by Brynna Curry
Relief made her smile. He’d heard her and was lucid enough to remember her name. That was a good sign.
“Alright. I don’t have an anesthetic that would work on you.”
“Just do it.”
“Fine. Remember that later.” Ana touched two fingers to his temples, whispered quietly and called forth her magic.
“What are you doing?”
“Saving your life. Let me in. Trust me, Howl. Sleep.”
“Ah, hell.”
“Now go out.” She realized he was already out cold again.
She rushed into her exam room and gathered the additional supplies and instruments she needed to fish the bullet out. Returning to Howl’s side, she tried to focus her thoughts. She pulled back the plunger on a syringe and gave him a local anesthetic to take the edge off his pain. It wasn’t much, but it was all she had that could be safely given to a human. She prided herself on her calm manner in serious situations, but her patients were four-legged and didn’t talk back. And they didn’t look like the sexy guy occupying a good-sized chunk of her kitchen floor. Outside, thunder rumbled, rattled the windows, and rain began to pour, again. Would these storms never stop? She kept one ear tuned to the radio for announcements.
After cleaning the entrance wound, Ana slid her magic under his skin again, probing. Too deep. No way I can remove it without magic. She tugged on the metal with her power until she could feel it sliding back through the torn tissue, healing as she pulled out. She was surprised how easy it was to remove the bullet. Bright metal shone back at her as she grasped it with the forceps. Silver. Ana stared in disbelief. She had her answer to the copious blood loss, the fever, but she wasn’t ready to believe Howl could be…
I wasn’t the only one keeping secrets. My would-be lover is a werewolf.
No way. No freaking way. Her gypsy granny had told her stories of men who morphed physically into wolves, either by curse or blood. Hand shaking, she dropped it into a specimen jar, and lifted it to get a better look.
She had intended to turn the slug over to Cade as evidence to ID the shooter. An odd numbness invaded her limbs. With exquisite care, she drew one finger down the jagged opening. The skin melted together to cover the wound. She went to the sink to wash her hands and made her choice.
I can’t go to Cade now. He’s a fair man, but he won’t understand. He will see him as a threat and… No. Howl was in danger. There was only one reason someone would use a silver-coated bullet unless they were a nutbar. She turned to stare at her patient warily, as if he’d suddenly morphed into that phenomenal creature. Someone wants Howl dead. Painfully dead. If he shifted, she could use her powers to protect herself if need be, but it wouldn’t come to that.
She washed him up, and then cleaned the kitchen around him. It looked like her long day had turned into an early morning. Her good deed had just put her between the proverbial rock and a very hard place.
* * * *
Van Michaels slid his pistol back in its holster and silently waited in the pounding rain. He scanned the woods for any sign of wolf or man. Finding none, he continued the search, working his way toward Raven’s house. His cousin had walked right into his trap. No more sounds from the wolf. No padded feet beating a rut into the forest floor. Still, he had heard the eerily human howl of pain as his bullet hit the mark.
He’d followed Howl from Seattle and a dozen other places since his awakening. The moment it occurred, Van felt a change within him and knew what he must do. Raven had become wolf, and he, the wolf’s bane, must end him, just as his father had been forced to end his own twin. Damn that curse!
Van walked slowly through the woods toward the old farmhouse Howl had been renting. He needn’t find Howl’s body, only confirm the hit. So many times he’d seen it before. Inhumane but necessary, the silver would poison the wolf’s blood, until it ran like water. Howl would bleed out and die. And if the blood loss didn’t kill him, the silver would burn him alive from the inside. Van noted blood on the forest floor and the smeared handprint. Death would come, slowly.
6
Howl woke lying flat on his back on the floor, a fuzzy blanket under him and a soft, warm quilt covering his nakedness. He sniffed the air, caught the coppery scent of blood under the strong smell of cleaner and coffee.
