Feral Magnetism (5 page)

J.C. took a step closer, filling her line of sight with his body. Heat radiated from him, tore through her defenses. She gnawed at her lower lip and tried to avoid his gaze, but she knew she couldn’t deny him anything he asked. Worse yet, she didn’t want to.

His mouth lowered to within a breath of hers. She could swipe his lip with her tongue if she tried. They’d been this close once before, but he hadn’t kissed her then. Would he kiss her now?

Eve decided she didn’t want to wait to find out. She encircled her arms around his neck and pulled him down the remaining fraction of an inch until their mouths melded together, tongues reaching, tasting, flicking over one another. Arousal coiled in her stomach, thrummed in her pussy. Cream coated her panties. A sound echoed around them, emanating from where their lips met. She was moaning. The impact of that knowledge sent another rush of heat down to her pulsing inner muscles.

She broke away just long enough to ask, “Where? Where can we go?”

J.C. glanced over his shoulder to the “Blow Me Away” mechanical shack. They would have to go through a throng of people to get there. It would take minutes. She couldn’t wait that long.

Eve shook her head. “Somewhere else. Somewhere closer.” She hated the pleading note that crept into her tone, but she couldn’t have hidden it from him even if she’d tried. Her entire body hummed with arousal, throbbed with need.

For him. For a werewolf
.

The thought was too astounding to contemplate, and her brain wasn’t willing to think about anything but what was about to happen between them. She saw the answering arousal in his own eyes, the hunger lying in wait just beneath the dark edges of his gaze.

“Follow me.” He took her hand and led her to a nearby circular, spinning, twisting ride. The name on the flickering green neon sign read “The Sucking Vortex of Ecstasy.” She was too distracted to even chuckle.

They ducked out of sight beneath a ledge at the base of the “Vortex” that reached just below Eve’s chin. Shadows obscured them from view. Above, the metal whirl of the ride drowned out the noises from the park. It would also drown out the sounds of her pleasure.

She shuddered with anticipation. “Yes, here. This is good.”

“It’s only going to get better.”

She chuckled, hoping the sound would mask the hint of nervousness that managed to trickle through her arousal. “This arrogance seeping from your every pore… is that a werewolf thing? A guy thing? Or what?”

He knelt and tugged on her hand until she crouched low to the ground. His hand slid up her thigh, under her dress, spreading her legs wide. Cupping her mound in his palm through the cotton of her panties, he grinned a predatory grin that glimmered white even in the obscuring shadows.

God, she loved that grin.

“I’m not going to answer that… not with words, anyway.”

“Oh.” She gasped as his finger smoothed down along the edge of her panties, then slipped beneath to touch the wet heat of her engorged pussy lips. “Oh…”

“You’re so wet.” His voice held a hint of wonder, as if he marveled that he could incite that kind of response in anyone. Or maybe he was simply surprised he could have that kind of effect on a woman.

“You made me that wet.” She bit her lip, wondering if she shouldn’t have said anything. This was sex. Just sex. They shouldn’t even be talking. It wasn’t like she was going to see him again.

He looped his fingers under the elastic and peeled her underwear down over her hips slowly as she rose slightly to help him. Throwing the cotton panties to the ground with one hand, he used the other to spread her labia open. She felt her cream coat his fingers while a new wave of liquid heat trickled down the inside of her thigh.

Oh, God. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this turned on. Was it the man? The beast she knew to be lying just beneath that controlled exterior? Or was it something else?

Perhaps it was nothing more than the sexual energy in the air. Everywhere she’d turned, she’d seen men enjoying each other’s bodies. Hell, even J.C. and Brad had been fucking when she’d first met them. Why was she going to be the only person in Hard Delights to not have an orgasm tonight?

“I bet you taste as sweet as you feel,” J.C. murmured. She could barely hear him over the noise of the machine above.

She didn’t have to answer, but she whimpered in reply anyway. His mouth clamped down on her pussy, the tip of his tongue snaking out to delve into the crevice leading to the opening to her soaked channel. She grabbed hold of his hair with shaking hands, digging her fingernails into his scalp. If she hurt him, he didn’t show it.

