IcySeduction (8 page)

The lore said that they’d been created when a Mohican shaman
had worked a spell with the wolves that used to inhabit New York. He wanted his
tribe’s warriors to have the hunting traits of wolves, such as night vision,
speed and stealth, but the spell had unintended consequences. The wolves used
in the spell died and the humans that received their attributes found
themselves cursed to change at the full moon, to live as a wolf and learned not
to mess with them again. Perhaps the shaman should have prevented those cursed
men from breeding, but he didn’t, and the trait passed down hit and miss over
the centuries. They couldn’t say which baby might or might not have the trait
until they were about to reach manhood. In a few months, Dean would be
considered a man by tribal standards. Jake felt panic whenever he thought Dean
might inherit his curse. At least he couldn’t infect someone with a cut or bite
as in some legends.

Saron had told him that in this age of divorce, it was easy
to lose track of “potentials”, and this is what had happened in Jake’s case. He’d
been abandoned as a baby and grew up in various foster homes. At first, he’d
thought he’d caused it because of his constant anger, but many foster kids were
angry at being left behind and shuffled around. He’d been so scared that first
time, huddling in the dank corner of an abandoned warehouse. Eventually he got
to know a pack of stray dogs. They didn’t seem to care that he wasn’t with them
the rest of the month. He’d fed them when he wasn’t in wolf form until the
elder dogs died off and the younger dogs either got hit by cars, used in dog
fights or captured by animal control. Then he’d been alone for years before
Saron found him.

Though it took the better part of an hour to get there, the
beach perked up Dean’s mood considerably. Despite the balmy weather, it was too
cold to swim, but that didn’t stop the women drenched in suntan lotion lying on
towels on the sand. Dean had a pleasant afternoon ogling as many of them as
possible. They picked up a pizza to take back to Christine’s. Hopefully she ate
pizza, though she probably ruined it with veggie toppings. Jake knew before he
unlocked the door that Christine wasn’t there. Was she still at work? They
chowed down on the pizza, leaving a couple of slices in case she was
interested. Jake was getting more and more anxious the later it got. Had she
been hurt? Had she decided to stay somewhere else? He called her cell and it
went to voice mail.

“Dad, pace outside. You’re making me dizzy.”

“Fine.” He grabbed a beer out of the fridge first, then went
out on the back patio. His phone rang. “Where are you?”

“I’m just leaving work.”

“Do you normally work so late?”

“Yeah, often, depends on what’s needed.”

“You’re not just avoiding me?”

She sighed. “That too.” He heard clinking metal, an
ignition, and a backup beeper. “I was thinking of going out with my coworkers
to a club they know.”

“On a Monday?”

“There’s a few open.”

“What sort of club?”

“A dance club, I assume.”

“What coworkers? Not that guy you went to bed with.”

“He would be one of a group.”

“No way in hell I’m letting you go out with him
unsupervised.”

Her sigh was loud and her voice took on a stubborn edge. “I
am neither a child nor your property so I’ll do whatever the hell I want. And
on a common sense level, that guy’s never going to want to come near me again
since I threw up on him at the crucial moment.”

Jake weighed that idea. Yup, she was right. “Any other males
in the group?”

“Yes.” She didn’t elaborate.

“Come home first. We saved you a couple slices of pizza.”

“With pepperoni?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll pass.”

“What, you wanted broccoli and squash all over it?” He
scrunched up his nose at the mere thought. “Look, come home, change, and I’ll
go to the club with you.”

“Do you dance?”

“Not sure. It’s been a while.”

“What about Dean?”

“He’ll be cool by himself for a few hours. Luckily he’s not
into girls yet.”

“You’re going to try to talk me out of going.”

“I am not.”

“Do you swear?”

He paused. Damn, he really didn’t want to go to a club with
a group of people when he could have Christine all to himself. “I swear.”

“Good.”

She came home about a half hour later, chatted with Dean,
ate a salad after scowling at all the junk in her fridge, then went into the
bedroom to change. Jake tried to follow her through the door. She placed her
palm on his chest and pushed. “You swore you wouldn’t try to talk me out of it.”

“Who said anything about talking?”

