Blayne Edwards

by Caine

  Chloe knew her interpretation of his look was simply her fear causing her to hope that she might have some control over the situation. As if she could rationalize her way out of being eaten by a pack of wolves. And the result of a long, dry sexual spell. One she now knew she had to satisfy as soon as the next suitable human male came along.

  She quietly drew in a deep, cleansing breath. Calming nerves. Settling stomach. And then another faster, deeper one. Giving her a slight oxygen buzz so that the two-inch long incisors framing his mouth wouldn’t feel as sharp when he sank them into her neck.

  The second breath caused the wolf to tilt his head to the side and stare at her in a different way. Chloe studied the look as the wolf leaned over and looked more deeply into her eyes.

  What was he trying to convey to her with those beautiful blue eyes?

  Compassion for her in her uncomfortable situation?

  No way.

  Chloe let out another frustrated breath and tried to concentrate on what she had studied about the animals. What was scientific and proven. She tried to think about how to work her way out of the situation by using what she knew about their habits and defenses and territorial systems. Not what the late hour and the moonlight and the fairy tales from her childhood were making her think. She tried to concentrate on her education. Her experience. And she tried not to look up into those eyes and think about the men she had dreamed about ever since she had been old enough to recognize the taste of a fantasy as it danced through her adolescent mind.

  Her fantasies had been of mesmerizing wolf men who hunted food and mates at night. Men who seduced women with a skill and passion that no human man could match. Took those women as their wives and bred with those women. Stayed with those women, as wolves do with their mates. And men who had tried for years to live among the mountain people too frightened by what the men became at night to accept them during the light and normalcy of day.

  Chloe tried not to think about the men who had reportedly been seen by very credible members of the community in the very first part of the twentieth century in the very town where she had lived her entire life. The men who were the descendants of a wolf pack that had reportedly saved their species from extinction by breeding their way into the human race. Men from a pack and crossbred species that had never been scientifically confirmed as having existed.

  Men like the one that Chloe’s great-grandmother had sworn was the only man she had ever really loved.

  Maw had been dead for nearly twenty years and still Chloe could remember the tale she had told her when Chloe couldn’t have been older than eight or nine. Chloe could remember the story word for word. The romance and the passion in Maw’s eyes as she had told it were the very things that Chloe was sure had ruined her own love life. She supposed she had always been looking for a mate like the one she had been told about as a child. And the closest thing she had ever found to such a man was the wolves she studied and cared for and tried to protect.

  Her great-grandmother had spoken of a lover who was more beast than man. And a man who reportedly had held the same animal intensity in him that Chloe imagined she could see in the alpha that had slowly begun to inch and crawl his way up her trembling body.

  Chloe closed her eyes as the alpha lowered himself even more to press and drag his belly against her clit as he moved up her. She tried to force her mind to the memories and stories of her great-grandmother and away from the throbbing that had begun low in her body.

  Maw and her love were never able to be together. According to Maw, before they could marry, his family and the rest of his kind had been forced into seclusion in the mountains by frightened and bigoted townspeople and Maw had reluctantly married Chloe’s great-grandfather instead. After that no one in the mountain town had reported seeing any of the men or the pack again. Not in Chloe’s lifetime, at least. Not even in her mother’s or her grandmother’s lifetimes, in fact.

  Their existence had faded into the history of a small Appalachian town. And now, only the very oldest of the old timers remembered even hearing of such things. And no one alive had any first hand memories of the men now. Only handed down tales and fabricated memories. And even they were being forgotten faster than Chloe could seek them out.

  But Chloe did remember the tales. And hardly a day went by that she didn’t think back to what Maw had told her about the blue-eyed, raven-haired young man who came to her papa’s cabin every night for months in hopes that Maw would leave with him on one of those nights. Maw had told Chloe that on some nights he had come to her as a man and on other nights he stole into her room as a wolf. A beautiful black wolf with red markings and intense blue eyes similar to the ones that were looking down at Chloe that very moment.

  These were the fairy tales that she had loved. The stories she wanted so badly to hear more of and make known if only to record some very intriguing Southern folklore. And the stories that still had the ability to cause her to flutter with excitement when she was alone and had a moment for herself to imagine what such a man would be like. What kind of beast he might be in bed. What kind of animal passion a man such as that might show when he made love to a woman. And what the combination of man and beast might make him do to protect and keep the woman and children he loved. These were the only stories that had ever managed to strike a romantic chord in Chloe.

  But then, there was the truth.

  And the truth was that there was no such thing as men who were animals by nature as opposed to by choice. And there had never been men who became wolves at night or men who crept into the bedrooms of women in the middle of their unmarried nights and made love to them with an unbridled fervor before luring them back to their family homes and making them their wives. The truth was that these creatures were completely fictitious. Legends. Fantasies of a woman burdened with an unfeeling husband who had killed her spirit with his lack of passion for life or for her.

  And the real truth was that Maw had suffered from Alzheimer’s for years before anyone knew that something was wrong.

