by Mac Flynn
I turned away from the balcony. "I keep telling you I'm not staying here, and you won't find it very easy keeping me here if you try," I warned him.
Shadow shut the curtains. "I won't keep you a prisoner, but I must really ask that you to stay here for tonight. You endanger both of us with your reckless need for independence. Besides, no one will believe anything you tell them."
I narrowed my eyes. "Why not? There's two carcasses baking in that oven by the river that say I'm telling the truth."
He shook his head. "My men will have cleaned up the mess before the officials arrive. That, and any fingerprints and tire tracks." He leaned against the frame of the door and crossed his arms over his chest. There was a smug smile on his face that grated on my nerves. "So you see you won't be believed. Staying here is your best option."
I felt a heat boil up inside me like a hot teakettle. "Like hell I'm staying here! You can shove your werewolf bullshit and stupid gang conspiracy theories up where the sun doesn't shine and leave me out of this."
I stalked towards the door, but Shadow headed me off. He raised his arms on either side of him and blocked the door. "You have to see you're not yourself. Without some self control the wolf will control you after the sun sets." I growled and lunged at him with my hands held out like claws. Shadow grabbed my wrists and kept me from clawing off his face. "Do you believe this is you?"
"Get out of my way!" I snarled.
"No!" He pulled me to the back of the room and threw me onto the bed.
I landed with a bounce on the covers, but quickly crawled onto my hands and knees. I turned around and snarled at him. He curled his lips back and growled. I paced the bed from one side to the other and narrowed my eyes. Shadow tore off his shirt and showed off his growing fur as he transformed into a beast. I growled and jumped at him, but he grabbed my arms and wrestled me to the covers. He sat on top of me and pinned my arms to the bed.
"Stop fighting me! You will only bring out the wolf in us!" he growled.
"Let me go!" I snapped.
Shadow tilted his head back and snarled. His hair grew down past his shoulders. His pants tore open, and his muscles stretched and rippled. He leaned down and captured my lips in a passionate kiss. His touch was like throwing gas on the fire inside me. The heat flared up and consumed what little senses I had were swept away in the flames of my lust and his passion.
What remained of my pants and shirt were torn to shreds by Shadow's claws. He pressed his naked body against mine and his hands touched and stroked me, stoking the fire that raged inside me. I groaned and arched into his touch. What he did to me, what power he had over me, was pure bliss and absolute torture. I longed for him to take me and yet dreaded its end, but my one solace was that night would return and we would perform the dance again.
I allowed myself to sink into the abyss of lust and longing. Our bodies gyrated against each other, teasing each other with sweet, sensual promises that would fulfill the ache deep inside us. I felt something claw inside me, the wolf he spoke of, and I gladly gave it full rein. The creature swelled up inside me and changed me both physically and mentally. My body tensed and morphed. Fur sprouted from my hot flesh and my hands lengthened into claws. My breasts swelled and my lust firmed them. Muscle replaced fat, hip bones widened, and my feet stretched into long paws.
The changes inside me gave rise to a delicious pleasure that demanded attention. His attention. I leaned my head back and groaned. My body needed him inside me. Nothing less would do. My mate growled and thrust hard and deep into my hot, aching core. I groaned as he stretched and fitted to my soaked walls. He grunted and pushed deeper, burying himself in me. We were almost as one; one body, one soul, one purpose. That purpose was to satisfy the lust inside us, to appease the wolf with sweet, sensual torture.
He pulled out and pushed back in. His stroke was long and smooth, and it pressed against my sensitive clit. I shuddered and clutched his arms. It felt so good to be at the mercy of another, to have his full weight on top of me and inside me. He made me whole and had full mastery of my mind and senses. There was only him. Nothing else in the world mattered, or even existed.
He continued his teasing thrusts and pulls, but they were too gentle, too slow. I needed more. I'd waited too long this night for a slow, sensitive touch. What I needed was a hard taking, a domineering that would make me ache for him long after the night was over.
"Faster," I growled.
He growled and pressed himself closer to me. "Patience, my pet," he whispered.
