The Cursed Wolf

by Amber Jantine

  Heat flushed her face and body as she realized that she was far from repulsed at the thought. By his open interest in her. Instead, she was intrigued.

  “Why were you out there? You could have been hurt!”

  “You knew me. Somehow.”

  He flinched. “It’s because of this.” He lifted the amulet that rested on his powerful chest, fingering the leather thong that held it in place. “Your mother said that it would help us keep our senses, rather than letting the moon take over.”

  Just like the old stories. “Is that what normally happens?”

  “Yes. And I—” he swallowed hard— “I usually don’t remember what happens in the night, either.”

  “But you remember what happened last night.”

  Another flinch and the pain in his eyes nearly obliterated the earlier desire. She wondered if he’d been injured, but could see no sign of a wound. This agony was internal. Emotional. “I wish I could not.”

  “I’m sorry.” She reached out and hugged him without hesitation.

  Christopher stiffened. “Don’t.”

  “What?”

  “You shouldn’t…” His voice trailed away and his big body began to tremble. “You shouldn’t touch me.”

  “Why not?” She knew why, yet she wanted to hear it from him. “We hugged all the time, when we were children.”

  “We’re not children any longer.” He skimmed the back of his fingers along her cheek. “I think you know as well as I do that something has changed between us.”

  She wanted to deny it but the words stuck in her throat.

  He leaned forward with a low growl, pressing his mouth to hers.

  Shock held her in place. For so long, she’d believed that she would only ever kiss one man and that man was not ever supposed to be Christopher. Yet she could not stop the trembling in her body, or the sudden burst of flame that seemed to spread over her at this light touch.

  It was as if she were finally coming back to life after…

  “I know you want me, Theresa.” Christopher’s voice was deep and hoarse, closer to that of an animal than of the boy she’d once known. “Will you let me touch you?”

  “I-I shouldn’t.”

  “Please?” He cupped one hand behind her neck, holding her in place as he began to kiss along her throat. His lips were soft yet seemed to burn her at the same time.

  She’d never known she could feel like this.

  Not even Edward had made her react in this way. “You want more than touching.”

  “True.”

  “I’m not a virgin.”

  “I know that.” His eyes darkened but it was no longer desire alone that made them burn. There was anger there too. “Your mother told me.”

  “Yet you still want me?” That didn’t seem possible. Mother had told her that by surrendering her innocence to the sailor, she’d ruined her chances with other men.

  “I’ve wanted you before I realized what wanting is.” He ran his hands over her breasts, caressing her through the cloth. Then he began working on the fastenings at the front of her gown, pulling them open, one after another. “I never needed to be your first, Theresa. But I want to be the last.”

  “I… I don’t understand.” But she did understand. Deep down, she knew what he was asking. “I-I don’t know if I can—”

  “It’s all right.” He pushed the fabric away with her breasts. Punctuating each of his words with a kiss. Starting at her jawline and moving down her neck to her collarbone. Lingering over each contact yet seeming to hesitate at the same time. “I don’t need your answer right now. Just give me a chance to show you what it’s like when a man truly loves you.”

  Love? He loved her?

  Theresa’s throat tightened as a lump formed deep inside, making it impossible for her to speak.

  In her head, she knew that she shouldn’t be here. Even more than that, she shouldn’t be letting him touch her like this. And yet the other part of her, the part warming and shivering and coming oh-so-alive at his touch, wanted him.

  She needed to know this.

  Needed to experience all of this. With him.

  She nodded.

  A flicker of a smile just turned up the corners of his mouth. He dipped his head, his dark hair falling forwards to hide his eyes from her. Then she felt his lips on her breasts.

  Warm and wet.

  It felt amazing.

  Her breath caught in her throat and her heart raced. She arched her back, needing to be closer to him.

  This was different from anything she had experienced before.

  Better, in a way.

  Hotter.

  She didn’t understand it. Refused to think of those things now. The past or the future.

  She was just going to concentrate on the moment

  And on his heat. His hunger.

  He made a low growl that vibrated against her skin as he nuzzled against her. His skin felt rough and the whiskers on his face scratched her too.

  Hardly felt.

  Because she was swamped by too many other sensations.

  The touch of his lips. The sweep of his tongue. His fingers gliding over her flesh, bringing the heat and a little friction and something more. In a way, he seemed to be mending her. Knitting her back together with his touch and his kiss.

  Making her whole again.

  Her nipples grew tight and he took one into his mouth. Sucking on her first then swirling his tongue around the tip. She whimpered and reached for him, holding on to him as waves of pleasure began to radiate out from her clenching, turbulent core.

  Christopher whispered to her, in a voice barely audible, of how he had dreamed of her. How he had imagined touching her and exploring her like this.

  Every. Single. Night.

  The thought of being able to inspire such hunger was awe-inspiring. Sparking the need in her higher and hotter than before. Her insides squeezed in a rhythmic beat and there was a fresh flood of wetness between her legs.

