Free Clawed: Wild Things, Book 3 by Beverly Rae Page A

how he looked hovering above her, the expression on his face as he came and the way he’d wrapped his arms around her, comforting her. She moaned, remembering how wonderful he’d felt against her, inside her. Sure, he was a great lay, but it was more than physical chemistry. He’d been truly sorry about the loss of her artwork and his sincerity had tugged at her heart.
    Still, the man wasn’t her type.
    “Wow, Chloe, will you listen to yourself? Come on. Talk to me.”
    Chloe organized her brushes—for the fifth time. Damn. Why couldn’t she shake him out of her head? “There’s nothing to talk about. It was sex. Pure and simple.”
    “But you don’t do sex. At least not with strangers. And not with someone you just met five minutes before. That’s what makes what happened so special.”
    Chloe whirled on her friend, anger mixing with her wounded ego and self-reproach. “Get over it, will you? What we didwasn’t special. He wasn’t special. I was upset and lost my head. That’s all.”
    Regretting her outburst the moment Nina winced, Chloe bent down and busied herself with her brushes again. She placed her brushes into her supply carrying case and snapped the lid closed. “Trust me. It won’t happen again. Now, can we drop it?”
    “I guess. For now.”
    Relieved, Chloe hoped her apologetic smile would convey everything she couldn’t seem to put into words. “Great. How about we talk about something fun?”
    “Do you mean fun as in Billy?” Nina whipped her hands up, palms outward to ward off Chloe’s scowl. “Hey, just because you regret your hook-up doesn’t mean I do. In fact, I’m very happy I did what I did.” Her grin grew wider. “Every time I did it.”
    Chloe could never stay angry at Nina for long. Besides, just because her whatever-it-was with Conan had ended in ruins, that didn’t mean she couldn’t join in her friend’s happiness. “Yeah, I could tell from the sounds coming from your tent.”
    “Really? I’m surprised you could hear us above all the noise you and you-know-who were making.”
    If heat was any indication, her face had just burned away under the rush of embarrassment scouring her cheeks. “Oh, uh, well, I— Hey, never mind. And don’t try to bring him up again, got it?”
    Nina grew serious and took Chloe’s hand, then led her to a log where she urged her to take a seat. “Look, I get how you feel. But I have to tell you something.”
    Chloe’s stomach made a sickening flop. Nina being serious was bad enough. But Nina taking her hand and acting this dramatic was worse. “Should I dial 911?” Nina not laughing at her lame joke only made Chloe’s stomach turn over again.
    “Only if you attack me after you’ve heard what I’m about to tell you.”
    “Oh, crap. Do I have to know? Because I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know.” The sting of the bark on the log poking into Chloe’s right butt cheek was nothing compared to the quick pain in her chest.
    “Billy and I agreed to meet later on today.”
    Chloe held her breath, waiting for her friend to spit out the rest of the news. After all, there had to be more than Billy and Nina getting together again. “O-kay. And this is going to upset me why?” She tried not to think about what the couple would be doing in the next tent.
    Nina dropped her gaze, then raised her head and met Chloe’s gaze head-on. Her friend’s determination sent a chill down Chloe’s spine. She was right. There was more.
    “Because I promised to meet him down by the water. You know. Where you saw, um, what you saw.”
    “You mean where I hallucinated seeing a man—Conan—turn into a bear.” At least Chloe hadn’t made the mistake of telling Conan about her alcohol-induced vision. “So?”
    Nina shifted in her seat, her determination gone. “Well, you see… I mean, when Billy mentioned meeting him there…”
    “What did you do?” Chloe struggled against the awful truth she knew was coming.
    “I’m sorry. But yeah. I