“I’m scared,” he admitted, then shook his head, as if in surprise at his own words. “I don’t think I’ve said that since I was ten or something. I feel especially weird saying it now, with the power I have. But I am. The last time I was here, I... I didn’t do so well.”
Catalina squeezed his shoulders. “We’re going to get out of here, Shane. We both rescue people for a living. We can do this. I’m not asking you to tell me about your plan— I don’t want it turning up on that neon sign of mine— but you do have one, right?”
“Yeah, I do.” He spoke with confidence, but Catalina wondered if she’d really persuaded him or if he just didn’t want her to be scared too. “Come on, let’s take a shower.”
He pulled her up and put his arm around her. They went into the bathroom and wedged themselves into the tiny shower.
Shane touched Catalina’s shoulder, then frowned at a smear of blood on his fingertips. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to break the skin.”
She glanced at the shallow bite marks. They stung a little under the hot water’s spray. “Am I going to turn into a panther?”
“No!” Shane looked horrified. “God, no. I wouldn’t do that to you. I’d have to bite you when I’m a panther.”
She’d figured he wouldn’t do anything that he believed would harm her, no matter how out of control he felt, but she couldn’t help being a bit disappointed. “You sure you don’t want to? I’d be a lot more help when we escape if I could bite people’s heads off.”
“You’ll be plenty of help without that. Can you shoot?”
“Well— I know how,” Catalina said. “I went to a range a couple times with Ellie and her brother Ethan. He’s a Recon Marine. I’m not a crack shot or anything.”
“That should be good enough.”
Catalina was desperately curious about exactly what Shane planned, beyond that he obviously intended to obtain some guns, presumably off the guards. But she didn’t ask.
Instead, she lathered up her hands. “Turn around. I’ll wash your back.”
Shane managed to turn without either knocking her down or whacking himself on the showerhead, which was something of a miracle in the cramped cubicle. He even made the movement look graceful.
She ran her hands over his body, enjoying the simple pleasure of being able to touch him. He didn’t wince when she soaped the tiny cuts her nails had left on his back and shoulders, though they had to sting as much as her bites.
“You don’t need to be a panther,” he said. “You’ve already got claws.”
“Just marking my territory,” she teased. “Property of Catalina Mendez. All others keep out.”
“I heal fast,” he reminded her, guiding her hand up to the place where he’d cut his head. She parted his sleek hair, but couldn’t see or feel a scar. “You’ll have to redo your keep-away signs every day or so.”
He didn’t sound like he’d mind. Catalina kissed one of her marks, then leaned her head against his back, blissfully happy. The warm contentment of sex still filled her, she had Shane right there in her arms, and they loved each other. She trusted him to break them out, and he trusted her to pick up a gun and fight by his side. They’d break free, and then they’d have an entire lifetime of adventures ahead of them.
It was everything she’d ever wanted, except that even in her wildest dreams, she’d failed to imagine a man as cool and sexy and brave as Shane.
You’re a bunch of losers, she informed her imaginary boyfriends— imaginary ex-boyfriends, now. It never even occurred to me to have any of you turn into a panther.
Shane turned again, bent to kiss her forehead, then took the soap from her and returned the favor. She melted against him, letting him turn her this way and that to caress every inch of her body with lather-soft hands.
When they finally got out of the shower, he frowned again at the bite on her shoulder. “I shouldn’t have done that. There’s no way to explain it if a nurse sees it.”
“Hopefully they won’t make me put on a hospital gown. They didn’t today.”
Shane didn’t look reassured. His habitual wary alertness, which had eased after they’d made love, had returned.
“Hey...” Catalina touched his arm. “You always wake up early, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s push the beds together,” she suggested. “We can move them back before Dr. Elihu shows up.”
His eyes narrowed, and she knew he was weighing odds, risks, and benefits before he nodded. “Okay.”
After their usual dinner of something, they moved the cots together. Catalina nestled herself against Shane and put her arms around him. His muscles were taut as strung wires, and she could guess what he was worrying about. But he held her close, making her feel loved and safe.