Box of 1Night Stands: 21 Sizzling Nights

by Anthology

  “Come.” He motioned her inside and she followed him to the back of the house, her own heart rate kicking up a notch with every moment that passed.

  “Is it Bethany and John?” If something had happened to her sister and nephew, she would slaughter whoever had harmed them.

  “No.” Lucian shook his head and closed the door behind them after Cara entered the room. “If something had happened to my family, I’d be ripping apart the world.”

  “Yes, of course.” She sat in the chair assigned for guests. “And Jack is fine?” Her brother had recently mated and announced that they were having a baby.

  “Also fine.”

  “Then why did you call me?” Unlike her brother, she hadn’t yet become a pack enforcer. She didn’t get contacted during emergencies. Well, not usually.

  “Do you remember your date that got canceled three weeks ago?”

  How could she forget? She didn’t generally ‘date’ and certainly not with humans. Lately, however, she’d felt wistful and sort of…strange. Bethany had married and had a baby. Jack had mated a woman with a child and they were having another one.

  Cara had her work. The pack might even fall to financial ruin without her accounting skills. She had her role and her wolf could fight with the best of them. Yet she’d been somewhat discontented, as though the things that had always amused her no longer did. She’d signed up for the 1Night Stand dating service that had set up her siblings with their loved ones. Madame Eve had found her a match and then promptly canceled the date.

  “Yes.” The fast ending of the date that never happened had convinced her she’d made a mistake signing up for the thing in the first place.

  “I got a very odd text from Madame Eve this morning telling me to look at the third page of the newspaper today.” He held out the paper to her.

  The article told of an attack three weeks earlier in Anchorage. A doctor had nearly been killed when four wolves burst into the emergency room and caused havoc. The wolves had vanished while the doctor nearly expired from multiple wolf bites.

  He’d lived and finally been released from the hospital, although the reporter said his physician expected him to require months of physical therapy on his left arm.

  Below the picture of a good-looking blond man, who humans would probably describe as a surfer dude, wore a white lab coat with the hospital emblem. His name tag read Dallas Olson. The same name that Madame Eve had sent her before she’d later canceled the evening.

  She gasped. “My date got attacked by wolves?”

  “Not just wolves.” Luke sighed. “I sent some of the enforcers to the hospital to sniff around. They told me what I already suspected.”

  Cara anticipated his next sentence, having heard similar stories her whole life. “They’re shifters.”

  “Rogues. No pack. Scourges.” He slammed his hand on the table. “They are the reason we’re all going to be found out.”

  She had heard his rants about the non-pack wolves before. Yes, they tended to be very violent. From personal experience, she understood more than most about the damage a lone wolf could do. One had killed her mother. At the moment, however, the doctor’s face in the newspaper article held her total attention.

  “Luke,” she interrupted, something she wouldn’t normally do with her Alpha. “He lived.”

  Lucian nodded. “By some miracle. He’s one of the few.”

  “But he’ll have no idea.” He would think he’d lived through an attack and have no clue as to exactly how much his life had changed. Most wolves were born as wolves. Some humans could be converted but only after being forcibly bitten. Why some died and others lived still remained a mystery to their scientists. To change a human, even ones who wanted it, went strictly against the law. No humans could be allowed to attempt to convert, either forcibly or with consent. End of story.

  “I know.” Luke held up his phone. “I got a second message from Madame Eve. She’d like you to meet him at the Castillo Lodge tomorrow morning.”

  “In Castle? Tomorrow?” She bit her lip as her mind started calculating all the things she’d need for the journey. One evening didn’t leave her much time to get ready. She’d started to mentally pack when her mind ground to a halt. “Why does Eve want me to meet him? She can’t want us to have a date. The man got attacked. He can’t be feeling up to it.”

  “I don’t know what Madame Eve wants.” Lucian shrugged. “I need you to go get him and bring him back here. Do I need to remind you how little time we have until the next full moon?”

