by Sammie Joyce
Somehow, he managed to slide my jeans away from my hips and almost before I knew what was happening, my calves draped over his smooth, muscular shoulders.
I gasped aloud, my back tensing as I realized where he’d found himself but almost as quickly as I had jerked up, the laps of his tongue sent me back—and nearly into the sink.
I didn’t mind. With what he was doing, the cold water could have been on and I wouldn’t have noticed.
Marcel’s fingers kneaded into my butt cheeks, his mouth working me into a magical frenzy.
“Oh my God…” I moaned, my own fingers curling to grasp at anything to keep me from falling. I was already losing control of myself but I didn’t care. I knew that even if I tried to fight it, Marcel was much too good at what he was doing. It was a battle I could never win.
Or was I already winning it?
My back arched and I cry out, feeling the tension building inside me. Marcel’s grip on me tightened and I groaned again.
Elbows wobbling, I felt another rush surge through me but with it came a great sense of release, my legs quivering as Marcel raised himself up, falling in between my parted thighs.
There was a haze around him, a halo almost like I was floating in and out of myself. I could see him but I wasn’t there as his lips came crushing down onto me. I could taste myself on his lips and I wrapped my calves around him, locking my ankles to draw him against me.
“I need you inside me,” I rasped, barely recognizing my own voice as I locked my eyes on him. He didn’t make me wait this time, his strong hips squaring against mine to thrust fully inside me.
The sheer size of him took my breath away but I didn’t have time to recover as Marcel fell into an almost frenzied rhythm.
I moved forward, my nails digging into the skin of his shoulder, relishing the ripples of his body as he drove into me. Sweat poured down his face, mingling with mine and suddenly, I didn’t know where he began and I ended. In that moment, we were one and I could have lived in that spot, barely perched over the kitchen counter, entwined in Marcel forever.
Abruptly, his body tensed and I knew he was reaching his own climax. I tensed around him, drawing him as close to me as I could until I felt his body shudder almost violently against me.
His fingertips squeezed into my hips and he fell back with a final jolt of energy, his breaths ragged and short.
I clung to him, savoring every sensation coursing against me. The smell of sweat, the feel of his slickness in every crevice. I’d never felt so at peace or enamored.
Very slowly, we fell apart, Marcel stumbling slightly as he moved back and he grinned at me when he caught his footing.
“I could use some water,” he rasped and I hopped off the counter to oblige his request. After running the taps for a minute, I poured two mugs of water and handed him one, downing mine almost in unison.
I sank back against the counter, my legs still wobbling as we stared at one another, smiling.
“Well,” Marcel said, breaking the silence between us. “That was fun.”
“It was,” I agreed lightly. “We should do it again.”
His beam widened but as he opened his mouth to respond, a cell phone began to ring.
We looked at each other.
“Yours or mine?” I asked even though I was fairly sure it was mine. Setting the empty coffee mug down, I moved toward my purse at the front door and dug around for my phone.
“Mine,” I said, swiping it open. “Hello?”
“Oh, awesome! You’re still answering your phone!” Rachel breathed. “I was told you were disappearing on a retreat or something.”
I laughed.
“I’m just at my family’s cabin at Mount Bachelor,” I replied. “What’s up?”
“I’m working tonight and I’m stuck with Chamberlain.”
I blinked and smirked at the idea of Dr. Chamberlain working a night shift.
“That’s weird,” I said.
“Right!? How could you abandon me under these circumstances?”
I cast Marcel a sly look out of the corner of my eye. He had pulled his boxers back on but his skin still glistened and I bit on my lower lip as I studied him, vaguely aware of my own nudity.
“I had a better offer,” I replied coyly. Marcel snorted and I wondered if he thought I was talking to another man.
“Oh!” Rachel said understanding my innuendo immediately. “You’re on a romantic getaway?”
“Something like that.”
“I didn’t even know you were dating anyone!” Rachel cried. “Is it a doctor? Please tell me it’s a doctor, Viv. The only thing that keeps me going through nursing school is the idea that I might marry rich one day.”
I chortled with laughter.
“He’s not a doctor,” I said.
“Oh. Is he rich at least?”
“I don’t know. Marcel? Are you rich?” I turned my eyes on him and he guffawed again.
“Define rich,” he answered pragmatically. Rachel went strangely silent in my ear.
“Hey, you still there?” I asked into the mouthpiece.
“Yeah…did you say Marcel?” she asked slowly. My smile faded slightly. I stepped toward the stairs and flopped down, lowering my voice as Marcel moved deeper into the kitchen.
“Yes. Why?” I asked.
“Marcel Rhodes?”
I tensed.
“Do you know something I don’t know?” I demanded, my gaze flittering toward Marcel. I could tell he was half-listening but as men tended to do when two women chatted, he was tuning us out already. He put himself to work unloading all of the groceries.
“I…” Rachel inhaled. “I just think you should be careful, Viv. I wouldn’t want you get hurt is all.”
My brow furrowed. Rachel was a decade younger than Marcel. Did she know him from therapy or somewhere else?
This wasn’t the time or place to ask and the headiness that had overcome me still hadn’t faded. Whatever Rachel was concerned about was going to have to wait until after I got back.
