by Jane Jamison
In that respect, her desire for him was normal. To have felt no attraction at all wouldn’t have made any sense. A woman would have to be stone-cold dead not to want him.
What wasn’t understandable was how much that attraction overruled all her other emotions. Even when she tried to think about her predicament and focus her mind on trying to remember something, anything, her mind betrayed her, taking her back to wondering how hot he’d look without his clothes.
And God, his kiss!
She hadn’t expected it, and yet, when he’d put his lips to hers, she’d felt like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like her mouth had been made just for his.
He’d tasted salty and tangy with an underlying taste of indefinable free spirit. She’d felt his body tremble against hers and had felt his hard cock press against her stomach. If she’d had the nerve, she would’ve cupped his hardness.
You’re out of your mind.
Yeah, I am. In more ways than one.
A giggle rose to her lips and she put her fingers against them. Did they feel thoroughly kissed?
She should be wracking her brain for a memory, any clue to who she was and where she belonged. Instead, she wanted nothing more than to fantasize about Zack. What would it be like to run her fingers over his hard chest? How would he react if she’d given in to the urge to slide her tongue over the bare skin at the V of his shirt? He would’ve taken her, she knew it. And she would’ve loved every second of it.
Why had he stopped the kiss? Had she suddenly become less desirable?
He’d left her wetter between the legs than she was now.
She slid her palm along the side of her breast then over to the nipple. Closing her eyes, she pretended that it was Zack’s hand pinching and tormenting the hard nub. She bit her lower lip then let her other hand find its way between her legs.
Her finger eased by her folds to her clit. She massaged it, replacing her hand in her mind with Zack’s tongue. She could see him, his blue eyes clouded over yet locked onto hers as he gazed over her mound and whipped his tongue over and around her clit.
Continuing to play with her tit, she rubbed harder and pictured his head bobbing up and down as he moved his tongue faster and faster. She thrust a finger into her pussy and used the ball of her hand to push harder against her clit.
Bubbles tickled her chin as she sank lower into the water. Vaguely, the idea of pleasuring herself after being found lost, after going through some kind of ordeal, astounded her, but if anything could make her feel better, more alive, it was imagining Zack sucking on her.
The water sloshed toward the top of the tub as she kept moving her hand. Her body heated, getting warmer than the water around her. She tensed, ignoring the aches of her body, and circled her hand and pushed her finger in as far as she could go. Zack’s eyes never left her face and the intensity in them, the pure need to please her, was intoxicating.
The climax hit her, taking her swiftly before she could prepare herself for the onslaught of its power. She moaned as her clit throbbed and her body trembled. Her abdominal muscles clenched and unclenched, and her pussy walls closed in around her finger. Cream spilled out to mix with water and suds.
Oh, hell, yeah.
If she could get off by simply imagining Zack between her legs, she knew it would be so much better when he actually did feast on her.
When? Not if?
Oh, yeah. There had to be a when.
She really was crazy. Instead of focusing on her problems, she was fantasizing about a man she knew nothing about.
Except that he was hot as hell, and as far as she could tell, a gentleman. If he wasn’t, he’d have already had his way with her.
She groaned and slid under the bubbles as though the water could wash away everything but the questions she needed to ask herself. Having found a little relief, she pushed away thoughts of Zack and forced her mind to focus on her problem.
Think. Think. Who are you?
She came to the surface again and swept her hair away from her face.
What’s my last name? Where do I live?
Her gaze slid from watching her fingers play over the bubbles to a pretty vase decorated with a swirl of colors. Blues mixed with orange to give the vase a smoky appearance.
Orange.
She sat up. There was something about the color orange.
Is that my favorite color?
Almost as soon as she’d asked the question, an image hit her. She closed her eyes and concentrated, forcing it to the forefront.
A small golden-haired girl laughed and played among a grove of orange trees. An older man—her father?—chased her. The girl stayed just far enough ahead of him to stay out of his reach, but it was clear that he didn’t really want to catch her. He growled, acting like an animal, and made her laugh even harder.
Lace smiled. Both the man and the child seemed familiar to her. Was she the child? Or was the child hers?
She sat up, opened her eyes, and gripped the tub. The scene had happened in an orchard. Did that mean she was raised in Florida or another state where oranges were grown?
She squeezed her eyes closed again and brought the scene back to life. Now she was the little girl, running again, then stopping to look back over her shoulder at the man. He was her father. Of that she was certain. The young Lace spun around and ran again, her giggles filling the air.
Then little Lace turned again, grinning, expecting to see her father’s pretend monster face. At once the memory changed. Her father was gone. In his place stood another man. This man’s smile was evil, filled with glee that sent horror through her. He was a real monster. She whirled around and ran as fast as she could.
As she hurried away, her body changed, growing quickly from child to woman. Yet still she ran.
Lace’s breathing quickened and her heart pounded. The man was close, too close.
Chapter Three
The cry Chan Channing heard had him bursting into the guest bedroom. The bed was messed up with the comforter thrown on the floor. He paused, listened, then heard yet another cry coming from the bathroom. He dashed inside.
