“Will you able to hear me?”
He blinked, just then understanding how little she knew. “Yeah. I’ve got complete control. We’re one and the same. It’s really not like in the horror films. It’s just my primal side has a face.” She gave a short, expectant nod.
He walked to stand in front of her, stripping off the faded blue jeans he’d worn also on the day they arrived. He had on a chocolate-brown button-up shirt for the dinner, and he undid each button slowly, holding her eyes. “I’ve never done this.”
“Neither have I.” She offered him an encouraging smile and kicked her feet.
He’d been shifting of his own accord since age twelve and the years had made the motion smooth and not at all painful. He liked to do it, he needed to express both parts of himself and this was the most raw and honest way.
Standing naked before her, he cracked his neck and called his wolf to come out. His bones compacted and reformed quickly and he dropped to the ground as his body covered itself in a golden brown protective coat of fur. His eyes were as bright as she’d seen them before, only now his nose was a snout and his muzzle was covered not in stubble but in soft, short fur, his fangs sharp and his legs long.
He kept his eyes on her as it happened, the bond remaining intact and deepening between them. He felt it, just as he had when they first made love.
She gasped and grabbed the side of the bed, her knuckles white and her blue eyes wide with shock. He expected to see fear and would have forgiven it, but instead he saw awe. He couldn’t believe it. She stood up when the transformation completed and walked to him with her hand held out.
“Eli?” she asked, hesitant.
He nodded and padded to her, not sure what she would do. She got on her knees and looked him in the eye. “You’re amazing. Your coat is the color your eyes get when you let them glow. It’s like warm honey on cinnamon toast.” She smiled and ran her hand down his back, feeling his back legs and finally holding his muzzle with both hands. “You can hear me?” He nodded again and licked her nose. She laughed and shook her head in wonder. “Wow. I mean, just wow.”
He was overcome, never having a human woman touch him when he was in wolf-form before. He backed away and rose up to two legs, completing the full shift back to man in less than five seconds. Still on her knees on the blue tile, she stared up at him, aghast. “Does that hurt?”
He shook his head, holding out his newly formed hand to help her up even as his nails were still retracting from claws. She took it while watching the final forming of his nails.
He wanted to speak but he couldn’t.
“It’s so fast. You can, what do you call it…shift?” He nodded. “You can shift so quickly, it’s amazing to watch. Have you ever done that in front of a mirror?”
He laughed. “No.”
She took his hand and led him to the balcony. Opening the door, she walked out and he followed her gaze up to the stars. “You see those?” she asked, pointing upward. He nodded. “You’re as amazing as those right there.”
His chest hurt. He pulled her to him and kissed her lips in a crushing embrace. Flipping her around, he pulled up her skirt and yanked down her panties. She gasped as he moved her legs open with one knee and arched her ass in the air. Kneeling down he shoved his tongue in her pussy from behind, penetrating her and making her cry out with surprise. He rose up and held his stiffening length against her opening. “I know you’re sore. I just want to be inside you for a second.”
She nodded and said, “I know. I want it, too.”
“I’ll go slow,” he rasped, and pressed into her a little at a time. She arched her ass up for him and stared out at the ocean. There was a single spotlight on it in the distance, up the beach and they watched the dark waves crashing there against the shore as he ever so slowly worked his way in. He threw his head back as he finally filled her, and held there, reaching around to hold her close to him. She rose up on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his, her flesh so soft compared to his.
They stayed like that for a long time. Then he carried her inside and curled up with her beside him, falling fast asleep.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
On the fifth morning when they walked down the sandy steps to their cabin, they opened the door to Rose’s phone ringing. She ran to catch it, muttering as she swiped to answer the call, “I don’t know the number.” He leaned against a wall watching her face change as she listened to the caller. He could hear a woman’s crying voice explaining something so fast the words stumbled over one another.
“Okay, slow down. It’s okay. I knew you were going to call,” Rose said. Then she covered the phone and whispered to Eli, “It’s Diana!”
