Part 13 (2/2)

Bella flipped off the television and padded out to the patio. She slipped off her silk robe and dove into the pool naked. She'd gotten used to Heloise's schedule, and she tried to not strip when she knew she might run into her. The brownie was doing laundry and she usually left in the evening without a goodbye.

The pool was heated, which was a necessity in Minnesota. Floating on her back, she giggled as a falling red maple leaf landed on her belly. She let it lie there. Like a leaf floating in a pond, she was carried around the pool by the gentle current.

This could be the life. Living in a mansion with a housekeeper, gourmet meals and an attentive lover. What lottery had she won?

Okay, so the lover was not completely human. And though Severo had intimated that he'd like to support her, Bella could never allow that to happen. She liked work. It exercised her brain when her dancing was not moving her body.

Miss All About Control needed the independence of supporting herself. But that didn't mean she couldn't work from her own office here at the mansion. She had a choice of plenty of extra rooms.

One of the patio deck lights flickered. Bella's heart did a sudden dive. She treaded water in the center of the pool.

Severo had given her explicit instructions to go inside and lock all the doors after 10:00 p.m. The werewolf knew where home was, and while it rarely ventured close, it might come sniffing about.

He did say that early morning usually found his beastly form reduced to a regular wolf, and if she wanted to look outside on the third day for that, she could.

”My lover, the wolf,” she said. Her heartbeat resuming normal pace, she continued floating. ”And Seth loves a vampire.”

Severo had not said what had gone on between him and Evie, but he did say he'd given her an ultimatum.

Evie. Evil, spelled wrong. Which was what she sounded like. A self-obsessed vampire whom Severo laughingly referred to as Elvira.Bella wondered if Evie truly resembled the tall, beehive-coiffed mistress of the dark. She wasn't sure she'd be able to keep a straight face if she ever met her. How far off Seth's scale was she? He normally went in for flirty, stupid and shallow.

A tap on the patio door alerted her. Heloise gestured. Bella dropped her legs and sank into the water to conceal her nudity. The housekeeper opened the door and made a dismissive gesture, as if she'd seen it all before.

”It's almost ten, mistress,” Heloise called. ”Best be getting inside.”

”Already?” She hadn't thought it was that late when she'd come out here. ”Yes, fine. I'll be right in. Are you turning in for the night, Heloise?”

”I go home. I have nice little house, given to me by Severo. Good night, mistress. You stay inside, yes?” She left the patio door open.

”Night.” Bella swam over for a towel and slid up onto the ledge of the pool.

The open door taunted her. Come quick, before it's too late.

The housekeeper didn't stick around during the full moon? And she was a faerie. She should be more comfortable with the whole paranormal realm and all its dark shenanigans than any mortal.

Did that mean Bella should be treating this night as more ominous than she had last night?

Skittering across the flagstone tiles, she hastened inside and locked the door behind her, dropping the Charley bar, as Severo had taught her. The sky was dark and there, above the treetops, the fat harvest moon sat low and proud.

A canine howl sounded in the distance.

Bella's heart fluttered.

”I'd better check all the doors and windows.”

Doors locked? Check. Windows locked, all fitted with special security bars that locked into a steel cas.e.m.e.nt? Check. If the high security didn't give her the w.i.l.l.i.e.s, then nothing else should.

It was nearing 1:00 a.m., and Bella sat in the middle of the bed, the soft s.h.i.+rt she'd picked up from the floor clutched to her chest.

It was Severo's and it smelled like him, so she'd pulled it on after a quick shower to wash away the chlorine.

And here she sat, as she had last night, staring out the window. Severo's house sat at the bottom of a valley. The countryside rose in the distance. Hundreds of acres of forested land, he'd explained, all belonged to him. The moon had tucked itself out of view, but the sky was luminous against the black tree silhouettes.

An owl hooted. A dog howled. The wind picked up. And now branches sc.r.a.ping the windows kept her alert. Any little noise set her heart to a jackrabbit kick against her chest.

In the horror movies, it wasn't the gross creature or the blood that got to her; it was the antic.i.p.ation of evil.

”He's not evil,” she whispered.

Their romance had been fast and more than furious. He'd captured her from day one, literally, and Bella appreciated now that he had not relented his pursuit of her. Never had she been with such a man. Virile, strong, attentive and, yes, commanding.

And much as she'd never wanted to be controlled, she didn't feel controlled by Severo. But an edge of domination existed, which she willingly surrendered to.

Because with Severo's control, she also received safety and a feeling of contentment.

Even sitting here, listening to the night spooks, she had to admit she was safe. The windows were secure, as were the doors.

Surely the wolf wouldn't attempt to break through?

Part of her wanted to see the werewolf, to know her lover in all his forms. Another part thought it fine and dandy that she sat inside and it was outside.

Eyelids flickering, Bella yawned.

A squabble between worm-seeking robins outside the window woke her hours later. She'd made it through the second night, which, as Severo had pointed out, was the most perilous of nights, because during the full moon the werewolf most felt the call to mate.

The werewolf howled a long, lonely cry to the moon.

Bring her to me. Give me what I have wanted for so long.

It sensed something had changed. It had no notion that when it was not stalking the countryside, it could be in any other form than this man/beast shape. It knew only that humans were to be fiercely avoided.

And yet, a new scent clung to its form, the taut muscles that stretched its legs and forearms and twined within its flesh. It smelled human, and like a sweet plant it had once scented so many years ago.

Where did it come from? And how to find the source?

The werewolf wanted to know it, to feel it. To lick it and taste the sweetness that the lingering scent promised.

Yet the strange inner caution that often kept it from wandering onto private mortal land again held it back. Made it cower, for fear of revealing itself to the world.

It would not seek the scent. Not yet.

<script>