I pulled my hand away and raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"
"I said I just wanted to protect you," he repeated.
I frowned. "Protect me how? By the looks of you I'd say the fur part isn't indestructible."
Greg chuckled. "It's not the fur that's the benefit, though I must admit it's kept me warm a lot of cold nights."
"Then what?" I flatly asked him.
"Well, there's this." He pointed at his chest where lay the holes from the bullets. As I watched, the wounds slowly closed themselves. They didn't even leave a scratch. My mouth dropped open and I pressed my hand against his chest where the wounds had disappeared. He giggled and pushed my hand away. "I'm sort of ticklish," he admitted.
I rolled my eyes. "What kind of a werewolf are you to be ticklish and working as an apartment manager in a crummy neighborhood?"
"The one that's content with a simple life," he replied.
"There's not some werewolf empire you can rule over, or some campers you could stalk in the woods?" I wondered.
He shook his head. "Not so much as a plot of land to conquer or a small wood to haunt."
"So how did you end up in the middle of this filthy city and happen to turn me into one of you?" I asked him.
Greg put on a dreamy look and sighed. "It's a long story starting from when I was a pup."
"Were you really a pup?"
"No, but just roll with me. Right here in the hay, if you want."
"I'd rather not take a roll with you here or anywhere else. I'm supposed to be cursing your existence for cursing mine, remember?"
"You sure? It's actually pretty fun."
"I'm cold, but not that cold."
Greg glanced over me and frowned. "You should be cold. You're sitting there in those filthy clothes." He nodded at the box. "I've got several sets of clothes. Pull out a pair for both of us and we can get dressed."
"All right, but don't expect this type of royal treatment from me all the time," I replied as I pulled out the packages of clothes. They were wrapped in plastic to keep the damp out.
"Is that really any way to talk to your mate." I froze and glanced up to glare at him. He sheepishly smiled at me. "Um, please?"
"Maybe we'd better just stick to you cursing me and talk about the wooing later," I suggested.
"So you're saying there is a later for that?" he persisted.
"I'm saying there won't be a later for you if you don't behave." I tossed a plastic bag at him and he caught it with his face.
Greg grabbed it and set it in his lap. "Nothing tells a man a woman's mad at him more than catching things with his face," he quipped.
I ignored him and ripped open my bag. The contents smelled dry-cleaner clean, and I eagerly tore off my shoes and socks to put on the dry, non-bloody ones. I jumped to my feet and worked on my pants button, but paused when I felt a pair of somethings drill into me. I glanced over to Greg and found his eyes glued to me. "Do you mind?" He stiffly shook his head without his eyes breaking contact. "Could you look away?" Another stiff movement of the head. I dropped my hands and growled. The sound was more feral than I intended. "Look away or I'll gouge out your eyes."
Greg's eyes flitted up to mine and he raised an eyebrow. "You realize that growl you made isn't natural for a human, right?"
I shuddered at the implications. "What's that mean?"
"It means you might want to be careful about your temper. Once the change starts you could rip a human apart with your hands."
"All right, Professor Wolfgang, mind telling me what I'm supposed to be expecting here before I decide you need to be sliced and diced?"
"Increased temper, strength, and a craving for blood."
"Good thing I'm not a vegetarian. Anything else?"
"Your speed will increase along with your jumping abilities, your craving for sex will double, and your vision will be vastly improved."
My eyes widened and I held up my hand to shut him up. "Wait a second, rewind to that middle part."
"About the jumping abilities?" he guessed.
"No, the part after that. What was that about sex?"
"Oh, that." He waved away my concerns with his hand. "Just some slight, intense need to procreate with your own kind or any human you're attracted to. Nothing to worry about."
"But you're my own kind," I reminded him.
Greg faked surprise. "Well, so I am." He rubbed his chin and contemplated this new bit of information. "I guess I should avoid wearing clothes when we're alone together during the night. You'll only rip them off."
