Feral Magnetism (3 page)

Despite herself, Eve wiggled her hips, just a little. He rewarded her with a sharp intake of breath in her ear. “You’re not going anywhere until you and I have a little chat.”

She turned slightly, bumping his nose in the process. Or at least, what she hoped was his nose. It could very well have been his muzzle, or whatever other strange appendage he might have sprouted since she’d passed out.

Fear snaked through Eve. Was he dangerous? What did these two men -- if that was even the right word -- plan to do with her? Having been around Angelina since fifth grade, fairies and other magical creatures weren’t foreign to her. She knew the world was full of paranormal beings, friendly and otherwise. Sitting on the wolf-man’s lap, though, brought home a reality she’d never thought she’d come face to face -- or ass to cock -- with.

“I’d do what he says if I were you,” Brad suggested from his spot. She was grateful he was far enough away. She didn’t think she could remain sane while two hard male bodies sandwiched her between them.

Eve tried to keep her voice even. “And why’s that?”

“Because normally, J.C. Hill isn’t the kind of guy you want to mess with.”

J.C.

She found she liked the way that sounded. It fit him, somehow. Direct and succinct, with a touch of mystery. “Normally?” she echoed.

“Yeah. On a normal day, J.C. is a force to be reckoned with. This entire month has been anything but normal. So right now, he’s either your worst nightmare, or your darkest fantasy.”

J.C.’s cock twitched against her ass and he growled, low and menacing in her ear. She couldn’t tell if the warning was meant for Brad, or for her.

Eve swallowed hard. “Is there a difference?”

Chapter Three

The inside of J.C.’s head pounded like the roaring firework explosions that had shimmered and faded only minutes before. He struggled to think logically about the situation, but the shift had done more to his ability to reason than he’d realized.

He was too aware of Eve sitting on his lap, her feminine scent enveloping him, her curvy ass pressing against his shaft. Her effect on his self-control was disturbing, to say the least. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt more than a slight stir of interest in the presence of any female, and this woman -- this
human
woman -- had managed to get him hard as a rock in two seconds flat by doing nothing more enticing than… speaking.

“What exactly did you see when you walked in here?” J.C. asked. He might as well get right to the point. There was no reason to prolong the inevitable. If she’d seen him shift, he had some serious damage control to do.

“I saw two grown men having sex. I figure what you do behind closed doors is none of my business.”

The matter-of-fact tone she used made him laugh out loud before he could catch himself. The sound echoed strangely even to his own ears. He saw Brad’s body jerk forward in surprise at the unfamiliar noise. J.C. coughed to cover up his mirth, but it was too late.

“What’s so funny?” She sounded affronted, like he’d just insulted her.

“You actually mean to tell me you don’t see the irony in what you just said? The door was closed, lady. Therefore, whatever was going on behind it was, in fact, none of your business. Yet you barged in anyway.”

She cleared her throat and shifted in his lap, sending another jolt of awareness to his groin. J.C. gritted his teeth.

“Yeah, well, it was an emergency.”

“It was?”

“My friend has disappeared. I thought she might be in danger.”

“And what exactly led you to think she was in here?”

“I heard screams.”

“You haven’t had much sex, have you?”

Her body tensed in his arms. “I don’t see what my sex life has to do with anything.”

“I was just thinking that if you’d had sex… say, more than once or twice, you’d realize that the sound of a man groaning with pleasure and a terrified scream are quite different from one another.”

She squirmed against him, struggling to rise. He tightened his grip and pulled her closer, feeling her soft, curvy body mold against his own. It was all he could do to keep from demonstrating one of those manly groans he’d just described.

“Yeah, well, you weren’t exactly being… discreet.”

“Lady, did you read the sign on the gate when you walked in here? This is a gay amusement park. What do you think men do after the fireworks go out?”

“Eve.”

“What?”

“My name,” she said. “It’s Eve, not ‘lady,’ ‘babe,’ or even ‘Little Red Riding Hood.’ Eve.”

Eve
. J.C.’s first instinct was to tell her it was beautiful, just like her. Only the knowledge that Brad sat a few feet away, silent and watchful, kept him from making a fool of himself. He clamped his mouth firmly shut. He wasn’t the kind of man who uttered cheesy lines in vain attempts to get a woman into bed, no matter how hot she might look in a little red dress.

“Tell me, Eve, why aren’t you afraid of me?” By all accounts, she should have run away in fear the moment she realized what he was. Humans had no concept of the otherworldly. They didn’t go around offering themselves as vampire snacks or werewolf companions. So then why was this one still sitting in his lap as though she interacted with werewolves trapped in mid-shift every day of the week?

