by Skye Jones
“I do know you,” I told hot-but-moody. “I’ve dreamed about you over and over again.”
“Shit. Something’s gone wrong,” Drew said.
“You think?” The other good-looking one leaned against a tree and folded his arms, head to one side as he watched me.
“Please, let me come back with you. I keep dreaming of this place, of you.” I pointed to the man of my nighttime adventures. “I need some answers. It’s making me sick.”
As soon as I uttered the word sick, the hard mask of his features shattered, and he moved toward me, concern in his gaze. “What do you mean sick, Izzy? Are you okay?”
“How do you all know me?” Tears started to fall as I became utterly overwhelmed.
“Come with us,” Drew said. “Louis can show you the way with Jake here, and I’ll bring your bike back.”
Louis. His name seemed so familiar. A distant echo ricocheting around my mind.
We walked in almost complete silence until we came to the village. No matter that we didn’t speak. I didn’t need words to tell me this man walking by my side meant something important to me. As soon as I passed through the high gates and came upon the wooden houses, one word screamed at me—home. A sense of security and safety washed through me, purging the fear and anxiety I’d lived with for weeks, like water down the drain.
A pretty woman with amazing red hair ran up to me. “Izzy. Oh, my God. You’re back.”
“Sorry. I don’t know who any of you are.”
“Oh.” Her face fell.
“Except for Louis. I mean, I don’t know him, but I’ve been dreaming of him since I returned home.”
“Really? How interesting.” She grinned at Drew, who gave her a blinding smile in return.
“Izzy, will you come for a cup of tea at my home?” Louis asked. “We need to talk.”
Talk? Yeah, I’d do tea and a chat. Although, my body wanted something a lot more base than talking. I yearned for him. All the strange aching I’d been suffering for weeks coalesced into a sun-bright, burning need.
I nodded and gave the others a tense smile before I followed Louis to his home. The moment I stepped over the threshold, my head began to spin. I knew this space. Images bombarded me. Louis and me in the kitchen, him on his knees in front of me.
“You and I…we’re lovers?” I stared at him, seconds from a huge freak-out. “How? When? Did this happen after I got attacked? Why did I leave and get found wandering around in the woods by an old man? Did you let me leave? Why didn’t you call the police or a doctor when I turned up here?” The questions bubbled out of me.
Louis didn’t speak as I carried on asking one question after another. Only when I ran out of steam did he speak up.
“Yes, you were here after you were attacked. We didn’t call the police because…it’s complicated.”
“I’ve got the time.”
He stepped near me, and I flushed as his scent hit me. Sensual and familiar, it wrapped itself around me and turned me to mush.
“Why do I want you so much?” My voice came out as a whisper.
“You’re mine.” His simple answer made no sense at all—and all the sense in the world.
He reached out and tipped my chin up with his finger, his thumb brushing across my lips, and I whimpered into his touch. Fire ran through my veins instead of blood. I burned for him, from one simple touch.
“What’s happening to me?”
Louis pulled his hand free. “Sit down. We need to talk.”
He told me what they were and about my own preternatural heritage. He also told me some of the details about him and me. My head spun with all I learned. Louis moved closer and hung his head, before looking up and fixing me with his stunning emerald gaze. “You need to make a choice. You can try the herbs to wipe your memory again, see if this time they take it all. Or you can stay here a while. See where this leads.”
“With you?” I blurted out.
“As much as I’d like to say yes, no, not with me.” He scrubbed a large hand back and forth across his stubble-covered jaw. “I don’t think I can control myself around you, and you need some time to get your head around everything. Marissa, our medicine woman, has room. Or Brooke and Drew can put you up.”
Brooke. She’d seemed friendly and fun, and she was the same strange thing as me, Louis had said. An empathine.
Part of me wanted to stay here, in this oddly familiar cottage, with Louis. I loved having him near, but my thoughts were far too chaotic in his presence. He messed with my synapses, firing them up, making me want to touch him. Not wanting to lead him on, I nodded. “Take me to Brooke, please. I’ll stay with her for the night.”
