by Dold, V. A.
Helping her to her feet, he slowly unbuttoned her blouse. Brushing the silky material off her shoulders, it floated to the floor. She swore she saw flames of desire in his eyes as he drank her in. He grasped her hands gently and placed them on his chest, as if giving her permission to explore at her leisure.
Her palms ran up and eased his shirt off his shoulders. As the material slid down his arms, her fingertips followed, tracing every line and curve of his muscular arms. When she moved her hands to his waist, he reached around and unclasped her bra. Eased the straps down her arms and released her aching breasts. His breath hitched at the first sight of her bare skin from the waist up. His gaze was ravenous and intense, primal.
Her estranged husband had repeatedly told her she was fat; he couldn’t stand to look at her. She was too self-conscious to stand naked in front of anyone, she even avoided mirrors. In front of her perfect man, her self-consciousness increased exponentially. No denying it, she was plus sized with a bit more to love. A size sixteen with extra padding and rolls where rolls shouldn’t be, and god forbid, cellulite. She hated to look at her own body.
When she moved to cover herself out of embarrassment, he took her hands and placed them at her sides. Gazing deeply into her eyes, he said, “Please don’t hide yourself from me. To me, you’re the most beautiful woman in the world. I want to appreciate you for a moment.”
She stood stiffly, held her breath, waiting for him to see all of her extra curves and rolls. He had to see her stretch marks from bearing her children. At any moment he would run from the room. But he didn’t. Instead, his eyes blazed with heat. How could he look at her with such desire?
His gaze returned to her face. Maintaining eye contact, he loosened his belt and popped the button on his jeans. “Should I remove them, or would you prefer to do it?” His sexy, lopsided grin melted her shyness.
Her hands shook so badly, she was sure she would never get her fingers to cooperate. “I think you should,” Anna whispered.
He hooked his thumbs into the waist of his jeans, pushed down his pants and boxers as one. His rock hard erection bobbed brazenly, as if begging for her attention. She saw a drop of moisture already escaping. Stepping out of his jeans, he reached for her waistband. “May I?” he asked hopefully.
She cleared her throat, but didn’t trust her voice to work right. In the end, all she dared do was nod again.
With smoldering hunger in his eyes, he slid her jeans to her ankles. He followed their decent until he was kneeling before her. Freeing her feet, he wrapped his fingers around her ankles before he skimmed them up her legs to her hips. His fingers slipped into the waistband of her panties and they followed the path of her jeans.
He leaned forward, with gentle pressure he encouraged her to widen her stance. When he took her into his mouth, she gasped, it had been so long. Her legs almost buckled with his first lick. He helped her remain standing as he lapped and suckled to his heart’s content. When she reached the edge of her orgasm, he pulled away and stood. His lips and chin glistened with the evidence of her arousal.
Easing her down, he joined her on the bed. Babe spent the rest of the night making wild, passionate love to her. Twice.
Still unsure of herself after years with a man who berated her, she hadn’t had the courage to take him in her hand and caress him. Maybe next time, she thought.
Shock spread through her when she woke the next morning, sore in places that hadn’t been used in years. How was that possible?
Babe came to her every night at her little cottage. Some nights they would sit on the swing and talk for hours, other nights they would explore each other until dawn. She had gotten to know so much about him.
After a year like this with him, Anna had her third favorite dream.
She noticed as he joined her on the swing, he was very quiet. He had something to say but was apprehensive to say it.
Finally, he took a deep breath. “Cher, I have something I need to tell you about myself. This may scare you, but I feel guilty not telling you what I truly am.”
She reached out and took his hand in hers. “Don’t worry, you can tell me. It’s okay.”
Afraid to look into her eyes and see rejection, he examined the floor instead. “I’m a shifter. I can change into a wolf.” He stiffened, as he waited for her response. He appeared to expect the worst. After what felt like an hour, but was only a minute, he glanced up.
