Phases of Passions (Trilogy Bundle) (Werewolf Romance - Paranormal Romance)

by Hart, Melissa F.

  Pulling out of her driveway Erin prepared herself for coming face to face with Sean once more and tried to prepare what she was going to say to him.

  ***

  The closer Erin got to Central, the busier the traffic got. It was early evening, which meant that most revelers were heading in to central for a night of partying. She noticed the influx of cabs, much more than there usually were during daylight hours.

  Most people would have felt unnerved to drive alone in to central at nighttime, but not Erin. Her desire for darkness meant that this was her realm. She felt more comfortable walking the streets at night than she did browsing in a shopping mall. Darkness suited her; she felt safe within its shadows.

  Soon, Erin was passing by the club she used to go to. Already, there were people lining up to go inside, most of them dressed in leather and latex outfits. Erin would look comically out of place in her sweatpants and hoodie.

  She rounded a corner and spotted the name of the apartment building in which Sean lived. She slowed and pulled up on to the curb, bringing her car to a halt. She took a moment to survey the area before getting out of her car.

  Sean lived in arguably one of the worst parts of Central. Most of the buildings in the area were rundown and in states of dilapidation. The only businesses dotted around were fetish nightclubs, Chinese restaurants, and tattoo parlors. It was an area of town which attracted a certain kind of person. Only those who didn’t fear the dark would venture there.

  Already, Erin could make out the unmistakable outline of a huddled figure in an empty doorway, shivering in the cold as they exposed an arm and prepared to inject a cocktail of drugs into it. Shards of glass from previous users sparkled in the street light like sinister stars.

  Stepping out of her car, Erin made care to lock it and promise herself that she wouldn’t take too long or she knew she wouldn’t have a car to come back to. She looked up at the apartment building. It looked old and forlorn, boasting numerous windows which were boarded up, not worth repairing. The walls were plastered with graffiti, most of it obscene in nature. Erin wondered why Sean had decided to live somewhere like this. But then it did explain why he had been on drugs when Erin found him.

  Not wanting to waste any more time, Erin headed into the building. Unsurprisingly, the main entrance was not guarded. There was a reception desk, but no one behind it to greet visitors. Beneath the harsh strip lighting that hung and hummed overhead, Erin took a moment to check the address she had written down.

  Apartment 386.

  Sean lived on the third floor. Erin moved over to the elevators and pressed the call button, but nothing happened; the button didn’t even illuminate. Predictably, the elevators were out of order, so Erin had to locate the staircase and start ascending up the first three flights of stairs.

  The communal stair well stank of sweat and urine. The smell was so unbearable that Erin was forced to hide her mouth behind her sleeve and even then, she continually gagged as she walked up toward the third floor.

  Between the first and second floors, she passed a man who appeared to be passed out, slumped in a corner. She considered nudging him to check if he was all right, but decided against it. Here, a kindly act of intervention could essentially be signing your own death warrant. The people were cruel and desperate, living on the fringes of society. When they let the darkness in, it destroyed them, corroding them from within like a sick virus. But Erin managed to live with her darkness, to not let it drag her under.

  At the first floor, she pushed the metal door and entered a dimly-lit corridor. She checked the faded signs on the wall and headed off toward apartment 386. The carpet underfoot was stained beyond recognition of its original color and thinned to being almost threadbare in places. Erin tried not to focus on the dilapidation on the interior and instead think only about finding Sean and demanded an explanation.

  As she drew closer to his apartment her heart began to race in anticipation. She wasn’t sure what she was about to find. What if he was with another woman? What if he was high? With each step closer, Erin realized that she hadn’t thought any of this through properly. She’d been led here on same base level instinct and it was too late to turn back.

  She found his door. The bottom half of it was covered in duct tape, failing to hide a crude indentation where it appeared someone had tried unsuccessfully to kick the door in. Taking a deep breath, Erin tentatively tapped on the door. She waited, listening carefully for any signs from within but there was nothing.

  She knocked again, harder this time. Still no response. Sighing to herself, she started to regret coming there.

  Lifting her hand, Erin hammered hard on the door.

  “Sean!” she called out to him, hoping to rouse him from slumber if he was resting.

  Still only silence greeted her. Erin was growing impatient. She banged again on the door and this time, to her surprise, it creaked open from the impact. Cautiously, she pushed the door fully open and peered around in to the apartment.

  “Sean?” she called out his name, her voice small and uncertain.

  “Sean, are you there? It’s me, Erin.”

  The apartment was hidden beneath a veil of darkness that the dim light from the corridor failed to lift. Squinting, Erin located the light switch on the wall and flicked it on. A solitary exposed bulb in the center of the ceiling buzzed to life and revealed a sight Erin hadn’t been expecting.

  The apartment was completely empty. There wasn’t a single piece of furniture in there, only the dirty carpet covered in cigarette burns and various other stains. At the far end, some curtains billowed as the window had been left wide open, making the empty apartment feel cold and unwelcoming.

  Confused, Erin dared to venture forward. She found the bathroom and checked inside, but that, too, was empty. It seemed that Sean had left more than her house and his job; he’d left his own apartment.

