“Neat place,” she told him a few minutes later as she followed him up the steps and into a quaint blue-sided bungalow that sat on the edge of a lake. She watched Sean move through the living room, turning on lights and shrugging out of his jacket as he went. Andrea soaked in the detail of his décor—the impressive painting of the Grand Canyon over the fireplace, throws with wolf designs draped over a comfortable-looking sofa and chair, a large flat-screen television, and a bookshelf lined not just with books but also DVDs, sports memorabilia and photographs. Her gaze fell on one framed photo sitting just inside the entryway.
She picked it up to study Sean’s sister and her two children. “This place fit a fantasy I had of writing full-time in a cabin by the lake,” he told her. “I was lucky. Got a great deal, and I’ve been fixing it up anytime I can save the money. Come on, the bathroom’s this way.”
“I thought you were just going to let me borrow your antiseptic.” She replaced the picture and turned to face him.
“You have something against using my bathroom? It’s clean. I promise.”
It would be silly to take the first aid kit back to her motel room. Reaching a hand up to her neck, she felt a fresh scab where she’d only felt wetness before. “I don’t suppose you have any aspirin too?”
He directed her to his bathroom and left her alone while he retrieved the painkiller. Andrea looked at herself in the mirror and cringed. Her hair was a mess, she had dirt on her neck and chin, and her sweater was torn and bloodied at her collar. Funny, but she couldn’t remember what caused any of that. She must have hit the ground harder than she thought. With a sigh, she turned on the water and used a rag to wash her face and neck. There were several red scratches hidden beneath the filth.
Great.
She’d turned into a walking disaster since she’d set foot in this town.
She heard a knock and looked in the mirror to find Sean standing behind her in the open entryway, a glass of water in one hand and a bottle of painkillers in the other. “Find everything?” She nodded and turned to take the water and pills from him. “If you were a drinking woman, I’d have offered something stronger than water, but I suppose you shouldn’t mix pills and alcohol anyway.”
She looked at him suspiciously. “How do you know I don’t drink?”
He stepped close to inspect the scratches on her neck with all the seriousness of a doctor. He frowned as he gently tilted her head to the side and traced the injuries with his fingertips. “You told me once you’d made a vow never to touch the stuff after your brother was killed by a drunk driver.”
She blinked in surprise. She had told him about Nick? She so rarely talked about her late brother with anyone. The pain of his loss had dulled, but it was still hard to speak about, even now, almost fifteen years later. She swallowed. “You remember that?”
Sean pulled back and looked her in the eye. “Of course I do. I think you said the accident happened right before you started college, didn’t you? You were close to him, so it had to have been traumatic. I know how hard it was to lose my mom freshman year. It’s tough.” He began applying more ointment to her wounds.
She couldn’t believe he remembered.
Some of her disbelief must have been reflected in her eyes, because Sean stopped his ministrations and met her gaze. His mouth titled up. “What? Did you really think I was so self-absorbed that I never paid attention during our conversations? I remember a lot of things.”
He pulled away just long enough to pick up the tube of antiseptic cream. Andrea leaned back against the sink for support. Discussing Nick. Remembering the accident that had killed him. Knowing that Sean, of all people, understood what the loss meant to her. It was too much for her to deal with. Normally she would have protested when Sean took the cream and applied it, but now…now she was too overwhelmed with confused emotion to do much more than lean back and watch.
Sean’s touch was gentle as he massaged the cream onto her skin, but his voice was angry. “You could have been really hurt tonight.”
She could only swallow in reply, feeling Sean’s touch ignite a wave of warmth and butterflies clear down to her toes. His eyes softened the longer he tended to her. His fingers were kind and gentle and his touch lasted much longer than it should have. “Thanks,” she murmured softly.
He gave a slight nod and continued to inspect the area closely. She felt the caress of his gaze as strongly as if he still touched her.
Their eyes met. He leaned in until his mouth found hers, slow and intentional so she could stop him if she wanted. She didn’t. She’d waited all her life for this one kiss, this punch to the gut, this fulfillment of a yearning deep within. She’d never felt it before with anyone else, and she was scared to death she would never feel it again with anyone but this man. She didn’t understand the feeling. She didn’t love Sean Hunter. She wouldn’t allow herself to.
