Wanted: Wild Thing (Midnight Liaisons) Read Online Free PDF Page B

his seat.
    “Just extend the seat backward,” I told him. “You’ll have room.”
    He gave me an uncomprehending look.
    I reached between his legs to grab the seat release, and Hugh jerked in response, his hand gripping my arm.
    Immediately, that hot, snakey coil of excitement thrummed through my body, and I felt my monster jerk awake. I sucked in a breath and shook his hand off, recoiling backward. “Don’t touch me,” I whispered.
    He looked just as scandalized as I was, his hand clenching into a fist. “I . . . apologize. I thought . . .”
    I could guess what he thought I was reaching for. “It’s okay,” I said, flicking my hand rapidly to try and shake myself back to normal. “Just . . . get the seat release yourself.”
    The look on his too-savage face was puzzled.
    “And you can shut your door, too,” I pointed out helpfully. “And put on your seat belt.”
    Hugh’s cat-eyes narrowed at me. “I do not know these things you speak of.”
    It was my turn to frown as I shoved the keys into the ignition. The car chimed helpfully, reminding me that the door was open and not all passengers were buckled in.
    Hugh startled again, eyes going wide as he tried to decipher the sounds.
    Okay, this . . . was odd. “Haven’t you ever been in a car before?”
    He shook his head slowly, then leaned forward, as if puzzled by the sound of the chiming. Then he leaned back and grunted, shifting in his seat, knees still pressed to the dashboard, big body squeezed like an accordion.
    “They must not have cars in the fae realm,” I grumbled. Well, that would explain Hugh’s odd choice of clothing, I supposed. Maybe they were all medieval there or something. I glanced back into the office and saw Savannah watching us through the windows. “Okay. We need to get going. For starters, pull the lever under your seat to release it. That will move it backward and give you more room.”
    He did so, and when the seat slid backward a foot, he immediately looked relieved. His knees were still pressed to the dash, but he no longer looked as if he was in pain.
    “Now shut the door,” I instructed him, then proceeded to show him the seat belts. Then, once everything was buckled and inside the car, I turned it on.
    Eyes going wild, he immediately clenched the dashboard, and a low growl began in his throat.
    “It’s fine,” I reassured him. “It’s mechanical. We turn it on and it goes.” And to show him, I reversed out of the parking space and pulled forward through the parking lot. “You okay?”
    “I am well,” he gritted between his teeth.
    “All righty. Heads up, then, because we’re going to go faster. Don’t jump out or anything. You could seriously hurt yourself.”
    He gave me a scathing look that seemed to indicate he knew better than that, so I turned onto the road and began to head for the nearest drive-thru coffee shop. My awkward, enormous passenger seemed to be handling things okay. Hissing and growling, but okay.
    Why had Finian thought this man could protect me? He was out of his element in a major way. “So, where you’re from . . . they don’t have cars?”
    “No,” he said flatly.
    “Ah. Horses? Do you ride everywhere?”
    “We walk or run. We do not require assistance.” He practically spat the word. “We are not weak like humans.”
    Well, this was a fun conversation. “Which brings me to another point,” I said, determined not to lose my temper at his sour attitude. “What are you, exactly?”
    “The fae call my kind ‘long-tooth.’ ”
    I had no idea what that was. “Is that fae for ‘big wild man’? I meant, what is your animal? Some sort of cat? It’s clear you’re a shifter.”
    “I am a primordial,” he told me bluntly, then leaned forward to peer out the windshield as we pulled into the all-night coffee shop that I liked to frequent.
    “I don’t know what a primordial is,” I told him. “Some kind of cat?”
    “Long-tooth,” he repeated, as if that