She didn’t understand.
There he went, making that huffing sound again.
He pointed. “Bed. Time for sleep.”
Sleep? But she was too excited. Too…everything. “No.”
He pursed his lips as if readying to rebuke, and then his expression brightened as if recalling something.
“Do you need to uh, potty?” His gaze dropped to the floor.
Potty? Did he mean squat?
As a matter of fact, she did. She dropped to her haunches, and he yelled, “No.”
She held it and eyed him.
“If you gotta potty, use the bathroom.” He gestured. Curious, she followed him into a strange, tiny room with a white rock basin filled with water, a stone with strong smells coming from the tiny bottles lined up beside it.
He gestured. “Toilet. Do your potty there.” He left and closed the door.
She almost panicked in the tiny space. Grabbed the handle on the door, ready to wrench it open. But then Zach would be upset. Just as he was upset that she’d almost urinated. She didn’t understand why. He was the one who asked.
She eyed the depression filled with water.
Toilet.
For some reason, she thought it was meant for sitting to shed bodily waste. Crazy. If she sat, she couldn’t see anything coming at her. There were things with sharp teeth in the water.
She squatted over the hole and did her business. Then wished she’d used it to wash herself first.
She sniffed. Her odor would scare her prey away.
“You done?” Zach called from the other side of the door.
Another word she knew. “Done.” He came in, saw the yellow water, and then pointed. “Flush.”
“Flush.”
“Like this,” he said as he tugged a lever on the toilet. A loud noise erupted, and her urine disappeared.
Even more amazing, the toilet filled with fresh water.
“Clean.” She dove for it, about to splash her face when he grabbed her wrists.
“No toilet water. You wash your hands in the sink.” He showed her how to fill the stone basin and empty it. Handed her a small, strange square of fur. A washcloth he called it.
He held one of his own and, after wetting it, laved it over his face.
She did the same and felt it refreshing her skin. Scrub, rinse. She did her face and legs. Then pulled off the fabric that kept her warm so she could wash the rest of her.
He stared.
It did things to her body. Especially her nipples and between her legs.
She smiled at him. She knew what this feeling was. The rutting need.
She dropped the cloth.
He kept his gaze on her face. “Keep in mind, nudity is only when you have a place to be private. Those outside this room might not react well if you took off all your clothes.”
She understood and didn’t. “Body.” She glanced at her frame, saw the blood still staining her side, and scrubbed at it.
He stilled her hands. Pulled them away from the pink, puckered skin.
“Holy shit. That healed fast.”
She always did unless something was left behind in an attack.
“Let’s put you in a T-shirt for bed.” He left, and she followed, accepting the fabric he offered, which when on, hung down part of her thigh. It left her legs bare, but it was comfortable. Smelled of him.
“Bedtime,” he said, indicating her bed.
It sat at an angle, but she climbed on top, appreciating the softness.
Once more, he uttered a sigh. “Most people use a blanket.” He draped fabric over her.
It layered her nicely. She’d not been this warm and dry in forever. The vents in the cave were a wet heat that left shivers and a clammy feeling.
“Fair warning, it’s going to get dark, I’m going to turn off the light.”
“M’kay.” The word spilled from her as she snuggled into the pillow.
Even with her eyes closed, she noticed the lack of illumination. She didn’t flinch.
“Zach?” she murmured his name.
“What is it, Fluffs?”
“Good night.” The words came to her lips, and there was a pause before he replied.
“Night. Sleep well.”
She did, soundly and comfortably. Was in the midst of a dream of a land made of French fries when her rest was rudely interrupted.
Chapter Five
Zach fully wakened when the door to his room opened. Someone thought to sneak in.
He sprang out of bed, but Fluffy was quicker. She jumped in front of the intruder and turned furry while wearing his Shaving is for dogs shirt.
The maid’s eyes widened in surprise. She tossed her armful of fresh towels at Fluffy’s face. The yeti roared, the kind of sound that promised someone would die.
He bellowed, “Don’t eat her.” Which, in retrospect, he would have changed.
The maid bolted, and when Fluffy would have chased, he growled. “Don’t.”
What a start of his day, and before he’d even had a cleansing smoothie. He got out of bed and headed for the statue-like yeti. He could hear the maid in the hall on her walkie-talkie, talking in rapid-fire Russian.
He grabbed Fluffy by the hands, the palms of them softer than he expected. “You can’t be a yeti here. Change back. Now.”
She stared at him.
“Fuck.” Zach scrubbed his face. “We need to leave before she comes back with security.” A good thing he was already mostly packed. He threw on a shirt and shoes and glanced at her. Given all the fur, his pants might fit? And he had a hat.
He wasted precious time getting her to put it on. She refused to wear anything but the stretched shirt.
The hall was quiet, still enough to not notice a big, shaggy yeti following him? How much would it cost the Pride to discredit if he was caught on camera?
Hayder would be pissed. He’d told Zach to stay low-key. In his defense. It wasn’t even eight a.m. Since when did room service show so early?
Weird. As was the fact that there was no cart in the hall. Perhaps the maid had delivered the towels to the wrong room. Or…someone was looking to flush him.
He stopped a few paces from the stairwell door, and Fluffy bumped into him.
He rocked on his soles. Something didn’t feel right. If he were to hypothesize, the maid was a feint to make sure they were there and to draw them out. Inside the room, anyone attacking would have had to come in, one at a time, which he could have handled.
“We need to go back to the room,” he said, hearing a creak on the other side of the stairwell door. “Now,” he yelled, as it began to open, and gun barrels poked through.
He grabbed Fluffy and bolted, which was when she chose to turn human, long legs flashing as they ran.
“What’s happening?” she gasped, her English much improved since last night. A little bit of civilization, and she was starting to remember stuff.
“The maid was a decoy to draw us out.”
The elevator dinged and opened on their floor.
More guns. Shit. He dragged her down as they fired. He was less than reassured by the fact that they were darts and not bullets.
Darts meant capture. Death would be better.
Rather than aim for their door, he kicked in the nearest one, not caring if it was occupied. It bounced open, and in one motion, he also pulled his shoe from his foot and whipped it. Clunk.