STORY EXCERPT

Avery should scream, run, call the police, and all the things human females were supposed to do when a naked man showed up uninvited on their property. But she didn’t. She just stared at him, and with his keen vision, he could all too easily see the expressions flitting across her face. Shock, disgust, anger, and determination took turns before she disappeared from the window.

It took Chase a minute to get moving. He had to get to Avery before she called the police. He didn’t want to be escorted off the property and labeled a stalker, or worse. If that happened, he didn’t know how he’d get close to her. No, he had to have her—now. He’d simply explain who he was and why he was there. She’d believe him, right? He knew the answer was no, but he had to try. And time was limited. She was smart, so she’d probably already called the police.

Feeling like he was racing her fear, he made it the front door, and knocked. He could hear the dog running to the door, his barks sounding even more excited. “Open up, Avery,” he yelled. “I can explain.” Lame. If he was a woman, he wouldn’t open the door either. “I swear it’s not what you think.”

Of course she wasn’t going to just let him in, bare ass and all. “Okay, don’t open it. Just come to the door so I can talk to you. Call the police if you have to, but let me explain before they get here.” If he had to guess, he had a good twenty minutes or so before the police could get there. “Please, Avery. Please just let me know you can hear me.” He banged on the door a few more times, then begged like a dog for a treat.

Chase no longer expected her to open the door, but he did hope curiosity would make her listen to what he had to say. He was shocked speechless, though, when the door opened and Roscoe barreled into him, barking, wagging his tale, and trying to jump up to lick his face. What surprised him the most, though, was the shot gun pointed at his face. And then she cocked it.

* * * *

“Back, Roscoe. Sit!” Avery had always considered her dog extra-intelligent, so she didn’t get why he was licking the enemy. “I said sit, damn it.”

Roscoe finally seemed to recognize the seriousness of her tone and complied. She gave Chase the look, the one that meant move wrong and bite it. “I’ve called the police and they’re on the way. But I promise you, I won’t wait for them. You have sixty seconds to get off my property. Then, I’m going to blow your head off and sleep like a baby tonight.”

It was a bluff. She wouldn’t kill him unless he made her, but she wanted him gone, and only the truly crazy would stick around to see if she meant it. If he was just a reporter, he’d run like the wind. But reporters didn’t usually come around naked. She couldn’t help but flick her eyes down to check out his package. And boy was he ever packing. What a waste.

Mr. Crazy held his hands up in surrender. “I know how this looks, but I can explain...”

“I don’t care what you have to say. Just go!”

“I’m not what I seem.” He shook his head, sighing as if he was the one with a reason to be frustrated. “I’m a shifter, a wolf shifter, and you’re my mate.”

Oh, fuck. Rabid ass crazy it is. “You have forty-five seconds now.”

“My alpha sent me here to watch you, but when I scented you, I realized you’re my mate.”

“I feel sorry for you. I can only imagine how hard it must be to live with true madness. I can end it all for you, but don’t make me. Turn around and walk away.” Avery would hate to shoot him, she really would, but she could see him flexing, tensing his body to grab her. She took a step back, wondering if it was foolish to wait for him to make the first move. Maybe she should have waited inside.

“Please, baby.” He didn’t move toward her which was good, but he didn’t leave either. “Just let me explain. Be reasonable.”

She almost laughed at that. “Ten seconds.” Her finger tingled on the trigger. She didn’t want to kill the poor sick bastard, and it would be a shame to maim that incredible body. “You’re almost a dead man.” She expected him to lunge for her any second. “Roscoe, bedroom, now!” She wouldn’t risk her dog getting in the way and possibly getting hurt. To her relief, Roscoe obeyed, trotting off.

Chase chose that moment to back off, too. Smart choice. He backed away slower than she liked, his hands still held up, and then stopped.

“I want you all the way off my property.”

He gave her a look, as if she was the out-of-line one. Then, he proved that she was just as bat-shit crazy as he was. Illuminated by the moonlight, his body quickly bent and twisted, shook and…morphed…morphed was the only word for it, transforming from a naked crazy man into a huge black wolf like the ones she wrote about in her books.