He’d kill for a cup of coffee. Hell, why stop at a cup? Why not the whole damn pot? Maybe then he’d feel something a little closer to human. The slightest movement made his arm ache like a throbbing tooth. To make matters worse, he was hard as a rock. Yeah, Raven, like this little blanket is going to hide it from her. Sensing the subject of his desire was close by, he noted his blood was no longer boiling with poison, just pure animal lust.
Opening his eyes, Howl stared at the wooden beams exposed in the ceiling. He’d taught himself to take stock of his surroundings before reacting to any situation. More than once the precaution had saved his life. The events of the previous evening came back with a rush. Ana’s cabin. I made it here. He remembered being shot, the light in the woods, and Ana’s magic sliding through him like a drug.
“Oh, great, a fan.” He growled as a big moving blob of gold fur tackled his chest and slobbered all over him. Talk about being violated. “Hey, knock it off. You’re not my kind of girl. Where’s Ana?” he bellowed, then stifled a groan as his head thumped in protest. A whiff of something cut through the pain. Howl sniffed the air again. Over the dog, he recognized the dark, heady scent of jasmine, woman, and gypsy magic.
There she is.
A steady rhythm of clicks came closer and the scent intensified. A slim, tan foot in a sling-back heel stopped next to him. Howl let his gaze trail up the long length of bare flesh, from her bright pink toenails until it disappeared under the hem of a red skirt. Mmm. I’d like to taste that smooth skin. Instinctively, he reached out and brushed his fingers across her calf.
“We’ve got to start meeting like this more often, sans the bullet wound.”
“And the tornado. Do you remember what happened?” Ana leaned against the table, sipping a mug of coffee. She didn’t make a move to steer away from his touch.
“Unfortunately, yeah. What time is it?” He crossed his arm over his eyes and blinked against the bright light.
“10:30 AM. How about that, Taffy? Our patient made it through the night.” She set the cup on the table, crouched down beside him, patted her dog on the head and shoved her gently aside. “I know you love him, but let me have a look, ’kay?”
The dog—Ana had called her Taffy—plopped her doggy butt on the floor at his feet and looked up at him in clear adoration. Ana produced a pen light from the pocket of her lab coat. Howl stared in fascination as a mask of concentration shadowed her face. Her strong bones, olive skin and blood might not have revealed her Romany heritage. She could have easily been of Greek or Hispanic descent, but he just knew she wasn’t. His mate’s unusual green eyes told another story. They belied Irish or maybe Scot in her bloodline. Her blood magic, however, was definitely Gypsy.
“Pupils look good.” She said this to her dog in complete seriousness and he stifled a chuckle.
“How about a headache?” she asked him while she felt his forehead for heat.
“No thanks, I got enough aches,” he growled, and grasped her hand to pull her into his lap for a quick kiss. “Some are more pleasant than others.”
Ana gave a light nervous laugh. The sound wrapped around Howl and made him ache.
“Let me help you sit up. I’ll get you some aspirin and see how you feel.”
“I’d kill for a cup of that coffee.”
“Sure.”
That’s not what I’d kill for.
Clear as a bell, her voice rang in Howl’s head. For a moment, he was taken aback, then he grinned. Hmm, this new development was one he hadn’t heard of before. His grin turned wolfish. Well, well, that’s one talent I wouldn’t mind taking advantage of. No time like the present to test it. Not waiting for her answer, he grabbed the table for leverage and stood up. Th
e quilt pooled on the floor, leaving him in all his morning glory.
Her gaze swept over him, lingering for a moment on his groin. A dark blush appeared on her cheeks before she remembered herself and turned her back.
Oh, my. It was different when he lay dying on my kitchen floor.
The thought flitted through his mind as if it were his own.
“Hmm. Not so different.” He answered her unspoken thought before leaning down, snagging the quilt, and wrapping it around his waist. “You can look now.”
Ana turned, but wouldn’t meet his eyes. Howl was fascinated by the way her cheeks turned rose under the gold. He heard her inner battle between blatantly staring at him, possibly throwing herself at him, or politely turning away. Neither was what she really wanted. Interesting. Maybe taking things further between wasn’t out of the question after all.
