by Michele Hauf
He swung out of the car and gasped in the night air to clear his senses. Striding away, Severo fisted his hands and growled. This was not over. It was just beginning. And much as he savored the fight, he did not favor waging war with one to whom he owed a debt.
* * *
Evie leaned over and plucked a long hair from the leather seat. She studied it, sniffed it. “So nasty.”
And yet… There could be a use for this remnant from the werewolf.
She curled the hair about a forefinger until the pale flesh grew deep purple. “I will never bow before a dog.”
Chapter 10
Severo had left the mansion last evening. He wouldn’t tell her where he intended to stay for two nights. While Bella appreciated that he was only trying to protect her, after only twenty-four hours she missed him desperately.
Was this how it would be if their relationship continued? Him disappearing for three days every month? Certainly she could manage the distance. It was only three days. And what relationship wouldn’t grow deeper with that time apart?
But her love for him was so new. Bella felt raw and uneasy as she lay alone in the king-size bed, her fingers gliding across the sheets on his side. Where was he? And in what form?
Tonight the full moon would shine brightly in the August sky. A harvest moon, which the weatherman had been encouraging everyone to go out and look at.
Bella flipped off the television and padded out to the patio. She slipped off her silk robe and dove into the pool naked. She’d gotten used to Heloise’s schedule, and she tried to not strip when she knew she might run into her. The brownie was doing laundry and she usually left in the evening without a goodbye.
The pool was heated, which was a necessity in Minnesota. Floating on her back, she giggled as a falling red maple leaf landed on her belly. She let it lie there. Like a leaf floating in a pond, she was carried around the pool by the gentle current.
This could be the life. Living in a mansion with a housekeeper, gourmet meals and an attentive lover. What lottery had she won?
Okay, so the lover was not completely human. And though Severo had intimated that he’d like to support her, Bella could never allow that to happen. She liked work. It exercised her brain when her dancing was not moving her body.
Miss All About Control needed the independence of supporting herself. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t work from her own office here at the mansion. She had a choice of plenty of extra rooms.
One of the patio deck lights flickered. Bella’s heart did a sudden dive. She treaded water in the center of the pool.
Severo had given her explicit instructions to go inside and lock all the doors after 10:00 p.m. The werewolf knew where home was, and while it rarely ventured close, it might come sniffing about.
He did say that early morning usually found his beastly form reduced to a regular wolf, and if she wanted to look outside on the third day for that, she could.
“My lover, the wolf,” she said. Her heartbeat resuming normal pace, she continued floating. “And Seth loves a vampire.”
Severo had not said what had gone on between him and Evie, but he did say he’d given her an ultimatum.
Evie. Evil, spelled wrong. Which was what she sounded like. A self-obsessed vampire whom Severo laughingly referred to as Elvira.
Bella wondered if Evie truly resembled the tall, beehive-coiffed mistress of the dark. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep a straight face if she ever met her. How far off Seth’s scale was she? He normally went in for flirty, stupid and shallow.
A tap on the patio door alerted her. Heloise gestured. Bella dropped her legs and sank into the water to conceal her nudity. The housekeeper opened the door and made a dismissive gesture, as if she’d seen it all before.
“It’s almost ten, mistress,” Heloise called. “Best be getting inside.”
“Already?” She hadn’t thought it was that late when she’d come out here. “Yes, fine. I’ll be right in. Are you turning in for the night, Heloise?”
“I go home. I have nice little house, given to me by Severo. Good night, mistress. You stay inside, yes?” She left the patio door open.
“Night.” Bella swam over for a towel and slid up onto the ledge of the pool.
The open door taunted her. Come quick, before it’s too late.
The housekeeper didn’t stick around during the full moon? And she was a faerie. She should be more comfortable with the whole paranormal realm and all its dark shenanigans than any mortal.
Did that mean Bella should be treating this night as more ominous than she had last night?
Skittering across the flagstone tiles, she hastened inside and locked the door behind her, dropping the Charley bar, as Severo had taught her. The sky was dark and there, above the treetops, the fat harvest moon sat low and proud.
A canine howl sounded in the distance.
Bella’s heart fluttered.
“I’d better check all the doors and windows.”
* * *
Doors locked? Check. Windows locked, all fitted with special security bars that locked into a steel casement? Check. If the high security didn’t give her the willies, then nothing else should.
It was nearing 1:00 a.m., and Bella sat in the middle of the bed, the soft shirt she’d picked up from the floor clutched to her chest. It was Severo’s and it smelled like him, so she’d pulled it on after a quick shower to wash away the chlorine.
And here she sat, as she had last night, staring out the window. Severo’s house sat at the bottom of a valley. The countryside rose in the distance. Hundreds of acres of forested land, he’d explained, all belonged to him. The moon had tucked itself out of view, but the sky was luminous against the black tree silhouettes.
An owl hooted. A dog howled. The wind picked up. And now branches scraping the windows kept her alert. Any little noise set her heart to a jackrabbit kick against her chest.
In the horror movies, it wasn’t the gross creature or the blood that got to her; it was the anticipation of evil.
“He’s not evil,” she whispered.
