by Nora Snowdon
“Okay. Good work.” Dani’s attention diverted back to her computer and I was off the hook. Phew. I let out a sigh of relief before covering the rest of the way to my desk.
I wrote most of the Robert article hoping my lust for him wasn’t too obvious to any reader, but it seemed better to write it now than after our affair ended. Did our affair have to end? Even apart from the lust, he seemed like a great guy. I guess I’d find out soon enough.
Leanne called mid afternoon to get the scoop on my date. I didn’t exactly lie, but I sure wasn’t going to boink and blab. Instead I went on and on about how much I enjoyed the restaurant. Then I told her I was meeting his family tonight.
“What? How can you be meeting them this early? Does that mean he’s fallen for you? I thought men only took dates to meet their mothers after they’d proposed.”
“Actually she wants to meet me. He didn’t seem thrilled.”
“But she knows about you?” Leanne sighed loudly. “If you guys get married, I expect to be the maid of honor.”
I straightened in my chair too fast and almost flipped it. “Jeez, Leanne. Don’t jump the gun. I’ve known him for a week.” Holy crap. Had it been even less than a week? What the heck am I doing? Maybe I could bail on dinner by saying I have the flu?
“His brother looked cute at the auction. Could you find out if he’s available for me?”
I smiled; it never took too long for the conversation to wind back to Leanne. “Sorry. Robert already said he was married.”
“Darn. Maybe he’s got cute cousins I could meet at your wedding.”
Ack. And back to that again. I glanced around the large office I shared with Kaity and Arnold, but neither of them had shown up yet. Well, a person could pretend. I moved the phone away from my mouth. “Sure, Kaity, I’ll just get that for you.” Then into the phone, “I gotta go. It’s nuts around here.”
“Okay, bye. But remember I get to be maid of—”
I disconnected feeling a little guilty about my deception, but I didn’t want to discuss Robert anymore. I’m not sure whether I was more depressed about Robert probably breaking up with me, or the realization of how little time we’d actually had together. Pity the full moon wasn’t still two weeks away.
****
I’d settled on my royal blue power suit with the pencil skirt. I accessorized the heck out of it, so it wasn’t too staid. A bright pink cami added more femininity. His mother wouldn’t expect me to dress sexy. Robert was already ten minutes late which wasn’t like him. Maybe he’d reconsidered taking me home to meet his mom.
The doorbell rang. Nope. The evening was still on. He looked handsome as always when I opened the door. Didn’t the man ever have a bad hair day or tired eyes?
“Hey there, beautiful.” He handed me a bouquet of exotic flowers, a small gift bag and then kissed me on the cheek.
My stomach dropped as I eyed the bag. “What’s this?”
“Flowers, because I can’t believe I have been so rude as to not bring them on previous dates. And a little present that’s for me as well as you.”
I backed away from the doorway to let him in and then snuck a quick peek inside the bag. It looked like pink, lacy underwear. Thank God it wasn’t some dead animal. “Oh. Thank you.”
Hmm, that had to the least passionate greeting I’d had from him since the evening he’d dropped by to tell me I was going to be a werewolf. Maybe sex wasn’t on the menu before dinner with his mother. He followed me into the kitchen and watched while I put the flowers in a vase. When I turned to fill it with water he moved in close behind me.
As soon as I’d set the flowers down, he nuzzled the back of my neck and then turned me in his arms. “And now that your hands are free.” He leaned down and kissed me.
A switch flicked on as soon as he touched me. My desire skyrocketed. His too, from the speed with which he had me naked and moaning in his arms. Oh yeah. That was the passion I’d been hoping for. But it was weird how desperately I needed him. I felt like a sex-addict ready to kill for my next fix. But wow that fix was damned amazing. We had sex in the kitchen, then in my bedroom and then in the shower as we cleaned up to get ready to go to his parents’. Laying on the bed after, I couldn’t imagine ever moving again.
He brushed a wet curl off my face. “I’m falling in love with you.” His tone was light so I searched his eyes to see if he meant it. He looked serious.