His hot tongue speared her opening, sweeping inside her until she gasped, her knees buckling beneath her. He lapped at her with long, thick strokes, as though finally devouring her whole. She felt the beginnings of her orgasm begin to coil in her belly, thrumming and pounding against the inner walls of her pussy.

“Fill me. Please.”

She wasn’t sure if he heard her, but soon he had a finger poised at her entrance, circling her opening with the tip. His tongue moved up to her clit, swirled around the hard nub as his finger speared her cunt. It slid in easily so he added a second, and then a third. The intrusion stretched her gently. She gasped and clenched her inner walls in response. “Yes. Oh, J.C. Yes!”

He caught the plump edge of her pussy lip between his teeth and tugged as his fingers thrust inside her. She groaned. A bead of sweat rolled down her temple and into her cleavage.

Applying more pressure than before, he skimmed the ridge of her clit with the tip of his tongue. Eve’s pussy ached with barely controlled desire as he repeated the motion. She was so close… so desperately, unbearably close.

And then she was over the edge, floating on a scream wrought from her throat against her will. The orgasm started low in her belly and uncoiled through her veins until she was shaking, shuddering from the overwhelming release… in his arms.

She didn’t know when he’d risen, or when he’d wrapped her in his arms, but there she was, her body convulsing from the power of her orgasm and his warm hands rubbing circles down her back. He kissed the top of her head. The gesture wasn’t sexual. It was… comforting.

A flicker of panic rushed through her. Something wet hit her chest. She raised her hand to swipe away the sweat and realized it wasn’t more perspiration. Tears ran unheeded down her cheeks.

Embarrassment flooded her as thoroughly as her orgasm had only moments earlier. She untangled herself from his embrace and stood, hitting her head on the top of the ledge. She gritted her teeth against the pain and smoothed her dress, avoiding his gaze.

She ducked low to avoid the ledge again, intending to head straight for the gate without looking back. The reality of what she’d done was too much to bear. She’d never lost control like that. It wasn’t just unnerving. It was humiliating.

Though she still wore her clothes, she felt vulnerable, naked in every sense.

J.C. grabbed her wrist and she fought the urge to break away. He was going to try to stop her again. They’d had this argument too many times and she was drained, physically and mentally. She had no more arguing inside her.

Not knowing if she could face him, she didn’t turn around.

J.C.’s breath warmed the back of her neck. “Come back next week.”

He released her hand, and Eve didn’t wait to see if he’d say more. She did the only thing she could.

She ran.

Chapter Five

The colored lights of Vernon, Connecticut, glittered outside Eve’s office window like stars in the night sky. They made her think of the moon, auspiciously absent tonight, which in turn made her think of J.C.

She sighed and pushed away a stack of paperwork.
Everything
made her think of J.C.

She rose from her desk and threw a white lab coat over her charcoal pantsuit before leaving her office. The hallway, painted a pale peach color thought to be comforting to visiting research and development donors, was empty at this time of night. Eve should have gone home long ago, but the only things that awaited her in her apartment were a frozen dinner, an empty bed, and another lonely sleepless night.

Glass doors slid open noiselessly at Eve’s approach. A woman wearing a lab coat identical to Eve’s stood in the central laboratory, peering intently into a microscope. She looked young, too young to be a scientist.

She glanced up when Eve entered. “Doctor Benning? Is there something I can do for you?”

Eve waved her away. “No, thank you…”

“Bonnie.”

Eve smiled. “Right. Bonnie. You’re Daniel’s new research assistant, aren’t you?”

A faint crimson blush stained Bonnie’s cheeks as she nodded, making Eve wonder whether she and the head of the Kraus Genetics Foundation were more than lab buddies. She pushed the unwanted mental image away. What Daniel did in his spare time was none of her business. Still, the girl seemed so…
young
. In reality, she must have been at least twenty-one. Daniel had probably picked her from a hundred qualified applicants willing to do anything for an internship at his prestigious genetics research foundation.

“Don’t let me interrupt your work.” She tried to match the girl’s cheery grin. “I just came to check on my latest test subjects.”

“Yes, Doctor Benning. Let me know if there’s anything you need.”