He stood and gestured for me to follow. A whining noise at the back door halted him in his tracks. He grinned, and I nearly changed my mind about not staying with him. Wow, what a smile. Moving to the back door, he opened it and two beautiful German Shepherds rushed in. They moved straight past him to barrel into me. Wet noses thrust into my hands as I laughed and stroked them.
“They missed you.” He patted one on the head.
“Your dogs know me?”
“Yes, you only stayed a short time, but they know you are meant to be with us, too. Dogs understand so much. Humans have no idea.”
Tears pricked at my eyes for some unknown reason. I blinked, wanting them gone.
“Come.” He headed to the door.
We walked through the village to Brooke’s home in silence. People stopped what they were doing as we passed and stared. Two young wolf pups went hurtling by and my jaw fell open. So all Louis had told me was true. These people changed into wolves. Incredible as it seemed, I somehow accepted it without too much of an internal meltdown.
We reached Brooke’s home, and Louis knocked on the door. It swung back to reveal Drew.
His frown kicked up into a grin when he saw us. “Hey, there.”
“Izzy.” Brooke pushed past Drew to pull me over the threshold and into a warm hug. “Have you decided to stay for a while? I hope you have.”
Her breathless enthusiasm proved catching. I nodded. “Yes, I’m going to stay. At least for tonight. Are you sure I’m not imposing?”
“Gosh, no, not at all. Be lovely to have some girl talk.”
Drew groaned, but his lips twitched.
Louis cleared his throat. “I hope to see you tomorrow, Izzy.”
Something about this big, scarred man touched me. His tough shell hid a much more vulnerable interior. I didn’t like the way the atmosphere between us had turned stilted and awkward.
“We’ll take good care of her.” Brooke touched his arm briefly.
“Be sure to come let me know what you decide.” He glanced at me.
“Of course.” I hated this, but I needed time to get my head together.
Brooke gave Louis another pat on the arm and closed the door. As soon as the wood snapped shut, I burst into tears.
“Come on, hon. I’m going to make you a cup of tea and run you a warm bath. You need some time to process all this.”
After a long soak in a hot bath, I felt a lot better. I lay on the bed in Brooke and Drew’s spare room, wrapped in a borrowed fluffy robe. Brooke curled up next to me.
“So you simply decided to stay?” I asked.
We were discussing how Brooke ended up here.
“Yep. I never regretted a moment of it. I need to be with Drew. It’s such a strong bond. Hell, you remembering Louis despite the tincture shows as much. You forgot everything else, but you dreamed of him.”
She made a good point. Even here, comfy and safe in Brooke’s home, I wanted to run out the door, across the village, and pound on Louis’s door until he let me in. I yearned to be near him physically.
“I’m going to let you get some rest.” She kissed me on the cheek and went out of the room, closing the door behind her.
For a long time, I stared into space, my mind a jumbled mess of thoughts and worries. At some point, fatigue caught up with me. I closed my eyes
.
“God.” I sat bolt upright. I must have dreamed.
The fog cleared and I remembered. Louis with his arms wrapped around me. Louis saving me. He saved me. In my dream, Louis stopped Gregg from killing me. In my other dreams, we’d made love and afterward snuggled up together under warm covers. He’d touched me with care and tenderness. I realized with a gasp that they weren’t dreams; these were memories. I knew it as surely as I knew the sun rose each morning and set at night.
Could I walk away from him twice? He called to me as no other man had, and I wanted to be with him. As fucked up and strange as it may be to want to stay here, with people I hardly knew, it felt totally right. I’d spent the last four weeks feeling wretched. Anxious, panic-stricken, and sick to my stomach. Now here, in this magical place, my emotions were happier. And the man across the village called to me. Water to my dowsing rod, he’d become my true north in a way that made no sense whatsoever. Sense be damned. For once, I needed to follow my heart and my instincts.
Not wanting to wait any longer, I pulled on my clothes and snuck out of the door, taking care not to wake Drew and Brooke.
Louis answered on my first knock. He looked tired. Tired and scared.
