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  She was aware of the silence, more so once Oliver climbed back into the limo and drove along a curved driveway to beyond the far corner of the house. Finally, after she had exhausted her view of the home and surroundings, she turned and carefully appraised her host.

  In the cold light of day, he was beyond beautiful. She should have felt fear. Most likely, if she had chanced upon him on a darkened street, she would have run screaming in panic. Now her perception of him was colored by knowledge. The tenderness of his kiss, the gentle strokes of his fingers…the controlled thrust of his massive cock.

  “I haven’t properly thanked you,” she said, looking directly into his amber eyes. The thought crossed her mind that she could never grow tired of looking at him, of being near him. “I would have died out there. How did you find me?”

  He dipped his chin, acknowledging her thanks with a tilt of his head. “I was in the forest. I sensed you nearby, sensed your spirit fading. It was little enough to carry you back here.”

  “I was miles away from here.”

  He took her arm and led her up the broad steps without speaking. When he reached the front door, he paused and looked down at her, at her fingers clasped tightly around his forearm. “I often travel far at night. It is my way.”

  “You saved my life.”

  He opened the door and waited for her to precede him, closed the door, then turned and leaned solidly against it as if it were an anchor. His hands still grasping the handle, he studied her for a moment. She couldn’t read the emotion in his amber eyes, but there was a sense of quiet desperation about him.

  “No,” he said, his chest rising and falling with a very deep breath. “You may very well have saved mine.”

  Chapter 3

  The room to which he took her was elegant yet very simple, done all in soft shades of gold and green. The bed was large, the bathroom luxurious, with a tub big enough to swim in. He left her there with instructions to meet him for breakfast in another hour.

  She took her time bathing, not at all surprised to find a big fluffy robe hanging behind the door when she finally climbed out of the steaming water. A hair dryer lay on the counter, along with a comb and a brush and even a new toothbrush. She dried her hair and brushed it out, then left it hanging loose about her shoulders. She checked a couple of drawers, looking for makeup, then finally gave up and went back into the bedroom, fully intending to put her old clothes back on.

  A forest-green gown of softly knitted cashmere lay across the bed. There wasn’t any underwear, but she didn’t mind. The fabric clung to her body, caressed her flesh. Warmed her. She stood in front of a full-length gilded mirror and studied her reflection.

  The style was amazingly simple: a scooped neckline, long sleeves and a natural drape to the gown that followed the flow of her body, emphasizing her rounded breasts and slender waist, her full hips and unusual height. With her gray eyes and dark russet hair, she knew she couldn’t have chosen a more complimentary shade or design.

  She turned away from the mirror and noticed her purse, the small leather backpack she’d lost the day before. It sat on a table next to the bed. She picked it up, saw her wallet was still inside, that everything appeared to be where it belonged. Sighing, she found her zippered cosmetics bag, put on a bit of lipstick, then set the bag back on the table.

  Xandi stared at the bag for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Everything over the past few hours had about it a dreamlike quality, almost surrealistic in nature. She suffered a brief moment of fear, the sense that maybe she should call someone, tell one of her co-workers where she was…who she was with. She glanced about the room, suddenly noting the lack of telephone, radio and bedside clock.

  Then she smiled. Folding her hands in front of her waist, she took a deep breath. She had no idea where she was. There was no reason to call, no reason for fear. She’d asked for change.

  She’d found it.

  Now was the time to do something with it.

  He sat at a round glass-topped table set in a windowed nook in the large kitchen. She’d expected to find him in a more Gothic setting, at the head of a long table in a darkened, very formal parlor, but the kitchen was exceedingly modern, filled with delicious scents of morning foods. The lighting was bright and cheerful, and the cup of coffee he poured for her smelled wonderful.

  Once again, she felt as if she’d been caught in a surrealistic dream, a feeling that wasn’t lessened a bit when he handed her the financial section of the local newspaper after she sat down across the small table from him.

