Wolf Watch (The Madison Wolves Book 8) (5 page)

"I can't force you to move, Zoe. I can't force you to accept my protection. But I can ask Lara to put strings on any money she gives you. You don't have to accept her money, but if you do, you'll also accept her strings. Those strings don't have anything to do with whether we ever kiss again."

She got up again. "Your safety is more important to me than kissing you. If you're so hung up on this because you think I'm trying to buy you, then I guess I need to remove that from the equation. I don't know if Lara intends a donation, but if she does, and if it's sizeable, you know what strings will be attached. Decide what you're going to do about it." She turned for the door.

"Wait!" I said. Elisabeth stopped with her hand on the knob. Remembering what she said about only using my words, I didn't hurry after her this time.

"What choices do I have?" I asked.

She turned around and leaned against the door. "If you don't take the money, you have all the choices you currently have. If you take the money, then I imagine Lara would offer a choice of locations based on what is currently available. She owns twelve apartment buildings throughout Madison, and there are always a few openings or pending openings. There would be a five-year guarantee or until you no longer required the space."

"And you can offer this on her behalf."

"She won't have a problem with it. I can imagine you could do quite a lot with another five hundred a month by not having this place to pay for."

Five hundred would about double my budget.

"Are you angry at me?" I asked.

"No."

"You're awfully heavy handed for someone I just met today."

"About this, yes, I am. As I said,
it's an occupational hazard coupled with an exceedingly protective personality on top. Michaela hates it. Lara's the same way, only worse, so Michaela gets it from both of us."

"Is everything going to be like this?"

"No. Just your safety."

"So, getting ahead of ourselves, if we were in a relationship, would you try to interfere with my ... um..."

"Trespassing?"

"Yes."

"No promises."

"Not good enough."

"If we were in a relationship where I felt the right to interfere with your likelihood of being hurt, then I suspect I am also in a position to help you a great deal to make up for my interference."

I thought about it. "I bet you're right," I agreed. "Elisabeth, this is the most I can afford, but if there is a donation to GreEN of Wisconsin that includes a safer apartment, I would happily accept it. Now, please don't leave."

She watched me for a minute. "Are you sure? I do not ever want to again be accused of trying to buy you."

"I'm sorry about that. I wasn't trying to accuse you. I was trying to understand and perhaps doing so poorly."
I paused. "Elisabeth, I have pride. I spend a good share of my life begging for money, but it's for GreEN. I don't like asking for money when I know some of it covers my personal expenses, like this apartment. And I can't ask people who barely earn more than I do to support my efforts if I'm living in better conditions they are."

"Apology accepted," she said.
"But in this case, you're not asking. I certainly understand pride." She smiled but didn't move. So I patted the futon next to me and leaned back, closing my eyes. I heard the floor creak and then her weight settled down next to me. I moved closer and leaned against her, and a moment later, her arm was around my shoulder. I curled into her, pulling my legs up so one knee was partially over her nearest leg.

"You are very fierce," I observed. She didn't respond, but a moment later, she was caressing my legs, and this time she let the skirt slide up a little.

But not too far.

"I'm not seducing you tonight," she told me.

"What if I decide to seduce you?"

"We both know that's not how it's going to work."

I opened my eyes and looked up at her through my lashes. She lifted her hand to my cheek and caressed me, and then she shifted her grip. Without warning, I felt myself pulled over her so I was straddling her lap.

I squeaked in surprise, but she pulled me to her, and our mouths met.

If the kiss in the park had been amazing, I don't know how to describe this kiss.

In some ways it was raw, feral. Her hunger was obvious, but so was mine. And I've never been held so firmly but so gently at the same time. I was right where she wanted me, and we both knew it.

I didn't mind at all.

Finally she broke the kiss, and I collapsed against her.

"Wow."

She chuckled.

"You don't have to be so satisfied about it."

"My heart is pounding as hard as yours is, Zoe."

I slipped a hand between us and placed it over her chest.

"Hey," she complained. "No escalating."

