by Michele Hauf
He splayed open his hand. The burn was now a red indentation, as if he’d gripped the thing tightly for a long time.
“It’s already fading,” she observed.
“The silver didn’t enter my veins. I’m fine. Just a burn. You’re still clinging like a koala, sweet. Sure you’re not afraid? It’s okay.”
“Of course I’m afraid. But I think it’s that I want to be sure you’re solid and real, and that I didn’t just lose you. Kiss me.”
Her lips quivered at his mouth as they connected gently. He wanted to indulge that tremor of her fear; it was what had first attracted him to her.
He wasn’t human, and he was different from her. He fed upon the different, the unusual. And Bella’s fear fed him.
“Your skin is goose bumpy,” he whispered as he slid a hand up her back. That induced a real shudder from her, but he sensed it was a sensual reaction to his touch.
“I want to make love again,” she said. “Right now.”
So the adrenaline rush had the same effect on her as it had on him? Unfortunately, they couldn’t indulge right now.
“I called for cleanup. They’re usually very prompt. And I don’t think you should stay here any longer than it takes to pack. You’re not safe here, Bella.” He tucked her hair behind an ear and kissed her eyelid where it tasted like soft woman. The flutter of her lashes tickled his mouth. “Come stay with me.”
“At your house? Where do you live?”
“About twenty miles north of the city. You’ll be safe there. I have protection wards against vampires, demons and others. No one messes with me out there.”
“Leave my home? I’m not sure.”
She glanced about the havoc, still clinging to the sheet wrapped about her. She was still frightened, he knew, but too proud to admit it. She impressed him with such bravery.
“I have my work, and tomorrow I practice at the studio. This is all happening so fast,” she said. “I’ve only known you a few days.”
“It doesn’t take a lifetime to fall in love, Bella.”
“Love. Yes. I said that, didn’t I?”
Maybe he had been too quick to grasp for the untouchable. “It’s the adrenaline talking.”
“No, I…I think I meant it.” She stroked his beard and kissed him again. “But is it because I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole?”
He quirked a brow. “The rabbit hole?”
“Alice’s tumble into the wild and weird. First there’s you—and believe me, that’s all good. But now vampires want to kill me and my best friend?”
“And they will if you don’t take action. You cannot beat them here, unprotected and vulnerable. You need my protection to stand against them. Will you take it?”
She stared at his outstretched hand. Once before she’d accepted that offer.
Could he win her? She’d confessed love, and that felt splendid. But she hadn’t fully entered his world yet. And indeed, it would be a tumble down some kind of rabbit hole.
“You can do your work from any computer, yes?”
She nodded.
“Come with me, sweet.”
Bella slid her fingers over his. “Yes.”
The cleaners arrived as Severo toted Bella’s suitcase out the front door. He paid them in advance and shuffled Bella out before she could see their equipment. They were not overly respectful of the dead. A Hoover vacuum picked up vampire ash “real swell,” as one of the cleaners commented. Severo was cool with that, yet he didn’t want to push Bella over the precipice she’d been forced to toe this morning.
There was yet a good amount of tumbling down the proverbial rabbit hole to be done.
The sun dashed a thin line of orange across the horizon as they stepped out onto the sidewalk.
“Where’s your car?” she asked, yawning. They’d had about an hour of sleep after a night of making love.
“I don’t normally use it. We can hail a cab.” With a suitcase in each hand, he headed a few blocks up, closer to the businesses.
She followed, clicking along beside him in the high heels she’d tugged from her closet. He loved that she was a practical woman who did unpractical things, like slipping into spike heels at dawn.
“You don’t drive? But how do you get from your house to town?”
“I drive on occasion. Gotta take the Mercedes out for a spin once in a while. But usually I walk or run.”
“As a wolf?”
He chuckled. “No. When I change shapes from wolf to man, I’m naked. The clothing doesn’t change with the rest of me.”
“So what if you wolf out during a fight with some vampires? Does that leave you…?”
“Naked, but successful. I tend to carry extra clothes with me in my backpack.” He looked up the street. “There’s a cab. You can sleep as soon as we get to my house. You need it after the night we’ve had.”
Chapter 9
B ella woke to find herself eye level to a tray with orange juice and breakfast sitting next to the bed. Warm, buttery toast, and fresh-picked strawberries sat atop the ramekin of sweet jam.
She didn’t remember much after arriving at Severo’s mansion in the country. Exhausted after a long night, Bella hadn’t taken the time to look around. Her lover had carried her to his bedroom, like some kind of knight delivering a princess to her slumber.
The last thing she recalled was him kissing her on the forehead, her chin, her breasts, and he must have navigated lower, but she had nodded off by then.
Long dark velvet curtains, half-closed, allowed but a narrow strip of bright afternoon sun down the center of the room and across the bottom of the bed.
The bedsheets were soft white and the comforter was a deep navy satin. Piles of pillows supported her as she sat up and reached for the orange juice.
Cold and freshly squeezed, it hit the spot.
She took her first opportunity to look around.
