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just once. You either can or you can’t. It’ll be easier next time. I promise.”
    For some reason, his words seemed to reassure her. She let out a sigh, and her lashes drifted down to create dark crescents on her freckled cheeks. Now that he’d seen her cat form, he probably should’ve guessed she’d have spots while shifted too. She still hadn’t let go of him, like he was the only solid ground with water rising all around her.
    Then she sat up abruptly, and he wondered if it had hit her that they were curled up together, naked, again. But no, she pulled his arm up to the light so she could inspect the wound. He had another puncture in his side, and from the heat radiating from it, the dagger had been coated with something because he felt distinctly woozy.
    I’ll run a fever for a few days, feel like shit. No permanent harm done.
    “I’m so sorry. I forgot that you’re hurt.”
    Somehow she found the fortitude to make her legs work, and he watched in stunned amazement as she prowled the kitchen bare-assed in search of the first-aid kit. I’m not even a man to her. Dom didn’t want to get pissed off, but her complete indifference rankled. And fine, Ash Valley wasn’t a particularly modest pride; they shared communal bathing facilities, but that didn’t mean her behavior was normal. But for reasons he couldn’t even explain, he didn’t say, Put a damn shirt on.
    My shirt.
    Maybe it was because she had such pretty tits. Oh, what the hell.
    Annoyed with himself, he scowled the whole time she ministered to him, washing, fussing, wiping, poking, rubbing him with allegedly healing unguents. By the time she got the bandages on, it felt like his skin was too small. Dom reminded himself that she’d saved him.
    And I didn’t even say…
    “Thank you,” he said.
    She tilted her head, looking puzzled. “For what?”
    “You kicked some major ass tonight… and right after your first shift? I’d have shit my pants if I’d faced a Noxblade on my first go.”
    Astonished and rapt, he watched the rosy flush that started at her chest, crept up her neck, and colored her checks, making her freckles stand out coppery in comparison. Didn’t anybody compliment her before? Absurd. Pru had so many good qualities, but she always… blended in. Probably because she didn’t want people talking about her, judging her, but that camouflage seemed to have left her hungry for praise.
    Her wintry eyes sparkled like the sun on clear water. “I want to be modest and say it was no big deal, but… even I think that was pretty fucking awesome.”
    A laugh burst out of him, unexpected and liberating. His chest felt a little looser too, even if his side still stung like a bitch. “No arguments. We should wash up and then get some sleep. They won’t try again tonight, but that doesn’t mean we’re safe.”
    She nodded. “I was just thinking the same thing. But… I’m so hungry. Is that typical? I mean seriously, I could eat a moose.”
    “Shit, yeah. You just burned like a week of calories. Let’s get you fed.”
    If Arran, the pride seer, had predicted he’d be sitting, naked, on the kitchen floor, eating cold stew out of a pot with Pru, he would’ve suggested early retirement. As they ate, he reminded her of the changes she could expect: additional muscle mass, increased appetite both for food and sex, across the board sensory improvements, greater speed and strength. She listened, starry-eyed, making him feel like he’d done something to deserve that. Eventually they scraped the pan with their spoons, then she fed him the last bite with a happy smile. And it wasn’t strange. Dom had no idea what this was, but when she stretched and rubbed her stomach, he had the sudden thought that it was… good.
    “I can live now,” she mumbled, dropping their dishes in the sink.
    Gratitude welled up in him, so strong he couldn’t fit in one word. But he tried anyway. “Thanks.”
    She turned with a quizzical look. “You already