Page 13 of Squirrel Hunt

Heat swept through him, and his cock throbbed. This was not a sane reaction. Was there some weird aphrodisiac hidden in the perfume?

“What’s your name?”

“Dahy.”

Dahy. It was a lovely name, a good name, a name he could repeat to himself over and over. What the fuck! Konrad took a step back to increase the distance between them. Had he been drugged? How could he have been? He’d come directly here from the shower, and he hadn’t eaten or drunk anything.

“All right, Dahy. I just wanted to check in on you. If there is anything I can do for you, don’t hesitate to call.” He nodded and tried to appear business-like despite it having come out full of innuendo.

“Sure.” Dahy started to close the door.

“Hey, what does your ex look like?”

“Eh…” Dahy frowned, and it was so cute. Konrad almost expected him to crinkle his nose, but he didn’t.

“Is he a big guy? Scary looking?”

“Oh…yeah, big.” Dahy nodded, and Konrad nodded along with him.

“Okay. I don’t want to scare you, but there was a man who came into Myka’s work today, and she said he was scary looking.” Had she said scary? No, predatory was the word Roan had used, but he couldn’t tell some poor human a man looked predatory, could he? Maybe he could, but it wouldn’t mean the same to him as it did to Konrad.

“Yeah, I know, she told me. She believed it was one of Roan’s friends coming in to check on her. She hasn’t lived here long enough to recognize all his buddies.”

Konrad nodded. It sounded like something Myka would say when she couldn’t talk about shifters. Dahy didn’t know there were shifters, so Myka would use words like Roan’s buddies. He believed so, at least. Humans were confusing at times.

“And her description of him didn’t sound like your ex?”

Dahy shook his head. “It could be a friend of his, maybe. I don’t think anyone knows I’m here. I was in Fewood before I came here, and it seemed unlikely he’d send someone after Myka. He’s never met her.” But he looked scared when he spoke, so maybe seeking out Myka was something the ex was capable of doing.

Argh, he didn’t need a traumatized human to look after on top of everything else. The image of someone hurting Dahy had claws prickling at his fingers. There was no way he’d let anyone get to Dahy.

His wolf howled in his mind. What the fuck was going on with him? He needed to get home, eat some food, and get some rest.

“Okay, lock up, Dahy. I’ll keep an eye out in town for strangers.”

Dahy gave him a wide-eyed look. “Oh, okay. And thank you so much for letting me stay here for a bit. I’ll sort everything out. Soon.”

“Take your time. I don’t expect Farris back for several weeks, so no need to rush into anything.”

Dahy nodded and moved to close the door again. Konrad had a silly desire to rush up the steps and yank it open. He didn’t like the idea of there being a closed door between them. Which was fucked up. He had to get out of here. ASAP.

“Call if you need me!” He hurried off, and it wasn’t until he was almost all the way home, he realized Dahy didn’t have his number. He’d go back tomorrow to give it to him.

Chapter 7

Dahy went back to the bath once Konrad had left, but he couldn’t relax. There was a buzz in him that made it impossible to focus on the book, and the stench of the perfume was thick in the room since it was where he’d sprayed himself.

He got out of the bath and opened the small, frosted window to let in some fresh air. He shivered as the cold winter night clung to his damp skin, grabbed the bowl with the remaining cashews, and hurried out of the bathroom.

As soon as he’d dressed, he grabbed the peanuts behind the Adolph Hitler book and placed them behind the thick one about Viking ships instead. Then he grabbed the pistachios he’d hidden behind the plates in one of the cupboards in the kitchen and walked toward the room with the oil painting. He’d told himself he wouldn’t use it, but it might be good to have some nuts in there. Just in case.

He moved one bag of peanuts from behind the book about European queens and tucked it into the toe of a huge rubber boot in the wardrobe. Extra protection against dampness. He ate the last of the cashews and winced. He needed more. He didn’t have nearly enough nuts to last him…He wasn’t staying, so it didn’t matter.

He had to leave.

But not tonight. It was late, and he should try to get some sleep. Myka hadn’t gotten him any new shoes, and now that they’d decided they shouldn’t meet up for a few days, she wouldn’t get him any. The yellow Crocs fit better than the huge rubber boots in the wardrobe. He wouldn’t be able to run in them at all.

He took all his clothes, including the Crocs, upstairs to the bed. He needed everything he owned nearby. Just in case.