  Sipping at coffee, reading the paper…it could have been any morning in any kitchen anywhere in America. Except, when she glanced up, the amber eyes of a wolfman watched her.

  “You haven’t told me your name,” she said, sipping her coffee. “I’m Alexandria Olanet. Xandi, for short.” She smiled, waiting.

  He stared at her a moment longer, took a sip of his own coffee. “I know,” he said. “I must apologize. As you’ve probably noticed, I kept your purse. I read your driver’s license, found you on the Internet. You are a very successful young woman. A partner already in your company. You’ve worked very hard for someone so young. Which reminds me. Do you need to let anyone know where you are? Will people be looking for you?”

  “No,” she answered without thinking. “I left yesterday for a two-week va—Oh!” She looked up at him, aware she shouldn’t give him such knowledge…suddenly afraid.

  He shook his head. “You need not fear me. I won’t hold you against your will, Ms. Olanet. Oliver will take you home whenever you like. You only need to ask.” He looked away, as if thinking of something pleasant, then turned back to her. “Spend your two weeks with me. Here, at my home.”

  “Oh, I can’t possibly….”

  “Because of what I am.” His voice was flat, no longer the rich baritone she’d found so full of life.

  “No,” she said. “That’s not the reason at all. I was going to say I couldn’t possibly intrude, even though I want to stay. More than you can imagine I want to stay. Please, tell me your name. I can’t keep thinking of you as my rescuer, can I?”

  She smiled and, without thinking, reached across the small table and placed her hand over his forearm. He didn’t pull away this time, though she felt his muscles tense. He merely stared at her fingers, was still staring when Oliver came into the kitchen with a bag of sweet rolls from a bakery in Portland whose name Xandi recognized.

  “Morning, Miss. Sir.” He set the bag in front of them, turned and opened the oven door and drew out a warmed quiche and a platter of sausages and bacon. After quickly setting out silverware and placing the food in front of the two of them, the small man turned to leave. “If you don’t mind, sir, I’ll be leaving now. I’ll return in the morning.”

  “Enjoy your visit with your family, Oliver. And thank you. We’ll be fine.”

  Xandi watched as Oliver left the room, then turned back and faced her host. “Okay. You’ve sidestepped my only question long enough…my only question for now, that is. Your name is…You can fill in the blank any time you’d like.”

  “My name is not so mysterious.” He turned his hand and actually grasped her fingers in his. “My name is Stefan. Stefan Aragat.”

  “Aragat? That name’s familiar. Wasn’t there a—?”

  “A magician. Yes, a very famous, very powerful magician. An extremely egotistical, misanthropic fool of a magician.”

  Xandi looked from their linked hands to his face. He was actually smiling, his lip curled back, his sharp canines unable to disguise the self-deprecating humor. “Unfortunately, he pissed off an even more powerful purveyor of the black arts. A wizard, actually. A very old, very potent wizard. Aragat didn’t have the patience to learn control of the powers he hoped to gain. Without control, one often makes mistakes. Very. Serious. Mistakes.”

  He released her hand, picked up the plate with the quiche and offered it to Xandi. “Please. Help yourself. Don’t let the meal grow cold.”

  “
You did this to yourself?” She took the quiche without even looking, loaded her plate with bacon and sausage, even grabbed one of the warm sweet rolls.

  “Unfortunately, I have only myself to blame.” He filled his plate as well, then took another swallow of coffee. “It was not a pleasant experience, especially at first, when I was limited to life on four legs and an appetite for uncooked, very fresh meat. Really pissed off some of the local farmers and just about got me shot on more than one occasion. I’ve tried reversing the spell, but obviously my success has been limited. At least I regained a mostly human body. Thank goodness I got my hands back. It was damnably hard to zip trousers with paws. Not to mention brush my teeth.”

  Xandi almost spewed her coffee. She grabbed the linen napkin and jammed it over her mouth. “I’m sorry, it’s just…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh.”

  He chuckled, sighed, then took a bite of sausage. “Actually, it feels good. To laugh. I haven’t had much to laugh about for the past five years.”

