by Christa Wick
Leah Howard doesn't believe in werewolves, even if she dreams of shifting. Pack alpha Seth Gladwin can't understand why a human female is ringing all his mating bells.
When Seth chases Leah down in her apartment building and partially shifts in front of her, he wants nothing more than a forgetting spell placed on the plus-size beauty so he can continue investigating a secret society of Hunters intent on making the local werewolf clan extinct.
Only this time, the society's prey isn't shifters -- it's Leah.
**********************
Copyright © 2012 by Christa Wick
Sveva font licensed from astype@myfonts. Cover art modified from material licensed from and © KatieLittle@dreamstime. Use of licensed images is for illustrative purposes only and does not imply the model's endorsement of or participation in any or similar activities contained in this work of fiction.
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WOLF CURVES
Leaving the third floor laundry room of her apartment building, Leah Howard stepped into the elevator with her arms wrapped around a clothes hamper. Seeing the two hulking males who all but filled the small space, she moved to the back corner. Her gaze flicked in their direction just long enough to notice that both wore jeans, dark work boots and leather jackets. The slightly taller of the two had his back turned to her, his dark brown hair dusting the collar of his jacket.
Catching his scent, Leah's stomach tightened. She felt a little crazy for doing so, but she'd learned to trust or avoid people based on the odors emanating from them. Not the smells that came from some store-bought bottle or a hard day's work, but the way each person's body twisted it to their own unique signature.
The man directly next to her smelled like candied apples still warm and dripping caramel. She'd never smelled anything so sexy and the effect on her body was immediate. Moisture flooded her mouth, her skin heating at the same time.
She had half a second to wonder if he looked as good as he smelled before he turned and faced her. A full head shorter, Leah found herself staring at his broad chest. It rose and fell as if he had just finished sprinting. She could hear him breathing, the sound mixed with a low rumble that sounded almost like a cat's purr. Only the cat would have to be about six-two and approaching two hundred pounds of pure muscle.
He was a big, strong man and his scent was doing crazy things to her control. Lifting her gaze, she found him glaring down at her.
"What floor?"
The question came out like she'd just robbed a bank or worse. Startled, Leah hugged the hamper closer to her chest. "Eight, please."
His companion pressed the button for the eighth floor. Tall, dark and brooding continued to stare down at her. He still breathed like a freight train but there wasn't a drop of sweat on him.
"What's your name?"
The harsh bark had mellowed just a fraction but she still flinched. Her lips parted, hesitating. She felt her skin flush again, her whole body growing humid beneath his scrutiny. Menacing and sexy as hell, she didn't know whether to be afraid of him or turned on. Her body settled on both, adrenaline saturating her nerve endings as a pocket of heat built between her legs.
His intense gaze narrowed, concentrating on her mouth as if he could will her to answer. When she didn't, he took a step forward. "Tell me your name."
A hand came down on his shoulder. "Not here, boss."
She moved her head just enough to make eye contact with the other man. He had dark blond hair, the cut short but stylishly messy. Confusion registering on his face, he raised one dark ginger brow and curled his hand around the leather collar of Leah's inquisitor.
"Boss?"
On cue, the elevator door opened to the eighth floor. As she eased her way past him, the man reached out. His fingertips brushed her hip, tightening at the last second to grip her. Her knees went weak and a hot stab of need gutted her insides.
"Answer me, beautiful."
Beautiful.
The word hit her like a slab of cold meat, quickly replacing the heat that coiled through her stomach with sick dread. She'd walked into some kind of cruel set-up or a con game, knew the signs all too well. She pushed his hand off her hip, twisted the last little bit out of the elevator and turned to stare him down.
Her phony rescuer curled an arm around the guy's waist but didn't try too hard to restrain him. When the guy put one foot across the elevator's threshold, Leah's gaze jumped to her apartment door.
The blond tightened his grip. "What the fuck, Seth?"