She turned toward him fully, swinging her leg over his thigh and straddling him. She wrapped her arms around him, her breasts pressing into his chest, her pointy nipples brushing his bare skin through the thin material of her dress.

“I know you think I should be.” The sound of her throaty voice went straight to his cock. “But I don’t believe you’re quite as scary as you’d like people to think.”

Until today, he hadn’t particularly cared whether anyone thought of him as scary. Humans didn’t even know werewolves existed. He’d wanted his pack to think of him as authoritative, sure. Powerful, definitely. Assertive, commanding, and maybe even a bit domineering, absolutely. But scary? What would that have accomplished for the Zanteans?

A few werewolves who’d recently abandoned the pack for greener pastures could benefit from seeing him as frightening and perhaps even dangerous, but he had more pressing concerns than a few runaways.

Yet she was right, he realized with a sigh. He wanted her to see him as something more than what he was -- a reluctant leader who couldn’t even keep his people together. At least for tonight, he wanted to be a creature straight out of myth, a powerful being who could toss her over his shoulder and carry her back to his den where he’d fuck her until her voice was hoarse from screaming his name.

“You’re wrong,” he said, fighting to keep his voice even. “You don’t know anything about me.” He trailed the back of his fingers up her spine, careful not to graze her with his claws, then dipped underneath one silky strap and molded his large palm around her neck. “I could snap your vertebrae with nothing more than a flick of my wrist.”

“And why would you do that?” She sounded so innocent, so naïve. Her nonchalance had to be a game. She was playing with him, that much was clear. The question was, why?

“Fun. Sport. Entertainment. Why else do predators terrify their prey?”

“Turn on the light.”

Her words startled him almost as much as the feel of her hand on his cock. He hadn’t even realized she’d moved it there until she shifted back slightly to give herself enough room to touch his throbbing dick. His shaft twitched against her palm.

It was his turn to play dumb, but it took all his self-control to keep his voice steady. “And why would I do that?”

“Because I want to see you. If you’re really as scary as you led me to believe, I’ll just pass out again and you’ll have nothing to worry about.”

“And when you wake up? Then what? You’ll run straight to the
National Enquirer
and spill the beans about the Connecticut wolf-man?”

Her silvery laugh sent a warm shiver down his spine. “Right. Who’d believe me?”

“Tabloids aren’t about truth, just about sensationalism. And you have to admit, you’ve a hell of a story to tell.”

“So what’s your plan? You’re going to keep me here until I forget what I saw?” She trailed her hand lower to cup his exposed balls. This time he couldn’t fight the groan that broke free from his throat. “Or what I feel?”

“It sounded like a good plan when I wasn’t sure if you’d seen anything at all.”

“Right… because all women faint at the sight of your cock.”

Brad chuckled, reminding J.C. of his presence. Between the shifting darkness and Eve’s enticing scent, body and voice, he’d forgotten his old friend was still in the room.

Could he do it? Could he turn on the light and let her see him in mid-shift? She’d never accept him the way he was. She’d likely faint again, just as she said, or at least scream, terrified.

He sighed. What did he have to lose? She’d already witnessed his change, and she was too strong-willed to pretend she hadn’t seen anything at all.

“Fine. I’ll turn on the light. But at the first sight of female hysterics or the slightest hint of panic, I’m knocking you out myself.”

* * *

Eve sat on the floor, listening to J.C.’s footsteps as he walked through the shed. Her heart thundered, drumming an insistent rhythm in her ears. She had a mental picture of J.C.’s lean body, the hard planes of his chest, his powerful thighs, burned in her mind, but she fisted her hands at her sides, digging her fingernails into her skin.

What if he looked nothing like she remembered? What if he was so hideous, so monstrous, she’d pass out again from one look?

Eve gritted her teeth, daring herself not to scream no matter what terrible vision the light unveiled. In the dark, J.C. had been sexy, witty, and… gentle with her. She wanted to think of him that way for the rest of her life, but she also needed to see the truth for herself. There were many myths passed down through the ages about werewolves, and none depicted them as kind or loving.

Could J.C. be the kind of legendary monster that snatched children from their beds simply to delight in a midnight snack? Did he chase women for nothing more than the entertainment their screams provided? Deflower virgins and bathe in their blood?

Eve shook her head at her own foolishness, willing her pounding heartbeat to return to normal. She was just about to ask what was taking so long when light flooded the room, making her squint against the unexpected brightness.

“Enjoy this, babe. It’s likely the only look at a real werewolf you’re ever going to get.”

Eve’s breath caught in her throat as her sight returned. J.C. stood before her, completely naked, his hands on his hips. Unmoving, he looked like something out of an adult fairy tale. Not a shred of clothes marred the lean perfection of his body. Eve blinked a few times to clear the last of the cobwebs from her vision, then allowed her gaze to travel up J.C.’s hard length.