I whimpered and squirmed. "Please." I would have offered my soul for a faster stroke.
He went a little faster, but it wasn't enough. I thirsted for a wild abandonment. A feral rut that would leave me shivering for more. I wrapped my legs around his waist which allowed him to slip deeper into me. His eyes widened and he grunted. His self-control slipped and he thrust hard and quick into me. We both panted for breath. Our sweat-soaked bodies slid against each other in time with our lust.
My body trembled with the vibrations of pleasure. Each penetration brought me closer to bliss, and all because of him. I was his, all his. Only he could call forth such aching desire as what I felt then. Only he could bring out the animal inside me and tame it to his animal needs. Only him, and oh god, did I need him.
"Mine!" he growled.
"Yes! Yours!" I cried out.
All reason flew out the window. He thrust deeper and harder into me. I could only hold on as his wild penetrations stroked me faster and faster. The bed rocked with our violent passions. The rippling wave of pleasure turned into a tidal wave that consumed me. My body convulsed with an orgasm that drowned out all other senses but touch. I knew only his touch, his thrusts, and I wanted to know nothing else.
Unfortunately, the rest of the world intruded on our bliss. A car horn honked in the distance. Somebody yelled at someone across the street. The spell was broken.
Shadow slid out of me and stood. I rolled over and looked at him. This was the first time I wasn't so exhausted that I couldn't keep my eyes open. Now my eyes took a look at this guy who couldn't keep his paws off me, and I started back. His was well-muscled, but the fur hid most of his skin. He stood a head taller than me with a thin face that wasn't too narrow. His butt was really nice, too.
He glanced over his shoulder at me and I saw his eyes were tinged with yellow. "You will stay here," he growled.
I glared at him. I didn't care how good he was at sex. I wasn't going to be a good doggy and sit. "Try and make me," I challenged him.
Shadow turned away from me and snatched the remains of his clothes from the floor. He walked out the door and shut it firmly behind him. My eyes widened when I heard a distinct click of a lock. I jumped off the bed and ran naked to the door. One test of the knob was enough to tell me he wasn't taking my 'no' for an answer.
I slammed my shoulder against the door. What I got for my trouble was a sore shoulder and an immovable door. The damn thing didn't even quiver, much less budge.
I turned around and leaned my back and head against the door. "Damn it. . ."
CHAPTER 19
Here I was trapped in a bedroom in the house of a werewolf guy who was giving me more sex than information. What I wanted right then was some more info, and a good ladder. My eyes fell on the balcony. I threw on some sheets and walked out on the high-rise view. The ground was just as far down as before, but now I cared less because it was my best chance at getting out of there. The streetlights were on and showed me there wasn't much foot traffic. That was good. I didn't want any witnesses Shadow could interrogate.
"Shadow. . ." I murmured. I didn't even have his name, and I bet asking nice wasn't going to get it out of him.
I'd have time to find that out later. Right then I had to find out how to get down. There was always the choice to jump, but I wasn't desperate or stupid enough to accept I was some super-wolf human and I could make a drop like that without breaking some bones. There was also the option of screaming for he
lp, but this Juliet wouldn't have found her Romeo on an empty street.
I leaned over the railing and the blanket flapped in the wind. That gave me an idea. It was old-fashioned, but so was I. I ran back inside, threw on some clothes from the closet, and tossed the blankets onto the balcony.
I don't know how he heard that rustling. Probably his wolf hearing. Whatever it was I was just tying the first two sheets together when I heard the door unlock. It swung open and Shadow swept into the room like a hurricane. It took him a few seconds to figure out what I was up to, and from his narrowed eyes I got the feeling he wasn't going to be complimenting my ingenuity.
Shadow marched onto the balcony and tore the sheets from my hands.
"You will not leave!" he growled.
"Not that way," I quipped.
I was now desperate enough to do something incredibly stupid. I swung myself over the railing and dropped down the two floors to the hard sidewalk below. I'd taken some long, tough falls in my time, but this was definitely the worst. I tucked my legs in and did a tumble along the sidewalk. My head and feet complained, but when I stopped rolling I was intact and sat on my butt. I jerked my head up and saw Shadow glaring at me. He flung himself over the railing.