The elevator door started to close. Seth blocked it, still watching her as he drew his bottom lip into his mouth and sharply inhaled. Terrified she was about to be the big man's dinner, she swung the hamper at his head. The hard plastic shell hit him square on the left side of his face, the impact knocking the basket from her grip.
He grinned, his whole expression wicked, predatory and unfazed by the blow.
Pinning her with a calm gaze, the blond wrestled to hold Seth back. "Whatever you do, Miss, don't run."
"Yeah, baby -- stay right there."
Leah blinked, drew a sharp breath. Talk about mood swings! Seth looked like he wanted to kill her but sounded like pure sex. Worse yet, she could smell him more sharply, his warm, sweet scent urging Leah to trust him.
"Listen to me." The blond wrapped a leg around Seth's. "Don't run, don't scream."
Blondie had to be a complete dolt. She'd be screaming her head off if her throat wasn't so tight she could barely breathe!
"Just stay calm."
Leah wasn't sure if he was talking to her or Seth, but he was too late on both counts. Her heart thudded in her chest, she felt like puking and she couldn't get her legs to move. Seth flexed his muscles impatiently, his teeth gnawing at his bottom lip while his gaze zigzagged all over her body.
He growled, her panties flooding with moisture at the sound.
Something was desperately wrong -- not only with the situation but in her head. When he growled like that, she wanted to pull her pants down, press her stomach flat to the floor and lift her bottom in the air so he could take her aching cunt from behind.
She took one last look at her apartment. To the right and six doors down, it was too far away. She couldn't hope to reach and unlock the door before Seth was on her. She needed to buy time until she could scream. Tuesday night after ten, half the floor's residents had to be home. They might not rescue her but someone would call 911.
"Don't be afraid, baby."
Baby? Her gaze jumped back to Seth and froze. Four of his teeth had elongated, two top and two bottom, all of them narrowing to razor sharp tips. Green fire burned in irises that had been dark chocolate a few seconds before.
Not possible!
She felt the slow onset of true panic. Long-buried dreams as real as memories shot through her. She stumbled a step back.
"Just going to talk." His tongue traced the edge of his top fangs before his gaze dropped to her full hips and he released a puff of hot air. "About things."
Her feet finally working, Leah bolted left toward the stairwell next to the elevator. Slamming the door open, she heard a loud thump and the blond softly swearing. Not stopping, she headed down stairs at full speed, hoping to buy enough time to convince her vocal chords they really could scream.
Halfway down to the next landing, she heard the stairwell door crash open again. She jerked and tripped, taking the last ten steps as two before hitting the wall. A heartbeat later, Seth spun her around until her back was up against it.
He had her pinned in place, his big body pushing against hers. She could
hear the blond above them, urgently whispering something. Seth ignored him, his sole focus seemingly on her face. His pupils pulsed like a madman's.
"It's okay, beautiful. I won't hurt you."
His hand ran over her hip and she realized that the thick length of steel rubbing against her body was flesh. He was hard, huge -- the length of his erection too big for her to comprehend.
"You're coming with me." His voice caught in the middle, sliding into a moan as he bent his head toward hers. His lips parted, steam from his breath misting her face. His tongue snuck out to test the seam of her mouth, freeing the scream that had been building inside her.
The sound lasted less than a heartbeat. He raised his hand, the flesh seeming to shimmer right before he placed the pad of his thumb against her forehead and she passed out.
**********
Leah woke in her bedroom, relief flooding through her that she had only been having one of her weird ass dreams. Staying very still, she tried to brush the cobwebs from her mind. She remembered a man, tall and beyond masculine. He had told her to stay, his voice sinfully deep and vibrating with lust.
She furrowed her brow, searching for the part of the dream that had scared her. He'd touched her, his hand firm and possessive but gentle. He'd kissed her, too, his mouth like a fire brand. She felt herself getting wet as she concentrated. Her hips shifted against the bed, her butt digging into the mattress as the tension mounted between her legs.
