Free Kiss of the Silver Wolf by Sharon Buchbinder Page A

help you."
    She shook his hand away. “I'm fine, thank you. I can take care of my brother."
    Joey's face lit up when he saw the man and he signed, “Zack, Zack, Hi, Zack, Zack. Hi, hi, hi."
    Charlene wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. Was Joey keeping secrets, too?
    She fed Joey, then Zack assisted her in bathing him without saying a word. As soon as Joey's head touched the pillow, he began to snore. She wished she could sleep like that. Unworried and innocent. Safe.
    She pulled Joey's door closed and walked toward the kitchen, Zack trailing behind her.
    He reached out, grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him. “You have a hell of a bruise. Let me put something on it for you.” He touched her forehead and pulled back at her wince. “I know you had a bad night—and a rough day."
    "Really? Now how would you know that? The grapevine buzzing its way to you? Jethro maybe? What about Shoshannah? Did she give you a shout and tell you all about my visit with her?” She glared at him. “You're the only one around here without a J name. Does that mean something? That is, you and Oblis."
    The color drained out of his face. “I am nothing like that viper."
    "You seem to be a nice man. You are great in bed, I'll grant you that. But, I have to wonder why the bum's rush? How could you really be in love with me? You barely know me. Or was fabulous sex just a way to keep me from asking hard questions about my aunt and my mother? Hell, for all I know you're working for Homeland Security."
    His brow creased and he sounded genuinely baffled. “What are you talking about?"
    "I've seen no dogs in Eden until the accident. Not one. Then I almost run down a pack of them near the old mining camp. Next thing I know, a special agent from Homeland Security is racing into the woods after a bunch of black dogs.” She took a shaky breath. “ And , the same agent seized my father's research records from Hopkins."
    Zack pulled her close, and she struggled to wriggle out of his hug. He held her tighter and whispered, “I can't tell you what Homeland Security is investigating. Honest. But I can tell you that I will always be here for you. No matter how much you try to push me away."
    When placed into the context of this house, this day, and this moment, the intensity of her emotions and the reports of her father's bizarre research collided. She sagged into Zack's arms and sobbed, grieving anew for her parents, for their lost hopes, and for her father's desperate course of action when science failed him. His pathetic delusions had driven him to delve into the supernatural world of lycanthropy and werewolves.
    Zack rocked her like a child, patted her back, shushed her and finally lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom. Distraught, worried he wanted sex, she smacked at his hands and pushed him away when he began to undress her.
    "No. It's not like that,” he soothed. “Let me take care of you."
    She took great sucking breaths between sobs as he carefully removed her clothes, then covered her with a quilt. He stepped away from the bedside. She rolled over, closed her eyes, and tried to get control of herself. No luck. The torrent of emotions held in for so long ran wild. She beat at her pillow. Why, why, why had her father done this? Had he no idea what would happen next?
    Zack returned, lifted her up again, and took her into the bathroom. He assisted her into the claw foot bathtub filled with bubbles. With a large, soft sponge, he gently bathed her from head to toe. Then he scrubbed her back and rubbed her scalp until her breath slowed and her sobs died to occasional hiccups.
    When she tried to speak—to ask questions, he would only say, “Shh. Relax. This is your night off. I'm in charge."
    When she stood, he lifted her out of the tub, and toweled her off with a huge fluffy terry cloth robe she didn't recognize. Then he brushed her hair until her scalp tingled, and she felt a glow of warmth trickle down to her fingers and