Bitten: Moon Lust 2 Read online

  They cried out their pleasure as one. Nikolai’s hands clenched into fists about her hips as he held her tight to him and pumped her full of his cream. Julia’s body accepted every fiery burst that jetted into her, and squeezed and milked for more, ever hungry for all he had to give. Their bodies shook with the force of their release until they collapsed in a heap upon the bed, spent and replete at last. Ragged breaths tore from their lungs as they sought for calm.

  Nikolai gathered her close in his arms, spoon fashion, palming one of her swollen breasts tenderly. He pressed a kiss to her temple and cradled her hips with his, spearing his half swollen member, damp still from being inside her wetness, through her legs to rest in the pouting cleft of her sex.

  “We will rest now, Julia mine.”

  “Yes,” she breathed in agreement and settled back against him, sighing contentedly.

  Before sleep claimed her in dark, tranquil waves, she heard her lover whisper into the night. “I can feel the moon. It is too soon…too soon, heaven help me.”

  She hadn’t a clue what he was talking about—nor could she bring herself to wonder—she was far too spent and weary. It had been a long day…and an even longer night. Moments later she was asleep, safe in the protective circle of his arms, and his words were forgotten in the deep recesses of her mind.

  And for the first time in too many long years, she knew that she wasn’t alone.

  * * * * *

  Julia awoke in the bright light of the mid morning sun to hear the terrible cacophony of a wild howl coming from her bathroom. She jumped out of bed, wincing at the tender soreness between her legs, and raced to see what the horrible racket could be. She didn’t know what to expect, but a gloriously nude and wet Nikolai standing in her shower stall was the last thing on her mind. Suddenly the events of the previous night came slamming through her mind, stealing her breath away with a rush of remembered passion.

  He caught sight of her and cried, “This water is freezing! How do I work the hot spray?”

  He sounded so pitiful, so wounded, that Julia couldn’t help but laugh. “I thought you didn’t have any electricity in your house, Nikolai. Shouldn’t you be used to cold showers by now?”

  “I have hot water. I draw it from a naturally heated spring near my house. I am not without creature comforts, I will have you know.” He sounded positively indignant over the thought, and Julia fell into a peal of laughter once more. “Hot water, woman, and hurry before my appendages freeze off!”

  “Well you’ll have to do without because there isn’t any hot water left,” she informed him with devilish glee, loving to tease and torment him. “The other tenants have used it up by now. Everyone in the building shares the same hot water heater. It’s late in the morning so you’ll have to wait at least a couple of hours before there’s enough warm water for a quick shower. Sorry.”

  Nikolai grimaced and soaped his hair and chest with a shocking swiftness. Julia knew she should leave him to his privacy, at least look away, but found that she couldn’t even move. She was riveted by the froth of the soap bubbles over the firm muscles of his shoulders and chest. Mesmerized by the flow of water that ran in glistening torrents down the flat planes of his stomach, into the golden nest of hair that cushioned his impressively long, and not surprisingly flaccid penis. His testicles were heavy between his thighs, round and full as they swung with his hurried movements, despite the freezing spray. A flood of liquid desire swept through her, making her heart race, her breath pant and her knees weaken and tremble.

  Nikolai abruptly paused in his movements, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

  “I can smell your desire, love.” He shuddered and his muscles contorted with alarming violence, making her gasp. His cock grew to immediate, shocking rigidity. “You should go, Julia. You are not ready for more of me just yet. I have to…calm down first. You need gentleness. Not rough play.” His words were clipped, bitten out between his clenching teeth. His mouth looked swollen around his teeth, as if the words wanted to push their way out, but he would hold them back regardless.

  That quickly Julia’s mood changed, and her body flooded with a chill foreboding. He could smell her desire? As he had smelled her blood the night before when he’d taken her virginity? A thrill of something resembling fear swept through her. Instinctively she knew that not everything was right with Nikolai. What that was, she had no idea, but it was blatantly apparent in that moment as he stood shuddering beneath the spray of the water. His cock was impressive—massive—and Julia was shocked that he’d ever been able to fit inside of her at all. He was menacing in his stance and demeanor and his sudden arousal only added to that effect. Self preservation warned her to run, run as far away as her trembling legs could possibly carry her. But her heart ached with the knowledge that her lover suffered from some…thing, strange and unknown as it may be to her at the moment. Her heart bade her to stay, to ease the torment that was so plainly etched on every plane and feature of Nikolai’s naked body.

  Julia took a tentative step forward, heart pounding in her breast. Then another, slowly approaching the shower. She reached out her hand to touch, wanting only to soothe Nikolai’s rigid, trembling muscles.

  His hand shot out and captured her wrist in a nearly painful grip. When his eyes opened they blazed with a preternatural and menacing fire, glowing like two blue stars beneath his dripping wet hair. “Julia…” His voice was a low growl that made the hairs on the back of her nape stand up on end. “You. Have. To. Go. Now!” He threw her hand away as if it burned and crouched back into the shower, panting and shaking.