Eve made her way past rows of microscopes each designed to perform a different function and stopped in front of a stainless steel table that ran the length of an entire wall. She picked up a test tube, held it to the harsh neon light and glanced at the white powdery residue coating the inside of the glass.

“Your spores doing okay?”

Eve jumped at the sound of the unexpected masculine voice, almost dropping the test tube. Instinctively, she brought her hand up to her chest, trying to calm her hammering heart before she turned to face her boss.

“I hadn’t heard you come in.”

Daniel shrugged, nonchalantly. “I think you and I need to talk.”

Eve bristled. Placing the tube back among a circular container holding eleven others, she willed herself not to say anything impulsive. Daniel Kraus had never believed in her research. Using fungus spores to predict the spread of common airborne viruses seemed ludicrous to him, and outside the immediate interest of his facility. Unfortunately for him, the United States government, whose health officials hoped she might discover a way to stop, or at least slow the progress of airborne biological warfare, funded her research.

“Why?” she asked at last, turning to face him.

His gaze swept over her from head to toe. “You’ve been working too hard.”

She took a deep breath and met his eyes evenly. In his late thirties, Daniel Kraus had the kind of imposing presence that made interns, both male and female, swoon when he entered a room. Brown hair cropped short over his ears showed only a hint of gray at the temples, while his hazel eyes danced as though he always had some sort of secret to impart to anyone willing to listen. His full lips often twitched in amusement, serving to accentuate that impression.

“We all work hard, Daniel. It’s what you pay us for.”

He pushed his hands into the pockets of his lab coat and bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. “Ah, but that’s not all you do, is it?”

Memories of J.C.’s mouth clamped on her cunt, his fingers thrusting inside her eager channel assaulted Eve from all sides. Sensation coursed through her, tightening her nipples, making liquid heat gush from between her thighs. She pressed her lips together, hoping the sudden wave of arousal didn’t show on her face.

Fat chance of that
.

Eve fought to lighten her tone, pushing away images of J.C.’s flat abs, his broad shoulders, his dark eyes. “I have no idea what you mean, and I don’t think my personal life is an appropriate topic of conversation.”

Daniel grinned, showing perfect white teeth. The smile was predatory, reminding her -- like everything else -- of J.C. “Sure it is. At least, it is at four in the morning.”

Eve glanced at her watch, holding back a groan. When had it gotten so late? She looked over Daniel’s shoulder for Bonnie, but she was nowhere in sight. She must have realized it was way past her bedtime, too.

“Fine. You want me to go home? I’ll go home.”

“Not yet. I want to show you something.” He turned and headed for the door, and Eve saw no option but to follow.

He led her down the hall and ushered her into his office. It was a spacious room with floor-to-ceiling windows that bathed the place in sunlight during the day. At night, they offered a perfect view of the city.

One end of the office housed the usual furniture: a wide mahogany desk, leather chairs and a matching sofa, bookshelves and a widescreen TV Daniel used for teleconferences. The other end had been turned into a private lab. Stainless steel and flawless white marble floors gave that part of the room a sophisticated, scientific appearance. All of it smelled lightly of disinfectant.

He paused in front of a large, state-of-the-art microscope. “Have a look.”

Despite herself, Eve had to admit she was intrigued. Daniel never showed her what he was working on, and she’d learned long ago not to ask. Their scientific methods and approaches were too different, but they worked well together… when they weren’t working on the same project.

She pressed her eyes to the lens. Red shapes came to life before her, swirling in circular patterns. “What is it?”

“That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?” She could hear the pride in his voice, the barely-controlled need to share his breakthrough. She waited for him to continue. “It’s the answer to a legacy.”

Eve swallowed a sigh. That was just like Daniel. Talking in riddles and not saying much. “I don’t understand.”

“What would you say if I told you I found a way to cure your friend of his condition? Permanently.”

She blinked twice, trying to read between the lines and figure out Daniel’s meaning. Her boss loved to play games. The more obscure his scientific references, the happier he was when someone finally figured out why his latest discovery was so important. “You lost me again, Daniel.”

