by Fawn Lowery
She tried to quell her doubts about Nick Austin—and at the same time, tried to believe that Rick had gotten control of his anger right after leaving her house the night of the murder. She found it hard to do—on both counts.
“Janna, I’m not pulling Nick off the job—unless you agree to come back to Dover Run so the family can protect you.”
“No, Daddy. I’m staying in Madison.”
She got off the phone and drove to the nearest furniture store. Shopping quickly, she chose a new chair in shades of mauve and aqua, a matching lamp and three new living room tables. A new scatter rug to cover the claw marks in the carpet completed her purchases. Having arranged delivery for later in the day, she left the store.
She instinctually tipped her nose into the air and sniffed as she exited the store. Surely the two alpha males weren’t taking her advice to stop following her. Just as she suspected, she smelled the unmistakable musk of a were carried on the light breeze. She bristled, glared about the wide avenue in search of either male, and finding nothing to confirm her suspicions that they were nearby, felt a new wave of alarm travel through her insides.
She hadn’t been around Rick, or Nick, for that matter, long enough to truly identify either of their scents with any accuracy. For all accounts, she could very well be scenting one of them and unable to identify the odor for sure. She told herself that everything was all right. Her father had done his best to reassure her that Nick Austin was a good man. But his actions earlier in the day disturbed her.
Had he reacted to her Moon Phase?
She recalled the effect her pheromones had on Rick the first time they met. A shiver of awareness raced through her with the vivid memory of his naked body pressed so tightly against hers. And the heated sex they had shared…
She drove through a fast food drive through for lunch and returned to the office. A message from Lieutenant Barton was on her desk when she returned. She picked up the telephone and dialed his number.
“There’s been another murder, Marlow. Meet me at Spruce and Elm.”
Janna suddenly lost her appetite. She tossed the bacon cheeseburger in the trashcan and grabbed her purse and notepad. Another murder in Madison—had the werewolf struck again?
“This is only six blocks from the park,” she said to Lieutenant Barton.
He shook his craggy head. “And less than twenty-four hours after the first murder.”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“The son-of-a-bitch might live in the vicinity.”
They walked toward the cordoned off area. Several uniformed police were scouring the area inside the yellow warning tape for evidence. A crew from the coroner’s office was already on the site. Janna saw Hank Watson bent over the body. She accompanied Lieutenant Barton across the lawn to the medical examiner.
The area was similar to that of the first murder, she noted, jotting a note on her pad. The crime scene was the front yard of an older home in Madison with a neatly manicured lawn and well tended shrubs. The victim was male, dressed in a navy blue jogging suit and tennis shoes.
“I guess he couldn’t out run whatever attacked him,” Barton muttered aiming his gaze at the coroner.
“You think he was out for a morning run?” Hank asked, glancing up from his inspection of the body.
“That would account for his attire.”
Janna surveyed the area, her eyes skimming over the crumpled body. It lay partly hidden in a hedge, the legs and feet sticking out as though someone—or something—had tried to conceal it. The jogging suit was blood-soaked and the grass in front of the hedge appeared bloody.
“This murder is similar to the one in the park, but not as brutal,” she said to the coroner.
Hank nodded his gray head. “It doesn’t seem as though the body is as mangled as John Melton’s was, though I’d say the murderer is one and the same. There are definite teeth marks on the torn flesh. Of course, I won’t know for sure until I get the body back to the office where I can fully examine it.”
“Can you give a time of death, doc?” Lieutenant Barton asked.
“I’d guess the wee hours of the morning,” Hank said.
Lieutenant Barton rose and strode over to Janna. “Do you think the murderer was interrupted—that’s why there aren’t bits of flesh thrown all around the area?” he said in a low tone.
Janna was certain that when a human Changed into a werewolf and killed, he or she, had little thought to being seen or getting caught. It was only those that hated being bound by the Curse that worried over killing and being found out.
“Perhaps the victim put up a good fight.”
Lieutenant Barton shook his head. “Maybe there was only one killer this time.”
The thought assailed Janna’s mind.
Was there more than one werewolf committing murder in Madison?
She decided not to speculate on the Lieutenant’s theory. She would write up the story as another mysterious murder in town and repeat her warning to be on the lookout for anything suspicious in the neighborhood. She only hoped that someone would come forward with a good lead and the police would apprehend the killer before too many others lost their lives.
Back at the newspaper office, Janna typed up her story and got it off to copy, then headed home. The new furniture she had purchased was due to be delivered at five o’clock and she had to be there to unlock the door.
As she drove the short distance to her rental house, she wondered what had happened to Nick. Surely she wasn’t sly enough to evade him all afternoon—but then why the hell should she give a shit? She had wanted him to disappear since he first made contact with her. It was curious though, she admitted, shaking her head. For two days and as many nights, she had been unable to get rid of him—now, suddenly, he was nowhere to be found.
The new furniture arrived on time and Janna was busy placing the new items in the room when a knock sounded on her door. She hesitated to answer for fear that it might be Nick Austin. But the second knock and the sound of Rick calling her name from the other side of the door brought her rushing to let him in.