  Julia cried out, in fear and worry—worry for him as well as for herself—and though she wanted to stay, to find out the reason why Nikolai was suddenly so feral, his iron command echoed in her mind and compelled her to turn and run from the room as if the very hounds of hell were snarling at her heels. When she reached the safe haven of her bedroom she heard Nikolai cry out—howl—and pound on the wall of the shower stall in some kind of fit. Her hands shook and her belly cramped, with fear or apprehension or yes, even desire, she wasn’t certain. But something was obvious to her now.

  Nikolai wasn’t like other men. He was dangerous. He was unstable.

  And God help her, she wanted him despite it all. Perhaps she even wanted him because of it all. His passionate extremes thrilled her to her core as nothing else ever had before, making her weak and breathless, passionate and eager, for anything and everything concerning him. His volatile emotions called to hers on an elemental level, exciting her to similar extremes, which both shocked and intrigued her. She didn’t understand him or her reaction to him but regardless of that, she meant to find out as much about him as she could. She had to. Her heart demanded it. And Julia had never been able to deny her heart.

  * * * * *

  It was half an hour before Julia heard Nikolai turn off the water in the bathroom. She was sitting on her bed, garbed in a worn bathrobe, thinking on all the long moments she’d spent in Nikolai’s company. Their first meeting when he’d licked her cheek, of all things. Their first date when he’d eaten so much with such heady appetite. The fact that he’d eaten mostly rare meats didn’t escape her, in fact it alarmed her for reasons she couldn’t rationally define as yet. She remembered how their first date had ended—how he’d enticed her to stay with wondrous kisses and caresses, then snarled at her without warning, to go, to run from him. And his movements were so alien. So unlike those of anyone she’d ever seen outside of a ballet. He moved gracefully, fluidly, using his body like a tool—a shell—to perform whatever function he so desired. He seemed separate from his own body somehow, even though he was quite obviously comfortable with it. She couldn’t quite pin point why that bothered her, but it did. It really did.

  His reflexes and senses were honed to a finite edge. He could smell things she could not. He could see well in the dark.

  Goodness! If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was an alien or something. Julia laughed at her own fo
olishness. It was obvious that Nikolai was different, but there was a limit to how different he could be. He was probably high strung, possibly medicated for temperamental difficulties like mania or even a panic disorder. His other peculiarities, well they could be explained. He was a wilderness man—he’d told her so himself—he lived in a place where finely developed motor skills and senses were essential, surely. He hunted for his own meat on a regular basis in order to survive, and that alone could account for why he was so seemingly different. He had a predatory air about him, there was no mistaking that. Perhaps she was overreacting just a little.

  Then again…perhaps not.

  Nikolai walked into the room then, still naked and dripping, and she let her thoughts rest for future contemplation. She watched him warily, never taking her eyes off of him. He looked normal. Gorgeous, sexy and lip smacking delicious, but still normal. But he looked larger today than he had the day before…and the day before. Though surely that was because he was unclothed. Clothing often disguised much about a person’s size and physique.

  “I could not find any towels.” His voice was husky and strained, as if he’d used it too much.

  “Oh. I’m sorry.” Julia rose, careful to keep the bed between them. “I’ll go find you one, just give me a minute.”

  “Do not worry about it, my Julia.” He gave her a slight smile, obviously aware of her hesitancy around him. Then he shook his body, shuddering first from head then to shoulders then to midriff and down, sending water droplets flying about the room.

  Julia yelped then giggled. He looked so adorable she couldn’t help herself. It didn’t bother her that he was getting water all over her carpet—it would dry. And this way she didn’t have to give him one of her worn towels to use. That would have been too embarrassing for her to deal with just then. With one last shudder Nikolai stilled. His hair was no longer dripping and his body was surprisingly dry.

  “Well, that’s one way of doing it, I guess. You probably don’t spend much time washing towels,” Julia teased him.

  Nikolai gave her a toothy grin, eyes shining, and began gathering his discarded clothing from about the room.

  “What’s wrong, Nikolai?” She hadn’t known that she meant to speak the words until they were already out of her mouth and echoing in the air between them.

  “What do you mean? Nothing is wrong. Everything is good.” He clearly averted his eyes from hers when he spoke, and his accent was thick—a clear sign that he was disturbed.

  “You know what I mean.” She was surprised that her voice could be so firm when inside she was shaking like a leaf. “I can tell that something’s bothering you. If you would just tell me what it is, instead of barking at me when the mood strikes, maybe I could help you sort it out.”

  Nikolai was silent for a very long moment and Julia was sure that he wasn’t going to respond, which made her more than a little testy. But then he sank down heavily on the bed, and hung his head down low in another of his strange, graceful movements. His eyes rose up to meet hers, blazing out from beneath hanks of hair that fell over his brow.

  “I have been barking at you and I am sorry, Julia mine. You do not deserve that kind of treatment, it is unforgivable of me.”

  “Oh, good grief, everybody gets a little pissy now and then. It’s not an unforgivable sin by any means. But if you’d just tell me what’s bothering you, maybe I could understand where you’re coming from a little bit better and help to calm you down some.” She ignored the feelings of caution inside of her and went to sit next to him, rubbing his back with comforting strokes.

  “Julia…” His voice cracked. “I do not think you can help me with this.” He shuddered under her hand.

