Part 5 (2/2)
She crossed her arms high over her chest. As crude as the comment had been, she lifted her chin and looked down through her lashes at him. He liked her b.r.e.a.s.t.s?Stupid, Bella. You're playing with fire. This one is different than most men, who can tease without promising anything more.
His eyes strayed lower. It was either hug her arms across her b.r.e.a.s.t.s or hold the s.h.i.+rt down.
Bella decided to walk down the three steps and sit at the pool's edge. The water crept through her underwear and wet the hem of her s.h.i.+rt. The man's intent gaze hardened her nipples.
She plunged in. There. Now he couldn't see anything.
”I'm not going to perform for you,” she said, frog-stroking through the water, ”so you may as well leave. Go home and get some sleep.”
”You are insistent that I leave you. And after I've done you two favors.”
”Two?”
”Saving your life and keeping said life safe. So I think you owe me at least a chat. Aren't you at all interested in learning more about me?”
Treading where the water dipped to eight feet, she eyed him curiously. Yes, she did want to know more. Like how he was able to track her merely by scent. Like why he felt that he had some kind of G.o.d-given right to intrude on her life.
Also, why it was that she couldn't simply call the cops and have him arrested.
And why was it that she found him more attractive today, in full daylight, than she had last night in the dark? He was still scruffy and unkempt. The beard and long hair framed his dark gaze and bold features. The look didn't so much say ”Protector” as it screamed ”Dangerous.”
Ignoring her erratic thoughts, she dove forward and did an underwater somersault. Surfacing, she spewed water and slicked back her hair. The water refreshed her. Now, if she didn't have an audience, she would get naked.
”All I want to know is why you keep coming back.”
”Like I said, you've stuck yourself to my senses. I can't shake you. So if I can't ignore the pretty woman, then I may as well enjoy her.”
She flipped him off and did another deep dive. Touching bottom, she wished for the magical ability to breathe underwater. Not that it would make him leave. He'd probably dive in and try to rescue her.
Coming up, Bella found him squatting near the pool's edge. Why did that not surprise her? Had flipping him the bird angered him?
She'd like to see him jump in, leather jacket, big, clunky leather boots and all, and try to wrestle her into submission now.
After abandoning dancing in high school, she'd joined the swim team to fill that need for movement and to physically challenge her muscles. She'd won a few medals for her back crawl and high dives. She could so take the guy if he were in the pool.
But thank G.o.d he was not.
Swimming backward, Bella landed at the opposite side. She stretched her arms along the tiled edge. If he was going to stare at her, she could do the same.
A trim brown beard traced his jaw, and stubble darkened the front and sides of his neck. Dark chest hair peeked out at the top of his s.h.i.+rt. Long brown hair topped off the deviant look. Talk about hairy. Made sense if he was a werewolf.
She'd never dated a man with chest hair or a beard. The look didn't attract her. And she had no intention of changing her preference now.”Ask me,” he prompted.
”Ask you what?”
”The question that burns in your bewitching green eyes. I'm not going anywhere, so you might as well make the best of it. There's nothing threatening about conversation.”
Her legs floated to the surface, and Bella flicked her big toes, scattering droplets across the water's surface. ”All right. If vampires suck blood from humans, what is it a werewolf does?”
”With humans?”
”Yes.”
He clasped his strong, wide hands together between his bent legs, focusing across the horizon above and behind her. ”We avoid them mostly. The less contact we have with the mortal race, the better. If humans haven't got proof of our existence, then you understand how much easier it is to survive?”
”I'll buy that. So why the continued contact with me? I'm a human. I have proof of your existence.”
”I've already explained that.”
”Right. You have my scent bouncing about inside your nose and can't shake it off. Peachy. So what about those three days around the full moon you mentioned?”
”In this human form I am called a were. Were means 'man,' you know? Then there is the wolf form, which is the caninelike animal most humans a.s.sociate with wolves. The werewolf is the man and wolf combined. Understand?”
She nodded. The creature lesson was fascinating, in a stomach-curdling way. Shape-s.h.i.+fting and blood and fangs were not her idea of a good time, unless they were up on the big screen.
”During the full moon, the werewolf takes over as the moon peaks in the sky. All it can think to do is mate.”
”Mate?”
”Have s.e.x.”
”With another werewolf?”
”If one is available. The female of our breed is rare. Which makes for a lot of frustrated males.”
”They don't...try to mate with humans?”
”In werewolf form I should scare the s.h.i.+t out of you. Of course, during the day, when I take were form, as you see me now, I'm also h.o.r.n.y as h.e.l.l for those three days. That's when humans come in handy.”
”I see.” Seth's theory on the s.e.x-freak thing was true. ”So you basically live to have s.e.x?”
”I live. And I have s.e.x. They are two different functions, not dependent upon one another. But yes, I do like to have s.e.x.”
Yeah, she did, too. With humans. And at her pleasure, not on demand or forced because the moon was full.
”Would you have raped me the other night?” ”Never.” A strong, sure answer. He tilted his chin up and met her gaze. ”But I cannot deny I wanted you.”
Bella peered into her reflection on the water's surface. ”I know that.”
She had sensed his want. Discussing it now, in a simple poolside chat, was strange, but that didn't dissuade her from seeking answers. ”You don't have a girlfriend? I mean a werewolf girlfriend?”
”I've never had a mate.”
<script>