“I want to stay, for a while, at least. I need to see what this is between us.” I blurted it out, afraid he wouldn’t want me anymore. Afraid of what I was saying.
“Thank the gods.” He pulled me into a hug, his big arms wrapping around me tightly.
“We’ll go see Marissa this morning and see if she can bring your memory back.”
“I remember some things. Mostly between you and me.” My cheeks heated and I hid my burning face against his chest. Stupid move, because he smelled amazing and felt warm and solid and oh-so-safe.
I wanted him as a woman wants water after a week in the desert.
“Christ. I want you in my bed.” His words came out guttural and almost harsh.
I took his hand and looked him in the eye. “Why don’t you take me there, then?”
Chapter Ten
Once in the room, Louis turned to me. I gasped at his eyes, which were almost glowing.
“My wolf wants you so much. As do I. I’ve missed you.” Louis stood halfway across the room from me, radiating tension.
“You can have me. I’m all yours.”
He growled. It rumbled deep in his chest and should have terrified me, but it only turned me on more.
In two strides, he stood by my side. He took hold of my T-shirt and ripped it down the front as if it were made of paper. I had no bra on, having simply thrown on some clothes and jogged over here, and my breasts were bared to his gaze.
Louis stared at me a moment and then palmed my breasts. He held both in his roughened hands, and I sighed at his touch.
He bent his head and sucked one aching nipple into his mouth. “Gods, your taste.”
My core throbbed, as a direct line of pleasure from my nipples to my clit went haywire.
Louis pushed my breasts together, squeezing the mounds in his hands and laving at both my nipples, tugging first one and then the other into his mouth. I let the tattered remains of my tee fall from my shoulders. He groaned and moved down my body, kissing my belly and nuzzling the soft flesh there. I loved how he worshiped my body. All those extra pounds I hated, he adored.
“Take your clothes off. I want to touch you, too.” I tugged at the sweat pants he wore.
Obediently, he pulled his T-shirt over his head and shucked off his sweat pants. My mouth ran dry at the sight of him naked. Holy hell, the man was stunning. Big, meaty muscles covered a large frame. A smattering of hair ran over his chest and down in a trail to highlight his already hard and straining cock.
Tentatively, I reached out and placed my palms on his chest, feeling the flex of his pecs as he jolted at my touch. “You’re beautiful,” I told him.
He gave a harsh laugh.
“You are.”
“You’re the beautiful one. And, I’m naked but you’re wearing your jeans.”
I peeled the material from my legs and watched his nostrils flare as I revealed I wore no underwear.
“I don’t normally go commando… I must have been in a rush to get here.”
His eyes flashed in a way I knew signaled his desire for me. He pulled me in to him and held me close. We touched chest-to-chest, belly-to-belly. His hardness pressed against my stomach told me how much he wanted me.
The room seemed to heat up as the air around us crackled with a strange energy. My heart beat fast, and I became super aware of sights, sounds, and scents.
“Our bond is strong,” he said. “You’re tuning in to my wolf.”
He grabbed my behind and pulled me in even closer, his hands squeezing my flesh. He ground against me, hot breath in my ear as he placed tiny bites down my neck and throat.
“Get on the bed,” he commanded, and I thrilled at his dominant tone.
I clambered on the bed on all fours and moved to turn around, but he grunted. “No, stay like this.”
I moaned when his mouth found my folds. He lifted my buttocks higher and pressed his face into me, his tongue darting out and licking down my cleft.
“You taste like heaven. You’re so wet for me already.”
“Yes.” I wanted him in the worst way. Each cell in my body yearned for him. As much as I enjoyed what he did to me, I wanted the main event. My body needed him inside me.
Cool air rushed over my back as he moved. Louis lifted me up and placed my hands around the top of the headboard. “Hold on.”
I grabbed hold of the wood as instructed. He nudged my legs farther apart and dipped one long finger inside me.
