by Anne Douglas
Where did this guy get off?
So what if he was tall, broad, and sexy as hell with all that black, curly hair and that sinful goatee? It didn’t matter at all that he had big strong hands and biceps and thighs like tree trunks, or that he was so huge she felt almost itty bitty beside him.
No man called her a bitch and got away with it. She was just too…nice…to ever be tarred with that brush. Her mother was probably turning in her grave to hear someone call her daughter a bitch.
Then what he’d just said sank in.
“You know…Ohmigod… You know who I went home with last night?” Pearl buried her head in her hands, and a shiver of horror ran down her back. “How? How can you know that?”
I think I might be sick. Would everyone know that she had been as drunk as a skunk and taken a stranger home to her bed? Good God, would her father find out?
“I don’t know exactly who you took home last night, but I have a short list of suspects.” The man she now knew was Shaun’s neighbor and the local vet still slowly thumped his head against the wheel. “Stupid, stupid pups. They were warned, but would they listen? Ohhh no. Rob’s going to be pissed.”
His seatbelt clicked and the door opened. He clambered down from the mile-high truck with the ease of a snake slithering over sand. “Let’s get inside; you’re going to get a crash course in Were etiquette.”
Pearl watched the man stride across to the well-used looking cabin and jerk open the screen door. The thump of his work boots across the wooden veranda faded away as he unlocked the front door and entered the building. No way am I following him in there. I don’t care if Shaun recommended him; he could be an axe murderer. Pearl jiggled the lock. Besides, I can’t go anywhere anyway, stupid bloody man.
And what did he mean by Were etiquette?
Pearl had been taught correct and proper etiquette from birth; that Neanderthal couldn’t possibly have anything to teach her, of all people. Pearl sat, back straight, eyes forward, chin up just like her mother had drummed into her, and waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
Finally, after ten minutes, the cabin door exploded open to frame a sexy, but very angry, man with his hands propped on his hips. Had she not been such a polite woman ‑‑ say like Shaun ‑‑ she would’ve had to wipe up the drool. He filled the doorway and then some. His head touched the top of the frame, and his shoulders the sides of the frame easily.
Jeans hugged thick, bulging thighs, and Pearl told herself that she certainly did not notice the rather full to bursting rise of the well-worn denim as it crept toward the belted waistband riding low on his hips. Her fingers definitely didn’t twitch with the desire to run their fingers along the soft flannel shirt that strained across the wide, bulky chest that flexed every time he huffed with annoyance.
Ladies didn’t drool with lust, but they sure were allowed to swallow with trepidation. So, ignoring the dampness in her panties, that was what she did. Swallowed, and then swallowed again when he stepped off the veranda, making the denim and flannel he wore ripple across very big muscles. Please, please don’t be a psychopathic axe murderer.
“Why the hell haven’t you gotten out of the truck?” Despite the height of the cab, he was tall enough that she could look straight into his face through the side window of the vehicle as he shouted at her. “This isn’t the time for getting all snooty and sulky.”
Winding down the window, Pearl calmly stated her case. “Well, considering how wonderfully polite you’ve been and all, I so wanted to rush after you to hear exactly why you forcefully dragged me out of your office, stuffed me in your truck, and drove hell bent for leather into the middle of nowhere.” She was still speaking politely. Loudly, but still politely. “But since you kiddy locked me in your goddamn truck, I can’t go anywhere, you officious oaf!”
So sue her, she was screaming at someone, and damned if it didn’t feel good. Seeing red flags of color roll across Rex’s cheeks felt even better, though.
Pearl felt rather vindicated when he sheepishly opened the truck door and offered his hand to help her down, easily lifting her when it became obvious that, in her beige pencil skirt, the gap from the running board to the ground would be impossible without hiking her skirt to her waist.
Pearl was sure with Rex Dixon being a man and all that he wouldn’t be averse to a show of leg. But even though they were her best feature by far, she wasn’t up for giving the man a thrill.
