Moonlit Embrace by Lyn Brittan

against her heated cheek.
    Silence.
    Beautiful silence.
    Her skin itched, her stomach ached and a pile driver went to work on her temple. “So, that’s Kate.”
    “I need a nap. I can’t deal with that. The marriage is off.” He winked over the bottle and took another swig.
    “Kate bought me that.”
    Drops of wine dribbled out the corners of his mouth as he spit it out. “I can’t...I can’t. She’s insane.” Baron filled a glass with tap water and somehow, impossibly, loosened a few more chains around her heart.
    “I’m sorry you two met like that.”
    “Everyone you know is crazy.”
    “I know.”
    “Batshit crazy.”
    “I know.”
    “That’s why you need me, Johanna. That shit spreads.” The fool shivered and eyed the Kate tainted bottle under the light over the sink. “Are we sure there’s no crushed glass in here?”
    “I’m sure.”
    “She must have been a joy growing up.”
    “She’s not that bad. Perhaps a little overconfident and controlling, but she means well.”
    Baron rolled his eyes and gave a very puppyish whimper. “But she’s ruining our wedding.”
    Their laughter sent running the last tendrils of tension. Bless him. He was more magician than wolf. This could have gone so horribly wrong, but he’d gone beyond what was required to smooth things down between them. Maybe he was a keeper.
    Might was well stop lying to herself. She’d known that for a while now. It was more a concern of whether he wanted to keep her. But to go through the crucible he’d just survived, said a lot. She’d always thought wolf love was weird. It happened too fast for her liking. Every wolf fairy tale started with a sniff. She’d counted it all as a mix of luck and lust. Now, though...
    “You’re thinking about her. Stop it.”
    “I was thinking about you.”
    “Oh, keep going. My legendary good looks? Unstoppable charm? My...” His voice trailed off as he flicked his tongue.
    “Loyalty, dummy. Your loyalty. You’ve shown it over and over again when you had no reason to.”
    “I like you. I like having you around. But, as I recall, you only want me to discuss business,” he said, shoulders dropping. A shaking finger wiped away nonexistent tears. The acting industry missed out on Baron Wyatt.
    She poured another glass and winked over the top of it. “Actually, that was your idea.”
    Something changed. A lot of somethings and all at once.
    His scent deepened to a heavy musk. She sniffed her own changing with his. Dangerous territory. Baron’s eyebrows thickened, his nose lengthened and his eyes took on the glow of the sun at daybreak.
    Raw power ran unfettered through her veins. It’d been years since she needed to change. Her wolf longed to be free with his.
    Her mate.
    Her den.
    Aww, hell. Mate. Den. Screw it. She jumped on him, ripping his shirt with one hand and tugging at his belt with the other. She ached to be against him again, skin to skin. Baron kicked off his boots and dropped to his knees to worship her as he had so brilliantly done in the woods before. The shaved legs she’d wrapped around his back darkened with fur.
    He whispered filthy things against her womb and she wanted each one of them to happen. “My bedroom.”
    Baron tossed her over his shoulder and stomped down the hall, loudly sniffing his way to their destination.
    “The no sex agreement’s off,” he said.
    And really, that suited her just fine.

Chapter Eight
    H e could get used to this. Her.
    They spent the next two days doing nothing but each other. There wasn’t a crack or crevice on her body that he hadn’t dipped his finger, tongue or prick into. He tried to take his time making love to her, apologizing when he couldn’t. There were times she took the helm and while being on the bottom wasn’t his favorite thing in the world, it for damned sure wasn’t the worst. He’d give her whatever power over him she needed.
    It wasn’t until Day Three that they stayed mostly upright. It’d made neither of