  She did a quick count of the days. Usually, she didn’t have to know. If she’d lived off pack land, she’d have to be aware constantly, but she lived in Delta, a werewolf town. Full moons came and went. Since she almost never left Delta, it didn’t matter.

  “We only have a week left until the moon cycle is complete.”

  Luke nodded. “Go get him. He can’t have a shift without us. If he shifts on his own, he’ll panic and history shows us that changing alone for the first time tends to produce rogue wolves. Someday, I swear we’ll know why that is, but for now, we need to focus on retrieving him and bringing him here. Or if he doesn’t want to come to Delta, he needs another pack. We can help him. Don’t let him remain alone. I don’t want to hunt and kill him.”

  “Maybe someone else would be better for this.” She didn’t think she should be given the job of talking to people. The pack had ambassadors. She handled the money, not delicate explanations of life and death circumstances.

  Luke growled, narrowing his eyes. “Are you questioning me?”

  What had happened to her good sense? She whimpered, falling to her knees. “No, my Alpha. No.” One simply didn’t argue with the Alpha.

  “Then get yourself to Castle. We need him here. I won’t have another lone wolf out there causing havoc, uncontrolled, unprotected.”

  She didn’t need to be told what would happen to her would-be date if he shifted without the pack. Luke’s enforcers would hunt him down, as she imagined they already were with the four wolves that had attacked the man. If Dallas had not yet caused any harm, he’d be given the chance to join her pack. If he had, the enforcers would end him.

  “Okay.” She nodded. “I suppose if Madame Eve thought we would suit for one night, then maybe we will get along well enough that I can talk him into believing in the unbelievable.”

  “Either that or you can hit him over the head and drag him back.”

  She might have laughed if she’d thought he was joking. But Luke’s serious scent wafted through the room.

  ***

  What the hell had he been thinking agreeing to come to Castle for a date mere days after he’d gotten out of the hospital? Dallas rubbed his arm. He should be in bed, doped up on painkillers…except the medications that should have been keeping him knocked out weren’t exactly working.

  Edginess made him snippy and for some reason years of medical school couldn’t help him explain, everything smelled completely different than it used to. His last days in the hospital had nearly destroyed him, thanks to the eye-burning intensity of the disinfectant they used to scrub the floors. In the past, he’d hardly ever noticed the smell.

  And the sick people. He loved being a doctor more than anything in the universe, yet their scent made him want to turn around and run from the building—which he hadn’t been able to do because he’d been unexplainably on death’s door for days without anyone able to make sense of his blood work or his body’s reaction to his injuries.

  He stormed to the window of the hotel room and stared out at the landscape of Castle, Alaska in the fall, courtesy of the Castillo Lodge. So beautiful. Even though he could barely walk without pain, all he wanted to do was remove all of his clothes and run around the grounds of the remote location until he’d seen every inch of it.

  Run around naked? Seriously?

  Hell, he had to get out of there. As a trauma surgeon, he knew when a patient displayed symptoms of stress after an attack and if he’d been
treating himself, he’d recommend an immediate psychiatric evaluation. Where had he put his bag?

  The door to the hotel room opened with a thud and he whirled around.

  Walking through the doorway, framed by the natural light coming in through the windows of the hall, stood a woman who made his heart skip a beat. Barbie. A ridiculous thought, but he couldn’t help the comparison. Cara Johnson, his date, looked like a brunette version of Barbie come to life.

  Tall, slender, with legs that didn’t quit, she had curves in all the right places. Her oval face, with cheekbones women paid plastic surgeons thousands of dollars for, imprinted on his mind.

  Her hair, dark and sleek, fell down her back and matched her dark brown eyes. She looked at him with an assessing glint, and he wondered if she wanted to turn around and run the other way. He didn’t look great. With the scars, bandages, and a sling, he appeared like he’d just stepped out of a car wreck. She must be questioning what the fuck she’d been handed for the night. Even after tonight, he’d never forget her.