He snapped to attention and went to stand by Rose so he could hear what was said.
Diana was hysterical. “I called the police! She’s in jail. Eli said I could call you and I don’t know what to do.” She broke down into sobs as if she’d fallen to the floor.
Rose was filled with compassion and patience as she soothed her. “Diana, what you did was very brave and you don’t have to worry.”
“I can’t afford a lawyer!” Diana cried.
“Eli already told me he’d take care of it.” Rose looked to him, emotion welling in her eyes. He nodded in encouragement for her to keep going. “I will make sure she never hurts you again.”
“She’ll come back! She always does and this time she was so…cruel. So brutal.”
Rose urged her, “Diana, go to somewhere safe, where you feel loved. Eli mentioned you have a friend nearby?”
“But she’s already done so much,” Diana whispered. “I don’t want to be a burden.”
Rose looked at Eli with her eyebrows raised. “Her friend will help,” he said quietly enough that only Rose could hear him. “Tell her to go there.”
She nodded and told Diana, “I think she’ll be happy to help you. That’s what friends are for. And I’m out of town but I’ll come home early.” She looked at Eli and he nodded. “I’ll catch the next flight. We’ll press charges together. Okay?”
“Okay,” came her quiet reply. “Thank you.”
“Thank you, Diana. What you did was very brave. You’re very strong, much stronger than you can think. Borrow my faith in you until you believe in yourself.”
“Okay,” Diana whispered but she started crying again. “I’m so scared.”
“You don’t have to be scared anymore.”
Eli watched Rose say goodbye after getting the address of where she could find Diana, just in case. He strode to the bed at once feeling impressed with Rose for sacrificing so quickly, and with Diana for doing the thing he didn’t know she would. He had to search for his phone, completely forgetting where he’d left it since he hadn’t needed to use it. “And here I teased you about making sure your phone was charged,” he muttered, grateful she hadn’t listened to him.
“I’m so sorry we’re going back early, Eli. You don’t mind?”
He spun around and saw the cloud around her face. Stunned, he rushed to her and took her face in his hands. “Are you kidding? I’m so glad you didn’t hesitate. This is a huge thing she just did and she’s going to need support.”
“Shanna Cove will always be here,” Rose smiled.
He kissed her. “We’ll come back.”
“I hope we do.” He released her and she went to pack as he checked flights. They were on one by the afternoon and with the changeover, they were home by nightfall. She called Diana in the cab on the way back from Newark, and set up a meeting with her in the morning. He dropped her off at her place so she could look up everything she could find on spousal and partner abuse. “I want to arm myself with as much knowledge going in as possible. You understand right?”
“Of course,” he assured her. She gave him a big kiss before she left and he made the cab wait until she got inside her building. She turned around and waved goodnight, blowing him a kiss before she vanished inside. “She looked back this time,” he told the cabbie.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He grinned, sat back and gave him the address for his old flat. Texting Nathaniel he was coming over, he watched New York fly by. Everything looked different. The buildings still glittered with lights, but he felt like he had changed, and would never again be the same wolf again.
The second Nathaniel opened the door, Eli locked eyes with him and said, “I’m not getting married. But will you help me buy a ring tomorrow?”
Nathaniel’s dark eyebrows shot up.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A week after they returned, she rolled over in her bed and looked at Eli’s sleeping body. His eyes shot open. “What time is it?” He leapt out of bed and ran naked through her house looking for where he’d left his slacks in the kitchen.
“What’s the rush, Eli?” Rose called after him, leaning on her elbows having risen up to watch him run. He’d been acting funny for a couple days now so when he shouted, “I have to go!” and appeared in her doorframe already dressed, she wasn’t too surprised.
“Is this about that new building you guys got commissioned for?”
He beamed, buttoning up his shirt, his suit jacket hanging from his arm. He only had one shoe on. “What? Um, do you know where my other shoe is?”
She pointed in the direction of the living room. “You threw it and it slid under the couch during your strip tease. Which was hilarious.”
