In a Dark Embrace

by Simone Bern

  Lee felt herself go stiff. There might be times they couldn’t be together. What would he do then?

  “Don’t think it, my witch. I won’t go running to someone else in your absence. It may be hard but I can do it…and we can always phone each other, yes?” He lifted his head and smiled at her.

  “Your body burns calories at twice the speed of a normal person’s. Is that all?”

  “No. I told you when we met that I change at will. That’s true but not entirely. I’m driven to change, to run as the wolf. Again, a week without is difficult. The longest I’ve ever managed is two weeks but I was a twitching, snarling wreck by then. I can feel the itch between my shoulder blades already. Tomorrow night you’ll have to excuse me for a few hours.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll come out to your place after work but I can go back home for the night.”

  Jeremy ran a finger across her shoulders and down her cleavage. “No. Stay. I’ll only be gone for a bit…and I want to wake up next to you.”

  “All planned then,” Lee said. She pulled his head down and kissed him. The embers that had been left to glow unattended during their conversation flared back into full flame. “Let’s go to bed, my wolf.”

  * * * * *

  She woke up the next morning and stretched like a lazy cat. Last night had been wonderful and she cherished every sore spot on her well-used body. The four days without him had seemed like an eternity. Lee admitted to herself that she’d missed Jeremy dreadfully. Missed his smile and the way his eyebrows lowered as he thought about something serious, missed the sound of his breathing during the night and his weight denting the bed next to her. But most of all she had missed the damn fantastic sex. By Tuesday she’d been half-crazy with wanting him. The phone sex barely scratched the surface of her physical craving. They had stayed up very late last night, satisfying each other’s desire. Yet she wanted him again. But it was nearly ten and they both had to get ready for work.

  Lee climbed out of bed, casting a long, appreciative look at his muscular back.

  Part of her wanted to be with him every possible minute of every day and was upset that he had to work this weekend. But there was another voice in her head saying that it was a good thing he had an important case. It meant this weekend couldn’t be as intense as the last one. Lee sighed. She needed to keep her emotions under control and not get drawn into his infatuation. Yes, she wanted him physically and she had every intention of enjoying the new heat in her sex life. But it was too early in their relationship to start getting attached to him. He might be ready to jump into the deep end but she’d wade in more slowly.

  She got into the shower and relaxed under the jet of water for a minute. Her eyes were closed but she felt it when Jeremy woke up. He slipped into the shower and started soaping up her chest. She leaned back to rinse the shampoo out of her hair. His hands massaged her breasts and belly, making her want to purr. Jeremy got down on his knees. Lee shuddered at the feel of hot water and an even hotter tongue.

  “Time to do the other side now,” he said after a minute. Jeremy stood, turned her around and started to scrub her back. She could feel his erect cock bumping into her as he worked.

  “Are you ready for me?” he asked and slipped a soapy finger up her cunt.

  She turned around and pulled his head down for a hungry kiss. Jeremy lifted her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. He pushed her against the wall and plunged in, immediately setting up a pounding rhythm. Between the cascading water and his demanding thrusts her climax came quickly. Jeremy released his control at the same time and exploded inside her with a growl.

  Lee rinsed off the soap and semen, gave him a quick kiss and dashed out of the shower. She was dressed and tying back her wet hair when Jeremy got out of the bathroom.

  “You’ve made me late. I’m going to grab coffee and breakfast on the way to work,” she told him. “You can help yourself to anything you find in my fridge or cupboards. Haven’t done a lot of shopping lately but there’s cereal and maybe some frozen waffles.”

  Jeremy was pulling clothing out of the sports bag and dressing quickly. “I’ll get something on the way as well. One of these days you’ll make me a meal. You can cook, can’t you?”

  “I’m a good cook. Just don’t have time for it when I’m being hounded by a damn wolf nearly every waking hour.”

  She eyed him in his uniform and ran a hand up his muscular arm. “This looks good on you. Someday I’d like you to do a striptease for me.”