"Sorry," I said with my own chuckle. It had only been a little tiny boob graze, not an all out mauling. I could feel her heart though. It was strong and sure.

We stayed like that for several minutes. Then she shifted forward on the sofa. I found myself sitting on her knees, our bodies still pressed together and my legs wrapped around her. "Hang on," she said.

I squeaked as she stood up, clutching at her tightly with both my legs around her waist and my arms around her neck. She, in turn, had her hands around my waist awfully close to clutching my ass.

Then she turned around and deposited me gently on the sofa. "I had a nice time," she whispered into my ear. "I'll pick you up Tuesday at six. Dress to be outside. We'll have
a picnic and wait for the moon to rise."

"We're going to howl?"

"Yes."

She released me and moved away.

"Elisabeth?"

She turned back to me.

"Promise me I'm safe."

"You're safe, Zoe. I promise."

I believed her. I wasn't sure why.

She headed for the door but then turned around again. "I am waiting outside this door until I hear the locks click."

I smiled and climbed to my feet, following after her. I moved straight into her arms, closed my eyes, and lifted my face towards her.

She accepted the offer, although the kiss was soft and gentle.

"Good night, Zoe."

I didn't hear her walk away until after I locked the door behind her.

Then I stood there, leaning against the door.

"Wow."

I shook my head, slowly pushing off the door. I grabbed my laptop on the way back to the futon. I plopped down, grabbed a gulp of the tea, then opened the laptop. A moment later, I was watching the video I had of her.

"I can't believe I just had a date with a werewolf."

I eyed her door with disgust. I wasn't impressed with the building. It stank of mildew, stale beer, and from one or two apartments, marijuana. But some of the wolves in the pack lived in worse conditions. Hell, some of the wolves in the pack were responsible for worse conditions.

But I didn't date those wolves.

It was the security that really bugged the hell out of me. While I wouldn't have been impressed with anything the landlord might do to upgrade security, the units could at least have been provided with secure doors and a proper deadbolt. Even Michaela could pop these doors open without a second thought.

And I could get through the cheap lock with barely a whisper.

Instead, I knocked and made sure I had a pleasant expression in place before the door opened.

It took her a minute before I heard the deadbolt release and the door opened. Zoe stood there in far more casual clothing than our first date, but this was to be a picnic. I thought she looked nice.

"Hi," she said softly. She moved aside with a gesture, and I stepped past her, then turned to her and, as soon as the door was closed, pulled her into my arms. I didn't wait, but I bent her back slightly and captured her mouth.

She was a good kisser.

It was just a hello kiss, and as tempting as I found her mouth, I didn't linger. I released her lips, but instead of stepping away from me, she moved into me more fully, wrapping her arms around my waist and turning her head sideways to lay her head against me. She didn't quite fit underneath my chin, so I found myself with her forehead pressed against my neck, her cheek against my shoulder.

"I like how you feel," she said.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her, laying my head against hers a little more. We stood like that for a minute or two before finally she pulled away with a sigh. She looked up at me. "Promise me I'm safe, Elisabeth."

"You're safe, Zoe," I replied. "If anything, you'll suffer from over protection. You've already seen how I can be."

"I suppose I have." She smiled, and I couldn't help but reach out and caress her cheek.  Her smile broadened.

"Where are we going?"

"Just up to Token Creek," I replied. "I promised a picnic."

She looked disappointed.

"We could go to a restaurant instead."

"It's not that," she said. "I had the impression you lived on a fairly sizeable piece of land. I thought you were taking me there."

"Oh. I thought about it, but if we went there, everyone would be bugging the crap out of us. We wouldn't get any time alone. I'm not ready to subject you to the entire horde."

"A horde, is it?"

"Clan, group, family..."

"Scarlett is family?"

"Well, there's family and then there's family," I replied. "But if you would rather go somewhere else..."

"Oh no, the park is fine. I'm looking forward to it." She leaned closer and kissed my cheek. "Whatever you want is fine. Do we need to raid my refrigerator so I'll have something I dare eat?"

In answer, I only grinned at her.

She turned for her purse, but I frowned. "You won't need that."