  As he registered her physical beauty, the strange part of him that he couldn’t identify or get rid of also noted she smelled like pure heaven. Sweet but not overly saturated. Clean but not like disinfectant. And feminine. He growled before he could stop himself. Horrified, he put a hand over his mouth and turned his back on his date who should be sprinting like hell down the hall by now.

  Instead, she crossed to him, her footsteps on the carpet distinct, like every step she took moved through his soul. She placed her hand on his shoulder. “Dallas, right? You’re Dallas Olson.”

  Nodding, he took a deep breath. “Look. I’m so sorry I made that weird noise. I’m not myself. I’ve been hurt, obviously, and not acting right. I shouldn’t have come but Madame Eve sent me the nicest note telling me I could find what I needed here, and given how I’ve been….” He didn’t even know what he meant. How could Cara?

  She tugged on his arm, forcing him to turn and face her. “You’re feeling kind of edgy.”

  “Yes. That’s a good word.”

  She rubbed her head against his arm, making a whining sound in her throat. It should have been odd to hear, instead it slightly comforted him. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. His arm throbbed under the contact where the most severe wounds were located, but he didn’t pull away, his discomfort mild next to the sheer relief he got out of being in her embrace.

  He wanted to melt to the floor in a puddle of relaxation. When he spoke, he could barely make his mouth work. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s very complicated. I’m going to explain everything to you.” Her big brown eyes called out to him. “But first I want you to calm down.”

  “I’m more at ease.”

  She nodded. “I can tell that, but not simmered down enough.”

  “How do you know?”

  She took a deep breath. “I can smell it, handsome.”

  His mind whirled at her words. She could smell it? And she thought him attractive when he looked like he’d been torn apart? Did she suffer from poor eyesight?

  “That’s better.” She patted him on the arm and took a step back. “I assume you know I’m Cara Johnson. You do know that, don’t you?”

  “I do.” He laughed and rubbed his head. He felt better but a slight headache still threatened between his eyes. “I’m sort of confused.”

  “Sort of?” She sighed. “You should be totally out of it.”

  “I was attacked by wolves.”

  She shook her head and walked over to the bed. “No you weren’t.” His mouth hung open like a landed fish when she pulled her shirt over her head.

  He leaned back against the window. He thought he’d grasped how hot she earlier, but her clothes had actually hid some of the best parts of her killer body from his view. Her firm, round breasts would fit perfectly in his hands.

  “Um….” He blinked rapidly. His cock jumped to attention and he sucked in his breath. What had she said? How could he think coherently while she stood there half-naked?

  “I want you.” She sniffed the air, her pert nose wiggling. “You want me. Let’s take care of this. Then we’ll take care of you.”

  “I don’t….”

  She leapt at him. He caught her with one arm, surprised at his own strength. He didn’t even have to brace himself or balance. When had he ever had so much coordination?

  Her mouth pressed against his. Hungry and desperate for her, his heart picked up speed. Turning around, he shoved her back against the wall and pushed his body against hers. She groaned and shoved her tongue into his mouth.

  Holy Shit! His injuries forgotten, all he wanted was to fuck her for the rest of the night.

  Chapter Two

  She hadn’t entered the room intending to jump the bones of her injured date, but the second she had scented him everything changed. Her wolf came alive at the sight of the handsome blond man who still managed to look striking even amidst his pain and confusion. His blue eyes could stop the world with their intensity.

  And right now she wanted him inside of her. He wanted it, too. His cock jammed hard against her, and she couldn’t wait to get him out of his pants. Plus, they’d both react better after they had sex—it would take the edge off and then she could explain what had really happened to him.

  She nibbled on his bottom lip. He smelled like the woods and tasted like home. How that was possible with a man who had only recently become a shifter she didn’t know. He made a rough sound in his throat, something between a groan and a sigh.