“Hi,” she said, a wide smile spanning her face as she opened the door to him.
He stepped inside and gave the door a push with one foot as he pulled her into his arms.
“I’m glad you aren’t still mad at me,” he said, pressing his mouth to hers.
Janna melted in his arms, arching her body into the solid wall of chest. She curled her arms around his neck and kissed him back, conveying her message that she was glad to see him.
His hands pressed along her back, following the natural curve of her waist and buttocks. He let a low moan of desire sound from his throat as he clasped a fleshy curve in either hand and pressed her against his rising cock.
Janna felt her senses reel out of control. She had been fighting the need to have him all day—even the anger she had harbored over the fight he had with Nick last night had mysteriously disappeared.
He pulled his mouth from hers suddenly. “I came over to get you. The construction crew is breaking ground for my new house today. I want you to be there.”
A note of surprise, coupled with an intense feeling of delight, wafted through Janna’s insides.
He wants me at the groundbreaking of his new house?
The thought that perhaps she meant more to Rick than merely a sex partner sprang to mind. A quiver of hope raced through her. At first she had believed she only wanted sex from him—but after that disturbing dream last night—other thoughts had materialized in her mind. What if there could really be something between them?
She paused in his arms, her head still bent for his kisses, her mind racing. What should she do? Should she let him believe she was interested in more than a casual sexual relationship? What about her vow never to marry because of who—what—she was?
She pushed out of his arms suddenly. For a second she had almost forgotten the suspicions she had about him. Did she dare ask the questions she harbored?<
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Throwing caution to the wind, she pulled in a deep breath and met his gaze. His green eyes held a curious look.
“The police found another murder victim today,” she began.
He poked his hands into his jeans pockets. “So?” He shrugged his broad shoulders.
She combed one hand through her hair. “I have to ask, Rick—since I know you’re a werewolf—“
He strode toward her, a smile on his face. “Do you really think I’m a killer, Janna? Do you think I could shred another human being with my teeth and claws and then make love to you?”
Well when you put it that way—
“I’m sorry.” She felt remorse then for even thinking he might be involved. She tried to smile, but her face felt stiff and unnatural. “It’s just that I’m a little on edge because—“ Her words broke off. Should she tell him she had to fight Nick off earlier that day?
“Where’s Nick?” she asked, an idea springing to mind.
“He’s busy.”
An arched brow lifted.
“Get your purse. I want you to be there when the crew breaks ground.”
She pushed thoughts of Nick and their little skirmish aside and went with Rick to the ground he had recently purchased outside of Madison. The loud roar of heavy machinery could be heard as Rick turned his car off the main road and began traveling along the newly cut road through the woods.
Towering oak and spindly pine fought for space on either side of the narrow lane. The fragrant aroma of summer in full bloom filled the air. Sunlight filtered through the tall canopy as the treetops met over the road, sending warm yellow streams of sunlight filtering down to gleam across the polished surface of the car.
Janna pulled the refreshing fragrance deep into her lungs, savoring the sensation of needing to run it brought to her mind. But the notion to Change had to be pushed aside; there were numerous workmen in the area and too many eyes watching to chance being seen changing from human form into werewolf.
They arrived at a large clearing and Rick parked the car near a tall stand of pine trees at one edge. A bulldozer had uprooted the trees in the area and pushed them into a huge pile at the back of the clearing. Several men were busy surveying the area and driving stakes into the ground, marking the layout of the new house.
Rick wound one arm around Janna’s waist and led her toward the workers. A man in a hard hat and carrying a set of blueprints cut across the newly plowed ground to meet them.
“We’re almost ready,” he said, grinning at Rick and Janna. “We have the foundation laid out and the men have almost got the forms unloaded from the truck. We’ll be starting shortly.”
He poked out his right hand to Janna. “Glad to meet you, Mrs. Sawyer.”
A ripple of surprise shot through Janna’s insides. She glanced at Rick, only to see him smile—but made no attempt to correct the man’s mistake.
“I’m Janna Marlow,” she said, her cheeks flaming. She shook the man’s hand while he blushed and looked to Rick expectedly.
The crew foreman gushed an apology and hurried over to where the other workers were driving stakes into the ground.
“Now I wonder where he got that idea,” Janna quipped, a smile on her lips. Rick looked very smug all of a sudden and the mere fact that he was amused made her wonder what he was really thinking beneath that handsome exterior.
The surrounding area was suddenly filled with the belching smoke of a giant backhoe as it stared up and chugged in the direction of the wooden stakes. In the next seconds it lowered its large metal bucket and began digging, lifting buckets full of earth from the designated area.
“The forms for the foundation will be set in place by this time tomorrow,” Rick yelled over the noise of the machine. “And before winter arrives, the house will be finished.”
“Congratulations,” Janna shouted.
I’m so glad you’re staying in the area.
A measure of serenity settled inside her. She savored the feeling, hoping he was staying around not merely because he needed territory to run in when the Curse bore down on him, but because of her too.
I could fall in love with this man.
Chapter Ten
“What did you do to Nick?”
“The less you know, the better.”
