Jessica Coulter Smith (4 page)

 
Chapter Six

Brianna slowly walked toward Logan.  She eyed the man on the ground, recognizing the tour group leader, Wade, immediately.  She had sensed something was off with him from the very first.  One of these days she'ld have to learn to trust her instincts.

Throwing her arms around his waist, Brianna buried her face against Logan’s chest. “I was so scared.”

Logan stroked her back.  “Why didn’t you leave like I told you to?”

“I couldn’t leave you,” she said, looking up into his eyes.

A smile tugged at his mouth, but he refused to smile when the saucy wench had disobeyed his direct order.  She could've been killed!  The thought sent a chill through his body. He stepped out of her embrace and refocused his attention on the matter at hand.

“Do you recognize him?” Logan asked with a nod toward the dead man lying on the ground.

She nodded. “He was one the men leading the tour through the woods.”

Logan eyed the body. “He won’t be giving any tours anytime soon.”

Walking over to the man, Logan reached down and pulled his blade free from the man’s neck.  Blood dripped down the blade.  Logan the man was disgusted with himself for having to kill someone, but Logan the wolf was gleeful over his victory.

Brianna stepped up behind Logan and wrapped her arms around his waist.  “Are you okay?”

He chuckled.  “You get attacked by a werewolf, and you’re asking me if I’m okay?”

She nodded.  “I saw him bite you.”

Logan winced and looked down at his forearm.  Teeth marks lined the top and underside, but the blood had already dried.  “I heal quickly.”

“That doesn’t make it hurt any less right now,” she reasoned.  “Come on, come home with me.”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want me there?”

Brianna nodded.  “I’m sure.  I don’t know how I feel yet about being a werewolf’s mate, but I know that I’m drawn to you.  Even now, with a dead man barely a foot away from me, I want to feel your arms around me; I want you to tell me everything will be fine.”

Logan reached out and gently caressed her cheek.  “Everything
will
be okay, Brianna.”

She gave him a small smile. “Then prove it to me.  Let’s go back to my place and get you cleaned up.” Looking down at herself, she amended her statement. “Make that, let’s get
us
cleaned up.”

A fire lit within Logan’s eyes and he moved closer, pressing his body against hers. “Are you suggesting we need a shower?”

Brianna looked up at him, her breath catching at what she saw reflected in his eyes. “Yes.”

“Together?” Logan asked.

Brianna relished her memories of Logan’s warm skin sliding against hers, and a blush warmed her cheeks.  “If that’s what you want.”

He grinned and bent his head to hers, gently kissing her lips.  “Start walking to your car.  I need to clean this up.” He nodded toward the body.

Brianna sucked in a shaky breath. For a moment, she'd forgotten about the dead man. “What will you do with him?”

Logan shrugged. “It’s probably better if you don’t know.”

Brianna nodded and started walking back through the woods.  She only hoped she was heading toward her car.  Getting lost in the woods once per night was more than enough for her.

***

After Brianna had left, Logan turned toward the dead body.  Sighing, he knew he had his work cut out for him.  He looked up at the moon.  Shedding his clothes, he shifted into his wolf form and walked a few feet into the shrubs, where he started to dig.

Once the hole was large enough to conceal the dead body, he shifted back to his human form.  Lifting the other werewolf, he dropped the man into the hole and covered him with the loose dirt. Logan pulled some fallen branches over the burial site, hoping it would remain hidden for a while.

With his clothes back on, he surveyed the area one last time, making sure their presence was erased.  It was, so he started walking toward the parking lot.

 
Chapter Seven

An hour later, Brianna slipped her nightgown over her head.  She should've felt clean after taking a shower, but she could still feel the monster werewolf breathing on her, feel his drool on her skin.  She shivered. 

Logan saw the shiver that ran through her body.  He wanted to tell her she'd forget in time, but he wasn’t entirely sure she would.  For that matter, he wasn’t sure what kind of a future they had together.  After being attacked by a werewolf, how could she ever want to spend her life with one?  He had heard of werewolves who found their mates, but were unable to stay with them.  Over the years, they slowly began to lose their minds.  Would that happen to him?

“I’ll be in the living room,” he told her, heading for the bedroom door.

“You aren’t going to stay with me?” Brianna asked in a quiet voice.

“All things considered, I didn’t think you would want a werewolf in your bed."

Brianna lifted her hand, beckoning for him to come closer.

When Logan stood directly in front of her, she leaned her head against his abdomen. “Don’t you know that I wouldn’t have made it out of there tonight if it weren’t for you?  That you saved my life?”

Logan shrugged. “You’re my mate.  It’s not like I was going to let him have you.”

Brianna sat back and lifted her eyes to his. “Is that the only reason you saved me? Because I’m your mate?”

Logan sat on the bed beside her. “I’m not sure.  I know that was the driving force behind my actions, but I’d like to think I'd have tried to save any woman in trouble.”

“You’re a good man, Logan.  You may be a werewolf, but that’s only part of who you are.  I was interested in Logan the man long before I knew there was a Logan the wolf; and I even liked the wolf.”