I'd had enough with this guy's nonchalance about the predicament he'd put me in. "I'll show you ripping," I growled. I jumped at him intending to give his neck a thorough massage, but his hands were too fast. He caught my wrists and easily kept me away. A smirk spread across his face and his eyes glistened with that yellow tint. I glared at him and snapped my teeth close to his face. He only chuckled.
"You really shouldn't be so feisty," he warned me.
"Why the hell not?" I shot back.
"Because I'm liable to lose control of myself." He didn't show much restraint when he leaned forward and caught my lips in a passionate, lust-filled kiss. My cold body warmed at his touch, and the heat pooled between my thighs.
I pulled away gasping for air. "I don't think you should do that again."
For once he looked worried, and his voice was thick and gravelly, more like when he was a werewolf than his human self. "I-I don't think I can stop myself." He kissed me again and his hands let go of me only for him to wrap his arms around me. My body pressed against his, reminding me how thin my bra was and how naked he was.
I put my hands on his bare chest, and felt the muscles tense and ripple beneath my fingers. Every muscle quivered and yearned to jump me, and my body responded by rubbing itself against him. He grunted and broke us apart. His eyes were now completely yellow, and his teeth were sharp. "T-this won't end well," he warned me.
"Only if you don't pleasure me," I countered.
Greg's eyes widened and he found new strength in himself to flip our positions. My back lay on the hay and he sat atop me with his chest heaving and his hands on either side of my head. He growled at me and something inside me told me to whimper in return, so I did. Greg swooped down and nuzzled his face in my neck while his hands worked over my flesh. He touched all of me, every quivering mound and tense, eager muscle. His clawed fingers cut into my bra strap and he flung the flimsy cloth aside.
Greg ground his hips against mine, and through his thin boxers I could feel his need for me. It awakened a passion inside of me that I couldn't control, and didn't want to control. I moaned and whimpered, and he grunted and clumsily pried at my pants. I brushed his hands aside, and undid the button and zipper. He yanked the pants open, tore at my underwear, and took both of them off me with barely a break in our contact. His hot lips slid down my chest, and licked and kissed their way to one of my sensitive buds. He suckled at my breast, and I clutched at his head to keep him there.
My whole body ached for his touch, his muscles against mine. I heard nothing but his breathing, and felt nothing but his touch. I gasped for air and found it was filled with the scent of our lust. That only drove me deeper into this aching, demanding need, and my legs wrapped around his waist. I needed penetration and satisfaction, and knew this beast could give it to me. He grunted and raised his head to look me over. His ears were pointed and his hair was longer, and those golden eyes bore into me with such dominance and possessiveness that I groaned and squirmed beneath that gaze.
He was more wolf than Greg, but I didn't care. The heat in my body was intense and needed to be quenched. My human inhibitions took a back seat to full carnal desire, and I reveled in the feel of his body against mine when he covered me. His thick, stiff member wet himself at my soaked entrance, and in one swift push he deeply penetrated me. I moaned at the feel of him locked inside of me, pushing and pulling against my sensitive muscles. He grunted and wrapped his arms around me to k
eep me still. There would be only one master here, and he would show me who was the dominant mate.
His hips thrust against me again and again. I wrapped my legs around his waist and groaned with each press of him into me. The heat inside me built up faster and faster. I couldn't breathe, couldn't feel anything but the sensation of him taking me with his swift pounding. The world around us disappeared, and there was only the pleasure and torment as I came closer to my finish. His rasping breath echoed in my ears and urged me on, telling me to take both of us to new pleasures that only our heightened senses could reach. I came in a flash of light so bright I squeezed my eyes shut. He came after me in a few deep, hard thrusts. He tilted back his head and howled his conquest to the empty barn.
Then he fell atop me, and I was so exhausted I drifted into sleep.
