Aphrodite's Hunt by Jennifer Blackstream Page B

I—”
     
    The wolf growled at him, the sound crawling over his skin and sending a shiver down his spine. Something about the vibration called to him, beckoned him closer. Confusion halted his tirade and he watched in silence as Gia’s body shuddered and her skin began to roll back.
     
    He couldn’t help the swell of appreciation at the smoothness of her shift. It was as though the wolf rose to its hind legs to reveal a woman’s form underneath. He half expected her to turn and show a back still covered with fur and a tail. His gaze roved over her nude form and his cock stirred between his legs. He remembered the taste of her body, the feel of her wet depths as he plunged—
     
    “Decorum? Decorum ? You almost killed me! I offered you blood in exchange for your protection, not my life .”
     
    He couldn’t drag his gaze from her body. The curves of her breasts, the dusky brown of her nipples, the patch of auburn curls between her legs . . . it took every ounce of his strength not to leap on her like a starving man. The demon inside him raised its head, flashing bright white teeth. It was hungry too.
     
    Fear wrapped its icy claws around his heart. Already the sight of her naked body, the smell of her soft flesh, melted his resistance. Her sexuality shredded his self-control as easily as her claws had shredded his clothes and the man it left behind was little more than an animal. Any second now he would lose the battle and fall on her like the beast he feared becoming.
     
    “Consider our deal vacated.”
     
    Her words didn’t even register until she turned her back on him and started toward the door. Shock temporarily stole his reason.
     
    “What did you say?”
     
    She stopped and turned to face him. “I will not stay here and let you play with my life as though it’s a child’s toy. Obviously you do not possess the self-control I thought you did and I don’t have the patience to tame a wild temper.”
     
    He stood there, struggling to find the words to express his outrage, but his words abandoned him. How dare she speak to him like that? He was the respectable one in this room, not her. She was half-animal, a beast with wanton sexuality and a monstrous appetite. It was her influence that had cause his breach of etiquette, not a   lack of control on his part.
     
    His humanity had been shredded with his shirt, now hanging in shreds down his naked chest. He stared at her, still unable to speak. The scent of blood tickled his nose, made his head spin with decadent thoughts. How could he be expected to be a man when blood tinged his world and a naked woman stood before him with such passion flashing in her eyes?
     
    His silence only seemed to piss her off further. Anger crackled in the air she stalked toward him, one slow graceful stride at a time. Her eyes bored into his as if roasting his soul and the ire in her gaze only heated his blood further.
     
    “I am lupa of the Red Water clan. An insult to me is an insult to my pack and there is no greater insult than the attack you offered me tonight.” She halted, shaking her head. “I came here tonight because you seemed to be the lesser of two evils. I was misinformed.” Her eyes narrowed to slits. “You call me half-beast. At least I have a human form.” She turned away, throwing her parting shot over her shoulder. “You’re the beast in this room now.”
     
    Her words landed on deaf ears. He was beyond words, beyond logic. The sight of her walking away from him sparked a sense of possession too strong to ignore. He didn’t know where it came from and he didn’t care. He clenched his teeth. She wasn’t leaving.
     
    Anger hadn’t made her stupid. Even his supernatural speed wasn’t enough to get to her before she heard him move, smelled the blood all over his chest coming closer. He dove for her and she whirled around, raking her claws across his face before ending in a defensive stance with her hands raised. Black claws had pierced her