I didn't stick around to score his landing. I scrambled to my feet and took off down the road. A soft, heavy pair of feet followed me, and I didn't need a detective's badge to know it was him. He trailed me like his namesake. By the time I was halfway down the block he'd shortened the distance between us by half. Another half and I'd have two shadows right behind me.
By the stupidest luck I was saved by one of my own. A police car drove up the road and I practically jumped on his hood. The officer slammed on his brakes and leaned out the window.
"What the hell's going on?" he shouted at me.
I slid off the hood and stumbled over to his door. My hands clutched his open window and I tried not to choke on my gasping words. "You. . .you gotta. . .help me-" I looked up the block and saw no one was there.
"Listen, lady, I'm going to have to ask you to step away from the car," the officer requested.
I returned my attention to the car and tightly gripped the door. "My name's Detective Marie Selena. I've just escaped from a madman who thinks he's a werewolf and tried to keep me prisoner," I told him.
The officer took off his hat and waved it in front of him like a fan. "Lady, whatever your name is it's too hot for some cock-and-bull story like that. How about I take you down to the precinct and we can check out your story in some air conditioning?"
I frowned and pointed up the street. "But his apartment is just up there! We could catch-" I heard a motor start at the end of the street and car tires grind against the pavement as they pulled a sharp u-turn away from our direction. Too late.
"Are you sure you're all right?" the officer asked me.
I ran a hand through my hair and ground my teeth together as I shut my eyes. "No, I am not all right," I growled. My eyes snapped open and the officer started back. I gripped his window and leaned inside the car. "I've just been kidnapped, rescued, kidnapped again, and held prisoner by a psychopath that-" I caught myself in the reflection of the man's wide eyes. I was changed. Fur had sprouted from my face and my eyes were a bright, illuminated yellow.
I let go of the door and stumbled back. Both the officer and I glanced at where my hands had been. There were deep indents in the metal with clear outlines of my fingers. The officer's eyes got bigger and he rolled up the window, or tried to. The twisted, squished metal scratched the glass, but the man's perseverance egged on by fear meant he didn't stop trying until that glass was between me and him.
"G-get the hell away from me!" he shrieked.
I didn't have a choice. The guy stepped on the pedal like he was in Grand Theft Auto and burned through half his tires before he sped off down the road. He went from zero to sixty in ten seconds, and over the hill of the street in half that time.
I was left in the middle of the road with the streetlights shining down on me and no one in sight. I raised my hands and looked down at them. Paws. That's all I saw. My hands were fur-covered, claw-tipped paws. Wolf paws, but with a tinge of the narrow human fingers just to mock me. I was so fucked.
My legs buckled and I fell on my knees onto the ground. I tried hard to keep back those stupid tears, but they just kept coming. My hands shook. I balled them into fists and pressed them against my chest. My heart beat loud and clear, but not fast. I wasn't afraid, just-well, just angry. Angry at Shadow, angry at myself for getting mixed up in this, angry at that other officer because he was too damn afraid to do his duty.
My eyes widened and I whipped my head up. Duty. I knew a guy who would do his duty to protect me even if he found out I was an alien. All I needed to do was remember his address from the files and figure out where it was from here.
I stood up and shut my eyes.
"Come on, Marie, think! Where the hell is he?" I growled. Even my voice was changed. It was deep and gravely.
My eyes shot open. Gravel! Gravel Street! That was where he lived!
I opened my eyes, and turned my head left and right. If this was the top of Snob Nob Hill then I knew exactly where to go. Down.
CHAPTER 20
It took me an hour to get to Gravel Street. I still had on my wolf suit and didn't know how to take it off. My tutorial with Shadow hadn't gotten that far before I decided to ditch his tutoring. I slipped in and out of alleys and avoided people and cars. What I couldn't avoid was every damn dog in the city. It was like everybody had stocked their yard with dogs just so they could bark and snarl at me, and did they snarl. It was like I was a cat at a dog show, and all the dogs were rabid. Every fence was a barrier to a horrible mauling and every gate was an exit the dogs desperately tried to get through to get at me.
