Chasing Love by Elizabeth Lapthorne

a man. Her True Mate would accept her power and position in the Pack as its eventual leader, and love her simply as she was. She would give him her faithfulness, her loyalty and the satisfaction of truly knowing she only belonged to him.
    Yet in the meantime, she wouldn’t mind playing a bit with good old Edward. A bit of experience never hurt a girl and with a no-penetration clause on their playtime…
    Before her thoughts could circle back and she could start worrying all over again, she heard muffled footfalls behind her. If she hadn’t been listening so keenly for it, she would never have heard him.
    Christiana berated herself. She should have realized his uncanny quietness should have been an indicator to his true identity. No real human could walk that quietly and sneak up on her .
    She watched him come closer, still dressed as her pirate, still masked, but his curls once again left free and wild. His hair had grown since she had seen him at Christmas, yet she should never have forgotten those wild curls. She squashed the feeling of being incredibly stupid.
    Might as well dive right in and go for the balls of the matter.
    Before he could even open his mouth in greeting or draw her to him, she spoke right up.
    “Hey there, Edward. Been a while, hasn’t it? What’s new?”
    More than twenty years of studying the man came in good stead. She noticed the very slight tremor along his jaw as a muscle flexed. She also noticed the very faint hitch in his step. However, to practically anyone else, he would not have seemed to falter in the slightest.
    “Not a lot, Christi-girl. It’s only been since Christmas so I thought I’d spice up your Graduation Ball. You were rather insistent on the desire for romance and passion. I thought I did rather well.”
    “Oh, you did fantastically well. It was the merest fluke I recognized you late last night. You do make a brilliant pirate.”
    He bowed, an elegant, courtly gesture that had her heart fluttering madly.
    Frowning, Christiana tried to hide her reaction. It took her a moment to realize he was practically on top of her when he straightened up.
    He held her arm and pulled her closer before she could even reorient herself.
    Leaning forward, he kissed her, hard. This was no courtly peck. This was the pirate, plundering and taking all he could get. Moaning, Christiana opened her mouth and let him in. She couldn’t fight herself and him. She might as well let him win the small battles and save herself for the war.
    Or that’s what she convinced herself, anyway.
    Breathing deeply, he finally pulled himself away. “Now that was more the sort of welcome I was expecting.”
    Christiana smiled a little sadly. “Well, you still got it. Let’s walk and we can work this out.”
    Determined not to seem at a disadvantage by pacing, Christiana set out at a brisk walk across the gardens and into the much larger college grounds. Edward kept pace with her easily, as he always had.
    “What’s there to work out, Christi-girl? We’re going to have a grand old time together, thoroughly get each other out of our systems and move on.”
    She shook her head, unable to believe the stupidity of men.
    “That never works, even you have to realize that. And I certainly am not going to change my beliefs and morals just for you. We’re going to set ground rules and stick to them.”
    Even behind the mask, Christiana could see Edward raising an eyebrow at her in that mocking way he had.
    “Oh really. You don’t think I could seduce you?”
    “I don’t think you could get into my pants, no. Many guys here have tried and I’ve managed to resist them all. I doubt you’re any better.”
    She rushed on before he could contradict her.
    “Besides, my rules are what count here. If you want to play so badly, I don’t think you’ll feel very cheated. My only rule is no penetration.”
    Edward came to a halt, forcing her to stop as well. He looked her over very, very carefully.
    “That’s your only