The simple room was huge, as big as her whole loft. The walls stretched to a barrel-vaulted ceiling painted with pastoral scenes. All the overstuffed, overlarge furniture was upholstered in the same navy velvet as the curtains.
A painting on the wall opposite the bed attracted her interest. Looked like birch trees. The face of a wolf was cleverly hidden among the birches, so a glance might have never picked it out.
At the end of the room were two doors—the closet and the bathroom. Bella went to shower.
After the shower, with a towel wrapped around her, she found Severo waiting at the end of the bed. He wore boxer briefs and no shirt. Daylight surfed across his broad chest, glinting on the dark hairs.
“Waiting for the shower?” Bella asked.
She boldly stepped between his legs and he eased his hands about her hips. His hopeful gaze pleased her.
“I would have liked to join you, but I just got in. Will this work, then? You staying with me?”
“I think it will,” she said. “You’re unsure?”
“Only because I don’t want you to feel forced into anything. I would never do that.”
“Oh, really, Mr. I Like To Tell Bella What To Do?” She smiled and kissed him. “I’m here of my free will.”
“Good. If you should ever change your mind—”
“I’ll be gone before you can argue otherwise. So! After that nap, I’m starving. I don’t think a piece of toast is going to cut it.”
“Heloise is making something savory right now. She’s my cook and housekeeper.”
“Does she know what you are?”
“Yes, and she’s a faerie, so she’s cool with that.”
“A faerie?” Bella chirped in an entirely too wondrous tone. “Does she have wings?”
“No, she’s more of the brownie persuasion. You’ll meet her. She’s great. Been with me for years. If you need anything, just ask Heloise. You don’t mind staying in my room? There are other bedrooms, but I’d prefer if you slept with me.”
“Of course you do. You like to be the one in control. The man on top.”
“
Is there any other position?” He clasped her wrists before him and squeezed.
“I think you’d like it rough, wouldn’t you?”
“Mmm, Bella, you would be pretty tied up.” His eyes glittered with desire.
The suggestion startled her, but only because she didn’t react offensively to it. Tied up and at his mercy? Warmth spread up her neck and hardened her nipples. “I won’t rule anything out with you. But let’s take things slow, lover.”
“You undo me with your acceptance, sweet. Why are you so accepting?”
“I’m not sure. I just…I said I love you earlier.”
“You made me feel like I’d been given the greatest gift.”
“And I mean it, even if it still feels a little crazy to fall in love so quickly and with a man who isn’t even the same species as me.”
“There’s a lot you still don’t know about me. Things you haven’t seen.”
“Like the werewolf?”
“Yes. Your tumble down the rabbit hole has only begun. The full moon is in three days. I’ll want to get myself far away from you before then.”
“Why? I want to see you as you are. Is it the wolf? Would you, or he, or whatever you call it, be violent toward me?”
“I don’t suspect so. When I am the wolf, I am in canine form, but I, this man, am in there, as well. But I don’t ever remember what the werewolf has done after I’ve shifted.”
“Really? So the werewolf can go out and do something and you wouldn’t know?”
She straddled his legs and ran her fingers through his chest hair. “It’s interesting that you talk about this other part of you as another entity.”
“I do and I don’t. I have a subtle influence over the werewolf. I mean, part of my were mind is present in that form, but it’s mostly instinctual. Bella, listen to me.”
Again he gripped her wrists, but gently, and kissed her knuckles.
“When the full moon is out, the werewolf comes out, too. You wanted to know what werewolves do if they don’t drink blood? We seek to mate. Unfortunately, there aren’t many female wolves to satisfy my werewolf. Let’s say the werewolf has been going through a dry spell—an exceedingly long one—and is very frustrated. I sense it lashes out and does other things that I wouldn’t be proud of.”
“Like killing?”
“Not humans. Rabbits and such.”
“So…it needs a mate?”
“Yes, and…” Kissing her knuckles, he held them to his lips. “I’ve found one.”
“And that means the werewolf…?” Bella swallowed. She didn’t want to think what she was thinking.
“Yes. It would expect as much.”
“Ah.”
So if she was Severo’s girlfriend, that also made her the werewolf’s girlfriend. Which disturbed her on a new level. Because if the were part of Severo enjoyed mating with her, well then, it was likely the werewolf would, too.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep it from you. I promise. If I can be away from you the day preceding and following the full moon, we’ll have beaten it for the month.”
She nodded, not having words to say anything hopeful or promising. For the month? So that meant this would become a monthly thing.
“Though there are ways to keep the werewolf at bay entirely,” he said, his tone becoming less serious and more playful.
“Such as?”
“Sex until I’m sated.”
She delivered him a tight but wicked grin.
“It’s true. If I have copious sex on the day preceding the full moon, then the werewolf will be kept at bay. I’ve never tried it before. It would require a lot, from any woman, to sate me.”
“You don’t think I’m up for the challenge?”
“I’m sure you are. But there’s always the risk of what would occur if we were not successful.”
The werewolf would come out to play.
Bella could deal with the man. She didn’t want to deal with the animal.
“So, what’s to eat?” she asked.
He leaned in and nipped her earlobe. “Besides you? I think Heloise has stew simmering. Let’s go check.”
