Wild Invitation

The shower shut off.

"Shower's free!" came the call a few minutes later.

He gave her another couple of minutes to close herself in the bedroom, not sure he'd be able to resist if he saw her swathed in the tempting impermanence of an easily removable towel. When he entered the small, tiled enclosure at last, it was to find it steamy with the lavish scent of some feminine lotion. But the soap, he was glad to see, was nothing too girly. A man had to have standards, he thought, and programmed the shower to freezing.

It finally succeeded in cooling down his body.

ANNIE sat in Zach's car in her parents' drive and twisted her fingers in her lap.

"I've never brought a man home," she blurted out. "It didn't seem worth the fuss."

"I'm flattered."

She frowned at him. "Don't tease me now." But she felt her nerves loosen a fraction. "Come on, we might as well get this over with." Opening the door, she stepped out.

They met at the front of the vehicle.

"At least it's a nice night," she said.

Zach put an arm around her with the lazy grace of the leopard he was. "I like your dress," he murmured, playing his fingertips over her hip.

"Oh." Her nerves frayed again, for a different reason. She'd chosen the black crossover dress because it would give her mother nothing to complain about. But Zach's words made her realize it might actually qualify as sexy.

"You don't think I'm not thin enough for it?"

"I'll tell you tonight...after I unwrap you." He made her sound like a present.

She felt her eyes widen, her pulse jump. "Behave."

"Do I still get to unwrap you?" A moment of silence, the night sky cut with shards of glittering diamond.

"Yes." She wanted to dance with the wildness in him, wanted to feel what it was to be treated like a beautiful, sensual woman. But more, she wanted to lie with this man who'd already made a place for himself in her heart.

She knew she was about to break one of her most fundamental rules in deepening this relationship, in putting her heart on the line, but she also knew that if she didn't love Zach, she'd regret it for the rest of her life. Perhaps, she thought for the first time, perhaps her mother's choices hadn't been as simple as the child in Annie had always believed. Perhaps with that one man who mattered, there was no choice, no protecting yourself against the inevitable end of the dream. "Yes," she said again.

"You get to unwrap me."

"Then I'll be on my best behavior." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Let's go, Angel."

She was already used to the nickname. Strange as it was, it felt as if he'd been calling her that forever...as if it was right. Walking up to the door, she held that sense of rightness to her like a talisman. "Here we go." She pressed the doorbell.

Her mother opened it a couple of seconds later. Dressed in a severe black dress accented with a discreet string of pearls, her dark hair twisted into a sleek knot, Kimberly Kildaire looked what she was - a successful, sophisticated professional. No one could've guessed at the deep vulnerability that Annie knew lay beneath the polished surface.

"Angelica." Her mother leaned forward to allow Annie to peck her on the cheek.

After drawing back, she said, "Mom, this is Zach Quinn."

Her mother's expression didn't change, but Annie knew that Kimberly would have noted everything about the man by her side, from his black suit, to his sleek silver belt buckle, to his crisp white shirt. Open at the collar, it looked both formal and relaxed. She'd about swallowed her tongue when she'd walked out of the bedroom and seen him waiting for her by the door. Zach wild was enough to blow her mind, but Zach playing at being tame...wow.

"Mr. Quinn," her mother now said, holding out her hand - Professor Kildaire might not think particularly highly of changelings, but no one would ever criticize her manners.

"Professor Kildaire."

Releasing his hand, Kimberly stepped back. "Do come in." She led them through the hallway and into the sunken living room off to the right.

There were far more people mingling below than Annie had expected. "I thought this was supposed to be a small dinner?"

Her mother's smile did nothing to warm the cool disapproval in her eyes.

"I invited some university people. I thought your...friend would feel more comfortable if it wasn't just family." It was a very subtle insult.

Professor Markson was worthy of a family dinner. Zach wasn't. Temper spiked, not so much at the slight against Zach - he was tough enough to take care of himself - but because Annie couldn't believe her mother would try to sabotage her and Zach's relationship with such calculated rudeness.

But before she could say something she might not have been able to take back, Zach squeezed her hip lightly, and said, "I'm honored you went to so much trouble to put me at ease." His voice was smooth whiskey and effortless warmth. "I know how close Annie is to you, so I'm delighted by the welcome." Annie saw her mother's expression falter for a second, but Kimberly Kildaire was nothing if not quick on her feet. "Of course. Come, I'll introduce you." She led them into the knot of curious people below.

