“Olaf,” Rebecca called. “Olaf, honey, bring out the water for our guest.”

The kitchen door opened, and out walked a small boy with white hair and night-dark eyes, carrying a sports bottle with both hands. The boy came to Walker without fear and held out the bottle.

Walker took it, mystified. He knew that if he tried anything, such as hitting the kid or slamming Rebecca onto her back and barreling through Olaf to get away, Rebecca would kill him. The look on her face told him no less.

Walker wouldn’t use a child to help himself escape. He wasn’t that way. He upended the bottle of water and drank.

They might have drugged the water to keep him groggy, but at this point, Walker didn’t care. When he was more rested and no longer thirsty, he’d be better fit to get away. The water tasted normal, though, nothing added that he could taste.

Olaf watched him drink, his look grave. No child should be so quiet and serious. He didn’t look anything like Rebecca, so not her son or her brother. The kid was about ten, his eyes black—not dark brown as Walker had first thought. They were the eyes of an animal, a sad animal.

Walker handed the empty bottle back to Olaf. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Olaf said, then he turned and walked back to the kitchen, his job finished.

“Were you trying to lull me into submission with a cute kid?” Walker asked, wiping his mouth.

“Did it work?”

“I don’t hurt kids.”

“I’m glad. I’d have had to hurt you if you did.”

“I thought so,” Walker said.

In the next instant, he struck. Rebecca had been drawing a breath to continue the banter, but she let out the breath with an oomph as she fell.

Walker had grabbed her leg—silken skin over firm muscle—and jerked, reaching up to pin her when she came down.

Rebecca landed on his chest, a hundred sixty pounds or so of woman, her br**sts soft against the harder planes of his chest.

She had great reflexes. Walker had started a roll to put her beneath him, where he’d wrap her hands in the loose tape, but he couldn’t move her.

Rebecca had him pinned; his back was solid against the rug, Rebecca’s hold on his shoulders perfect. Her smile didn’t waver. “Not a bad attempt.”

“Had to try,” Walker said.

Rebecca came closer, her breath warm on his face. “You know what, Walker? I’m a Shifter woman in my fertile years. You know what that makes me?” She lowered herself closer still. “Horny. Very, very horny.”

And helping her take care of that wouldn’t be bad. Not bad at all. Walker’s thumping heart and hardening c**k would have told him that even if his brain didn’t. She was a lush, female armful, very tempting.

Any man but Walker would have taken her up on the offer and let her bang him right here, surrendering to the beauty of her. But Walker never mixed sex with his missions. Sex was for celebration, for taking his ease afterward, for loving. He wanted to be in a position where he could let down his guard and enjoy himself. Stopping a mission for sex was appallingly stupid. It took only a little self-control to stay focused.

Rebecca might have good reflexes, and she might be the hottest thing he’d seen in a long, long time, but she wasn’t a trained fighter. Not trained in fighting dirty.

Walker heaved himself up, and heaved fast. One lightning move and he had her off him, sliding her across the floor, out of his way. Walker rolled to his knees, then levered himself to his feet, reaching for the tape on his legs.

Rebecca landed hard, with enough impact for her to hit the bottom of the stairs, smacking her head on the post. Walker hadn’t meant for that to happen, but it would slow her enough for him to get his legs free and himself out the window. Shifters could hunt him down faster than he could run away, but Walker knew how to hot-wire a car in ten seconds flat.

“Oh.” Rebecca pushed her hair from her face. “Now.”

Walker jerked at the tape until it came unstuck from his black fatigue pants, wishing they hadn’t taken his knife. They’d wound a huge wad of tape around him, and he fought to pull it free.

Rebecca slid her shirt off over her head. She wasn’t wearing a bra, but Walker didn’t let himself look, not fully. What he saw from the corner of his eye was pretty good though.

Rebecca shoved down her shorts and then her panties more rapidly than Walker could unwind the tape. Her bare body came into view, curved, gorgeous, mouthwatering.

“Damn it,” she said. “I did not want to go bear in front of you.”

The last words degenerated into one long growl as Rebecca’s body expanded and changed, growing fur and claws longer than any knife Walker ever carried. She shifted and grew, the growls becoming louder, until finally Walker saw exactly what kind of bear she was.

Kodiak.

Ordinary Kodiak bears were gigantic. A Shifter Kodiak, even a female, was at least twice that size. No wonder all the furniture in here was pushed against the walls.

Walker got himself free of the tape. He made it one step toward the open window before a giant bear paw brought him down. Rebecca’s mouth opened to show her horrifyingly large teeth before she flipped him onto his back and held him there the most effective way she could—lying down on him.

She let him breathe, at least. Her large body kept him as well-pinned as she had in her human form, except now she was warmer and heavier, and had a lot more fur.

Rebecca nuzzled his face with her large bear nose, her dark eyes filled with amusement. She raised her head and huffed a little, and Walker swore she was laughing.