  “Five years? It’s been that long? Ya know, I think I remember an announcement that you’d decided to retire. I thought you were moving to Europe—Liechtenstein or some other little country where rich people like to go.”

  “That’s the announcement I had Oliver put out. Then I came home to lick my wounds, literally. Oliver has been with me since I was very young, just starting out in the business, in fact. Thank goodness he stays, as I’m not quite fit for public viewing. For a long time I actually worried that if I were captured, I’d end up in a zoo. I had trouble speaking at first. It wasn’t easy until I was able to shift some of the more wolfen parts through a number of spells.

  “You’re the first person who’s been in my home since my…mishap. You are the only person besides Oliver who has seen me.” He stared at her, long and hard. Xandi felt her nipples tighten, knew they raised the soft fabric of her gown.

  She lowered her head, unwilling to let him see the unbridled lust that must be quite visible on her face. Once again, she wondered if he sensed her arousal, if his animal instincts were finely honed enough to scent the liquid even now pooling between her legs.

  Quietly, she finished her meal. Stefan did the same. She wondered what he was thinking, if he felt the same rush of desire as she did, experienced the deep, gut-churning need that thrummed through her veins.

  She hoped so. She wanted him. Wanted him in the light of day, face to face, filling her. Loving her. She wanted domination by the beast as much as by the man. Again…and again. And again.

  He snarled, a wolfen sound, a low growl that started deep in his throat and leaked slowly, menacingly, to his lips. Xandi immediately jerked upright, looked into his amber eyes.

  Saw the need she felt reflected in their depths. She carefully wiped her mouth, folded her napkin and placed it beside her knife. Then she stood up and held her hand out to him.

  Without a word, Stefan rose as well. He took her hand and led her down the long, sun-bright hallway.

  Her fingers were slim yet very strong, clasping his hand tightly even as he led her. He heard the blood rushing in his veins, smelled the rich, lush scent of her desire, knew her vagina was beginning to pulse, the lips at its gate to swell. His cock stretched, grew in girth and length, until he was aware of its restricted position down the left leg of his pants. The fabric brushed against his erection with every step he took. His heightened senses felt each thread, each tiny imperfection in the material, almost as pain.

  His room was only at the end of the hallway, a mere fifty feet from the kitchen. He almost didn’t make it, so strong was his need. When he finally opened the door and led her into his bedroom—his den—his sanctuary, she was trembling, reassuring him with her physical reaction that her need was every bit as strong as his.

  He started to tilt the blinds, to darken the room, but she stopped him. “No. I want to see you. I want to know who takes me so high, who loves me so well.”

  He almost cried. He’d wondered if any woman would ever want him, would ever desire him. He’d been celibate since the change, unwilling to risk discovery—or rejection. To think that he’d found a woman who embraced him, who found this beast attractive. It was more than he could have ever dreamed.

  She turned in his arms and placed her hands on his waist, slipping her long fingers beneath his sweater. He shivered when she raised the hem along his chest, revealing the soft gray fur that covered him. He’d thought it ugly, animalistic, but there was no denying the fascinated light in her eyes when she saw him.

  He raised his arms and bent at the waist, allowed her to tug the sweater over his head before he straightened once more. He felt naked, standing there with his furred body in plain view, but she leaned close and nuzzled her cheek against his chest, then found his nipple with her tongue.

  “Ahhh.” The cry escaped without warning. He choked it off as she licked his taut nipple, circled it with her tongue. He felt the sensation in his nuts, felt the shock of her touch like a coiling flash of lightning. She nipped at him, and he almost cried out again, but he found some semblance of control, just in time.

  She touched him all over, running her hands over his torso, across his back. She seemed to be fascinated by him, turned on by his bestial appearance…by him.

  Suddenly her fingers were fumbling with the snap at his waist, trembling, tugging at the zipper. He grabbed her shoulders, needing something solid to hang onto, something to keep him from falling to his knees.

  Last night had been a fantasy, a wonderful interlude with an unknown woman.

