Twelve Shades of Midnight:

by Liliana Hart

  “I saved that wolf’s life. He is not going to give me a migraine,” I groused as I got to my feet. “You coming?”

  “Oooonly if youuuuu make me,” he said.

  “You’re worthless,” I muttered, as I stomped to the door of the basement. I’d had enough of this shit. At least the last trio I’d saved had brought me presents. This jackass was just loud and ungrateful.

  “Let me out of here. Now,” a deep and strangely familiar voice bellowed.

  “If you would shut your cakehole for two seconds, I might,” I yelled as I rounded the corner and marched angrily into the room only to stop short and gape.

  It was Hot Ass Guy from the grocery store and he was naked. About six feet four of total, furious buck ass naked perfection and I couldn’t move. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he took me in.

  “I should have known it was you,” he muttered disgustedly.

  “Listen, you unappreciative asswaffle, you need to change that crappy attitude or I’ll leave you in that cage,” I shot back and tried like hell not to stare at his truly spectacular package.

  “Did you just call me an asswaffle?” he asked in shock.

  “Yes, I did because you are.”

  “My eyes are up here,” he countered dryly.

  I felt the heat crawl up my neck and land on my cheeks as I yanked my gaze from his abundant man jewels to his face. “Can’t blame a girl for looking,” I said, hoping I sounded casual and uninterested. My bored tone was actually pretty good, but my insides were on fire and my lady bits were screaming. Holy Hell, if I let him out there was a fine chance I’d jump him.

  “If you release me, I’ll let you touch it,” he offered in a voice that made my knees weak.

  “You’re a pig. I wouldn’t touch that thing if you paid me,” I snapped. “I’m sure it’s had a very active social life.”

  “First of all I’m a wolf, not a pig—pig shifters don’t exist. As far as my Johnson’s social life goes, he knows what to do.” He grinned and my panties dampened. “So you’re the new Shifter Whisperer?” he asked doubtfully.

  “First of all, you really need to come up with a more original name than Johnson for your weenie, and even if you begged I wouldn’t touch that behemoth with a ten foot pole. And no, I am not the new Shifter Woowoohoodoo. I’m just filling in until you idiots find a permanent replacement. Now if you want me to fix you, you will have to cover your Johnson or shift back to wolf.”

  “Come here,” he said softly.

  “Um…I don’t think that’s a good plan,” I mumbled as I tried to unlock my green eyes from his sapphire blue ones.

  “Come here,” he repeated softly.

  Son of a bitch, his voice was like honey and he smelled like heaven. My body yet again took over for my brain and I walked toward the wolf like a moth to a flame.

  As I approached, his eyes grew wide and he sniffed the air. He winced and pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “I do not smell bad,” I said as I angrily approached the cage and poked him. “You are rude and I might not fix you.”

  He grabbed my hand and pinned me against the cage. “This is not happening,” he muttered. “This cannot be happening.”

  “You may be hot, but you’re weird and you’re scaring me. Let me go. Now.” I tried to jerk away, but he held me fast. His scent was making me dizzy and my stomach was hosting a track meet. I needed to get away from him. Quickly.

  “Open the cage, Zelda.” He was very sexy and I was very horny. Not a good combo.

  “Nope, and how do you know my name?”

  “Your Aunt Hildy spoke of you often,” he said. His grip lessened but still kept me trapped.

  “Oh my Goddess,” I grumbled, hating my aunt. “Did you do her too?”

  “Don’t you talk about her like that,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “She was like a mother to me.”

  “Awesome,” I yelled, completely relieved that he hadn’t humped Hildy. “Now let me go or I won’t heal you.”

  “I wouldn’t need you to heal me if you hadn’t zapped my ass with a volt that should have killed me.” He raised his eyebrows and waited for an apology that was never coming in this lifetime.

  “I saved your hairy butt, you unthankful jerk,” I informed him as my eyebrows shot higher than his.

  “I was doing fine until you showed up.” His arrogance made me grind my teeth.

  “Right.” I rolled my eyes. “It certainly looked that way with twenty honey badgers taking a bite out of you.”

