Wild Invitation

wanted to bite him.
    His cat purred in interest, even as Bryan giggled. “Nobody calls Uncle Zach that.”
    “Yeah, nobody does,” Zach added. “Come on, Jumping Bean. We’re moving out.” He nodded at the coat thrown carelessly over the back of Annie’s chair. “Don’t forget that. It’s cold out.” He began to walk to the door, knowing she’d have no choice but to follow.
    After a taut second, she did. He heard her clothing rustle as she put the coat on over her stern gray pants and tailored white shirt, his mind obliging him with a fantasy slide show of the feminine softness he knew lurked underneath. Pity it was all covered up now. “After you, Teach.” Letting Bryan scamper a few feet ahead, he held the door open and watched Annie Kildaire walk toward him.
    Her limp was very slight, but even that meant the injury had to have been horrendous. Either that, or the impairment was a natural one surgeons hadn’t been able to repair fully. And there wasn’t much surgeons couldn’t repair these days. “What happened to your leg?” he asked once they were out in the hallway.
    She faltered for a second before her shoulders squared. “There was a freak bullet-train derailment when I was seven. My leg was crushed so badly, it was pretty much unrecognizable as anything other than meat with a few fragments of bone.”
    He heard the simmering pride in her, had the sense that she was bracing herself for a blow. “They did a good job of reconstructing it. Titanium?”
    He could tell from her expression that that wasn’t the response she’d expected. “No. Some kind of new plassteel. Very high-tech. It ‘grew’ as I grew, so I only needed a couple of extra surgeries over the years.”
    “And now?”
    “I shouldn’t need any work done on it unless I injure the leg in some way.”
    Zach knew that couldn’t be all of it. “Still hurt?”
    She hesitated. “Sometimes.” She indicated a corridor to their left. “I want to make sure Morgan’s been picked up.”
    “JB, hold up.” Knowing he could trust the boy not to dart outside, he followed Annie the short distance to the sick bay. Looking over her shoulder, he saw the darkened interior. “He’s gone.”
    She jumped. “You walk like a cat!”
    “I am a cat, sweetheart.” He wanted to tease her again, so he let a low growl rumble up from his chest. “See?”
    Streaks of vibrant color stained her cheeks once more. But she didn’t back down. “Are you planning to move?”
    “No.” He drew in a deep breath, fighting the urge to nuzzle at her throat. “You smell good. Can I taste you?” It was a half-serious question. “Just a little?”
    “Mr. Quinn!” She took a step around him and headed off.
    But he’d already caught the tart bite of arousal in her scent. Satisfied, he followed, on his best behavior now. It wouldn’t do to scare Annie away.
Not when he planned to keep her.
    A moment later, they reached the front door, where Bryan was waiting. Zach pulled it open. “Stay with me,” he told his nephew. The boy was leopard fast, but he was still a boy. Sometimes, he didn’t look where he was going, and cars could hurt him as easily as they could a human or Psy child.
    The outside air was cold, but it made Zach sigh in exhilaration. Being outdoors was in his blood, the reason why he loved his day job as a ranger in Yosemite. The work fitted naturally into his duties as a DarkRiver soldier—he could run patrols and check up on his wild charges at the same time.
    “Where’s your car?” he asked Annie, noticing that her face had brightened, too. Sexy, kissable Annie Kildaire liked being outside as much as he did. It pleased the cat, soothed the man.
    “Over there.” Giving him a look still colored with the tart kiss of temper, she pointed to a little compact that would cut his legs in half if he was ever insane enough to try to fold himself inside. But she was on the small side, he thought, wondering if she’d mind tussling with a taller man. The idea of the games he wanted to play with Annie made him grin. “JB and I will walk you over.”
    She didn’t argue with him this time, simply asked about his vehicle. He jerked a thumb in the direction of the rugged all-wheel-drive parked a few spaces away.
    “I suppose you need that in the forest?” Her voice held a touch of wistfulness.
    “Yeah.” DarkRiver’s territory covered a lot of beautiful but harsh land. And now that they had allied with the SnowDancer wolves, that