Page 9 of Hellhound AU

When I walked back outside, I heard something rustle in the forest. I looked over, but I couldn’t see much in the shadows. I thought I saw something low and dark, almost like a dog. None of the neighbors had dogs, though. I got a whiff of leather, which reminded me of Rowan.

“Rowan? Is that you?” I called out.

I heard a branch break, then a scuffling sound. I pulled my gun out of the backpack, keeping my eyes on the woods. I heard another muffled sound, and then a curse.

“Put the gun away! Before you shoot yourself!” Rowan yelled out.

I rolled my eyes, then I called back, “I’m not going to shoot myself. Rowan, what the heck are you doing in my woods? And stop skulking about and come out!”

I heard some more muttered cursing, and then the most glorious sight in the history of man graced my eyes.

Rowan was coming out of the woods, and I swear the man was seven feet tall and had the muscles of a Roman statue. Luckily, his appendage didn’t match said statues, because that thing couldn’t even fully be covered by the two hands that were currently cupped in front of Rowan.

Because he was naked.

Yup. Naked.

Naked Rowan.

In my woods.

I took a moment to admire him—his hair was red everywhere, of course, and when the man blushed, he blushedall over.

Oh, something was… growing.

“Stop staring at it,” Rowan growled, trying, unsuccessfully (thank god), to cover himself.

I finally tore my eyes up to his face. I was going to ask what the heck he was doing naked in my woods in the middle of the day, but then I didn’t really want to make him feel bad for being in my woods naked. Because naked Rowan was a glorious sight.

He cleared his throat, and I realized my eyes were straying south again.

Can you blame me? The man was perfection.

I was distracted, and that’s the only reason, I swear, that I wasn’t paying attention.

Luckily, the gun was pointed down by then, so when I accidentally somehow squeezed the trigger, it only hit the ground. The bang did make me jump, though.

The gun was out of my hands before the sound of the shot had faded.

“Fucking hell,” Rowan growled out fromright in front of me.

How the hell had he gotten that close to me that fast?. And he wasnaked. Now that he was holding the gun, only one hand was covering that glorious appendage.

I was trying not to stare (okay, so I was totally staring), and Rowan was mumbling something under his breath, and then he moved around me and walked into my house.

Huh.

I hadn’t locked the doors, so it wasn’t really breaking and entering. Was he waiting for me to join him? I looked longingly toward the house, but Ray was still buzzing around in the back of my head.

Did I think that he wasactuallyin danger? No. We’d had a whole conversation before I asked about the guy he’d beendating. I didn’t think the guy was still there or anything, but he’d obviously done something really dickish to Ray. I figured I’d have to fuck the guy up who hurt his feelings.

Still, he hadn’t sounded great. As much as I wanted to follow the strawberry milkshake that had just been in my yard, I wasn’t going to let Ray down.

I was such a good friend. I put friendship before banging the hot naked guy who was currently in my house.

I huffed, turned back toward the car, and threw my backpack onto the passenger seat. I realized that Rowan still had my gun, but if I went in for it, I’d end up distracted. I sighed and opened the car door, climbed in, shut the door, and started the car.

I turned my head around to look out the back window to check and make sure it was clear to back up, shifted the gear stick thingy, and when I faced front again, Rowan was standing right in front of the car, now wearing a pair of sweatpants.