“You’re very special to me.” What a stupid response. His smile didn’t reach his eyes and I sensed his disappointment. But I wasn’t prepared for declarations of love. One week was way too early for that. And I didn’t want to be reminded of it when he dumped me after the full moon. I tilted his face to mine for a gentle kiss then snuggled my body in closer to his.
“More sex?” He asked cautiously. His eyes flicked to the alarm clock beside my bed.
“No. I’m done. I mean unless you still…” We still had well over an hour to get to his parents, if we were still going. Hmm, maybe I could talk him into skipping the dinner for more sex?
“You wore me out.” He kissed the top of my head then lay back on the pillow. His fingers traced mesmerizing patterns on my back. I started to drift off.
His hand paused. “Whatever my mother says tonight, try not to take it personally. We’ve always pretended to obey rather than fight with her. As matriarch of the pack, she feels justified meddling in everyone’s lives.”
Damn, it was still on. “What do you think she’ll say?” Should I start my flu symptoms now?
“I don’t know. She’s prejudiced against people in the first place and won’t be happy her other son is dating a human.” His hand clenched into a fist against my back. “Christ. I don’t even know how she found out about you so quickly.”
I shook my head. “It’s not like we’re engaged or anything. We’ve known each other less than a week.”
“I know. I’m not trying to rush you.” He exhaled slowly and his fist unfurled. “But, because I bit you, there might be pressure for me to marry you.”
I rolled my eyes. Hence the almost declaration of love. “That’s silly.” Last thing I needed was a shotgun wedding, but frig, I hadn’t realized how much I’d wanted to believe he could actually love me.
“I know.” He kissed my nose. “I’m just trying to prepare you for possible topics tonight.”
“Should I even go? I think I’m coming down with the flu. My stomach is a bit messed up.”
Robert propped himself up on his elbow and looked at me. “That’s not possible. You can’t get the flu now.”
I blinked. “Huh?”
“Werewolves have super antibodies that ward off infections.”
“Maybe I’m not really a werewolf then.”
“Yes, you are.” He nuzzled my neck and sniffed. “You smell like one.”
“What?” I pulled out of his arms and sat up to check my armpit. I couldn’t smell anything. “I stink and no one mentioned it? Oh my—”
“No. Hold on.” He grinned and tugged me back down. “You smell really good to me. Other people wouldn’t notice. They don’t have our acute noses.”
“Does that mean I should be noticing other people’s body odor?” Oh crap.
“Yup. Have you been?”
“No.” Could he tell I was lying? But I didn’t want him assuming I would change. “Does your mom know I was bitten?”
“She must. She never worried about my other human lovers.”
“Frig.”
“Hey. She can’t blame you. It’s me she’ll be angry with. But I would like you to meet Lucas’s wife, Rosie. She’s already been through all this. And my sister Anna is a hoot. Aside from my mother, it’ll be fun.”
I stared at him in silence.
“Do it for me.” He feathered his fingertips down my front and, I swear, I got turned on again. Jeez I was becoming the Energizer bunny of sex. I glanced into his eyes and saw he had the same reaction.
“What the hell are you doing to me?” I stretched
up to kiss him and we just started all over again.
After we’d recovered he looked at the clock and then at me. “Will you go with me to dinner at my parents?” He grimaced. “We have to leave soon.”
“Yeah.” What the heck, if it meant that much to him.
****
“I think I’m coming down with the flu,” Robert mumbled to Ella as his parents’ place rolled into view. The security gate opened instantly. “The family have sensors in their cars that open it automatically. Everyone else has to buzz and identify themselves.”
“Oh god.” Her eyes widened as they drove up to the house. “It looks like an old European castle. I mean it’s cool, but, uh, this is where you grew up?”
“Yeah. I hated the place. In grade four I brought home my first and only friend. Bradley P. Grafton. Next thing you know he told all his friends that my dad was Dracula and my whole family were vampires. Kind of ironic. That was the boy I punched that got me kicked out of school. If I’d known, I woulda decked him much earlier.”
“Me too.”
