Page 26

Maybe godlike was a better term. With his blond hair, bulging biceps, and bright blue eyes, Hunter certainly had that whole Nordic vibe going, like maybe he was a secret Skarsgard.

I spent a minute fantasizing over Skarsgards in general—which, let’s be real, was never a waste of time—before jogging the rest of the way to the exercise park.

As I approached the park, I spotted Hunter waiting by the bench at the start of the agility course, the pale moonlight making his hair gleam and reflecting off the breadth of his shoulders, reminding me of how good he looked naked.

Priorities, I reminded myself. I was here to learn muscle control, which meant I’d need to exercise some self-control as well, no matter how much that sucked.

But on the upside, once I wasn’t Hunter’s client anymore, there was no reason we couldn’t pick up where we left off. So the sooner I got my act together, the sooner I could ride the giant blond pony, so to speak—which was actually incredibly motivating.

I picked up my pace and ran faster.

Hunter’s face lit up with a smile when he saw me, and I caught the way his gaze traveled up and down my body, confirming that I wasn’t the only one still thinking about the other night. I flashed him a smile of my own, the one I used at Claude’s on a full moon to show guys I was interested. “Hey,” I said, slightly breathless.

“Hey. You’re early,” he said.

I shrugged. “I came from my folks’ place. It’s closer.”

His brow creased, and with a perceptiveness I hadn’t expected, he said, "Let me guess, you couldn’t get to your apartment this morning?”

I shrugged again, like it was no big deal. “Nope. Elevator’s still broken. But it’s fine. At least I didn’t have to throw myself down the stairs again.”

He winced. “I hate that you’re doing that.”

“It’s not that big a deal,” I said. “I’m built werewolf tough.”

“Still,” he said, his eyebrows tugging together. “I don’t like the thought of you hurting yourself.”

Warmth bloomed in my chest at the implication that he cared, but I pushed the thought aside. “I’m not exactly wild about it myself. So how about you teach me to walk up the stairs like a real live boy? What do we do first?”

The corners of his mouth tugged up in a hesitant smile, which was a definite improvement on his earlier worried expression. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a strip of black cloth. “How do you feel about blindfolds?”

“That depends. Do I get a safeword too?”

Hunter snorted. “Not in this scenario, no. I’m going to lead you over the ramps until your feet remember what to do. No thinking required on your part. Just let me guide you, and hopefully your body will figure it out.”

I eyed the blindfold doubtfully. “What if I fall?”

Hunter grinned, a gleam in his eye. “Weren’t you just telling me you’re built werewolf tough?”

Well shit, he had me there. But honestly, I was gonna do it anyway, because at this stage what did I have to lose, apart from my dignity? Besides, if I failed to get rear-end aware, I could kiss my job and my upstairs apartment goodbye.

I took a couple of deep breaths and closed my eyes. “Okay. I’m ready.”

Hunter’s hands were warm against my skin when he tied the blindfold on. Every touch, every breath, was magnified in the darkness, and I gave a full-body shudder at the whisper of a fingertip against the nape of my neck when he tugged a stray lock of hair out from under the knot he’d tied. “Okay?” he asked quietly, his voice close to my ear.

“Uh-huh.” My voice shook, partly from nerves and partly from arousal. There was no way Hunter intended this to be sexy—we were at a dog park, for fuck’s sake—but still, arousal thrummed in my veins.

It was incredibly sexy.

“Okay, so I’m going to guide you to the ramp, okay? All you have to do is keep moving,” Hunter said, his voice coming from behind me this time. He wrapped his big, warm hands around my hips and steered me toward the fitness course. It was like all my other senses were dialed up to eleven, and I was acutely aware of the crunch of the dirt under my feet and the cool night air against my skin. But my main focus was his hands on my body, two points of heat that were impossible to ignore. I barely even noticed we were walking until he stopped.

“Good job,” he said and let go of my hips. I felt strangely unmoored without him touching me, like I might float away. But then his hands were back, lifting mine and placing them on his waist. “Just move with me,” he said. “Don’t think too hard about what your feet and legs are doing.”

“Okay.” I swallowed hard and reminded myself to breathe.

Hunter put his hands over mine, his grip firm and reassuring, and when he took a step forward it was easy to follow along. He took another step, then another, his weight tugging me forward, and I was so focused on the warmth of his body under my palms that it was a shock when we stopped moving and he said, “Good job!”

A moment later he pulled the blindfold from my eyes, and I stared, dumbfounded, at the view of the park laid out below us from where we stood at the top of the platform. “What? How?”