Caroline was the first to come over. Though she told herself not to, Annie found herself tensing up as she waited to see Zach's reaction to her cousin. Caro was one of her favorite people in the world. She was also quite impossibly stunning. Annie had never before been jealous of the way her cousin drew men to her like moths to a flame - no man had ever mattered enough. But Zach did.

She saw him smile at Caroline's exuberant welcome...but it was the same kind of smile he'd shared with his sisters. "Congratulations on your baby," he said, his voice gentle.

Caroline beamed. "Can you tell? I'm not showing yet. I can't wait to get big and Madonna-like! Oh, and I want the glow everyone talks about - I so want the glow!"

Zach's lips quirked. "I don't think you need to worry. You already glow." Caroline laughed.

"You're a charmer, aren't you?" She looked to Annie. "I like him, Annie. He'll give you beautiful babies."

"Caro!" Annie didn't know whether to blush or thank her cousin for breaking the ice so completely. Several people laughed, and Zach sent her a teasing smile, his eyes heating in a way they hadn't for Caro.

"How did you know?" her mother asked pointedly. "Caroline is right - she's barely showing. Even most women don't notice."

"Her scent, Professor Kildaire," Zach replied with open candor.

"Changelings always know when a woman has a life within her."

"A breach of privacy, wouldn't you say?" Kimberly raised an eyebrow.

Zach shrugged. "It's simply another sense. Ours just happens to be keener in that area - no different from an M-Psy being able to see inside the body, or you yourself being able to tell her condition because you know the subtle physical signs."

Annie bit the inside of her cheek to keep from interfering. Caro took the chance to whisper, "Oh, he's good. Wherever did you find Mr. Scrumptious?"

Annie threw her a quelling look.

"Where's Aman?"

"My darling husband is driving back from a meeting in Tahoe. He'll probably make it in time for dessert." She smiled. "I know what you're having for dessert."

Annie felt Zach's hand move on her waist. It was obvious he'd heard Caro's outrageous prediction, and that he liked the idea. However, when she looked up, it was to find his attention not on her, but on someone else - a stranger her mother had just waved over.

"This is Professor Jeremy Markson," she was saying. "This is Annie's...friend, Zach Quinn."

Given that her own temper was close to igniting, Annie figured Zach would blow this time - he'd been blunt in saying he didn't share. But, to her surprise, he remained completely relaxed.

"Markson." Zach inclined his head in masculine acknowledgment. "What's your field, professor?"

"Molecular physics," Markson said. "It's a fascinating subject. Do you know anything about it?"

Arrogant twerp, Annie thought.

"No, I don't, Professor," she said before Zach could respond. "Perhaps you'd care to enlighten me."

The professor blinked, as if he hadn't expected her to speak. "Well, I  - "

"Tell them about your latest project," her mother encouraged, shooting daggers at Annie.

Markson nodded, and off he went.

Annie's eyes began to glaze over after the first few minutes. "That's so interesting," she said, when he paused for breath. "Do you work with my father?"

"Yes." He beamed.

" Whe r e is Dad?" Annie asked, deliberately changing the focus of the conversation.

Her mother waved a hand. "You know your father. He's probably lost in research." The words were light, but Annie heard the hurt Kimberly had never quite stopped feeling. "He promised he'd try to be here by the time dinner was served."

Which meant, Annie knew, that they'd be lucky if they saw him tonight.

"What's on the menu?" she asked with a smile, hating that bruised pain in her mother's eyes.

Kimberly brightened. "I made your favorite vegetable dish for an entree." Her words were sincere, her love open.

"Don't start, Caro," she said, when Caroline opened her mouth. "I made your favorite pie, too."

"That's why you're my bestest aunt."

Thankfully, the conversation stayed light and easy from then on. They were about to move into the dining room when wonder of wonders, her father walked in. Erik Kildaire was dressed in the rumpled clothing of a man for whom looks mattered little, but he seemed to be with them today, rather than in his head.

Her mother's face lit up from within, and Annie smiled. "It's good to see you, Dad," she said, accepting her father's enthusiastic kiss on the cheek.