She scrambled towards the headboard. Her eyes had a wild look in them, and he wanted to put more distance between them before he answered her, but a high-pitched sound stopped him in his tracks.
“Noooooo.”
Anabella’s agonising scream of pain made him jump, and he rushed back to her.
“What’s wrong?” He placed his fingers over the ones she clutched to her head.
She slowly let her hands fall and stared up at him with a look of amazement. “It’s you. When you touch me, everything is silent. You’re blocking it somehow with your touch.”
She looked down to where his fingers remained over hers, and he followed her gaze.
“How can this be possible? Should this be possible?” she asked with awe. “What is it about you that brings silence to my world? I didn’t think I would ever get it back.”
David released her. What was she talking about?
She grabbed at David and slowly shook her head. “No, please…”
“What is it, Anabella?”
She drew in a deep breath and began talking.
“It’s Bella. Please, call me Bella. I…I have a problem, and you seem to be the answer.”
“I thought that was my line,” David said with a crooked grin. He stroked her arms, as it seemed to be keeping her calm.
Bella gave him a slight smile, but her face looked tight. She took in another deep breath and he tensed, preparing for the unknown.
“I…” Her voice came out a little scratchy, and she cleared her throat. “I hear people…in my head.” She rushed on, and David continued to stroke her arm. “I can hear the people in the next room. Their thoughts and feelings are all merging in my head, and I can’t make them stop. But with you…I get nothing. I can’t read you, and when you touch me, everything else goes away, and I hear nothing.” Her voice held a tone of awe again. “I didn’t think I would ever hear this blessed silence again…”
Bella looked at him. He knew she waited for his response, but he needed to tread carefully, he didn’t want to jeopardise what could be between them. His revelation might be too much for her. He knew people like her existed, but she had no idea that his kind lived.
“Well…aren’t you going to say anything?”
David took her hands in his and gave them a slight squeeze. “Bella, I believe you, and everything will be okay, I promise. I think I know what might be happening, but I don’t want to scare you.”
Scare me?
What could David have to share that would make her scared?
“This is what we’re going to do. I’m going to hold your hand, and we’re going to go over to the phone. I’m going to have you sit in my lap while I make the call. That way, I’m still touching you.”
Whoa…sitting on his lap? She didn’t think that was a good idea. Nope, not at all. Not when images of the two of them naked on the bed were front and centre in her mind. They were wrapped so tightly together she couldn’t tell where he ended and she began. Bella wanted to groan at the graphic image, but she cleared her thoughts instead as he settled into the chair and pulled her down with him.
She looked around the room while David waited for his call to go through. What she saw made her pause.
That painting appeared in one of her dreams. Bella’s thoughts became clear, and things began to click.
Oh. My. God. He’s going to be my lover.
She should have realised when she saw David in town that her dream had not just been an erotic fantasy but a premonition. Her breath came in short pants as she remembered her vision.
She met his gaze and saw his eyes darken. He inhaled deeply like a dog catching a scent. Bella caught a smell as well, a wonderful aroma that seemed to be coming from him. This would happen, here, tonight. She couldn’t deny it now. She leaned into him, edging closer to his lips, unable to stop herself from getting just one taste.
“David, is that you? David!” The shout coming from the phone broke the spell.
David looked away, but she could tell she still affected him. She could feel the evidence in his lap, and she wanted to touch him. She closed her eyes. She didn’t want to read the passion in his gaze, or she would start kissing him again, and she wanted to concentrate on the phone call.
“Yeah…it’s me, Russ. There’s a problem with this connection. Let me call back in a minute.”
David hung up, and Bella’s eyes flew open.
“What? Why didn’t you talk to the person on the other end?”
“I think you and I need to talk first.”
“Umm…ok.”
She didn’t understand what was going on.
“Bella…I think I’m your anchor. I have so much to tell you and so little time. I’m going to ask a lot of you, and I don’t deserve your trust.”
His hand went to her cheek to caress her face. She leaned into his palm.
“Tell me, David. I can handle it.”
His nostrils flared, and his pupils dilated. Her body responded to the look of lust gracing his face.
“I’m going to kiss you, Bella.”
She could feel his breath caressing her. She closed her eyes again and waited. He growled as his mouth connected with hers.
Her dream lover put all of himself into their first kiss. She could have told him there would be more, but she wanted to enjoy this moment. His tongue caressed her lips, asking for entrance. She couldn’t deny him. The rest could be put on hold. She opened her mouth, wanting to savour every taste and texture. She suckled his tongue in welcome. Her dreams had nothing on real life.
She needed to face him. She turned and straddled him. She wanted more, she wanted it all.
David growled again as he nibbled on her lips.
She groaned low in her throat. “More…I need more,” she panted.
David stood up with her in his arms. Bella’s legs locked around his waist as he carried her to the bed. They fell, and he twisted so she landed on top. He settled between her thighs and buried his face in her neck.
“Bella, wait. We have to talk first. I have more to tell you before this can happen.” He looked like he had some control back.
