Katarina looked her fill, sighed, and then walked inside the room to confront him.
Grabbing a white towel that wouldn’t cover much, she grinned and slung at Reed’s face. He caught it after almost dropping it twice when he saw her.
Katarina laughed at his nervousness and lowered her makeshift weapon to use it as a cane. “Males,” she said, shaking her head. “No wonder you take mate. You need keeper.”
Reed lowered the towel to hide his reaction to her perusal. “Were you planning to skewer me with that fire poker?”
Katarina lifted the wrought-iron tool and inspected it. “Maybe. It is good weapon.” A wave of dizziness hit her. Her fireplace weapon cane wasn’t enough, so she leaned against a counter. “Whatever they gave me was very strong. My legs are still weak.”
Forgetting his discomfort over being caught off-guard, Reed tossed the towel on the counter and went to her. “You need to stay in bed and rest for a while. You’re not ready to be up yet.”
Katarina shook her head. “No. I need food and shower, then we must go rescue your grandson.”
When she pushed away from the counter, Reed had to grab Katarina to keep her from falling. He held her close. His relief that she lived hit him square in the chest. His legs threatened to buckle at the force of his feelings. “You’re in no shape to rescue anyone.”
Katarina pushed slightly out of his grip so she could glare up at him. “Talking to you is like talking to mountain. You are so tall I have to yell up at your head.”
Laughing at her insults—well, her comments sounded like insults to him—Reed bent and touched his forehead to hers. “I was coming to free you, Katarina Volkov. I was outside in a tree watching for my chance.”
Katrina grunted. “Always you are waiting, Temptation. I get tired of waiting. No one comes so I freed myself.”
Reed chuckled until Brandi’s lecture popped into his head. He needed to be honest if he would ever convince this woman of anything. “I worried about you every moment. However it happened, I’m glad you escaped.”
Katarina nodded and patted his chest with a weak hand. “Me too, Temptation. Me too. Now I must soothe starving human stomach before my beast goes hunting without my permission. Did you bring food?”
Reed nodded. “Brandi sent some emergency rations. They’re not great, but they’ll get you by until we can figure out something better. This is the off-season here. The cabin isn’t stocked with anything edible. Didn’t your captors feed you?”
“All food and drink had drugs. Lucky that I knew that from Heidi and Yana.”
“Indeed,” Reed said as he bent to pick her up.
“You don’t have to be he-man. I can walk.”
Reed snickered. She felt damn good in his arms. “You can fall down too. I know because I’ve seen you do it twice now.”
Katarina narrowed her eyes. She lifted a finger and pointed it at him after he put her back on the bed. “So it was no dream. You ran by me last night and did not stop.”
“You were being chased by wolves. I jumped over you to protect you from some bearded Russian wolf and one of my grandsons. I don’t know how you can trust me when everyone who looks like me is your enemy.”
Reed moved to where he’d put his clothes and started pulling them back on.
Katarina hated hearing the defeat in his voice. “Bad grandson is problem. Good grandson is with scientists, Temptation. We must save him. Your beta is already experiment. We must be quick.”
Reed closed his eyes and swore.
Katarina wished he’d come sit beside her so she could touch him. Her desire to hug him and not let go was strong today. “I am sorry to share bad news. Maybe he becomes nano wolf. That would not be so bad.”
Nodding at her attempt to console him, Reed sat in a chair to put on his shoes. “Becoming a nano wolf would be the best outcome to hope for, but I’ve been an experiment myself. I fear the worst.”
Katarina waved away his negativity. “We ask ghost of Nicolai to help him. Then you must be positive.”
Grinning, Reed nodded. “Sure. Let’s ask Nicolai to help. It couldn’t hurt.”
“What happened to Stewart and Terra? I don’t remember. I did not see them. I threaten captors and they said they only took me.”
“Terra got shot with bear tranquilizer. She’s recovering slowly but should be fine. Brandi let Jon help her agent friends tear apart the aircraft they were using for their abductions. She said he feels better now. By now, all the bears should be headed to Alaska.”
“Everyone safer there. Whole group can fight together,” Katarina said. She nodded gratefully when Reed produced a pack of beef jerky and a bottle of water. “Bol'shoye spasibo,” she said in gratitude. “Is Stewart okay? I had to get rough to make him do right things. They scared him.” She gave a shrug. “I was scared too, but that feeling is normal for me.”
Reed went to the other pack and pulled out a bag of jerky for himself. Luckily, there were several in each bag. “Fearing for his life, your life, and Terra’s brought on the boy’s first shift. I didn’t see Stewart in his beast form, but I heard he made quite the impression on the bears when he charged back to the fight to help you.”
Katarina nodded in approval. “Good. So boy is now wolf. That is dream come true for him, yes?”
Reed snorted. “Unfortunately, that didn’t get to happen. Rumor is the boy changed into a freakish man-beast, which is what ultimately scared your kidnappers away.”
Katarina finished her bag of jerky, crumbled the container, and tossed it accurately across the room into the trash basket. It was amazing how much food helped a person. Hunger appeased, she opened the bottle of water and drank half without stopping. She lowered it when Reed tossed a packet of something else that landed in her lap. She looked down and saw it contained dried apples.
“Dessert,” she said happily, tearing open the bag with genuine joy.
Reed watched her eat. “I need to be honest with you, Katarina Volkov. I find you interesting.”
Katarina chewed and swallowed a slice of apple before she answered. “Like bug pinned to board? You do not look like geek to me.”
Reed shook his head. “Nothing with you is ever easy. You know that’s not what I meant.”
Katarina rolled her eyes. “How could I know anything, Temptation? You speak like old man yet your body is like youth. Why don’t you let your mind feel youth too? Be positive about life.”
“How do you feel about me?” Reed asked.
Katarina ate two more apple slices and made him wait. Finally, she smiled.
“I’m interested in you as well, but my interest has purpose, Temptation. I am interested in how you fuck, but all the waiting you do… this not work for me. I get bored. Who needs reluctant male? No one.” She shrugged at his glare. “I will not be offended if you do not feel same urgency. Plenty of good fucks in the world. Not all of them beautiful like you, but that is life.”
When she continued to stare at him and eat her dried apples, Reed finally stopped glaring and dropped his gaze. She seemed unaffected—like they just hadn’t had an intimate conversation at all. Was he an idiot to hope she felt passion for him and him alone?