Kamikaze (Last Call #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the back of her neck and pulled
away. “You have to eat.” He dragged two chairs from their spots by
the wall and situated them on either side of the cart. “Voila.”
    Zoe gave hearty thanks for the
fact that she made a healthy living at her job as she settled into
the chair. The steaks looked delicious and expensive, and she could
only imagine how much the bottle of champagne and exquisite little
chocolate truffles would cost. And as hungry as she was -- she
didn’t care .
    The steak proved to be as good as it looked.
She ate a quarter of it in silence, satisfying the angry rumble in
her stomach before she sat back and picked up the glass of
champagne. “So how long have you been a werewolf?”
    She might have imagined the shadow that
passed over his features, but his hesitation as he lifted his fork
to his mouth was unmistakable. “Fifteen years.”
    Zoe took a bracing sip of her champagne.
“I’m sorry. That was -- I don’t mean to pry. I really don’t know
much. John -- he talked about things like packs and groups, but he
never wanted to introduce me to anyone else.”
    “ He probably didn’t want to
have to look for another girlfriend after someone stole you.”
Connor reached for his wine. “I became a werewolf my last year of
high school. Senior trip, actually.”
    She took another sip of the
champagne, draining half of the glass this time. “It was -- bad?”
The minute the question left her she wanted to groan. Of course it
had been bad. She of all people knew there weren’t very many nice ways to become
infected with lycanthropy.
    He shrugged one shoulder. “I was attacked
and left for dead in a canyon in Arizona.” The corner of his mouth
kicked up. “To say I’d had better days is a bit of an
understatement.”
    “ Oh, God --” She set the
glass down and reached across the makeshift table to touch his
hand. “I’m so sorry, Connor. That’s -- it’s terrible.”
    He shook his head as he wove his fingers
through hers. “It was a long time ago. What about you?”
    She tightened her fingers a little around
his hand. “There’s a park a couple blocks from my apartment. It’s a
pretty safe area. I mean, at least safe from muggers and shit. Less
so from werewolves I guess. John -- I worked with John. I was out
for three days and he came to visit me. Saw what was going on, that
I was healing too fast and that I felt so fucked up…”
    And then she’d almost thrown him
out of the apartment when he’d calmly attempted to explain to her
that she was a werewolf and going to sprout fur with the next full
moon. Even a year and a half later, sometimes it seemed absurd .
    “ Not so long ago,
then?”
    Zoe shook her head. “It happened during the
summer. So I guess… in July it’ll be two years. John helped me
through the beginning, but --” She hesitated and looked away as
nervousness skittered through her. “The last time this happened, he
tried to deal with it, but everything got weird afterwards. He
broke it off a few months later, and I’ve sorta been… alone. With
the werewolf stuff, I mean.”
    Connor’s fingers tightened around hers.
“That sucks. No wonder you didn’t know things would get this
bad.”
    “ I didn’t. I just --” She met his
eyes again. “It was different this time. I mean, I was so much
worse off, but I already feel a lot better. I still want to climb
in your lap and do crazy naughty things… but I can sort of think.
It took almost three days last time before I got this calm. Was it because I
was so new at it?”
    He gave her a smug grin. “A man’s just got
to know how to handle a woman like you, that’s all.”
    Zoe quirked an eyebrow. “A woman like
me?”
    “ Mmm. You’re no shrinking violet,
that’s for damn sure.” His wine glass hit the linen-draped cart
with a thump . “You’re strong. Powerful.”
    It sounded so absurd that she laughed. “I’m
a systems administrator who could stand to lose a few pounds.
Strong and powerful aren’t the