  “I was minutes away from destroying them when you jumped in. You could have died,” he accused.

  “Yes, but instead I popped all the fuckers and dragged your sorry ass here. You bled on my Prada and Max Midnight and I don’t like you.”

  “Who is Max Midnight?” he demanded as he pulled me closer. His eyes were wild and it was sexier than hell. I had to hold my tongue so I didn’t beg to touch his damn Johnson.

  “My miniskirt, you asshole.”

  “It’s not your lover?” he asked as he calmed a little. WTF? Was he jealous?

  “Um…no.”

  “Do you have a lover?”

  “I really don’t see how that’s any of your business, wolf boy. Do you have one?” The question flew from my lips before I could stop it. Alarmingly, I realized if he said yes, I would get her name and go kill her. Wait. What was going on here?

  “As of a moment ago, I’m off the market,” he said as he watched me closely.

  “That makes no sense, little mister. However, if you don’t let go of me, I will smite your sorry ass and you won’t fucking live through it this time.”

  “Nice mouth.” His grin was intoxicating. I wanted to bite on his full lips and ride him like a cowboy. There was no way in Hell I was letting him out.

  “Thank you—I try. Let go.”

  “Unlock the cage and I’ll let you go,” he bargained.

  It was either a lose-lose scenario or a win-win depending on how you looked at it. I was not a virgin, but I’d never been so wildly attracted to anyone in my life. I was sure there was some kind of Witch-o-cratic oath that I couldn’t have hot monkey sex with my patients. Decisions sucked.

  “I think that’s a bad idea,” I said as my traitorous body leaned closer to the cage and the beautiful, dangerous man inside.

  “It’s an incredibly bad idea,” he agreed. “But you will do it.”

  “Will you hurt me?” I whispered, mesmerized by his mouth.

  “Only if you’re into that,” he replied just as quietly. “Personally, I’m not into pain, but if it makes you happy…”

  “Um, no. I’m not really into that. A spanking is nice, but…” I slapped my hand over my mouth and groaned in mortification.

  His sexy chuckle made me clench my thighs together. “What are you doing to me?” I asked as I futilely tried to wiggle out of his iron grip. Did werewolves have magic I wasn’t aware of? I’d always had a healthy sex life with absolutely no commitment, but this was nuts. I was naming our children in my head. He had to have cast a spell on me.

  “The same thing you’re doing to me,” he told me. “I’m not sure I like it, but I have very little control over it.”

  “I think I was just insulted,” I huffed as I finally was able to yank myself free. “You’ve spelled me or something.”

  “Or something,” he agreed and ran his free hand through his thick dark hair.

  “Look, just shift back to wolf, I’ll fix you and you can leave. Forever.”

  “You’re my mate,” he said as he shook his head in confusion.

  “And you’re on crack. I’m a witch and you’re a wolf. I was not built to blow puppies out of my hooha.”

  His eyes shot to mine and a burst of laughter came out of him. “You did not just say that.”

  “I most certainly did, so turn off the testosterone and get that redonkulous idea out of your head. Immediately.”

  “As much as I’m at loath to admit it, I do need your help. I’ll shift
and then you can let me out of the cage. Deal?”

  He did look beat up and I did zap his ass. If he was in wolf form I wouldn’t tackle him. This could work.

  “Shift first,” I told him. “And then I’ll let you out.”

  He shrugged and shifted. It was beautiful to watch. His wolf was large. His fur was the same chocolate brown as his hair and his eyes were the exact same mesmerizing blue. I was still mystified as to why he smelled so delicious, but ignored all the warning bells in my head. Fix the hot guy and get rid of him. He was nothing but trouble.

  I approached him slowly just in case he was screwing with me and shifted back. I knew I couldn’t be trusted if he was in his human form. He was just too pretty.

  “My spleen is damaged. Touch my back. That should work and if you’re feeling generous, my ass is extremely sore from your magic…” His wolf winked at me and I giggled.

