“Excuse me?” He’d seemed normal enough in the bar, in fact, better than her usual customers. But what did she know about him really? Except for the fact that he could turn her on more than any other man ever had. He was gentle enough to care about an abandoned dog. And he’d been nothing but polite -- even thoughtful -- with her. Even if he did have a few screws loose, that didn’t necessarily mean he was dangerous, did it?

  “Do you drive a motorcycle?” he asked.

  Where in hell had that come from? “I gave that life up.”

  “Why?”

  “It wasn’t good for me,” she answered. “Why all the questions?”

  “I’m only trying to understand you.”

  “Nothing interesting there.” She got up, stacked their plates, and took them to the sink.

  He followed and put their mugs on the counter. Now, he stood behind her, not moving. His warmth surrounded her again, and his scent wormed its way into her brain. Clean and masculine.

  Somehow, he didn’t crowd her. His presence was comforting, as if they were two puzzle parts built to fit together. That, in itself, ought to make her wary. The only time she’d really let someone into her life, he’d almost managed to wreck it. She didn’t have to know Kurt well to feel the difference in him. Her first impression of him had been gentleness, and he’d only reinforced that through his actions.

  “Allison,” he said softly. “There’s something I have to show you, and I need you to trust me.”

  I shouldn’t. “I do.”

  “Let’s go into your backyard.”

  She turned to find him standing so close she could make out the blond beginnings of a beard. Instead of moving away, she wrapped her arms around his ribs and rested against his chest. He immediately enclosed her in an embrace.

  Somewhere in the room, Brutus’s tail thumped against the floor. He obviously approved of the goings-on between his human and the new one. Dogs were honest with their feelings. Maybe she could trust Brutus’s intuition.

  After a bit, Kurt stepped back, took her hand, and led her to the back door. Outside, the sun shone down on the garden she didn’t have time to keep up. She did manage to prune her mother’s roses every year, and their perfume made the air around them sweet. The tomato plants had sprawled everywhere, and soon, they’d be heavy with fruit. Bees buzzing around were glad for the absence of pesticides, so she could be proud of that at least.

  Brutus bounded out of the house behind them, chasing an imaginary squirrel, and the cats would soon find spots to sun themselves. The new dog emerged to sniff and explore. And Kurt stood in the middle of it all as if he belonged there.

  “Don’t be alarmed,” he said.

  “Alarmed at what?”

  Without answering, he stripped out of his pants and stood, nude, between the roses and the nasturtiums that ran rampant through the garden. Her fences stood high enough that a neighbor would have to peer over them to see him, but Allison was getting an eyeful. What a gorgeous hunk of male flesh he was. Still, she’d better get him back inside.

  Before she could go to him or even speak, the air around him got all funny. Wavy and kind of opaque, as though she was looking at him through rippled glass. Brutus barked his fool head off. She called to the dog, but he ignored her, staring at where Kurt… what the hell… seemed to be melting into a different shape.

  Where Kurt had been skin, he now seemed to turn to leather and metal that gleamed in the warped rays of the sun. Rubber appeared, too. He shrank downward but elongated side to side. Finally, both dogs came to her side, and she crouched to hold them. The cats had disappeared to who knew where.

  Whatever was going on ended as the air went back to normal. Where a blond man had been a moment earlier, a motorcycle now stood. And not just any bike, but what looked like a classic. Gorgeous and like none she’d ever seen before.

  Don’t be afraid, a voice said in her head. It’s me, Kurt.

  She rose. “Who said that?”

  I did. I’m right in front of you.

  She glanced down at the dogs. “Are you hearing this?”

  They didn’t answer, of course, but they hadn’t reacted to the “sound,” so they probably hadn’t. The sure knew something strange was going on, though. She didn’t know the new dog very well, but she could read Brutus. At least Brutus seemed to have lost his fear of whatever this was.