He chuckled. “I learned to keep to myself. I think my ambition might be fueled by a need to prove to all those kids that I was worth something.” He pulled his car up beside Lucas’s Lexus. “But everybody’s childhood is tough in some ways. My cousin’s mother ran off with a poodle. As a werewoodle, Janette doesn’t really fit in with the pack or with the humans. Her dad’s nice, but a little one-dimensional.”
“Oh, is she the one with the curly fur?”
“That’s right. I forget you have our family portrait.”
“Do you still want it back?”
“Nah. We were worried that you’d open it up and see where my mom had printed all of our names on the back.” He nodded to the house. “Ready to meet the clan?”
She took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready.”
When he got to her car door he leaned in and kissed her. “Thanks for coming.” Her hand shook as he helped her out of the car. Had he made too much of this and scared her?
“Hey Robert, Ella. Glad you guys made it.” Lucas came bounding down the cement steps. Rosie followed him with a huge smile.
Robert nodded to his brother. “So you’ve met my little brother, Lucas. And this is his wife, Rosie.” He put his arm around Ella. “This is my girl, Ella.” God, why had he said that? He needed to take it slow until she loved him back. Something about being home always made him revert to childish ways.
Rosie stepped forward and hugged Ella, who stiffened as if unaccustomed to physical displays of affection from strangers. Oddly enough, it felt reassuring that Ella seemed to share similar trust issues with him.
“Hi.” Rosie didn’t react to her reticence. “I hear you might need some information on the turning into a werewolf stuff. Been there, done that, so feel free to ask me anything.”
“Thanks, but—” Ella glanced at Robert as if suddenly remembering her promise not to say she wasn’t going to turn. “I haven’t really noticed any changes yet.”
“Really? At two days until full moon?” Rosie bit her bottom lip while she thought about it. “Let’s see. My complexion had improved and, oh yeah, the worst thing was how bad all the men in my office smelled. But I could eat tons without gaining weight. Oh, and, um.” She glanced at Robert before muttering, “There were a few other things.”
Ella shrugged noncommittally. “Oh well, we’ll see.”
“Let’s go in.” Lucas turned toward the mansion. “Mother needs to yell at Robert for a bit.”
Robert leaned forward and flicked Lucas on the side of his head. “Don’t make this any worse than it need be.” He noticed Rosie held back to walk with Ella. That was probably good. He fell in step with Lucas. “Is Anna here yet?”
“Yeah. And she’s talking about getting tattoos and piercings again.”
Robert shook his head. “What’s the point? They just heal up.”
“I know. I think she’s wearing Mom and Dad down so she can ask for what she really wants.”
“And what’s that?”
“Anyone’s guess. You know Anna, she’s got her own agenda.”
“Should be an interesting evening.” Robert glanced back to see Rosie and Ella in quiet discussion. Ella’s face was decidedly pink. He hoped if Rosie was telling her about the increased sexual appetite that Ella wouldn’t think he’d taken advantage of her. Maybe he should’ve told her that she was his one mate so she’d understand.
“So how did Mother find out about Ella?” Robert gave Lucas the stink eye. That usually caused him to spill.
“I don’t know. I swear I didn’t tell her. Maybe someone saw you two out together.” Lucas moved closer and whispered, “Have you asked her to be your mate?”
“No.” He adjusted his shirt collar until it felt right. Ella hadn’t seemed too thrilled when he’d even just hinted he was falling in love with her. Asking her to be his forever might scare her away for good. “She’s not ready.”
“Really? Last night the two of you looked pretty cosy.”
“Sure. It’s great physically, but there’s something…” He shook his head. “Maybe after the full moon when she’s no longer worried about turning into a wolf.”
“Just keep being there for her and eventually you’ll wear down her resistance.” Lucas opened the massive wooden door and held it for him and then they waited for the girls to catch up. God, what Robert would give to eavesdrop in on that conversation.
****
Robert’s parents’ house was beautiful but it also looked like something out of a horror movie. And considering I was walking into a place filled with werewolves, it probably should. Rosie seemed nice, though. And Lucas, so it couldn’t be too bad, could it? My eyes widened and my jaw dropped when we entered the cavernous foyer. Hotels could learn from the glittering grandeur.
