She tried to wriggle her wrists from his hold. It was loose, but she didn't want to be set free. The faux containment only made her more eager to satisfy his insatiable desires.

"Someday, sweet," he whispered in the harsh growl that accompanied his frenzied quest for s.e.x, "I will bind you with ribbons and fall on my knees to wors.h.i.+p you."

"I'd like that."

"Bella, my sweet, you own me. Know that." He lifted her by the thighs and fitted her onto him. It was a slow, sure glide as he found a familiar position deep inside her. He pounded into her, with one hand at her hip, the other holding her hands against the wall. His determination was fierce, the fire in his dark eyes intent.

With a growl, he bent his head to suck in one of her nipples. He tugged at it, not biting hard-he never would-but his technique matched the force of his need for climax. He'd already come half a dozen times, as had she. Wrapped in each other's arms, they vacillated between urgency and a sweet, lazy lingering.

The clock struck midnight. So long as he kept making love to her, the werewolf would not show.

By now, sated and achy, Bella could no longer sense when o.r.g.a.s.m neared. Instead it attacked without volition, ripping through her core and forcing out her pleasure in an unabashed cry. She dug her fingernails into his shoulders, which were already raw from her fantastic struggles.

"Yes," he hissed.

She dug in deep, sure she would draw blood, but knowing the wolf could take it.

Swinging his arms, he laid her on the bed and pounced upon her as she floated down from the climax. He was randy and frisky, like a puppy eager to play all day long. The more s.e.x they had, the more alive and vigorous he grew. Bella sensed she would collapse from exhaustion soon. But what a delicious collapse.

Severo reached for the water pitcher Bella had placed near the bed hours earlier and drank right from it. Water glistened down his chest and splattered Bella's stomach.

"It's still cold," she said in surprise. "Share some of that with me, lover."

He dove in to kiss her, his mouth filled with cool water. It trickled out the sides of her mouth, and some she swallowed. Drinking from him, she giggled. He slashed his tongue across hers, performing a dance they both knew well.

Every touch stirred her. Every look devastated her. Every time he withdrew from her, she died a little, only to be resurrected when he entered her.

He nuzzled his bearded chin under her jaw, tickling her roughly. "Getting tired?"

"Not if the werewolf has in mind to make an appearance."

"I think you're close to putting it off," he replied.

"Really? I don't believe that. You're not near being sated. You could do this all week, couldn't you?"

"With you, sweet, I could. Once more?" he said with such enthusiasm, Bella laughed and tugged him down on top of her.

She didn't get to sleep until six in the morning.

Tonight was the night. He'd known Bella two months. He loved her. She loved him. When he'd asked her to have s.e.x with him to keep away the werewolf, she'd gladly done so. Even when he'd known she was exhausted last night, she'd kept at it, stroking him, teasing him to another and yet another o.r.g.a.s.m. The woman was a marvel.

But now the true test of both his and her love would be put to them.

Could Bella love the werewolf?Rather-and more important-could the werewolf accept a human mate?

Dropping his s.h.i.+rt on the flagstone patio, Severo hissed in a breath as Bella embraced him from behind. Kisses down the back of his neck and spine ignited his libido. Not that it needed jump-starting. He'd been frenzied with her in bed this morning. It was as if the werewolf sensed that tonight would be its turn.

All his life he'd had to deny the werewolf's instinctual needs. He'd become accustomed to riding out that ache for what was missing, content to serve his werewolf's needs in other ways, through hunting and racing the moon through the night.

Was it really about to happen tonight?

The idea humbled him. Maybe he asked too much of Bella? She could be agreeing just to please him. Not that Bella did anything simply to please him.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked over his shoulder.

"I want to meet the werewolf." She slid a hand around his waist and stroked him over his pants, toying with the zipper.

"The werewolf will want to do more than meet." His erection pulsed for attention, but he would not have her now. Not yet.

"I know. You've prepared me."