Their romance had been fast and more than furious. He’d captured her from day one, literally, and Bella appreciated now that he had not relented his pursuit of her. Never had she been with such a man. Virile, strong, attentive and, yes, commanding.
And much as she’d never wanted to be controlled, she didn’t feel controlled by Severo. But an edge of domination existed, which she willingly surrendered to.
Because with Severo’s control, she also received safety and a feeling of contentment.
Even sitting here, listening to the night spooks, she had to admit she was safe. The windows were secure, as were the doors. Surely the wolf wouldn’t attempt to break through?
Part of her wanted to see the werewolf, to know her lover in all his forms. Another part thought it fine and dandy that she sat inside and it was outside.
Eyelids flickering, Bella yawned.
A squabble between worm-seeking robins outside the window woke her hours later. She’d made it through the second night, which, as Severo had pointed out, was
the most perilous of nights, because during the full moon the werewolf most felt the call to mate.
* * *
The werewolf howled a long, lonely cry to the moon.
Bring her to me. Give me what I have wanted for so long.
It sensed something had changed. It had no notion that when it was not stalking the countryside, it could be in any other form than this man/beast shape. It knew only that humans were to be fiercely avoided.
And yet, a new scent clung to its form, the taut muscles that stretched its legs and forearms and twined within its flesh. It smelled human, and like a sweet plant it had once scented so many years ago.
Where did it come from? And how to find the source?
The werewolf wanted to know it, to feel it. To lick it and taste the sweetness that the lingering scent promised.
Yet the strange inner caution
that often kept it from wandering onto private mortal land again held it back. Made it cower, for fear of revealing itself to the world.
It would not seek the scent. Not yet.
* * *
Night three. A glance to the clock revealed it was 2:00 a.m. Severo had said it would be safe after three on the final night. Anticipation kept her vigilant.
Bella had never been a dog lover. She didn’t hate them, but she did fear them, for rational reasons. A dog had once bitten her. Another time, when she was a teenager, a huge rottweiler had chased her down an alley.
A wolf must be ten times more dangerous than a dog.
Bella smirked and tugged up the loose shirt for the countless time to draw in Severo’s scent. Now she understood how he could take pleasure in scents. Scents reassured and excited her.
She slid the shirt across her bare stomach and glided her fingers lower to press upon the rise of her mons. There was where he mastered her with his tongue, flicking and pressing and teasing her to a climax that always made her see stars.
She’d never had make-me-see-stars sex with other men. And she couldn’t get enough of the constellation Severo.
A loud noise outside, in the patio area, stiffened her shoulders. Bella waited, her neck straight and ears perked. A hot streak of fear stretched along her collarbone. She didn’t know what to expect. A shadow crossing outside the window? A monstrous shape creeping before the shrubs?
Time passed slowly.
The next time she looked, the clock flicked to three forty-five.
Exhausted from sitting alert all night, Bella longed to fall asleep. But a niggling curiosity pushed her from the bed.
She scampered down the hall and across the vast marble foyer in the shirt, her legs bare. The house was still and illuminated with moonlight shining in through the sunroof three stories overhead.
Heloise took joy in revving up the floor polisher and going at this marble expanse. Bella wished she could get the housekeeper to come to her loft once in a while.
Severo had reported that the glass in the patio door at her place had been replaced and the floor and curtains cleaned. What he’d not said was that he wanted her to move back to town. Until he asked, she was content here. As long as she didn’t miss practice or the audition in a few days.
Approaching the patio door, she scanned outside. The maple trees about the pool filtered out the moonlight. If a beast lurked in the shadows, she wouldn’t be able to see it. And she’d never pick up its scent, as Severo did so well.
Still, she released the door latch and stepped outside. Burned peat sweetened the air. She had seen the fires that afternoon and had guessed that they were about two miles to the west. Farmers burning brush in the ditches, no doubt.
The flagstones were cool underfoot. Clutching the shirt at her breasts, she scanned the circumference. Nothing.
Sitting carefully at the pool’s edge, she decided not to dip her feet in.
A breeze flirted with her hair, blowing a few strands across her cheek. The soft touch reminded her of Severo’s kisses when he was being lazy after they’d made love for hours.
Because normally everything about him was aggressive—go, go, go, and don’t stop until you’ve gone beyond. She liked that about him. It made her strive to keep up, to release some control and let chaos reign.
She smirked at the notion that she’d relinquished control to a man. An incredibly assertive man who would not allow her to forget he was in charge of her pleasure. A charge he fulfilled beyond her dreams.
A click sounded to her side. Animal claws on stone.
Bella swallowed down her fear, and bravely turned to find a dark-furred wolf staring at her. Her heart seemed to stop beating. Her stomach loosened, while her neck muscles tightened.
It stood six feet from her. Black markings on its face made it blend it into the murky, predawn surroundings. Only the paler belly fur made it stand out. It was a big wolf, perhaps the size of a monster German shepherd.
Don’t think about monsters. It’s just a nice puppy. It’s not going to hurt you.
To turn and dash inside might startle it. The wolf might think she was being aggressive and attack.
