Chapter 6 Get Off

• The wolf heaved a sigh but then moved toward the door. His eyes swept the room as he went; he was looking for an escape route just to make sure I couldn’t leave, probably.
• I'd already looked though, and there wasn't one.
• Satisfied that I was good and trapped, he stepped into the hallway and plopped down on his belly right in front of the door.
• With the comfort of the door separating us, I took my time in the bathtub. Mostly because I wanted some distance from the wolf.
• Er, Jesse.
• He'd started to seem too human when he was giving me directions via our little game of Charades. And I didn't want to humanize him. He and his friends had abducted me, and they were trapping me in the townhouse.
• I was not going to fall victim to Stockholm Syndrome. And sure, I was a long way from that, but the first step to falling for your kidnapper was seeing them as a person with hopes and dreams and feelings and shit.
• At least, I assumed that was the first step. Taking Psych 101 during my spring semester led to me feeling like I understood people better than I did though.
• Anyway, bathing in his bathtub was weird. Washing with Jesse's shower gel was weirder. Shaving my armpits and legs with the man's face razor seemed like a sin, so I left them hairy.
• I did wonder why he needed a razor in the shower when the electric one was sitting on the counter, but since he wasn't available for asking, I let it go.
• As I rinsed shampoo from my hair, I tried to think back to the night before. None of the men had stood out to me then, since I was so focused on trying to get out of the sandwich shop without catching the attention of one of the beefy guys. I couldn't even recall what Jesse looked like.
• But he had conditioner sitting next to his shampoo, so I knew he wasn't bald.
• I sniffed the conditioner. It matched the generic bottle of shampoo I'd used. I liked the scent but couldn't put my finger on what it smelled like. The name was River Rocks, and I didn't know what a river rock smelled like, but I was 99% sure it wasn't the same as the smell of the product in that bottle.
• Why did men's shower products never smell like real things the way women smelled like fruit and flowers?
• My favorite scent was Sparkling Champagne. Though I'd never actually tasted champagne, every time I smelled the shower gel, lotion, and perfume, I about died and went to heaven. There was something so satisfying about using shower products that smelled amazing.
• After I got out and dried off, I got dressed. And as weird as I felt washing in Jesse's tub, using all of his soaps and things, I felt so much weirder putting his pants on. My bra and underwear were disgusting, so I couldn't put even those back on without a good, heavy wash.
• So, I was free-boobing and free-buffing. None of my parts were loving the extra airflow as I shuffled out of the bathroom with an arm around my chest, my clothes bundled in my other arm. My lack of exercise had made me soft in the chest, thighs, butt, and arms, and my curves did not know how to feel about their sudden freedom.
• Jesse trotted beside me as I gingerly made my way back downstairs, heading to the clothing washer and dryer I'd seen tucked in a corner near the garage door. My feet were hurting something fierce. Painkillers were going to be my next focus after I got my underwear going in the wash.
• When the machine was spinning, I looked at Jesse. The wolf peered back, his tail wagging once again.
• "Where do you keep your painkillers?" I asked him.
• He led me into the kitchen and went up on his hind legs to point straight up at the cabinet beside the fridge. I opened it and breathed a sigh of relief when I found Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and Excedrin too. Oddly enough, every one of the bottles was still sealed shut, as they'd only recently been purchased.
• After I thanked the wolf, I opened the cupboards until I found a glass of water, then filled it up in the sink before swallowing the proper dose of both Ibuprofen and Tylenol.
• I set the cup down beside the sink and headed for the fridge. Pulling it open, my eyebrows lifted at the assload of food in front of me.
• At least two dozen containers of yogurt were stacked along the side of the top shelf, five packages of bagels cuddled up against them. Four 18-egg cartons rested against the bagels, maxing out the shelf's space. The shelf below it was similarly packed in with lunch foods instead of breakfast, and the one below looked like dinner leftovers and ingredients.
• Even the door was loaded with a gallon of milk, a gallon of chocolate milk, a bunch of premade smoothies, and every condiment in existence.
• "How many people live here?" I looked at the wolf.
• He tilted his head, confused again.
• I gestured to the fully-packed fridge. "There's enough food here to feed five or six people for a week."