He made a face and cocked an eyebrow. “It was supposed to be sexy.”
Dryly she said, “Well, then you probably shouldn’t have sung brown chicka brown cow the entire time.”
He ran for the shoe. “You want me to do it again, that’s why you’re saying that,” he yelled through the walls.
“Oh, I definitely want you to do it again.”
With two shoes on, he reappeared, slipping on his jacket. “I’ll see you at the courthouse.”
She shot up in bed, searching her memory for what day it was. “But the preliminary hearing isn’t until next week.”
“Yeah, but there’s that thing…” he trailed off, shrugged and vanished. She heard the front door open as he called back, “eleven o’clock! Don’t be late!”
Climbing out of bed, she slid into her slippers and walked naked into the bathroom. Grabbing her toothbrush, she searched her memory for what he was talking about. Diana was now safely in a shelter getting help with the great therapists there, and attending their in-house Al-Anon meetings since it was revealed that Louise had a severe drinking problem. Rose had met with the defending attorney and she felt confidant that with evidence they had stacked up, the bruising, scars, and her recent broken arm, that she could get the maximum sentence for Louise. Plus a lifelong restraining order.
But there was nothing she should be doing today. In fact, she’d secretly hoped that she could spend the day with Eli.
A knock at the front door made her grab a robe and head to answer it. She called through, “Who is it? Eli?” as she tied the robe closed and padded to look through the…
“It’s Michelle! Open up! Oh good, you’re home.”
With a knitted brow, she opened the door, and the crease only deepened as she saw Michelle in a very pretty dark blue dress and heels. “It’s only ten o’clock in the morning. On a Thursday. Why are you all dressed up?”
Michelle laughed, walking past her into the apartment carrying a plastic bag on a hanger and a tote bag hung on her forearm. “Come with me. Have you showered?”
Rose closed the deadbolt and padded quickly after her friend. “Not yet. Eli just left. He was…”
Michelle whipped around. “He stayed here last night?”
“Yeah, he’s been here every night. Well, except the first night we flew back but only because I wouldn’t let him. Not that he argued, but we were we–”
“You’re rambling. Anyway, it can’t be fixed now. Come on!” Michelle disappeared into her bedroom.
Rose stared after her. “What can’t be fixed now? What’s wrong with him staying over?” When she walked into her bedroom, Michelle was uncovering a very sexy white silk dress that cascaded to the floor. Rose froze and held out her finger. “What is that?”
Michelle turned with a smile. “You are definitely NOT getting married today.”
Rose’s jaw dropped to the floor and she backed to the wall. “I’m not getting married.”
With the patience one uses when feeding a child foul-tasting vegetables, Michelle slowly advanced on her best friend. “That’s right. Breathe. You are definitely NOT getting married. And you need to put on this dress.” She pulled her phone from the tote bag. “Now.”
Rose rushed to grab the dress, ripping the plastic off of it and holding it up to herself while it was still on the hanger, looking at herself in the mirror. “I don’t have time to shower.”
“It’s okay. You’ll smell like him and believe me, that’s all he wants. To me, you smell like vanilla.”
“Really?”
“And a little bit of sex.”
Rose burst out laughing. “Michelle!”
“I just never want to lie to you again!” She laughed too and soon they were dressing Rose.
After a half hour of hair combing and putting it up, then back down, putting on only lipstick then rethinking it and doing her whole face, scrubbing her armpits in the bathroom sink, anything she could think of. Rose let Michelle help her into the dress she was definitely not getting married in. It fit her very snugly, but she loved it. “Did he buy this?”
Michelle nodded zipping up the back and surveying the result in the mirror. Rose looked beautiful as she slipped on the strappy silver heels and turned to see her reflection. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement and her eyes were so bright!
“Are you sure I shouldn’t wear my hair up? I think it…” She caught Michelle’s gaze in the mirror and pointed at her. “Stop crying!”
Rose shoved down the rush of tears that threatened to explode from her, too. “Oh my God, Chelle! I’m not getting married today!”