  “Tough shit.” I grinned as I laid my hands on his back and then quickly contracted in horrific pain. I sucked in a huge breath and let the lavender magic consume my body and flow into his. My breathing grew labored and I felt lightheaded. He was badly injured and needed me. He twisted in agony beneath my touch and I hung on to him for dear life. I really wasn’t cut out for this selfless crap.

  I heard and felt a click as his insides mended. I dropped to the floor next to him, put my hands over my eyes and fought to catch my breath.

  “Are you all right, Zelda?” His voice was troubled and he nudged me with his cold wet nose.

  “Fucking awesome,” I grunted as the dizziness abated. “I did my part. Now you leave.”

  “Go to the other side of the room,” he instructed. “I’m going to shift and I don’t trust myself with you.”

  Hell, he didn’t trust himself? We were in trouble here. I scampered across the room and waited.

  The shift was quick and he looked much healthier and bigger than he had in the cage. My instinct was to throw myself into his strong arms, but I held back.

  “You do realize you’re mine,” he said as he watched me warily.

  “Um, no. I belong to no one but myself. I don’t even like you.”

  “I’m not sure I like you much either,” he replied. “But I have never wanted anyone so badly in my life.”

  “Ditto,” I said as I slowly eased my camisole over my head.

  “What are you doing?” His voice was pained and I could feel with every fiber of my being he was seconds away from snapping and attacking me.

  “Honestly, I have no idea. My brain says to run, but my lady parts and the rest of my body have a different plan of action.”

  His eyes hooded and he watched me with rapt attention. “If you remove any more of your clothing, I will take that as an invitation.”

  “To what?” I purred as I kicked out of my shoes and wondered what the hell had gotten into me.

  “To fuck you senseless.”

  My knees buckled for real and I held onto the wall for purchase. As badly as I wanted to tear off my skirt and wear it on my head I stopped. “You eat with that mouth?”

  “Why don’t you come over here and find out,” he suggested. He leaned back on the wall and crossed his massive arms over his muscular chest.

  “Okay, how about a deal…” I needed to control this situation or I was going to drown.

  “Lay it out,” he said with a smirk that I wanted to smack off his face.

  “We are clearly attracted to each other, so I propose we get each other out of our systems.”

  “And how exactly do we do that?”

  “We have no strings attached sex and then we call it a day.”

  His smirk turned to a frown and his eyes narrowed to slits. “No strings attached?”

  “Um, yes?”

  “I don’t like those terms,” he said smoothly. “No deal.”

  “Wait. What? You’re a freakin’ guy. You’re the one who should be jumping for joy at my proposition,” I yelled. What the hell was wrong with him?

  “You’re my mate.”

  “You’re an ass. I am no one’s mate and if I wasn’t about to explode here I’d kick you out and lock the door.”

  “I have a key.”

  “Whatever,” I shouted. “Do you want to do it or not?”

  “Yes, I want to do it,” he ground out.

  “No strings attached?” I demanded.

  “Whatever you say.” He shrugged and grinned.

  A tiny part of my brain pointed out that he didn’t exactly agree with me, but every other part of me told my brain to shut up.

  “Fine,” I snapped. “Let’s get this shit over with.”

  “Yes. Let’s.”

  Chapter Ten

  “Come over here,” Mac said. His voice was gruff. He was clearly used to being obeyed.

  “Nope, you come over here,” I shot back.

  “I come to no one,” he informed me in a tone I didn’t like at all. For a brief second I almost heeded him, but that would have put the power in his court permanently. We were going to start this sucker as equals. Wait. What the hell was I thinking? We weren’t starting anything. This was simply a quick roll in the hay—or the basement, as it were. However, I still wasn’t going to let him win.

  “Well then, you’re going to have a nasty case of blue balls when I go upstairs to my bedroom and have at it with BOB.”

  He looked like he wanted to kill me and I was very happy I was on the side of the room closest to the stairs.

  “Who is Bob?” he shouted. “You said you had no lover.”

  “I said nothing of the sort and BOB is my battery operated boyfriend, you asshat,” I shouted back. Damn, maybe I should have let him think BOB was actually a guy. It might be fun to watch him implode.

