Just One Bite (4 page)

What if I didn’t?

But marriage? Was he crazy? Of course he was. Hadn’t she
already decided that? She wasn’t going to think about how he’d convinced her he
was a wolf. He’d probably drugged her.

Light bulb moment for dumbest girl in the world.

He
had
drugged her. The steak had some hallucinogenic
substance injected into it. Or the wine. Maybe both.
Oh damn.

Liv’s feeling of comfortable, satiated pleasure flowed away
faster than water cascading over Niagara Falls and left her stranded on the
shore. This was probably some joke, maybe even a bet and she’d fallen for it.
Sucker.

“Can’t breathe,” she muttered.

The moment his weight lifted, Liv rolled from the bed to her
feet and almost fell headlong. She straightened and hobbled to the bathroom.
Clinging hold of the washbasin, Liv raised her head to the mirror. Flushed
face, mussed hair and a smear of blood on her neck along with the beginnings of
a bruise.
Bastard.
She spotted Cal behind her, leaning on the doorframe.
He looked nervous.
He should.

“You bit me.” She fingered her neck.

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t believe you.” Though Liv had to admit he sounded
contrite, but then she’d been taken in by guys before.

“I know this is hard to believe,” he blurted, “but it’s
because you belong to me.”

Liv clenched her teeth, yanked a towel from the rail and wrapped
it tight around her body. “I don’t
belong
to anyone.”

Cal took a step toward her. “You belong to me in the same
way that I belong to you. It’s the werewolf way. I’m crazy for you, but my wolf
is even crazier. It’s battling to get out. A full moon, lying next to you, and
I’m clinging to control with the tips of my fingers. I’d rather die than hurt
you, Liv.” He dropped to his knees in front of her. “Marry me.”

So she hadn’t misheard.

“I don’t even know you,” she whispered. “You don’t know me.
How can you want to marry me?”

“I just know.” He rose to his feet, and Liv couldn’t help
but notice his cock was erect again.
Bloody hell.

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he
whispered. “Without you, I’m incomplete. I need you. Please.”

When he reached to twist her hair in his fingers, Liv didn’t
move away. Despite her common sense screaming warnings in her head, his words
were burrowing deep into her heart.

“When I look at you, my stomach does cartwheels.” He brushed
her cheekbone with his thumb. “You make me feel happy and I want to spend the
rest of my life making you happy. We belong together.”

Oh God.
Liv didn’t protest when he unwrapped her from
the towel, didn’t push him away when he tugged her close, kissed her and herded
her back to the bedroom. It was all too much, too soon, too fast, but Liv
wanted him.

Cal spread his hands on her back and traced patterns with
his fingers as he gently kissed her. When Liv slid her tongue into his mouth,
it was like licking mint chocolate chip ice cream. Something velvety stroked
the crease of her butt, and Liv shivered and hummed with pleasure. Then froze.

Ten fingers drew loops and whirls on her back so what the
hell was— Liv looked over her shoulder and squealed. She bucked into Cal and he
hugged her.

“Wha—t—gah—wh—” Liv gave up.

Cal lifted his head from her mouth, his eyes glazed. “No
more crying wolf.”

“Furry thing,” she blurted.

“I can think of better terms of affection.” Cal kissed and
licked her neck. “I quite liked super stud. Christ, you taste and smell so
good. Licorice. Did I tell you how much I—”

“Oh God, I have a t-t—”

“I adore licorice.”

Liv grabbed his ears and twisted until he yelped. “I have a
tail.”

Cal peered over her shoulder. “Yep. Wow, that’s unusual.”

“Un-bloody-usual? Of course it is. It’s a
tail
.”

“And what a lovely tail it is too.” Cal smiled at her.

Liv opened her mouth to let out a torrent of abuse and
instead screamed with pain. Lightning crackled down her spine and she jerked.
It felt as though a creature with sharp teeth had begun to crunch its way down
her back. Pain radiated along her ribs, flared in her chest and she doubled
over in agony.

“
Argghh
. Something inside me,” she gasped and fell to
her knees.
Hurts, hurts.

“Your wolf.” Cal dropped down beside her. “You’ll be okay.
Don’t fight it, sweetheart.”