  Today was a miracle.

  After a moment’s struggle, she found the zipper, tugged it slowly down, released the pressure holding his damned cock in place. It practically jumped out of the opening, all glistening animal cock that it was. He might have changed his hands, but the penis still looked like something a dog would sport…a very large dog. He wondered if he’d ever get used to the sheathlike foreskin, the strange shape, the extra-sensitive surface of this organ.

  He glanced at Xandi. She was staring at him as if mesmerized. Her tongue slipped out between her lips, licked both top and bottom, and retreated back into her mouth. He was trying to come up with some way to get that tongue to touch his cock when she suddenly dropped to her knees and pulled his slacks down over his hips.

  Completely free now, his cock bobbed just in front of her face, the foreskin pulled back close to his body. She leaned over without any hesitation at all and licked the length of him. His knees almost buckled. He tightened his grip on her shoulders, and she looked up at him and smiled.

  He was still trying to figure out the meaning of that grin when she leaned closer and took him in her mouth.

  Mother of God! Only her sturdy grasp on his hips held him upright.

  Her fingers dug into his butt cheeks, her mouth encompassed his cock, and her damned tongue danced the length of him, licking and tickling until he wanted to cry.

  He moaned instead. More of a whimper, actually. Not very manly, but all he was capable of at the moment.

  Her fingers squeezed and stroked his butt, her mouth did amazing things to his cock, and he thought his balls might explode from the myriad sensations.

  She took him deeper, her mouth squeezing and milking him, her fingers digging into the crease of his ass. He was afraid he might lose it, afraid if he did, that damned knot in his dick would choke her. Silently cursing his regret, he slowly withdrew his cock from between her lips. She leaned over and licked the length of him. He jerked in response. She did it again, and her fingers found the tight ring at his ass and began to probe and press.

  It was all he could do to step back out of her reach. “My cock isn’t human,” he said, knowing the regret in his voice would be more than obvious. “If I come in your mouth, if I lose control, the knot, the part that tied us together last night…I’m afraid it could choke you. I can’t risk that. Please?”

  She licked her lips, as if tasting the few drops of pre-cum he knew she must have found, then nodded.
He helped her to her feet, slipped his pants completely off and stood before her, naked. Human. Wolf. A combination of two species, unique among man and beast.

  He expected anything but the look she gave him, the blatant lust radiating from her beautiful eyes, the thrust of her breasts peaking against the soft gown he’d left for her.

  Without thinking beyond now, Stefan leaned closer and grabbed her gown in his fists, bunching it at her waist and pulling it over her head. She stood there in front of him, her breasts high, the nipples turgid, pointing out of the dark areoles as if begging for his mouth.

  He reached for her, lifted the warm weight of her breasts in his palms and immediately lost himself in the feel of silky flesh against his callused fingers. Leaning over, he suckled first one nipple, then the other. She moaned. Her body swayed closer to his as he circled her nipple once more with his tongue, then released her with a quiet little pop.

  She blinked, her wide gray eyes soft and unfocused. He took a moment longer to look. Her belly was slightly rounded, her hips shapely and full. The dark tuft of curls at her center had been neatly trimmed, enough so that her protruding clit showed through the damp thatch of hair. There was moisture on her inner thighs as well, proof of the arousal he’d scented even as they had breakfast.

  She wanted him. Even knowing, seeing, who and what he was, she wanted him. Her body couldn’t lie.

  “Oh, my,” he said, not even trying to hide his eagerness, his hunger. It was there, in his voice, in the catch in his breath, all the longing, the need, the lust. He started to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. He swallowed, and finally choked out, “You’re beautiful. Perfect. Mine.”

  He held out his hand to her, tugged her closer. She came willingly, breasts swaying, lips full and pouting. Her hair flowed over her shoulders in thick, shining russet waves, a dark, radiant cape. Her gray eyes sparkled now with laughter as much as with lust. Stefan felt his blood rise, knew his heart raced and the animal in him was barely under control.