“Right, about that coffee. How do you like it?” Ana hurried to the counter and grabbed a sturdy mug. Her fingers were trembling as she poured the hot liquid.
“Thanks. I like it black.” He tightened the quilt around his waist, pulled out a ladder-back chair, and sat facing the counter.
She stopped pouring, turned and narrowed her eyes. “Wait just a minute. You heard that?”
“Every word.”
Mmm. Something is seriously wrong with me. He’s been hurt and I still want to jump him. What kind of person am I?
“Heard that too and I’m more than happy to oblige.”
“Other than the fact this is a serious invasion of privacy. How can you hear me?” Her eyes dropped below eye level and just as quickly shot elsewhere as she handed him two aspirin and a steaming mug.
Stop thinking about sex, Ana. Control yourself.
Howl swallowed the pills with the hot coffee burning a path down his raw throat and hoped it hid his grin.
Arrgh. Damn. He probably heard that too.
“We’ll get to that, hopefully sooner rather than later.”
“You’re evading the question. I’ll need to look at your arm and check the bandage.”
“Sure.” He smiled. She’d already mentioned checking the wound. So he made her nervous.
“So, how did you come to be bleeding in my woods not twenty feet from my doorstep?”
“My woods. I’m renting the Parker place, remember? Technically, that makes Parker’s woods, my woods,” he corrected.
She turned her back on him to retrieve something from the cabinet. Had it only been yesterday they had shared lunch in this room? She had been molten in his arms, melting into his kiss. If not for the damn phone call from Jace, they would have ended up in bed. Maybe on the couch. Against the wall. Now who couldn’t control their thoughts? Where had this distance come from?
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“I know.” He slipped in behind her at the counter. He had questions. She had answers. Howl intended to have them and her. “Thank you for taking care of me. Why didn’t you call for help?” Howl laughed when he felt her jump mentally. Mind reading was such a trip. He effectively caged her between the counter and his arms. He wanted to kiss her, just there where her neck curved into her shoulder. He nuzzled the spot and traced the tip of his tongue along the exposed skin of her throat.
She tilted her head to give him better access. “The storm knocked down lines everywhere. We’re running off generator power, no phone, and no cell.”
He felt her shiver as her situation started to dawn on her. They were completely alone. Nothing to stop them from acting on this all-consuming lust. No calls from Jace. No neighborly driveby visits from Cade. No work. Just walls, rooms, and plenty of doors with locks.
“I would have driven you to the hospital once the storm let up and you were stable, but you asked me not to. That, and my Jeep was totaled by a tree. Then I found this.” Ana held up the small jar containing the bullet she had removed. “And I knew I couldn’t go to Cade. He wouldn’t understand.”
Howl took the jar. Even through the glass, the metal burned his skin. He tossed it aside and it rolled across the floor into the corner, smacking into the baseboard, but didn’t break.
“Thank you for that, for protecting me. You know what I am, then.” This time he did kiss her just behind her right ear.
“Yes.”
“And are you afraid of me?” Need beat a rhythm through his blood. Please say no. The hard planes of his body pressed against the silk of her back.
“Should I be?”
“I won’t hurt you.”
“How do you do this to me?”
Howl felt her frustration as she instinctively arched into him, offering her breasts for his touch.
“What do I do to you?” He flipped open the buttons of her blouse.
“Make me ache for you.”
A feral urge consumed him with her whispered words, something animal, something that couldn’t be controlled. He kissed the nape of her neck, and felt her skin vibrate beneath his lips. He heard her shudder inwardly and beg her body to behave. “Oh, no you don’t. I want you out of control. You should have told me about your magic.” He breathed the word in her ear. Her nipples tightened underneath his massaging fingers. He twisted her around in his arms until she faced him.
“And you could have mentioned you howl at the moon, before I had to use that magic to save your life.”