  Chloe was also quite sure of the fact that there would be no compassion in the grip the alpha male of this wolf pack used to suffocate her before he ate his fill of her flesh. There would be no thoughtful looks other than the one that would decide which subordinate male got to finish off the meat scraps and bone fragments after he was done feeding from her.

  And the only romantic thing about the entire situation would be the moonlight shining down on her uncle’s bloodied hardwood floor.

  Any remaining fantasies or sexual excitement Chloe had inside her took an indefinite leave of absence as the wolf bent his front legs and lowered his mouth closer to her face. Chloe tightened her eyelids and whimpered without meaning to as she tried to keep tears from squeezing out from her eyes. Had the animal not weighed what he did and had he not been using that weight to press down onto her, she was sure that the trembling of her body would have been visible to the entire pack.

  Panting, hot, wet breath came down on her skin. Dangerously close to her eyelids. Her cheeks.

  And on the side of her throat.

  A small sob escaped her mouth when she felt the brush of canine whiskers and wet nose on her neck. Her hands gripped the sheet covering her and she scolded herself for the tiny animal noises her impending outburst of sobs was creating. They would surely serve to tempt him and make him think she was injured prey in need of death. And tempting this boy wasn’t something Chloe wanted to do.

  Unless the fairy tales were true, of course.

  With her eyes closed, she noticed he was still. And quiet. The alpha had moved to wedge his body between her legs and had pressed his belly firmly against the swollen lips of her sex. Chloe couldn’t remember moving and adjusting her legs so that he could get this close to her, but she did notice it when she felt his warm breath on her neck and the steady motion of his body as he inhaled and exhaled while lying on top of her.

  The motions and rhythms of the alpha’s body felt like that of a lover. After t
he act, perhaps. Like one of her imaginary lovers. And like the ones Maw had fabricated to make her horrid life tolerable.

  Fantasy, Chloe had savored. She had often imagined having the man of her great-grandmother’s diseased rantings come to her and make her as desperate for him as Maw had seemed to be for her lost love.

  But this fantasy was brutally real and because it was tinged with the fear that now invaded her mind, it became an animal of a completely different flavor.

  And it was delicious.

  She felt her bottom lip begin to quiver, telling her that control of her emotions was soon to cease. Chloe wanted to hate the helpless feeling she was experiencing but found herself too much in love with the rush it was giving her. Fear had always been a bit of an aphrodisiac to her. And she knew that the physical reactions to fear and the signs of sexual arousal were sometimes very similar. To combine them both and feel the benefits of such a coupling was something she had often wondered about but had never known exactly how to go about making such a fantasy come true.

  Certainly, because of the stories she’d heard, this sensation was very close to what she had imagined. But as she lay there underneath the creature who was managing to frighten her so intensely, she couldn’t help but wonder how such a strong sexual arousal in her body was coming from a situation that couldn’t possibly be real.

  The rational side of her mind knew that this was an animal and not a man or some other part human species who was on top of her. She knew he was a wolf. A skilled and intelligent killer of prey and an animal she would not be able to reason with. An animal who seemed to be very adept at frightening her. And so the logical side of her knew that it had to be her very vivid imagination that was managing to arouse her at the same wonderful time.

  But the woman in her wasn’t so quickly satisfied with that logic.

  Chloe cursed herself silently as she shifted again and her motion allowed the wolf to settle even more urgently against her cunt. He was warm. Much warmer than any man who had ever lain pressed against her body. And that warmth was much more intimate and comforting than it should be, considering what he obviously was.

  The wolf’s heart beat rhythmically through the thin sheet that separated them. His pulse was strong and steady and it mirrored the beat pounding out to him through the wet flesh between her thighs. But his pulse was much quicker than it should be even for one of his species in the midst of a kill. It made her wonder if he was also being affected by their closeness. If his heart beating so was the result of his own arousal instead of the promise of feeding. As if he somehow had detected her fantasies regarding a fictitious cousin of his and was using the knowledge of her fantasy to excite them both.

  But that was ridiculous and Chloe knew it. Of course the animal was sexually aroused. It was mating season and every wolf in the mountains was aroused. But they were aroused for female wolves and Chloe knew that it had nothing to do with her. And she knew it had nothing to do with their being pressed against one another. The scientist in her knew that his curiosity with her was merely his animal instincts forcing him to identify someone who was evidently within his territory. Reassuring herself of that very knowledge one last time, she gripped her hands and arms in an attempt to try and steady some of the trembling and felt her fingers brush against the soft hair of his sides.

  The alpha stiffened at her touch and his breathing stopped completely. As he shifted and pressed against her even harder, she feared the worst. That he was ready to begin his feast on her flesh. Chloe closed her eyes tighter and forced control over the noises begging release from her terrified throat.

  Her body wasn’t so easily convinced, however, and the throbbing between her legs began to grow even harder as did the animal’s heartbeat against her breasts. Chloe could feel her body climbing toward the teasing of an orgasm despite the mixed emotions she felt over its instigator. She felt the alpha grind his lower belly against her clit and Chloe whimpered at the sensation. She felt him shift again, in the opposite direction this time, as if to cause the friction against her that she would have known how to identify had he been a lover. But a human lover.

