Cats in Heat by Asha King Read Free Book Online Page A

his head tilted forward. “...if everything’s okay? If you need anything?”
    Her stomach gave another twist. Did he know...something?
    Addie pushed back at the weird feelings and instead flashed a smile. “Absolutely. Thanks again for the ride.”
    Before he could respond, she slipped out of the truck and immediately went for her bags in the back. Though she offered a quick wave, discomfort followed her up to the house. Fine hairs rose on the back of her neck and she tried to suppress a shudder, but she knew she wouldn’t feel right again until she was locked up safely in her home again.

 
     
    Chapter Seven
     
     
    Erik sensed Adelaide’s return before the front door opened. The air around the house tensed and rippled, swelling and then warming as she entered.
    He sat once more by the fireplace, this time wrapped in a towel. No fire burned this time and the house was warming as the summer day wore on, but he felt the most comfortable in that spot. He’d slept on the floor long enough over the years that the fluffy couch seemed foreign; he didn’t think he could sleep there if he tried.
    He did lean against the side of the couch, his head tipped back. The stillness seemed to ease the throb in his head and the sting in his side. His eyes opened and he glanced up, alert, as Addie entered the house. Even though he knew it was her before she entered, life had taught him to always be on high alert.
    Erik rarely knew what was coming but he was used to it being bad.
    Addie carted in several bags, a fresh beading of sweat on her brow. Her eyes found his immediately, cautiousness in them as if she hadn’t expected him to be there still. A small smile touched her lips and his heart gave a sudden, heavy thump.
    “How are you feeling?” she asked as she set down the bags and locked the door behind her.
    Outside, tires crunched on gravel. Erik’s eyes shot to the big bay window where filmy curtains impaired his view of the driveway. A large shape pulled out—a truck, by the looks of it. Someone had given her a ride home.
    Addie huffed and leaned down to pick up the bags. He felt badly that she was carting everything around herself but even as he started to sit up, sharp pain rushed through him and his head spun.
    “Erik?” she prompted.
    He blinked, clearing his head as he met her eyes. “Okay.”
    She didn’t believe him but she said nothing. First she brought two plastic bags over to him and set them at his side, then knelt just inches away. Her warm brown eyes held his for a moment, then shifting down his torso, bringing fresh heat to his skin. Her small hand moved over his side, checking the bandaged wound.
    “I think I should change the dressing.”
    “Maybe with more of whatever you put on it last night.”
    Her hand froze for a moment and then pulled back.
    “It seemed to help,” he clarified. He smelled the herbs on his skin still and knew she’d done something, but couldn’t place what.
    Her eyes skirted his and she returned her attention to the bags she’d brought him. “There are some clothes in here. Maybe get some pants on while I put the groceries away and get...something to help.”
    He watched her curiously as she swiftly rose and slipped away.
    Something didn’t add up. For now, he’d wait and observe until he could figure out how to broach the subject.
    If you’re even here that long . He brushed those thoughts aside, though.
    Erik rifled through the bag, finding track pants and T-shirts, a pair of jeans, and new packs of boxer-briefs. Nudity didn’t particularly bother him—he never had clothes for long—but part of his brain remembered being around humanity years earlier and the expectations there. He glanced in the direction of the kitchen where Addie bustled about, then focused on easing his achy body into clothing. Boxer-briefs and track pants, the latter a little looser than they would’ve been had he eaten more recently or not been on the run for so long.
    Addie returned a few