Animal Attraction Page 15

  Hunter hadn’t changed into a wolf right away, but had stayed in human form as she’d explored her new body. She had felt a little self-conscious as he had helped master her first task—learning how to walk using four legs instead of two. That had taken a little longer to master than she had thought it would. She’d always considered herself pretty coordinated, but she’d kept tripping over her big paws.

  He had also helped her understand how to separate and interpret all of the hundreds of new smells that had been assaulting her sensitive nose. Her sense of smell had been heightened already since being bitten, but in wolf form, her nose had been almost overwhelmed with everything around her. He’d taught her what smells were important, and which could be ignored.

  She’d been glad when he’d finally changed into wolf form. It had been really frustrating trying to communicate through yips and barks. Not that she’d been able to communicate with him any better after he’d changed, but at least he’d been at the same disadvantage. They had spent the rest of the night running and exploring the Alaskan wilderness that was now her backyard. Hunter had been right. Being a wolf was absolutely exhilarating.

  That first night spent together as wolves had been an incredible experience. She had been so excited about the whole thing that she’d immediately jumped into his arms the moment they’d changed back, and they had made love right there on the forest floor. That had definitely been a first for her.

  But she’d certainly gotten used to it. Eliza smiled as she ran her fingers over Hunter’s chest. They’d made love outside every night since.

  Eliza let out a contented little sigh. “I could stay here all day,” she said softly.

  Hunter’s chuckle was a deep rumble beneath her ear. “Me, too. But right now, I need you to hop up for a sec.”

  Her brow furrowing, she did as he asked. A moment later, her frown deepened when he reached into a hole at the base of the tree they were lying beside. Her confusion quickly disappeared, however, to be replaced by surprise when she saw the velvet ring box in his hand. Her pulse quickened.

  He looked at her, his gold eyes more serious than she had ever seen them. “Will you marry me, Eliza Bradley?”

  As he spoke, he opened the box to reveal the most beautiful diamond engagement ring Eliza had ever seen.

  She nodded her head. “Yes!” She laughed. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

  Grinning, Hunter took her left hand in his and slipped the ring on her finger. Eliza would have admired it right then, but he pulled her close for a long, slow kiss. When they finally came up for air, she held out her hand at arm’s length to get a good look at the beautiful ring gracing her finger.

  “When did you have time to put this out here?” she asked.

  “Last week when you were out doing that story at the museum,” he told her. “I thought it’d be a romantic way to pop the question.”

  Her eyes flew to his face. “Last week? You left my ring here in a tree all week? What if someone had taken it?”

  He chuckled. “Like who? The squirrels? They don’t go in for that kind of stuff.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “I suppose you’re right. And it was a very romantic way to propose,” she said. “And here I thought this was just a random place to stop and have sex.”

  He chuckled and nuzzled the sensitive spot behind her ear. “You don’t know how hard it was to wait until we got here. But seriously, are you completely sure about this? I know we just met a few months ago.”

  Eliza pulled away to give him an incredulous look. “Of course I’m sure,” she said. “In fact, I couldn’t be more sure. I can’t wait to marry you!”

  Hunter grinned. “Just checking. Wolves do mate for life, after all,” he said, pulling her close for another kiss.

  She wouldn’t have it any other way. Now, the only question was how she was going to get her ring home once they changed back into wolves.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Paige Tyler is a full-time writer of erotic romance. She and her research assistant (otherwise known as her husband) live on the beautiful Florida coast with their easygoing dog and their lazy, I-refuse-to-get-off-the-couch-for-anything-but-food cat. When not working on her latest book, Paige enjoys reading, doing Pilates, going to the beach, and vacationing with her husband at Disney.

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