  He laughed. “You’ll have to show me how it’s done.”

  “Deal.” She grinned and grabbed him for a quick kiss. “I’ll be at your place around seven.”

  “I’ll leave the door unlocked. I might be napping but come on in.”

  She shot him a sympathetic look. “You just came off night shift, didn’t you? How much sleep did you get yesterday?”

  He shrugged. “Not much but I don’t mind.”

  Lee stole another kiss and ran out the door before she got tempted into another quickie. She pitied her Saturday clients. She was already distracted.

  Chapter Ten

  Lee throttled down and shifted into first gear as she pulled into Jeremy’s long driveway. She let the bike coast quietly into the open garage. It was a bit earlier than they had planned to meet up. Her last client canceled so she called it a day at four instead of the usual five. She touched the hood of his SUV on the way into the house. It was still warm. He’d probably only just got home from work himself. Lee hesitated. She should have spent the extra hour at home and let him have his nap. But she was here now so she might as well go in.

  Lee tiptoed into the bedroom. Jeremy’s deep, slow breathing was audible out in the hallway. She stood over him and admired his sleeping profile. The wildness was tamed, the intellect and biting humor quiescent. He looked innocent, fragile even. Her heart skipped a beat. Oh god, she was getting mushy. All her careful analysis and rational decision making was flying out the window.

  Lee slowly unbuttoned her shirt and dropped it on the floor. Her jeans followed. Naked, she crawled into bed beside Jeremy and snuggled up close. Feeling warm and content, she closed her eyes.

  * * * * *

  A heavy hand was stroking her stomach in a desultory way. She rolled onto her back and they shared a sleepy kiss.

  “It’s after eight. You didn’t wake me,” he said.

  Lee ran her hand over his scratchy face. “You looked so peaceful. I decided to join you for a snuggle and must have dozed off.”

  “Thank you. I love waking up next to you.”

  His emotions tugged at her. He was so damn happy to be with her, it was far more than infatuation she sensed. She pulled both her hand and her witch sense away from him with a slight frown.

  “You’re probably starving. We should go get dinner.”

  “I picked up some chicken and a couple of salads on the way home. Ate some before I crashed. We can have the rest in a little while.” He pressed her down on the bed and buried his face in her chest.

  She played with his hair and cautiously unfurled her senses again.

  The gush of emotions from earlier was buried under rising passion. Lee relaxed with the change. She rolled onto her side so that she lay in the circle of his arms, Jeremy spooned along her back. For the first time he slipped into her slowly, gradually sinking his length deeper and deeper into her. He held her close and didn’t move except for a slight rocking of his hips. Lee allowed that for a while then pushed him onto his back, rolling with him so she was draped across his hips, pinned into place by his cock. She put a foot on his leg and lifted herself up slightly then dropped down. It wasn’t a position that allowed for a lot of energetic thrusting but the penetration was fantastic. Small movements translated into deep waves of pleasures. It was great, lazy sex. Her orgasm was powerful but quieter than usual.

  “I never tried this position before,” Jeremy said. “I like it. But,” he flipped her back onto her side, “I need something more aggr
essive.”

  He pushed in hard and wrapped himself tightly around her. Jeremy had one arm across her shoulders while the other hand squeezed a breast. She was skewered by his long cock and firmly immobilized, encased by his strong body. Lee squirmed and whimpered, a spark of fear suddenly shooting through the burning desire. His arm was nearly at her throat and he seemed oblivious to her struggles as he continued to fuck her hard. Yet, pressing against her bonds, she wanted both to be released and to be pinned even more securely against his chest. It was a strange, lustful panic that made her tremble in his arms. He thrust up into her with short, sharp jabs, his breathing labored and his emotions swarming with possessive lust. She climaxed in uneasy confusion.

  After her orgasm Jeremy’s hands dropped to cup her hips, allowing her the freedom to angle away from his upper body. She breathed deeply and relaxed into the new position. His thrusts became faster and more penetrating. He groaned and Lee felt another orgasm building in step with his. Her hands clutched the sheets as her voice escalated into uncontrolled shrieks. Jeremy growled and pressed in even harder. Their bodies sagged in mutual release.