Chapter 15
I woke up with a warm blanket on me and a soft mattress beneath me. Sun shot through my eyelids and into my eyeballs, forcing me to wake up from the strangest dream I'd ever experienced. It was both a terrifying nightmare and a wonderful dream filled with werewolves and assassination attempts. I had half a mind to turn it into a book, and the other half was too tired to give a damn what the first half wanted to do. My eyes creaked open like two rusted gates and I licked my lips as I sleepily glanced around the barn.
Wait, barn? Barn wasn't my room. Something shifted beneath me and I whipped my head around to find myself staring into Greg's content face. He was still asleep, and we were both still naked. I blushed and scrambled off of him, as careful not to wake him as a horny bull through a fine-china store. He grunted and cracked open his eyes as I grabbed the blanket and as much straw as I could gather to cover myself.
Greg rolled over onto his side toward me and grinned. "Good morning," he greeted me. He was very comfortable considering he wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing.
"Put something on!" I ordered him. It was distracting seeing all of him lying there with all the important parts faced toward me.
Greg raised a playful eyebrow. "You didn't have much problem with lack of clothes last night."
"T-that's because you made me like it!" I shot back. "You and your blood you put inside me!"
"I suppose it is a little chilly," he agreed. He sat up and glanced around the barn. "Nice morning, though, and they haven't found us yet."
The color drained from my face. "They? Yet?"
"The Green Bandanna gang. If Sphinx survived she's going to want to return the favor with our faces," he pointed out. "Maybe even do some experiments."
Suddenly the day didn't look bright and cheerful, and I looked nervously around the stalls. "But isn't this place safe? How'd they find us?"
"I probably left a good blood trail. If Sphinx is as smart as I think she is she'll use dogs to find us." Images flitted through my mind of dogs tearing me apart, and I shuddered. He noticed my shivering and scooted over to wrap his arms around me. "I won't let anything happen to you."
I snorted. "You mean like everything else that's happened to me?"
"Well, I won't let anything serious happen to you," he corrected himself.
"You mean like getting shot at?"
"I won't let anything serious happen to you after this moment."
Even through my nearly mind-numbing fear I managed a snort. "You'd be a great politician."
"Why's that?"
"Because you keep changing your story."
"I like to keep my promises."
"Just stick to me not getting killed and I think I'll be happy. Unless, of course, you fail, and then I won't be happy."
"Neither will I," he agreed. Our optimistic conversation was interrupted when my stomach growled and his joined the chorus. "If you're up for a walk I know a good deli down the road."
"They serve meat?" I asked him. I was starving for some nice, juicy bacon.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't ask what's in it. The roadkill around there has a habit of walking in through the back door of the kitchen," he replied. I cringed, and he gave me a playful shake. "It's not that bad. At least it all tastes like chicken."
"To tell you the truth that actually sounded pretty good," I admitted.
"Chicken?"
"No, the roadkill."
"Your hunger for meat that bad?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Oh, no reason."
"Spit it out."
"Well, it's just another sign of your wolfing."
"Is wolfing the technical term for becoming a dog person?" In the most literal sense.
"It's just one I made up to make me laugh off the rough times."
"Villagers with pitchforks?"
"Yep, and torches. I've had my fur singed more times than I care to remember."
"You ever thought about staying away from places that have a heavy supply of both?" I suggested.
Greg shrugged and let me go to scoot over to the plastic-wrapped clothes. "When I was younger that wasn't so easy."
I looked over him and laughed. "Younger? You don't look any older than me, and I'll have you know I'm not that old."
Greg sighed and tossed me one of the sets. "To tell you the truth I'm a little older than I look." I caught the bag and frowned.
"How much older?"
"You ever hear of the American Revolution?"
"Yeah."
"I'm not that old." He got a face full of straw for that joke, and sputtered out his next words. "But I'm not that young, either. I do remember the Civil War pretty well, and everything after that."
I was in the middle of putting on some pants when he said those last words, and my mouth dropped open. "All those bullets knock your brain loose?" I suggested.
Greg shook his head. "Nope. I'm at least one hundred and seventy years old."
"You serious?"
"Do I look serious?"
"I can't tell through the ridiculous age you just gave me."
