Chapter 27

"I don't think your friend likes me." Dakota was chopping vegetables at the counter for a salad. She had just finished scrubbing potatoes for baking and seasoning steaks.

"He's just a naturally suspicious person. Part of his nature." Jonah came up behind her, slid his arms around her and cupped her breasts with his hands.

"You're pretty brave to touch a woman with a sharp knife." She leaned back against him, smiling in spite of herself.

"I figured I could take your mind off vegetables for a while." His lips brushed against her ear. "And off everything else, too." He turned her around to face him. "Think of it as medicinal. I have to shift later. To hunt. To check the crime scene. Having sex with you prepares my body to shift more easily."

She threw back her head and laughed, the first real sound of joy from either of them since the morning's gruesome discovery. "That's about the lamest excuse I've ever heard for getting down and dirty with someone."