More Blazing Bedtime Stories: Once Upon a Mattress (4 page)

Even after he’d let her go, their eyes remained locked, and confusion flashed briefly in his. As if he, too, had been taken by surprise by an instant rush of feelings.

“My apologies.” He stepped aside to let the customers out.

Penny frowned. His speech was so strange. He was rough-looking, but could also be polite, almost old-fashioned. He used normal words, yet once in a while something sounded off.

A family eased out, casting curious stares at Penny and the stranger before heading up the block. The second they were out of earshot, he put his hand on her again, clasping her shoulder with determination.

So much for thinking he’d decided to be a gentleman. She shivered, though whether it was because she was glad or worried, she honestly couldn’t say. “Didn’t you apologize for grabbing me?”

“No. I was apologizing for accosting you in front of the door where people could see.”

“And now what, it’s accost away?” Her words lacked anger. She didn’t feel a bit accosted. Just warm and tingly again.

“I have you alone and I need you to agree to come with me.”

She cast a pointed stare toward the windows. Lucas turned, blocking her view…and blocking her
from
view of those within.

“Say you’ll come.”

“And if I say no, are you gonna tie me up and toss me into a big bag, tough guy?”

His response flew out of his mouth so quickly, she didn’t believe he planned it. “If I were to tie you up, Princess, I wouldn’t be tossing you anywhere but flat onto your back.”

Whoa. Penny swallowed hard, hearing the frustration in his voice, that note of bare, thin restraint. The cords of muscle in his neck flexed and he was breathing hard through obviously clenched teeth. Everything about him screamed at some supreme effort to remain in control.

She knew what he was trying to control. Oh, did she ever.

The man wanted her, and he’d been trying to keep himself from doing anything about it. When he’d touched her, he hadn’t been surprised by his reaction, but by the fact that
she
felt the same way.

Before, there had been attraction. Now there was pure hunger.

The claiming she’d sensed earlier hadn’t been about making demands
of
her…but of demanding
her
.

She knew that given half a chance, he would take her wildly. Passionately. He wanted to back her into the alley between the diner and the shop next door, yank her clothes out of the way and plunge into her, right up against the side of the building.

Or that’s what she wanted. Whatever.

It was instantaneous. Primal. Completely instinctive.

“Who
are
you?” she whispered.

Frowning, as if he didn’t like this thing that had sprung up between them, he said, “The man you’ve been waiting for.”

The man she’d been waiting for.
Forever?

Her body reacted both to his visible lust and her own mental response. Even as Lucas dropped his hand again, as if already regretting being so blunt, Penny’s nipples tightened
and swelled with need. They were super sensitive anyway, and now, at the thought of those big hands touching her and that hot mouth tasting her, all her nerve endings practically sat up and begged. She wanted to rip her own shirt off, to tweak and stroke, to gain some relief.

He noticed, his hot stare zoning in on the swell of her breasts. No way could he not see how he affected her. The want in those eyes made it seem for a second as though he could peer all the way through her clothes.

“Princess,” he groaned, low, cautionary. It was as if he was begging her to stop tormenting him.

Huh.
Him?
She was the one who was suddenly being betrayed by her body. The one whose feminine impulses, so long dormant, had awakened with a vengeance.

She had to clench her thighs together to keep them from trembling and to try to contain the swelling of her rapidly moistening sex. That only served to tighten the pressure around her clit, which already throbbed with need.

Funny that she hadn’t even thought about sex in months. Now she suspected she wasn’t going to be able to
stop
thinking about it until she’d had it—with this man—at least a dozen times.

Her heart began to thud, her skin to prickle with anticipation. Each breath she drew was filled with his scent—earth and musk and sweat and man.

Lucas closed his eyes, visibly trying to regain his calm. He seemed deeply affected by the subtle changes in her body, each hidden sign of feminine desire. His deep breaths and the faint flare of his nostrils made her wonder if he could actually catch the aroma of arousal that seemed to permeate her every pore.

He shuddered slightly, licking his lips. As if he could taste her on the air. Which simply inflamed her all the more.

Are you insane?
They were standing outside the diner, in broad daylight. Even if the people inside couldn’t see her, anybody walking up the street certainly could.

This crazy interlude—which was like having sex without
a single intimate touch—needed to stop. Now. And she knew how to stop it. Sheer bravado had gotten her out of many tough scrapes.

“So, uh, do you have a thing for tying girls up, hotshot? Does that make you feel strong?” she finally asked, intentionally baiting him. Her tone wasn’t suggestive and there was no purr of invitation that said she wanted him to subdue her.
Even though you do
. She was all gruff, bitchy attitude, albeit her voice was a tiny bit weak and breathy.

“Only those who need to be,” he growled. “And the thought of having you held in place, forced to lie back and be pleasured, doesn’t make me strong, it makes me weak in the knees.”

Oh, shit. Talk about out of the frying pan. Her own knees knocked together and she wobbled, needing to stick a hand out to steady herself. That hand landed on a big, broad chest.

“Stop it,” she whispered. “This is crazy.”

“Trust me,” he urged.

“Trust you? I don’t even know you.”

“Yes. You do,” he insisted. “Deep down, you know you do. Give me a chance. Come with me.”

She swallowed as he stepped closer. So close his boot slipped between her feet, his jean-covered leg sliding temptingly between her thighs. Hot and hard and so overwhelmingly male it was all she could do not to sink down and straddle him, ride him, use him to gain some much-needed release.

