His touch burned on her skin even through two layers of clothing. She was abruptly, acutely aware of how close he was. His intense eyes were focused on her with absolute attention. She could lose herself in those molten, golden depths…
He’s concerned about me because it’s his job. And here I am staring at him slack-jawed like some hormonal teenager.
“Fine. I’m fine,” she stammered, her cheeks heating with embarrassment. Under the pretext of moving Danny to a more comfortable position in her lap, she scooted a little further away from Griff. “I don’t need any help. Thank you.”
Fortunately, the firefighter hadn’t seemed to notice her inappropriate reaction to his proximity. Then again, looking the way he did, he was probably used to women losing their train of thought in his presence. “You just let me know if you change your mind about that, all right? In the meantime, let’s see about getting Danny back into his usual shape. Come here, laddie.”
Danny was normally very shy with everyone except Hayley, but he climbed down from her lap without hesitation. He stumbled a little over his outsized paws as he padded over to Griff, his big yellow eyes fixed trustingly on the firefighter’s deep gold ones.
The corner of Griff’s mouth quirked upward in amusement. “Still a wee bit stuck, hey?”
Plopping his fuzzy hindquarters down on the grass, Danny let out a woeful yowl of agreement.
Griff cocked his head to one side, looking down at Danny thoughtfully for a moment. “You must be hungry after your adventure. My sisters always told me that shifting takes a lot of energy, usually while stealing food off my plate. Bet you could do with a snack.”
Danny’s ears perked up. He let out a hopeful whine.
“That sounds perfect,” Griff agreed. He turned to Hayley. “Danny seems to think there might be a few chocolate chip cookies lurking in your kitchen. Mind if we have some?”
“How do you do that?” Hayley asked as she got to her feet. “Know what he’s saying, I mean.”
“Most shifters of the same general type can talk to each other telepathically,” Griff said, following her into the house. Danny bounced along at his heels. “Wolves to wolves, bears to bears, cats to cats, mythic to mythic…you get the idea. Makes it easier to communicate.”
So he is a lion shifter.
And there are wolves, and bears, and…what did he say?
“Mythic?” she repeated, frowning. “What on earth is a mythic?”
“Oh, you know, uncanny beasties,” Griff said casually, as if there was anything normal about people turning into lions and bears and whatnot. “Dragons, pegasi, wyverns, that sort of thing.”
Hayley stopped dead in the doorway of the kitchen, turning to stare at him. “Dragons?!”
“Don’t worry. They aren’t like the fiery monsters from stories.” Griff hesitated for a fraction of a second. “Mostly. But two of my best friends are dragon shifters, and they’re some of the kindest, bravest, most honorable men I’ve ever known. I’ll introduce you to them, and you’ll soon see that there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Danny let out an impressed squeak, staring up at Griff in wide-eyed amazement.
“Aye, real dragons just like in Mike the Knight,” Griff said with a laugh. “One of them is a knight, actually. A proper one, on a quest and all. I’m sure he’d love to tell you all about it.”
Hayley wasn’t sure she was quite so excited at the prospect of meeting an honest-to-God dragon, but her heart did give an odd little skip at Griff’s casual assumption that she’d be meeting his friends.
Don’t read too much into it, she told herself sternly as she stretched on tiptoe to fetch the cookie jar down from its hiding place on top of the fridge. He probably just wants us to meet other shifters so that Danny can learn to control his powers from them. Griff can’t possibly want to spend his free time tutoring a stranger’s kid.
“Mm, these do smell good,” Griff said, taking a cookie from the jar. “Homemade, too. My favorite.” He took a big, appreciative bite.
Danny jumped up, dancing on his hind legs as he pawed at the cookie jar.
Griff shot him a stern look that made the cub instantly sink back against the floor. “Time for a lesson in lion manners. Alpha always tastes first, then mothers, then other grown-ups, and finally cubs. That’s how you show respect for other members of the pride. You want one, Hayley?”
Hayley was dying to ask him what he was up to, but held her tongue, trusting that he knew what he was doing. She shook her head.
Danny whined, his rump wiggling in barely-restrained anticipation.
“Good lad. Yes, it’s your turn.” Griff flipped a cookie to him.
Danny leaped to catch it, his jaws closing with a crunch. Then he froze, a comical look of dismay spreading across his face. He went cross-eyed as if trying to see into his own muzzle.
“Eh? No, don’t think so.” Griff ate the rest of his cookie with every sign of enjoyment. “Tastes fine to me.”