I was disentangling myself from Eric as fast as I could and pulling my onesie on at shifter speed.

My sex was pulsing in protest at the sudden emptiness, but the heat of the moment had already been replaced by numbing cold.

Sebastian had proceeded as planned, sending the police after Eric.

Like hell I was going to let that happen!

I had had my doubts before falling asleep last night, and now I was more convinced than ever: Eric did not belong in prison with those hyena shifters. That was why my plan for this morning involved getting him out of my apartment without Sebastian noticing.

"Wait here!" I told Eric when he meant to follow me in the living room, still gloriously naked.

I went to the door and took a look through the peephole. Yep, the man was wearing a police uniform and badge. He was alone, no squad ready to knock down my door just yet.

"Morning, officer," I said through the door while I was frantically gathering Eric's T-shirt and jeans from the floor. "Mind if I keep you out for just another minute? I need to put some clothes on first."

"Sure, no problem, ma'am. I'll be waiting right here."

In other words, he wasn't going anywhere.

Good thing the front door wasn't the only way out of this building.

I closed the bedroom door behind me, to make sure the police officer wouldn't hear us, and handed Eric his clothes. "Get dressed!"

Poor Eric, he looked so confused. Could be because most of his blood was still focused in his lower head. Or because I was running around the apartment like a headless chicken, not explaining a darn thing to him.

"Hurry!" I urged him while fetching his shirt, the one he'd lend me yesterday, from the bathroom.

I had washed it by hand last night, managing to get the blood stains off. Nothing could be done about the holes from claws in the fabric, but it would still cover up nicely Eric bloodied T-shirt.

"Jump to my neighbor's balcony," I instructed him as I handed him the shirt. "From there, use the downpipe to slide down to the street. This is the back street, so Sebastian can't see you from his car."

"Oh... Okay."

"Great." I didn't expect a cat shifter to have a problem with the acrobatics I was suggesting; it was something else that worried me. "Where would you go?"

"Home," Eric replied after some consideration, buttoning his shirt up.

I paused halfway to opening the balcony door. "Is that wise? Won't the rest of the pack take it out on you for what happened yesterday?"

His lips curved into a sad smile. "They will. But I have to talk to my sister, Monica. She is mated to–"

"The pack leader, I know," I interrupted him, ushering him towards the balcony. We were running out of time. "You'll try to meet with her away from the pack, right?"

His sad smile was replaced by a pleased one. "Don't worry about me, lovely, I'll be careful."

"You do that."

"I have to see how she's doing, plan what to do. I'll tell her about you–"

"Don't tell her anything yet," I said in a hurry while checking the street for onlookers. There was no one in sight, thankfully. "Just make sure both of you are safe. And call me when you get there!"

"But, lovely–"

"The only butt I'm interested in right now is the one jumping from here to there." I pointed at the balcony to our left. "Come on, I need to see you land successfully."

Instead of prepare for the jump, Eric wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. "I will come back to you, Samantha."

"Eric..." There was no time to tell him that I would be leaving town. I didn't want to wipe the warm smile off his face with that news, either. So all I said was, "Stay safe."

His reply was a kiss. A deep and passionate kiss that made me weak at the knees and tempted to run away with him.

But as much as I liked Eric, leaving town with him would only make things worse for him. Sebastian would not stop hunting him. While if I run away on my own, Eric out of the picture, the sasquatch would be entirely focused on chasing me. I was sure of it.

The kiss was over too quickly. Dazed from the taste of Eric's lips, I watched him jump gracefully from my balcony to my neighbor's as if he were still in animal form.

He turned to look at me a final time before he got a hold of the downpipe.

My heart was stuck in my throat until I saw him land on the street below.

From there, he ran at shifter speed towards the main street. I released the breath I had been holding only after he had disappeared from sight, the back street as deserted as before.

He'd made it. At least as far as my apartment was concerned.

I wouldn't stop worrying until he called me from a safe place, but right now I had to focus on making it out of here myself.

Which there was no time to do at the moment as the banging at my door was threatening to pop it off its hinges.

"Open up, darlin'. Right now!"

Sebastian.

If there was one positive thing this morning, aside from the toe-curling orgasm Eric had gifted me with, it was the earful I was going to give the overbearing enforcer.