When her perineum tightened in need, she turned on her side and inhaled deeply to center her thoughts.
Caramel…dripping…hot.
Jerking her head back, Leah opened her eyes. Sitting a foot from the bed in her reading chair as he watched her, the man from her dream leaned forward, the side of his forearms resting against his knees. Memories flashed like lightning inside her mind. His name was Seth. The dark chocolate eyes had been possessed with an eerie green light and she was certain she had seen fangs.
"Feeling better?" His lips parted, the teeth appearing white, even and incapable of savagely rending flesh.
The door opened and the blond man stepped into the bedroom. "Em's just a few minutes out."
Seth didn't acknowledge him, just continued staring intently at Leah. He dropped one hand along the side of the chair, snagging her wallet from her book bag. The way he flipped it open straight to her ID told her he'd already sorted through the wallet's contents.
He tilted his head, his gaze drifting between her and her driver's license. "Leah Howard, twenty-eight, five-foot-seven, hair black, eyes green."
She nodded, a little hiccup of air leaving her. "What are you going to do?"
His gaze raked over her, lingering at the swell of her breasts and hips. Just as he had in the elevator, he wet his bottom lip and then he took a deep breath through his nose. His eyes drifted shut, his lips parting before he looked at her again.
Seth lifted his ass just enough to drag the chair up to the edge of her bed. His hand came down on the mattress to grip its side. "What do you want me to do, Leah?"
For one wild second she pictured his handsome face between her thighs, his tongue running the length of her pussy before it disappeared between her wet folds. She forced the image away. She couldn't let her attraction to him cloud her thinking. She had no doubt she was in danger. No sane, law-abiding person acted like Seth, which meant he was crazy, a criminal or both.
Pushing her fear aside, she calmly looked him in the eyes. "I want you to leave."
A sad grin pulled his mouth to the left before disappearing. His hand surfed closer to her body, traced the air in front of the feminine swell of her chest before stopping over one erect nipple. The heat of his palm penetrated her blouse and bra, the sensation tightening the skin on her breast until her cunt ached.
"Please…don't." Swallowing, she pressed her lips together to stop their quiver. As much as she should have been, she wasn't afraid. That first bite of gnawing hunger she'd felt in the elevator upon smelling him was still with her. It deepened by the second, twisting down through her stomach to wrap around her uterus like a fist and squeeze.
Meeting his gaze, she repeated her order. "Leave. I don't want you here."
Seth pulled his hand back, surprise momentarily widening his features. His face quickly hardened to a determined challenge. Putting both palms flat against the mattress, he leaned in, his nose starting up near her head. He brushed the tip against her forehead, traveled along the slope of her nose. Moving to her mouth, he took a leisurely lick, nipped her chin. Reaching her breasts, he pressed his face against the fabric guarding her cleavage and breathed deeply.
Slow, so slow, lower and lower until he was even with her hips, his forehead almost touching the cushion of flesh above the bone. Another deep breath and he groaned. The sound vibrated against her mound. Her thighs tensed, her lower torso starting to tremble as her labia squeezed at nothing.
Growling softly, he looked up at her. "You're lying, baby."
Half lying, she amended. Part of her wanted him gone. The rational part -- not the part between her legs, so wet it threatened to soak the sheets. She pulled her knees up and tucked her legs closer to her body to control their shaking.
"Pretty little liar." His knowing gaze penetrated her. His forehead nuzzled her hip. "I can smell your cream, feel your heat."
God help her, she was drenched and only getting wetter. Contractions gripped her cunt, intensifying her need. She didn't care that the blond was in the room, watching them with a puzzled expression. Seth was right. She wanted him in her, spearing her with that thick, unyielding shaft she'd felt pressed up against her stomach in the stairwell.
Have you completely lost your mind?