“I know!”
Her heart was so scared yet so full, she didn’t know what to do with herself. “Where do I go now? What do I do? I’m fucking terrified!”
Michelle took her hand and grabbed both of their purses. Rose balked. “I need my little purse!”
“There’s no time!”
“There’s time! I can’t bring that big brown honker! NO!”
Giving up, Michelle rushed back to the bedroom and Rose followed. “WHERE IS IT?”
“IN THE CLOSET. THERE! THERE!”
Rose waved her hands like she was about to fly and Michelle emptied out the old contents and shoved her friend’s wallet, phone and lipstick inside the tiny silver purse with the crystal bedazzled straps. “Better?”
Rose exhaled, “Yes!” and they ran out of there.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Eli stood where Nathaniel had a month ago with his packmates flanking him this time. He made them all wear ties, only his was white to match her dress and his shirt. He stared down the hallway of the courthouse with a big fat grin on his face.
“You’re not nervous?” Nathaniel asked.
Eli shook his head and reached over and hit Dontae, who’s somber face needed a smack. “Hell no. I’m not getting married today. What’s there to be nervous about?”
Darik laughed and Nathaniel chuckled. Even Dontae smiled and shook his head. “You’re truly ridiculous,” he muttered.
“Yeah, but you love me. Here she comes. I’d know that laugh anywhere.” He rocked back and forth on his black dress shoes, his tux tugging against the seams it was so made for his body. He couldn’t move too much in it, but he knew she’d fucking love it.
Around the corner came Rose and Michelle, with the latter crying. “I’m sorry! I’m trying to stop.”
Rose rolled her eyes and smiled at Eli, rushing to meet him as he stepped forward. “I don’t know what her problem is. Nothing big is happening.”
He kissed her nose. “Right? Just a
normal day for us.”
She made a face like duh, and glanced to her left as she spotted someone she recognized. “Oh, hi Thomas!” A pale guy in a suit who had a stick up his ass gave her the once over and frowned, passing them by without a hello. Eli stared after him and she caught the protective look that flashed over his eyes. “No, don’t mind him. He’s just pissed because I always kick his ass in court.” She looked around. “Well? What now? Go get some food?”
Nathaniel opened the door to the City Clerk’s office and motioned for the ladies to go first. “After you.”
“Oh, are we going in here again?” she asked with innocence.
Eli shrugged. “Yeah, I thought we’d ask them about the wood-paneling. Let’s check it out.” He took her hand and winked at Dontae who was staring at them like he was disgraced. He held up the rear of the group, closing the door behind them as Nathaniel headed for the clerk, an older gentleman who didn’t recognize the recent groom at first.
“Oh yes! Yes. You’re back.” He looked at the group. “Everyone looks nice.” The female witness, county employee nodded agreement, a smile of recognition in her eyes.
“This is going to sound weird,” Eli heard Nathaniel whisper. “But these two are going to have the strangest vows you’ve ever heard. Can you just humor me and act like they’re normal.”
The old guy frowned, but nodded. “Okay…”
“Great!” Nathaniel walked over to Eli and Rose and positioned them in front of each other. “Not that this means anything, but would you guys just stand like this.”
Michelle dropped down to arrange the hem of Rose’s gown, muttering, “Where is he?”
“Who?” Rose asked, looking around. “Everybody’s here.”
The doors swung open and in ran a teenage delivery guy with a bouquet of white roses. “Sorry I’m late.” He gave Rose a once over and handed them to her. “These must be yours.” Running back out the door, he called back, “Sorry again!”
Eli smiled down at his blue-eyed beauty and she held the flowers like she didn’t know what to do with them. It made him chuckle and he took them from her and handed them to Michelle as she stepped back to stand by his packmates. He took Rose’s hands and jogged his chin to the clerk, whispering to her, “He’s going to say some things. Just ignore him for the most part.”
Werewolves of New York: Eli (Werewolves of... Book 2) Page 13
