Awakened By The Wolf. Kristal Hollis

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СКАЧАТЬ screwed her eyes shut, because she had to pry them open to see.

      The wolf now paced behind her. Ears flat against his head, he snapped at the woods. A strip of fur bristled along his spine, and the fluff of his tail stretched behind him, arrow-straight.

      With his attention diverted, Cassie scooted backward to get away from the wolf. Her heart pounded so hard and loud that she feared the drum would draw the wolf’s attention from the rustle in the woods.

      The wolf hunched forward, ready to pounce at whatever emerged from the forest.

      It was now or never. As she labored to stand, an ear-shattering squeal sliced through the night.

      She jerked toward the commotion. A huge blur barreled past the snarling wolf and skidded to a halt at her feet. Hot breath steamed her bare legs.

      Cassie didn’t move.

      Neither did the angry sow.

      The wolf, however, plopped on his haunches, and the tips of his fur shimmered with silvery light.

      Poof!

      Just that quick, the wolf vanished. Hunched in his place appeared a fully-grown naked man.

      Not just any naked man.

      The naked man whose balls she’d coldcocked.

      This isn’t happening.

      Obviously she’d whacked her head and was suffering from a massive delusion. That was good news, right? Delusions couldn’t hurt her. They weren’t real. Just figments of her imagination.

      Well, um, her naked delusion stood. Displaying all his glory.

      Cassie squinched her eyelids shut. He isn’t real. He isn’t real. He isn’t real.

      Satisfied her temporary insanity had passed, she drew in a calming breath and opened her eyes.

      The naked delusion limped toward her.

      Whether he was real no longer mattered. Cassie sprang to her feet. The startled sow danced around her legs. The lack of traction on the soft, damp earth caused Cassie to lose her balance. She landed on her hands and knees, face to snout with the hog.

      Cassie sucked in deep, measured breaths to slow her erratic pulse. Unfortunately, her heart and lungs were running a marathon. She swayed from a wave of lightheadedness.

      “Leave her alone, Cybil.” The soft, tantalizing command of the wolfman’s Southern baritone hummed through Cassie’s body with the hypnotic power of the Pied Piper. That fairy tale hadn’t ended so well. Cassie didn’t want to share a similar fate.

      The hog pivoted toward the wolfman. A twitch of her curly tail, a determined squeal, and she charged with the gusto of a matador’s bull.

      Wolfy wasn’t as quick on two legs as he had been on four furry ones. He thudded to the ground.

      “Dammit, Cybil. How long are you going to hold a grudge?” Shoving the sow aside, he lumbered to his feet. Undeterred, she circled around and plowed into him again.

      Transfixed, Cassie watched them tussle. Crazy as it seemed, she found herself rooting for the wolfman, who was trying not to hurt the disgruntled pig. Cybil wasn’t as careful.

      In the scuffle, she stomped his leg. A silent scream of pain twisted the wolfman’s face. Cassie’s chest tightened in sympathy, though she couldn’t fathom why.

      Cybil backed away, allowing him to sit up and rub his calf. After a few long-drawn breaths, he opened his palm. The sow shuffled close enough for him to scratch beneath her chin. Then he murmured in her ear.

      Cassie wasn’t one to ascribe human attributes to animals, but the hog’s expression appeared contrite. Cybil snorted, flicked her tail and trotted back into the woods.

      A werewolf pig-whisperer. Imagine that.

      Cassie rubbed her temples. She didn’t want to imagine anything of the sort. She wanted her sanity to return.

      The wolfman peered at her with the same stark expression the wolf had given her. He—whatever he was—crawled toward her, his movements smooth, stealthy. Deadly.

      Cassie jumped up and ran. For all of ten feet before she was falling.

      Oh, no. Not again!

      The wolfman cradled her as they hit the ground.

      “Damn, you’re fast.” Rolling Cassie onto her stomach, he immobilized her with the full length of his hot, hard body.

      “Get off me.” The more she squirmed, the more a wicked heat licked her skin. Fear was supposed to be cold and clammy, so what the heck had ignited those fiery flashes?

      “Easy there, Sunshine.” His deep, rich voice dripped like sickly sweet sorghum.

      Suddenly Cassie remembered a spilled bottle of syrup. Tasted the sticky sweetness on her fingers. Smelled the gingerbread cookies baking in the oven. Heard her mother’s tinkling laughter in the sunny kitchen of the run-down apartment where they had lived when Cassie was seven.

      Is this what it means to have your life flash before your eyes when you’re about to die?

      “Are you listening?” The wolfman’s insistent growl dispelled the memory. “I don’t want a repeat of what happened on the porch.”

      Cassie’s survival skills abandoned her. She tried to buck him off, but her body was too busy mooning over his mesmerizing accent to respond.

      “I’ll release you on two conditions. First, don’t run. The woods are too dangerous for you. Second, keep your knees away from my groin. They’re too dangerous for me. Agreed?”

      Considering her position, did she have a choice?

      Though she couldn’t bring herself to verbalize consent, Cassie nodded. His weight lifted, yet the heat from the intimate contact remained. She sat up, rubbing her arms.

      He squatted just beyond her reach, yet close enough to catch her before she could make it to her feet if she tried to run. Twice he’d caught her and not harmed her. Three times might break her luck.

      Moonbeams filtered through the trees, giving just enough soft light to make out the concern etched in his features.

      “Are you hurt?” His polished tone contradicted his appearance. Bits of leaves and pine needles stuck out of the waves of his thick black hair. A scruff of dark whiskers framed his determined jaw. Dirt smudges accented the sharp angle of his cheeks. A smear of blood crusted beneath his nose.

      “No.” Cassie struggled to remain calm, rational. “Well, maybe.”

      Nothing ached, yet something unbalanced her mind. Had she imagined the wolf or the transformation? Because the man invading her personal space was no delusion.

      The hard, sleek build of his scarred, muscled body pulsated with a raw, masculine strength and a primal vitality that made her shudder despite the heat flashing through her body.

      “Either СКАЧАТЬ