  She got up, went to the bike, and ran her hand over the leather seat. None of her patrons had a motorcycle like this one. Its chrome gleamed, and the powerful engine would eat up miles as it flew down highways or even country roads. If she hadn’t given up the biker life, she’d be proud to call this machine hers. She’d probably encounter a great deal of jealousy.

  Then, she noticed the gas tank and the picture painted there. It was a naked man… Kurt, to be exact. The same beautiful face with the same kind expression. And the same impressive erection. The one that had shaken her world the night before.

  “I won’t be taking you out in polite company,” she said. As if she was going to take it out at all. She still didn’t know how it had gotten here.

  I’m not always naked in the painting.

  “I’m supposed to believe the man I fucked last night can turn into a motorcycle and the bike can talk to me in my head,” she said.

  It’s the truth.

  “This is crazy. Shit like this didn’t even happen to me when I was strung out.”

  Watch.

  The air started moving around him again, sunlight distorting the image into strange curves and impossible angles.

  She jumped back to get away from this… whatever it was. It might burn her or turn her skin into leather. Crap. Her knees threatened to give out, so she sat on the back stoop before she fell over.

  Changes happened inside the distortion as the bike contracted. Flesh emerged where there had been leather and metal. Limbs elongated. It went faster than the first shift, and in a flash, Kurt lay on the ground where the motorcycle had been. He stood, naked again, and the dogs reacted. Brutus wagged his tail, and the new guy went to Kurt and licked his hand. They clearly approved and were happy to see him.

  “That really was you,” she said. Unbelievable, but she’d seen it with her own eyes.

  “It was.” He picked up his pants, climbed into them, and sat beside her.

  “What are you?”

  “I’m a Mannhof,” he said as if that answered her question.

  “What is that?”

  “Klaus Mannhof makes special motorcycles who are also men,” he said. “Each one of us is built for one specific woman. I’m yours.”

  How was she supposed to absorb this information? She couldn’t call him crazy for insisting he could shift back and forth from human to machine. She’d seen him do it herself. Twice. But the rest of it? Some man named Mannhof had made him for her. He belonged to her.

  “So, you’re going to be one of my pets, like the dogs, cats, rabbits, and the snake?” she said.

  “I’m your mate.”

  “Oh, no.” She got up and put her hands on her hips. “That is not happening.”

  He also rose. “It has happened. We didn’t just fuck last night. We mated.”

  “I don’t mate.”

  He touched her shoulder. “Everyone does.”

  “I brought you home last night because you didn’t have a place to stay. I lost my mind and invited you into my bed. I didn’t say you could stay here.”

  “But you did.”

  Had she? After what she’d witnessed this morning, last night seemed like weeks ago. But, yeah, probably something like that. It was post-sex glow talking. That shouldn’t count. “I didn’t say anything about mating.”

  “What are you afraid of?”

  “I’m not afraid of anything.” The only time she’d gotten serious about someone she could have ended up in jail. Or dead.

  Steve had had such control over her mind, she might have believed up was down. She’d believed she’d loved him, for chrissake. When she’d finally managed to leave him and get clean, she’d created a satisfying life for herself. Owning a bar like Smokey’s and taking care of strays might not be everyone’s idea of how to live, but it worked for her. “I just don’t need a mate, and I really never asked for a motorcycle.”

  “Are you going to send me away?”

  He looked almost frightened at the possibility, his eyes wide and full of pain. The man was so vulnerable, curse him. The very first thing she’d noticed about him. She’d called it gentleness at the time, and he had plenty of that. But getting rid of him now would be like abandoning the dog they’d brought home. Just cruel. She wouldn’t get rid of the dog except to find a better place for him. Maybe she should keep Kurt around until she could convince him he should mate with someone else. “No, I’m not going to send you away.”

  “Good.” He bent and kissed her. “Do you want to go for a ride?”

  “On you?”

  “You’ll enjoy it.”