What he found left him dropping his jaw.
She’s beautiful.
And in trouble.
He took in the bruises on her, the dark circles under her eyes and the scratches that marred her flawless skin. Anger welled inside him at whoever would inflict such harm on her. If that person had been standing in front of him, he would’ve shifted, released his inner wolf, and clawed out their heart.
The torment on her face twisted his gut. He lunged forward and grabbed hold of the young woman in the tub. Her eyes opened wide as yet another cry burst from her lips.
Her eyes stayed unfocused for a moment longer. Then she blinked and her eyes grew even wider.
“Are you all—”
The rest was wiped away by the slap to his jaw.
“Let me go!” She jerked away from him, grasped onto the sheet hanging on the edge of the tub and clutched it to her breasts.
Chan lifted his hands into the air like a criminal waiting to get arrested. “Hey! Watch it, lady. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Hell and damnation, but she’s amazing.
From the wet golden hair that was plastered to her oval face, to the startled green eyes and the slightly upturned nose, her face was more beautiful than any he’d ever seen. And when he dropped his gaze to her full, yet perky breasts, he realized that she was just as amazing from the neck down.
“Get out of here.”
At least she wasn’t yelling any longer. He stepped back, denying his body’s urge to get closer. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but this is my house.”
She blinked again and damned if that didn’t make his already-growing cock even bigger. He whipped off his cowboy hat and held it in front of the emerging tent of his jeans.
“No, it isn’t.”
Okay. So maybe her intelligence doesn’t equal her beauty. I can live with that.
&nbs
p; “Actually, it is.”
“No, it’s not.”
Then again, maybe I can’t. Beauty fades, but dumb stays.
“Yeah. It is.” He made the mistake of sticking out his hand in greeting. The glower she sent him had him dropping his hand and stepping back. “My name’s Chan Channing. And you are…?”
She frowned, and if he didn’t know better, he’d swear she didn’t know the answer to his question.
Come on. No one’s that stupid.
“Do you know Zack?”
Now he understood. She was a friend of Zack’s. He kept the irritation he felt for Zack from his face. They’d each brought home women from time to time, being careful to keep the way to their house a secret, but after several discussions, they’d decided to start sharing those one-night guests.
But that was only until they’d started talking about having one woman who would share their bed for a lifetime. Since that time, neither one of them had brought home a woman. Although they hadn’t said as much, it was as though they’d made a pact that the next woman they brought home would be a candidate for that one special woman.
If she was one of his flings, he’d give him hell. First, for having a solo fling, and two, for not telling him about her.
“Well, do you know Zack or not?”
He liked her spunk, taking command of the situation although she was only a guest. A naked, vulnerable guest. “Yeah. I know Zack. We live together.”
She visibly relaxed even as her eyebrows lifted.
“Naw, now, that’s not what I meant at all. We live together, in the same house, but we’re not together together. You get what I mean?”
“Oh.” She dropped her gaze down to the hat he held in his hand.
If she’d seen his reaction to her, then she should’ve known he was as straight as they came. Not that there was anything wrong with men liking other men. As far as he was concerned, live-and-let-live was the way to go. But he didn’t want the beautiful woman sitting in a bubble bath in his house getting the wrong idea. Especially not when he had a lot of ideas of his own.
He cleared his throat, stared pointedly at her chest, then forced his focus back to her face. She got the hint and pulled the sheet higher. It wouldn’t do any good much longer with the bubbles dying off as fast as they were, but at least he’d been respectful enough to let her know. Still, it didn’t make him a bad guy if he wanted to bend over and blow the rest of the bubbles away.
“Back to my original question. Are you all right? I heard you cry out.”
The color rose in her cheeks. “I was…daydreaming.”
“I guess the dream kind of sucked, huh?” He added a grin for good measure.
The corners of her full lips lifting into a soft smile was all the reward he needed. “Yeah, it did.”
“So how do you know Zack?” If Zack had met someone as special as her he would’ve told him about her. Something was up.
“He brought me here.”
She wasn’t telling him the whole story, but that was okay. He’d get it from Zack. “Yeah, that sounds like Zack. Well, then, welcome to our home.”
She pulled the sheet tighter against her, apparently still unaware of how much the wet material showed. Her nipples pushed at the fabric, making brown circles that called to him. His inner wolf leapt to life, clawing at the surface. If he let it take control, he’d yank her out of the tub and fuck her on the floor. He growled low enough that she wouldn’t hear him, but enough to give his wolf a warning. Although he hadn’t spent any time with her, he could already sense how special she was.
Sometimes being a werewolf sucked big-time. His senses were far too heightened for him to ignore.
“Um, I realize this is your house and all, but could you please leave?”
It was better than her shouting at him to get the hell out, but not by much. The last thing he wanted to do was leave. Every fiber of his being ached to touch her skin again, to pull her close and let her warm, moist body heat his.
“I’m not sure I should.”
Her mouth parted and her tongue slipped from one side of her mouth to the other. His cock twitched, pushing at its confinement. He doubted he’d ever seen anything sexier.