“Ah, sorry about that. I forgot about having flicked the lock.” She decided that chagrined looked good on the man. “Let’s go inside. I ‑‑”
A chorus of howls, most likely of the canine variety, echoed out across the valley they stood in, causing Rex to cock his head and scowl. “We have to get inside now. I can’t protect you out in the open against that many of the Pack, and they’ll probably be here before I can explain this mess to you.” Hand wrapped around her upper arm again, he dragged her inside the cabin and deposited her on an old, worn, and still very comfy lounge chair.
Rex went to the front door and locked and barred it. Pearl studied him as he then went to every window and possible entry ‑‑ and exit ‑‑ of the cabin, making sure they were all locked soundly.
While the Paul Bunyan look-alike was nice to watch, she needed some answers. “Look, I came to your office today to see if you could help with my…umm…dog problem. I didn’t have one yesterday, but today…well, after some unusual circumstances for me, I do.”
She pulled at the high lace collar of her blouse as if she could hide the evidence of her indiscretion more than she already had. The blouse had been a favorite of her mother’s for “correct church wear,” but she hadn’t worn it since the funeral because it itched like the devil ‑‑ perhaps appropriate punishment, considering what it hid.
Rex turned from the last window and stood staring at her in a most odd manner. For the first time in her life, someone was staring at her as if he wanted to eat her for dessert ‑‑ and maybe even breakfast with a little snack for supper in between. Pearl clamped her legs together as she felt her pussy heat and become wet. She’d been on edge all morning, despite apparently having been fucked senseless the night before. Now the Superman-like eyes of fire being directed her way ignited a blaze deep in her belly, sending bursts of flame through her that made her nipples pucker and harden.
Rex carefully sat down on the other side of the room from her. It looked as if he was trying hard to control himself. Odd, considering he was the one calling the shots.
“Okay, little bi ‑‑” At her tense, indignant growl, he stopped and ran his hand over his face in frustration. “I’m sorry. It’s a habit.”
“You call all your women little bitches?” The supercilious rise of her eyebrow should clue him in to how she felt about that idea.
“Ye ‑‑ No, I don’t.” He paused, confused. “All right, there’s no easy way to say this…last night you were bitten by one of the Were-kind. I’m not sure who; we have a few pups that have been a bit, well, rebellious lately. I’m guessing the young guy you took home last night lost his control in the middle of it all and broke your skin when he was giving you a love bite.” He stood up and started moving restlessly around the room. Pearl wondered if it was the way he processed. Walked and talked. Thought and paced.
Since the guy was starting to sound eerily like Shaun with her kooky theories that werewolves and vampires existed, Pearl began to get a bad feeling about the situation.
“I’ve heard about this from other Were-kind doctors. A human woman bitten just before or as she ovulates is forced straight into heat ‑‑ even before her first change. I hadn’t ever thought to see it happen…”
Speechless at what she was hearing Rex mutter to himself, Pearl shook with not a little bit of horror. Too many things were piling one on top of the other for her to not believe what she was hearing. The man was a doctor twice over, surely that had to count for some amount of sanity ‑‑ or insanity, depending on how you look
ed at it.
“Excuse me…Rex?” Lost in his musing, Rex had tuned out any external stimuli, and Pearl’s scared voice was no exception.
“Rex!” Her sharp reprimand jerked him out of his thoughts and back to her. Maybe that hadn’t been such a good thing. Rex’s intense body language was back, and this time he wasn’t on the other side of the room. His pacing had jerked to a stop about two feet away from her; he was definitely encroaching on her personal space.
“Can you please, please, explain to me further? Are you telling me that I was bitten by a werewolf, and now I’m going to get all furry once a month?” The sarcasm was ripe, with just a little undertone of fear that that was exactly what he was telling her.
“Yes…God, you smell so good…” His voice had gone a little whiny. Were his eyes crossing and his nose twitching? Rex took a step away from her. “Anyway, as I started to say, I wasn’t calling you a bitch because of your attitude, but as a designation. It’s an old-fashioned Pack term, and sometimes we males slip and use the term with females we don’t know.”