“Poisoned me. Hospital,” she gasped.

“Let your wolf out, Liv.”

“Need—help—please.” Her skull was about to explode.

Cal held her hand. “Let her out. You can do it. I know you
can.”

Suddenly this wasn’t something Liv could laugh at or pretend
wasn’t happening. She felt her bones shortening, twisting and reforming.
Muscles ripped, rippled and flexed. She sensed her organs changing. Heat boiled
through her and fur spouted from every follicle. Fear and pain raged but Cal
held her face, made her look into his eyes, and listen to his words.

“Everything will be all right.” He repeated the same thing
over and over.

How could it be all right? Liv’s life had shifted onto
another path from which there was no way back.

She stopped fighting and closed her eyes.
This is not
happening to me.
If she kept saying that, could she make it so?

When Liv opened her eyes, a familiar black wolf sat watching
her. Liv lifted her muzzle—
eek
—off silvery paws—
eek eek—
and
whimpered—
eeeeeeek
.

She stood on shaky legs.
Oh God, four legs. I need to
pee. How do I pee? There’s no lamppost. Can I squat on the toilet? What if I
slip?

Cal laughed.

Liv met his gaze.
Oh damn it, you’re in my head.

You’re beautiful. You’re funny and I love you.

* * * * *

Liv bared her teeth, pinned him with her gaze and her
hackles rose. Cal cringed. She was seriously pissed. His joy that she’d
survived the first change slipped away. When she snarled, he backed off. Not
that he intended to let his mate get the better of him, nor any other wolf,
come to that, and if any of the pack had been around, Cal would have
definitely—well probably—stood his ground against Liv, but he wanted to let her
find herself. She’d eventually struggled through denial and had moved into
anger. Only bargaining and depression to go before she reached acceptance.

Cal hoped the anger part didn’t last long because he really
didn’t want to have to—
Oh shit.
Liv leapt at him, bowled him over and
went for his throat. That was embarrassing. Cal had to call on every ounce of
restraint not to fight back. Liv hovered with her teeth inches from his neck.

Liv, honey, can we talk about this?

She growled.

This isn’t appropriate behavior.
Cal wondered whether
to transform.
You’re moon drunk.

She growled louder.

Cal let his wolf go and turned back to human form. Liv
reeled in surprise.

“I know you’re angry, but God, you’re the most beautiful
wolf I’ve ever seen.” He risked twisting her ear in his fingers and sighed with
relief when Liv pushed her head into his hand.

You’re not going to get around me like that.

Cal bit back his smile and took his hand away.

Did I tell you to stop?

He sniggered and tickled her again.

Oooooh. Is there a guide book I need to read?
Table
Manners for Werewolves
?
A Hundred and One Ways to Howl at the Moon
?
How
to Shit in the Woods
. Oh, that one really
is
a book. I’ve read it.

He laughed. “I can teach you everything you need to know.”

Like how to turn back into a woman?

He didn’t miss the plaintive note in her voice and it
reminded him they were only halfway there. “You need to be patient this first
time. It will just happen.”
Please let that be true.
“Remember how you
feel when it does, and then the next time you change, search for that sensation
inside you.”

Liv jumped up onto the bed and lay down, head on her paws.
Cal settled beside her and pushed his fingers into her thick fur.

The bang on the apartment door made them both jump.

“Open up right now,” someone shouted.

My landlord. Creepo. Ignore him.

“Creepo?”

He wanted me to give him a blowjob this morning in return
for letting me off my rent.

Cal rolled off the bed, went looking for his pants and shirt
and tugged them on. Anger roared down every vein and artery until his body
thrummed. He strode to the door and yanked it open. A short, ugly, bald guy
with a beer belly widened his eyes in surprise and then glared at him.

“Where’s Liv?” Creepo asked.

Cal felt Liv brush up against his legs. He glanced down and
saw her looking up at her landlord.

“Aha. I knew I’d heard a dog. Pets aren’t allowed. Hey, what
kind of dog is that? It looks like…”

The low rumbling from Liv made Cal smile. He tickled her
ear. “Want me to rip his lungs out through his throat, honey? Or maybe you’d
like to.”