  “No. And another thing.” She waved a finger under his nose. “If you want to be a motorcycle, you can sit in the garage. I gave up bikes, and I’m not changing that.”

  He held up his hands in surrender. “I know of other ways we can have fun.”

  They’d hardly scratched the surface of that kind of fun. Who was she trying to fool thinking she’d send him away when he offered so much? He was good to look at. He was good with the animals. He was damned good in bed. She sighed. “I guess we’d better find you some clothes.”

  * * *

  Klaus had warned that human women had minds of their own and wouldn’t likely agree to mating at first. As with all decent men, Kurt would have to show her through his actions that he’d be good to her and for her. He hadn’t expected Allison to reject his motorcycle identity so forcefully. She owned a biker bar. Given the way her customers behaved, her reluctance made a little more sense.

  He was not like them. If she didn’t know that now, she would soon. For now, he followed her into the tiny attic in search of some of her father’s old clothes that might fit him.

  Dust flew when she lifted the door, and she sneezed. “Sorry. I haven’t been up here since my parents died.”

  “When was that?”

  “Five years ago, almost to the day.” She climbed up the ladder and hoisted herself into a sitting position on the attic floor, then rose to let him ascend. When he did, she was standing in the middle of a small space lined on all sides with boxes and odd bits of furniture.

  There was one window at the front of the house. She went to it and struggled to pull the sash up. He joined her, and the two of them managed to get it open to let in some fresh air.

  “You haven’t been up here all this time?” he asked.

  “Nope. Too many memories.”

  “Tell me.”

  “They died in a car crash,” she said. “Head on. The other guy was drunk.”

  He put an arm around her. “I’m sorry.”

  “They were in their fifties,” she said. “I didn’t have any brothers or sisters. Our only relatives were distant cousins, so I inherited everything. This house and Smokey’s.”

  What a terrible loss. He didn’t have parents or siblings, but he understood love well enough. To suddenly find oneself alone… how horrible that had to be. He always had a purpose -- Allison. She had him now, even if she couldn’t bring herself to accept him. Yet.

  “That’s when I realized where my life was going. Death. So, I got out.”

  He went behind her and wrapped his arms around her, placing his chin on her shoulder. For a minute, he simply held her. Words wouldn’t do her any good.

  “No reason to get all weepy about it.” She eased herself out of his embrace and went to a pile of boxes. “Christmas shit. I don’t need to go through this one. I should just get rid of it.”

  This was clearly upsetting her. Perhaps he could convince her to go take care of the animals while he searched for clothing. He joined her. “You don’t need to do any of this if you don’t want. I can search.”

  “No, it’s really time I deal with this. I should have been up here years ago to sort through things.” She took a deep breath. “I owe it to them.”

  “Then, let me help you.”

  She picked up a box and handed it to him. “Try this one.”

  The writing on the box, “old clothes,” seemed promising. They sat on the floor to examine the contents together. A pair of blue jeans with most of the legs cut off lay on the top along with a skimpy white blouse.

  “Not these.” Allison grabbed them. “I can’t believe Mom would have saved them.”

  “What are they?”

  “I wore them when I was a teenager. I was such a twit.”

  “The shorts are very short,” he said.

  “Very, very short. They barely covered my butt.”

  “I’d like to see that.”

  She stuffed them behind her. “Not on your life.”

  “You have a beautiful body,” he said. “You can show it off to me.”

  “Keep digging.”

  “Spoilsport.” Below that was another layer of women’s clothes, but eventually he hit more denim. This time jeans for men… with the legs intact.

  “Dad’s. He once was about your size. Those might fit.”

  He put those beside him as well as another pair of pants underneath.

  “Thank you for doing this with me,” she said. “Maybe we could come up later and decide what to donate to charity and what to have hauled away.”

  “If you want.”

  She stared off into space. “I wish I’d come back to them healthy. They only saw me when I was strung out. Maybe I can make it up to them by putting their house back in order.”