She was smiling at him, waiting for him to look at her. “Are you really? I wanted you to be a shifter when I made you up, and honestly, I was kind of disappointed when I thought you were only human.”
Tilting his head, he wore a look of disbelief. “You’re kidding, right? You‘re actually happy about this?”
“Well, yeah! I wanted you to be a shifter. I’m ecstatic. Can I see you shift?”
Still looking a bit wary of her reaction, he slowly stood and took a few steps away. “Are you sure you want me to do this?”
“Of course. Can you change without a full moon?”
“Shifters can change any time they want. We’re not the mythical werewolves. I’ll count to three and shift, so be ready. One, two, three.” Instantly a beautiful, huge, black and silver wolf stood on her porch.
Anna gasped and squealed with glee, so excited she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to pet him, but didn’t know if she was allowed.
As if sensing her indecision, he approached her and laid his head in her lap.
She sank her fingers into his fur. The texture was incredibly soft. He turned his head this way and that, trying to get her to scratch in just the right places. After several minutes, he stepped away and, in a heartbeat her fully clothed man was on her porch again.
“Did you like my wolf?” he asked with a grin as if knowing she had.
“You know I did, so quit fishing for compliments.” She giggled
He let out a loud laugh, scooped her in his arms and carried her to bed for the rest of the night.
Both of them were so happy together in their dreams. Her only regret was the dream world wasn’t real.
Chapter 2
Six Months Earlier
Anna wiped her brow with a leftover napkin from her fast food lunch. The drive from Denver to New Orleans in her rented moving van had been long. She smiled as she sat a little straighter in the driver’s seat, proud that she had managed it by herself in just two days. The adrenaline-laced excitement over her first adventure as a single woman had fueled her the entire way. Living here had always been a dream. The minute Thomas and John graduated from college, she followed it.
According to her watch, she had an hour until she met with a realtor to tour apartments.
As they walked through gate number eleven, she felt like an old gym sock. Then like a dog when someone knocks on the door, all her senses perked up. She stepped into a lush plant filled courtyard. Instantly she was transported to her own little oasis. Ten minutes later she’d paid the deposit and first month’s rent for the small two-bedroom apartment right outside the French Quarter.
To celebrate her first night in her new place, she took a glass of wine to the courtyard. This was the first chance to sit at the little wrought iron table close to the lion’s head fountain. The sound as the water splashed and gurgled relaxed her as she rubbed the ache from her sore muscles. Everything about the fountain reminded her of the one in her dreams. They looked different but the moment she closed her eyes she was back at the Victorian home on the terrace.
The next morning she paused in front of the bathroom mirror. Do I look any different? Will people be able to tell I’m single? She laughed at herself, what a crazy notion.
As she speculated, all she saw in the mirror was the same old, average Anna. She had great hair, the perfect color of auburn. Rose called it fox red. My eyes are nice, she thought as she leaned closer to her reflection. They were hazel, a mostly green version of hazel. She smiled at the color. Today they were a bright, vibrant green that reflected her excitement.
> The rest of the reflection was no surprise; she saw your basic mid-forties woman. Turning sideways, she sucked in her size sixteen belly. Oh well, I have to work with what I have, she thought to herself. What she couldn’t see in the mirror was the unswerving confidence that attracted people to her wherever she went.
After three months Anna’s apartment had begun to take shape. Her walls were still pretty bare, but she was particular about what she wanted and willing to wait to find it.
She stepped back from the bedroom wall she had just painted a lovely shade of warm cinnamon. When she purchased the paint she had wondered if it was too bold for the room but it looked great.
Suddenly her phone chimed a new email. Glancing at it she cringed. It was Tim, her ex. Ever since she moved from Denver he had been constantly emailing. Thankfully he didn’t know her phone number. What could he possibly want now?
Oh, Hell No!!!! The email was his way of announcing he had moved.
To New Orleans!
What was he playing at, following her here?
Tim wanted to meet her for coffee. The sucker she was, she had gone. She couldn’t be rude to people, not even jackasses. She decided she would speak to him once and be done with him.
