by Fawn Lowery
The telephone sitting on the corner of Elmer McCoy’s desk suddenly rang, making Janna jump in surprise. Elmer waved one hand at her, dismissing her, as he lifted the receiver.
Without hesitation, Janna hurried out of the editor’s office. She would hurry and type her story up and then go home for the day. She’d wait until then to call her mother back. She hurried to her desk and flipped on her computer. Opening her notebook, she shuddered at how sloppy Rick Sawyer’s handwriting was.
Damn! He should have paid better attention in school!
A short giggle leapt from her throat as she began the tedious task of deciphering his handwriting.
* * * *
Janna let herself in the front door of the small rental house she called home and began stripping out of her clothes. To top everything off, she felt flushed and out of sorts. Her stomach felt queasy.
She donned a robe and dialed her mother’s number. The phone rang three times before she picked it up.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
Janna heard her mother draw in a long breath. “Honey, we think he may have followed you.”
Janna’s knees almost gave way beneath her body. She sank onto the couch, her fingers clamped so tightly around the telephone receiver that her knuckles pained.
“How do you know?”
“Your father has been doing a little investigating…and the killings have stopped—they stopped right after you left town, honey.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean the rogue followed me to Madison.” She bit her lip, thinking. “Maybe somebody killed the son-of-a-bitch. Maybe he attacked someone who was packing a gun. Maybe somebody shot him.”
“Honey, you’re clutching at straws. I want you to come home. We want you to come back to the compound. You’ll be safe here. We can protect you.”
Leave Madison? Quit her job and go home with her tail between her legs?
“No, Mom. I won’t do that.” She tried to think of something that would make sense to her mother. She could hear the worry in her voice.
“Janna, I know you’re in your Moon Phase—“
“Mom, please—“
“Honey, it’s just—“
“I know what you’re going to say. Don’t worry.” She combed her fingers through her hair, agitated that her mother thought she couldn’t take care of herself. “There’s no way in hell that a rogue were from Dover Run followed me to Madison. He doesn’t even know I exist, for Pete’s sake. Think about it. I’m not even using my real name.”
“Your father thinks he’s someone you met before you left town.”
“I’d know if I met a were, Mom, honest.” She rolled her eyes in exasperation. Sudden thoughts of Rick Sawyer popped into her head. God! They weren’t all like him. A shard of fright snaked up her spine. Most she had heard about were quite willing to be governed by the Curse—killing or maiming anyone they caught out while in their Change.
She felt her throat choke up just thinking about being a werewolf. Suddenly she got off the phone with her mother, giving the excuse that she was expecting company and needed to shower and change. It wasn’t entirely a lie, she told herself, glancing at the clock on the living room wall.
She contemplated what her mother had said while she showered. Madison was far enough away from Dover Run that she shouldn’t have to worry about somebody following her. Besides, she reasoned, she had seen no evidence of any other werewolf—either at work or living in the vicinity.
She stepped out of the shower, grabbed one towel for her wet hair, and wrapped another around her body. Heading for the bedroom, she tried to decide what to wear to dinner with Rick. Maybe she should just whip up something there, and they could eat in bed.
The thought made her chuckle. The very idea of her body being so insistent on the fact that she have sex—as many times as possible—during the following days seemed absurd. But then on the other hand, the idea was to keep the species going.
“Bullshit!”
She dropped the towel at her feet and pulled on lace panties and a matching bra. Catching a glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror on one side of the room, she paused to take assessment of her body. She was tall for a girl, almost five feet ten inches, with soft alluring curves in all the right places.
When she Changed, she was well over six feet.
The thought sent a shiver racing up her spine.
She had learned to suppress the memories surrounding the first time she Changed. It was gruesome, to say the least. It was a cold night, with barren trees in the park where her parents had taken her for the transformation. She remembered how reassuring they both were, how supportive they were of her feelings toward the event. Her father apologized over and over for having bitten her mother all those years earlier and thus causing all her offspring to be as their mother.
A knock on the door suddenly brought her thinking back to the present. She hurried to pull on a loose fitting pair of white denim jeans and a cotton shirt. Stepping into a pair of red strappy sandals, she raced to the door. If that was Rick, he was early by half an hour.
Cautious by nature, she peered through the peephole in the upper half of the door before opening up. A surge of awareness gripped her gut as she spied a tall dark haired man waiting on the other side of the door. Quietly, she took in his appearance as her breath caught up in her throat.
He was well over six feet, with broad shoulders and a lean build. He was dressed in a business suit with a white shirt and navy striped tie. And his facial features were very appealing, strong chin, deep set eyes, light brown hair that grazed the collar of his shirt.
Should she open the door?
She tipped her nose in the air and sniffed, trying to scent the man waiting calmly on the small front porch. It was hard to tell, given the density of the wooden door. Quietly, she moved closer, poking her nose between the edge of the door and its facing. She sniffed.
Damn!
She supposed she could poke her nose out the mail slot—maybe she could smell him then!
She almost giggled. Was she becoming paranoid?