  Jeremy stroked her back gently. “You have a great deal of skill in the bedroom, my witch. Was sex part of your studies?” he teased.

  Lee thought about her sexual history. How she had moved from young men full of fire and curiosity to older men who had broadened her horizons and shown her how to dance on the knife edge between frustration and satisfaction. She had fallen for Ryan because he was funny and good-looking but also big, powerful, self-confident and ambitious. Since their breakup she’d mostly bedded men who tasted of danger—the ones that emanated suppressed rage. The psychologist in her knew she’d been deliberately courting physical pain to quiet an emotional wound. She’d also wanted a reason to lash out at men and nasty sex had been a way to do that.

  “I’m clever and curious,” she finally answered.

  “And I’m grateful.” He chuckled and kissed her shoulder. His stomach rumbled.

  “And hungry,” Lee added with a smile.

  Jeremy got up and reached for his boxers. She scooted past him to get into the bathroom first but he caught her and threw her effortlessly across the room and onto the bed. “Nope. I get the washroom. You can wait.”

  His casual show of strength made Lee’s heart pound with anger…and renewed arousal. She frowned. Was Jeremy another one of her bad boys, another source of pain and a target for her anger? There was no denying that Jeremy’s hungry lust combined with the power of his body was a huge part of the attraction. It was what she’d reacted to when they first met. But Jeremy had taken that purely physical attraction and turned it into something else when he’d offered his name with a soul-deep longing.

  So what was she responding to now? Her own secret desire to be overpowered? She liked rough sex but it had always been a playing field tilted unfairly to her side. Her lovers might not have known but she could never forget it. All her games of submission had been just that—games. With Jeremy however, his dominance was real. Acknowledging that made her uncomfortable. But, she admitted to herself, it also made her very, very hot.

  Lee climbed off the bed and went into the now-empty washroom. She looked at her face in the mirror. Her eyes were pools of uncertainty. Yesterday she’d been sure she could keep her emotional distance from Jeremy but today she felt him worming his way past her inner shields. Being with him was unearthing things she’d never known about herself. Lee took a deep breath and resisted the impulse to get on her bike and ride away. That would be totally immature. She could handle this.

  Jeremy had the table set and laden with fried chicken and four different kinds of salad when she walked into the kitchen. There was also a bottle of red wine and two elegant crystal glasses.

  “Looks like a feast for a small army,” she joked and sat down.

  He shrugged. “I didn’t know what kinds of salads you preferred so I got one of each.”

  “I’m easy,” she said and helped herself to something from all the offerings—potato, macaroni, Caesar and Greek salad.

  “I already know that,” he drawled. “But I wasn’t sure what you liked to eat.”

  “Ha. Ha. Just be thankful that I like big, aggressive men or you’d have spent that first night imitating one of Medusa’s victims instead of getting the fuck of your life.” It came out sounding hard and cold.

  Jeremy shot her a questioning look and Lee tried to soften her words. “But you don’t need to worry about feeding me. I like most things and this is wonderful. Looks like a nice bottle of wine too.”

  His shoulders relaxed and he poured her a glass. “It’s South African. I picked up a taste for it when I traveled through Africa.”

  “I’ve never been there. What’s it like?”

  “Fascinating. The contrasts are so stark—between rich and poor, barren and lush. I saw the most beautiful, wondrous things there. And the most ugly.”

  They eased into a conversation about other countries and the meal passed pleasantly. The wine helped Lee get her jagged feelings under control. She really didn’t know why she’d snapped at him. Sure, she was feeling pressured by his unspoken emotional demands but just because he was pursuing her didn’t mean he was going to catch her. And, she concluded with a defiant tilt of her chin, the sex was too good to give up.

