Forever Werewolf: Forever WerewolfMoon Kissed (Harlequin Nocturne)

by Michele Hauf

  Lexi took position at the top of the half-pipe, shook out her arms, tilted her head around on her neck, then dismounted from the deck and performed a few easy alley-oops—a one-eighty turn—as she glided up each side of the pipe.

  “Warm up!” she called, as she stepped off on the deck to start again at the side opposite where he stood.

  “Looking fine,” he said, and she was. Most women hadn’t the control right out of the gate like she did. Nice. Then again, it seemed she was always in control. Girl like that needed to let loose, be a little free. Show him her inner color.

  A spray of snow misted his face as she glided near him, twisting at the deck and dropping down gracefully to follow through to the other side. She used her hips and shoulders to steer the board and her body. A hand plant at the opposite side of the pipe saw her placing her gloved palm on the snow edge and following through over backward to glide skillfully down the inner side. She’d mastered the pop and plant.

  He’d mastered it, of course, but occasionally it tripped him up and landed him on his face. A face-plant burned like a mother, but it was worth the road rash for the resultant thrill. Besides, the wound never lasted longer than a good pipe session.

  She glided up on his side, dismounting and spraying snow over his boots with her stop. “How’s that, hotshot?”

  “How was that?” Tryst pumped his fist. “Lexi, that was sick. I can barely work that trick. You must practice every day.”

  She shrugged—and then the most amazing thing happened. It struck Tryst so hard he slapped a hand to his chest because he needed to slow down his sudden rapid heartbeats.

  “What?” she said.

  “You know what’s even more amazing than your half-pipe skills? It’s that.” He pointed to her face. “That gorgeous smile. I knew you had it in you. I knew it!”

  When he expected her to drop the smile, and maybe even punch him, she didn’t, and instead she continued to smile. And when he offered his fist, she returned the gesture with an enthusiastic fist bump.

  “Lexi, you are freaking me out.”

  “Why? Because I don’t always have to wear the security jacket and be all business? You don’t have the first clue about me, Trystan.”

  “Call me Tryst, please. All my friends do.”

  “Tryst.” That made her smile even more.

  He butted the toe of his boot against the snowboard she’d jammed into the snow and, feeling a well of eagerness bubble up inside him, he went with the moment, ignoring whether or not what he was about to say was right or wrong.

  “Lexi, I just gotta say, right now? I so want to kiss you. But I feel like I have to ask your permission, or risk a sharp left hook to my jaw.”

  That chased away her smile. Dislodging the board from the snowpack, she handed him the board and tugged on her coat. “Right. So I’ll tell Jones he can cut the lights on the field when I get back inside. I’ll see you tomorrow, Hawkes.”

  And she marched off, without looking back. Even in the fur-rimmed pack boots, she managed a sexy hip-shifting sashay. Tryst whistled lowly.

  “I blew it,” he muttered. “It was a fast move. Too fast. I should have held back.” He grabbed the board and stabbed it into the snow. “No, that’s the way I roll. If the werewolf princess doesn’t like it, then I’ll have to change her mind.”

  His inner wolf howled, and then Tryst let it escape, a long vocal song that declared his interest in the woman and placed a challenge to any who would protest.

  * * *

  Lexi paused in the doorway to her room, taking in Tryst’s long and rangy howl. She’d heard that kind of howl before—when a pack male was hot for a female. Her neck heated and her lips parted. He was howling for her?

  No, she must be reading it wrong. Maybe?

  Stripping off her boots and coat, she wandered into the bathroom to turn on the water and run a tub. Her muscles felt luxuriously stretched after the quick run on the half-pipe. She didn’t work out nearly as often as she should. Chatelaine duties were dull and didn’t require much energy.

  The world responds to the energy you put into it.

  She loved that. Everything about him was so different from any man she had known. Refreshing, open. Alive.

  Sitting on the edge of the tub, she held her fingers under the stream of water, and adjusted the temperature. A squirt of cinnamon-scented bubble bath perfumed the room.