The next moment, I felt his thick cock nudge at my entrance. He pushed in, slow and gentle at first. Despite his care, the breath left my body as I struggled to accommodate him. He moved faster and reached around with one hand to play with my clit. The bundle of nerves was already so swollen it stuck out from between my folds, and his touch sent an electric thrill zipping through my body.
My breasts bounced as he thrust into me, but I wanted more. I sensed he held back and I didn’t want him to. I wiggled my behind against him and turned my head to smile at him.
Louis slapped my ass, once, twice, and a third time. Not hard, but the sharp sting ratcheted my arousal up another notch.
“Love this ass,” he grunted as he thrust even harder. “Love seeing it jiggle when I fuck you.”
Wow. My wolfman liked to talk dirty.
“Touch yourself. Make yourself come.”
I did as he said and rubbed my clit, stroking it the way I liked.
Our moans and the sound of flesh hitting flesh filled the room. Warm breath huffed against my neck as Louis took me hard and fast. My orgasm built, the tension rising in me until I thought I’d explode. Louis bit down on my neck from behind, teeth nipping hard enough to send a shock of pain through my haze of lust. His nip sent me over the edge.
I cried out as I came, convulsing around his thickness. It went on for a long time, and when it ended, I nearly collapsed, but Louis held me up. His brawny arms pulled me back into him, and he gave a final thrust as he came with a groan.
“Wow.” I laughed as he pulled out of me and drew me into his arms. “I’ve never, ever had sex like that.”
“We are mates. It’s meant to be this way between mates.”
We lay side by side, and he made circles on my thigh with one hand. Soon it drifted higher and he began to stroke me again. “I can’t get enough of you.” He looked at me as he played with me.
One finger dipped inside and he groaned. “So full of me.”
His thumb circled my clit and his finger pumped in and out of me. His expert touch soon had me arching my back and coming again. Louis moved over me quickly, and before the contractions had died down, he thrust inside.
How was he hard again? We’d only just done it, and he was already raring to go. He took it slow this time and moved within me in a sensuous rhythm. He ground his pel
vis against my mound, his thrusts deep and powerful. The action meant he rubbed against my clit as he fucked me, and I sighed in pleasure.
I’d come twice, but I already felt it building again. I wrapped my arms around him and held him tightly to me. His mouth found mine and he groaned into the kiss as he shuddered and started to come. Him finding his climax tipped me over the edge one last time. Both of us kissed our way through it, our tongues mirroring what our lower bodies did, our breath shared.
When it ended, I collapsed back against the pillow, thoroughly sated.
We snuggled for a few moments, but then my tummy rumbled.
“You need to eat.” Louis brushed his lips over mine. “I’ll go make breakfast. You get dressed and come meet me in the kitchen.”
After a wash and a trip to the loo, I made my way out of the bedroom, once more dressed in my jeans and a T-shirt Louis had left out for me. My wolfman stood by the stove, stirring something in a pan. He wore only his sweat pants, draped low on his hips. Despite our marathon session, I nearly panted aloud at the sight of him.
“Do you like scrambled eggs?” He glanced over his shoulder at me.
“Yes, please. With toast?”
“Of course. Toast and butter and orange juice. After, we can have coffee and plan our day.”
“Sounds good. Can I help?”
“Nope. Nearly done.”
I took a seat at the table, ravenous all of a sudden.
We chatted as we ate breakfast and then he suggested a stroll in the woods with the dogs. He held my hand the whole time we walked. I told him things I hadn’t told anyone else. About my mother’s painful last days. My father’s descent into addiction. I moaned about my crappy job, and Louis told me I would not have to put in another day in the place.
The dogs ran around us, and the more we talked and walked, the closer I felt to him.
We wound through the woods in a large circle, and after an hour, headed back to the cottage.
“I love your home,” I told him.
“I’m glad. If things go well between us and you decide to stay, it will be your home too.”
The idea should have scared me to death. After all, I hardly knew the guy. Instead, it gave me a lovely thrill. I imagined waking up in such a beautiful place each morning, my big, bad wolfman next to me. We’d make love, and then I’d go collect fresh eggs from the chickens before making us breakfast.