“I gotta go, Rach,” I said. “See you Monday?”
“Tuesday,” Rachel muttered but she had lost the cheeriness in her voice altogether. I dismissed her worry as drama. I liked Rachel but she was still a little bit of a kid in the grand scheme of things.
“Viv?” Rachel called before I could hang up.
“Yeah?”
“Have fun on Mount Bachelor.”
I giggled.
“I already am,” I replied and disconnected the call.
“Giving your friends all the details about us?” he asked teasingly.
“I don’t kiss and tell,” I answered, slipping my arms around his waist. He stared down at me, his eyes blazing still.
“Me neither,” he agreed, dropping a kiss on my lips. We fell away and I found my clothes, suddenly feeling conspicuous as I ran about naked.
“Aw,” Marcel joked. “I thought we were going to spend the entire weekend without clothes.”
“As amazing as that sounds,” I replied. “It’s cold out there and someone needs to go for firewood.”
“I’ll go,” Marcel said, dropping the bags in his hands and heading toward the door. “Where’s the axe?”
I couldn’t help but be impressed with his masculinity but he didn’t miss the huge grin on my face.
“What?”
“You don’t need to chop it down,” I told him. “There’s a woodshed out back. There should be a ton of wood in there already.”
I threw him a silver key and for a moment, he stared at it, missing it completely as it fell to his feet.
“Not much of a ball player, huh?” I razzed him. He smiled weakly and leaned down to grab the key, exhaling in a whoosh of breath as if he was relieved. Straightening up, he grinned at me again.
“Be back in a minute,” he promised, disappearing into the night. I watched him go, a soft smile on my face.
I could really get used to this, I thought.
10
&nb
sp; Marcel
I hadn’t realized how close we’d come to the full moon until I was standing under the stars, behind the cabin. One minute, I’d been thinking about how stupid I’d acted around the silver key, the next, I was thrusting my head upward to gape at the diamond littered sky.
Of course the key wasn’t made of real silver. Why would I have even thought that?
I knew why—because I was a wolf first and foremost. I had to be cautious of these things all the time, even after making the most climactic love I’d ever made. I was always going to be a wolf, no matter how much I emerged myself in human culture.
When I went outside to gather the firewood, I felt the sky calling me. They say that we weren’t guided by the moon’s magnetic energy, that it was all an old wives’ tale, but I could feel it in my bones. Whatever effect it had on me, it was almost as strong as the one that Vivian held over me.
For a long minute, I simply inhaled the freshness of the air, embracing the fact that we were out of the city and away from the lights and slight pollution.
I belonged up there. My ancestors had roamed around in terrain precisely like this and I felt most at home in the wild. For a strange second, I felt a pang of melancholy, like I was yearning for my pack.
“Marc? Are you okay?”
I heard Vivian calling to me and I realized that I must have been gone a long while. It hadn’t seemed like long but I’d been too captivated by the stars to notice.
“I’m coming,” I assured her. “I was just admiring the landscape.”
I heard her chuckle and the door close, forcing me to get myself into action. I headed toward the small woodshed. As Vivian had predicted, the shed was almost full of wood. I found myself wondering how long it had been since anyone had used the cottage but as I gathered the firewood in my arms, I admitted that I was confident that we wouldn’t be disturbed. Vivian’s earlier mention of a brother had made me vaguely uncomfortable but I had a good sense that no one would show up to interrupt us that night or for the rest of the weekend.
I returned and saw that Vivian had started making dinner.
“I thought I was going to do that,” I said lightly, dropping the wood by the fireplace in the living area.
“You can’t do everything,” she teased me. “What do you expect me to do? Sit around and eat bonbons?”
“Maybe not bonbons,” I joked back. “Because I don’t think we bought any, but you could drink a glass of wine and relax by the fire? Weren’t you working all night?”
She gave me a warm smile and even before she said it, I knew what she was thinking. There wasn’t a modicum of tiredness inside her.
“I’ve already got my specialty lemon chicken on the go,” she replied. “But I won’t object to another glass of wine.”
I noted with surprise that she’d finished hers already.
Seriously, how long was I out there?
I didn’t comment as I refilled her glass and finished mine to do the same. Then I crouched by the fireplace to start the flames, the real burning hearth lighting up without effort.
“I wouldn’t have taken you for an outdoorsman,” Vivian said. I glanced over my shoulder and realized she had been watching me, admiration lighting her face. The smell of dinner was already tantalizing my nostrils.
“I love being outdoors,” I replied. “Although it’s been a while since I’ve done the rustic overnight thing.”
“This is more glamping than anything,” she reminded me and I shrugged.
“It’s still out of the way,” I replied and she nodded in agreement. A pensive look crossed over her face.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m just thinking about why I never bothered to come here by myself before,” she admitted. “It’s peaceful.”
I rose and dusted off my hands as the fire crackled to life before me.
“Maybe because it’s better to come to a place like this with someone else.”
A smile lit her face and she ambled toward me, perching on the overstuffed plaid sofa to tuck her toes beneath her buttocks. She looked like a painting, her dark hair falling in soft wisps over her face, dark eyes glowing against the light of the fireplace. If I had been an artist, I would have wanted to paint her.
