Page 11
I chewed on my cheek as I stared at Henrik. I could smell his cologne, and it was intoxicating. Being in close proximity to a man wasn’t something I did often, and normally I would back down, but when it came to Henrik, I didn’t feel the need to.
I was tempted to make him wear the goggles just so I could get a laugh out of it, but I didn’t. “I won’t make you wear the goggles, but I will make you carry everything. Maybe put those muscles to work.”
He laughed, flexing his arms. “Oh, so you noticed that I have muscles?”
I rolled my eyes as I smirked. “Over eighty percent of men have muscles, Henrik. You’re just like everyone else.
“Ouch, you know how to injure a man's ego.”
I smiled, turning my attention back to the woods. “If you’re done talking, let’s get back to what I was doing. I don’t have all day.”
He waved a hand, motioning for me to show the way. “So, what else are you looking for?”
“I need to find some lavender and peppermint. I know it’s probably a little deeper into the woods. Both require a lot of sunlight, and it’s pretty shady over here.”
We started walking further into the forest, and I glanced at him. I watched as Henrik looked around, seeming to be in his element. Many questions formed in my head, and I knew it was because he was a shifter. I imagined it was different out here for them compared to humans.
“You seem to look at peace out here.”
Henrik glanced at me with a soft smile and nodded his head. “My wolf loves the freedom. The smell of the trees and knowing we can run with no worry. Growing up, we spent a lot of time out here.”
“I always wondered what that was like.”
He tilted his head as he stopped walking. “What is being a shifter like? You’ve wondered about that?”
I nodded. “I mean, if you think about it scientifically. Your bones have to change, which is painful. Your muscles have to change, and your skin has to shift. They are tearing and ripping tissues, and your body does it effortlessly. And without pain. You guys are like gods.”
He chuckled. “Maybe don’t think about it scientifically.”
“That’s not possible,” I said with a shrug.
“My mind never seems to stop thinking that way. I mean, when you think about it, you have to grow hair at speeds unseen.” I couldn’t help the giddiness that built up.
“I would love to know if there is a way to create it. If we could, humans could easily decide they wanted to be shifters, and shifters could decide to be humans.”
Henrik raised an eyebrow at me. “You think that’s possible?”
I shrugged again. “It could be. You never know.”
“Would you want to be able to shift?” he asked.
I’d thought about it. Growing up, I thought that if I could, maybe people would think I was normal, but I never would be. Even as a scientist surrounded by people just as smart as I was, I was labeled weird.
“I thought about it. I grew up with more shifters than humans, so naturally, the idea is there. Isn’t it everyone's dream to be able to be something they’re not? It’s biological to want to be better.”
I glanced past him and noticed some lavender in the distance.
“Oh, there it is!” I pointed, finding it was growing at the top of a large hill that was split down the middle.
I scowled, seeing there wasn’t a place where I could get to it safely without possibly falling and breaking my neck.
The rocks were all jagged, and one wrong move and I could be seriously injured.
I frowned. If I went around and tried climbing down, I might have been able to get to it. But that would be a hike up and a hike down, which would take even longer, and I was already losing daylight.
“Damn it,” I grumbled, and Henrik tilted his head. “You looking at the purple flower?”
I nodded. “Yeah, the lavender. It’s good for calming the mind, but there is no way I could get to it up there.”
“I can.”
I snorted. “You’re bigger than I am, Henrik. There is no way you can get in there to pick it up. I’ll just have to look for it somewhere else. I’m sure if we go a little deeper, they will have more.”
Henrik started to pull his shirt off, and I stared at him. “What are you doing?”
I just blinked, stunned, as he handed me his shirt. I took in his ripped muscles and the way his biceps bulged when he moved. He grabbed at his pants and raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you going to watch me strip down?”
I felt my face grow hot and quickly turned to the side. “No. But I don’t understand why you’re suddenly doing so.”
I could hear him chuckle. “You can watch if you want. You were just saying you wanted to see how we shifted.”
It was one thing to watch a test subject, but it was entirely another to watch someone I knew shift. I wouldn’t be able to think about it scientifically, but rather… sexually.
I looked up at the sky. “Why… why are you stripping?”
“Because I can reach that in my wolf form.”
I felt hot suddenly and tried to think about anything else. I was working, after all, and I needed to keep myself focused. “The lighting is terrible out here anyway to watch you shift. I would miss it.”
I heard no response, and when I looked over my shoulder, Henrik was no longer there.
A light brown wolf stood where Henrik had been.
He was a larger wolf with a large, fluffy tail.
He had huge paws with nails that protrude at least an inch out.
Any normal person would panic having a wolf so close to them.
I swallowed, feeling that heat was still coursing over me. I chewed on my lip and quickly told myself to get back to the task at hand. “Great…so… move carefully,” I offered, turning to the hill. I slowly fanned myself, knowing that my entire face was hot.
Henrik moved, jumping forward onto the cliff. He wasn’t joking when he had said he was agile before. He moved quickly, leaving no trace that he’d been anywhere. No rocks moved, no dust blew in the wind. There was hardly any sound every step he took.
I was stunned as he climbed higher, squeezing underneath a boulder and on top of another. He grew closer to the flowers, and I stared in wonderment.
He softly picked the flower with his mouth and came down the hill just as quickly as he went up. I opened my hand, and he dropped the flowers into it. I smiled, staring at them. “You handled them with a lot of care. There are no dents or rips in them. I’m impressed.”