"Just think of me as Wolferine. I don't age like other people, or much at all."
"Or you've been hit in the head by too many pitchforks," I persisted.
Greg smirked and nodded at the box. "My whole life's in that box. You'll find a couple of mementos from most every decade I've lived, but I'm especially fond of a baseball card in there. It's signed by Babe Ruth himself."
I looked him over for any sign that he was fooling me, but instead he had a sad and reminiscent look on his face. "You stopped aging when you got wolfed?"
"Yeah. I worked at a logger's camp in the northwest, the old one up in Wisconsin. The natives tried to warn us about something wrong on top of that mountain, but we didn't listen. When it attacked I was the only one to get out of there alive."
"How'd you manage that?"
"My only weapon was the cutlery from the chow wagon, and I found out it didn't like silver things. It took a nice chunk out of me before I stabbed it in the heart." He half turned to show me his back. There was a large scar edged by teeth marks. "That killed it, but not before it cursed me."
"You sure it wasn't one taste of you?" I teased.
He smirked. "I have to admit I didn't bathe much in those days, but some of those guys it-well, it killed were worse than me."
"So then you were a werewolf?"
He shook his head. "Not for a few weeks, though looking back I can see the signs. I took what supplies I could and stumbled to the nearest fort. Took me a while, and I think the only reason I survived was because nothing else in the woods wanted to get near me. When I got back to what passed as civilization the change was coming on, and I had my first taste of pitchfork and musket."
I cringed. "They ran you out?"
Greg's voice grew quiet and he nodded. "Yeah, but I'm glad they did. I didn't know how to control myself and would've killed everyone in the fort if they hadn't shot me." He ran his hand through his messy hair and shook his head. "I don't really remember much of that night, but when I woke up I knew what I was. Instinct, I guess. Anyway, I stayed away from people until I learned to control myself."
"How. . .
how long did that take?" I was worried about myself.
"A few months, but I didn't have anybody to teach me. You'll be different," he promised me.
I wrapped my arms around myself and shuddered. "But what if I'm not? What if I try to kill people, too?"
"That's a given," he nonchalantly replied.
I glared at him. "Thanks for the comforting words."
"You're going to try to kill people, but you won't because I'm going to be there to stop you," he insisted.
"And if you're not around when that happens?"
He lecherously grinned. "You think after last night that you can keep me away?"
"Yeah, um, about that. We really did it, didn't we?"
"Yep."
"And you're not at all ashamed of it, are you?"
"Nope."
"And you'll do me again at the first chance, won't you?"
"How's tonight sound?"
"I'm sure I'm unavailable."
"I doubt it, but this talk isn't getting us dressed and out of here to food," he pointed out. That was an idea we could both get behind, and in a few minutes we were dressed. There was one problem with his suggestion of food.
"You got any money on. . .you?" I was midway through asking that question when he rummaged through the box and pulled out a roll of bills. I wondered what other magic tricks he could perform with that box, but that could wait until after food.
"Just a few odd bills," he teased. He returned the box to its hiding spot and brushed off the loose hay on his clothes. I, too, was covered, even though I'd tried to be careful, and he watched my brushing with interest. "Care for some help?" he offered.
"I have a feeling if you helped me we'd be back to where we were when we woke up," I quipped.
He sighed and shrugged. "Just thought I'd try."
"Uh-huh, nice try but let's get going." I tugged him outside and we headed down a dirt road for a few miles before we hit the highway.
The diner was one of those old-fashioned joints from the fifties, complete with red cushioned bar stools and an eggshell blue sign outside. There was only two cars outside, and since those were both farm trucks we weren't worried about them being from the city. Greg led me inside and to a pair of the stools at the far end. A bell above the door jingled and an old man stepped out from the kitchen with a cleaning rag in one hand and a cup in the other. He smiled at us, and his eyes lit up when he noticed Greg.
"My God, but you're still around!" he softly exclaimed. "I thought you'd left here a long time ago."