“Get lost, bud.”

Another half hour passed before she reappeared, fresh
makeup, still-damp hair curling gently around her ears and hot, black skinny
jeans. She was shrugging into a little bolero jacket, but not before Jake
spotted the very thin, very low-cut tank she was wearing. “You’re going out
with your coworkers wearing this?”

“It’s a club, not a cotillion.”

“What’s a cotillion?” Dean asked, his butt cemented to the
couch as usual.

“A dance for young people to learn manners around the
opposite sex as well as how to dance properly. The boys dress up in suits and
the girls in pretty dresses,” Christine explained.

“Yuck!” Jake felt the same way.

“I never went to one, but I had friends who did.”

Jake finally managed to get Christine out the door and into
her car. He was in jeans and a black t-shirt. It wasn’t as if he had much to
choose from. He felt odd sitting in the passenger seat as Christine drove, but
she knew the area. He discovered she was not a patient driver. More than once,
he slammed down his foot, wishing he had a brake on the passenger side.

* * * * *

Christine caught Jake once again miming slamming on the
brakes. “I’m driving, Jake, so just chill out.” She didn’t know what the
problem was—it wasn’t as if it was Manhattan traffic.

“I’m a cabby. If I’m not driving, then I’m in my apartment.”

“Which reminds me, you need to leave tomorrow, Jake. I’m
sure Dean needs to get back to school.”

“I’m not leaving until you believe me.”

“Look, I opened the door to you. I’ve been very polite and I
don’t want to make Dean feel unwelcome, but it’ll be a cold day in hell before
I believe you’re a werewolf. I really don’t want to throw your bags out on the
sidewalk.” She gunned the engine, ran the yellow, then slammed the brakes as
someone turned right in front of her. She was gratified when Jake reached for
the handhold above the door and tried to hit his imaginary brake again.

“What about if you saw me change with your own eyes?”

Would she believe then or think she was hallucinating? “It
would be better than your say-so, which is dubious, so go ahead and change. I’ll
be open-minded.”

“I only change at the full moon.”

She snorted, not a ladylike sound but appropriate. “Of
course you do.”

“How about this? I’ll leave tomorrow, get Dean back in
school, then I’ll return the day before the full moon. You’ll see I’m telling
the truth.”

“What, by you eating me?”

He seemed to give this serious consideration. “You can tie
me up in such a way that I’ll still be secured in wolf form.”

“The whole idea is crazy.”

“You want proof, right? Let me give it to you.”

“Fine.” She could always tell him to get lost before he
returned, that she didn’t really need a lunatic in her life. She also didn’t
need to give in to the crazy allure of bondage again. Why would she want anyone
to control her when she was a strong, independent woman? And she didn’t believe
in spanking children, so how could she get off on getting spanked? She needed
to look forward and leave Jake and those disturbing urges in her past.

The club was crowded and noisy. Her friends had snagged a
table near the bar. They always tried to get one in that area, if possible, so
Christine knew where to look for them. Kyle stood up when he saw her. He gave
her a kiss on her cheek as greeting, then asked if she was feeling better. She
couldn’t help but blush. “I’m still mortified.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just between you and me. Maybe we
could try it again when you’re feeling well.”

Jake walked right up to Christine and Kyle and put his arm
around Christine’s shoulders. “She won’t be going out with anyone except me from
now on.”

“Who the hell are you?” Kyle asked as Christine rolled her
eyes over Jake’s highhandedness.

“Ignore him. He has delusions.” She tried to shake his arm
off her shoulders as she greeted her other friends, but the arm refused to be
dislodged. She introduced him to the crowd. “This is Jake, a friend of mine
from New York.”

Kyle grinned. “New York, huh? No wonder he’s uptight.”

Jake looked as if he was about to respond to that snub but
Christine suggested, “Hey, why don’t you go to the bar and get a couple of
beers for us? I’m parched.”

Jake nodded abruptly and went off to the bar.

Kyle held out a chair for Christine. She sat and he followed
suit. “How did you meet that guy?” And when, was his unspoken question, since
they’d almost had sex just the other night.