  * * * * *

  The room was dark, only a glimmer of light coming in through the partially closed curtains. Jeremy leaned over and watched Lee sleep. She looked like an angel, her tiny hands folded and held against her cheek. The full lips were soft and slightly parted. He wanted to stay by her side. For the first time the call of the wolf was less compelling than the allure of another living creature.

  She’d seemed to swing from one emotional pole to the other today. Lee was always changeable but throughout the evening she had cycled from hot and sweet to cold and biting and back again several times. He wasn’t sure what was causing the extremes and didn’t dare ask. She was good at getting others to talk but didn’t like revealing her inner thoughts and feelings. Such a contradictory woman. But her strong, fiery temperament was part of her allure. He wouldn’t change a thing about her. Except her resistance to becoming his mate.

  He wanted her body underneath his but more than that he wanted her to sleep in his bed, eat in his kitchen and leave her hair in his bathtub. He would gladly give her the keys to his house and his car. An extra set was waiting in the laundry room in case she asked. There had been time this week to get things ready. He had bought new sheets and a set of good wineglasses because Lee was the type who noticed such things. The closet had space in it for her clothing. Yet she had brought only a few items with her—just enough for one night and the next day. It irked him, that concrete limit to her involvement. Admittedly she’d been on the bike and that restricted what she could carry but the backpack had been half empty.

  He knew that he was moving too fast for her but he didn’t need any more time to be sure. She was the only woman for him. They belonged together. Lee was obviously reacting against his possessiveness but he suspected it was more than that. Her previous relationship had hurt her badly.

  Jeremy’s hand curled into a fist. If he ever met the bastard he’d pulverize him. He closed his eyes and sighed. What a stupid thing to even think. She’d taken her vengeance already and it was a more powerful and lasting one than any pain he could inflict. His clever, wicked witch.

  Jeremy slipped carefully out of the bed. He needed to change. The itch to become a wolf and run through the night was very strong. He had been denying it all week. Trying to ignore his nature would not do him any good. It would just make him irritable and impossible to be with tomorrow. He needed this. No matter how much he wanted to be with Lee, no matter what he felt for her she could not placate the beast inside him.

  “Have a good run, my wolf,” Lee said softly.

  Jeremy turned in the doorway but she was already back asleep. He smiled. For the first time he didn’t need to mak
e up excuses, would not face concerned, questioning looks in response to his nighttime absences. In a joyous mood he left Lee for the soft embrace of the warm summer’s night. She would be there when he got back. For now that was enough.

  Jeremy walked to the far end of his property, climbed the fence and headed into the neighbor’s thicker woods. He hoped that distance was enough that she would not feel the pain of his change. He called the wolf and clenched his teeth as reshaping bones filled him with agony.

  Then, panting, he lifted his muzzle and yipped at the moon.

  * * * * *

  Lee looked up from the menu as the hostess walked over to their table. Behind the hostess was a slender dark-haired girl and following closely on her heels was an absolute mountain of a man. He was even taller than Jeremy and much broader across the chest. Combined with blond hair, Nordic good looks and pale ice-blue eyes he was gorgeous. Jeremy introduced her and Lee didn’t even try to hide her interest.

  “Hello, Eric, an absolute pleasure to meet you,” she purred.

  “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you as well,” he replied and his eyes glowed with an answering warmth. “Lee, this is Sally.”

  Lee threw the other girl a barely registerable hello then fixed her attention back on Eric.

  “I’ve never been here before. What do you recommend on the menu?” she asked him.

  “I like the spicy chicken penne myself. If you don’t mind it hot…”

  “I love it hot. The hotter the better.” She gave him a slow smile.

  Lee could feel Jeremy tense up. She glanced at him. The muscles in his arms and shoulders had hardened. His jaw was rigid but he was still managing to keep a smile on his face. It would be good for him, she decided, to learn to control his jealously while she flirted with another man. And she was definitely going to flirt with Eric.

  She and Eric tossed light banter back and forth. Sally put in a comment now and again. The other girl was at least trying to participate in the conversation. Jeremy, on the other hand, volunteered nothing and answered questions in monosyllables.