Moonlight Kin 4: Tristan by Jordan Summers Page A

couldn’t take a chance
that the woman might be harmed.
    Waiting wasn’t his strong suit. Heat rippled
over his dark fur. The Darkling had felt the sensation before. He
knew what it meant. The beast was watching.
    He hadn’t spotted him yet. If he had, there
was no doubt in the Darkling’s mind that he would’ve confronted
him. After all, he’d chased him through the French Quarter,
unconcerned that they’d attracted attention.
    The Darkling lifted its nose and smelled the
air. The muscles in his body tightened. Why were their scents
entwining? He sniffed again to make sure he wasn’t mistaken, but
the odd mingling hadn’t changed.
    That shouldn’t be possible without close
contact. It would take more than being in a cabin together to
create the aroma. Even a cabin that small. What was going on?
    The possibilities that flitted through his
mind left the Darkling enraged. There was a fine line between
attraction and hate, but surely it hadn’t been crossed so soon.
    If that wolf had laid the Sighted-One, then
he’d do more than kill it. He’d make that Kin suffer like no other.
In the end, the wolf would beg for death.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Izzy awoke to find her nose buried in
Tristan’s neck. His arms were around her, holding her tenderly, and
his chin rested on top of her head. To make matters worse, she’d
snuggled up against him with her arm wrapped around his waist.
    His breathing was even and relaxed, which
seemed at odds with the hard ridge resting next to her hip. There
was no way she could extricate herself without waking him.
    She tried to remember how they’d gotten like
this. A dream flashed in and out of focus. Izzy remembered tears...
and asking him to stay. Tristan hadn’t wanted to from what she
recalled, but he’d done so anyway.
    So he hadn’t been the one to instigate this
situation. She had. That just made everything worse. Izzy pulled
the covers up over her head. The movement disturbed Tristan.
    He dipped his nose to her hair and inhaled,
then sighed loudly. A second later, his hips rocked, and she felt
every inch of his morning erection.
    Izzy closed her eyes and groaned.
    Tristan stiffened beside her.
    “Don’t worry, you didn’t disturb me. I was
already awake,” she said.
    He pulled his arm out from under her, and her
head dropped to the bed. A second later, he was off the mattress
and halfway across the room. She stared at him from beneath her
lashes. Tristan scrubbed a hand over his shadowed jaw.
    “I’m going to catch a shower,” he said.
“Unless you want to go first.”
    Izzy pulled the covers down to her waist but
couldn’t meet his gaze. Instead, she focused on his shoulder.
“That’s okay. You go ahead.”
    Tristan gave her a curt nod and grabbed his
tote. “When I get out, we’ll grab something to eat, then get out of
here.”
    “Where are we going?” Izzy thought for sure
they’d spend their days hanging in the swamp, waiting for the
monster to come.
    “Into town,” he said as if that were obvious.
“We want to make sure the Darkling catches your scent.”
    Izzy didn’t reply. What was the use? He’d
told her yesterday that he’d planned to use her as bait. One night
spent in his arms wasn’t going to change his plans.
    She waited for the door to close behind
Tristan then wandered into the kitchen. Izzy put on some coffee and
found a box of cereal. She pulled out two bowls and a couple of
spoons. She left one out for Tristan, then filled hers and wandered
back to the table.
    Izzy slipped on some shorts. She felt too
exposed in her T-shirt. Which was weird, since she hadn’t felt that
way last night. She thought about the moment she’d woken, wrapped
in Tristan’s strong arms.
    For a few seconds, Izzy had forgotten all
about monsters and being hunted. She’d forgotten all about being
stuck in a cabin with a man who hated humans. She’d just been a
woman, lying in a man’s arms. And it had felt... nice . For
once in her life, she had actually felt