His brows furrowed, forming a crease just above his nose. “I’m talking about J.C. Hill. He’s a sick man, as you well know.”

Eve’s heart pounded against her ribcage. How did he know about J.C.?
What
did he know about J.C.?

“Lycanthropy,” Daniel continued in a calm voice, as though he was talking about the day’s weather, “is a disease, like cancer, AIDS, or multiple sclerosis. And I can cure it.”

Eve gripped the edge of the stainless steel table, feeling the metal bite into her palm. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“On the contrary. I spent the last twenty years perfecting this formula, and it’s finally ready.”

His smug, self-satisfied grin made bile rise to the back of Eve’s throat. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you’re in a perfect position to administer the cure.”

“I am?” She needed to sit down, but there were no chairs in this part of the office, and the leather couch looked so far away. She wasn’t sure her feet would carry her without her knees turning to Jell-O on the way there.

Daniel picked up a black plastic case and handed it to her. She opened it with trembling fingers. A syringe and a vial of clear liquid sat on red velvet lining, like a morbid offering. She snapped the lid closed.

“Inject the alpha with the serum, and its effects will spread through the pack like wildfire.”

Eve gnawed on her lower lip. “How?”

“Genetics. J.C.’s boys’ night out is the perfect opportunity for the formula to do its job. Brad will be cured next, as will anyone the two of them have sex with from there on. It’s fool-proof.”

Thoughts churned through Eve’s brain, flashing by before she could formulate them into coherent sentences. The last week had been a jumble of strange situations and bizarre phenomena. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, yearning for the days of never-ending spore analysis.

“How do you know so much about J.C.?” she asked at last.

Daniel shrugged. “Any good scientist does his research before embarking on a new project, you know that. When J.C.’s father died, I was the one who performed the autopsy. I know more about lycan anatomy than anyone else.”

Doubt nagged at the back of Eve’s mind, but she couldn’t quite grasp its source. Something in Daniel’s explanation didn’t make sense. “Did J.C.’s dead father tell you about his son’s fondness for men?”

He waved away her question as if flicking away an annoying insect. “Don’t be absurd. Knowing their physiology isn’t enough. I needed to know the alpha’s habits, his hobbies, his impulses and obsessions.”

He still hadn’t answered her question, but she didn’t push him. Her head spun. “Why don’t you inject him, then? Why do you need me?”

She had the satisfaction of seeing him frown. It wasn’t something Daniel did often. “Because he trusts you. He’d never let me get that close to him.”

“Will this hurt him? Kill him? What kind of cure are we talking about?”

Daniel’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Nothing like that. He’ll simply no longer be affected by the full moon, or anything else that might cause his shift, for that matter. He’ll remain human for the rest of his days.”

Human
? Well, that would be good, wouldn’t it? She’d seen the aggravation being stuck in mid-shift had caused J.C. Maybe a cure for lycanthropy wasn’t such a bad thing. It would certainly solve a lot of problems for him. And for her.

The notion of a relationship between a human and a werewolf was absurd. But if J.C. was no longer in danger of turning into a creature of the night when they were together… well, things could be different then.

Eve slid the case into the front pocket of her lab coat. “I’ll talk to him. I can’t promise anything else.”

Daniel gripped her arm as she turned to leave. “No. You can’t let him know what the formula does. Werewolves don’t see their condition as a medical anomaly that needs to be cured. For them, it’s simply a way of life.”

Pain flashed behind Eve’s eyes as the migraine that had been lurking dimly in her head all night finally hit with sudden force. She shook off Daniel’s grasp. “I’m not promising anything. To be honest, I wasn’t planning on seeing J.C. again. Ever.”

Liar
. She saw the accusation in Daniel’s dancing hazel eyes, in the upturn of his lips. “You’ll have to do what you think is best for you, of course. Take the day off and think about it.”

Eve nodded and headed for the door. Back in her office, she pulled out the box from her pocket, shed the lab coat, and grabbed her briefcase and keys.

Outside, the sky wasn’t quite black anymore. Dawn would break soon. The digital display of her wristwatch read 5 AM.

It was Friday morning. J.C. would be at Hard Delights tonight.

And so would she.