Werewolf. The word hung unspoken between them.
“I don’t have a habit of telling my lovers I grow fangs and fur. It tends to dampen the mood.”
“We’re not lovers yet.”
“I want to change that. I think you do too. Now, the way I see it we both have something to hide. We can’t have everyone knowing our little secrets, but we can share them between us.” He held her green gaze with his gold one. If he could hear her thoughts, then there was every chance she could hear his.
Who else knows about my condition, pretty Ana? Cade? Jace?
He smirked when she frowned and shook her head, those wicked green eyes widening.
What the hell? Hearing my thoughts is one thing, but stay out of my head, Howl.
Both the man and wolf liked this sign of fire. What’s the matter? A little too close for comfort? Leaning down, he ran his nose along the long, elegant line of her throat. Exotic scents lingered where her pulse beat.
Close is good. You want me. I want you. I can show you what real magic is. He inhaled deeply, taking the scent of woman and warm arousal into his lungs. His wolf perked up. His body tightened.
There’s a line if I ever heard one. Don’t try that alpha crap on me, wolf boy. I don’t cower to anyone. Her eyes closed and she sighed. I thought they might hurt you if they knew what you were.
I’m only teasing you.
I like touching your mind, my sweet, sexy Ana. I wonder how you’ll react when my hands slide across your skin. How will your sigh sound when I sink deep into your body? I’ll take you, turn you, until I’m the sun that warms you, the moon that calls to you at night. I need you. You need me, Ana. Your body is crying out for mine.
Oh my God.
He felt the liquid heat pool in her belly through the link she had opened after using her magic on him.
God, you’re so arrogant. I must be crazy to find that attractive. Without warning, she shoved, hard, pushing him out of her mind.
Howl staggered back a step, but the challenge she presented only made him want her more. He scraped his teeth along the length of her neck. Not enough to break the skin, just the hint of danger. “Okay, let’s forget about fur and magic for the moment.”
“I can help you break your curse, if you’ll let me. Sooner or later, whoever attacked you will try again. Next time they might succeed.”
She did have a point there, Howl admitted. Without her help, he’d already be dead. “Okay.”
“You can be fully human again. There are ways.”
“What could you possibly know about it?” He made his living gathering information, tracking scum that had jumped bail, and all t
he other things private investigators did on a daily basis. He was licensed to carry a weapon, but needed none. And he’d made it his business to discover all he could about werewolves with the hopes he could end the curse.
“You can’t be harmed except with silver. That’s fact, not legend. As soon as I saw the bullet, I knew what you were.” Had she felt excitement, or wariness that at any moment he might wake and rip her to pieces?
“You took care of me anyway.” He lifted Ana onto the counter. Tugging her blouse open, he took her lace-covered breast into his mouth. She shivered and leaned into him.
Oh, as pretty as it is, that has definitely gotta go. Needing to taste her, he began to fumble with the buttons at the cuffs of her sleeves.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I’ve got a thing for strays. Ask Circe.” Ana gestured toward the fluffy black cat by the fireplace.
Circe meowed sagely, hissed, and then curled around her babies.
“Is that what I am?”
Yes.
He grimaced at the intrusion.
Not as fun on the receiving end, is it? Next time ask permission first.
“This mental connection is something rare, and as you just saw, a two-way road. Normally, only found in family, or…”
Mates? He took it as a point for him when Ana didn’t answer, or push him away. He slid his arms around her waist, pressing her against his chest. She removed the bandage and traced the smooth skin on his bicep where there should have been a healing gunshot wound, but there was nothing, not even the slightest scar.
“If you are hurt,” she whispered, “you heal quickly, and without a trace. Let me go, Howl.”
He moved lower, sliding her blouse up a few inches to kiss her navel. “Why? I like holding you.” More than that, she felt right in his arms. “If you objected, you’d use some Gypsy ware to fend me off,” he whispered in her ear before taking the lobe between his teeth and nipping teasingly.