Avery’s finger slipped off the trigger and she almost dropped the gun. It was a close call.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Avery.” He ran a hand over his dark hair, looking surprised to see her. “Changed your mind?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she took a chapter from his book and walked in like she owned the place, which she did. He closed the door, staring at her with the eyes she’d dreamt about so many times. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the scrunchie out of her ponytail and shook her hair loose over her shoulders. “Look at me, Chase.” She pulled her tank over her head, tossing it to the floor. Her nipples didn’t have to stiffen when the air hit them. They were already there. “I’m giving myself to you. All except for one thing that you really can’t expect any sane person to agree to anyway.”

She watched him as he clenched and unclenched his fists almost in rhythm with the anticipatory pulsing of her clit. Her hands went to the snap of her shorts and she unzipped them slowly. “If you can look me in the eye and tell me you don’t want me, that you’re sure we’re destined to be together, but you’re going to forgo spending the night with me just because I won’t let you claim me on the first non-date…” She pulled her shorts down and stepped out of them. “If you can look me in the eye and tell me that, Chase, then I’ll leave tonight without you fucking me.”

Avery stood in the living room of the rental in nothing but her panties, feeling exceptionally vulnerable and exquisitely powerful. Chase growled at her again, and she was musing over how often he did that when he crossed the room in what felt like a split second and lifted her against him. She was so caught up in the thrill of her breasts crushing against his chest that she didn’t even argue when he said, “Mine.”

* * * *

One minute Avery was crushed up against Chase and the next she was pinned against the wall by two-hundred-plus pounds of wolf man. His kiss was intense, possessive. With every stroke of his lips and glide of his tongue, he claimed her. And she went with it, holding on to him for dear life, When he released her mouth, he found that spot on her neck, the one that made her knees weaken and her toes curl. His hands gripped her ass and squeezed, then lifted her off the ground. Avery wrapped her legs around him, feeling his cock pressing between her legs, growing hotter and wetter by the minute as she waited for him to take her.

“Bed.” He didn’t seem capable of more than single syllables just then as he carried her through the cabin to one of the bedrooms. His lips never stopped their exploration of her neck, her ear, her collarbone during the short trip.

Chase laid her on the bed and came down upon her immediately, covering her with his bulk. Avery was more than ready for him and whimpered as he littered the tops of her breasts with hot kisses before cupping her breasts in his hands, pushing them together and trailing his tongue through the valley he’d created between them. He flicked her nipples then and she arched off the bed, seeking more of his touch. He pushed her back down and took one of her nipples into his mouth, licking and sucking until she thought she would die from desire, right then and there.

When he moved on to the other nipple, he reached into her thong at the same time, fingering her slit and running his finger down to glide through the wetness there. Avery cried out as his wet fingers found her clit and stroked her expertly.

He pulled back to look into her eyes. “You’re so wet for me.” He stroked the wetness at her pussy hole again, then pushed a finger inside. “And so damned tight.”

She nodded rapidly. Yes, wet, tight… “Take me,” she blurted out, beginning to move against his hand as he finger-fucked her, first with one finger, then two, then three.

“Just let me stretch you, love. I need to get you ready first.”

She was more than ready, and she wanted his cock to stretch her. His fingers felt amazing, but he had her panting like a dog with the need for more. He had the magic touch, and Avery had never come close to coming from a man’s finger fuck. He knew just when to flick with his thumb, just when to plunge in and out of her pussy, and just when to…just when to grind the heel of his hand against her throbbing clit. She felt completely and utterly surrounded by him, from his incredibly woodsy masculine scent to the kisses that seemed to be everywhere at once. Her lips, her ear, her neck, her belly, her hips—he neglected nothing.

Avery was going to come, hard, just as he’d promised before he even got his cock inside her. “Chase,” she said, breathless with anticipation. “Oh, Chase, I’m going to—”

The words were on the tip of her tongue but never made it past her lips. He seemed to know she was close because he sped up his hand motions, bringing his mouth back to hers. She wrapped her arms around him and held on for dear life, digging her fingers into his back when the sensations became too much.