"Oooh, a mystery," Marguerite said as she headed out of the classroom to see him for herself. "Let me see what I think..."
There was quite a stir in the hallway as women gawked or tried to be inconspicuous in their ogling of him. At first all she could see was the top of his blond hair over the crowd.
It was hard to navigate through the estrogen sea of women who wanted a closer look at him. And as she made her way closer, Marguerite had to admit he was completely stunning. She was far from immune to the " 'do me' factor" that Tammy had mentioned.
His face was perfect, with full, sensual lips that just begged for a hot kiss. He had high cheekbones and a patrician nose. His dark blond hair was shorter in back than in front, with pieces of it falling strategically into his eyes to add an air of mystery to him. He looked extremely uncomfortable as he held a bouquet of roses and a large box of Godiva chocolates. His skin was a deep, tawny gold.
It wasn't until he took a step toward her and she saw the exact color of his turquoise eyes that recognition hit her square in the chest.
It couldn't be...
"Wren?"
He didn't pause until he stood before her and offered her that familiar hesitant smile before he literally nuzzled her cheek, then gave her a light, gentle kiss.
Tammy paused beside them and cleared her throat. "Switch-hitter?" she asked.
Marguerite laughed. "Oh no. This one is definitely on our team, trust me."
Tammy high-fived her. "You go, girl. Make sure you score a few home runs for our side."
Wren frowned as Tammy headed off. "Should I ask about that?"
Marguerite laughed nervously. "No. I would definitely prefer that you didn't."
His scowl only increased as he handed her the flowers and candy. "I got these for you."
It was so strangely corny and cliched, and yet it made her heart pound that he had done it. No man had ever given her flowers and candy before. "Thank you."
Biting her lip, she reached up and brushed at his new hair, which was incredibly silky between her fingers. The soft texture reminded her more of an animal pelt than human hair.
It looked really good on him, but part of her missed the old Wren. "What did you do?"
Uncertainty darkened his eyes. "Do you like it?"
"Yeah, I think I do." She'd known he was cute, but she'd had no idea he was so incredibly sexy. There was something about this new Wren look that made her even hotter than the old one. Who knew a haircut could make such a difference?
"You didn't do this for me, did you?"
He looked away sheepishly.
Warmth flooded her. "You didn't have to cut your hair, Wren. I liked it the other way, too."
He glanced around at the women who were slowly dispersing. "I didn't want to embarrass you anymore."
She reached up and pulled his face down so that she could press her cheek to his. The masculine scent of his skin and aftershave set fire to her hormones. But it was his sacrifice that set fire to her heart.
"You've never embarrassed me, Wren," she whispered in his ear. "I don't think you ever could."
Wren couldn't breathe as the scent of her washed over him. It was all he could do to control himself. The feeling of her skin on his... of her hand on his cheek... It was wonderful. Her touch scalded him and it touched the tiny part of him that was human. More than that, it touched his animal heart and tamed it. He never thought he'd feel anything like this.
He was at peace. Calm. Soothed. There was no pain. No past. No taunts echoing in his head.
All there was inside him was Maggie and a foreign, giddy joy the likes of which he'd never known.
It was a feeling he didn't want to end.
To his instant dismay, she pulled back to look up at him. "So how did you know to find me here? Are you like some freaky stalker?"
Wren grinned at that. Honestly, the animal in him could track her with ease anywhere on this planet. She had a unique scent of woman and tea rose laced with the Finesse shampoo that she used. But it would probably scare her to know that she could never hide from him.
"Your schedule was in your backpack. I looked at it before I returned it to you yesterday."
She offered him a shy smile that made him harden before she bent her head down to smell the roses he'd brought for her. He reached out to touch her.
"Who's your friend, Margeaux?"
Wren withdrew his hand instantly as he recognized one of the women who had gone to the bar with Maggie on the night they'd met.
Marguerite turned to see Whitney behind her, eyeing Wren speculatively. "Whitney, meet Wren."
Whitney looked confused by that. "Wren? The grubby busboy who had Blaine arrested?"
Marguerite was quick to defend Wren. "Blaine started the fight."
She doubted Whitney heard her, since she was eyeing Wren like a hungry tigress who had spotted a pork chop on a plate. The only problem was that the pork chop belonged to Marguerite, who had no intention of sharing him with anyone.
She tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and pulled him away. "Wren and I have a date. We'll see you later."
Wren leaned down and did that warm, wonderful action of gently nuzzling her cheek before he covered her hand with his and led her toward the exit.
Wren still didn't really understand why he'd sought out Maggie. Humans had never held any real interest for him in the past As a Katagari male, he shouldn't be so attracted to her. At least not anything more than physically.
And yet she fascinated him as she drove him to her small cottage by the zoo. All he wanted was to curl up in her lap and purr. Something that didn't make sense, since what he normally wanted was to rip the arm off anyone dumb enough to come near him.
She kept glancing over at him and gifting him with the sweetest little shy smile that he'd ever seen on a woman's face. But even worse on his self-restraint was the desire he felt from her. She was as hungry for him as he was for her, and it was making him feral.
The cat in him wanted to snarl and to stalk.
More than that, it wanted to mate.
By the time she pulled into her driveway, his entire body was throbbing. Alert.
And it wanted her with a ferocity that scared the shit out of him. There was no way he could leave her until he had tasted her.