Rick ran his hands up her arms, cupping her chin in one hand while he grazed her collarbone with the other. He traced her jaw with the edge of his thumb, then brought one fingertip to her lower lip.
“You have a beautiful mouth.”
He parted her lips with his fingertip and poked his finger inside to smooth along her lower teeth.
Janna held still, her eyes locked with his, as he inched his finger along her gum. An erotic feeling began in her belly and spiraled out along her limbs. Once, she had envisioned having kinky sex with a man—but she had not tried to fulfill that notion. Now with Rick—
“I want to make love to you,” he whispered, his finger finding her tongue and stroking it. “I want you in bed, beneath me.” He pulled in a shuddering breath. “Actually, I’d like you to suck my dick—I’ve thought about you doing that all day, honey.” He pulled in another shuddering breath. “I had a wet dream about you last night.”
Janna felt the fires of desire leap to the fore.
“I woke up just as I spilled my load—“ He laughed slightly. “I’ve never had a wet dream before, Janna. But then, I’ve never met a woman that I thought I could fall in love with either.”
Janna was glad his finger was still in her mouth while he unburdened his soul—she didn’t really know what to say to him. She had heard her brothers joke about having wet dreams—but she never really thought they did. Now, perhaps she had been wrong to disbelieve them. Maybe she should have asked questions instead of discounting their whispered comments.
And then there was his comment about finding a woman to fall in love with—was he referring to her?
Holy cow!
He pulled her into his arms and buried his face in the thick fall of hair at her nape. He kissed her neck and held her tightly.
“Let’s Change into wolf form and have sex, Janna—just to experience it.”
She pushed him away, perhaps a bit harder and rougher than she should have.
“Being a werewolf is not something to be experienced merely because you have the ability.” Anger tinged her voice and had it been earlier in the day, when Rick could have seen her features, he would have been able to see how disgusted his statement had made her feel.
“But, honey, that’s just a little kink to make things interesting. Have you ever tried it?”
“No.”
“If you don’t like it, we can Change back in an instant.”
“I don’t want to have sex when I’m Changed into wolf form, Rick. Don’t you understand? I don’t like being a werewolf.” She heaved a long sigh.
“But haven’t you ever wondered about doing it when you’re in wolf form? Haven’t you ever wondered how it might feel?” A lusty shiver shook his big body. “Come on, baby. Let’s give it a try. We’re out here in a hundred acres—nobody will see us if we hump each other in the clearing.”
He was serious, she realized, not just wondering out loud. She stared at his tall form. It was approaching midnight and they were standing just inside a pine grove lying adjacent to the beginning of his new house. The glow from the full moon illuminated the sky and cast eerie shadows amid the trees. The newly erected house forms took on the appearance of strange rock-like statues rising up from the barren ground.
She suddenly felt the urge to run—to tear herself from Rick’s possessive touch and race amid the trees in an effort to clear her mind. She was just about to suggest they do just that, when Rick tightened his embrace and kissed her.
His mouth was hot and moist, pressing possessively against her lips and making her moan with the sensual assault that suddenly came to her insides. She pressed her breasts into the solid wall of his chest and thrust her belly against his abdomen. He had a
hard-on, she realized, as he pressed himself against her flesh. He slid his hands across her back and clasped her buttocks, grinding his manhood against her while he held her steady. His hold was vise tight; she couldn’t move if she wanted to.
Suddenly his mouth was rough on hers, pressing so hard that she thought she tasted blood on her tongue. He was rough to the point of making her cry out when he suddenly pushed her down on the ground. Her back met the unyielding surface with an audible thud and for a second she couldn’t get her breath.
He ripped at her clothing, pulling off her blouse so quickly she was certain she heard the buttons pop off. She still wore the clothes she had worked in and Rick soon rid her of her skirt and pantyhose. Before she knew it, she was naked on the ground, the feel of grass and dried brush beneath her bare back.
“Rick—“ she protested, pushing at his hands. Her objection calmed his actions. He sat back on his haunches, releasing her on the ground.
“You make me wild with lust, Janna.”
She raised up and looked at him, though unable to see his features because of the darkness. Lust in a man was a good thing—wasn’t it? She wondered then if she should have let him continue because she was certain he would take her to new sexual heights. And that was the purpose of having sex—wasn’t it?
She combed one hand through her hair. She felt confused. She had never met a werewolf before that showed her such passion, such lust. Suddenly she gave his suggestion real consideration.
“If I don’t like it—we can Change back immediately—right?”
He fell on her suddenly, his mouth capturing her lips and pinning her against the ground with a forceful kiss.
“I don’t want to be known as the werewolf girl who will hump any wolf anytime, Rick.”
“Honey, I love you! Please don’t even consider that I would do anything to hurt you—ever!”
He loves me?
A feeling she had never experienced before suddenly overtook her mind and body. She had found a man who had fallen in love with her.
Halleluiah!
She felt his body grow heavy upon her, felt the onset of a dense coat of fur as it started on his back—knew he had called on the Magic and was going through his Change. A tremor of fear shot through her. What if he was unable to control his wolf urges? What if it was a mistake to chance something so bizarre?