• Understanding dawned in his eyes. He lifted a paw and circled it around, then gestured back to his chest.
• "You're the only one who lives here?" I checked my understanding of round two in our wolfy game of charades.
• He bobbed his head.
• "You eat this much food?" I gestured to the fridge again.
• He bobbed again.
• "Damn. Werewolves must have massive grocery bills." I turned back to the fridge. Down on the dinner shelf, I saw what looked like leftover pizza and grabbed it.
• After I heated it, I demolished three pieces without even pausing to sit down at the table and get off my throbbing feet and then groaned.
• So full.
• The wolf growled at me.
• "What are you grumping about now?" I shot him a tired stare.
• He went up on his back legs, leaned over the table, and caught the bag of pizza between his teeth. Dragging it over to me, he set it on my plate and nodded toward it.
• "You want me to eat more?" My eyebrows lifted.
• He nodded again.
• "I'm stuffed. I'll puke if I eat anything else.”
• He looked concerned.
• When had I decided he could look concerned?
• When had I decided he had real, human emotions at all?
• Dammit, I was already going all over Stockholm.
• A massive yawn stopped my thoughts in their tracks.
• The only bed in the house belonged to Jesse, and I was not sleeping in my kidnapper's bed, regardless of what form he was in.
• I looked around the kitchen again, and my eyes caught on the calendar. It had been Tuesday night when I was abducted, which meant I'd already missed my Wednesday classes. It would be hard to make up for missing one day considering I was enrolled in a shitload of classes, but I could handle it. If I missed Friday too, that would be much more difficult.
• But I was escaping very shortly, so I told myself it wouldn't be a problem.
• I tossed the rest of the pizza leftovers back in the fridge and shuffled to the living room. The couch in there had been comfortable, so it would be fine for a nap. I would wake up while Jesse was still asleep, and then I'd take his car and get the hell out of Moon Ridge before any more shit happened.
• I sprawled out on the generous-sized couch, lying on my side and curling my stomach up against the back cushions. The couch smelled good—good.
• I didn't want to consider who had sat on it to make it smell so good.
• Shutting my eyes, I waited for sleep to take me. Just as I started to fall asleep, there was a dip in the couch near my feet. A warm weight brushed against the bottoms of them, and I winced at the pain that ensued.
• The weight disappeared instantly, and a soft whine left the wolf as he moved.
• I started to drift off again, and then the couch dipped at my back. Furry heat rested against me, and it felt heavenly.
• But I was going to resist Stockholm Syndrome if it killed me.
• "Get off." My first command was firm, but not cruel.
• The wolf whined and didn't move.
• I turned my head, looking at him over my shoulder. Our eyes collided, and I shuddered.
• Those bright red orbs were freaky as hell, especially up close.
• The wolf whined again.
• "Get off the couch. I didn't invite you to cuddle, and I know you're as much of a guy as you are an animal. We are not sleeping together."
• He stood on reluctant legs and slipped off the couch, lowering to his belly on the ground. Though he rested right against the base of the couch, he wasn't touching me, and that was good enough.
• I got comfortable again and shut my eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.
• I slept peacefully for a good long while until a male voice tugged me back to reality.
• "Damn, that girl could sleep through a hurricane."
• A growl right next to me shook me awake.
• I sat up suddenly, jerking my head around the room to see what was going on.
• "Sorry, bud. Didn't mean to wake her up." Ford's hands were lifted beside his head in surrender.
• He was talking to the wolf.
• At least I wasn't the only one who did that.
• I looked around the room again, eyes bleary as I tried to remember where I was and what was going on.
• Kidnapped, trapped by a wolf, leftover pizza... right.
• "I brought you some clothes, courtesy of Jesse's mom. She's excited to meet you after you're a wolf too of course."
• Of course?
• Wait, his mom?
• What the hell?
• "What is this, an arranged marriage?" I blurted.
• Ford shrugged. "Kind of. You'll figure it out."
• "No, I won't figure it out. I have a full-ride scholarship to one of the best schools in the country. I can't afford to miss the time I've already missed thanks to this...whatever this is." I flung my hand out toward the wolf still lying vigilantly on the ground beside my couch. "I need to get back to my dorm, back to the campus, back to my classes."
• "Then ask the wolf to bite you."