The werewolf did need to roam at least once a month, and he wouldn't deny it.

That meant endangering Bella. Because Severo sensed that should the werewolf be anywhere within a sixty-mile radius of Bella, it would recognize her scent and seek her out-and then attempt to claim her as its mate.

And wouldn't that be grand? Finding a mate for the werewolf was all he could hope for. The culmination to a quest most males never achieved. Females of the breed were rare, and mortal females, well, they were too fragile. And to be approached by a werewolf for s.e.x? Mortal women would run screaming.

Would Bella?

She'd wanted to quickly change the conversation about that. She might not think it, but much as she liked to believe she could accept him in his werewolf form, she never could.

He'd leave her this month. He must if he wanted to keep her.

Parking, because he preferred to walk outside and scent the surroundings, Severo got out and locked the car. Walking along Was.h.i.+ngton Avenue, he perused the bar offerings. A couple of strip joints flashed s.e.xy pink neon. He could only feel pity for the women who danced inside.

Vampires were about this evening, both male and female, indulging in blood and l.u.s.t. Their scent was nasty, like regurgitated blood.

Spying the black limo, he congratulated himself on an easy job. He wondered if Seth was inside the nearest bar, spinning discs.

Probably. Which meant a confrontation was now or never.

An erratic techno beat filtered outside and must have disguised Severo's near-silent approach, because the two thug vamps in dark sungla.s.ses standing outside the limo didn't turn until he was upon them.

The click of a semiautomatic alerted him, and Severo raised his hands in compliance but didn't stand down. "I promise I can break your wrist before you can pull the trigger," he offered slyly.

The thug glanced toward the back pa.s.senger window, blacked out with dark film.

"I want to talk to your mistress." Severo held up his hands in placation. "No funny stuff, promise."

The vamp snarled, revealing a yellow fang.

The back window rolled down and the scent of cheap perfume a.s.saulted Severo's olfactories. "What does he want?" snapped the female.

"To chat," Severo said. He put down his arms and leaned over the window. "Mind if I join you?"

Her pale b.r.e.a.s.t.s, stuffed with silicone and barely concealed by the tight black sheath dress, rose and fell with a huffy sigh. Long black fingernails waved him around to the other side. The door unlocked and Severo gave the other thug a sneer before sliding inside.

Christ, but he wouldn't last long in this boudoir of perfume and vampire reek. Rolling down his window, Severo kept his distance from the vampiress, not because he suspected she'd slash him with those nails, but because he required the fresh air to keep his senses clear.

"Severo," she drawled with a cla.s.sic night-mistress burr. "Long time. Thought I'd seen the last of you after that b.l.o.o.d.y debacle in the seventies."

He'd thought the same, but the woman was far from subtle. He caught wind of her whenever she blew into town, though he had to give her credit for keeping her messes to a minimum and being quick to clean up those that were not.

"Guess why I'm here?" he prompted.

"I saw you groping the mortal female the other night. Since when does one of the most powerful werewolves in the country stoop so low?"

He'd relinquished that "most powerful" t.i.tle years ago to Amandus Masterson, after he'd left the Northern pack. No longer did he get off on conflict and pack politics. Nor could he conceive of indulging in the blood sport the wolves partic.i.p.ated in. He was a lone wolf, and happy for it.

"She's mine, not the boy's-Seth, your plaything. The mortal woman poses no threat to you."

"They have a certain relations.h.i.+p that disturbs me."

"Leave her alone. Or next time I smell vamps around her, I'm coming after you."

She pursed her glossy black lips. "You're such a bully, Severo. s.e.xual frustration tends to do that to a man. Makes him rigid and aggressive." Fanning a black-nailed finger down her cleavage, she cooed, "You sure you don't want to try some luscious vampire flesh?"

He eyed the white b.r.e.a.s.t.s, which seemed to glow in the darkness. "Not if my life depended on it. Your kind is vile, Elvira."

"Don't call me that. It's Evie."

He sighed. "So will you comply? The woman is his friend. That is all."

"Make them stop being friends, and I'll consider it."

What a pouty, insolent vamp. "Just get over it, longtooth. You don't want the hurt I can promise you, so be smart and suffer your new toy his mortal friends. You know he won't last much longer. The thing is so drained, you can read by his flesh."

"I'm turning him."

h.e.l.l. Not good news for Bella or for the guy. "Haven't you enough sycophants?" he asked.

"I like this one. He's humorous. You know our sort can be so dreadfully dreary."

Like the chick next to him, clad in black and looking the queen of the Goths?

"I've said what I have to say. Whether or not you choose to take my words to heart will determine your fate. Nice talking to you, Elvira."

He swung out of the car and gasped in the night air to clear his senses. Striding away, Severo fisted his hands and growled. This was not over. It was just beginning. And much as he savored the fight, he did not favor waging war with one to whom he owed a debt.

Evie leaned over and plucked a long hair from the leather seat. She studied it, sniffed it. "So nasty."

And yet...There could be a use for this remnant from the werewolf.

She curled the hair about a forefinger until the pale flesh grew deep purple. "I will never bow before a dog."

Chapter 10.

S evero had left the mansion last evening. He wouldn't tell her where he intended to stay for two nights. While Bella appreciated that he was only trying to protect her, after only twenty-four hours she missed him desperately.

Was this how it would be if their relations.h.i.+p continued? Him disappearing for three days every month? Certainly she could manage the distance. It was only three days. And what relations.h.i.+p wouldn't grow deeper with that time apart?

But her love for him was so new. Bella felt raw and uneasy as she lay alone in the king-size bed, her fingers gliding across the sheets on his side. Where was he? And in what form?

Tonight the full moon would s.h.i.+ne brightly in the August sky. A harvest moon, which the weatherman had been encouraging everyone to go out and look at.