  He lifted his head. She forced her eyes open to look at him. His features had tightened with his arousal, the dark and lustful look in his eyes nearly turning him into a complete stranger.

  A familiar but gorgeous stranger.

  Why hadn’t she seen him like this before? True, she’d not seen him much since they were children, but she still should have noticed. There had been signs, even then, of how handsome he was going to be.

  He slipped one hand under her skirt, pushing the fabric up away from her legs. Dipping his head once more as he caressed her thighs, he transferred his mouth to her other breast. Sucking on her, drawing around her with his tongue.

  His hand moved higher and now he was touching her there, between her legs. Another low snarl was torn from his lips. “You’re wet for me.”

  Part of her was ready to be taken by him.

  There was no denying it. She understood what that reaction in her meant now.

  She was more than ready.

  He rose up and she spread her legs, waiting for him to move between them. He did, but instead of lining himself with her entrance, he moved down lower. His head was between her thighs as he began kissing and tasting her there too.

  Theresa cried out in a mix of shock and pleasure. “W-what are you doing?”

  “I told you I wanted to taste you.”

  There? She could feel his fingers parting her most intimate flesh, holding her open as he tasted the fluids of her arousal. She’d never thought that a man would want to do such a thing. Had never even known that it was possible for a man to even use his mouth the way that Christopher was.

  Maybe it should have felt strange. Or even a little wicked. Yet the flicking explorations of his tongue only made her insides coil tighter with pleasure. Made her secret muscles contract in a quickening rhythm.

  Everything continued to build until she felt like she was teetering at the edge of a cliff.

  And then he pushed her over.

  Theresa screamed as the waves crashed over her an
d into her. Knocking away her breath. Every part of her was bucking and rising and her heart raced out of control. It was wild and a little frightening yet at the same time, nothing had felt more incredible.

  As her breathing slowed and she regained her senses, she felt Christopher kissing his way up her body once more. Instinct made her wrap her legs around his waist and her arms looped around his shoulders.

  He slipped one hand between their bodies. She looked down, forcing her eyes to stay open so that she could watch what he was doing. He ran his hand over that thick shaft between his legs. Once, twice, then a third time. A pearl of liquid appeared at the tip. Then he moved between her legs, dipping down so that she could no longer see that part of him.

  But she could feel him. Could feel that rounded head gliding through her wetness. Combining it with the first hints of his own.

  Then he twitched his hips, driving the first part of him into her. She cried out once more, her body seemingly having forgotten what it was like to be taken. What it felt like to be stretched and filled.

  More than that, the same incredible pleasure from before was building inside her again, already threatening to spiral out of control. His growl of pleasure was almost like an animal once more, yet there was a note of wonder too. Something innocent.

  But that was impossible.

  Christopher was a handsome, well-built young man. Surely he must have had women chasing after him. Throwing themselves into his arms and his bed just as women had done with Edward.

  His powerful arms folded around her, melding their bodies together until it was nearly impossible to tell where she ended and he began. It was as if they had truly become one. With him buried to the hilt inside her. He nuzzled his face against her neck, finding the sensitive patch of skin behind her ear.

  And he breathed hot words to her.

  Telling her how good it felt to be inside her, after dreaming about her for so long. How tight and slick she felt around his cock and so many other things that seemed to pass by in a blur as she lifted her hips to meet his every thrust.

  It shouldn’t have felt this good. This right.

  Not this soon.

  Maybe it was that tiny, insistent sense of how wrong this was supposed to be that made her fall over the edge again, crying out and shaking beneath him. Christopher thrust hard, slamming into her until she felt like he was trying to drive her straight down through the floor.

  Then he froze. That thick part of him pulsing and stiffening as a flood of warmth filled her.

  And sent her soaring yet again.

  She expected him to pull away immediately, now that he’d found his pleasure. Instead, he held her closer, rolling over so that she was lying against his chest. His hand came up to cup the back of her head, stroking her hair as they both drifted off to sleep…

  * * * *

  “If only it would snow.”

  Christopher chuckled. “In the summer?”

  “Then we could have an excuse to stay here longer.”

  His smile faded as he stroked her cheek. “Do you really think you need an excuse to be here with me?”

  “I don’t know.” She knew her mother wouldn’t approve of what they had done and she couldn’t say she was entirely certain she knew why she had decided to be with him, either. “Maybe I just want a reason not to think of everything else.”

  He folded his arms behind his head and stared up at the thatched roof. There were holes in it in places, allowing the sunshine to reach into the small hut. “I wish I could forget.”

  “Last night? Or this morning.”

  “Never this morning.” Pain flickered across his handsome features as he picked up the amulet her mother had given him. “With other things, I think it’s better to just be an animal. To not know what I was doing.”

  Theresa moved to stay close to him. “Then why did you agree to do it?”

  “I told you I did it for you.”

  “Why?”

  “I knew you were hurting.”

  “How? We haven’t even seen each other since—”

  “I’ve been around. I still deliver wood to your mother every week.” His voice grew hoarse. “Of course, when that sailor was around, you didn’t seem to see anything else.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that. Because there was no way she could deny the truth, as painful as it was.

