He paused, looking back at her. Those peculiar eyes of hers watched him, drowsy yet so inviting.

His first thought was to deny her-he didn't trust himself to be close to her, knowing she lay naked

under the covers. Then he admonished himself. He certainly had enough control to lie with her until he was sure she was all right.

"Sure," he agreed, not really sounding as confident as he should.

He crossed to the opposite side of the bed and sat down on the edge. He considered pulling back the covers and joining her underneath, but he knew that was too much temptation. The last thing this tired, ill woman needed was a man with a raging hard-on rubbing up against her.

He stretched out on top of the covers. Elizabeth immediately rolled over to curl against him.

"You're all wet," she complained, shivering.

That was true-and the cold, damp clothes were doing nothing for his growing arousal.

"You'd better take that shirt off, or you'll get sick." Her finger plucked at the b.u.t.ton just above his navel.

Altogether too close to the erection pressing against his jeans.

He sat up and undid the b.u.t.tons, then shrugged out of the shirt, tossing it onto the floor beside the bed.

He started to fall back against the pillows, when she murmured, "Your pants are wet, too."

He chuckled at that. "Even sick, you're a seductress."

She smiled, the curve of her lips far more sleepy and sweet than seductive. "Only with you."

A pang of something like hope zinged through him, mingling with the longing in his body. Was that true?

Was all this something rare and strange for them both?

"So why shouldn't I lie with you, then?" he couldn't help asking.

Silence greeted his question and for a moment he thought she'd dozed off. But finally she murmured, "Because I'm not good enough for you."

Then Elizabeth shifted against him, her fingers splaying over his bare chest, her face nuzzling on the pillow against his. His body reacted, even as he warned it not to. Then she sighed, the soft sound followed by a very distinct snore.

He lay there for a moment, not sure how to react. This woman really had a way of surprising him, fascinating him and leaving him with lots of unanswered questions. And it didn't appear there would be any answer for a little while longer.

He closed his eyes, prepared to wait.

Chapter 10.

Once more, Elizabeth was surprised by the comfort of her bed. Soft, warm, scented like woods, and... male? She opened her eyes to see Jensen's profile illuminated by the lamp on her dresser. Mellow light accented the cut of his jawline, the wonderful shape of his lips, the smudge of his thick, dark lashes against his cheeks.

What was he doing here? She reached out to touch him, as if she couldn't quite believe he was here. Her fingers grazed over his lips, velvet soft, to the hint of rough stubble surrounding their fullness.

She sighed as her fingers strayed down to his chest. The skin there was smooth and velvety, too, but underneath was hard steel. Her fingers continued to stroke him, the desire that she'd been trying to keep at bay for two days roaring to life. G.o.d, she loved touching this man.

Her hands shaped over the curved muscles of his chest, trailing slowly downward over the ripples of his hard stomach. The hair around his bellyb.u.t.ton, and beneath, tickled her fingers, making her insides feel the same teasing tickle.

She rose up, watching her hands against his skin, the way she looked touching him. She loved all the textures of his body. Her gaze flicked to the fly of his jeans. Of course, there were some she hadn't gotten enough chance to explore.

Without pause, her fingers honed in on the b.u.t.ton and the zipper. Although she did stop, just for a second, confused as to why the worn material was a little damp. But she quickly dismissed it, more intent on what lay underneath.

He started as she slipped her hand inside and touched him, the tickle of more hair, the rise and hardening of his arousal.

"Elizabeth?" His voice was low and rough with sleep. She loved that sound.

Her fingers curled around him, moving over the length. He let out a slow, hissing breath and his hips rose into her touch.

"Darling," he managed, his voice raspy, sliding over her, "you are sick."

She felt that hoa.r.s.eness deep inside her, his voice making her womb feel heavy and ready. His use of that husky endearment making her s.e.x moist. She wanted him, had to have him.

She didn't know what he was talking about, though. Sick? She felt great. Now that he was here.

"I'm fine. More than fine."

She crawled out from under the covers, prowling on her hands and knees like the animal she was. For the first time, that idea didn't repulse her. She wasn't thinking about her past, about what she was. She was thinking about what she wanted. Jensen. Her only thought was Jensen-being with him, feeling his skin against hers, feeling him deep inside her, filling her, stretching her. But first, she wanted to taste him. To please him, as he'd pleased her.

She tugged at his jeans, pulling at them until he lifted his hips and helped her work them off. His boxers, which she liked very much, joined the abandoned pants. Then she positioned herself between his legs, running her hands up his inner thighs, more tickling of hair. She smiled at the sensation, loving it.

Reaching the thick thatch of hair surrounding his p.e.n.i.s, she lingered. The dark curls were coa.r.s.e yet oddly soft, too. She explored him, feeling such possession over him, over what she was doing to him. Her mate.

For just a second, the part of her mind that wasn't wolf corrected her. Her man-maybe. Not mate.

Then all thoughts were gone as his thick length pulsed under her fingertips. Mmm. She liked that. She liked feeling all his power.

She leaned over and pressed her lips to the broad underside, deeply breathing his musky, aroused scent. Her tongue flicked out, wanting to taste that arousal. Hot and tangy and more delicious than she could have imagined. She licked him again and again, until his fingers knotted in her hair. She heard his. .h.i.tched breathing. Then she took him fully between her lips, swirling him with her tongue.

"Elizabeth," he breathed, raising his hips as she took him deep. She hummed a response and that elicited a low groan. She smiled and repeated the sound. Jensen repeated his own.