Lust. That was all this was.
Strong and fierce, the taste of him conquered all of her reservations, and she found herself moving into the kiss, her hands twining around his neck.
“Andi.”
She was greedy, and so was he. His mouth claimed hers with mounting hunger. A part of her couldn’t help but wonder if this was sane. She knew nothing could ever come of it. They lived in different states. They had history. Until a few moments ago, she hadn’t been sure she even liked the man. Andrea pulled away and pressed her face into his shoulder, memorizing his scent. “This can’t be right.” Her lips brushed against his skin. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
“It feels right to me.” His mouth moved along her jaw. “You’re so beautiful, Andi.”
That was the problem, wasn’t it? She hadn’t been beautiful enough for him ten years ago, but now she was?
The thought had the same effect as a bucket of water being dropped on her head. She lifted a hand to push him away.
“Sean.”
“Don’t think. Just feel.
Hell
.” The phone rang. He swore and pulled back. “Wait right here. Don’t move.”
She watched Sean disappear into another room to answer it. She heard him talking to someone and took the opportunity to pull herself together. Satisfied, Andrea took a few steps and found herself outside a bedroom. It was decorated in rich, warm, masculine colors. A pair of sweatpants lay draped across a rumpled dark blue comforter. Would Sean have led her there if the telephone hadn’t interrupted them?
Probably.
When he returned from his phone call, he pulled her to him and brushed another kiss across her lips. “Reed. He wanted to make sure I got home safely.”
“Reed’s a good kid.” She wedged a hand between them to ease him back. Sure, she was attracted to him, but he held too much power over her. He always had. And thinking of Reed reminded Andrea of the kid’s theory of Sean being a werewolf. Well, Sean certainly had plenty of animal magnetism, she’d give him that. It took all of her strength just to push him away. “It’s late. I’d better be going.”
Sean didn’t protest. He looked at her for several seconds as if trying to read her expression, but he didn’t argue. “If that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
Andrea studied Sean as he led her back into his living room where she’d left her jacket. The sound of thunder crackled in the distance.
“Must be a storm coming. You’d better hurry so you don’t get caught in it.”
The light in the room was dim, thanks to a single lamp, but something distracted her. Sean had pushed his shirtsleeve up, and she could swear she saw some kind of circular birthmark on his lower arm. A pentagram?
No, not a pentagram. He turned more toward her. It was only a small tattoo of…a kitten?
Sean saw her looking at it and flexed his muscle to show it off. “Think it suits me? It’s only temporary. My niece put it on me the other night. Stupid thing won’t come off now.”
Andrea berated herself for her reaction.
Please
. Was she honestly looking for signs that Sean could be a werewolf? That one kiss must have turned her brain to mush.
Sean smiled at her quizzically. “What?”
Andrea didn’t want to tell him, she really didn’t, but they’d agreed to be honest with each other. “It’s something Reed said. You’ll think it’s crazy.”
“Tell me.”
She explained Reed’s theory and the signs he had warned her to look for.
Sean’s smile grew wider as he moved closer. “And what? You were checking me out, looking for a mark on my body or something?”
“Maybe I was.” She smiled.
There was another flash of lightning outside the window that illuminated Sean’s handsome face and gave it an almost sinister appearance, she thought, stepping back instinctively. He planted one hand on the wall beside where she stood and leaned closer. She was trapped, cornered between the wall, Sean and the window. He lifted a hand and brushed his fingertips gently across her face. “Well, Sunshine, if you really want to find out if I’m your werewolf, there’s one sure way to do it.”
“Oh yeah?” She swallowed. Hard. Not because she was afraid of him, but because of the way her own body reacted to the nearness of his. Her skin warmed and tingled simply because of his nearness.
“Tonight’s a full moon.” He nodded toward the window. “You can always spend the night and see what happens.”
“Nice try.” She fought a smile. “But I’ve already told you, I don’t believe in werewolves.”
Sean’s lips curved upward, and it almost caused Andrea to amend the statement. That smile had a decidedly wolfish quality to it as he looked intently at her mouth. “Too bad.”