She stared through the peephole at the man while he raised his hand and knocked again on her door. Holding very still, she decided not to open up.
I’ll be on the safe side of caution.
Mom would be proud of me.
He appeared a little anxious, or so Janna thought by the way he paced about the porch for a few seconds. Then, finally deciding she wasn’t home, or wasn’t opening the door to a stranger, he poked one hand into his suit coat pocket and pulled out a white envelope. In the next instant, he bent down and slid the envelope through the mail slot in the lower half of the door.
The sudden jolt of werewolf musk nearly knocked Janna off her feet!
She reeled with the scent of the woodsy aroma; drawing it deep into her lungs to be certain she wasn’t imagining things. She slapped one hand over her mouth to keep from gasping aloud and alerting the were. Surely his ears were pricked to any noises beyond the door.
She stood completely still, barely breathing, until she heard him leave the porch, get into his car and drive away. Then she allowed the tremor of fright to travel through her body. It brought tears to her eyes.
Chapter Four
“If I could scent him—he scented me!”
“Take it easy,” Rick soothed.
Janna paced back and forth across the living room. Her nerves were on edge; she bit her lip in nervous anticipation. How in hell had she been discovered? And who was that man? Or rather, who was that werewolf?
“What was in the envelope?”
Shaking her head, Janna pointed to the envelope lying on the coffee table. She had been so distraught at having a strange werewolf on her front porch that she had completely forgotten to open the note.
Rick picked up the envelope and ripped it open. He took a single sheet of paper from inside and handed it to Janna.
“You read it,” she insisted, stuffing her hands into her jeans pockets.
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br /> Rick’s anxious gaze scanned the page. “It’s from your dad.”
“What?”
Janna hurried to his side and took the sheet of paper. She hurried to read her father’s words, a new worry coming to mind. Momentarily, she found herself telling Rick about the conversation she had with her mother less than an hour ago.
“They sent a were to guard me.”
Rick’s eyes momentarily paled and for a split second Janna thought he was going to Change right before her eyes.
He’s jealous.
A lusty shiver zinged along her limbs. Handsome Rick already had ideas of his own where she was concerned, apparently. She let a slow smile of satisfaction pull her lips upward as she watched him try to hide his obvious annoyance at any new competition for her attentions.
“You don’t need a bodyguard,” Rick stated. He crossed the room and placed his hands on Janna’s shoulders. “I know we just met—but I already have feelings for you, babe.”
She placed one hand against his chest. A solid wall of muscle flexed beneath her palm. His warmth penetrated her skin and raced straight to her heart. Her breath caught in her throat. The nearness of him assaulted her senses. Suddenly she felt immense heat rise inside her body. She wanted him—wanted him bad.
She stepped closer to him, prompting him to enclose her in his warm embrace. She leaned into his chest, pressing her breasts against his muscular strength. She tipped her head and he responded by lowering his mouth to claim her lips.
The heat of his mouth sent a shiver of longing through her insides. She parted her lips and felt his tongue slide along her gum, then tangled teasingly with her own tongue. Erotic thoughts filtered through her mind. She wished she had foregone the bra and panties, leaving her body uncluttered for their sex play.
He growled deep in his throat and Janna felt his big body shudder as she poked her tongue into his mouth. She delved her fingers into the thick blond hair at his nape and made a fist, forcing his head at her command. She tasted his mouth, listening to his moans of surrender.
He whisked her clothing off so quickly she barely had time to realize what he was doing. He pulled back only for a second while he stripped her blouse over her head without opening the buttons and then grabbed the waistband of her jeans in one hand while he lifted her into his arms and carried her toward the bedroom. When he laid her on the bed, her jeans were yanked off in one quick movement.
Damn! This guy doesn’t mess around!
He was naked in the length of time it took Janna to scoot to the middle of the bed, then he was joining her, roughly turning her on her belly and pulling her up on her hands and knees.
“I don’t like this position—“
“Don’t go there, babe.”
He pulled her buttocks against his crotch and entered her, quickly, roughly, ramming his hard flesh inside her with one quick thrust. He began to move, slamming into her hot core with rapid lunges that sank to the hilt.
Janna tried to steady her body on her hands and knees. He was like a wild man, lunging into her so brutally she wanted to scream out in pain. She sensed his rage at having another were coming around—especially since she was in her Moon Phase. She smiled in spite of the pain he was giving her.
He kissed her back, licking her flesh with his wet tongue. He groped her breasts with one hand, squeezing her nipples until they hurt. She bit her lip to keep silent. And he hammered away at her delicate tissues.
“You don’t need a fucking bodyguard!”
His sentence came out in a whoosh of heated breath, wafting along her back as he thrust deeply. Janna didn’t respond, tried to match his lunges with her own movements. She was beginning to get used to the depth of his penetration. He was big and long, thick to the point of filling her cavity completely when he lunged in.
She tried to overlook the roughness, tried to understand his fear of a rival were finding her—coming to protect her. She felt it then—the onset of orgasm. It began in her belly and streamed along her legs, making her crotch tingle with those familiar sensations. She knotted her fists in the sheet and arched her back, pressing her buttocks into his crotch and opening herself up fully.