  Christopher sighed. “And later… even though you stayed in your room and refused to see anyone, I could still smell your pain.”

  “Because of the wolf inside you.”

  He nodded.

  “I don’t remember you being like that when we were kids.”

  “I wasn’t.”

  “Does this have something to do with that?” She traced a finger along one of the scars on his shoulder. Theresa was no expert when it came to wounds, but they looked like they had been there for a very long time. “And how did my mother know you were—”

  “She was the one who was called to help heal me, when I was attacked.”

  “Attacked?”

  “By a beast. On the full moon.” He let out a short, bitter laugh. “It was shortly after I left you the last time. Still, I begged her not to tell you. I didn’t want you to worry about me. But then…”

  “Then what?”

  “Nothing.”

  She thought back to the last time she’d seen Christopher. They had been thirteen, coming out of a day spent together in the woods. He’d paused and touched her cheek, saying that she had a smudge of dirt. But the look in his eyes was something she understood now. And he’d been staring at her lips.

  As if, even then, he’d wanted to kiss her.

  Had mother known about that somehow? Had she been trying to prevent their innocent friendship from turning into something more? She had certainly made no secret of her ambitions for Theresa’s future.

  A future that did not involve falling in love with a woodsman. “She made you stay away. Didn’t she?”

  He turned and reached for her. After a slight hesitation, she moved into his embrace and let him pull her close. “She told me it was the right thing to do. To avoid harming you when I…”

  His voice trailed away and she rose up slightly to press her mouth against his. It was more than just a simple kiss. More than the need to feel his lips. She wanted to do something to try to take away some of the haunting pain she saw in his dark eyes. "I don't believe you would ever hurt me," she whispered against his lips.

  "I would do everything in my power to avoid doing such a thing." His kiss turned hot and hungry as he rolled her beneath him. She could feel that part of him was hard again and her body grew wet and hot in anticipation of having him inside her again.

  He moved his mouth to her throat, sipping and nipping at her skin. She moaned and wriggled beneath him, the hunger inside her more intense than anything she had ever known before.

  But when she lifted her hips, trying to lure him inside her, he moved away. "Not yet."

  "But..." her voice fell apart in a whimper as he ran his hand over her breast, his strong yet rough fingers sliding over her aching nipple.

  "You like the way I touch you. Don't you?"

  "Yes."

  "Like it enough to marry me?"

  "Marry you?" The spell was broken and she flattened her hands on his chest, pushing him away as she scrambled up to a sitting position. "You don't have to ask me that, just because of what we did last night."

  "That isn't why I'm asking." His voice grew hoarse and harsh again, full of emotions she wasn't sure she wanted to identify. "I love you, Theresa."

  "How can you say that? You haven't seen me in more than six years, Christopher. I'm not the girl that I once was."

  "Not on the outside, true. But I don't think you've changed all that much on the inside." His lips tightened in a straight line. "I suppose you're still in love with him, aren't you?"

  Was she? Not so long ago, she would have sworn that her heart was broken beyond repair. Now, however, she couldn't be
certain what to call her feelings for Edward. They had seemed strong at the time yet in all honesty, she had hardly known him outside of the bedchamber.

  What if it had not been love, but infatuation?

  Did that mean she didn't know how to love? "I... I don't know."

  "Do you think you could ever love someone like me?" He gestured toward his scars, and once again, there was so much pain in his eyes. "Or am I a monster in your eyes now? Especially after last night."

  Maybe he should have been. She had seen the carnage that he and the other wolves had done. Had seen the bloody bodies. "I would never think of you as a monster."

  "I guess I should take some comfort in that." But he wasn't comfortable at all. His voice was bitter and he rose to move about the cabin. Drew a handful of fabric out from a chest and began getting dressed. The trousers and simple shirt obviously did not belong to him, for they were rather tight, nearly molding to every contour of his thick muscles and the seams were visibly straining over his...

  She looked away and focused on pulling on her gown. Then reached for her cloak, tying it around her shoulders. "I tried to tell you that this wasn't a good idea."

  "Maybe you were right." He waited until she was fully dressed, then reached out as if to offer his hand, but pulled back before she could take it. "Come on. I need to get you home."

  Chapter Three

  "Where have you been? I've been worried sick!"

  "I'm fine, Mother." She could have said more, but the turmoil in her mind made her fear she might say too much.

  "Hmph." She whirled about to glare at Christopher. "You did not keep your end of the bargain."

  "I did what you asked of me." Dropping his voice low so only that Theresa could hear him. "The crunching of that man's bones will haunt me forever."

  Just as Theresa had suspected. It was likely that his actions would scar him as permanently as the marks on his skin.

  "He still lives." Mother's hands balled up into fists and for a moment, Theresa thought that her mother might actually hit the young man. "They all will live."

  Theresa breathed a sigh of relief. Not so much for Edward's sake, but for his brothers.

  Christopher shook his head. "I cannot help that. Their injuries were severe."