“So what are you saying?”

Brianna took a breath and slowly let it out. She looked up into Logan’s eyes.  “I guess I’m saying that it doesn’t bother me that you’re a werewolf.  The man in the woods had an evil heart, so it only makes sense that he'ld be evil when he changed into his other form.  But Logan, you have a good heart.  Regardless of what shape you take, you can’t change that; it’s who you are.”

“So you think you could handle being with a werewolf?” he asked, not daring to hope it could be true, that things would work out for them after all.

Brianna leaned against his side and rested her head on his shoulder. “I think I could handle being with
this
werewolf.”

Logan pulled her into his arms, holding her tight, a smile curving his lips.  He lifted Brianna’s chin.  Her blue eyes fixed on his and her lips slightly parted.  With a groan, he lowered his head to hers, capturing her lips in a searing kiss, claiming her as
his
.  The call to claim his mate was strong.  Logan wasn’t sure if he could be near Brianna much longer without laying claim to her.  While he made love to her the other night, it wasn’t the same.  If they were intimate again, he'd have no choice but to mark her, to make sure any other werewolf would know Brianna belonged to him. Pulling back, he caressed her cheek. “You are an amazing woman.”

Brianna blushed. “No, I’m not. I’m just average.”

Logan chuckled. “It takes more than an average woman to face two attackers in such a short time and still be able to hold herself together.”

She shook her head. “It isn’t me that’s holding me together; its being here with you that's doing it, that’s giving me the strength I need to keep putting one foot in front of the other.”

“Brianna…”

She placed her finger over his lips, stopping him from completing his sentence. “Being with you makes me feel like I’m more than I am, like I can be anything or anyone I want.  When I’m with you, I feel your strength as if it were my own.  And when you aren’t with me, I still feel like you’re part of me.”

He shook his head. “All of that is because you’re my mate.”

“Maybe, but either way it means that I belong with you, that you make me a better person, a stronger more capable woman than I already was.”

He grinned. “Honey, you own a bookstore, a fairly successful one as far as I can tell.  You were a capable woman long before I came along.  A werewolf wouldn’t have a weak, simpering mate.  The women chosen for us are strong, courageous, and more than capable of standing on their own two feet.”

Brianna ducked her head, pleasure swirling through her. 

Lifting her chin, his thumb caressed her jaw. “Even if you weren’t my mate I'd have been drawn to you.  Brianna, do you not realize how beautiful you are? Not just on the outside, but on the inside?  There’s an inner light that shines through your eyes and draws people to you.  Each of your regular customers sees that light, it’s why they’re drawn to you and your store.  People can’t be in the same room with you and not feel compelled to be near you, to get to know you better.”

She shook her head, “Logan, I…”

“Hush.  I don’t want to hear another word.  Regardless of what you think, you’re an amazing, accomplished, beautiful, sexy woman.  You should be proud of who you are … I know I am.”

Brianna’s breath caught in her throat at the look in his eyes.  If she didn’t know better, she'd have thought he loved her.  But it was way too soon for something like that. They’d only just met.

Sliding her hand into his hair, she pulled him closer and brushed her lips across his in a quick, soft kiss.  “Thank you.”

“For what?” he asked.

“For seeing all of that when you look at me; for saving my life, twice.  But most of all, for making me feel the way I do.”

“It’s I who should be thanking you,” he replied.

“Why should you be thanking me?”

He smiled. “Because I'd started to think I'd never find my mate.  And then suddenly, there you were.”

“That was just luck.”

He shook his head. “No, it was fate.”

With a smile, Brianna lay down on the bed and held her arms out to Logan. 

He pulled her into his embrace and kissed her softly. Slowly, he lifted her nightgown over her head and dropped it on the floor. He’d told her she was beautiful, but words could not do her justice. He’d never seen her equal and he’d been with plenty of women. But never again. For the rest of his life, this one woman was all that he would need, all that he would want, and the only one he would ever desire.

He caressed her breasts, watching as her nipples puckered. Her skin felt like silk, and he never wanted to stop touching her. Parting her thighs, he looked at her glistening pussy and licked his lips. He lapped at her sweet nectar, his tongue softly stroking her pussy. When she gasped and arched against him, he grinned and licked harder, sucking her clit into his mouth. His hands gripped her hips as he suckled and licked harder and faster until she came, screaming his name.

Smiling, he kissed his way up her body. As his cock entered her hot, wet pussy, he nuzzled her neck. He felt her clawing at his shoulders as his hips rocked against hers, his cock sliding into her harder and faster. As she came apart beneath him, he bit her shoulder as he thrust into her one last time, marking her as his.

Panting for breath, Logan pulled her into his arms and closed his eyes. “I love you, Brianna.”

She placed her hand over his racing heart. “I love you, too.”

Wrapped in each other’s embrace, they dreamt of their future together; dreams that were special because they were dreamt under the light of the full moon.  And as all werewolves know, dreams by moonlight always come true.

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