Big Bad Wolf

by Christine Warren

His expression softened infinitesimally, and his mouth quirked up at one corner. “The bath. Is it helping any?”

  Hoping her blush could be blamed on the heat, she nodded and sank up to her chin. “It’s lovely. Thanks.”

  “Good.”

  They soaked in silence for a few minutes while Missy tried to figure out what event had landed her in this alternate universe, because she didn’t want to accidentally repeat it and get herself tossed back into reality. She much preferred the existence where sexy, charming werewolves fell head over heels in love/lust with plain, average kindergarten teachers to the one where she couldn’t get a date unless her friends arranged it, and the last two men she’d gone out with had both decided they’d rather be celibate than have sex with her. She intended to cling to this little fantasy until it shriveled up and died. Then they could try to pry it from her clutching fingers.

  The hot, salted water began to work its magic on her, easing her sore muscles and soothing the raw feeling between her legs. Too bad it couldn’t soothe the raw feelings of confusion and fear and doubt that lurked under her blustering declarations. She draped her hair over the back of the tub to keep it dry and let her head rest against the cool, enameled iron. Her eyes drifted shut of their own accord, and she stifled a yawn. With the adrenaline of the evening fading from her system, Missy began to realize just how short her nap in Graham’s bed had really been. She felt like she could sleep for a week, but she didn’t want to miss a second of her fantasy fulfilled.

  God, what wouldn’t she give if this one encounter really could go on forever? She couldn’t imagine anything more heavenly than to have Graham so enamored of her that he never stopped touching her. All the sexual exertion might kill her, but boy, would she enjoy the trip to the cemetery!

  When he picked up her feet and began to massage the arches with firm pressure, she sighed in pleasure.

  “You’re welcome to do that for the rest of my life,” she murmured, and drifted into that cloudy, peaceful state between sleeping and waking where the sound of the lapping water and their quiet breathing faded into a soothing metronome in the back of her mind. She felt like she just might sleep for a week. Or at least until the water began to cool.

  “I’d be happy to do it for the rest of our lives,” Graham murmured, his voice distinct and warm and rumbling through her sleepy haze. “So why don’t you make it easy for me and move in with me?”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Graham wasn’t quite sure where the words came from. He could only think to blame it on instinct and the relaxation caused by the hot water and the soft woman that let such instinct overwhelm his normally well-developed internal sensors at such a critical moment.

  He had intended to ease Missy into the idea of being his mate, of becoming a permanent and tangible part of his life. He knew that knocking her over the head with the reality of the situation the first time he opened his mouth wouldn’t do any good. He knew she wouldn’t be able to understand his point of view. Not yet. He needed time for her to get to know him, for her to become well acquainted enough with the Lupine mentality to give him a fighting chance at chasing away her doubts. The few short hours they’d been together so far weren’t nearly enough.

  Missy, he reminded himself very deliberately, was human, and as such, she would require very special handling of the sort that did not come like second nature to a Lupine. Humans always wanted to “take things slow” and let romances “develop” over weeks or months. Or even years. Lupine relationships didn’t work that way. Fate decided on each Lupine’s mate, and their young learned from an early age that the only way to deal with Fate was to accept it. When a Lupine found a mate, he didn’t waste any time in claiming her. But Graham also knew that attempting to claim Missy in the Lupine style would just as likely earn him a kick to the balls as a partner in his bed.

  He needed to start playing things cool. Or as cool as possible for a single, horny Lupine who had just found the woman of his dreams.

  “Very funny.”

  Missy’s grumble emerged from between the wry curves of her lips, and Graham had to concentrate to keep from leaping across the length of the tub to prove exactly how serious his hasty words had been. Fortunately, Missy failed to open her eyes or even lift her head from the back of the tub, which gave him the chance to scramble for a little control and come up with a new plan for winning her over.

  “You don’t know what you’re missing,” he said, this time making his voice deliberately teasing. “You’d get foot rubs on demand, I generally pick up all my own socks, and in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m really spectacular in bed.”

  He watched her warm, brown eyes open and fix on him. They looked soft and a little bit hurt. She stared at him for a long minute before she spoke beneath a skeptically arching eyebrow. “It’s not nice to tease a woman while you’re rubbing her feet. We’re too vulnerable. Be serious, okay?”

  “Didn’t I sound serious?”

  “No man sounds serious when he asks a woman to move in with him on their first date.”

  “Technically, this wasn’t a date. For it to be a date, we’d have to go out somewhere and do something other than have mind-blowing sex.”

  She blushed at that, and he found the bright rise of color beneath her pale skin to be charming. Infinitely more charming than the way she started to shake her head.

  “If you were serious, then you’re also insane.” She pulled her feet from his lap and started to sit up straighter until the movement brought her breasts above the waterline. She quickly sank deeper and pulled her knees to her chest and her feet out of his reach. The expression she wore now looked upset and a little sad. “I really wish you hadn’t shattered my illusions quite so soon. I should be going. Can I have a towel please?”

  “No.”

  She looked over at him, her eyebrows lifted high and her eyes wide and startled. “No?”