  Chloe gasped without meaning to at the wonderful pulsing the alpha began to cause between her legs. The throbbing in her body intensified, as did the fear in her mind as his body pressed more firmly against her pussy. The confusion over what he was doing and why her body was allowing itself to become aroused and the recognition that his mouth was now even closer to her neck forced the loudest of whimpers yet out of her and right into his ear.

  Just as a warm, sandpapery tongue lapped up the entire side of Chloe’s face.

  She opened her eyes. She had absolutely no choice but to open them. Despite the fact that her body began to spasm in appreciation of an excitement she didn’t fully understand or want from him, she had to force her eyes to stay open. Chloe had to see what expression was on this creature’s face as he tormented his intended prey. She wanted to see the look he was holding right before he made his kill. It was a sight she knew she wouldn’t live to document, but seeing it and learning just one more thing about a species of animal she would go to her grave loving was the last pleasure she would know. In spite of the fact that the species was evidently going to be the very cause of her death.

  Not to mention the cause of her very last, and most spectacular, orgasm.

  She blinked hard and tried to steady her breathing as she looked up at him. Her body began to convulse and the alpha moved his belly again, forcing Chloe to close her eyes again and ride what he had just caused to grip her. Relaxing finally with the knowledge that if he was going to kill her, she may as well make the best of it, Chloe whimpered loudly again and let her climax have its way with her. Despite the overwhelming fear and guilt she felt toward the action, she reached up and grasped the alpha’s silky dark hair between her fingers as she bucked against him and then raised her hips and ground her wet, swollen cunt against the animal.

  The alpha seemed to respond to her body. She felt him move and then hesitate in his movements just as she needed him to do. As if he understood what was happening to her, Chloe felt him press against her and then withdraw, only to press against her again. Mirroring her body’s motions with his own.

  She sighed contentedly through closed lips and tightly sheltered eyes as she rubbed and soothed her still pulsating slit against the alpha’s belly. At the sound, she felt the alpha’s breath on her neck and his tongue brush tenderly against the flesh of her throat this time.

  It had been very gentle. And very slowly delivered. Not the lick of inspection she knew she should have received were this a regular wolf who had just somehow brought her to satisfaction. In fact, not even a lick at all if Chloe’s gut feelings were correct.

  It had been a kiss.

  Slowly, she opened her eyes again and looked up at him.

  She knew, at least her conscious mind knew, that the darkness and her tears were the cause of what she thought she could see on his face. In his eyes. Chloe took a deep breath to let a final spasm finish with her and cleared her mind as well as her vision with a long, cleansing breath. But the illusion continued to stare back at her through his gaze.

  He was grinning.

  She had to force her mouth to stay closed. And she had to fight her emotions even more after seeing the look on the wolf’s face. But now, not because she wanted to scream in terror or try and chase him off of her. Chloe held her tongue because she had the overwhelming urge to scold him. To reprimand him for what he was doing to her with his tongue and warmth and seemingly very human sexual teasing of her.

  Chloe suddenly could think of nothing except how badly she wanted to teach the son of a bitch on top of her some manners.

  But obedience school was out of the question for the moment. And as she didn’t seem to have a spare collie or poodle in estrus stashed anywhere close, Chloe had to consider the fact that she still had well over a hundred pounds of wolf appearing to smile down at her and most decidedly shifting his body
again as he did it. Pressing firmly against her and allowing his entire weight to help steady her still trembling body.

  Chloe stared at the animal with the same tone of vision he was using on her. He was daring her to continue defying him. Urging her to keep up her attitude and her attempt to have courage right to his face.

  And teasing her for having come so readily at his insistence.

  Her courage that made her not break away from his stare seemed to amuse him and that amusement looked back at her through the big, beautiful blue eyes that never left hers. Except for a moment. And only long enough for him to lower his head to the barely visible cleavage between her breasts where he placed the tip of his warm, velvety tongue.

  When he got to her mouth with this lick, he opened his eyes again.

  And grinned even harder.

  Her own eyelids no longer worked. Chloe couldn’t blink or breathe or believe what she had just had happen to her. The motion had in no way been the action of an innocent, unknowing animal. In her work, Chloe had been tongued down by several creatures of various species. Chloe had been licked in affection and greeting and even as a plea because she had to hurt an animal in order to give it medical treatment. She knew a beastly lick of affection or curiosity when she got one.

  But this boy’s lick had been neither innocent affection nor curiosity. This lick had been the kind that had been a very long time since Chloe had felt on her skin. Slow. Purposeful. Painfully teasing. And her body once again reacted with the same enthusiasm it had the last time a man had used his mouth to entice and please her.

  Her newest breath of frustration was the result of realizing that the strongest sexual reaction she had ever felt had now come to her courtesy of a dog.

  A gorgeous dog. A sexy dog, even, had she possessed four legs to wrap around him.