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Not bothering with a coat himself, he took her hand "No I like it" Her hand was sht and sunny, that was his Annie

They walked in silence for a while, and he felt his beast sigh in pleasure The forest was home, and it called to both parts of his soul But today, he had a new reason for happiness--Annie "You’re in shape," he said after a while

"Nowhere close to you" Sheyour stride shorter for me"

He hadn’t even noticed, the act had been so natural "Of course," he said matter-of-factly "Hoould I have my wicked ith you if I left you in rew until the leopard batted at its warmth, utterly captivated "I exercise," she said "I have to, or the leg will freeze up"

"Every day?"

She nodded "It’s a habit now" Looking up at the trail as it wound its way into the forest she took a deep breath "It’s so beautiful here"

"Yeah" He watched her face suffuse with joy and felt the razor-sharp bite of envy The cat really wasn’t good at sharing Neither was the ht on her face Soon, he pro into a very feminine look of realization "Zach" Her lips parted

It was all the invitation he needed Dipping his head, he clai his hand around the silken warmth of her neck When her hands came to rest on his chest, the cat stretched out in pleasure within hier for her so extreht in mind, he pulled on the reins Even so, he couldn’t keep fro at her lip

Her eyes widened even as her hands clenched on his chest "You only had one forfeit"

He felt his mouth curve "Put it on my account," he said without an ounce of repentance

She laughed, and he knew that today was going to be one of the best days of his life

Several hours later, Annie sighed and rested her head back against the seat as Zach drove them to the Pack Circle "That onderful Thank you" "You fit here," he said quietly, his voice lacking its usual playfulness "The age of the trees, the immensity of the forest, it doesn’t scare you"

"It makes , waiting for me to stumble" She wondered how she’d coh to reveal a vulnerability she kept hidden from even her closest friends

It scared her a little, the intensity of the e in her heart She tried to tell herself it was nothing but a silly crush, but all she could think of was the way his kisses had tugged at her soul All day long he’d stolen them, until her lips remembered the shape of his, and her breasts ached for his touch

Sing, she attehts

"The Pack Circle’s usually kept secret"

"We don’t take strangers there" he acknowledged

"Only those we trust to honor our faith"

Her heart warmed from the inside out "Thank you"

"Don’t thank me just yet Wait till you meet the pack--they’re a nosy bunch"

Nerves snapped to full wakefulness as Zach parked his vehicle behind several others and turned to run his knuckles over her cheek "Don’t be nervous"

"How do you know--"

"I can s there, mind aith the implications of what he’d said, when he walked around and opened her door "Coot out but didn’t take his hand "You can ses in my body?" She watched him reach in back for the picnic basket

"Yes" Basket in hand, he tugged her hand from where she’d wrapped her araze

She saw no flirtation in those eyes for the first tiet used to it" He said that as if it was inevitable

She wasn’t sure Privacy was a big deal for her--she’d spent alo ho Those experiences had co her personal space, and as lanced at her as they walked past the other cars "It’s natural to us," he said "We don’t tend to notice a particular scent unless it’s so that matters"

"But other people will know," she said, her stoer for Zach, accept that he knew, but to have everyone else be aware of it, too?

Zach raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, the tenderness undoing her He was, she realized, far ht If she wasn’t careful, Zach Quinn would steal her heart and leave her with nothing, her worst night that, she couldn’t help ed at her