Anna took a seat across from him in the booth. What the heck did he move here for and what does he want?
“Hello, sweetheart. I’ve missed you.”
She struggled not to laugh in his face. “What do you want, Tim?”
“I wanted to see you.” He pouted.
“Sure you did,” she scoffed. “Now tell me what you really want.”
He frowned at her. “I’m broke, between the move and other expenses I need a loan. Can you borrow me some money until I find a job?”
She stood without a word and walked out of the café. Walking to her place she shook her head at his ludicrous behavior. Apparently he didn’t want me, and yet, can’t live without me.
Whatever.
Present Day
Stretching, she padded into the kitchen for her morning cup of coffee. She poured a cup as she waited for her laptop to power up. She was finishing some online promotions for a fortune 100 client and she needed all her cylinders firing.
By 10 a.m., she was done for the day and strolled through the Quarter. Morning was her favorite time. The streets and sidewalks were freshly washed. The sounds of delivery men hauling boxed produce filled the air. Tourists with cups of café au lait, passed by. The activity felt like the heartbeat of the city.
She was looking for artwork to hang in her new home, and Jackson Square was just the place to start her search. There was nothing like discovering the perfect piece among the local artists. Maybe today, I will find the perfect painting, she thought, humming to herself as she walked around the Square.
Slowly she passed the last artist, nothing appealed to her again today. Sighing, she headed to Crescent City Brewhouse for a beer and burger. Richie would cheer her up. She’d met him when she sat at his bar for the first time twelve years prior and he had taken her order. She had returned often to visit him ever since. They were good friends now, one of her few friends in the Quarter when she moved here.
Walking through the restaurant door, it was like coming home. She ran her hand along the grand thirty-six-foot golden oak bar with its classic brass foot rail. Most of the tall bar chairs were vacant, the lunch crowd hadn’t started yet. She studied the wall next to her. She loved the stucco look where a ragged patch of the old brick showed through. I wish my apartment had these walls.
Perched on a bar chair, she checked her phone for messages while she waited for Richie.
Scowling, she stared at the email that had popped up on her screen. It couldn’t really say what she thought it said. Not again.
She read it again. The rotten piece of dog excrement actually asked to meet with her again for about the hundredth time.
Anna,
I need to see you. Meet me at the diner asap.
Tim
“You have got to be kidding me,” she snarled. Her ex was after money again. She’d been through this email routine enough times to know it always came down to money and his lack of it. “Stupid S-O-B,” she growled at her offending cell phone.
Richie looked at her, surprised.
“Sorry, Richie, but this,” she waved the phone around again, “this requires serious language or maybe a Mac truck to run him over with. Tim is after money again. What kind of low life keeps harassing his ex for money because he can’t hold a job?”
Now Richie looked appalled. “He’s at it again? Darlin’, I’m so sorry. I don’t understand him at all.” He leaned across the bar. ”Are you going to be all right?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine.” She sighed.
The man was an idiot.
Problem was, he couldn’t get the idea through his head they were done.
She heard footsteps behind her and glanced up as a handsome man walked passed with a pretty woman on his arm. The sight reminded her she hadn’t had a date yet as a single woman.
“Hey, Richie, you got any cute single friends? I haven’t been in the dating world in a long time.”
Richie chuckled. “I’ll check around for you. I’m sure I’ll think of someone.”
Not wanting to think about the ex-rat bastard anymore, she decided a visit with her baby was in order. At least until she found her real-life fantasy man, Lord knows she’d earned one. He was always a perfect distraction. Thinking of him made her sigh and feel a little better.
He was tall, like six feet three inches of tall. Better yet, he was built like a brick house with wide shoulders, pecks to lick and nibble, and his six-pack of abs made her squirm in her seat just thinking about them. With a face that was cover-model handsome, not pretty-boy cover model, but the rugged ones. But his eyes, a stunning green hazel which becomes bright glowing green when he shifted to his wolf form. God, she loved that hot sexy shifter. Why can’t he be real? I mean really, it could happen, right? she thought to herself.