“You don’t need a bodyguard!”
“Shut up and pump!”
The orgasm came full bloom inside her, spilling along her limbs and sending her senses racing out of control. She closed her eyes and savored the multitude of engulfing sensations spiraling through her body.
Sweat blanketed her skin; her heart raced in her chest; her knees felt numb, but she couldn’t flop on her belly and enjoy the remainder of her orgasm—Rick was still slamming into her core with the force of a mad man—
Suddenly he filled the room with a loud roar and rammed inside her so hard he knocked her on her face on the bed. A long arm quickly retrieved her limp body, pulling her back against his crotch while he resumed his sex play, reaping every last tingle of his climax while he refused to let her loose.
* * * *
I’m sorry I was so rough, babe.”
Janna rolled to her side. Rising up on one elbow, she gazed down at him.
“You seem to think you have competition,” she remarked, a smirk on her face.
He turned his head to look at her.
“Isn’t it a little early in the game to start thinking you own me?”
He reached one hand to her breast; expertly he rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. “I’ve never owned a woman before.” He pinched her nipple, watching her expression. “It’s a totally new experience.”
“You don’t own me.” She covered his hand with hers, stilling his fingers on her nipple. “No man will ever own me.”
There was conviction in her voice.
“You sound very sure of that fact.”
“We’re just having sex for the hell of it, Rick. Don’t get any ideas that it means anything more.” She felt her gut tighten. A look of disappointment flashed across his face, almost making her regret having spoken.
“Then I guess I’m one lucky son-of-a-bitch,” he remarked, levering himself off the bed. “I just happened to find a bitch in heat who needs my services.” He strode into the bathroom and slammed the door.
Janna rolled to her side and got up. Crossing the room, she took a satin robe from the closet and pulled it on. She was pulling the sash belt tight around her waist when Rick emerged from the restroom. He barely glanced in her direction as he began pulling on his clothes. A few minutes later, he was slamming the front door, leaving her to wonder if she would ever see him again.
So, she wasn’t having dinner out. She shrugged her shoulders and headed to the kitchen. There was cold chicken in the fridge. She’d heat it up and call it supper. Suddenly she fought the urge to cry.
“Well, he asked for it—being so damn smug and thinking I needed a master!”
She put the chicken into the oven and went to the small wet bar in the end of the kitchen. She mixed a pitcher of martinis and gulped down the first one before the timer went off on the oven, signaling her dinner was warmed. Men could be such fucking jerks!
She took her dinner out of the oven and carried it to the living room. Flipping on the TV, she settled on the couch. The evening news was just beginning. She forced her mind to listen to the reporter and push thoughts of the little dispute she had with Rick Sawyer aside, at least for now.
“The Madison Police are on the scene of a gruesome murder in City Park,” the announcer said.
Janna’s ears pricked up. She paused her fork in mid-air, a steaming bite of roast chicken just inches from her mouth. What had the reporter said about a murder?
“Details are sketchy right now, but it appears some one or some thing attacked a man in the park this evening. An autopsy has been ordered and we’ll keep you posted about the results.”
The TV picture then cut to a local celebration at the Elks Club.
Janna set aside her plate and levered herself off the couch. Suppose what her mother told her, was true? Was
she in danger? And what about that strange werewolf who had knocked on her door earlier? Why hadn’t her mother mentioned that her dad was sending a guard for her?
She paced the room, her hands clasped behind her back. Damn! It was nerve wracking—being someone out of the norm and knowing what you were capable of. She was suddenly overcome with the urge to run—to run as hard and as fast as she could.
She closed her eyes and willed her body to Change.
The magic surged through her veins, elongating her arms and legs, pulling her muscles with a raw contorting tug that stretched her body almost two feet beyond her normal height. Dense blond fur covered her form; powerful claws protruded from paw-like feet, and razor sharp teeth protruded from her muzzle.
The Transformation complete, she bounded from the open window of the living room to leap into a full lope, heading into the small patch of woods lying behind the house. Always when the Change came over her, she headed to the woods to run, to release the tension gathered in her bones. She raced amid the stand of maples and fir; mindful of the release she needed, yet cautious of the need to run inside of cover. It was barely dusk; many of the neighbors on the street were still out in their yards playing with their children.
She ran through the trees, racing as hard as her wolf body would allow. Finally, panting and feeling the strain in her muscles, she hid inside a grove of evergreens to catch her breath and return to human form. Breathing hard, she called the magic and waited. It arrived in a tingling assault on her body, spreading across her blond fur and enveloping her completely. Within seconds she stood up, her body once more in human form. She straightened her blouse and stepped from the cover of the grove. At least when she Changed from human to wolf, and then back again, she somehow regained her clothing. The transformation still puzzled her sometimes; still lacked explanation as far as she was concerned. She signed and headed toward her house. Surely she wasn’t the only werewolf who found discord with the ability to shape-shift.