‘I don’t know what to tell you. I went to bed last night as normal. When I woke up, I was naked in the woods and you were there. That’s literally all I can tell you.’
‘No strange dreams? Anything weird happen to you lately?’
‘I don’t normally remember my dreams.’ He paused, and a thoughtful expression crossed his face. ‘Actually, I vaguely remember something about dogs.’
‘Dogs?’ Now we were getting somewhere.
‘Yeah. I guess it’s my subconscious playing tricks on me, something to do with when I got bit.’
Jackpot.
‘Bit? By a dog?’
‘Yeah. A couple of weeks ago I was on my way home from a night out with the lads and this huge dog started chasing me. I tripped over something and bumped my head. The next thing I knew I was in A&E being patched up and given a tetanus shot. Weird thing is, though, it’s gone.’
I knew, but I asked anyway, ‘What’s gone?’
‘The bite. The beast was massive and it could have really messed me up, killed me even. But it only bit me once, then left me alone. And now the mark has gone. It’s like it never happened.’
‘So you were bit by a dog and the mark has now disappeared. You dream about dogs, then wake up in the buff in the woods.’
‘I know it sounds mental, but that’s how it happened.’
‘It’s not as mental as you think. You see, I have a theory.’
‘You do?!’
‘Yes. Can I show you something?’
I figured it would be easier to make him believe me if I presented him with evidence. If I just told him straight out, he’d think I was crazy. He might anyway, but I had to take the chance. Claude needed to know the truth.
Once in the basement, Claude had a little trouble controlling his emotions. I’ll give him his due, he’d remained calm and quiet when we went through the pin-coded door beneath my stairs and headed to this hidden basement. But what he saw now was obviously a step too far. He looked stunned.
I couldn’t blame him. The place resembled some kind of kinky dungeon. There were heavy duty chains hanging from the walls, the ends threaded through the bars of equally hardcore cages. Handcuffing people whilst they were inside cages? I was surprised he hadn’t bolted.
He was obviously brighter than I’d given him credit for, though. Walking up to one of the cages, he peered through the bars, studying what was inside.
‘These are no ordinary handcuffs.’ Claude said, resting his head against the bars. By now, he must have clocked the scratch marks covering the floor and bars of the cage.
‘No.’
‘I think I know what’s going on here.’ He turned, his back against the cold metal of the cage, and slid to the floor. I rushed towards him and knelt down in front of him. I said nothing, just rested a hand on his knee.
‘Am I ... a werewolf?’
He looked at me then, and I thought my heart would break. Claude’s face was awash with feelings. Hurt, confusion, worry. I couldn’t think of anything to say to make him feel better, so I did the only thing I could think of to do – I moved next to him, slid an arm round his shoulders and pulled him to me. He didn’t resist; he snuggled into me like we’d done it a million times before.
He didn’t cry, rage or scream. He simply lay in my arms silently, his mind no doubt buzzing with thoughts. I don’t know how long we sat there, but eventually he sat up and looked at me.
‘How long?’ He didn’t need to finish the question.
‘Fifty years.’
‘Fifty – but you’re ...’
I put my fingertips to his lips to shush him.
‘Claude, there’s so much you need to know. Don’t worry, I will tell you everything. We’ll get through this, together.’
‘But, why are you helping me? What’s in it for you?’
‘I’m helping you because there’s no one else. There was nobody to help me. I had to figure it out on my own, and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. And as for what’s in it for me, well, that’s up to you.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s a lonely existence when nobody else knows what you are. You can try to carry on as you did before but soon enough people will notice your disappearing acts and start asking questions. Can you imagine having to tell the people you care about that you’re a werewolf? They’d be on the phone to the men in white coats, first chance they got.’
‘I guess so. So what are you saying? I shouldn’t go back home?’
‘Only you can decide that. I don’t want to influence you either way. Just know that’s there a home for you here if you want it. I’d be glad of the company.’
He didn’t say anything then, he just looked me in the eyes. I hadn’t said much, but Claude had obviously read between the lines and seen how desperately lonely I was.
I looked down. The eye contact was making me feel like he was exposing all my innermost secrets. He reached out a hand and put it beneath my chin, raising my head and forcing me to look at him again.
He opened his mouth as if to speak, but said nothing. Then he leaned toward me and gave me the most toe-curlingly blissful kiss I’d ever experienced. I was startled at first and didn’t respond. But when I felt him start to pull back, I didn’t want him to. I slipped a hand behind his neck to stop him escaping and pressed my lips to his more forcefully.
I had no idea what the kiss was about – whether it was passion, comfort or what. And at that point, I didn’t much care. I slipped my tongue into Claude’s mouth and slid it against his. I felt my body start to respond to what was happening; my nipples hardened and I felt a pleasant warmth between my legs.
The heat was obviously starting to get to Claude too, as he pulled away, breathing hard.
‘I’m sorry, Rayne. I never should have ...’
‘No, you’ve nothing to be sorry for. We’re both adults here. But there’s one thing you need to know before anything else happens.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Sex will be ... different, from now on.’
‘Different, how?’
‘Well, once things start getting hot and heavy, you’ll feel different to how you used to. Sure, you’ll be horny and your body will do all the normal things. But you’ll also feel something else, something inside. Your wolf will awaken.’
‘What! Getting horny will turn me into a werewolf?’
‘Let me finish,’ I said, giving him a stern look. ‘Your body won’t change, but your wolf, which is normally dormant, will awaken. His consciousness will merge with yours and he’ll also crave what you’re aiming toward; climax. Just be aware that he’ll have an influence and make you more, well, animal.’
‘Um, OK. Does it work that way for you, too?’
‘Yes. So just be ... aware.’
Claude seemed lost in thought, probably processing all I’d told him. But I hadn’t had sex in quite some time, so my woman and my wolf were ready. Oooh so ready. I took his hand and slipped it around my waist. We kissed again, and this time there was no going back.
Soon, things went from hot and heavy to molten lava. Claude had me pressed up against the bars of the cage, kissing me hard. He pulled back, only to tug my T-shirt and bra off. Then he was back, his tongue invading my mouth once more, before trailing his lips down my face and neck and heading for my breasts.
My nipples were already as hard as pebbles, so when his hot mouth enclosed one of them, I gasped at the sensation. A jolt of arousal zipped to my pussy and I could feel my juices pooling in my panties. Claude worked his mouth over both sensitive buds in turn, time and time again, until I couldn’t take any more teasing. It appeared he couldn’t, either. Soon, he pulled away and ripped off his own T-shirt, tossing it on the floor.
We hadn’t found him any underwear, so his erection had nothing to hold it in check. It was making quite the tent inside his tracksuit bottoms and I reached out to stroke it, eliciting a growl from him. I had no idea whether it had come from his man or his wolf and I didn’t much care. All I knew is both parts of me wanted to wrench noise after noise from him, until we were both sated.