  “You are treading on thin ice, pretty girl. I don’t share.”

  “You need to get something straight here besides your Johnson,” I informed him sarcastically. “I am not your mate and I can do what I want.”

  He stared up at the ceiling and I could have sworn he was praying. Heaving out a huge put-upon sigh, he took one step toward me. “This goes against everything about me, but I will meet you in the middle.”

  “I can work with that.” I grinned triumphantly as I shimmied out of my skirt and panties. His harsh intake of breath was music to my ears and everything south of my bellybutton clenched in anticipation.

  “You are beautiful,” he said as we slowly walked to the middle of the room, stalking each other like prey. I had never been so excited or scared at the same time in my life.

  “You better tell me you have a raincoat for your Johnson or it’s over before we start.”

  “I’m a werewolf. I can’t carry disease and you’re a witch so you can’t either.”

  “True,” I admitted. I almost salivated over his six pack abs. My hands literally ached to touch him. How did guys like him even exist? “But I am in no mood to get knocked up with a litter. I’m leaving this hellhole in a week.”

  “We’ll see about that, and you’re not in heat so unfortunately I can’t knock you up at the moment,” he explained as he moved closer.

  “And how exactly do you know I’m not in heat?” Goddess, he was an animal. I shoved the part about him wanting to knock me up to the area of my brain I called ‘don’t ever deal with that.’

  “Scent. The same way I know you’re my mate.”

  “That is utter bullshit, Wolf Man Jack.”

  “It’s Mac.”

  “Fine. Wolf Man Mac, you’re crazy. We’re having sex because I want to, and if your Johnson’s condition is any indication, you do too. We’re consenting non-committed, not-in-a-relationship-adults here who are horny. That’s all. Period. Do you understand?”

  His eyes blazed and I started backing away. Maybe this was a bad idea. He wanted way more than I did. I just wanted a massive orgasm or two and possibly a brief snuggle. He wanted puppies. However, my lady bits were singing an aria and my nipples were standing at painful attention.

  “Rig
ht now, I will agree to anything you say.” His voice was rough and it sent delighted chills straight to my toes.

  “No puppies and no relationship.” I’d stopped moving away and stood my ground.

  “Whatever you say,” he hissed. Then he grabbed me and pulled me flush against his perfect body.

  Again, I realized he’d agreed with nothing, but when all my soft melded with all of his hard I ceased to care. I expected him to crush my lips to his and take everything he wanted except my soul, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

  Slowly his full lips caressed mine as he gently ran his tongue along the seam. I happily opened to him and his tongue teased mine as his hands expertly discovered my body.

  “Oh my Goddess,” I moaned as he pinched my nipples between his fingers and nipped at my ear. I returned the favor and tried to memorize every muscle and nuance. The light sprinkling of dark hair on his chest tickled my breasts and I realized I was rubbing against him like a cat in heat. It was virtually impossible to get close enough.

  “No foreplay,” I begged as I did what I said I would never do. I touched his Johnson, and oh my Goddess what a Johnson it was…

  “Do you want to be on top or bottom?” he asked as his strong hands gripped my ass in a hold I knew would leave marks.

  “I get a choice?” I giggled until he pressed the heel of his hand against my clit and pushed two fingers inside of me. That’s when my brain shorted out.

  “I meant for the first round,” he said as he knocked a pile of blankets to the floor and pulled me down with him. “I want to go down on you, but if I’m not inside you in the next thirty seconds I think I’ll die.”

  A ball of heat uncoiled in my lower regions and I was fairly sure I was going to come from his voice alone. “Don’t die. That would suck.”

  “Good plan,” he said as he gently laid me beneath him and took my mouth in a kiss that was hotter than any sex I’d had to date. He tasted even better than he smelled and I could happily stay lip-locked with him for the rest of my life. No. Stop. I was lip-locking with no one for the rest of my life…

  The sexy sounds coming from deep within his chest made it hard to breathe and I wantonly opened my legs to him.