"But... keys. ID."

"ID in your pocket, and you can leave your keys in my car."

She cocked her head at me. "All right," she said slowly. I waited for her to fish out her driver's license. It went into a front pocket of her jeans. She grabbed her keys, and a moment later, she was locking the door to her apartment.

I took the keys from her then took her hand, leading her to my car.

* * * *

She reminded me a great deal of Michaela. She was fierce and independent, bright, and concerned with the environment. I wondered what the two of them would be like together. I had never settled on a type. Heck, up until a few years ago, I'd never even considered dating women. I still
wasn't sure they were for me. Women could be so complicated. Men could be complicated, too, but usually not so much.

I wasn't very good with subtle. I wasn't really sure how Lara kept Michaela as tame as she did. The little fox was quite a handful. But the two of them certainly had their fights, and I'd been involved a time or three myself.

I saw a lot of the same in Zoe, without the whole werefox thing of course. I still hadn't figured her out.

But I would.

When we got to the car, I handed her in. She seemed surprised every time I did it, but I think she liked it, too. To be honest, I didn't really know how to treat her, so I borrowed a lot from how Lara treated her wife, or how Michaela had trained me to treat her.

Climbing in on my side, I dropped Zoe's keys into the console between the seats, and then we were on the way.

We held hands during the drive. We talked about how she spent her day -- working on a new mailing she wanted to send out. Mine? Security, security, security, and I was sorry, but I couldn't talk about it.

"Watching over your sister-in-law?"

"No. I'm sorry, Zoe, I really can't talk about it."

"Did you do anything... illegal?"

"What? No. Of course not. I'm saving that for later."

She laughed. "Oh?"

I leered at her briefly, and she laughed again.

"I'm pretty sure there's nothing illegal with that," she observed. "We're not in Texas. As long as I can still walk in the morning, anyway."

"You might be walking a little funny," I said.

"Maybe it's you who will be walking funny," she replied.

We bantered back and forth during the twenty-minute drive to the park. As we parked, she again asked, "Are you sure you brought things I can eat? I won't be impressed with a roast beef sandwich."

"Even if it's from a free range cow?"

"Even then."

"What if it's from a deer that was killed by a car?"

"Elisabeth..."

"I don't get to tease you?"

She cocked her head. "Sometimes teasing a vegan isn't really teasing. Sometimes it's an effort to discover how serious we are or to see if we're really vegan."

"Maybe I am expressing perplexity."

"You don't understand why I find it immoral to consume animal products?"

"I understand why you have a problem with factory farms. I can't say I make the same choices you do about it, but I understand it.
I don't know what's wrong with eggs from free-range chickens. You didn't answer me on Saturday regarding deer herd overpopulation, either."

"If we hadn't killed off the wolf packs and stripped so much of the forest for farmland, nature would be in balance."

"All right," I said. I paused. "Let's continue this conversation in a minute. For now, you'll have to trust me."

I didn't wait for an answer but I got out of the car and a moment later, she met me at the back. I popped the hatch and grabbed the waiting cooler.

"You have a choice. Lawn chairs, blanket, or we can eat at one of the picnic tables."

"Blanket," she said with a grin. She grabbed the waiting blanket. I set the cooler down, closed the hatch, locked everything, and then led the way into the park. Zoe scrambled to catch up.

I already had a place picked out. It was a several minute walk from the car.

"Where are we going?"

"There's a quiet little place," I told her. I glanced at her. She looked at me nervously. "Don't you trust me?"

"Sure I do," she said. There wasn't a lot of conviction behind it.

"We could go to a restaurant," I offered again.

"Oh, no, you went through all this work."

I sniffed cautiously. She was giving off fear scent. I stopped and turned to her.

"Zoe, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said, and I didn't need Michaela to tell me she was lying.

"We can go somewhere else. I was just trying to give us some privacy. I was hoping to impress you with my thoughtfulness. But if you're afraid to be out here with me, we can go somewhere else. It's another twenty minutes to the compound. We could go there. Or we can find a city park somewhere."