This was crazy. He had her trapped in her bedroom. She should be thinking about escape instead wrestling her arousal. She looked at the blond, her gaze pleading. "Can't you make him go?"
Seth growled again, this time like a dog protecting a bone as the man shifted position behind him. Seth flexed his shoulders, his hands curling, the fingers widely spaced and menacing in their tensed position.
A smile ghosted the blond's face. His right hand closed around his left. Squeezing, he popped the knuckles. "Not without killing him."
Seth swiveled at the waist. His hands left the mattress to grip the armrests. The fabric covering the chair ripped as his hands tensed. "Wait downstairs for Esme."
Leah snapped back to reality, her arousal extinguished. Now she had two names. No matter that they were only first names, the chances of identifying him and this Esme person had doubled.
Whatever Seth had planned, he wasn't worried about Leah exposing them. She'd watched enough cop shows to know that could only mean one thing.
"You're going to kill me." She kept the whimper waiting behind her lips in check. She might die, but she wouldn't grovel.
Seth whipped his head back in her direction, all the intensity draining from his face. He sank back into the chair. "No one will hurt you."
She wrapped her arms across her chest. "Then why don't you wait downstairs?"
That earned a short laugh from the blond. "She's got a point. It's better if you wait for Em anyway."
Seth shook his head. "I'm not leaving her alone with you."
The blond closed his eyes, a soft sigh escaping. "Don't worry about me, boss. Big girls aren't my thing."
Leah took a sharp breath in, tears stinging her eyes. Bad enough one of them was crazy and holding her captive, the sane one had to be rude. She looked away from both of them, staring at a cobweb high up in the corner of her room. Whatever happened, she would not beg for her life and she sure as hell wouldn't let them see her cry over something she'd heard hundreds of times before. They would think she was weak and whatever they had planned for her would be that much worse.
Seth rose, trailing one fingertip along the edge of the bed while he stared at Leah. Turning, he stepped until he was chest-to-chest with the blond. "You're a selfish asshole, Dana, and a liar."
Seth lef
t, Dana stayed. When Leah glanced at him from the corner of her eye, she found him staring at the floor. She turned her head, looked at him more directly and saw a blush fading across his cheeks.
Ten minutes later, she thought she understood why when Dana slinked off into a corner. His gaze skipped toward the bedroom door before landing on Leah. His expression slackened into something that reminded her of the bored, disaffected students in the discipline room she supervised at the nearby middle school.
A second after she saw the change in Dana, she heard a woman's voice. The corner of his mouth ticked right and then he folded his arms across his chest. The door opened and a woman walked in, Seth following behind her.
From where he stood in the corner, Dana's gaze swept over the woman, taking in the full curves and the dark blonde hair that fell in curls around her shoulders before his attention settled on the pink pout of a mouth. Big girl or not, she was a stunner with her pale skin, high cheekbones, thick lashes and a kisser that was pure Hollywood glamour.
She approached the bed, her right hand extended. "Hello, Leah. I'm Esme Foster and I wish we could have met under better circumstances."
Surprising herself, Leah took the woman's hand. Faintly warm and dry, it had a soothing effect. Reminding herself she had no reason to trust the woman, she let go and pointed at the chair. "Would you like to sit down?"
Esme's eyes sparkled when she smiled at Leah. "I was just about to ask if I could. Thank you."
She settled into the chair. It was big and cozy, meant to hold Leah without pinching at her hips or generous thighs. Seth had dwarfed it with his muscular frame, but Esme fit perfectly. She arranged the long skirt she wore and rubbed lightly at the chair's armrest for a second before she turned her attention back to Leah.
"I'm a witch, in case you're wondering why I'm here."
Leah's brows shut up. She felt her odds worsening.
Two crazies and one rude, possibly sane one.
Esme leaned closer, as if she had a juicy piece of gossip to share with an old friend. "Seth wants me to put a forgetting spell on you, but I'm not going to."
Seth offered a surprised grunt.
