“When I agreed to this plan I didn’t realize we’d both be standing here naked.” He raised one shoulder. “Well. That’s the thing about changing forms. A lot of enforced nudity. Best get used to it.”
He stood before me without sham e, his powerful presence taking up more space in the room than merely his body. Since the moment I saw him, I’d always found him to be ‘more.’ I swallowed past the lump in my throat, my pulse suddenly racing.
His back was to me as he looked out my window for signs of trouble. I took the opportunity to appreciate his incomparable form. His powerful back was wide and chiseled with thick muscles. His wasn’t the distended musculature of a body builder, but a more balanced manifestation of strength. As I raked down his body, definition at his shoulders caught my eye. Farther down the firm crease of his back a powerful ribcage slimmed into a tight waist. He had a good-sized scratch down his side, probably sustained during the fight. It looked to be healing well, though, and quickly. One firm crease disappeared, another taking its place. I shivered and stifled a groan of appreciation.
He turned around and held my gaze. “One thing you may not yet have noticed, Stella.”
“Hmm?”
“Once you’ve found your form, some parts of you change forever. Senses, for example, remain heightened. Not to the level when in form, but stronger than they were before.”
“Senses? You’re saying I can see better? Hear better? I did know that, actually.”
“Yes, and we can scent better, too,” he said as he stalked toward me. “I smell your arousal now, for example.”
I gasped. He was so bold, so comfortable with himself, with sexuality.
“That’s not something said to someone you see platonically.” God, I was in over my head with him.
“I’ve never seen you platonically. Who am I kidding?”
He was looking at my body. Hard. His gaze had wandered from my eyes and his breathing had become slower, more deliberate. He closed his eyes briefly, as if in gratitude.
“You’re trying to kid yourself if you think you can ignore the attraction between us,” I said. Look at me. I’m confident. I was so not confident.