Rex stopped staring at her, looking away as another blush colored his cheeks. “Ah…what is your name? I do apologize; I’m not usually this abrupt, but your scent…”
If the deep inhalation and his following growl were anything to go by, her scent was good. Pearl wondered what he smelled on her. Her perfume? Her shampoo? Please don’t let it be my soaked panties.
“Pearl. Pearl Gordon.” She held out her hand in a nice-to-meet-you gesture, and was surprised when Rex backed away hurriedly. “What’s wrong?”
“Pearl, you’re in heat. For every male Were in a ten-mile radius you’re like a tasty piece of rib eye ‑‑ delicious, juicy, desired, and to be fought over.” Eww, he thought of her as a piece of meat? Well, at least it was a prime cut. “I am trying here, Pearl, but I’m having a hard enough job coping with your scent. If I touch you…”
“So, you’re a Were, too?” Time for him to show her exactly what he expected her to believe. “Show me, then. Show me some proof that what you say is really true.”
Startled, Rex looked frantically around as if trying to find an escape route, but he had quite capably locked them both in the house. She watched him gulp, and after a shudder ran down his spine, he turned back toward her.
“You…you want me to change?” He seemed pretty distressed about the whole idea.
“Well, yes. If you want me to believe this whole cockamamie story of yours…change. I’m a ‘proof with my own eyes’ kind of girl. Despite Shaun’s attempts to drag me out vampire hunting.” A dark, icky feeling shivered its way down Pearl’s spine as she remembered the one and only time she’d conceded ‑‑ the local cemetery at two a.m. on a dark, stormy night was not somewhere she wanted to be ever again. “As a rule, I’m not any sort of believer in the supernatural ‑‑ but if you can show me the proof, I might be convinced.”
Pearl sat, and Rex stood stock still, one contemplating the other ‑‑ one doing her best with a skeptical eyebrow to goad the other into doing the impossible.
Impossible. Yes, impossible, she thought to herself over and over again, doing a wonderful job of ignoring the hand that changed to a very large paw, the muscled, denim clad thigh that became a thick, fur-covered haunch, and the mouth that became a snout full of large ‑‑ very large ‑‑ teeth. All the better to eat you with, my dear. No, that was the big bad wolf, wasn’t it? Goldilocks was the one with the bear problems.
“Holy shit!” Pearl didn’t swear all that often, but watching a man change into a fully grown black bear standing well over seven feet tall on his back legs surely was an occasion to warrant it.
Terrified, she burrowed back into the lounge chair, trying to make herself as small and innocuous as possible, hoping, praying that the beast would forget all about her.
The bear ‑‑ ohmigod, Rex ‑‑ fell down onto all fours and shuffled his way across the wood floor, his nails clicking on the worn surface and his nose snuffling and scenting something that drew a rumble from his chest. The bear made no obvious move to attack, but snuffled its way up her legs, a coughing grunt blowing hot air along her exposed skin and a very rough tongue rasping its way over her thigh as he forced his snout between her thighs.
Too late, Pearl, it looks like you just became the main course.
“Like hell I am…they tell you to hit back if attacked.” Pulling her arm back, she clenched her fist. “Here goes nothing,” she forced between gritted teeth as she slugged the bear over the nose with everything she had, lashing out in fear and frustration. “Take that, you stupid bear!”
Chapter Four
The scent was sweeter than any fruit, soaking his senses, calling to him. He shoved his nose into the damp crevice where the glorious smell was strongest. He tasted the treat before him with his nose and his tongue, edging his way slowly closer to the female that tantalized him so with her perfume.
She was what he’d been seeking all these years. None of the other females had felt right. They hadn’t smelled right either, but this one…this one was what he’d been waiting for. He wanted to dip his tongue into the delicious honey, wallow in her fragrance, and mark her as his own…
“What the fuck?” Rex fell back onto his ass, pinching his nose and trying to stem the flow of blood as another clenched fist in front of a damn good right hook smashed into his cheek. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, lady?”
He managed to get a hold of her wrist as she wound up for another strike and pulled her forward into his chest, landing them both on the floor with a loud “oomph.” Pearl lay perfectly nestled between his legs and across his chest. Rex flipped them over, his powerful thighs falling to either side of her hips as he held her hands above her head while she struggled to get free.