"But are you prepared? I don't wish to harm you, Bella, and I will not. As I've said, I'm not completely myself when I'm the werewolf."

"The werewolf wouldn't harm a potential mate, would it?"

"No, but I can't imagine..."

How the beastly part of him perceived a human woman. It was the most dreadful thought, and yet it focused him and made him more eager to call down the moon.

He knew that some of his breed took humans as mates, and had s.e.x with them. When in werewolf form he was mostly shaped like a man, with arms, legs, torso, rib cage and a p.e.n.i.s-but with a wolfish head and shoulders. And fur, lots of fur. But he'd never spoken to a single werewolf who had had a successful long-term relations.h.i.+p with a human.

They were a lonely breed, forced to find satisfaction with human females, which was never the ultimate mating.

"I'll be fine," she offered from behind him.

Bella's delicate embrace would never fit around the werewolf's torso; he knew that much. G.o.d, he didn't want to scare her away from him forever.

"Maybe we should wait until next month."

"Who's more afraid?"

"I am." He hugged her, pressing her head to the base of his neck. Her skin smelled of cloves, along with wine and the strawberries Heloise had left in the fridge for them. "I admit it, Bella. I'm terrified about the s.h.i.+fting tonight."

"Does it hurt?"

"No." He kissed her hair. "The werewolf instinctively knows it'll be allowed to come up to the house. I can't do this." "You can and you must. I want to know all of you, Severo. Isn't this what you want? Besides, if the wolf could romp around with a cat, then I think I'll survive."

He knew she meant Aby. "That was different." The werewolf hadn't had s.e.x with the cat, nor would it have considered such a vile act. In fact, his werewolf had rarely gone near Aby. "Bella, it burns in my heart to worry about you."

"Then don't." She kissed his chest, gliding her fingers through the fine hairs. When she snuck her fingers under his waistband to toy with him, the swollen head of his erection bulged, desiring release.

The worst part of it all? He wouldn't recall what went on tonight between the werewolf and Bella.

Could he be jealous of himself?

"The sun's almost set," she said. "Are you going to...stick around here?"

"No, I'm off. I'll return. If you get frightened or change your mind, don't hesitate to lock yourself in the house."

He clutched her arms, lifting her to her tiptoes. "Promise me you'll not put up a brave front?"

Her mouth tasted like strawberries. Never would he tire of her kisses. He would die fighting an army of vampires for another of Bella's kisses.

"Promise," she whispered, and he swallowed her sweet strawberry breath. He'd take that part of her into the wilds tonight.

And pray the werewolf did not steal her breath forever.

As the clock struck twelve, Bella sighed. She sat on a wicker chair, dangling her bare feet over the gra.s.s where it met the patio flagstone. Her white silk nightgown did little to protect her from the chill in the air. It was late September, a cool night, instead of the Indian summer she'd wished for. A sweater sounded great, but she hadn't yet brought her winter clothes over from the loft.

She tugged the terry-cloth towel from the chair and wrapped it around her shoulders.

The canine howls in the distance soared across the horizon, as if the animal paced, unsure which way to go. She couldn't know if it was her lover, but her heart sensed that it was.

Was the wolf unsure? Or was Severo so focused on maintaining control that even in wolf form he exerted enough influence to intimidate that part of himself that he referred to as the werewolf? What form was he in right now? Was he the caninelike wolf or the man-wolf creature?

Antic.i.p.ation kept her awake. She wasn't fearful in the least. Okay, maybe a little.

More than a little.

She'd met the wolf. Despite her fear of dogs, she'd handled it remarkably.

But tonight? This was like an introduction to the last part of a man she loved, the one part of him he kept hidden from others. The core of him.

He wanted to share this part with her, to have her know him completely. She understood how difficult it was for Severo to do this.

He couldn't know what his werewolf would do to her.

And how would she react? Would it be as that night when she'd first been chased by vampires? She'd fled out of fear of what she'd seen. And that had merely been fangs. "Be brave," she coached. "He is your lover."