  He rubbed her back. “And running Smokey’s for five years. That ought to be worth something.”

  “I guess that has been my punishment, hasn’t it?” She laughed. “It really is a dive.”

  He wasn’t going to reply to that. The truth might make her angry.

  “I met Steve there. I thought I was mature enough to take care of myself. What an idiot.”

  “Why did your family own such a place?”

  “It wasn’t always like that, but the hardcore bikers moved in when the neighborhood changed.” She shrugged. “Dad had to make payments on the house, so he hung on.”

  “And now?”

  “I paid off the mortgage with their insurance money,” she said. “Ironic, huh?”

  “Don’t be hard on yourself.”

  “You make this easier.” She put her hand on his knee. “Thanks.”

  That was what mates were for, but he’d leave that alone for now. Better she should figure that out for herself -- that he was her partner in good and bad. It was probably devious to insinuate himself into her life, but he could forgive himself for that sin. Especially if it made the burden on her shoulders a little lighter. And if it banished a bit of the guilt she carried around.

  He found a couple of T-shirts and set them on his pile. At the very bottom, lay something in bright crimson silk. Before he could take it out, she grabbed it and hid it behind her back, laughing.

  “Something else I can’t see you in?” he asked.

  “Nope. You’ll see it, all right. Meet me downstairs in a few minutes.”

  “All right,” he answered. She’d laughed. A good sign all around.

  She jumped up and headed toward the ladder to the lower floor. “Find yourself some other stuff and come on down.”

  Chapter Three

  Kurt took his time looking through a couple of boxes before he collected the clothes he could probably wear and headed downstairs. After all, he had to give her time to prepare whatever surprise she had planned for him. Given the twinkle in her eyes when she’d left, it ought to prove interesting.

  Once he got to the bottom, he glanced around from the hallway to the living room. No sign of her in there. The kitchen was likewise empty of human beings. The dogs were stretched out in their beds. That left the bedroom for him to explore. By now, he was getting a better idea of what he’d find in there. It involved a very sexy woman and yards of crimson silk.

  He went to the door and knocked.

  “About time,” she called from inside.

  He let himself in and closed the door behind him. They didn’t need any four-footed friends to witness them in The Act. And definitely not scaled ones, either.

  She was wearing the silk, all right, but she had a very pristine robe over it. “Let’s see what you found.”

  He set the jeans on the dresser and showed her the slacks and a few of the shirts he’d found.

  When he held up the brightly flowered one, she squealed. “You found that.”

  “Is it important?”

  She took the shirt from him and held it against her chest. “Our trip to Hawaii. Dad always wore it when he wanted to make Mom laugh.”

  She was smiling this time, and it warmed his heart. “I won’t wear it.”

  “You’d probably look cute in it.” She hugged it to her chest. “But, no. I’m going to put it away.”

  She went to her dresser, folded the shirt, and tucked it into a drawer. Then, she turned around and gave him a different smile -- one that was full of promise.

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you going to tell me what’s under that robe?”

  “I’ll show you.” She slid her robe off her shoulders and let it drop to the floor to reveal what all the crimson silk had been about.

  It was a negligee with a neckline that plunged to between her breasts. The vision she made in it knocked the breath out of him. He’d admired her body even in the clothes she’d worn at Smokey’s. The faded jeans had emphasized the swell of her hips and roundness of her butt. This gown clung in all the important places, even showing the curves of her small breasts. And the color made her pale skin appear to glow.

  “I bought this when I was a teenager thinking, I guess, I might seduce someone with it,” she said.

  “You could seduce a granite statue with it.”

  She blushed a bit. “Glad you like it.”

  “Only one thing could make it better.” He made a circular motion with his hand, signaling she should turn around. When she did, he went to her and removed the band that held her hair in a braid. He’d wondered about what doing this would feel like, and now could enjoy the pure sensuality of it. He took his time, slowly savoring the weight of it in his hands.