“I need you now, Darcy,” he whispered. He slid his hands behind her, cupping her bottom, increasing the motion between them, grinding his hips against her.
Her body was on fire. Faster and faster they moved together, each reaching higher and higher. And then the stars exploded all around them. Her body jerked, tightened. He tensed, then growled. She hadn’t thought making love with Surlock could get any better, but it could, and it had. Stardust had glittered down on them, filling her world with everything beautiful. She’d never felt so much peace, so much—
“Darcy,” he suddenly cried.
“Hmm?” She glanced at him. Her heart skipped a beat when she caught his expression of pain. “Ohmygod, we don’t have your eardrops!”
“No,” he gasped. “Different this time. Can’t stop it.” He opened his eyes, holding his head.
Fear swept over her. She slid off him, jumping to her feet. “Surlock, we need to get you back to the house. Take my hand.” She held her hand out to help him up.
He shook his head. “Too late. Run! Leave me! I don’t want to harm you.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Dammit, I won’t run away and leave you to suffer alone. Now let me help you back to the house!” If she had to, she would wake the whole house to help her get him home.
He moved his hands away from his face and she was suddenly staring into the eyes of the wolf again, except this time, Surlock’s face was hairy. He bared his teeth, then growled from deep in his throat. Shivers of fear wracked her, suffocating her.
She stumbled back, almost falling. Surlock growled again, a demonic sound that sent cold chills down her spine. A fog began to roll in, damp cold making her feel even more chilled. Oh God, this wasn’t happening. She was dreaming. She had to be. She’d fallen asleep and this was a really bad nightmare.
“Run, Darcy, run! Don’t look back!”
Surlock’s voice jerked her back to the present. This wasn’t a bad dream. This was real, and happening right now. She turned on her heel and ran for the house. She didn’t stop. She didn’t look back.
Oh God, Surlock had started changing right before her eyes. What had happened? One second they were having the best sex she’d ever had and then he was turning into a … a wolf. She stumbled, caught herself, and kept running.
Her blood suddenly felt as if it were freezing inside her veins. Oh, hell, she knew what he was. It all made sense now. The wolf she’d seen before he appeared. Everything.
Surlock was a werewolf! That’s all it could be. She stopped at the place where she’d taken off her nightgown and jerked it over her head, shoving her arms through the arm holes. She glanced around, but a cloud had drifted across the moon—the full moon!—and it was too dark to see anything.
A lone howl echoed over her parents’ property. Her whole body began to shake as she hurried around the trees and bushes. She had to get inside where it was safe.
Then it hit her. What if she were a werewolf, too, and just hadn’t gone through the change, or whatever it took to become a full-fledged werewolf? Jennifer was in the house. Would her best friend be in danger if Darcy went inside?
Peter would give her sanctuary. He was always there when she needed him. He would take her in. But she didn’t want to eat Peter.
She frowned, then shook her head.
She quickly examined her arms. They weren’t covered in long hair. She felt her face. It still felt smooth. Maybe there was some ritual that she had to go through before she made the change. Oh, hell, she hoped that was it as she hurried inside. She tiptoed up the steps, then slipped back inside her bedroom. For a moment, she leaned against the door and breathed in deep gulps of air. She was safe.
But what about Surlock? Was he safe?
Darcy went to the French doors and opened them, slipping out onto the balcony. She heard another mournful howl. Surlock was out there somewhere. She hoped he’d retained enough of himself not to eat her neighbors, or anyone for that matter.
“Please let him be okay,” she whispered to the night and prayed somehow her words would carry to him.
She went back inside and slowly closed the doors, then locked them just to be on the safe side. If Surlock had turned into a werewolf, she wasn’t sure how he would react to her. He might not recognize her.
Tomorrow everything would be back to normal, she was certain. Surlock would be in his bed, and then he would explain what the fuck had happened, because she really needed to know.
She froze.
Oh, no, her parents were probably werewolves. Her biological parents, not her adoptive ones.
She frowned. It was damned inconvenient that her biological parents had left her at an orphanage to fend for herself. What if she had changed? Would the people who ran the orphanage have sent her to the dog pound or something?
Great, her adoptive mother and father would have heart attacks when they found out what she was. How the hell did she even explain something like this to them? Guess what, Mom and Dad, I know where I come from now. Mom, how do you feel about getting a dog? I know you’re allergic to them, but you can take allergy pills, right?
Darcy pulled the cover back and crawled beneath it, curling into a tight ball. She really didn’t relish the idea of running around the countryside howling at the moon. Or eating people. Even as she yawned, she doubted she would get any sleep tonight.
Darcy opened her eyes, then blinked against the bright light that burst into her room from the curtains as they were flung open. Oh, Lord, someone was torturing her. What had she done to deserve this?
“Wake up, sleepy head,” Jennifer called out in a bright cheery voice.
Darcy sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She felt like death warmed over. Had she partied last night? Maybe drunk a little too much? She had to admit to a fondness for pomegranate martinis.
Then it hit her. “Ohmygod,” she said.
“Yes, I know,” Jennifer said. “It’s after eight. I thought maybe you’d died in your sleep or something. This is like seriously late for you.”
“I’m a werewolf,” she said.
Jennifer stared at her. “Wow, you have lots better dreams than I do.”
“No, it’s true. I couldn’t sleep last night so I walked out onto the balcony. Surlock was standing beside the guest house.”
“He does look kind of dark and dangerous with that black-as-night hair brushing his shoulders.” She sauntered over to one of the maroon upholstered chairs and curled up on it. “If you ever get tired of him, I would certainly let him howl at my moon.”
Darcy frowned. “I thought you didn’t trust him.”
“I don’t want to marry the guy, only have sex with him. That is, if you ever get tired of him.”
Darcy shook her head to try to clear it. It was way too early to have this conversation. “I’m serious.” Jennifer didn’t believe a word Darcy was telling her. “I went downstairs and slipped outside last night.”
Jennifer leaned forward in the chair. “Tell me more. I’ll live vicariously through you since I’m not getting any while I’m in the country.”
“We went running through the park behind the house. Then we made love.”
“It always takes you so long to get to the good stuff.”
“And then he grabbed his head,” Darcy continued as if Jennifer hadn’t interrupted her. “But this time the humming didn’t stop. He told me to run away. I think he was afraid he might hurt me.”
Jennifer’s expression turned serious. “I told you he was strange and couldn’t be trusted. It’s better if you forget all about him.”
Darcy shook her head. “No, there’s more. When I looked at him, the eyes of a wolf stared back at me, and his arms and face got all hairy.”
“I hate hairy men,” Jennifer said. “He could always do laser hair removal.”
“I’m telling the truth.”
Jennifer untucked her legs and got to her feet. “No, you think I’m as gullible as you and you’re trying to pull a fast one.”
“It really did happen. Don’t you see, if Surlock is a werewolf, then I’m probably one, too.”