Clawed: Wild Things, Book 3 (8 page)

“I’m sure she was.”

“Watch your mouth, dog man.” The fury took root in less than a second, surprising him as much as it did Billy.

But Billy still wouldn’t let up. “See what I mean? You’ve taken a lot of females to bed, but you’ve never acted like this afterward.” His friend peered closer as though searching for something. “Oh, hell. She got under your skin, didn’t she?”

Conan had to look away then, the truth of Billy’s accusation striking him in the gut. Hadn’t he sensed it all along? From the first moment he’d caught her watching him at the lake, from the first second he’d laid eyes on her, he’d felt a pull, a longing for her that had nothing to do with sex. Almost as though he’d known her before actually meeting her. Then once they’d met… What did people say? They’d just clicked. Damn. More like exploded.

“Wow. Conan, this is huge.”

The awe in Billy’s voice matched the awe Conan was experiencing. He couldn’t, however, let himself feel anything for her, no matter how many times he’d thought about her. Hell, dreamed about her. She was human and he didn’t want anything to do with her. His life didn’t need the complication. “No, it’s not. It’s nothing.
She’s
nothing.”

“I don’t think so. I think—”

Conan, fists clenched, growled at his friend. “I don’t give a shit what you think. Now I’m going back to the cave, and if you’re going to stay there with me, you’d better not mention her again. Understand?”

Billy backed away, taking the threat seriously now. “Okay, okay. Relax, big guy.”

“Good.”

The argument was over with Billy, but as Conan stalked through the forest toward the cave, his mind lost the battle to keep Chloe out of his thoughts.

“Color me confused. So I have to ask one more time. What happened between you and Conan? Why did he storm off?”

Chloe kept her back to Nina, trying to ignore not only her friend’s persistent questions about Conan, but her own thoughts of him. Not that she was succeeding. Why couldn’t she stop thinking about him?

He was a big, oafish lout who had taken advantage of her at a weak moment. She muttered a curse, then chastised herself for letting him intrude on her life. But her mind wouldn’t stop playing tricks with her, tormenting her with images of how he looked hovering above her, the expression on his face as he came and the way he’d wrapped his arms around her, comforting her. She moaned, remembering how wonderful he’d felt against her, inside her. Sure, he was a great lay, but it was more than physical chemistry. He’d been truly sorry about the loss of her artwork and his sincerity had tugged at her heart.

Still, the man wasn’t her type.

“Wow, Chloe, will you listen to yourself? Come on. Talk to me.”

Chloe organized her brushes—for the fifth time. Damn. Why couldn’t she shake him out of her head? “There’s nothing to talk about. It was sex. Pure and simple.”

“But you don’t do sex. At least not with strangers. And not with someone you just met five minutes before. That’s what makes what happened so special.”

Chloe whirled on her friend, anger mixing with her wounded ego and self-reproach. “Get over it, will you? What we did
wasn’t special.
He
wasn’t special. I was upset and lost my head. That’s all.”

Regretting her outburst the moment Nina winced, Chloe bent down and busied herself with her brushes again. She placed her brushes into her supply carrying case and snapped the lid closed. “Trust me. It won’t happen again. Now, can we drop it?”

“I guess. For now.”

Relieved, Chloe hoped her apologetic smile would convey everything she couldn’t seem to put into words. “Great. How about we talk about something fun?”

“Do you mean fun as in Billy?” Nina whipped her hands up, palms outward to ward off Chloe’s scowl. “Hey, just because you regret your hook-up doesn’t mean I do. In fact, I’m very happy I did what I did.” Her grin grew wider. “Every time I did it.”

Chloe could never stay angry at Nina for long. Besides, just because her whatever-it-was with Conan had ended in ruins, that didn’t mean she couldn’t join in her friend’s happiness. “Yeah, I could tell from the sounds coming from your tent.”

“Really? I’m surprised you could hear us above all the noise you and you-know-who were making.”

If heat was any indication, her face had just burned away under the rush of embarrassment scouring her cheeks. “Oh, uh, well, I— Hey, never mind. And don’t try to bring him up again, got it?”

Nina grew serious and took Chloe’s hand, then led her to a log where she urged her to take a seat. “Look, I get how you feel. But I have to tell you something.”

