Midnight Bride. Barbara McCauley

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       Two

      Sarah threw the covers over her head and attempted to burrow herself into the bed. When she felt the mattress dip, she screamed again.

      “Sarah!” Strong, large hands grabbed her shoulders. “What’s the matter?”

      “An animal!” She buried herself as deeply under the blankets as possible. “There’s a wild animal in your bedroom!”

      The hands stilled, then she heard a deep chuckle. “It’s only Wolf.”

      “A wolf!” She huddled closer to Caleb. “Shootit!”

      Caleb tugged at the blankets. “Come out from under there.”

      And be eaten alive? Was he crazy? She hugged the covers tighter.

      Caleb yanked the covers off.

      Sarah squeezed her eyes shut. When the beast barked, she hollered and launched herself at Caleb, which sent them both sprawling on the floor. Caleb landed on his back, with Sarah on top of him.

      “Sarah!” He rolled her underneath him. “For God’s sake, will you stop!”

      At the sound of a deep growl inches away from her ear, Sarah went completely still. Her heart stopped, she couldn’t breathe. And with Caleb’s body on top of hers, she couldn’t move. Slowly she opened her eyes.

      Golden wolf eyes stared back.

      With a whimper, Sarah turned her head. The cold hardwood floor pressed against her cheek. Caleb’s hands circled her wrists and held them firmly to her sides. She felt herself go limp, heard the animal bark again, but it sounded far away this time, as if she were in a metal drum…

       Don’t let her get away, dammit! Kill her if you have to, but don’t let her get away!

       Kill her…kill her…kill her…

      “Sarah.”

      She heard someone calling gently. Sarah? Was that her name? The man, Caleb, had told her it was. He called to her again, and her eyelids fluttered open.

      “Sarah,” he said again, “this is Wolf. He won’t hurt you.”

      She turned her head slowly toward the animal. It cocked its massive black head as it stared down curiously at her. Panic washed through her, and she struggled to free her arms.

      “He won’t hurt you,” Caleb reassured her, holding her tightly. “He thinks we’re playing, and he wants to join in. He’s just a big baby.”

      “Playing?” Sarah croaked out. “Big baby?”

      Caleb grinned down at her. “Sure. He’s hardly more than a pup.”

      “A pup?” Sarah eyed the wolf warily. Its tongue hung sideways from its huge jaw, and its tail wagged furiously. “That’s like saying Moby Dick was a fish.”

      With a bark, the beast lunged at her. Sarah’s scream lodged in her throat as a long, wet tongue washed over her cheek.

      “Wolf!” Caleb said sternly. “Back!”

      Reluctantly the animal backed up and sat on his haunches.

      Though it was only seconds, it seemed like hours until Sarah could breathe again. Concern filled Caleb’s eyes as he looked down at her. “You okay?”

      She nodded slowly, then drew in a calming breath.

      And just as she felt herself relax, Sarah became fully aware of Caleb’s body stretched over her own. Her senses sharpened with razor precision. Every hard muscle of his lower body pressed intimately against her. His legs against hers, his thighs, the bulge of his manhood. A bulge that seemed to suddenly be growing….

      Her eyes widened as she stared up at him. He gazed at her with a dark intensity that made her heart race and her stomach turn inside out. Heat radiated from his skin, burning through fabric and skin…down to her very soul. She caught the scent of coffee and soap, felt the rough texture of his callused hands on her wrists.

       Her husband?

      Was it truly possible she could forget a man like this? A man who turned her brain to mush and set her insides on fire? She searched the rugged lines of his face, the strong set of his jaw, the hard, sensuous mouth.

      Her skin tightened, and a warm, pleasurable flush filled her. The cotton shirt she wore rubbed almost painfully against the hardened nipples of her breasts, and she became exceedingly aware of her nakedness underneath. She wanted him to touch her, to feel his skin on hers, and that realization brought a hot blush to her cheeks.

       Her husband?

      Could it really be? Could a woman such as herself possibly be married to a man like this? Yet that thought unto itself confused her. She hadn’t any idea what kind of woman she was.

      He watched her; she saw the same primitive fierceness in his eyes that she’d seen in the wolf. She thought to use the same command on him that he’d used on the animal, but somehow she doubted that yelling back at the man would have any effect.

      “Caleb,” she whispered, “let me up.”

      He didn’t move.

      A pulse throbbed deep in her throat, and a wild excitement swirled low in her belly. She looked at Caleb, felt the current of tension course from his body into hers. An image flashed through her mind; sensations and sounds, but no definition. The feel of his hands on her wet, bare skin…water…a warm fire.

      She wasn’t ready for this—this intimacy. He was a stranger to her. A face with no memories, only feelings. Feelings that frightened her.

      “Please,” СКАЧАТЬ