They stood that way for a long moment. Andrea memorized his features. She suddenly felt the weight of the realization that she might never see him again. Was she actually turning down a chance to live out a longtime fantasy with this man?
Sean’s eyes were on her lips. Was he remembering their kiss? That kiss was all she could think about. The heat of his mouth on hers. The taste of him. Where mere seconds before she’d been a little cold, now she was hot, flushed, burning again.
Pure, unadulterated lust thrummed through her veins.
“Sean, I—” She stepped closer. Sean threaded the fingers of his free hand through her long, dark hair, angled her head toward his and touched his lips to hers again. Andrea’s body reacted before any rational thought had a chance to block its responses. She slid her hands up his chest and around his neck. Her fingers nestled in the thick texture of his silky hair. She leaned into this new kiss like a woman starved of affection.
Sean groaned and kissed her deeply. He pressed forward and took her with him, stopping only when he had her pressed flat to the wall. Andrea’s blood hammered through her ears so she couldn’t even hear the distant sound of thunder anymore. She couldn’t breathe either, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t need to breathe. All she needed was him. All she had ever needed was him.
“Andi, maybe you should go,” he managed between kisses. “I don’t—” he moved his mouth to her neck, “—want you to regret anything.”
Andrea was beyond regret. She wanted his mouth on hers, so she tangled her fingers in his hair, brought his head back to hers, until she got it. Sean murmured something and dipped his tongue inside her mouth again.
God, he’s good at that.
She’d been a latecomer to sex. Brandon had been her first and only lover, but not once in the entire course of their whirlwind romance had Andrea felt anything like this immediate, fiery passion threatening to consume her now.
She wanted more of it.
With every new demand of Sean’s mouth, Andrea felt herself pouring out all the longing and hunger she’d carried in her heart. She was leaving tomorrow, but she wanted this memory. She wanted
him
. Her hands slid down his chest and tugged his shirt out of his pants.
She pulled back long enough to breathe. “I changed my mind. I want to stay.”
He nipped at her bottom lip. “Are you sure?”
Was he kidding?
For an answer, she grabbed hold of his shirt and ripped it apart. Buttons flew everywhere. His bare chest was as well defined as she remembered and sprinkled lightly with blond hair. “For once just shut up and enjoy the moment, Hunter. It won’t come again.”
Sean picked her up as if she weighed nothing. Arms of steel anchored her to his chest as he carried her to the bed. With her legs wrapped around his waist she could feel his hardness pressing against her. She melted into him. Oh yes. She definitely might regret this tomorrow, but right now she was perfectly happy to give in to this madness. She fell onto the bed with Sean’s weight covering her.
She’d deal with regret tomorrow.
Or maybe a little sooner.
As soon as Andrea opened her eyes, almost two hours later, she was assailed with emotion.
What have I done?
Sean’s arm was draped across her, and for a moment, she just lay there, enjoying the warmth of his solid embrace. But she couldn’t stay. It was too dangerous.
He
was too dangerous.
Lust, she could handle, but she wasn’t sophisticated enough to keep it from mingling with the other emotions already knocking on her heart and wanting inside. Sean was her past, and that was where he belonged. No matter how great he was in bed.
She had no idea how she managed to slip away without waking him, but she did. The sight of Sean’s bare back tempted her to crawl right back in there with him, but she tore her eyes away before she gave in. Her clothes were scattered everywhere. Seeing her underwear dangling from the bedpost brought color to her face. She groaned in dismay as she snatched it. She considered leaving a note but decided against it. At least the storm had passed, she thought as she escaped to her SUV.
The roads were eerily dark.
That was just about the only thing Andrea noticed as she headed to the motel at four in the morning. It was the
only
thing to notice. Her headlights lit up the empty two-lane road and part of the line of trees surrounding it. Everything was black.
Good Lord, she felt like she was trapped in a scene from
Deliverance
. Damn wilderness. She would be glad to get back to streetlights and 24-hour coffee shops and people traveling the roads at night. Then again, it was probably a good thing she hadn’t seen any other cars on the road.