Shifter In Ascent (Louisiana Shifters) by Vivian Wood

worth remembering. Tessa’s thoughts drifted from Jace to Camilla, and her sister’s well-being. She’d put up with
a hell of a lot more than some cranky macho man werewolf for Camilla. The question was, just
how deep was Tessa going to have to get to save her sister?
Her thoughts turned cyclical, a cruel snake eating its own tail. Every end she reached, every
conclusion about this venture, didn’t end well. Sacrifice Camilla, or lead a perfect stranger to
death? Tessa shuddered at her choices.
Tessa rolled onto her stomach, burying her head under the blankets and praying for sleep to
take her burdens.
FIVE
    Sleep must have come eventually, because the next thing Tessa knew she was drifting up to awareness slowly, unable to shake her dream. James had been kissing her ear very gently, driving her absolutely mad. Between kisses he was whispering to her in a sibilant hiss, the words unintelligible. Or perhaps Tessa simply couldn’t pay attention, flushed and tensed, waiting for him to brush his lips just so against the spot that made Tessa melt inside.
    When she opened her eyes, she was clutching a pillow as if it were her lifeline. The soft hiss from her dream continued, although thankfully Jameson was nowhere in sight. Tessa rolled over, pushing the sweat-dampened sheets off herself. Jace’s pallet lay empty.
    Tessa slowly put together that the sound she was hearing was actually the patter of water falling in the shower. Jace was taking a shower, then. The idea of him naked under the hot water didn’t put much of a damper on the urges leftover from Tessa’s dream.
    Tessa blushed at her own thoughts. Usually her libido was all but silent. Tessa could appreciate a good-looking man, but she never had much of an urge to do anything other than ogle.
    Now her thoughts ran away with her, picturing herself joining her white knight in the shower, pressing her mouth to his, slipping her arms around his neck…
Tessa shivered. She didn’t have a whole lot of experience to fill in the rest, but it was probably better that way. She was here on a mission, and that didn’t include lusting after the man she was supposed to be ensnaring in her web.
She heard James’ voice, then. Not the sexy whisper from her dream, but the dreary monotone that James almost always used in reality.
Werewolves are often very attractive, Tessa. You are easily swayed by the flesh; it’s how we caught you in the first place. You must not be tempted.
Hearing the painful truth again bled any risqué thoughts from Tessa’s mind. She’d been attracted to James and allowed him to lead her by the nose. He’d fed her a few glasses of wine, made her laugh, and then got her into the parking lot. Then the big white cargo van had pulled up and opened its’ doors, and all Tessa could think about was that her night was turning into a bad Lifetime movie.
A rustle in the hallway made Tessa jump, breaking her free from her thoughts. Jace came stomping into the room, not even looking at her. He wore the same clothes but smelled freshly washed, and his shower-darkened hair was curlier when damp.
He tossed Tessa a clean towel without so much as a glance, then stomped back to the front room.
Tessa watched him go, keeping her thoughts to herself. Obviously she wasn’t the only one with dark thoughts looming overhead. In the meantime, Tessa needed a shower and some quiet time to figure out how she was going to get the grumpy Shifter to trust her. She had the feeling it wouldn’t be easy.
Jace couldn’t get far enough away from the girl. Every bit of him was tense, straining to keep from doing something he’d regret. The safe house was filled to the seams with her heavykeep from doing something he’d regret. The safe house was filled to the seams with her heavyhanging Ascendant scent, tempting him.
    After she had fallen asleep last night, Jace had calmly and coolly explained to himself all the reasons that he shouldn’t be finding the girl so interesting.
First, she