She needed to feel all of him. He couldn’t stop now.
“David…I need…I need you, now…please.”
“No, Bella. Not until you know everything.”
Now he wanted to tell her everything, when they were just about to get to the good part. Bella exhaled and untangled herself from David. She knew they would be together tonight, so she might as well let him say what he needed to say.
“What, David? I know you’re my anchor. That means you ground me, right? You help me deal with the outside world. Almost like a shield. What could be more important than that?” Her frustration bled through, but she couldn’t help it.
“Brace yourself, because what I’m about to tell you may come as a shock. I’m a wolf.”
“What…say that again?” Bella didn’t know what to think. That hadn’t been what she expected.
“Well, a werewolf, to be exact. My pack is born human, and our first shift comes with puberty.”
“Umm…a wolf? Uhhh…mmmm.” What could she say to that?
“I know this is a lot to take in, Bella, and I’m asking for a lot of faith here. Do you want to know more?”
Well…her desire had taken a back seat.
Maybe I should run now. This can’t be true. Werewolves don’t exist. They can’t. Then again, he hadn’t run when she revealed one of her secrets, so she could at least hear him out.
“Yes, please tell me more.” Bella moved to the head of the bed, not losing contact with David’s hands because she didn’t need to hear anything but him.
“I’ve only heard the stories that my parents passed on. Our pack goes back to the original shifters from Africa. The medicine men created us centuries ago to protect a tribe against a great evil. There are rumours of two immortals that started it all. The tale goes on to say these friends were about to begin a great journey as protectors of t
heir tribe. On the day of their holy transformation, they went on the ritual walk of purity and stumbled upon a relic in the desert. They brought the vessel back with them, and it caused havoc among the people, making changes that only a protector should receive. It caused a rift between the two friends, bringing war upon the people. I’m not one for history, so I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. I do know that I’m here to protect you, not hurt you.”
David paused in his story. Bella tried to wrap her head around all this information. Could she really believe him?
Wolves? It seemed too unbelievable.
“David…I…this is…” She couldn’t form a coherent sentence. “It sounds too unreal…I-I don’t know what to say.”
“There’s more. My alpha sent me to find you because—”
“Wait…alpha? Is that some kind of code?”
David gave a bark of laughter. “No. An alpha is the leader of our group, our pack. Sort of like a father figure.”
“Okay…go on.”
David continued, “My alpha, Russ, had a dream that you are the key to helping our pack. He sent me to find you and bring you back. He’s supposed to explain more once we get to the house.”
“Is that all? You’re my anchor, a wolf and you are supposed to bring me to this Russ person. And if that car hadn’t tried to run me over, how had you planned to take me back to this place?”
“I hadn’t thought that all the way through. I had a hard enough time finding you. It really doesn’t matter now. I have you, you’re here, and we’re heading back to the pack house.”
“What if I don’t want to go with you, David? Did you ever think about that? I have my own life. Granted it isn’t much, but it’s mine. And you expect me to just leave it behind to help you? And you say you’re a werewolf. Well, I want proof. Show me.”
Chapter Three
Well, shit.
“You want me to shift? Here? Now?”
David knew disbelief flooded his voice.
“Yes.”
He really shouldn’t be surprised she needed proof. Wolves had to be a big stretch even if she did have powers of her own.
“You know if I shift I won’t be able to touch you, right?”
“Can’t you just…I don’t know, shift a little?”
He sighed. It was the least he could do. Who knew what would happen once they reached the house?
He had to concentrate. He didn’t do a lot of partial shifting. He felt the pull and twitch of his muscle and bone transforming into a paw. He heard Bella’s intake of breath, but he couldn’t smell fear. He let his paw turn back into a hand and waited for her to respond.
“Oh my god, oh my god…this can’t be real, but it is, I saw it, it’s real. Ohmygod, Ohmygod.”
She looked at him in shock, but he didn’t see disgust in her eyes. David released the breath he hadn’t known he held.
He used the hand that had changed into a paw to cup her face. “It’s real, Bella. Can you handle it? Is it too much? Because there is something else I need to tell you, something very important to you and me.”
“There’s more? How can there possibly be more?”
David saw her try to calm herself. He wondered if she knew she stroked his hand as if to steady them both.
“Ok, hit me with it.”
David had to smile. Anabella surprised him at every turn. She had so much strength. He really thought she would be hysterical now. In the short time they’d known each other, they had been through so much. He hoped she could handle this next part.
“We…umm…you and I…” He put his other hand on top of hers to stop the stroking.
Fuck. When had life gotten so complicated?
“We’re mates.” There. He’d said it.
Bella cocked her head to the side as if contemplating this new piece of information.
“That’s why I stopped, Bella. If we have sex, I won’t be able to fight the urge to claim you and make you mine.”
“How…wha…I mean, how do you know that?”
“I felt the pull when I first recognised you by your scent in town.”
“Right…my scent?”
David could hear the disbelief threading back into her voice.