She would look at Severo, no matter how beastly he appeared. He'd explained to her that all the important parts were still like those of a man, though his head and shoulders sort of wolfed out. She'd not watched many werewolf movies to know what to expect. But then, coming to this with an open mind and no expectations was best.

If he wanted her, she would give herself freely, no matter what it entailed. She trusted him that much.

Standing and pressing her feet into the cool gra.s.s, she closed her eyes. The night surrounded her with clean, heady air and a hint of sap from the maple trees. The last lingering hedge roses released a surprisingly sweet aroma. She spread out her arms, and a breeze tickled her beneath the thin silk, sending s.h.i.+vers across her flesh and raising goose b.u.mps.

And then the world changed.

An animal noise pierced the darkness. Not quite a growl. More a throaty murmur.

Bella stepped out a few paces. The house loomed twenty feet to her left, and the hedgerow six feet behind. Lush gra.s.s blades speared her toes.

Eyes closed, she could feel a presence. Not human. Feral, perhaps. Predatory, yet cautious.

Brisk air cut her cheek. She started but knew better than to make a sudden movement.

She heard the sound of a great weight crus.h.i.+ng the gra.s.s, limbs bending, stretching out, sharp and clear. Were they feet or...

paws?

Breath spilled hotly over her shoulder. Bella turned abruptly.

The dark shadow cringed but did not flee. She couldn't immediately make it out in the shadow of the maple tree, but it was big. It breathed heavily, panting like an animal.

It had to be four heads higher than her, and its shoulders, silhouetted against the pale brick house, were wide. It was not a man, though it stood on its hind legs and long, muscular hands hung near its muscled thighs. The chest was wide yet deep.

It was too dark to make out details and the fur was black, so while she knew it wore no clothes, she couldn't see anything below the waist.

A glint of talon caught her eye as the werewolf approached. It bared its teeth and shook its head, which ruffled the thick dark mane from head to neck. Not like a man there. The face of a wolf peered at her.

When she thought a scream imminent, Bella realized it smelled her. It read her as Severo so often did, trying to figure her out.

Drawing back her shoulders, she closed her eyes and allowed the curiosity. She understood its world was navigated by scent.

Severo had said the werewolf had on only a few occasions encountered humans. He sensed his werewolf had feared them and hadn't gotten too close.

But it seemed at ease now, if that was what she could call the sniffing. Perhaps it simply knew it was at the top of this short food chain.

If it smelled her fear, would that excite it as that did her lover? Or make it aggressive and her position perilous?

She trembled as she stood before the werewolf. And yet, her fear did not prevail. Rather, the atmosphere felt...provocative. And, dare she say, safe?Maybe. She dared to believe it.

The werewolf came closer.

Bella exhaled and her heartbeats slowed. Sudden calm lifted her courage.

Curious, she put out her hand, as she had to the smaller version, to allow it to sniff. Which it did.

Thick black fur covered its head, shoulders and chest. Though the rest of the body was dark, almost black, its torso was lighter. It was colored like the fully furred wolf.

"Severo?" she said softly.

The werewolf opened its jaws to expose teeth. Longer than vampires' teeth, and so many more of them, all sharp.

Severo had said nothing about it biting her. Would it bite?

A reedy moan escaped her, and Bella pressed her fingers to her mouth, holding it back.

She could do this. This was her lover. A man who loved her. This werewolf, this creature, if it had wanted to harm her, would have done so by now.

Suddenly it stretched out its ma.s.sive bulk and howled. The night air echoed with the coa.r.s.e, low-range howl. In the distance a few short yips answered. Was it a real wolf fearing the cry of what it knew was something larger and stronger than itself?

And when it lowered its head to look at her, Bella stared into a fierce gaze. His clear brown eyes. Looking into her. Seeing her.

"I love you," she said firmly. "I'm not afraid of you."