  “No, you can’t have a towel. If I give you one, you’ll dry off and go home, and I’m not ready to let you leave yet. And no, I’m not crazy. Just Lupine.”

  “Haven’t we already been through this once?” She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “You really can’t keep me here.”

  His instincts urged him to demonstrate to her how wrong she really was about that, but he beat them into submission. If he wanted this woman to be at ease with him, he’d have to go slowly. More slowly. With all the rush and hurry of a glacier. He was learning she wasn’t quite as delicate as she looked, but he knew he could still spook her if he wasn’t careful.

  Damn it. Maybe he should have relaxed his rules earlier and dated a few humans before. Then he might have had a little more practice in how to deal with them. It felt like such a struggle to watch their foot-dragging, instinct-ignoring way of doing things. They all seemed to take their long, safe lives for granted. They thought they could live according to the rules of logic, and Graham was too Lupine to even make such an attempt.

  He had thought limiting himself to asking her to move in with him, rather than informing her that she would marry him and bear his pups, like he wanted to do—like he would already have done if she were Lupine—was pretty restrained. But apparently the situation called for even greater delicacy. He struggled fiercely to adjust from warp speed to wuss speed.

  “I have no intention of holding you prisoner,” he said, even as he squashed those very impulses. “But let’s be logical about this. What do you plan to do when you leave here?”

  “I’ll go home.”

  “To the naked stranger sitting on your sofa?”

  Graham remembered the parts of her phone conversation he’d overheard. He had to clench his jaw to keep from expressing exactly how he felt about any man other than him being in Missy’s apartment, let alone being naked and lying in wait for her. He might be able to make visitation exceptions for a father or a brother, but it would be a near thing. And everyone who ever got within fifty feet of her again had damn well better be wearing a full set of clothes.


  “You didn’t sound very happy about that idea on the phone,” Graham continued. “Have you changed your mind?”

  He watched her shoulders droop briefly before she squared them again with visible determination and lifted her little chin defiantly. “I can go to a friend’s house,” she said.

  “You mean to one of the people who got you into this situation? The ones you were running from last night when you bumped into me?” He almost regretted pointing that out when he saw her chin sink and her expression fall into regretful lines, but he had goals to remember. Everything he was doing would be for the best in the end, for him and for his mate. “Is that really what you want to do?”

  He heard her sigh, saw her shrug. “There isn’t much else I can do. Except maybe call the police, and I don’t want the poor man arrested. I just want him out of my apartment.”

  “You can stay here.” He held up a hand when she started to protest. “Wait, calm down. I’m not talking about kidnapping you and holding you here against your will; I’m just offering you a place to crash.” He mentally crossed his fingers. “Just spend the weekend. Once it’s safe and whatshisname is gone, you can go back to your apartment, and I’ll wait until after we’ve had a few real dates before I bring up our next step.”

  In reality, he had no intention of ever asking her to move in with him again. She’d figure it out for herself after their first cub was born.

  He saw her start to waiver and pressed his case. “It’s just a couple of days. You can be home in time for work on Monday morning.”

  “I don’t have to work on Monday,” she murmured, chewing on her lower lip until he wanted to sink his own teeth into the pink flesh. “Next week is spring break.”

  He filed away that useful tidbit and kept up the pressure while she debated with herself. “That’s even better. In case the loser doesn’t clear out until he goes to work Monday. It gives you a buffer. You won’t have to feel pressured to go back until you’re sure he’s gone. Besides, you didn’t tell Ava where you were, did you?”

  She shook her head. “How did you know I was talking to Ava?”

  “I’ve met all of the women Regina calls close friends,” he said as he buried his face in Missy’s neck. “None of the others are that intimidating. So if you didn’t tell Ava where to find you, you’re safe. No one would ever think to look here, would they? They have no reason to. Why not take advantage of that? You get to keep them out of your hair for two whole days. Doesn’t that sound pretty good?”

  She tapped one slender finger against her shoulder while she thought, and he tried to focus on that instead of on her luscious mouth. It didn’t cool him off any, but he did manage to stay on his end of the tub.

  “Won’t my being here mess up your plans for the weekend?”

  He tried not to grin triumphantly. “I don’t have any plans for the weekend,” he assured her. Other than keeping her as naked as possible. “You wouldn’t be messing up a thing.”

  She pursed her lips. “And where exactly would I sleep?”

  “Was the bed not comfortable?”

  She eyed him with an odd expression, and Graham couldn’t tell if she was offended or intrigued or disgusted or overcome with lust. This was why humans should have tails. Or at least bigger ears. A wolf’s ears made reading expressions so much easier.

  “You could be a gentleman and offer me your guest room,” she finally said, watching him intently.

  “I’m not that much of a gentleman. Or a masochist,” he said, flashing her a grin. “And it would feel a lot like padlocking the door to the empty barn. Besides, if we’re going to be spending the weekend together, don’t you think we should take advantage of the opportunity to get to know each other better?”

  “I think talking would be a perfectly adequate way to accomplish that, don’t you?”

  “We can do both. Haven’t you ever heard of pillow talk?”

