alone. You can speak freely.”
“You’ve been watching us?” Creepier and creepier.
Joey didn’t seem to note her less-than-pleased response. He bobbed his head, looking more like a parrot in the moment than a gecko. “I found you last night after seeing your story on the evening news. How dare he mislead everyone into thinking you were his wife? I know he brought you here against your will, trying to keep us apart.”
Creepier and creepier. “Us?”
“Yes, my dearest Dawn.” Joey took a step forward, his expression fervent, and frightening. “I know I never said anything before, but surely you’ve felt it too. The instant connection. The lust. The rightness.”
Hmm, yes, she had, just not for Joey. But somehow, explaining that didn’t seem like the right thing to do at the moment, not if she planned to survive this encounter. She opted for a change of subject. “I’m actually here getting his help in negotiating with FUC. We’re on their most wanted list. If we turn ourselves in, apparently they can help us.” Okay, so she lied. She wasn’t about to let on that, given Joey’s crimes, he’d be lucky if he didn’t end up skinned and turned into a handbag.
“Help? I don’t need help, nor do I intend to let FUC get their hands on me. I like who I am.”
“You’re a giant lizard monster.” Possibly not the most diplomatic way of putting it, but she wondered if bluntness might prevail where doefooting wasn’t.
He didn’t take offense. Rather he beamed. “Isn’t it marvelous? I went from being a nobody, a harmless little pet afraid of just about every other shifter out there, to someone they fear. Why would I want to give that up?”
She pointed out the obvious flaw. “Because you’re killing people.”
“I was hungry.”
So much for rational logic. “Well, you should have hit a McDonald’s instead of dining out on campers. That kind of thing draws attention. There’s a warrant out for your capture, dead or alive.”
Out puffed his scrawny chest. “They can try. I’m not afraid.”
“That’s just it. You should be. These guys mean business. And they have guns. Lots of them. As a matter of fact, Everett’s one of those hunting you. You should leave before he comes homes and finds you here.”
“Let him come. If that mangy dog had not taken a coward’s path before and jumped off that cliff, I would have killed him. I can’t believe he survived, the rotten cur. Because I failed to finish him off, he got his dirty claws on you. For that, I blame myself. But never fear, my four-legged love. I won’t make the same mistake twice. Let the wolf come. I will rend him limb from limb and free you from his wretched clutches.”
How to answer that? Cheering on Joey’s plan seemed wrong, yet denying it would probably prove deadly. Where was a grumpy sloth with his shotgun when a girl needed a tie breaker?
“There’s really no need for violence.” Although she would have dearly loved a weapon right about now.
“Have I shocked your delicate sensibilities? I do apologize. Sometimes my violent nature takes even me by surprise. But I want you to know, you never have to fear me, Dawn. I want to protect you.” He smiled, an awful leering grin. Dawn couldn’t help but shiver before it.
He’s insane. And had obviously read some really bad prose. Who the hell talked like that?
“Shall we wait for the wolf in the living room, or would you prefer we adjourn somewhere more comfortable ?” He waggled his lopsided brows, and Dawn couldn’t take it anymore. Stomach churning with nausea and fear, she turned tail, making a dash for the kitchen.
She launched herself at the block of knives, knocking them over in the process. The sharp blades skittered across the counter. Scrabbling, she managed to close her trembling fingers around the handle of one. She turned and brandished it before her. Joey, who’d scurried after her, halted.
“What are you doing?”
“Stand back, or else,” she
“You’ve been watching us?” Creepier and creepier.
Joey didn’t seem to note her less-than-pleased response. He bobbed his head, looking more like a parrot in the moment than a gecko. “I found you last night after seeing your story on the evening news. How dare he mislead everyone into thinking you were his wife? I know he brought you here against your will, trying to keep us apart.”
Creepier and creepier. “Us?”
“Yes, my dearest Dawn.” Joey took a step forward, his expression fervent, and frightening. “I know I never said anything before, but surely you’ve felt it too. The instant connection. The lust. The rightness.”
Hmm, yes, she had, just not for Joey. But somehow, explaining that didn’t seem like the right thing to do at the moment, not if she planned to survive this encounter. She opted for a change of subject. “I’m actually here getting his help in negotiating with FUC. We’re on their most wanted list. If we turn ourselves in, apparently they can help us.” Okay, so she lied. She wasn’t about to let on that, given Joey’s crimes, he’d be lucky if he didn’t end up skinned and turned into a handbag.
“Help? I don’t need help, nor do I intend to let FUC get their hands on me. I like who I am.”
“You’re a giant lizard monster.” Possibly not the most diplomatic way of putting it, but she wondered if bluntness might prevail where doefooting wasn’t.
He didn’t take offense. Rather he beamed. “Isn’t it marvelous? I went from being a nobody, a harmless little pet afraid of just about every other shifter out there, to someone they fear. Why would I want to give that up?”
She pointed out the obvious flaw. “Because you’re killing people.”
“I was hungry.”
So much for rational logic. “Well, you should have hit a McDonald’s instead of dining out on campers. That kind of thing draws attention. There’s a warrant out for your capture, dead or alive.”
Out puffed his scrawny chest. “They can try. I’m not afraid.”
“That’s just it. You should be. These guys mean business. And they have guns. Lots of them. As a matter of fact, Everett’s one of those hunting you. You should leave before he comes homes and finds you here.”
“Let him come. If that mangy dog had not taken a coward’s path before and jumped off that cliff, I would have killed him. I can’t believe he survived, the rotten cur. Because I failed to finish him off, he got his dirty claws on you. For that, I blame myself. But never fear, my four-legged love. I won’t make the same mistake twice. Let the wolf come. I will rend him limb from limb and free you from his wretched clutches.”
How to answer that? Cheering on Joey’s plan seemed wrong, yet denying it would probably prove deadly. Where was a grumpy sloth with his shotgun when a girl needed a tie breaker?
“There’s really no need for violence.” Although she would have dearly loved a weapon right about now.
“Have I shocked your delicate sensibilities? I do apologize. Sometimes my violent nature takes even me by surprise. But I want you to know, you never have to fear me, Dawn. I want to protect you.” He smiled, an awful leering grin. Dawn couldn’t help but shiver before it.
He’s insane. And had obviously read some really bad prose. Who the hell talked like that?
“Shall we wait for the wolf in the living room, or would you prefer we adjourn somewhere more comfortable ?” He waggled his lopsided brows, and Dawn couldn’t take it anymore. Stomach churning with nausea and fear, she turned tail, making a dash for the kitchen.
She launched herself at the block of knives, knocking them over in the process. The sharp blades skittered across the counter. Scrabbling, she managed to close her trembling fingers around the handle of one. She turned and brandished it before her. Joey, who’d scurried after her, halted.
“What are you doing?”
“Stand back, or else,” she
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