He turned to me. "Will you be okay here for a little while?"
His voice had dropped an octave. I heard the beast churning beneath it and understood what he needed. Whatever Bas had to hold back to keep from marking me, it roiled beneath him, needing to break free. I took a step back over the threshold so I stood on the carpeted floor with Bas out on the wooden balcony decking. I nodded in answer.
That day in his office, I wished for the chance to see his wolf. Now, it was about to happen.
"Wait for me," he said. But, as he turned his blue eyes went sky pale and glowed. The bones of his face elongated. His marbled form shifted and rolled. He dropped to his hands and knees, his shoulder blades rose sharply, then settled back and reformed. Skin became fur and Bas's wolf finally sprung free.
I put a hand to my mouth and gasped, not in fear, but in absolute wonderment. Sebastian Lanier was beautiful. His wolf held that beauty, but with a fierce power that took my breath away. His auburn hair gave way to brilliant red as the sunset, with streaks of gold framing his face and at the tip of his tail. He held his ears high, one pointing forward, the other back as he regarded me. I took a step forward, spreading my trembling fingers out toward him. Bas gave a sharp whine and sat back, allowing me to approach.
Slowly, I dropped to my knees, putting myself at eye level with him. I ran my hand along the ridge between his ears and down his back. His fur was downy silk underneath and coarse at the top. He shifted his weight between his front paws. I felt his coiled energy and strength and knew he needed to run. To hunt. I brought him to me, pressing my forehead against his neck and sliding my hand across his chest. His heart beat slow and steady, matching the pulse thundering between my own ears.
Mine. His. Forever.
A chorus of howls rose from beneath us. Bas's pack called to him, perhaps sensing their master's shift. Bas took a step backward and dipped low, rubbing his snout along my cheek. Then, he ran his great pink tongue along my neck and licked me, leaving a slobbering trail in his wake. If wolves could laugh, Bas did. He nodded his great head then took a running jump at the balcony railing.
I reached for him. It had to be a thirty-foot drop. But Bas rose in the air, arcing over the railing with the grace of a creature in flight. He landed softly on the ground below and darted toward the trees, disappearing into them in a streak of red and gold.
Chapter Eleven
It was late morning when Bas finally returned from the hunt. He appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, bathed in sunlight as it streamed through the room. I'd gone back to sleep after he left, my body craving rest as much as food or Bas's again. That's the first thing I learned about sex with a werewolf. Afterward, you feel like you've just run a marathon. It was a good hurt, though. And, the minute his eyes locked with mine, warmth flooded through me and I knew I'd let him take me again if I didn't jump him first.
"Good morning, sleepy head. I'm beginning to think I'm a bad influence on you."
God. He was magnificent. Standing over me in nothing but a pair of black, drawstring sweatpants and bare feet. Even his feet were sexy. Corded veins and long toes with tapered nails.
"You're beginning to think that? I knew the second I laid eyes on you I'd be in trouble."
He leaned across the bed and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "You're perfect. Except you have awful morning breath."
I blushed as I covered my mouth with my hand. I'd brought nothing with me since we'd left my mom's driveway in such a hurry. I gave him a playful swat on the shoulder. "Better than dog breath anyway."
He laughed and pointed across the hall. "Guest bathroom. You'll find everything you need."
"Hmm. What? You keep it stocked for your stream of girlfriends?" I meant it as a joke, but the second it came out of my mouth hot anger bubbled up inside of me. Jealousy unlike anything I'd ever felt. He came to me, circling my waist with his arms and pulling me close. His touch calmed me. God, what was happening to me that he could affect me so?
After he kissed the top of my head, I went into the bathroom and took a cold shower. I needed to clear my head and figure out my next move. It wasn't normal to feel like I did around Bas this soon. I wanted to give in to it, but I didn't trust it. This was how my mother was when she brought home some new guy. Hot and heavy and obsessed with him. Happy when he was with her, despondent when he wasn't. I wasn't that girl. I wouldn't be like her. And yet, this thing with Bas couldn't be further from that. I knew it. I just couldn't explain it.
I rooted through the closet in the bathroom and found a stash of clean Wild Lake Outfitters gear in all shapes and sizes. I threw on a t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants in my size and twisted my freshly washed hair into a top knot before venturing back out into the main room of the lodge.
Bas was in the kitchen making eggs and heavenly smelling bacon. I padded down to join him and took a seat at the granite-topped island bar.
"It's quiet around here. Where's the rest of your, uh, pack?"
Bas smiled as he deftly flipped an egg in an iron skillet, then plated it and slid it across the island in front of me. My stomach growled loud enough for him to hear.
"They're around. We hunted together this morning. I sent them off for a while, though."
"Because of me?"
Bas shrugged and took the seat opposite mine. He rested his chin in his hands and smiled, taking pleasure in watching me eat.
"Yes. They're a lot to take this early in the morning. I figured you could maybe ease into it."
Ease into it. It meant he wanted me back here. I froze mid chew and set down a strip of bacon. It was one thing being with him in the blush of an impending orgasm. He was huge and powerful and filled my senses. But now that he'd given me a chance to catch my breath, I had a thousand questions.
"What happened last night? And this morning? You were going to bite me. Mark me, you said. Why didn't you?"
He smiled and took my hand, pulling it toward his lips. Heat zinged through me when he kissed me, driving out all questions. Bas was like a drug, melting away my inhibitions and reason, leaving nothing in its place but raw need.
"Because I won't mark you until you fully understand what it means. And that you still want it in spite of all that."
My heart started to thunder inside me again. He was right. I didn't know what it was. I only knew that my body wanted it. But, that couldn't be enough. Just when fresh panic started to take hold, he kissed me again, pressing his lips against my palm. My pulse steadied and calm washed over me like a wave of cool water on a hot day.
"How do you do that? You affect me somehow."
He smiled. "I told you why. Because you're mine. I can make you feel what I feel. I feel what you feel. If I mark you, that will burn even stronger. And we'll need each other even more than we do now. That's why you have to be sure."
I pulled my hand away. That aching emptiness filled me the instant his flesh wasn't touching mine. "Would it turn me?"
"No. Not unless you already have were blood in you. Even then, it's extremely rare."
"Good to know. And . . . thank you. I would have let you, you know. Bite me. I wanted you to. God, I can't sit here and lie and tell you I still don't want you to. I do. Badly. But, I don't think it's that simple, is it? There's no going back."
He was calm. Matter-of-fact. But, it felt like the world had crumbled around me and been rebuilt in the span of a few hours. I was his. He said it simply and sure. If it had been anyone else, I might have laughed in his face and stomped out with indignant feminine rage. I couldn't, though. I tried to grapple with the weight and meaning of what he said, but I couldn't deny the truth of it. Something about me belonged with him. I wanted it.
But, it didn't mean I could act on it. Not yet.
"I'd like to meet them," I said, shifting the subject to somewhat safer waters. "Your pack."
Bas smiled as he popped the last piece of bacon in his mouth. "I was hoping you would. They're itching to meet you. They're pissed I didn't invite them for breakfast."
"God, I'm glad you didn't. I'm a mess." I finger combed my hair and looked down at my bare feet. I'd come here last night wearing jeans and high heeled boots. Wearing those now with my borrowed Wild Lake Outfitters yoga pants would seem like the ultimate Walk of Shame fashion statement.
Bas stood and cleared the plates. "They wouldn't have minded. You're beautiful just the way you are. You can stay here, you know. If you don't want to go back to your mother's."