“Get off me, you brute!” You brute? The woman was such a contradiction, Miss Manners one moment, then modern attitude and vernacular the next.
“Me? I’m a brute? Lady, I’m the one with a bleeding nose.” It didn’t matter that part of his dual nature was the ability to heal a lot faster than a normal human, and the blood flow from his nose was now a slow ooze, not the gushing river it had been when she shocked him into changing back from his bear form. “What did I do to you to make you lash out like that? I might not have been Mr. Congeniality the way I bundled you up here ‑‑ but I apologized ‑‑ and I even changed just like you asked. Why’d you smack me over the snout?”
Rex pulled one hand away and poked at the cartilage running along the ridge of his nose, grimacing as he hit a particularly sore spot. “I don’t think you broke it.”
The struggles had stopped, drawing his attention away from his injury and back to the woman lying beneath him. Her face was pale, but bursts of color brushed her cheeks and she panted shallowly. Following her gaze, Rex realized, courtesy of her unexpected punch, he’d transformed back sans clothing and now straddled her buck-naked with a raging hard-on. Usually the transformation included clothing, but sometimes when you had to do it fast, the clothing got left behind.
“You’re…” Pearl cleared her throat, making her breasts jiggle as well as heave from her panting, “ah…you’re naked.” And turned on went unsaid, but acknowledged anyway.
“Yes, it does seem that way, doesn’t it?” Quite an enviable state, considering the circumstances, Rex thought to himself.
Pearl’s skirt rode up around her waist, and the very puritan blouse she wore had lost a couple of buttons in the scuffle. His cock, larger than it’d ever been in his life, nestled in the vee of Pearl’s legs, framed by pretty blue lace hipster panties.
He wasn’t particularly inclined to make haste and move off the lovely plump bundle that had set to struggling again. Her mons rubbed along his dick as she tried to buck him loose, and her breasts strained the remaining buttons of her blouse before another popped, revealing the bra matching the panties.
Like a bear to honey, Rex couldn’t hold back any longer. She was like nectar to both of his forms, and he wa
sn’t on any sort of sugar-free diet. Leaning down, he ran the slightly stubbly edge of his cheek along the now exposed curve of her neck, scenting her, marking her with his own. He nipped at the bruise on her shoulder with his canines extended, drawing a heated gasp from her as he ground down with his hips, giving pleasure with the pain of the bite.
His brain feebly told him to stop, but nature took a hold, pushing logical thought to the side, letting the instinct to mate with a suitable female roar to the front his consciousness. The smell of fear was easily overridden as he felt moisture seep through the lace pressed against the underside of his cock, dampening his skin.
As he laved the bite mark, she made small whimpers of pleasure. The beast recognized this woman as his mate ‑‑ the woman who would bear his cubs and be his to protect. Unable to suppress a groan, he took her mouth roughly with his kiss. The smooth heat of her lips slid over his, and she opened to him, caressing his thrusting tongue with her own as she invited him into her body, mimicking the thrusts of his hips against hers.
With his free hand, he stroked down Pearl’s side. Palming her breasts, he pushed the cups of her bra to the side so the flesh overflowed into his hand. He kneaded at the soft flesh and plucked at her nipple until it stood hard and proud. Pulling away from her lips, he rasped the prickly hair of his goatee over the tender morsel of her nipple, making his woman cry out as her body arched, seeking more of the delicious pleasure.
Buttons tore loose as his hand ripped open what was left of her blouse. Rex pushed aside the fabric so he could feel more of her plump, sweet flesh against his as his tongue and lips suckled at the other breast, teasing and taunting it into hardness.
“Ohmigod…ohmigod…don’t…don’t stop!” Pearl writhed beneath him; loosing her bound hands, he slid further down her body and tugged at her panties, ripping them free to bare her to his gaze.
Rex pushed the fabric of her skirt higher, exposing her belly. His tongue swirled around her navel as he made his way down her body. Pearl’s fingers threaded through his hair, holding his head to her body, not letting him move away.
