Part 17 (2/2)

”They aren't happy unless the werewolf has a mate. That it's the monster, not the man, who needs to get boned every full moon. I can't see you s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g a hairy beast, Bella. It's so not you.”

”Like letting some Elvira wannabe suck out your blood is any more sane? G.o.d, Seth, just...sit back. You've changed.”

”So have you, Bella. You're uptight now. More so than usual. Bet if I asked you to dance, you'd make an excuse not to.”

”My shoes are wet with cosmopolitan.”

”See?” He grabbed her wrist when she stood and roughly tugged her back to sit by him. ”Don't go yet, please? Or is your master here, lurking in the shadows?”

”Is yours?”

His drunken smile cut into her heart. ”Touche. As a matter of fact she isn't. I wanted it to be just us tonight. Let's go to my place and watch a movie and make like old times again. Would you like that?”

His eyes were bloodshot; she could tell that even with the red lighting. And he was so pale. He was a vampire. He had to be.

Severo had said he could scent vampires. Bella wished he'd taught her to pick up that distinctive odor.

”Tell me one thing before I decide. And it has to be the truth, Seth. You know I can tell when you're lying.”

”Very well, Miss Uptight. What truth do you need?”

”Are you a vampire?”

He smirked and mumbled a lackl.u.s.ter, ”No.”

Seth always mumbled his lies. G.o.d, what had happened to him?

”I've got to go. Bye, Seth.” She leaned in and kissed his forehead. This time he let her go and tilted his head toward the dance floor, not even watching her leave.

Bella's feet raced as fast as her heart as she shoved through the club.

Severo was sitting on the pa.s.senger side of the Mercedes when she arrived. Bella got in, and before she could sniff away the tear, he reached for her cheek and wiped it away.

”I'm sorry,” he said. ”It was inevitable.”

”At least he won't die now,” she murmured. Forced optimism didn't work this time. Gripping the steering wheel, she closed her eyes and tilted her head against the seat. ”Is there any way he can change back?”

”Impossible.”

What she'd suspected.

”Will you drive home?” she asked.

”Climb over me, sweet, and I'll take you away from this nightmare.”

The drive home was quiet. He didn't ask her what she was feeling. Bella sensed he knew her thoughts. She could understand Severo hating vampires now.

Halfway home he took her hand in his and pulled it onto his thigh. His silent rea.s.surance made her cry. A gift he couldn't realize meant so much to her.

G.o.d, she loved this man. She ached for him. She loved him for the compa.s.sion he would never admit to possessing. For the domineering spirit that always erred toward protection over humiliation.

And she loved him for his humanity, for the fact that he loved and lived as she did, and was the same as her, except for the one small thing about his ability to s.h.i.+ft shapes.

They pulled into the garage, and the radio shut off with the engine. Severo reached to open the door, but she told him to stop.

Bella climbed onto his lap, straddling him, and he inched over to the middle of the seat. She was grateful it was an old car, the kind without a floor s.h.i.+ft and with a full front seat.

He found her mouth with a fierce kiss. She moaned into him, releasing the last remnants of sadness and surrendering to the desire that had built during the drive home.

Shucking off her sleeves, she tugged down the front of her dress and lifted her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to his mouth. He sucked at each one, again and again, drawing up the intense coil of climax with expert precision. It took no longer than a few minutes before she came, long and loud and crying out in the confines of the car.

”You're mine,” he growled.

Bella eyed his fly and he tilted up his hips so she could unzip him. ”And you are mine, wolf. I need you now.”

”Tell me you want me, then. Where do you want me?”

”Inside me.” Yes, she could use his rough language, because she trusted him. ”I'm so wet for you.”

He sucked in a hissing breath as she fitted herself onto his hardness. They clung together, moving little, for she squeezed him with her muscles, milking him to a fierce and triumphant climax.

This wolf was hers. And though he might think he controlled her, Bella knew otherwise. He was hers to command. And tonight she wanted him to serve her.

Sliding from his lap and lying across the seat, she put her heels on his thigh, pus.h.i.+ng him away.

”I want your mouth on me, lover,” she said.

Severo opened the door and stretched out his legs. He pulled her hips up and entered her with his tongue.

With her shoulders deep into the seat and her heels on his broad, muscled back, it didn't take Bella long to find the stars a second time.

Chapter 14.

B ella's shoulders. .h.i.t the wall, her arms stretched above her head. Her lover clasped her wrists, pinning her roughly. His greedy smile thrilled her. Every part of her was hot and wet for him.

He dove for her jaw, nipping along it up to her ear, where he sucked in the lobe. His erection ground against her bare thigh. He was naked, too, and had been since that afternoon, when they'd started making love.

Tomorrow night the moon would be full. Which meant tonight it was waxing and the werewolf would come out if it was not kept at bay with s.e.x. This was a challenge Bella met eagerly.

”I've said it before,” she murmured as his kiss found her mouth. ”You like it rough.”

”You do, too, sweet.”

”Your strength is an aphrodisiac.”

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