Cal turned his smile back on Creepo, though the guy didn’t
seem to find it very cheery. He backed away, his face losing color with every
step, and then turned and ran. Cal slammed the door.

Just in time. Liv was changing back.
Wow, so soon?
Cal gritted his teeth as he watched, his fingers digging into his palms.
Please,
please, please let her be okay.
After each limb returned to normal, and the
fur disappeared back into her body, Cal breathed out. Finally, Liv lay sprawled
on the floor, panting. Cal scooped her up into his arms, kissed her on the
cheek and carried her back into the bedroom.
Thank Christ.

Liv was unbuttoning his shirt before he’d lifted his hands
from her.

“Sex. Now,” she blurted.

Her hormones were all over the place, but then so were his,
and Cal wasn’t going to argue. Except as he pulled his pants off, he thought
maybe he should have done. The look in her eyes was almost scary.

“Liv—”

“Don’t talk.”

She pulled him down and kissed him, and Cal forgot what he’d
been going to say. He vaguely remembered it was important, but as Liv’s tongue
explored his mouth and her hand wrapped around his cock, that seemed pretty
important too. And when her mouth deserted his and her hot tongue licked a path
down his throat, over his chest by way of each nipple, only to linger on his
navel—well, by that time he’d forgotten his own name.

Liv’s breasts cradled his cock and he couldn’t breathe
without gulping. When she pulled back and licked the pearl of pre-come growing
at the tip of his shaft, Cal—
oh yeah, that was it
—made a sound that was
far too un-alpha-like. His fingers crept into her hair and he lifted his head
to watch her licking him.

Not a good idea. His balls tightened and Cal had to think of
something bad to bring him from the edge. Like explaining to Liv about what sex
would be like when they were both wolves. How he’d enter her when he wasn’t
even hard because he had a bone in his cock to help, and once he was inside,
he’d then swell, and once he started to come, it could last thirty minutes and
neither of them would be able to move because they’d be locked together. It
actually was a lot of fun, but it didn’t sound it and it freaked some women out
when they couldn’t get free.

Cal looked down. He was hard as iron and Liv was sucking
him.
Oh God.
That felt good. The tightness of her mouth, the heat, the
softness of her tongue, and she had her hand in exactly the right place at the
base of his dick, squeezing just tight enough to stop him coming all over her
face. Then she stared up at him and looked so adorable, Cal thought he was a
saint for waiting this long before “accidentally” bumping into her this
morning.

Liv kissed the head of his cock then rubbed her cheek
against him. He smelled so good, of ice cream, of man, of wolf.
Oh God.
He
tasted good too. She opened her mouth wide and took as much of him as she
could, tightened her lips and then bobbed her head up and down. Cal’s hips
bucked and Liv swallowed against him.

“Jeeeeesus,” he mumbled.

She felt like the head of his cock was melting in her mouth,
it was so soft and wet. Liv nibbled down his rigid length and ran her tongue
over the curve of his balls, letting the skin wrinkle under her tongue. Cal’s
hips shifted restlessly and she sensed he was trying not to shove himself
deeper into her mouth. When Liv pressed the tip of her tongue into the little
slit at the head of his cock, Cal whimpered. The salty tang of pre-come filled
her mouth, and Liv ran her tongue over and around the velvety head as his
fingers tightened in her hair.

Liv had never swallowed come before, but she wanted to now.
She pumped harder at the base of his cock, wrapped her lips more tightly around
his glans, and Cal’s dick jerked in her mouth.

“Liiiiiiv,” he groaned.

His cock swelled, Cal went rigid and Liv’s mouth flooded
with a hot, salty-sweet gush. Liv savored every spurt as Cal emptied himself
between her lips. His hands slid from her hair to her cheeks and he stroked
them with his thumbs as the last spasms of orgasm faded and finally he was
spent.

“That was…indescribable,” he muttered.

“Well, try.”

Cal laughed. “Fantastic, superb, tremendous, amazing,
sensational.”

He tugged her up into his arms and kissed her and somehow
the fact that he was tasting himself in her mouth was so erotic, Liv found it
hard to breathe. And when she felt his cock slide into her, Liv forgot to be
amazed that he could be erect again so quickly and instead thanked her lucky
stars.