“You’re right about that,” she agreed, tapping her free hand against the cushions for me to join her. She took another sip of her wine and I could tell the effects of the fire and alcohol, coupled with the love making, had a serene effect on her.
“I’m glad you’re here with me,” she murmured as I joined her side. I leaned forward to brush the hair from her face and returned her soft beam.
“Me too,” I told her and I meant it. In that moment, I couldn’t remember a time when I’d been happier. Nothing else mattered but Vivian and the next forty-eight hours.
But then you’ll have to get back to reality, that logical voice hissed at me. Enjoy it while you can.
* * *
Vivian hadn’t been lying about her lemon chicken. It was the best I’d ever tasted. We ate with a fresh salad and baked dinner rolls and when we were finished, we’d already killed a bottle of wine and had started a second.
She was fighting the sleepiness that was overtaking her, I could see it in her eyes but when I cleared off the dinner dishes and sat back with her on the sofa after throwing another couple logs on the fire, she refused to succumb to sleep.
“Do you like board games?” she asked. I laughed.
“I can’t remember the last time I played one,” I admitted. “What do you have?”
“How about chess?” she suggested. My brow raised.
“I play a little,” I agreed.
“Why am I not surprised?”
She rose to find the chessboard, her search taking her to the second-floor loft and I looked around my surroundings for the first time with more detail.
The cabin truly was an escape in every aspect. If I had to guess, I would assume it had been built in the twenties with upgrades made over the generations. There were no kills mounted on the walls which gave me some relief but also intrigued me. Hadn’t Vivian said it was a hunting cabin?
Several pictures lined the room and I picked up a silver frame to gaze at a family photo of Vivian when she was no older than ten, standing next to a strapping teenager with hard, cold eyes. Just looking at him gave me chills, as if I could feel the malice oozing from decades before.
“Ugh. I’d forgotten about those pics,” Vivian muttered, shuffling down the stairs. “Don’t mind my millennium hairdo.”
“It’s cute,” I laughed, replacing the photo. “Your brother doesn’t look happy.”
Vivian’s smile faltered slightly.
“I don’t think he’s ever been happy a day in his life,” she muttered but before I could respond, she aptly changed the subject, holding up the board. “I found it. Who you do you want to be? Black or white?”
I let her decide and as we sat down to play on the sofa, I all but forgot about her brother, my eyes fixed on her face as she furrowed her brow in concentration. I could tell it had been a while since she’d played but she was surprisingly good.
“You didn’t tell me you were a shark!” I protested when she put me in check for the third time. I was down two knights, a bishop and four pawns. She had almost all her pieces still. I hadn’t realized just how out of practice I was until that moment.
“You’re lucky I didn’t take bets,” Vivian giggled. I raised my eyebrows.
“It’s not too late,” I replied slyly. She eyed me with interest.
“Oh I don’t know…” she teased. “I wouldn’t want you to lose your shirt…or would I?”
I felt a prickle of interest shoot through me and as if she was reading my mind, Vivian moved the chessboard aside, sliding to close the short distance between us. Instantly, my arms moved around her, pulling her close as she met my lips eagerly. Whatever tiredness had been in her suddenly dissipated.
“You’re an animal,” she breathed when we pulled ap
art and I stared down at her, feeling the tug of my fangs below my gum line. The sensation made me tense and I pulled away.
I am an animal, I reminded myself. And she can’t ever know about it.
“I-I didn’t mean that in a bad way,” Vivian said, sitting up as she noticed my change in demeanor. I shook my head and looked away, forcing a smile on my face.
“I think I’m more tired than I realized,” I lied. “And I don’t think the two bottles of wine did us any favors.”
Vivian didn’t speak for a moment as she studied me. I could tell she was trying to decide if she should believe me or not.
“You’re right,” she finally agreed. “It’s been a lot for one day. Should we go up to bed?”
I nodded, grateful that she’d let me off the hook. I knew I was being wishy washy. I had to either commit to what we were doing or walk away but she wasn’t making it easy, not when she was so perfect in every way.
She’s not perfect in every way. She’s a human and you’re a shifter. That alone makes you incompatible.
I didn’t respond except to rise and take her hand.
“I don’t blame you,” Vivian said as we moved toward the second floor. Our bags were already up there but suddenly I wished that I’d left them by the door. Unbelievably, I was thinking about an escape.
Stop it! I growled to myself, trying to focus on what Vivian was saying.
“You don’t?”
“Nope. I wouldn’t want my butt kicked in chess by a girl either.”
I guffawed, amusement overtaking my sudden tension.
“Vivian, you’re not a girl,” I told her, turning to stare her in the eyes. A rush of unadulterated affection surged through me as I studied her face. She was everything I’d ever wanted in a mate—except the most important thing. She wasn’t a shifter.
“I’m pretty sure I am,” Vivian argued, confusion overtaking her face.
“No,” I replied, kissing her softly on the forehead. “You are a woman.”
She melted against me and the feel of her body against mine did what it had always done—made me forget about my dark secrets and the future.