Chloe’s stomach made a sickening flop. Nina being serious was bad enough. But Nina taking her hand and acting this dramatic was worse. “Should I dial 911?” Nina not laughing at her lame joke only made Chloe’s stomach turn over again.

“Only if you attack me after you’ve heard what I’m about to tell you.”

“Oh, crap. Do I have to know? Because I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know.” The sting of the bark on the log poking into Chloe’s right butt cheek was nothing compared to the quick pain in her chest.

“Billy and I agreed to meet later on today.”

Chloe held her breath, waiting for her friend to spit out the rest of the news. After all, there had to be more than Billy and Nina getting together again. “O-kay. And this is going to upset me why?” She tried not to think about what the couple would be doing in the next tent.

Nina dropped her gaze, then raised her head and met Chloe’s gaze head-on. Her friend’s determination sent a chill down Chloe’s spine. She was right. There was more.

“Because I promised to meet him down by the water. You know. Where you saw, um, what you saw.”

“You mean where I hallucinated seeing a man—Conan—turn into a bear.” At least Chloe hadn’t made the mistake of telling Conan about her alcohol-induced vision. “So?”

Nina shifted in her seat, her determination gone. “Well, you see… I mean, when Billy mentioned meeting him there…”

“What did you do?” Chloe struggled against the awful truth she knew was coming.

“I’m sorry. But yeah. I kind of told him.”

When would her friend stop dropping emotionally charged bombs on her? “You kind of told him? Damn, Nina, please say you didn’t tell him about
that
. You didn’t, did you?”

But Nina’s expression told her everything she didn’t want to know. Still, to be certain, she had to hear the words. She grasped her friend’s arm, keeping her on the log. “Tell me what you said, Nina.”

“I just, well, I just sort of said you’d seen Conan before he came to our camp. Plus, that you couldn’t figure out how one moment you’re looking at him and then, in the next moment, you’re looking at a bear.”

Chloe was on her feet and pacing as though she could get away from both her friend and what she’d revealed. “Oh, hell. I do not believe this. Isn’t it bad enough that the man thinks I’m after him for a relationship?”

“He does?”

“And now he’ll think I’m crazy in a whole different way.” Chloe ran a hand though her hair, her heart pounding against her chest.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I told him what happened. You know. How you were slightly inebriated at the time.”

The expression
oh, my God
had never meant more than it did at that moment. “Terrific. Just terrific. Not only will he think I see things, but now he’ll think I’m a drunk.”

“No. I’m sure he won’t. Besides, who knows? Billy might not even mention it to him.”

Chloe tilted her head, tossing her friend a scornful look. “Really? You don’t think so? If the situation were reversed, wouldn’t you tell your best friend some juicy tidbits about his latest conquest? Especially if you thought the conquest was a nutcase.”

Nina scrunched up her face. “I see your point. Damn, I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”

“No, you didn’t.” How had her trip gone so wrong so fast? In less than a day she’d met an unbelievably handsome albeit bull-headed man who she’d not only fantasized about but who had also been the main character in a real-life hallucination. What next? An alien abduction?

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Chloe stopped to pull off her shoe and dump the dirt out of it. “No. But I don’t think I have a choice.”

Nina waited until she slipped her shoe back on, then started down the trail again. “I guess I could try and explain the situation to Billy.”

“We’ve already discussed this. I want to be sure he understands that you made a mistake in telling him about what I saw. What I think I saw.” Chloe gritted her teeth against the urge to declare what she’d seen was real. Without a doubt, the bear had been real. But the man changing into a bear? As much as she told herself she’d hallucinated, she couldn’t shake the feeling that even the amazing transformation had been real.

“Okay, maybe I made a mistake by telling him.”

Chloe rolled her eyes at her friend. “Ya think? I want him to promise not to repeat the story. Not to anyone, including Conan. And I want to actually hear his promise.”

“Well, if you’re sure.”

“Don’t worry, Nina. I won’t stay and intrude on your hook-up in the woods.” Chloe repositioned her backpack on her shoulder. “I’ll get some water for cleanup, then you two can have your fun while I find a location to paint.”