She eyed me carefully, and it was incredibly clear she was, indeed, afraid to be out here with me.

"No," she said. "Just promise me you're not a serial killer."

"You're safe," I assured her. "You would need a secret service detail to be safer."

She turned away and began leading the way deeper into the park. I took a few steps and caught up.

"You're not going to tell me what you brought?"

"Nope. Well, I brought a Frisbee. I thought we could throw it around a little."

"I'd like that," she said. She laughed.

"What?"

"You're rich, right?"

"By some standards," I said.

"And you took me on a picnic."

"Feeling cheated?"

"No. Courted."

"Good."

"I knew there was something different about you the moment I first saw you."

I smiled at her.

It took another couple of minutes until we reached our destination, a little space at the edge of a small field. Zoe spread the blanket, and I set the cooler down to catch the upwind edge. Then I crawled onto the blanket, pulling her after me. I wrapped my arms around her, and she laughed as I pulled her down on top of me. I immediately caught her lips, silencing her laugh.

It didn't take long for us to both get worked up. I wished I'd made her wear the skirt; I had to satisfy my hands by cupping her ass.

Finally we separated, both of us panting.

"You don't waste time," Zoe said, rolling onto her back, her head pillowed by my arm.

"Life is short," I replied. I rolled onto my side so I was facing her, then began caressing her. She was wearing a casual knit shirt, tucked into her jeans, but I tugged it out then sent my fingers in search of almost-bare skin to play with.

Zoe didn't stop me. Instead, she closed her eyes and appeared to be holding her breath.

"Is this all right?" I asked quietly. She nodded.

But then she rolled her head and opened her eyes. "I'm a little overwhelmed," she said, "but I don't want you to stop."

"I'm not planning on us getting naked out here," I replied. But I moved my fingers further up the inside of her shirt. "Just a little worked up."

She smiled.

She wasn't a classic beauty, and while she was in shape, it wasn't the same sort of shape I was accustomed to. But she was human; I couldn't expect her to have the same physique as a werewolf or even a little werefox. Her breasts were on the small side and her hips a little lean, but I was fine with that.

My hand found one of those breasts, supported by a sports bra. Zoe closed her eyes as I fondled her breast through the stretchy material. My fingers found a nipple, and I teased it a little. It wasn't very satisfying, not to either of us, but I was just having fun for now.

"I should have worn something lacy," she said.

"You dressed for comfort," I replied. "So did I." I moved closer and captured her mouth again.

She tasted really good. There was still a lingering scent of fear, but it was overwhelmed by her arousal -- and quite a bit of my own. I leaned closer and sniffed at her neck.

She giggled. "What are you doing?"

"Deciding if you taste good." I gave her a quick lick, and she almost jumped out of her skin.

"No!" she screamed, pulling away from me. A moment later she was on her feet, facing me with her hands out defensively.

I blinked at her, startled by her reaction.

"Did I miss something?" I asked.

She was panting in her panic, and I was sure she was about to bolt. She looked around wildly for a minute, and the fear scent was nearly overwhelming.

"Zoe?"

I stayed where I was and tried to look non-threatening. It wasn't a look I practiced, and I didn't imagine I was very good at it. But I didn't chase after her or give her additional cause to panic.

"Oh god," she said. "I'm sorry."

"You're acting like you expected me to turn into a savage animal and eat you. I promise you, everything I intend to eat tonight is in the cooler. Well, everything I intend to eat that way."

She didn't laugh at my lame joke.

"Elisabeth. I'm sorry."

"Look, you're clearly not comfortable out here with me. Maybe we should go. I'm sorry. I thought it would be romantic. I'm not very good at empathy, and it didn't occur to me you would find this intimidating."

"No," she said. She held one hand out and another to her chest. "Just... give me a minute to calm down."

I edged away from her a little, slowly, moving to the cooler. She watched me carefully. She continued to exude fear scent, and I wasn't quite sure what to do about that -- either to get her to stop, or to control my own reaction if I couldn't find a way to replace it with something less disturbing. Her clothes, her skin, her hair -- they were all going to carry it.