Chapter 7

Mike stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. He didn't seem any the worse for wear despite the long, physically depleting night. Shifting always drained a little energy from him but the sex last night was what had really done him in.

The sex! Holy shit! Was this crazy or what? All he'd hoped for when he moved next door to his objective was for the owner to be halfway approachable. He'd never expected a luscious female with long dark hair and generous curves that made his mouth water and his cock stand up at attention and salute. The moment he saw her he wanted to rip her clothes off and take her right there on the postage stamp lawn.

Fuck! He should have his head examined. He had lost it last night for sure.

It's deprivation, asshole. That's all it is. You've been without for too long.

That much was certainly true. He was most definitely ready for something. But Jamie Dalton was way beyond what he'd hoped for. Seeing her sitting in that chair last night he was unable to hold himself back. When she started to waken he'd used his wolf powers to hypnotize her, a talent he'd learned from his mother. He just hadn't been able to help himself.

It was hard being an orphan shifter without a pack, especially when seeking a mate. Vicious marauders from a renegade pack had killed his parents, when the three of them were enjoying a day in the woods. Mike was lucky to escape with just a few wounds. He'd holed up in his house for a week while they healed, but once he was well he knew he should relocate as quickly as possible. What would prevent the killers rom tracking him to his house, after all?

"You have resources," his father said often enough. "We set it up that way, so you can move your life anywhere."

And that was what he'd done. But packing everything up in the house after it was sold he stumbled over some clues to his ancestry and began a search for any stray members of his pack. Following the trail he learned of the existence of a book with the history of shifters back to Romania, the homeland of his pack. According to his father's notes it also had a chart in the book but ended three generations before him.

Getting his hands on that book became imperative. Maybe he could find some of his relatives. Have a place to belong. Find a mate! Lord, he wanted a mate in the worst way. He was pushing thirty-five and wanted to settle down. If he could just get his hands on the book he could trace the rest of his lineage forward and connect with some pack members.

He frowned at himself in the mirror. He'd worried for a long time what would happen if he didn't find a shifter to mate with. He knew other shifters had mated with humans but the chemistry had to be just right. More than that, he needed a female he could trust to tell about his true nature. Someone who wouldn't be freaked out about it. Someone willing to have a changeling child or children with him and teach them the ways of a shifter.

What if Jamie turns out to be the perfect mate?

Last night was so unexpected but when he saw her in that chair he couldn't help himself. And between lifting her from that chair and stealing out of her house before dawn an invisible thread strengthened and bound them together. Could he trust it?

He needed that book. It would give him the answers he was looking for.

When he discovered his great-great-grandparents had lived in a house in this not-so-small town of Calderwood he immediately began researching appraisal records at the town hall. Finding what he was pretty sure was the address of the house they'd owned was easy. The bad news was it now belonged to someone else and had for a few generations.

Luckily the house next door to it was for rent and he hopped right on it. He figured he'd schmooze his neighbor, maybe offer to do a few chores and somehow wiggle out of them if they had the book he was looking for. If they had no idea what he was talking about, he might figure out how to invade their attic when they weren't home. Whatever he had to do. The last thing he'd expected was Jamie Dalton, mouthwatering and sensual and, unless all his receptors were out of whack, somehow spilling pheromones in his direction.

He hadn't expected fortune to smile on him so quickly. To open the door for him so easily. But Jamie had openly invited him right into her house.

Won't you walk into my parlor, said the spider to the fly.

You should be more careful who you invite into your house, Jamie Dalton. You shouldn't be so neighborly. So friendly. And you definitely should remember to lock your back door. Especially when you have a shifter running through your back yard who decides to change back into human form and check things out.

But now everything was changing. The whole game plan. Because now he wanted the book and Jamie. He closed his eyes for a moment and he was back in that house naked and aroused. Jamie dozed in the chair, the book open on her lap, Mischief curled up on her lap. He'd waited to see if the cat would react, but black cats liked shifters and she was apparently no exception. He was torn between the rampant need for sex and the equally strong desire to get a look at that book.

The book won out. Lifting it from her hands he carried it to the kitchen and stood at the counter, checking it out. The minute he spotted the chart at the front he knew this was the one. Somehow he needed to wrest it away from Jamie but that would take some planning. Meanwhile he carefully pulled the most recent page out and placed it on the counter before walking back into the living room.

Jamie was still sacked out, so delectable in her casual clothes, the soft fabric of the tee shirt outlining the full mounds of her breasts and the hard points of her nipples. Carefully so he wouldn't disturb her he lifted the hem of her top, nearly drooling at the lush body he exposed. Her breasts were just as plump as he imagined and the nipples a gorgeous shade of deep plum. Giving in to temptation, he leaned forward and licked first one then the other.

"Mmmmmm." Jamie shifted in the chair, humming a little sound of satisfaction.

Mike waited but when she made no other move he became bolder. His wolf was snarling inside him, need swelling his engorged cock. He kissed her, tasting that mouth straight from heaven and was startled when she tunneled her fingers in his hair. Was she awake? Would she scream? No, she seemed to be pulling him closer.

Damn! She was having sex with him in her sleep. Another man would stop right there but Mike was too aroused, his wolf too demanding. He'd carried her into the bedroom where their mating was nothing short of all-consuming and electrifying. He barely had the strength to tuck her into bed and walk softly back into the kitchen. Stepping out onto her back porch, he scouted the area to make sure no prying eyes would spot him. Crouching low, he made it to his own back porch and inside his house.

Now he scrubbed his hands over his scruffy face. Would she even remember what happened or would she think it was a dream? Only a dream wouldn't leave her pussy sore from his thick cock or leave burn marks on her thighs from his late day beard growth. Or kiss-swollen lips. Or leave the rich scent of sex on her smooth sheets.

Nice going, asshole. You'll be lucky if she even lets you cross the property line now.

But she belongs to me. I feel it more strongly every minute.

Okay, then he had work to do. But first he needed a shower, although he hated to wash the perfume of her body from his skin. Lifting his arm he pressed his nose against the bicep, drinking in her essence that lingered there. Shockingly, it immediately roused his wolf, his blood thrumming and the need to change raging through him.

Fucking shit!

He'd better get himself under control before he stepped out of the house. Especially since tonight was Halloween, a time when shifters raced over the landscape and unusual things happened. Good thing he didn't have to go into his office today or have a client meeting scheduled. He could take a nice long cold shower so his hormones would hibernate, make himself presentable and offer to help Jamie with her decorations. Somehow or other he needed to find a way to get that book from her, along with the rest of the chart.

Okay, shave first then shower. Then a trip to get candy for tonight and maybe coffee from the little Coffee Café in town and a couple of their pumpkin spice muffins. He needed to smooth the way before he made his next move.

And what the hell would he do if she remembered last night? Maybe the better question was, what if she didn't?