  “He felt like he’d needed permission to kiss me?” She shook her head and stood, finding her reflection in the mirror. “Who are you, Alexis Connor? What kind of woman requires a man to ask permission for a kiss? That’s so wrong.”

  And it was all her fault. She put up a cold front when around any male. It was something she’d been doing since her teenage years. The truth was just too painful, and it always freaked out the guys.

  “You can’t risk it,” she said to the mirror.

  She usually avoided meeting her own eyes in her reflection, but tonight Lexi studied her irises. “I’d scare the crap out of him. Will I ever be kissed?”

  Chapter 6

  Lexi inspected the tray of food that sat on her father’s bed beside his thigh. He’d picked at the roast beef and had eaten all the mashed potatoes—his favorite—but hadn’t touched the broccoli.

  “Father, you need to eat to keep up your strength.”

  Propped against two thick pillows, he redirected his gaze from out the window, where snowflakes fluttered through the sky, to her. The drowsy look had returned, his eyelids heavy. He’d actually looked as though he was improving earlier this morning when she’d checked in on him, but now she feared that might have been a false hope on her part.

  She speared a hunk of broccoli with the fork. “Remember I used to call these trees when I was little?”

  He allowed her to feed him the vegetable but then shook his head for no more. “That was how your mother got you to eat them. It thrilled you to eat a whole tree in one bite. Used to call peas boulders, and arrange them around the trees. Your meals were quite the theatrics, as I recall.”

  She set down the fork and nodded, not wanting to look into his tired eyes and see the truth. How could they not know what was wrong with him?

  “Did the doctor from Paris examine you?”

  “He did. This morning. Took some blood and scanned it with a fancy gauge and is now waiting for results.”

  “That’s good. I’ll have to talk to him. I know he’s in the keep now.”

  “How are the wounded?”

  “Recovering. You know our breed is sturdy. But crushed lungs and bones take longer to mend. A few more days and most should be ninety percent better.”

  A tap on the door came in two rapid knocks and then one slow one.

  “Tell your sister to come in,” Edmonton said on a raspy whisper.

  Lexi went to the door and Lana glided through with tears in her eyes. Lexi moved in front of her so their father couldn’t see her teary state. “What’s wrong, Lana?”

  “It’s Sven. Oh, Daddy!” She nudged around Lexi and went to snuggle on the bed next to the principal. “He’s such a brute.”

  “What did he do?” Lexi demanded, feeling her ire rise. “Did he hurt you?”

  Lana gave her a blank look and a screw of her mouth. “No, silly. He would never hurt me.” But she looked down and aside when she said that. Lexi suspected otherwise, and that perhaps her sister was deft at covering up bruises. “He broke the stupid machine.”

  “The snowplow?” Lexi shook her head. Tryst had been right. And she should have done something to stop Sven from exerting his machismo just because he could. “Are you sure?”

  Lana nodded. “Liam said it would take days to repair. Sven just flipped him off and told him to get to work. I hate when he’s so rude to the rest of the pack. Makes me dislike him, but I don’t.” She turned to their father. “Unless you think I should, Daddy?”

  Edmonton closed his eyes and stroked his daughter’s blond hair, and Lana rested her head against his shoulder. “I
want whatever makes you happy, Lana dear. We men can be brutes at times. I’m sure Sven was upset over what he had done and inadvertently took it out on you and the others. He’s been through a lot, what with losing his whole pack. Give him the benefit of the doubt.”

  Lexi paced to the window and crossed her arms over her chest, her back to the cuddly twosome. She’d grown used to her father’s nickname for Lana. Lana dear. Lana dearest. Sweetie pie. He only called her Lexi or Alexis.

  What are you doing? Get over yourself. You and Lana have very different relationships with your father. It doesn’t matter. Right now, Father’s health is paramount.

  “He’s not eating as much,” she said over her shoulder to Lana. “Maybe you can get him to finish his meal.”

  Lana stared at the tray of food. “If he doesn’t feel like eating, we shouldn’t force him.”

  “I’m not dead, and I can hear you two talking about me as if I’m not here. I’m just not hungry right now.”