The funny thing was every bark echoed in my eardrums like they were shouted through a bullhorn. Every screech of some poorly-oiled car brakes and every groan of a fence gate grated on my ears. I was delayed in my journey because I had to keep clamping my hands over my damn ears.
I slunk along like an amateur burglar until I hit Gravel Street. The house I wanted was number eleven. That was down the block. I reached the well-manicured lawn and crept into the fence-less and dog-less yard. The back door had a light over it. Through the lit windows I could see my target washing some dishes.
Officer Baldwin was as exact in his house as he was in his duties. I made it to the door and knocked. Every sound inside was as clear as if I was inside seeing them. A dish was dropped into soapy water. Footsteps approached the door, but paused. Somebody rubbed against cloth. I didn't have to guess it was a gun. The door was unlocked and opened a crack. I saw his eye peek through at me huddled as I was on his stoop.
"Who is it?" Baldwin questioned me.
"It's me, Marie Selena," I whispered.
His eye widened. "Detective Selena? What the hell happened to you? Where have you been?"
"Mind interrogating me inside?" I pleaded.
"Oh, yes, of course." He stepped back and the door swung open. Baldwin stepped aside and looked me over as I entered. "Why are you in that werewolf costume?"
"It's a new fashion I'm trying out," I quipped as I peeked out the window. Nothing moved in the backyard. "But what's been going on today? Any news about that double-murder?"
"No, but the Chief's been worried sick about you all day," Baldwin told me as he offered me as he plopped himself in a chair at a small table. "He tried to call your phone a half dozen times before he told me to look in on you. When I didn't find you he sent out an APB for all the precincts to be on the lookout for you."
I snorted. "Some of the officers didn't get the memo." I looked around the kitchen. It was small, but nice. A small table and white cabinets, and everything in its place. "But I need you to do me a couple of big favors."
"Anything, but after I call the station. They'll want to know you're okay," Baldwin insisted. He pulled out his cell phone, but I grabbed hi
s hand.
"That's one of the favors I need you to do for me. I need to stay here for a day or two, and I don't want anyone to know I'm here," I told him.
Baldwin frowned. "But the Chief needs to know you're okay so we can rescind the APB."
I shook my head. "That's not a good idea right now. I don't know if anyone's after me and I'd rather not find out on their terms."
"Who would be after you?" he questioned me.
I dropped my hand and leaned back in my chair. "You ever heard of a gang called Garu?"
Baldwin shook his head. "No, why?"
"Because I think they're one of the gangs that's after me," I told me.
"One? You've got more?" he guessed
I nodded. "Yeah. There's this other one headed by a guy named Shadow. He's the owner of-"
Baldwin held up his hand. "Wait a sec. Shadow?"
I glared at him. "Yeah, Shadow. That's the only name I've gotten out of him."
My fellow officer gave me a look that told me he thought I'd been hanging around too long in the narcotics division. "You sure you don't want me to call the Chief?"
I leaned forward over the table and leaned one of my arms across the top. "Yeah, I'm sure, and I'm also sure I'm not crazy," I insisted. "A pair of these Garu guys kidnapped me earlier today and I got snatched from them by Shadow. He's been stalking me since this whole mess in the alley came up, and I want to know what went down that night. Now are you going to hide me out so I can figure that out or do I have to go someplace else?" I half stood, but he put his hands on my shoulders and stopped me.
His voice was low and firm. "All right, I'll help, but you have to promise to keep me informed about anything that can be used in the murder investigation-"
"Fair enough," I agreed.
"-and you have to tell the Chief you're okay," he finished.
"That's not okay," I argued.
Baldwin set me back in my chair and took a seat in the one closest to me. He looked me steady in the eyes. "You can use a phone at a house I know about. Even if they trace your call they won't find you there and it won't be traced back to me," he assured me.