Don’t be silly. He said his were mind is also present when he is the wolf.
Inhaling, Bella drew up courage. She could do this. She wanted to do this.
She held out her hand, not sure if she was offering friendship or her scent for it to smell. Probably both. Just so long as it didn’t find her tasty.
It? No, this was her lover. That same piercing dark stare took her measure now. At the corner of its jaw, one canine tooth peeked out. It wasn’t snarling at her, though. She hoped.
And then it bowed its head and lifted a paw to its jaw.
She didn’t know what it was trying to convey.
“Severo?” She leaned forward on her elbows and the wolf padded closer. “Come to me.”
The wolf whined lowly and padded up to her. It sniffed at her hands, then at her hair. When its nose grazed her ear, she flinched and cautioned herself not to make any quick moves.
Closing her eyes, she wished it gone. Why had she thought this a smart idea? It was smelling her. Probably wondering how easily it could rip her up for dinner.
No, don’t think it. He is Severo. There must be some part of the wolf that recognized her and wanted not to harm her.
A nudge of its nose to her wrist made her wonder if it wanted her to…touch it?
Bella lifted a hand, and carefully, slowly, she reached to smooth her palm over the short fur between its ears. The wolf nudged her wrist again in an encouraging manner.
It didn’t seem to be hungry or to have a carnivorous intent in mind. Bella released her breath and relaxed.
She ruffled her palms through its soft fur. It was thick and silken, unlike that of any dog she’d ever accidentally touched. And it didn’t threaten her at all.
“You’re gorgeous, lover.”
Chapter 11
He awoke with a start. The air breezed across his back with a cool kiss of oncoming autumn. The night had died and he lay on the patio tiles, naked, scratched on the forearms and legs. And hungry, as usual.
A soft murmur made him turn over. Bella smiled, coming up from a sleep of the angels. “Morning, lover.”
She’d come out to meet the wolf? Brave woman.
But not the bravery that meeting his werewolf would require. And he did want that to happen. The urge had struck last night. The werewolf had known. A potential mate was close by. It had taken all Severo’s influence to keep it away from the house.
“I love the wolf,” she said on a sleepy smile.
And he bowed his head against her breast and held her tight.
* * *
“How’s it coming along?” Evie strode into the brightly lit laboratory and traced a finger along the stainless-steel counter. “Was the hair sufficient?”
Ian Grim glanced up from a grimoire he’d been poring over. His dark hair hung over one pale eye and he licked dry lips. “Excellent actually. I’ve almost figured out how to deactivate the protection wards.”
“And the binding spell?”
“I’ll need another week for that. Patience, my lady. You’ve been dreaming of this revenge for decades. Another few weeks will only make the reward much sweeter. I don’t understand your goal, though. Why not kill her?”
“Think about it, Grim. Of all the paranormals in this realm, what two species most clash and hate one another?”
“Used to be we witches and the vampires.”
“Yes, but now that the protection spell has been lifted, I’ve no fear of your blood. So you know what that leaves.”
“It is an interesting prospect. I wish you the best.”
“I don’t need your wishes. I need your spells. Back to work, Grim.”
* * *
The studio was small, lined from a mirrored wall to a cement wall with raised hardwood flooring. Off in the corner, a guitarist strummed as a female d
ancer breezed through a routine of stomping feet and twisting arms and hips.
Tonight was the audition session Bella had told him about. It was important to her, so he’d wanted to be here for her.
Severo wasn’t interested in any of the women waiting for their chance to dance. He grew alert only as Bella took the floor, her arms moving out gracefully and twisting above her head to assume a beginning pose.
The black skirt hugged her legs and the heavy white ruffles fell above her ankles. A fitted black leotard put her breasts on display and made him jealous that two other men stood in the room.
He lowered his head and observed through his lashes as the music began.
Bella’s body, sinuous and sleek, captured the music and spoke to his most feral desires. Below the waist she was forceful and loud. Above, she wove a sorrowful story with her arms and dramatic twists.
And then a man approached her, cocky and stiff, as if he were a bull approaching the cape. Which, Severo guessed, was the purpose of the dance.
He didn’t like this man. The dark hair that slicked over his ears and the focus he gave to Bella raised Severo’s hackles. He stomped out a rapid array of footwork, which stirred the other dancers to a cheering rhythmic clap.
Bella bent backward, one hand clutching her skirt up high, so a half arc of ruffles swirled from wrist to ankle. Fiercely determined, she snapped her wrist to a hip and spun about to mirror the male dancer as he tormented the floor with his heels.
The man charged her with the dominating steps of a bull. Shoulders thrust back and body sleek and straight, the man focused his attention on Bella’s face. His feet tortured the wood floor as he stomped about her, claiming, defying. Owning.
Severo exhaled. Hell, he was jealous of the man wearing dance shoes and a gold-spangled bolero jacket.
But he checked his anger. If he was jealous, that could only be a good thing. That meant he wasn’t obsessing about Aby. The realization made him momentarily sad, but he chased the feeling away with a try at the palmas, or hand clapping.
It didn’t work. His focus remained on the mere inches of space between the male dancer and Bella.