  “Try me,” she urged.

  Nikolai’s knuckles popped as he clenched his hands on his thighs. Julia tried to keep her eyes from straying inevitably upwards, but failed. His cock was semi-erect, even after his long shower in freezing water. Then something else drew her attention. The muscles of his abdomen rolled like ripples in a pond, alarmingly and with much ferocity. It was one of the strangest things Julia had ever seen and definitely not normal.

  “Are you sick?” she asked, desperately worried about him.

  “I am…”

  “You are? Well, no matter what is wrong with you, we can get you well again.” She pulled him close, wanting—needing—to give comfort.

  “I am not sick.” He took a deep, shuddering breath before he spoke again. “Julia, I want you to know that what is between us…I do not take it lightly. I have strong feelings for you. I know it sounds…well I know that sometimes men say things to women that they do not mean. But I mean it, I really do. I feel like I have known you far longer than I have. I felt it the first moment I saw you. I do not want to destroy what is between us by burdening you with my…I do not want to burden you.”

  Julia had never heard him sound so hesitant. So earnest but so desperately alone. If he really felt that way, then his odd behavior was even more of an enigma. And though she’d only known him for three days, she realized that she too felt a bond with him. She had from the first. Why else would she have given herself to him, after she’d waited and remained a virgin for so long a time? Yes, he was attractive. Yes, he was interesting and thrilling to be around. And while she’d always dreamed of being sought out by just that type of man, she admitted to herself that it wasn’t really enough to get her involved with one. And she was definitely involved with Nikolai, as unexpected and strange as that fact may be, it was still a fact. One she couldn’t deny to herself or to him.

  Her next words were from her heart and she gave no thought to holding them back, no matter that they made her vulnerable. “I feel the same way about you Nikolai. I don’t know why, but I do. I would have never gone back out with you after our first date if that weren’t so. You scared me that first night, when you rushed me from your suite, but you also made me feel more alive than ever I had before. Just being out on your balcony with you—dining with you—was one of the most wonderful and magical experiences of my life. There’s something about you. It calls to me, deep inside. And that’s why I want to help you now, Nikolai. I can see that something is wrong, something I don’t understand. Please, let me help you. Tell me what’s making you act so strange. Together we can work it out, I’m sure of that.”

  Nikolai’s massive frame shuddered once again, with enough force to make her own body quake along with it. “You will run from me. You will not want to have anything more to do with me if I tell you.”

  “You don’t know that for sure. Trust me, maybe I’ll surprise you,” she said coaxingly, trying to lighten the heavy oppressive feelings that were assailing her.

  Nikolai’s hair, which seemed oddly longer today than it had the night before, tickled her shoulder as he turned to lean his forehead against hers. He reached up and stroked her cheek with a tender caress and breathed down into her mouth four gently spoken words.

  “I am a wolf.”

  Chapter Nine

  The hairs stood up all over her body, signaling an instinctive alarm at his words, but her voice was steady when she asked, “A wolf?”

  “I am a wolf. I am not a human.”

  “Forgive me for being obtuse, but you look pretty human to me Nikolai.” She pulled away from him with a frown.

  “I am a…werewolf.” He twisted the word out of his mouth as if he weren’t accustomed to it. “An alpha Bodark or Wawkalak—both are names in my country for werewolves or shape shifters. I am the leader of my pack, the first in command, the strongest and most feared of my kind. And I am…changing. It is too soon in the month—which alarms me more than I can explain to you—but nevertheless I cannot deny that I am changing. “

  “You’re serious.”

  “I have never been more serious.” He reached for her but she pulled back before she even thought about how that would make him feel. He gritted his teeth and let his hands drop back down onto his thighs. “I wanted to wait to tell you, let you grow mor
e accustomed to me before I revealed what I am. But something is not right. I have never been so out of control. And I am afraid I might have put you in danger by staying near you…yet I cannot leave. I need you too much to run from you, even if it is to keep you safe. And I am torn in two because of it.”

  Julia didn’t know what to say. Thinking back on all that she knew about it she found his claim believable…and yet such a thing was impossible, surely. She didn’t believe in the supernatural. She never had.

  “If you are…what you say you are, then prove it. Show me something. Do something that only a werewolf could do—change into a wolf if you want—prove to me that you’re not yanking my chain.”

  Nikolai cocked his head to the side. “Yanking your chain?”

  “You know what I mean—your English isn’t so bad,” she fired out in exasperation. “Prove to me that you’re not joking or lying.”

  “I cannot simply change fully into a wolf on command, not at will. I am at the mercy of the pull of the moon. Only when it is full can I assume my lupine form.”

  “Well show me something, anything. Make me believe you, because if you don’t I swear I’m going to boot you out of my apartment so fast your head will spin.”

  “Very well. I will prove it.” He rose from the bed and walked to the far side of the room. He turned and faced her from beneath a wild tangle of hair. “Do not be afraid. I will not hurt you, I promise.”

  With that he threw back his head, bared his elongated incisors and let loose a mighty roar. The room vibrated with the sound and seemed to close in on them, causing Julia’s heart to stop for an alarming moment.