I closed my mouth and followed the group to a cherry wood door polished to a gleam. Robert paused, sighed, and then rapped on the wood. I half expected him to wipe off his fingerprints.
“Entré.” A thin but commanding voice came from within.
Robert and Lucas entered first with Rosie and me lagging behind. It was an elaborate parlor with a fireplace, overstuffed leather furniture, intricate and well maintained antique tables and at the far end, a stiff older couple staring at us imperiously from straight-backed chairs. Well, the woman was. The man was staring off to the side like he wasn’t expecting company. Then I noticed a younger girl, maybe in her early twenties decked out in a black silkscreened T-shirt and ripped jeans sprawled across a damask ottoman over by the window. Earbud wires dangled from her ears and one foot was bouncing to an unheard melody.
Robert and his brother approached the woman and kissed her cheek. Her expression didn’t soften. I edged closer to Rosie but then Robert beckoned me toward him. Rosie gave me a little push from behind and I moved to stand by him.
“This is my girl, Ella Wilton, Mother. And Ella, I’d like to present Mrs. Arthur C. Colbert.”
Cripes. Am I supposed to curtsy? What would happen if I called her Arthur? Oh God, don’t start laughing.
I. Must. Not. Laugh.
I nodded Hello, not daring to open my mouth in case the laughter erupted. And jeez, what was all this “my girl” crap? Robert grabbed my hand. Had he sensed my urge to flee?
Her eyes narrowed with suspicion as she stared at me. “I hope you haven’t chosen a deaf mute as a mate, Robert.”
Oh frig. I was going to have a heart attack trying to hold back my laughter. Robert noticed my shaking shoulders and seemed to guess my predicament.
“No, Mother. Ella has just lost her voice temporarily with…a virus, or something.” I caught Robert’s silent plea to Lucas to help out.
“Virus?” The mother sniffed haughtily. “That’s ludicrous!”
Peeking from around Robert I saw her eyebrows arch impossibly high making her a dead ringer for the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. This did not help me get under control.
“Rosie had th
e same thing.” Lucas stepped in to further block his mother’s sight of me. “For the first few days after the bite, some of the effects waver. Right, dear?”
“Yes.” Rosie’s voice sounded odd until I realized she’d caught my giggles. Wow, this is sooo mature. I bet Robert’s wishing I wasn’t “his girl” now.
That thought helped me sober up. “I’m sorry.” I made my voice raspy to sound like I had a virus.
“That’s a relief. Bad enough your questionable heritage.”
I glanced up at Robert in alarm. Surely he hadn’t snooped into my parents’ history? He shook his head as if guessing my thought. “I bit Ella,” Robert reminded his mother. “She’s in no way to blame for this.”
“I thought I brought you boys up better.” She turned to the old guy. “You were too lenient.”
He nodded with a vacant smile. “Yes, dear.”
Mrs. Arthur C. Colbert turned back to us. “You go play until dinner.” We were dismissed like children.
I took my first real breath in what felt like hours as we escaped that scary room. Outside and several steps away Rosie burst out laughing and then everyone else joined in. Phew, they weren’t all pissed at me.
Robert pulled me into his arms and kissed my forehead. “Well done, you survived the first part.”
“Well done? That was terrible.”
“Oh there’ve been worse.” He turned to Lucas with a smirk. “One of Lucas’s ex-girlfriends peed her pants she was so scared of Mother.”
“And when I brought Steve home?” The young girl piped up from behind and I glanced over surprised. I hadn’t realized she’d followed us out of the room. “Remember that? Mother threw her cup of tea at him when he called her Mom. He didn’t know better. I think he was trying to be respectful, like if she was the queen or something. He was pretty stoned.” She stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Anna by the way. The smart one in the family.” She raised her eyebrows at her brothers as if daring them to contradict her. “If you need to know anything about being a female werewolf, ask me.’ But nothing medical, ’cause, eww.”