  Erin stood in the center of the empty space and realized the hopelessness of her predicament. Sean was well and truly gone, leaving her without any answers, without any closure. But the worst part was how distraught she felt over the realization that she’d never see him again, never again feel his tongue licking upon her skin, enjoy his fierce, hungry kisses as he made love to her.

  Hugging herself against the increasing cold, Erin looked out despondently through the open window at the street below and wondered where Sean could have gone and why he had been so eager to leave? Their night together had left an indelible mark upon her and the prospect of never seeing him again made her feel as empty and abandoned as the apartment in which she was currently standing.

  TO BE CONTINUED IN BOOK THREE: Full Moon - Volume 3

  ***

  Full Moon

  ***

  Feeling utterly dejected by the discovery of Sean’s abandoned apartment, Erin reluctantly drove home, her mind racing with a million questions, all of which would now go unanswered.

  She couldn’t understand where he had gone. Since their night together, he’d run from her, his job, and now even his home! It didn’t make any sense. Erin considered that perhaps it was all linked to his apparent drug problem. Maybe he owed money to some salubrious character in his dangerous neighborhood and had been forced to leave. Perhaps avoiding Erin was a ploy to keep her safe from whoever was after him.

  Shaking her head, Erin smiled wryly to herself as she drove. Those were the fantasies of a hopeless romantic, where Sean had left her out of some noble gesture where it was for her own good. Erin wasn’t a romantic, she was a realist. She’d found that being a romantic got you nowhere and all you ended up with was dashed dreams. Sean was gone. She may never know why he left and would be forced just to make peace with the fact that he was no longer around.

  The fact that their brief fling would end so abruptly and without closure made Erin uneasy. She’d felt so drawn to Sean, like there was something powerful between them. It made her feel on the brink of despair to think that it had all been for nothing. That all they would ever get
to have together was that one amazing night.

  And it had been so amazing. Erin still caught herself thinking about being in his strong arms, feeling him brush up against her with his bare skin. The mere thought of him made her body break out in an excited sweat but now all she would have were those heated memories. A big part of Erin felt bitter about not being able to relive such fantastic sex. Sean had easily been the best sex she’d ever had and she’d been eager to repeat the experience with him, but now that option had been stolen away from her. Had he not enjoyed their night together? Did he not want to do it again?

  Smacking her hands against the wheel in frustration, Erin tried to stop thinking about the guy who had got away. She turned out of Central, aware by the dwindling traffic how late the hour was, and headed back toward her quiet neighborhood.

  ***

  It was close to eleven when Erin turned into her driveway and switched off her engine, which continued to tick over even after her key had been removed. Her search for Sean had been in vain and she felt empty with the disappointment of it all. Climbing out of her car, she shivered slightly from the cold and tightened her hooded sweatshirt around her. It was nice to be back in her own neighborhood, away from the dangerous streets that Sean had previously called home.

  Reaching into the pocket of her sweatpants, she produced her house keys and began to walk purposefully toward her front door when something made her stop dead in her tracks. Her body suddenly turned to stone; she looked in shock at the shadowy figure lingering close to her house, their features concealed by the darkness of the night.

  She remembered how she’d awoken earlier and felt like she was being watched, certain that the killer responsible for the spate of local murders was outside watching her sleep, waiting to pounce. She had dismissed those thoughts as illogical fears and forced herself to go searching for Sean. But now she was back home, late at night, with an unknown figure waiting for her on her driveway. What if she had been right all along? What if the killer was here now, prepared to kill her?

  Panicked, Erin felt her pulse quicken and adrenaline surge through her veins. She glanced back tentatively at her car, wondering if she had time to get back inside it and drive away before this stranger could lunge at her.

  “Erin,” the shadowy figure spoke and Erin’s eyes widened in shock. It sounded like, but it couldn’t be…

  “Erin, hey,” the figure spoke again and stepped closer to her, the street lamp illuminating their face.

  “Sean!” Erin stared at him in disbelief. He was wearing a t-shirt and dark jeans and she initially wondered how he could stand to have his bare arms exposed when it was so bitterly cold out.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, her eyes still wide; she could hardly believe that it was actually him.

  “Where have you been?” she delivered another question before he’d had chance to answer the first one. She was so full of questions, but as she watched him step closer to her, she also became full of lustful desire.

  “I needed to see you,” Sean told her, his voice strong and deep. He strode confidently toward Erin and when he reached her, he took her face in his hands, leaned forward, and kissed her deeply.

  Despite his unexplained absence, despite the strange fact that he was suddenly at her home, Erin kissed him back, hard. She pressed her tongue deep into his mouth, loving how he tasted. She realized as they embraced just how much she’d missed him even though it had only been a few days.

  Even though she had questions, they both knew that would have to wait. Taking her hand, Sean led her over to the front door where she clumsily fumbled with her keys but eventually let them in.

  Sean pulled her inside, kicking the door shut behind them. They kissed each other with hungry intensity, as though they had waited many years for this moment. Each kiss felt sensuous and perfect, lingering deliciously upon Erin’s lips.

  She was already wet with desire as Sean started to undress her. He pulled her hooded sweatshirt up over her head and she no longer cared how casual she looked. All she cared about was Sean’s body and how badly she wanted to have him inside of her.