  Missy blushed, which he found adorable, and Graham fought to keep from drooling. He doubted she would appreciate the Lupine compliment, no matter how sincerely meant. “You really want me to go back to bed with you?”

  “Right now, if you’re willing.”

  She shook her head like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “There’s no reason for you to act like this. You could have any woman you wanted just by giving her one of those killer smiles of yours. Why should you want me? I’m still surprised that you could even see me last night over all those tall supermodel types throwing themselves at your head.”

  He couldn’t have stifled his grin if his life depended on it. “You’re jealous.”

  Missy laughed, still shaking her head. “No,” she denied, “just confused.”

  He saw gooseflesh on her skin and realized the water must be getting cold. He climbed out of the tub and grabbed a towel from the cabinet. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not interested in any other woman.”

  Ignoring the water dripping off of him to the tile floor, he wrapped the towel around Missy and rubbed the terry cloth gently against her soft, pale skin. He debated telling her why he wasn’t interested in any other women but then reminded himself again that she was human. His chances of keeping her in his house were a lot better if he didn’t bring up the term “mate-bond” for another day or so. As a human, she would probably need a little time to get used to him before tackling the whole fated-to-spend-eternity-together thing.

  Graham hunkered down in front of his petite, delicate mate and continued to dry her legs and feet. He’d bet she didn’t wear above a size 6 shoe; her feet were just that tiny, with high arches and toes polished a blushing shade of pink almost the exact color of her skin when he pushed inside her. The thought made him harden instantly, and he fought not to lean forward and bury his face in the thatch of light brown curls that shielded her sex. Having it so close and convenient didn’t seem to be helping his willpower any.

  He forced his eyes back to her feet until he could feel her gaze on the top of his head.

  He looked up. “What?”

  She shook her head. “I was just wondering something. . . .”

  He stood and finally took pity on her, wrapping the towel around her body so she could unclamp her arms from in front of her breasts. He hoped she realized exactly what the show of chivalry cost him. “What were you wondering?”

  Missy hugged the cloth against her like a security blanket and tucked her hair behind her ears. Then she looked down at the floor and shrugged. “Why you’re acting like you’re so interested in me.”

  “Um, because I am?” Graham wondered where these ridiculous doubts were coming from. How could she doubt how badly he wanted her? Had she gone blind? He thought about grabbing her hand and wrapping it around his aching cock, just to give her a tactile demonstration of exactly how interested he really was, but there was that whole problem with her being likely to run from him, screaming.

  “Yeah, right.”

  He frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means that I have a little trouble believing that I’m all of a sudden irresistible,” she said, her chin lifting again as she forced her eyes to meet his eyes with obvious effort. The way she could turn from bashful flower to rebellious firebrand fascinated him. “You’ve known me for six weeks and tonight is the first time you’ve looked at me like I was more than an extension of the wallpaper.”

  “I’ve obviously been a moron,” he countered, enjoying the way her brown eyes had gone warm and were sparking at him. And he had been. Clearly. How could he not have noticed how amazing she was before this? “What else were you expecting? I’m a man. We’re morons by birth, or so my female cousins tell me.”

  “Some of you are more moronic than others,” she agreed. “But I’d really prefer it if you didn’t act as if you’ve suddenly realized that I’m utterly gorgeous and sexy and everything a man has ever dreamed of.”

  “But you are.”

  Missy shook her head, her expression taking on a hint of anger. “Just becau
se I teach kindergarten does not make me a simpleton. Don’t lie to me, please.”

  The way her skin flushed and her breasts rose and fell with her angry breathing made his beast sit up at attention. Her indignation turned her scent sharper, more bitter, more heavily spiced. He wanted to lick the pique from her skin until it turned to lust, and then he wanted to lick it from between her thighs until it turned to satiation.

  “I’m not lying.” He had to force himself to concentrate on the conversation. “I really am a moron, and I really do think you’re utterly gorgeous and sexy. Didn’t you figure that out when you had me so hard and hot that I devolved into a monosyllabic cretin just because I couldn’t wait to get inside you?” He shook his head. “That’s not the kind of thing I can fake.”

  “From what I understand, you don’t have to fake a thing,” she snapped. “You’ve got quite a reputation, Graham. I hear there’s not more than a handful of women you’ve ever met that you haven’t ended up in bed with. So forgive me if I don’t think it’s an accomplishment that I gave you an erection.”

  An unexpected spear of hurt coursed through him. He had enjoyed every single one of the women he’d taken and had no reason to regret a single one, but somehow his mate made him want to wash away his past. He raked a hand through his hair and frowned.

  “You’re making it sound like I only wanted you because you were there. Like I would have just as soon had someone else.”

  “Exactly.”

  Frustration made him want to howl. It succeeded in making him pace.

  “It’s not like that,” he snapped, trying to think of a way to make her understand his need without terrifying her so badly she’d run. “I want you, Missy, not just another female body.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “I mean it. I’ve had plenty of female bodies. You were right about that,” he admitted, and had to grit his teeth against the hurt he saw flicker in her eyes. “But that means I know the difference between them and you. I don’t want another woman. I didn’t invite another woman to spend the weekend with me.”