She continued the game until he caught her under the arms and dragged her length up his body. The thrilling friction of skin across skin. Then his mouth caught hers, taking control of their touch. He rolled her, until he had her pinned onto the soft mattress, his hard body heavy and wonderful on hers.

His legs nudged hers apart, his erection hard and hot against the moist folds of her s.e.x. She parted her legs wider, begging him silently to enter her. To bury himself so deep they were one.

He obeyed, angling back to penetrate her with one stroke. Deep, hard, and so, so right. Her aroused body reacted instantly, her v.a.g.i.n.a clenching him, pulsing and vibrating, her release a violent thing that she couldn't contain. She cried out, her voice breaking at the height of her ecstasy. And still he moved inside her, his movements forceful, demanding. Rocking her toward another powerful release. And another until she couldn't tell where one o.r.g.a.s.m ended and another began.

Finally, he joined her, his own release spurting hot and deep inside, his p.e.n.i.s pulsing in response to her body's rhythm.

He collapsed on top of her, his breathing quick, his heart pounding. Matching her own. In the same way her body always perfectly matched his.

After a few moments, he rolled off of her, only to tuck her tightly to his side.

"Elizabeth, I don't understand what you do to me."

She didn't understand, either. She just knew she had to have him. She closed her eyes, her last thought before she drifted off was that she finally felt sane. Calm. At peace.

The next time Elizabeth woke, gray light had appeared outside the windows. And with that pale light came the clarity of what she'd done. Again.

She could feel Jensen beside her, his heat, his strength. She could smell him and taste him on her lips, although she couldn't say how he'd ended up here. But she did remember making love.

Which wasn't supposed to happen. She'd avoided him for this very reason, hard as it had been.

"Did you know you chew on your bottom lip when you are worrying?"

She started, turning her head to see that Jensen rested on his side, his head on his arm, watching her. He smiled, and her heart fluttered almost painfully in her chest.

"No," she managed, still staring at his mouth. How was it that his smile could affect her so? It was just the curve of lips, just like everyone else's. Except nothing like anyone else's.

"Well, you do." He reached over and brushed her hair away from her cheek. His fingers lingered. "You still feel a little warm, but nothing like last night."

She pulled away, not sure what he meant. She couldn't recall.

"I feel fine." How did she explain that her temperature was always a few degrees higher than a human's?

Of course, he was a vet so he knew-say, a dog-had a higher temperature than a person. "Okay," he said easily, although she got the feeling her response didn't please him. "So what are you worrying about?"

You. Me. Everything. The fact that I can't remember how I ended up with you.

But she could hardly say that without encouraging more questions. But she couldn't say nothing, either.

He was too astute for that.

"My research." She should be worried about that, but she hadn't been thinking about it. Even though she'd been trying to concentrate on it for the past two days. With very, very little success. If anything, she was going backward. She tried to focus, to do the work that needed to be done, but mostly she'd obsessed about Jensen-and this strange, uncontrollable need to be with him.

And now that she was, it was as if the fierce, almost crippling ache that she'd fought for the past two days was gone. Not even real any longer. She still felt attracted to Jensen-that never seemed to go away. But that feeling that she had to make love with him or die wasn't there. She felt calmer, her attraction more rational, not driven by something she didn't understand.

Okay, her need for him still wasn't rational, and she didn't understand it. At all. But... well, she felt normal. She felt content. Jensen touched her, his large hand shaping the indentation of her waist. And she totally wanted him to keep touching her, and she wanted to touch him in return, but this washer wanting him-not the wolf.

And oddly, this felt just as dangerous, only in a different way.

"Is that what you'd been doing? Trying to work while you were sick?" he said, stroking his hand up and

down her side. His fingers were long, strong, the skin slightly rough from calluses. She tried not to arch up against the wonderful caress like a cat. But mmm, it did feel so good. "I still think you should go to the doctor," he said. "That was a really high fever and you were obviously hallucinating-to be out there in the nude."

She froze under his touch. She'd been nude? Is that how she approached him this time? Then his words clicked, falling into place in her mind. A high fever. Nude. Dear G.o.d, she'd shifted. She'd shifted with him here. She could have injured him, made him like she was-or worse, killed him. She fought the urge to jump out of bed. To put s.p.a.ce between herself and him. To keep him safe. "I'm fine," she managed to mumble. "Just pushing myself too hard." Of course, she wasn't fine. She started to shift without the full moon. She never did that. And she'd done it with Jensen here! That was not fine.

"With your research?"

She blinked, not immediately understanding his question. Then she nodded. Busy trying to do her research. Busy trying to stay away from him. And failing miserably at both.

"I... I don't really recall a lot of last night," she finally said, needing to know what he saw. How they

ended up here.

"Like I said, you were very ill." Again he stroked the skin of her side, of her hip. And G.o.d help her, she let him, even as she told herself to pull away. "I found you in the barn. You were... "

She studied him, holding her breath. She was what? Hairy? Scary? A wild animal?

"You were in a state."

Well, that was putting it nicely. But she should have realized he didn't see her wolf form, or he wouldn't

be here.

She suspected the reason she'd shifted was because she'd fought so hard to stay away from him. She'd been on the edge, and if he'd startled her-not an easy thing to do to a werewolf-then she must have just acted on instinct. Her wolf instinct.

And she could so easily have attacked him.

She glanced down at their bodies, touching from chest to knee. Suddenly she felt the need to separate herself from him. That just by being near him, she was tainting him.

She started to pull away, but he tightened his arm around her, holding her fast.

"Where are you going?"

"I-I need to use the bathroom."