Bella flipped off the television and padded out to the patio. She slipped off her silk robe and dove into the pool naked. She'd gotten used to Heloise's schedule, and she tried to not strip when she knew she might run into her. The brownie was doing laundry and she usually left in the evening without a goodbye.

The pool was heated, which was a necessity in Minnesota. Floating on her back, she giggled as a falling red maple leaf landed on her belly. She let it lie there. Like a leaf floating in a pond, she was carried around the pool by the gentle current.

This could be the life. Living in a mansion with a housekeeper, gourmet meals and an attentive lover. What lottery had she won?

Okay, so the lover was not completely human. And though Severo had intimated that he'd like to support her, Bella could never allow that to happen. She liked work. It exercised her brain when her dancing was not moving her body.

Miss All About Control needed the independence of supporting herself. But that didn't mean she couldn't work from her own office here at the mansion. She had a choice of plenty of extra rooms.

One of the patio deck lights flickered. Bella's heart did a sudden dive. She treaded water in the center of the pool.

Severo had given her explicit instructions to go inside and lock all the doors after 10:00 p.m. The werewolf knew where home was, and while it rarely ventured close, it might come sniffing about.

He did say that early morning usually found his beastly form reduced to a regular wolf, and if she wanted to look outside on the third day for that, she could.

"My lover, the wolf," she said. Her heartbeat resuming normal pace, she continued floating. "And Seth loves a vampire."

Severo had not said what had gone on between him and Evie, but he did say he'd given her an ultimatum.

Evie. Evil, spelled wrong. Which was what she sounded like. A self-obsessed vampire whom Severo laughingly referred to as Elvira.Bella wondered if Evie truly resembled the tall, beehive-coiffed mistress of the dark. She wasn't sure she'd be able to keep a straight face if she ever met her. How far off Seth's scale was she? He normally went in for flirty, stupid and shallow.

A tap on the patio door alerted her. Heloise gestured. Bella dropped her legs and sank into the water to conceal her nudity. The housekeeper opened the door and made a dismissive gesture, as if she'd seen it all before.

"It's almost ten, mistress," Heloise called. "Best be getting inside."

"Already?" She hadn't thought it was that late when she'd come out here. "Yes, fine. I'll be right in. Are you turning in for the night, Heloise?"

"I go home. I have nice little house, given to me by Severo. Good night, mistress. You stay inside, yes?" She left the patio door open.

"Night." Bella swam over for a towel and slid up onto the ledge of the pool.

The open door taunted her. Come quick, before it's too late.

The housekeeper didn't stick around during the full moon? And she was a faerie. She should be more comfortable with the whole paranormal realm and all its dark shenanigans than any mortal.

Did that mean Bella should be treating this night as more ominous than she had last night?

Skittering across the flagstone tiles, she hastened inside and locked the door behind her, dropping the Charley bar, as Severo had taught her. The sky was dark and there, above the treetops, the fat harvest moon sat low and proud.

A canine howl sounded in the distance.

Bella's heart fluttered.

"I'd better check all the doors and windows."

Doors locked? Check. Windows locked, all fitted with special security bars that locked into a steel cas.e.m.e.nt? Check. If the high security didn't give her the w.i.l.l.i.e.s, then nothing else should.

It was nearing 1:00 a.m., and Bella sat in the middle of the bed, the soft s.h.i.+rt she'd picked up from the floor clutched to her chest.

It was Severo's and it smelled like him, so she'd pulled it on after a quick shower to wash away the chlorine.

And here she sat, as she had last night, staring out the window. Severo's house sat at the bottom of a valley. The countryside rose in the distance. Hundreds of acres of forested land, he'd explained, all belonged to him. The moon had tucked itself out of view, but the sky was luminous against the black tree silhouettes.

An owl hooted. A dog howled. The wind picked up. And now branches sc.r.a.ping the windows kept her alert. Any little noise set her heart to a jackrabbit kick against her chest.

In the horror movies, it wasn't the gross creature or the blood that got to her; it was the antic.i.p.ation of evil.

"He's not evil," she whispered.

Their romance had been fast and more than furious. He'd captured her from day one, literally, and Bella appreciated now that he had not relented his pursuit of her. Never had she been with such a man. Virile, strong, attentive and, yes, commanding.

And much as she'd never wanted to be controlled, she didn't feel controlled by Severo. But an edge of domination existed, which she willingly surrendered to.

Because with Severo's control, she also received safety and a feeling of contentment.

Even sitting here, listening to the night spooks, she had to admit she was safe. The windows were secure, as were the doors.

Surely the wolf wouldn't attempt to break through?

Part of her wanted to see the werewolf, to know her lover in all his forms. Another part thought it fine and dandy that she sat inside and it was outside.

Eyelids flickering, Bella yawned.

A squabble between worm-seeking robins outside the window woke her hours later. She'd made it through the second night, which, as Severo had pointed out, was the most perilous of nights, because during the full moon the werewolf most felt the call to mate.

The werewolf howled a long, lonely cry to the moon.

Bring her to me. Give me what I have wanted for so long.

It sensed something had changed. It had no notion that when it was not stalking the countryside, it could be in any other form than this man/beast shape. It knew only that humans were to be fiercely avoided.

And yet, a new scent clung to its form, the taut muscles that stretched its legs and forearms and twined within its flesh. It smelled human, and like a sweet plant it had once scented so many years ago.

Where did it come from? And how to find the source?

The werewolf wanted to know it, to feel it. To lick it and taste the sweetness that the lingering scent promised.

Yet the strange inner caution that often kept it from wandering onto private mortal land again held it back. Made it cower, for fear of revealing itself to the world.

It would not seek the scent. Not yet.