“Are we there?” she asked sleepily.
He reached over to ruffle her hair, but she still wore the knitted cap he’d insisted she buy. “Ja, liebchen.”
She cocked her head to one side, leaning into his hand. “It’s quiet. Sure and I don’t even hear any animals.”
“There is much empty land in the United States. It is very different from Europe and the United Kingdom in that respect.”
“I was thinking—” she began.
“And here I thought you were asleep.” His chest swelled with caring for the woman next to him.
“Well, that too,” she admitted. “Now that we’re here, I’ll be taking you up on your offer.”
Lars felt confused. “What offer, fraulein?”
“Och, and I like liebchen—beloved—better. The offer to let our cats meet.” He sucked in a breath. She’d been so gun-shy, he’d just assumed that part of things wouldn’t happen for quite some time. She must have mistaken his hesitation because she added, “Isn’t it safe here?”
“Safe enough. At least I believe it to be. You took me by surprise. Give me a moment or two outside and I will let you know.” He got out of the car and inhaled deeply. The frigid night air seared his lungs, but it was fresh and dry and smelled of the desert. Of little rodents and desert plants. He dialed in his cat senses and did it again. Nothing else human was anywhere close. Beyond the distant thrum of cars on the highway, he didn’t hear or smell anything that might indicate someone was tracking them.
He walked to her side of the car and opened the door. She scrambled out, ignoring his extended hand. He felt her draw magic, concentrate it, and lunged for her arm. “Take your clothes off first, otherwise they will be ruined.”
She looked sheepish, and then began to laugh; tension bled out of the moment. “If I hadn’t already told you how infrequently I do this, I’d surely have given myself away. It’s lucky I remembered when we were back at the airport terminal before I healed myself.”
He moved next to her, tugged the hat from her head and the gloves from her hands. She bent, untied her shoes, toed them off, and tossed them into the car along with her socks and the rest of her clothes as she removed them. She was so beautiful, he just watched her body emerge, mesmerized. Though he’d seen parts of her, he’d never seen her totally nude. The perfection of her sleekly muscled form stole his breath.
She wrapped her arms around herself. “Aren’t you going to join me?” she asked through chattering teeth.
He sought words to tell her how striking she was, how incredible, but English eluded him. All he could come up with was German. He swallowed hard. “I will lock the car with your things in it. The keys will be in front of the left front wheel.”
“What about your clothes?”
“If something untoward happens, they will be the least of my problems.” He began to strip, starting with his shoes. “Go ahead and find your cat form.” He grinned. “She will keep you warm.”
The air around her shimmered. A knockout of a mountain cat emerged with a thick, tawny pelt, and Tamara’s beautiful, blue eyes. The cat grinned at him, licked her chops, and purred long and low. His cat raged for release. Lars forgot about folding his clothes. He stuffed them beneath the car, along with the keys, and opened the pathway to free his cat.
“You’re silver,” she murmured. “Just like your eyes.”
He rubbed his flank against her and licked her snout. She nuzzled him back. His cat cock hardened. To quell the sexual heat flaring painfully in his loins, he suggested, “Shall we run?”
Tamara made a noise between a purr and a snarl. “Sure and I’d rather make love, but running is good too.”
“Remember what I told you about joining in this form.” Hope speared him. He wanted nothing more than to be bound to this woman, but he understood the need for caution. Now that he saw her as a cat, he felt the mate bond and was even more certain she was his chosen one, but they had to have at least a small space of time when they weren’t running for their lives to make a decision that would bind them forever.
She leaped into the air and took off at a dead run. He charged after her. They chased one another, nipping, rolling, playing, until both were breathless. His sense of time was diminished in this form, but he was certain over an hour passed. Without exchanging words, they loped back to the car and called their human forms. He shook sand out of his clothes before getting back into them and opened the car so she could dress. By the time she was covered, he’d folded down the back seat and laid the sleeping bags out. It wouldn’t be the most comfortable bed since he hadn’t thought to buy air mattresses, but it wasn’t all that long before dawn. He wanted to be at the airport in plenty of time, and it was still a couple hours’ driving time. Plus, they’d want to stop for coffee and breakfast.
He tucked her into the nest he’d made when he’d unzipped the bags and laid one atop the other, got in the other side, and hit the clicker to lock the car. When he held out his arms, she snuggled against him. Tenderness flooded him as he wrapped his arms around her. “I was right. Your cat is just as gorgeous as you are.”
“Not that I’ve seen that many shifters in shifted form, but sure and I’ve never seen a silver cat before. You’re amazing.” She quieted, but he sensed she wanted to say more.
“What?” he prodded. “We should have no secrets between us.”
She propped herself on an elbow and gazed at him, her heart in her eyes. “I had no idea it could be like that. I’ve never shifted just to play, and it felt incredible, like I was born to be her.” She took a measured breath and went on. “My cat is happy too. I don’t ever remember sensing her emotions before, but her joy is so deep and so poignant, it’s as if she’s dancing inside me.”
He felt the smile begin in his heart before it found its way to his lips. “It is the same with me. I have always embraced my dual nature, but my cat has never been so exultant. We have been waiting for you all our lives.”
Tears formed in her eyes, making them glow. “My mum, she tried to tell me I shouldn’t settle for less than a shifter mate. I told her sure and wishful thinking it was, since the odds of meeting another of us was so remote.” A single tear tracked down one cheek.
He pulled her into his arms again. “The past does not matter, liebchen. Only the future. Our future.” He covered her mouth with his. Lars didn’t plan to make love with her, but his cock was still hard from when he’d been in cat form. Even beyond his physical need, Lars craved the woman in his arms with his soul.
She opened her mouth beneath his and curved her arms around his body, holding him tight against her. Unlike earlier, Lars didn’t hurry. He kissed her until the body in his arms melted against him and she made delightful mewling noises deep in her throat. When he raised his mouth from hers and strung kisses down the side of her face to the hollow in her neck, she murmured, “We could have saved a wee bit of time by not getting dressed.”
“I did not plan this.” He nuzzled her neck. “You are nigh onto irresistible.”
“You’ll be turning this poor girl’s head with all that fancy talk.” She slipped a hand between their bodies and curled her fingers around his erection, still covered by his trousers. His breath quickened. In the small corner of his mind that wasn’t swamped with lust, he didn’t understand why he couldn’t keep his hands off her. It hadn’t been that long since they’d sated themselves.