With his bare feet propped on the black granite coffee table, Severo settled in the overstuffed easy chair and nursed a plate of beef stew. He never sat at the kitchen table. Too formal. Even the bar stools before the counter held no interest for him. Heloise could huff about his messy eating habits all she liked.
Bella did sit at the counter and had the neatest manners. It was fascinating to watch her interact with the elder servant.
Heloise was short, dark skinned and jolly. Cleanliness was a vocation to her kind, and she cooked as if she were a four-star chef. But she didn’t approve of profuse thanks. That would result in his white shirts being laundered with a red towel in punishment. House brownies were hard workers with little pride. A simple thank-you went a long way.
After a taste of the delicious stew, Bella wanted to know what the brownie had put in it. She didn’t fawn but seemed genuinely curious, which, instead of bothering Heloise, brightened her disposition even more.
The brownie was currently showing Bella the fridge full of beef cuts she’d picked up at market the other day.
“Filet mignon!” Bella called to him and displayed the plastic-wrapped meat cut. “I’m in heaven.”
And he was, too.
Suddenly life seemed bearable. Beyond bearable. He could venture to label it right. It hadn’t felt this way for a long time. Since Aby.
He glanced to the wall beside the plasma television. Photographs hung in gold frames, put there by Aby. The one of him and Aby still hung there. He wouldn’t dream of taking it down. He hadn’t spoken to her for months, and he…missed her.
Friends were not easy to come by, especially for a man who’d been born and raised in a pack. The pack mentality did not allow for companionship, only constant competition and attempts to become the alpha. He’d been the principal alpha in the Northern pack for decades. And while they’d had their scuffles with the vampires over the years, Severo was proud his leadership had seen the wolves protected from humans.
After finding Aby, he had left the Northern pack. He’d found what had been missing from his life. Compassion. Companionship. And infatuation.
He had been more than willing to make Aby his mate. She had not.
Bella’s giggle redirected his thoughts. She sat before the counter, soaking up the stew gravy with a slice of freshly baked oat bread.
To think, he had Elvira to thank for sending her thugs after Bella—and pushing her into his arms.
That was as far as his gratitude reached toward the vampiress. Today he would locate the mistress of the night and determine exactly what her intentions were toward Bella. And if Bella cared about the milquetoast Seth, he’d see about him, too.
“You have a pool, too,” Bella said as she settled into the oversize chair alongside him. He set his plate on the floor and pulled her onto his lap. She wiped some gravy off his beard and stuck that finger into his mouth. He licked it clean. “Want to go for a swim tonight?”
Perhaps Elvira could wait.
Severo had told Bella that Heloise spent her evenings in the basement, laundering clothes, and usually left in time to get home for the late news. Still, Bella had been reluctant to strip naked and dive into the pool. Until her lover had done the stripping for her. With his teeth and tongue.
Now she surfaced in his arms and received a long, wet kiss. The weight of his embrace begged for entrance, so she wrapped her legs about him. His shaft slid into her, filling her. Severo was strong; he could tread water in the middle of the pool, allowing them to keep their heads above the water, while he pumped inside her. It was like floating and drowning at the same time.
They came together. Bella stretched her arms out across the water’s surface, releasing her climax in a shivery cry.
“Severo,” she murmured and then repeated his name.
He nipped at her chin. “Yes, love?”
“Is that your real name? It’s so interesting.”
“Strange, you mean?”
She gave him a nodding smile. “Is it your first name or last?”
“My surname, but I’ve never used my first. You don’t think it suits me?”
“It does. Is it Italian?”
“It is. My parents immigrated at the turn of the twentieth century.”
“What’s your first name? I promise I won’t tell if it’s Percival or Eugene.”
“It’s Stephan,” he offered. “But I don’t use it, because it reminds me of my father. That was his name, as well.”
“Your father? You have parents? Well, of course you do. Were you born a werewolf?”
“Yes. Both my mother and father were of the breed.”
“Are they still alive?”
“No.” He released her and swam backward.
The water temperature fell at the loss of contact with his warm flesh. She’d said something wrong. His parents must be a sore spot with him.
“I’d prefer you didn’t use my first name,” he said and heaved his body up to sit on the edge of the pool. Reaching back, he snagged a towel and sopped at his hair and chest. “Unless it’s important to you.”
What memories could he have of his father that made him want to renounce his name? She wanted to ask but sensed he’d put up a wall. “Severo works for me.”
Bella dove deep, leaving him alone. The water muffled her senses, and the depths, which glowed aquamarine before her eyes, blocked out the world.
Here she swam, deep within the rabbit’s adventure. Would he see her as a mere rabbit if the werewolf managed to find her?
Severo drove Bella to town for dance practice and promised to return for her in two hours. He shifted the Mercedes into Drive and rolled slowly down the street toward Minneapolis proper.
He wasn’t sure where to find Elvira. She moved about the country but made her home in Minneapolis. Probably because she’d be laughed out of vampiredom in any other metropolitan area. He couldn’t figure out if the chick knew she was copying the television personality, or if she genuinely believed the mistress-of-the-night look worked for her.