  Then she remembered his arm. His new wolf abilities would make him stronger and quicker to heal, but maybe holding her up hurt him. “Am I too heavy for you?”

  “You weigh nothing.”

  Not exactly true but she wouldn’t argue.

  Their mouths fused together again. She yanked at his shirt. “I want this off.” God, she could barely breathe for wanting him.

  “Then we’d better move this over to the bed. I can only handle so much one-handed.”

  He guided her across the room and laid her down on the bed. In seconds, he loomed over her like some sexual fantasy from one of her dreams.

  “Shit.” He pulled at the sling on his arm. “This is getting in my way.”

  “Be careful.” She didn’t want him in more pain because she couldn’t keep her hands off him. He’d been through a major trauma.

  He tugged the sling off and tossed it over his shoulder. His eyes widened. “Um.”

  She grabbed his good arm. “You’re somewhat stunned you had the strength to do that and you’re wondering why your arm doesn’t hurt more than it does.”

  He stared down at her. “Do you read minds?”

  “No. I can tell certain things by scent. So can you. You simply don’t know what you’re smelling yet.” She kissed him, meaning only to give him comfort. He growled, kissing her back, hard.

  His comfort left her mind. His wolf had an aggressive side. She liked it. How much could he take at this early juncture? How much in touch with his own beast had he already become?

  She ripped his shirt, shredding it. He pushed more firmly against her, and she ran her hands up and down the strong muscles of his back, digging her nails into the skin, wanting to mark him. His skin would heal fast but until it did she would be able to see herself there. Her wolf-side had always liked marking territory.

  “Pants,” he said through gritted teeth. “I want yours off.”

  Pushing him back, she scooted in reverse until she hit the headboard. “If you want them off me, you’re going to have to get them off me.”

  His eyes twinkled at her demand. He must like a challenge. Yes, he’d be an Alpha wolf, an asset to all of them if he didn’t run for his life after the first shift. She did as he asked and took off her clothes.

  “You yanked my shirt from my body. Do you think I can do the same to your panties with only one good hand?”

  Cara glanced down at her undies.

  “Give it a try, Doc
tor. See if destroying my clothing is a little easier than it should be, considering you have a broken arm.”

  His grin stole her breath. “I love how you said that. Doctor. It’s never sounded so sexy.”

  He fingered her cotton panties and attempted to break them off her body. After a moment, he gave up. Looking up, he bit down on his lower lip. “This is taking too long, baby, and I want to be inside of you.”

  She slid them down her leg. “It’s better you don’t destroy these anyway. I like them. They’re soft.”

  He nodded, his gaze heated. “What they hide beneath them is pretty fantastic.”

  She sat forward. “You like my ass?”

  A grin crossed his face. “Very, very much. And your pussy, too.”

  “Good.” With a quick flick of her wrist, she took off her bra. “Your turn. Get your pants off.”

  He didn’t move, his eyes focused on her breasts. She glanced down, unsure of what had so fully captured his attention. Nothing seemed particularly amiss about her boobs. They were the same as the last time she’d seen them.

  “Something wrong?”

  He shook his head, still silent.

  “Why are you staring?”

  His eyes met hers. “Because you’re beautiful and your breasts are phenomenal.”

  “Thanks.” She brightened at his words and squeezed her breasts. They were functional. Not too big or too small. Depending on the outfit, she could sometimes get away without wearing a bra. Wolves were less concerned with the physical aspects of their chosen sexual partners, more interested in what the other person smelled like. Human males, however, cared a great deal about the female’s appearance. Since he still dwelled in the human world and cared about those kinds of things, his compliment meant a great deal. “Would you like to touch them?”

  “Shit, yes.”

  “Then by all means, do so.”

  He did more than touch them, placing the nipple in his mouth and sucking, his teeth grazing the skin. His ministrations weren’t gentle and she loved it. Beneath him, she squirmed, her core coming alive with heat. Oh yes, she wanted him.