  Sean continued to kiss her as he deftly removed her bra. Then, with her breasts exposed, he rubbed his strong hands all over them, savoring the sensation.

  His jeaned leg pressed against her and she could feel how hard he was. Stepping back, Sean threw off his own t-shirt and expertly stepped out of both his jeans and his boxers. As Erin looked admiringly upon his naked form, she also removed her sweatpants and panties. Sean searched up her naked body with lustful, eager eyes. He eyed every curve, every dimple with a devilish smile on his face and Erin loved how being beneath his gaze made her feel. She felt dirty and beautiful all at the same time, which was an intensely erotic sensation.

  Erin carefully backed into the living room as Sean followed in pursuit, prowling after her with beastlike intensity. He reached out for her, placing his hands upon her hips, drew her to him, and kissed her deeply.

  As they kissed, Erin ran her hands down his back. He was so incredibly muscular, more perfect than any man she’d ever been with before.

  Sean then threw Erin on to the sofa where she lay on her back, staring up at him. He surveyed her body once more and she felt exposed and titillated. He came toward her, positioning himself above her on the sofa. His rock-hard erection hovered teasingly above her pussy. She felt herself becoming more wet at the proximity of him. She was desperate to have him inside her.

  “Did you miss me?” Sean leaned forward and purred the words in to her ear. His warm breath upon her neck made her body tingle with delight.

  “I want you so bad,” Erin gasped, a slave to her lust.

  Sean kissed her neck softly at first, then more aggressively to the point where Erin was crying out in pleasure, but in the back of her mind was certain that the following day she’d have a love bite to hide.

  “Ask me to fuck you,” he whispered again in her ear.

  “Sean, fuck me!” Erin responded without hesitation.

  Sean obliged and lowered himself in to her, groaning when he felt his hard dick connect with her soft wet pussy. He loved how it felt when he pushed deep inside of her, feeling her all around him.

  Beneath him, Erin let out small, passion-fueled moans. She writhed on the sofa and dug her hands into the upholstery. Sean began to make love to her in slow, prolonged movements at first. As they both started to become breathless and drew closer to the point of climax, he hastened his thrusts.

  Erin lifted her long legs and wrapped them around his naked body, binding him tightly to her. Sean flashed her a devilish smile as she did so and began to thrust harder. Leaning her head back, Erin allowed herself to be lost to the moment. Her body felt as though it had been injected by some electrical impulse. Everything tingled in the most wonderful way. Sex with Sean the second time around was arguably better than the first time.

  He was such a skilled lover, knowing exactly how to position himself so that each time he thrust into Erin, he grazed her internal g-spot, whipping her into frenzy. She began to pant, her toes curling.

  “I’m coming!” she gasped as she reached climax, her body shivering with pleasure. Sean smiled but carried on. He fucked her hard, making the sofa creak in protest. Then, as his face contorted, hinting that he, too, was about to come, he shifted positions, pulling Erin up and sitting himself down on the sofa. He sat her atop him and she straddled him, locking his dick in her wet pussy and riding him.

  Sean groaned with delight and ran his hands over her naked body. Erin made her movements faster, aroused seeing him lost to his own pleasure.

  “You’re so hot,” Sean commented, her eyes sparkling as he spoke. He moved his hands and gripped her hips tightly, lifting himself deep inside her. Erin gasped with surprised delight and then felt the familiar warmth of him climaxing within her. A second later, she realized, regretfully, that once more, she’d not been wise enough to use protection.

  They untangled themselves from on
e another and Erin took a moment to catch her breath. She watched Sean stand up, beads of sweat dotted along his impressive back.

  She thought briefly of his bare apartment in the bad part of Central and realized with a pang that he was an utter stranger to her. Sean was a complete enigma; she had no idea who he really was and why his life had become such a mystery. Initially, he was just a guy she worked with, but now she was certain that there was more to him; what exactly, she couldn’t begin to imagine.

  Stretching with catlike grace, she watched Sean with an amused smile playing on her lips. She had been so certain that they would never again have sex that finding him on her doorstep had been a very welcome surprise. She was pleased to see that he enjoyed having sex with her as much as she did with him. He was an intensely passionate lover. Erin’s body still pulsated from the pleasure of his touch. She had never known sex like that, where her body could feel so electric, so alive.

  Standing up, Sean ran a hand through his hair and looked down briefly at Erin. She smiled furtively at him, batting her eyelashes slightly, but he turned away and began pulling his clothes back on. He wriggled himself into his jeans and zipped them up before hastily pulling on his t-shirt. As Erin watched him, she got a sinking feeling within her stomach. She then realized that he was preparing to leave.

  “Sean!” she said his name so sharply that he shot her a bemused look. “Are you leaving?” she asked the latter in a lighter tone.

  “Yeah,” Sean shrugged casually.

  “You can’t!” Erin blurted.

  “What?”

  Standing up, Erin hurriedly pulled on her own clothes. There was something about having an intense discussion naked that just didn’t sit right with her. If she was going to get answers from Sean, she at least wanted to be dressed while she did it.