  “He’s not hungry.” Lana pushed the tray toward the end of the bed. “Get rid of this.”

  Lexi picked up the tray, but couldn’t help wonder what had suddenly got into her sister that she had put up such a protective front. On the other hand, anything to get Daddy on her side. “I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll talk to the doctor and make sure you get another injection of wolfsbane before you doze off to rest. I’ll look in on you later, Father.”

  * * *

  “You were right, outsider.”

  Tryst turned from walking away from the cafeteria, where he’d grabbed a shredded pork sandwich, to find Lexi had caught up with him. He hated that word. And coming from her it felt even more ugly.

  “You’re admitting I was right about something?” He took a big bite of the sandwich, and said while chewing, “This I’ve got to hear.”

  “Sven broke the snowplow.”

  “Hell.”

  “Liam is a mechanic. Actually, he’s a carpenter, too. Jack-of-all-trades, that guy. He estimates a few days to fix it. It’s not like we’re in a hurry to go anywhere. We’ve got a doctor and all the injured wolves in the keep are improving.”

  “What about your father?”

  “He’s…hanging in there.”

  “The wolfsbane not working?”

  “I’m not sure. It seemed to have an immediate effect, yet now he is getting worse again. I don’t know what is wrong with him, nor does the doctor. He’s waiting to hear back from Paris on blood tests. He has some kind of fancy scanner that sends the information directly to the lab.”

  “You’re worried about him.”

  “Of course I am. He’s my father. And we have no scion. The pack needs a leader, especially now, during this disaster.”

  “What about Sven?”

  “He is my father’s choice.”

  “Good luck with that, pack Alpine.”

  The day they let Sven lead the pack was the day the castle took damage from mortars and enemy marauders. It could happen. It would happen with that idiot in charge.

  “So with the plow not working, I guess I’m staying on a few more days.” He stopped at the guest bedroom door and, sandwich demolished, crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the wall. “You able to handle having my ugly face around here that long?”

  She shrugged but said confidently, “It’s not so ugly.”

  Tryst straightened and put down his arms. “I can’t figure you out, Lexi. You like me but you don’t. You’re offended by me but you’re not.”

  “We women are complicated. You don’t know that?” She strolled away, casting a glance over her shoulder. Man, he wished he could see her eyes. “Not much to do this afternoon. Looks like a storm is rolling in. You up for some hot chocolate?”

  Twisting his neck to catch the sexy werewolf princess’s tilt of head, Tryst tripped over his feet catching up to her. “I’m up for anything with you.”

  “Sounds more interesting than a movie.”

  He didn’t miss the teasing tone in her voice. All systems fired and ready for action, Tryst followed Lexi to her bedroom.

  Finally, a crack in her icy surface.

  * * *

  Whatever she was doing by inviting the wolf into her bedroom, Lexi decided not to question and just follow her instincts. Said instincts purred like a lost kitten in the wolf’s presence. She’d never felt so unresisting around a man before. Every word he spoke turned her head toward him. His movements caught her eye and now she lingered on a hand gesture and the hard corner of his hip as he paced around the room.

  Tryst settled on the two-seater couch before the window that overlooked the distant half-pipe. He held a cup of hot cocoa with tiny marshmallows floating on the surface. Lexi kept a coffee/cocoa machine in her room. His hair, loose and wild, glinted with sunlight and his long, lanky legs bent slightly at the knee, stretched before him, his feet finding hold on the ottoman.

  Lexi curled up her legs and settled onto the seat next to him, but fit her body as close to her side as possible without touching him. She may be less resistant to a man’s attention but she was a little uncomfortable being near one who made her feel so at ease. A weird mix of nerves and relaxation. What the hell?

  He hadn’t taken a drink, instead following her every move as if he was trying to learn her. It didn’t unnerve her. It made her feel special. Like she was the only one he cared to look at. That had never happened to her with a man before. All she’d ever dreamed to have was a man’s attention. And for it to feel easy and natural, like when she observed Lana with men.

