As the newly infatuated couple went off, he pretended to check over the chopper, waiting until they were out of sight.
“You can come out now.” His curiosity had him sniffing and trying to figure out who’d snuck aboard. He didn’t know the scent and wasn’t sure what to expect, other than he knew it wasn’t Svetlana or her grandmother. Tiger had a distinctive scent. The only thing he could tell with any certainty was that his stowaway wasn’t human.
“I know you’re in there. Come out.” He peered deeper but still saw nothing. Could he be mistaken?
Just when he was about to start rummaging for himself, a rustling preceded the biggest fucking eyes he’d ever seen, a bright and icy blue. Fine features framed by silver and gray hair that hung down over her naked frame.
The petite female—at least compared to him—blinked thick lashes at him, her lip sucked in as if nervous.
“Who the fuck are you?” he barked, not at all taken in by her innocent face.
Only to blink as she replied with an unexpected, “Fluffy.”
“Uh. What?” And better yet, what the fuck was she? He took a sniff, then another, because her scent was so strange. Yet…familiar. Hadn’t he recently gotten a whiff of it in that cave in Russia where his last mission went sideways—a polite way of saying the wrong side won?
She smelled cold and crisp like the woods in winter with a coppery hint of something else.
Blood.
“You’re injured.” He reached for her, only to have her bare her teeth and hiss.
“Don’t you get snippy with me,” he barked. “Show me the wound.”
She stared at him cautiously. She didn’t understand.
He mimed, pointing to a gash on his arm, then at her. “Are you hurt?”
Her eyes widened, and she nodded. Pushing aside her hair, she showed off more of her nude body and the sluggishly bleeding bullet hole.
Had she been in the cave during the firefight? How had no one seen her?
Unless…
Couldn’t be.
He eyed her anew. “Are you the yeti from the cave?”
She cocked her head.
“Guess you can’t exactly answer that.” Was it even possible? Yetis weren’t real. The only Simian-type shifters he knew of were of the gorilla variety, and they preferred warmer climates.
“I’m Zach.” He poked himself in the chest.
She smiled. “Fluffy.”
Fluffy being the name Nora had bestowed on the beast she’d wanted to adopt as a pet. Wouldn’t she be excited to find out that her new pet hadn’t died when the cave collapsed?
Wouldn’t she be even more surprised to realize that her Yeti was a shapeshifter? Nora wouldn’t be able to keep it. They had laws about owning sentient beings.
“What am I going to do with you?” He had no one to foist Fluffy off onto. He’d stupidly sent Nora and Peter off. They were probably cementing their mating bond at this very moment in the back seat of the rental. There went the deposit. But even more horrifying, they were willingly going to bond.
Shudder. The idea of being with one person for life? Never. The only other being he could tolerate for any amount of time was his cat, Nefertiti—Neffi. A demanding Himalayan kitten that had grown into an even more bossy feline. He left her with his father when he had to leave town on business. They hated each other. Which meant she’d be mad when he returned. Would probably piss all over his pillow. Do her nails on the couch. And sleep in her bed instead of with him.
He’d better put in an order with the market now to ensure that he had fresh seafood tidbits to apologize.
Fluffy kept staring at him as if waiting for something.
Oh, yeah. What to do with her? He’d kind of expected her to run off by this point. Wasn’t that their modus operandi? Why had she stowed away on his chopper? Given that she was obviously a cold-climate creature, shouldn’t she have stayed on the ice fields?
The ice field they may have had a hand in destroying.
Crap.
She’d obviously raced ahead of the destruction and hidden on board, tracing his trail back. On his way in, he’d had to forgo caution for haste so he didn’t lose those he was following. The human mercenary team had opted to go in on snowmobiles, easy to follow. When he landed, he was only minutes behind.
“Reckon I can’t leave you here.” Heavy sigh. “Let’s get you somewhere warm where we can get you some food and clothes.” He’d seen plenty of nudity in his life, and yet hers distracted him. She had the type of frame he liked, solid if a tad too willowy. Some might have thought her large compared to modern ideals.
Personally, Zach found most women undersized. No one wanted to get a neck cramp trying to kiss someone. Not to mention, fear hurting them, given his size. And what about if he wanted them to do a couple’s Spartan race? He needed someone who could keep up. She had decent legs and could probably do a three-legged race with him.
Fluffy was small compared to Zach, but bigger than most of the lionesses and humans he ran into. Over six feet, her frame willowy but strong. Long legs and arms, a short torso with a faint dip at the waist. And her breasts…
Oops. He averted his gaze and pulled off his thick sweater, wishing he’d brought a few more. Explaining why you were outside naked in the cold always caused too many questions. A shifter knew it might have to go native.
Case in point, they’d bolted from the collapsing cavern on four furry legs and raced across the ice field. Human skin would have been damaged by the steam erupting from the rifts. The cold that bit the feet. Which was why he’d ensured that the chopper had a duffle of clothes.
He handed her the shirt. She eyed it and then him. Cocked her head.
“Put it on.” He shook it.
She grabbed it and began playing with it, getting it open and jamming it over her head, only to panic once she couldn’t find the head hole.
He snatched it free, and she halted in her frantic scramble.
He shook his head. “Have you never worn clothes before?” He would have loved to put the sweater back on. It was freaking cold. “Watch.” He showed her how he put it on. Popping his head through the hole.
She studied him intently the entire time. When he handed it over once more, she didn’t panic, simply wedged it over her head, offering up the biggest smile.
He must have been tired because he grinned back. “Now, for the arms.” He lifted his and then inclined his head.
She managed to get one of them in almost right away, but the other did that thing where it wouldn’t let the hand pop out easily. She snarled, and her hand went through the fabric.
She smiled in triumph.
“It’s a start. Let’s go, Fluffy.” He jerked his thumb and started to walk, only to realize that she didn’t follow. She hovered inside the chopper, looking lost in his sweater.
“Don’t be afraid. Ain’t nothing out here. We know the guy who owns this place.”
Still, she hesitated.
He took a few steps back, his irritation growing. The urge to snap, “Move!,” rising to his lips.
She looked scared. Cautious. If she’d never left the frozen plains, then she’d probably never seen civilization.
Wolf girl, meet yeti woman. Why him? This was the kind of thing better suited to anyone but him—someone with compassion and a soft touch.