“I don’t understand.”
It was fear he saw on her face and it tore at his gut. The last thing he wanted was for her to fear him.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you looked like you’ve gotten banged up a bit.” There was no way Zack had done that to her. If she tried to say as much, it would more than disappoint him. It would break his heart, proving that she wasn’t as special as he already believed she was.
She crossed her arms, still holding the sheet, but it couldn’t hide her bruises any more than it hid her nipples. “I look horrible.”
God, how he wanted to hold her, but he knew she wouldn’t go for it. “No way. You look fine.” More than fine. “Your bruises will fade soon enough.”
She gave him a soft smile that tore at his heart. “I’m not seriously injured. It actually looks worse than it feels. So now that you know, could you please leave and give me some privacy? I need to get out of this tub before I raisin up.”
He couldn’t stand guard over her no matter how much he wanted to. Considering she didn’t know him, she was handling things pretty well.
“Yeah, okay. But I’m going to stay right outside that door.” He pointed to the door that led into the guest bedroom on the other side of the bathroom. “Deal?”
“Deal.”
It was tough, but he managed to turn on his heel and walk out. He closed the door, then shifted enough to bring out his sensitive shifter hearing.
It wasn’t a minute later that he heard her cry out again. He had the door open before she’d finished yelping. Using his werewolf speed, he caught her a second before her body hit the floor. He was on his knees with her in his arms when she turned her mesmerizing eyes toward him. The towel she’d wrapped around her was still in place.
Zack’s scent hit him as he took in a deep breath. It was subdued, just underneath the fragrance of the bubble bath. For his scent to still linger on her had to mean that Zack had gotten physically close to her. Real close. Jealousy swamped him, threatening to make him throw caution away and put her onto her hands and knees. He could already feel how good plunging his cock inside her butt hole would feel.
He had no doubt it would give the words fucking amazing a whole new meaning.
“Thank you.” The lines between her eyes formed with her confusion. “How did you get to me so fast? I saw you leave. I know I did.” She glanced at the door, obviously measuring the distance.
He shrugged. He couldn’t tell her the truth. “What can I say? I’m faster than a speeding bullet.”
He stood, easily taking her with him as she locked her fingers behind his head. “Oh, so you’re Superman.”
“You could say that.” He lifted her in one easy move, then shouldered his way through the door that led into her bedroom. “Which, of course, makes you Lois Lane.”
Gently, he lowered her to the bed then pushed away, determined not to give in to the raging hormones that demanded he take her. His inner wolf howled its agreement then snapped when Chan refused to turn it loose. If he’d held her much longer, he would’ve lost control.
I’m only human. Sort of. I can’t take much more temptation.
Yet for her, he’d do almost anything. “What happened? Did you get dizzy?”
She pulled the comforter over her body, then tugged the towel out from under it. “No. It’s silly, but I guess I slipped on a wet spot.”
“That’s not silly at all. People slip all the time, especially in bathrooms. Just try to be more careful.” He stood like a servant waiting to be told what chore to do next, but he didn’t mind. He wanted to stay near her, wanted to get even closer. A powerful sensation flowed between them, giving him the best feeling he’d ever had. If she’d let him stand there for the entire day, he would.
Could she be the one
he and Zack had talked about? Physically, she was perfect, but the physical aspect of it wasn’t a major consideration. What mattered more were her wit and her heart. He could see the intelligence in her eyes, and as for the other, they’d see the goodness in her heart soon enough. He had no doubt that it was there.
But it was the inexplicable feeling connecting them that mattered most. Zack and he hadn’t discussed anything like that, hadn’t been aware that it existed, but there it was, an added bonus to everything else she had to offer. That bonus was suddenly more important than all the other qualities combined.
“I’m okay now. Really.”
He jerked out of his thoughts. “Yeah, you are. Uh, I mean, I can see that.” Either way he put it, the double meaning was there.
“Do you think maybe you could check with Zack? He said he was going to get me something to eat.”
Chan didn’t bother turning around as he sensed more than heard Zack move into the bedroom. He carried a bed tray that he rested on top of Lace’s legs. Chan couldn’t see what had taken Zack so long to prepare a ham sandwich, a bowl of fruit and a bottle of water, but he wasn’t going to complain. Zack’s slowness in preparing the food had given him time to get to know the gorgeous, mysterious woman.
Zack lifted an eyebrow—one of his signature gestures. “I see you’ve met Chan.”
* * * *
“Lace, this is my friend, Chan Channing.”
Lace was thankful when Zack placed the tray over the lower half of her body. Although it wasn’t as obvious as a man’s penis as it grew stiff, she couldn’t help but think that they’d somehow see the wet heat between her legs.
“Good to meet you, Lace.”
She was thankful when Chan didn’t ask for her last name.
If the circumstances of her arrival had been any different, she would’ve counted herself a very lucky girl. She was naked in a cozy bed with not one but two Herculean-built men tending to her. She studied them as she gave them the once-over.
