribe just the night before last."
    He made a noise in the back of his throat, clearly frustrated, and when he opened his mouth to speak, his fangs had lowered, top and bottom.
    Koren took that second of silence to bolt from the room, and we were left alone. I watched Logan struggle for control of his weakened body. His hands fisted in the sheets, the muscles in his jaw and neck corded and clenched, and he closed his eyes.
    "Stop fighting it, you idiot," I snapped at him. "Just shift already."
    "But I don't know how long I can—"
    "Shift!"
    "I want to talk to you."
    "You will do as I say."
    232
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "No! You will do what I say and not leave me!"
    "You did this to yourself because you're an ass!"
    "I must speak to you!" he yelled back at me, but it came out as more of a snarl, as he had shifted in the middle of speaking to me. It was fast, not the blink of the eye that mine was, but still impressive.
    "There you are." I smiled at him, my anger having fled instantly. I knew the reason, and it was petty. He couldn't talk to me in his panther form. He could only listen, and it was a relief. "How could you be so careless, Logan? This was dangerous."
    He turned his enormous head to