His feet were mostly human but for the fur covering the tanned skin of his toes. His muscular, well-shaped legs sported more fur, though not as much as she’d expected. Strong thighs gave way to a nest of dark hair at their apex, from which sprung the most magnificent cock Eve had ever seen. She gritted her teeth to keep from gasping, unwilling to give him the satisfaction.

Thick and impossibly long, J.C.’s cock looked even better than it had felt in her hand only minutes before. Veins snaked up the length of the imposing shaft, leading up to the large mushroom head. He was fully aroused, rock hard and straining. His dick twitched slightly at her inspection and she glanced up to see his jaw clenched tight.

A smile played over Eve’s lips. Obviously, he wasn’t immune to her, either. The thought should have been unsettling and absolutely unwelcome, but it had the opposite effect. Her pussy tightened in response and cream flooded her core. She could almost feel his cock entering her, his length stretching her needy cunt to capacity.

J.C. growled. “Well?”

The sound startled Eve out of her sexy reverie and she stared at his face, so unlike a human’s. His nose and mouth had lengthened, turning his jaw into a wolf’s muzzle. He kept his jaws tightly clenched so she couldn’t see his teeth or his tongue, but she imagined they were as ferocious as any beast’s. His dark, wavy hair formed an unruly mess around his features and his face sported thick stubble. Only his eyes, brilliant blue and flaming with intense awareness, reminded her that he still expected an answer.

She shrugged nonchalantly. “That’s it?”

J.C.’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. He dropped his hands from his hips and tried to flex them into fists, but his elongated claws wouldn’t allow it. “What do you mean, ‘that’s it’?”

Eve leaned back against the wall and stretched her legs out in front of her. “After all your talk, I’d expected you to look more… monstrous.”

Brad chuckled. “She’s got you there.”

“Hey!” J.C.’s voice sounded like a low growl. “You’re the one who fainted, remember?”

“I haven’t eaten lunch today,” Eve lied. “I have low blood sugar. It must have caught up with me.”

J.C.’s mouth opened as though he meant to say more, but he clamped it shut again. Eve had a brief glimpse of long incisors and a pink tongue. She shuddered at the thought of what that tongue could do to her already heated pussy.

Outside, a man laughed as he walked in front of the window. A shadow fell on the wooden floor, then disappeared. Moonlight snaked inside in its wake. A perfect silver beam played over the dark fur sprinkling J.C.’s chest and as Eve watched, he began to change.

His claws retracted, his muzzle receding to reveal full lips and a prominent nose. The hair that had covered so much of his body disappeared, leaving a light dusting of curls in its wake. Eve groaned.

J.C. the werewolf had been magnificent.

J.C. the human was breathtaking, drop-dead gorgeous, and sexy as hell.

Her gaze slid lower and she breathed a long sigh of relief. His cock hadn’t changed. It remained just as long and thick as it had before he’d turned back to his human shape, and just as stiff.

She fought the urge to tear off her sundress and leap into his arms. Instead, she rose unsteadily to her feet. “Look, this has all been very… educational, but I really should be going.”

“Oh, I see.” J.C. reached for a pair of jeans lying on the floor in a corner of the room. “You barge in here, see me as I really am, and you expect to just walk out afterward. Do I have this right?”

A hint of panic rose like bile in Eve’s throat. “Sure. Why not?”

“We’ve been over this. Humans don’t simply get to realize werewolves exist one day and have their eyes opened to all the secrets of the otherworldly. It doesn’t work that way.”

“What do you propose, then?”

J.C. zipped his jeans. They were torn in a number of spots along the thighs and at the waist, as though sharp claws had shredded them. She didn’t even want to know what would have prompted J.C. to try to dress in a hurry while he was still in werewolf form.

“I don’t know,” he said at last. “But I’m not ready to just let you walk away.”

Eve released a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “I have to find my friend. Angelina came in here to sabotage the fireworks display, but I haven’t heard from her in hours, and I’m worried.”

Brad pulled on his jeans. “Angelina Moore? Griffin’s ex-lover?”

Hope fluttered in Eve’s chest. “Yes. Have you seen her?”

“Not tonight, no, but I know Griff thought she’d show up here. He was right, then? She came for the fireworks?”

“Yes.” Eve swallowed hard. “He stole her formula, the only thing she ever had that was uniquely hers. The only thing she could be proud of. But Griff knew she planned to come here, didn’t he? Angelina’s scheme wasn’t a surprise at all.”

“He knew she couldn’t pass up an opportunity to get back at him, yeah. That’s why he advertised the fireworks display in every major newspaper and magazine in the entire state.”