“I have a strong sense of smell, Bella,” he said with a grin. “But it isn’t just how you smell, it’s how your scent affects me. My heart is pounding so hard it’s as if it wants to come out of my chest and give itself to you. And I have this uncontrollable urge to protect you and make you mine in all ways possible. To bite you.” David drew the last part of his statement out, and he could tell it had the result he wanted. The pulse in the base of her neck jumped at the idea.
She leaned in as if waiting for him to do it right then, and he took that as her acceptance of what would happen. He licked her throat, then his canines extended and sank in. Bella gasped and arched into him. He released the mating fluid and backed off when his canines retracted. He licked her throat again to close the wound.
“You are mine in mind.” He spoke softly, caressing her with his words.
He sat up and tugged on Bella’s shirt. “Too many clothes.”
He couldn’t control his hands. The need to feel her overrode any idea of slow and gentle. He exposed her breasts, wrapped in a silky bra. He ripped it off Bella’s body. She gasped, but David couldn’t stop. He needed to claim her as his.
He leaned down and licked her nipple before he sucked the rosy tip into his mouth. She threw her head back, and David moved to her other breast and suckled. When he could stand it no more, he licked the spot by her heart, bared his teeth and sank them into her flesh, releasing more of the mating fluid. Heaven, her taste was pure heaven and so intoxicating. He licked his mark closed and whispered “You are mine in heart.”
He pushed her back on the bed so he could pull her skirt and underwear off then threw them to floor along with her shoes. He wanted to lick and nibble every bit of her flesh. He growled again, low in his throat, and removed his clothes. He wanted to feel every inch of her, but first he needed to complete the mating ritual.
He leaned back down and licked her belly. He felt her shiver against his tongue as he kissed his way down to her very essence. He buried his face in her heat, inhaling her scent. He nuzzled his way to where her thighs connected to her female core and once again bared his teeth and sank them into her flesh. “You are mine in body,” he whispered as the last of the mating fluid flowed into her. He closed the wound.
One more step and Bella was his.
He crawled back up her body for a kiss. Slow and deep, he filled it with all the love and passion he felt for this woman, this virtual stranger he couldn’t get enough of. His lips released hers, and he whispered in Bella’s ear, “You are now mine in mind, heart and body forever more.”
And with those words he joined their bodies, making them one. Bella tensed, and David froze when he felt the slight barrier in his way.
Warmth spread through his body when he realised Bella had given him her virginity. As their hearts and souls joined, the animal urges rushed over him. He forced himself to slow down. He didn’t want to hurt her.
“Bella, what…oh shit. I’m so sorry. Baby, if I’d known…” He pulled away, but Bella wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded and pulled him down for a kiss.
He’d never lost control with a woman before. Of course, he’d heard tales from the other men in his pack that when you found your mate control was no longer yours to have but hers to take. He sank into Bella, trying to take things slowly, but she raised her hips to meet his, and just like that, she took his control. He pumped faster and faster, reaching for climax with his mate. He’d never felt as whole as he did in this moment.
“Yes. David! Yesss,” Bella moaned.
He could feel her inner muscles clenching, stroking his cock as though she couldn’t get enough.
“More, David…I feel, just…more, please.”
David growled a
s he nuzzled, licked and nibbled on her neck, trying to bring her closer to the edge.
“David,” she howled.
Her scream pushed him over the edge, and he had to catch himself before he collapsed on top of her. He rolled them over so he didn’t crush her with his weight. He stroked his hands down Bella’s back as she continued to shake.
He lifted her face and framed it with his hands. He gave her a gentle kiss. “I can’t say all of the things I feel for you right now. My emotions are so out of control, and words fail me.” He pulled her back down and cradled her in his arms as they drifted to sleep.
Chapter Four
Bella woke from the best night she’d had in weeks. She stretched and felt a wonderful ache all over. She reached out and touched the area next to her but only felt the warm spot where David had slept.
She bolted upright and clutched the sheet to her chest only to see him sitting beside her. He’d put on his jeans but left his shirt off. He looked so lickable.
She hadn’t gotten to play much last night and hoped to make up for it this morning.
He stared at her with a serious look in his eyes. It took a moment, but she noticed the voices were gone and he wasn’t touching her. She concentrated and felt a shield wrap around her. It slipped a bit when she tried to manipulate it, and she could hear the voices from the next room. She slammed it shut without much effort.
How did she have a shield now when she could never develop one before? Yesterday, she’d needed his touch. Why not today?
“There’s something else, something important we didn’t talk about last night. I’m sorry, Bella. I lost control. Fuck, this is hard.” He looked so serious.
Bella’s stomach started to sour as uncertainty settled in her bones. Her mind raced, and she wished he would get on with it and tell her.
“What is it, David? I think you can say it. How bad can it be?”
“You’re one of us, now.”
That gave Bella a start. Her dream hadn’t revealed that.
“I’m one of you? What does that mean? I’m not a wolf, I’m human. I may have special gifts, but I’m not a wolf!”
Dreams Page 2