  A systems check made her realize she did feel relaxed. Not on guard. Huh. So weird that this new wolf could insinuate himself into her life and she hadn’t even flinched.

  “Take off your glasses, Lexi,” he said. “I want to see your eyes.”

  A sudden flinch twanged at her heart and her defenses flashed back up. “I told you the light bothers me.” She sipped the hot cocoa as a means to put an end to that direction in the conversation.

  Tryst followed in kind. He propped an ankle across one knee and shook his foot nervously as he looked about the room. “I didn’t expect the frills,” he said of the purple ruffled bed skirt and the white ruffled pillows on the beds. On the walls, decals of roses—her favorite flower—brought a touch of summer to her room in the stark winter.

  “What did you expect? Steel and black leather?”

  “Sounds kinda kinky to me.” He waggled a brow and she couldn’t help but smile. “Lexi, you have a gorgeous smile. You should use it more often. Wait, I get it. It is a distraction from your eyes, yes? Clever, very clever.”

  “The same way you use that cocky attitude to distract from the kind and caring wolf you are?”

  He set the cup on the nearby table where she had set the flare gun on top of a stack of romance novels, and crossed his arms defensively across his chest. “Just stepping in when help is needed. Who wouldn’t do that?”

  “A lot of guys. I respect that about you, Trystan. It goes a long way in…”

  “In making up for the fact I’m not what you want me to be? I am full-blooded wolf, Lexi. You have to believe me.”

  “Doesn’t matter want I want, or even what you think I want—which is completely off base, by the way. You can never dream to know my mind. Hell, from day to day, I don’t even have a good grasp on it.”

  Especially now that he had intruded upon her hard, cold heart. A heart that seemed to soften with every minute she spent near him.

  “Would it be so wrong if you were not full-blooded? With a vampire for a mother I have to believe you have great respect for that breed.”

  “Oh, I do. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against a longtooth—well, you know. The vampires in my family are family. But I’m still wary around the ones I don’t know. It’s a social thing I learned after I started hanging out with my breed. But trust me, the vampire gene passed me over and went straight to my twin brother. He’s a blood-born vampire.”

  “Wow.” Hugging a k
nee up to her chest, she leaned forward over her cup of cocoa. “You’ve a twin who is vampire? How did that happen?”

  “Born at the same time, but we had different fathers. Rhys is my dad, and Vaillant’s dad, well—guy was an asshole, and he’s gone now, so I won’t speak poorly of the dead.”

  “Your mother and brother are vampires. Your father half vampire. You’ve more vampire blood in your family than werewolf.”

  “And you’re skittish about that.”

  “I’m not, but why does it concern you so much?”

  He shrugged. “Just want to know where I stand with you. You’re a pretty woman. Hell, you’re sexy, and gorgeous, and you shred on the half-pipe, and…I’m attracted to you. I’m surprised half the wolves in the pack aren’t fighting over you, or that you’ve not already been claimed by one of them.” He tilted back the rest of the hot chocolate, wiped a brown mustache from his upper lip, then asked, “Why is that?”

  The question pushed against walls she didn’t want to bring down, or even open the door a crack. She had invited him here. Would it be rude to ask him to leave so quickly?

  “What’s wrong with you, Lexi? I don’t mean to pry, but seriously? There’s gotta be something that’s keeping the guys away from you. And I highly doubt it’s because you’re the pack princess. That only makes you more valuable in the eyes of a pack wolf. I know that much despite never having grown up in a pack.”

  “Was your pack peopled by vampires? Or were you in a tribe?”

  “You’re changing the subject.”

  “I am. And for good reason. I don’t feel comfortable enough with you to expose my secrets.”

  “So you have secrets?”

  He leaned forward, clasping his hands between his knees. His hair spilled forward and she wanted to run her fingers through it because it looked so soft and the color was brown and red and copper and she’d like to feel it against her lips.

  “Just one secret,” she whispered, feeling her defenses slacken. “Can’t we be allowed one?”

  “Oh, sure. Everyone has secrets. I thought mine was safe from you, but I’m glad your father told you. What you see is what you get. But what you see is definitely a werewolf.”