He’d even listened to her talking about clothes, with that expression on his face—even in the dimly-lit truck, it was easy to see—that said he was turning everything over in his mind, giving it due consideration.
She didn’t want to end the night. Actually, she never wanted to go home again. Having someone take her seriously was like a plunge into cool water in the middle of a blazing summer.
She wondered if Grey would notice if she just camped out nearby or something, instead of going back to Paul and Molly’s place.
You’re getting ahead of yourself, Ali. She’d only just stepped into his cabin, after all.
It was a beautiful little building, though, all knotty wood and soft blankets. It looked like a den, which made sense for a shifter, she supposed.
The downstairs was all one main room, except for a little door that probably concealed a bathroom, with the kitchen off to the left, the space dominated by a long, sturdy wooden table, and a huge fireplace with a comfy-looking chair and rugs in front of it to the right.
There were also stairs up to a loft that was almost entirely filled by an enormous bed.
That gave her some ideas, all right.
A long bookshelf took up the wall underneath the loft, and there was a chair tucked in next to it. A little reading nook.
Ali drank it all in, then turned to Grey. “It’s beautiful.”
He shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. “I fixed it up a bit. There weren’t any bookshelves when I moved in, and just the one chair over there.” He nodded at the table.
“Where did you find these? In Prescott? I don’t know anywhere that sells gorgeous furniture like this.” She crossed the room to peer at the bookshelves, which were made of a complex-grained wood that almost glowed from within. Pine, probably.
“I made them.”
She turned to look at him. He looked a touch more embarrassed. “I told you I do a little woodworking.”
“That’s not little! It’s amazing.” She tried to picture living in a place furnished like this, and couldn’t. Molly and Paul’s furniture was all pasteboard and plastic. “I’m very, very impressed.” She smiled up at him.
He smiled tentatively back. “Would you like anything? Water, coffee, beer?”
“I don’t want anything to drink, but I was wondering…” She hesitated. Was it too much to ask? “If it’s all right with you, could I see you shift?”
His smile spread, lighting up his eyes and illuminating his face. “Of course you can.”
Ali had been worried that asking would be rude. She didn’t know anything about shifter manners, in part because none of her shifter relatives were mannerly people. But he seemed happy she’d asked.
He closed those luminous silver eyes, and his forehead furrowed with concentration. His form blurred and shifted.
And there, right in front of her, was a snow leopard.
“Wow,” she breathed involuntarily.
His body was longer than she’d expected, sinuous and muscled, with a heavily-furred, powerful tail. His eyes were the same silvery grey. She’d expected him to have slit pupils, like a housecat, but he didn’t. His eyes looked expressively human. In fact, they had a spark that seemed excited. Happy.
Grey paced around her, his paws silent on the wooden floor, then came right up to her and sat down. He seemed to be inviting a touch, so she reached out and put her hand on his head.
His fur was soft and warm, and she couldn’t help scratching his ears. She’d always loved cats.
He leaned his head into the touch, and she stroked down his neck and along his back. She could feel all of that compact muscle rippling underneath the camouflaging fur as he stretched his long, lean body underneath her hands.
Coming to his feet again, he paced away from her, toward the door. When he got to it, he sat down, and looked over his shoulder at her. He couldn’t have more clearly telegraphed Let’s go outside if he’d said it out loud.
“Okay. I want to see you run, anyway.” She went over to the door and opened it. Seeing a light switch next to the door, she flicked it on. A pool of light illuminated the ground outside.
Grey bounded out in front of her, and she followed quickly. He prowled around the edge of the light’s radius for a minute, and she caught her breath at how graceful his movements were.
Then he bounded away. She was startled to watch him move seamlessly from running on the ground to running vertically up a tree trunk. She knew he was really climbing, catching the bark with his claws, but he was so fast and powerful that it looked the same as if he were running along the ground.