“Well, I figured you’d need them in full condition.”
I glanced over at him as I rolled my eyes. My body froze as I took in a naked Henrik. He was pulling his pants on, and I took in his entire naked backside. Henrik was just as ripped in his back as he was in the front, and that included his ass.
My face felt hot, and I looked away, fanning my face harder now. I blew out a deep breath.
Pull yourself together, Katie. It’s just a butt. You’ve seen a butt before. I’ve seen many butts.
But not Henrik’s perfectly formed ass.
Henrik walked closer as he yanked his shirt on. “You said you needed peppermint, right?”
I quickly nodded my head, trying to pull myself together. I felt I was failing miserably. “Yes, that is correct. Mint, I need mint.”
“Which direction?” he asked, waiting for me to point. My eyes, however, stayed on his hands as he stretched his fingers and rolled his neck.
Focus, Katie, Focus!
After hunting for the peppermint, I was ready to go back to the lab. I had expected Henrik to decide he had other things that needed his attention, but he came with. He seemed eager to come to my lab, saying he had never seen it before.
Henrik looked around, taking everything in.
The laboratory had always felt like a second home to me, but I had no idea how he would take it in.
Sam always said it was too white and that everyone was too quiet, which I explained everyone here was shy of outsiders. I figured Henrik would think the same.
He paused as he stopped next to the photos that Sam had hung up. He smiled. “Did my sister hang these?”
I set my bag down and glanced at the photos. They were all of Sam and I smiling at the camera. “Yeah, she said my lab was too white and clinic-like.”
He laughed. “Leave it to my sister to spruce up a laboratory.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle because he wasn’t wrong. I set everything out, and he turned to take a seat in a chair. “So, what are you going to do?”
“Well, I’m not going to be doing anything with this stuff, but I do have a couple of experiments that I need to run.”
I started to gather everything I needed, pouring powders together in a flask. Henrik watched each step I made, asking questions the entire time. I answered but found myself losing focus each step of the way.
“What are you going to do next?” he asked as I grabbed a Bunsen burner, twirling it in my hands.
“I’m going to heat it,” I said, grabbing a pair of tongs and the flask and holding it over the fire.
“And what are you going to do with that substance?” he said as he pointed to the flask.
“I’m watching the reaction and will write it down.”
We watched, and the mixture bubbled. “Is it supposed to do that?”
I nodded. “It’s what I hypothesized would happen.”
I set the flask down and scribbled the results onto my notebook. Henrik leaned over, a shadow falling over me. “You have nice handwriting.”
I could smell his aftershave, and I internally moaned at the scent. God damn, this was becoming almost painful.
I grabbed the flask, and heat radiated over my entire hand. “Shit!” I cursed quickly, letting go, and the flask slipped free, shattering on the ground.
He quickly grabbed my hand, pulling it up to his face. His eyes zoned in on my finger. “It’s fine,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “I knew I shouldn’t have grabbed it.” I knew not to, but having him so close clouded my mind.
Henrik started to blow on the finger, and a shiver ran down my entire spine. I quickly realized how close he was standing and how softly he held my hand. And Henrik opened his mouth slightly, pulling my finger towards his lips.
I inhaled slowly, and Henrik paused, my finger just pressed to his lips. I watched realization fill his expression, looking almost embarrassed as he looked back at me. “Sorry. It’s almost natural. You get a burn, and you suck on it.”
I swallowed. “Yeah….”
He slowly lowered my hand. “Why is that? When we get a burn, we have an urge to suck on it and think it makes us feel better? Does it go back to when we were younger?”
I blinked, finding I was staring at his mouth, and questions filled my head. What would it feel like for him to lick my finger? Would he suck on it softly? What else could his tongue do?
I quickly shook my head and snatched my hand back. “Yeah, it’s because it helps ease the pain. Uhmmm…what was I doing?”
Henrik took a step back. “I don’t really know.”
I nodded and ran a hand through my hair. “I ahh…should clean that up and get back to work. Don’t you have work to get to? I’m sure I took up enough of your time.” I scanned the room, trying to look anywhere but at Henrik.
“Yeah…I should probably get going.” I glanced at him, watching as he moved towards the door.
“I’ll see you at home?” he asked as he stood in the doorway. I gave him a nod and looked around for the broom, still refusing to look at him fully.
I heard the door shut, and I felt my shoulders sink. This was the right thing to do. Henrik and I were only married legally, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be married to me. It was out of obligation.
I closed my eyes, trying to count down from ten to calm my heartbeat. I could feel it was racing.
“You’re fine,” I sighed softly. “Everything is fine. Let’s get back to work.”
I took a deep breath and turned to grab the broom, but the room started to feel off.
I would move the broom, but it was staying in the same place.
I looked at my hands, feeling that they were working correctly.
I suddenly felt dizzy and grabbed onto the table.
The broom slipped from my fingers as I tried to steady myself.
I pulled a hand up to my face, pinching at my eyes, trying to shake the feeling off.
But I couldn’t. I turned to look at the door and realized everything was black.
A shiver ran down my back as I felt cold. Like a draft had been let into the lab, but was I even in the lab still? It was like all the lights went out.
I turned, looking around, taking in slow breaths, trying to remain calm. Then it hit me. I wasn’t alone, and I had nowhere to run.