“I met him up visiting the parents.” She wasn’t sure she
wanted her friends to know that he drove a cab, but why would they care? “I don’t
know where he got the idea to come down here and to act like we’re a couple. We’re
certainly not that serious.” She probably wouldn’t have explained that much to
her coworkers except that she was embarrassed.

Jake slammed a beer down in front of her as well as a
filled-to-the-brim shot glass. He turned the remaining empty chair around
backward and straddled it. He picked up his shot glass and motioned for her to
do the same. “To the moon.”

She nearly choked but managed to swallow it all down. She
felt the scrutiny of her coworkers keenly. Jake was not putting his best foot
forward. She stopped caring ten minutes later when Jake insisted she have
another shot and another beer. One of the couples went off to dance. When they
came back, Lori switched up by dragging Pam to the dance floor. “Hey Christine,
you coming?”

“Sure, why not?” Jake moved to follow, but she pushed on his
shoulder. “Girls only.” She was grateful to be away from both Kyle and Jake and
their unspoken power play. Neither was going to win her unless she chose. She
certainly wasn’t going out with Kyle again because she’d never get that picture
out of her head. And Jake would go back to New York tomorrow and she never had
to see him again even if she had to take a cruise the week of the full moon to
avoid him.

She danced a couple of song mixes with her female peers. The
alcohol was whizzing in her brain as well as endorphins from vigorous dancing.
Lori and Pam had flushed cheeks and bright eyes so Christine imagined she
looked pretty close to the same. Suddenly she recalled the woman she’d
kissed—actually kissed!—at the airport. She bit her lip and was glad for the
dim lighting and the excuse of fast dancing since she knew her cheeks were
flaming bright red. What had she been thinking? She had enough on her hands
with Jake. Speaking of which…

“May I cut in?” he said close to her ear so she could hear
him over the throbbing music.

Christine backed up to allow the triangle to turn into a
square. It was a fast Latino song and she was losing herself in the drumbeat.
She closed her eyes and let the music travel through her whole body to her
toes, each part of her moving as it saw fit. When she opened her eyes, she felt
Jake’s hot gaze on her even though Lori had moved to where she was practically
plastered against Jake. Christine glared at her and realized she wanted to rip
her friend’s eyes out for the lusty gaze she had focused on Jake. In fact, she
lifted her hands, fingers bent like claws, and lunged at her, but Jake blocked
her so fast the two women never noticed. He pressed his lips to her ear. “Feeling
a bit possessive, are we?”

She blushed. “The alcohol, I guess.”

“You normally attack other women when you get a buzz on?”

“Not usually, no.”

He laid a kiss on her lips, quick but firm. “I like it that
you stood up for what’s yours.”

“You’re not mine any more than I am yours. We’re individuals
with free will.”

He shook his head and danced back to his original position.
He was a bit stiffer than the Latin guys on the dance floor, but he was a
decent dancer. Kyle never came out to the dance floor, and some guys she knew
came out to the floor and swayed back and forth like trees, trees with no
rhythm.

The DJ diminished the fast beat and blended in the slow beat
before the slow song took over. Jake tugged on her hand until she faced him.
Lori and Pam left the floor dejectedly as Jake whispered in her ear, “Finally.”

Was he talking about her friends leaving or the slow song?
Either way, he pulled her into his strong arms, his scent enveloping her. Her
cheek lay against his soft cotton shirt so she listened to his steady
heartbeat. Christine circled her arms around his waist and followed his lead.
They weren’t doing much more than swaying, but that didn’t matter as his heat
overtook her body, making her feel comfortable and horny at the same time.
Halfway through the song, she was rubbing against him like a cat. He kissed the
top of her head gently and cupped her head to get her to look up at him. Then
he leaned over just enough to kiss her lips, feather-light, warm, smooth and
romantic. He stayed that way, not pressing to open her mouth, not trying to
make it sexual. It was kind of weird to kiss like that when she was so used to
men diving right into a French kiss, some men doing it better than others. Not
that there had been that many men, but she had had some disastrous blind dates
before.

When he did move away from her lips, he sprinkled light
kisses on her eyelids and her cheeks and her ear. “You smell so delicious,” he
said.