Anna stared blindly at the wall as the fantasy began, her baby greeted her.
Cher, I’ve missed you. He reached out and caressed her cheek as he gazed into her eyes. She felt him tunneling his fingers into her hair. He cupped the back of her head as he slowly brought his lips to hers. He savored her gently sliding his tongue along the seam to encourage her to open to him…..
Right then Richie plunked down the beer she’d ordered. That very effectively ended the daydream right when the kiss was about to get good. She wanted to smack him.
Cade Le Beau had finished with his personal banker and financial advisor. A new restaurant was in his future, a very profitable one, based on the financials. Checking the time, he had forty-five minutes to waste before he had lunch with his father.
He lifted the hair off his neck to allow the soft breeze could cool his skin. He knew the French Quarter so well he didn’t even pay attention as he walked. He preferred to use the sunny side of the street with fewer pedestrians.
As he dodged a tourist studying a map, a vision of the woman from his dreams popped into his brain. The one from Jackson Square he desperately wanted to meet a year before.
Cher, I’ve missed you. He reached out and caressed her cheek as he gazed into her beautiful eyes. They were a stormy brown today. For a moment he wondered what had upset her. He had to taste those soft lips. He tunneled his fingers into her hair. Cupped the back of her head as he slowly brought his lips to hers. He savored her lips gently sliding his tongue along the seam to encourage her to open to him…..
What the hell! Where’d she go? His wolf growled.
As the vision abruptly ended, he stumbled to a stop outside the open doorway of Crescent City Brewhouse. From the sidewalk, passersby could peer into the restaurant with a clear view of the long solid wood bar lined with people on bar chairs waiting for their lunches.
The restaurant wasn’t what made him pause once he regained his balance. He felt a pull tugging him, drawing him inside. Unable to
stop, he followed his wolf’s instincts and went in. Completely shocked, he stopped in his tracks.
It was her.
The woman he’d just been fantasizing about.
The one he’d thought he’d lost and would never see again.
Sitting at the bar.
Alone.
He’d only seen her once and for just a moment as he’d rushed to a meeting he was late for. She’d been shopping the artists in Jackson Square and had a short pudgy man with her at the time. He’d almost blown off his meeting to introduce himself and ask her to join him for a drink or dinner. But as he wrestled with indecision his phone rang, his brother, Stefan, wondering where he was. As he answered the call, she turned and walked away down the street and out of his life.
After he fell to sleep that night, his fantasy woman, Cher appeared. She was the same woman as the one from the square. He hadn’t realized she was a real woman until that moment. Stunned, he felt bereft. He’d missed his opportunity to meet her in real life. For the better part of a week after he lost her, he’d walked around the Quarter with the hope to spot her again. He’d spent weeks damning himself for not walking up to her immediately. Answering Stefan’s call had cost him terribly.
He wanted to ask her where she lived or get her phone number but he was terrified she’d stop coming to his dreams if he did. Every time he had tried to learn her name the dreams ended. If he asked more, there was no telling what would happen. Better to take what he could get in these dreams than lose her completely. Even though he hadn’t actually met her, he felt he was having a love affair with her. He’d been desperate to find her in an unnatural intense way. When he hadn’t seen her again and had no way of contacting her, he’d given up even though every molecule in his body screamed for him to find her. She’d been the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
She still was. Her long auburn hair flowed down her back in lustrous thick waves. Her blue jeans and a tight white T shirt hugged all her curves perfectly. Best of all, there was the most delicious aroma coming from her. The scent was like warm toast and honey. He tried to will her to turn around so he could see her eyes. In his dreams her eyes were amazing pools of hazel green. They showed her every expression and mood, if she was angry they turned dark and more brown, but if she was excited or happy they were an intense green. They literally were the window to her soul.