The two friends continued in silence down the path leading to the stream. Every step brought her closer to the area where she’d first seen Conan and every step sent her excitement a step higher. Would Conan come with Billy? Doubtful. He probably wouldn’t want to risk running into her in case she’d tagged along with Nina. A flutter of sadness echoed inside her.

Hell, what was she thinking? Conan had made it very clear that he had no real interest in her other than rolling in the sleeping bag with her. Why should she care? He was just someone she’d had a wild, impulsive fling with. Nothing more. Still, she couldn’t deny the chaotic feelings churning her stomach.

Chloe groaned, the sound vibrating in her throat and reminding her of the noise Conan had made as he came. She’d shared her bed with him. That meant something. At least to her. But it had been a mistake. An act born out of emotion and opportunity, just as he’d said.

She shook her head. To think anything different would mean she was only fooling herself. She’d had sex with a stranger. A stranger who hadn’t mentioned getting together again, much less talked about a future. But why did she sense he was destined to be more than a stranger? Why did she think he was someone special meant just for her?

Stop it. Stop making a one-time thing more than it was.
Chloe forced herself to think rationally. When had she ever let herself get so attracted to a man so fast? Annoyed, she mentally listed the reasons she and Conan could never be together.

The man was rude. He’d shown that side of himself when he’d stormed into the campsite and demanded she destroy her artwork. Then he’d shown it again when he’d stormed out of her tent.

He couldn’t hold a conversation. Could she have a relationship with someone who couldn’t keep a discussion going? The man answered in monosyllabic responses. Who could deal with that for very long?

He didn’t want a relationship. God knew he’d made himself perfectly clear. But she didn’t want a relationship either, right? Then why was the idea of never seeing him again tearing her apart?

And yet he had another side to him.

He was strong. Not just in his body, but in his mind, his heart. His eyes had shown her his inner courage. The way he looked at her, the way he studied her resonated with his strength. He was the type of man who would stick by his friends and his woman, no matter what it cost him.

He was confident. He radiated a self-assured attitude. His movements, easy and graceful, spoke of a man who knew who he was and what he wanted in his life.

He was kind, too. No matter how gruff he came across, she’d sensed an underlying gentleness in Conan. She’d seen it in the way he’d looked at her rain-soaked drawing, the anguish and remorse he’d shown seconds before the sorrow had turned to desire. She’d heard it in the comforting words he’d given her, in his understanding of her loss.

He was gentle. She’d felt it in the way he’d made love to her. The caress of his touch. The brush of his lips across hers.

The sudden rush of tears filling her eyes startled Chloe. Why was she acting this way? She’d just met the man, and the only thing he’d offered her was the package between his legs. She was being ridiculous and acting like one of the stupid heroines in a silly romance novel.
Get over it, Chloe. Now.

Chloe struggled to keep the tears in check. Ducking her head, she set her gaze on Nina’s shoes and trudged beside her, wiping everything from her mind except the noise of her friend’s feet. She sensed more than felt when they broke through the tree line and stepped onto the edge of the stream.

“Oh, shit.”

Chloe brought her head up at Nina’s sharp exclamation to find Billy and Conan standing next to the water. Her heart pounded, adrenaline rushing through her in record speed. She bit her lip, keeping the smile that wanted to form on her lips from taking over.

Nina pivoted to her, dismay widening her eyes. “I didn’t know he’d be here. I swear.”

Chloe let her gaze sweep over Conan from the top of his dark hair down his rugged body, pausing briefly to enjoy the outline of his six-pack abs under his tight shirt, then let her gaze flow along his sturdy legs to his feet. She swallowed, trying to replenish her dry mouth.

His gaze met hers and weakened her legs, pushing away every concern she’d had about him. She scanned him, her heart thundering in her chest as she took in his strong body. She jerked her attention back to his face, searching to see inside the man for the answers his outside appearance couldn’t give her. She gasped at the light in his eyes. No matter what he’d said as he’d stormed out of camp, she could see the truth in his eyes. He was happy to see her.

“Hi, Nina.” Billy’s grin faltered as he shifted his attention to Chloe. “Chloe.”

Nina squeezed Chloe’s arm, then rushed over to take Billy off to the side. She bent her head close to his and spoke in whispered tones.