Gazing at the hint of skin revealed by the white shirt beneath his jacket, Penny’s mouth went dry. It had been a long time since she’d run her lips along a ridge of hard muscle or tasted salt-tinged male flesh.

That flesh was darkly tanned, the neck powerful with cords of muscle that met solid-granite shoulders. A hint of curly dark hair on his chest made her wonder how low it went, if it narrowed to a thin line down a flat, rippled stomach before disappearing into the waistband of his jeans.

“Please.”

For a second, she wasn’t sure if he’d whispered that word or she had.

Shaking her head hard, she forced her thoughts back where they needed to go. On the safe and normal present. Not on any wild, crazy adventures with Mr. Shagalicious Hotness.

“I can’t listen to this any longer. It’s crazy in there.”

Crazier out here
.

He hesitated, glanced over his shoulder toward the restaurant full of angry, impatient customers. Sighing heavily, he narrowed his eyes and stepped away. “All right. We’ll talk after you’re finished work.”

She let out an unamused laugh. “I’m not going to be out of here until 10:00 p.m., at the earliest.”

His jaw, which looked even swarthier than it had twenty minutes ago inside, clenched. “Ten o’clock? At night?”

“That’s generally what 10:00 p.m. means.” Realizing she might have sounded as though she was asking him to wait for her, she quickly clarified, “That wasn’t an invitation to come in and wait.”

“I don’t intend to.”

So much for convincing her. Penny couldn’t help wondering why the abrupt comment stung a little. “Whatever,” she said, stepping around him and tugging the door open.

He cleared his throat before she could step inside. “Nights are…” He looked up into the sky and rubbed a hand against his jaw. A big, strong hand. That stubborn, hard jaw. “…not good.”

Funny. She sensed a night with this man could be
very
good.

No. No thinking that way
. “I can’t do this. Not here. Not now. Please let me go,” she said.

“We don’t have much time, Penny.”

It was the first time he’d called her by her real name. Oh, it sounded nice from those lips. And a bit of her resolve melted.

But when she heard the clatter of crashing dishware, that resolve reformed and hardened. Inside, Callie stared helplessly at the floor. She’d dropped a tray filled with empty plates, probably unable to bear the weight.

“Damn,” Penny whispered, stabbed with guilt. “That’s it, we’re done.” Then without offering Lucas Wolf one last moment to try to change her mind, she strode inside and got back to work, determined to forget about the dark, mysterious man.

T
HIS WAS
definitely
going to be harder than he had expected.

Princess Penelope didn’t trust him. Considering Lucas had skimped on the details to make them somewhat more believable, he imagined she would run away screaming if he admitted where he
really
wanted to take her. Who she really was, who her mother had been. The whole, “There’s another world that everybody over here thinks is fiction, but really does exist,” issue.

She would have laughed in his face…even though she wanted him. Badly. Oh, he’d noticed. Her obvious lust for him had nearly driven him out of his mind.

He had never been so close to letting his primal urges wash over his human common sense than in those charged moments outside the diner. She couldn’t have been more inviting if she’d torn off her clothes and begged him to take her. Over. And over.

Heaven help him, he’d wanted to. Over. And over.

But even the hint of desire he’d shown had made things worse.

“You should have stayed all business,” he told himself as he rode on his Harley early that evening, having just turned around to head back to LeBeaux. He’d been cruising for hours, staying away from towns, not wanting to be around people. But the sky would soon darken. Even if his eyes hadn’t sensed the difference in the quality of the light through his sunglasses, he’d have known the sun would soon set. He could feel it in his blood. Feel the tug of the moon wanting to take over the sky.

If he were smart, he’d stay out until morning, not risk
trying to appear normal. Because, when the moon was full,
his
normal was a little different from that of the people on either side of the border. Nothing drastic, not like the stories of ravaging predators. But he couldn’t deny that he looked, acted and felt a bit strange at certain times of the month.

It could be worse. He wasn’t, after all, a full-blooded member of the Wolf clan, since his mother had been a human from over here. Most other Wolves had far more noticeable traits.

Feeling a hum against his hip, he remembered the cellular phone he used when visiting these lands. He kept it with the Harley, clothes, money and false identification in a small abandoned shack near the border. Only one person knew the cell phone number.

He pulled over onto the shoulder, thrust a booted heel against the kickstand and cut the engine. Pulling the phone out of his pocket, he answered, not surprised when he heard his half-brother’s voice.

“So you
are
here.”

“How did you know?”

Hunter, to whom Lucas’s mother had given birth after she’d left Lucas and his father to return to her own world, laughed softly. “I always call when the moon’s full on the chance you crossed over while you could.”

“Why?”

“Well,
you
might have a dozen half-brothers over on your side of the divide, but you are all
I’ve
got.”

“Don’t you have a mate now?” Lucas chuckled, knowing how to get under his brother’s skin. “A very attractive one as I recall.”

“Don’t think I’ll ever forget that you’ve seen her naked.”

“Oh, I won’t let you forget, I promise you,” Lucas replied, well remembering the day he’d climbed into bed with a sleeping woman who’d thought he was his brother.

At the time, Hunter had been tracking him, trying to capture Lucas for crimes he’d thought he had committed. Capturing
the woman had seemed the simplest way to get his brother to stop trying to kill him long enough to listen to the truth.

“If and when the day comes that you settle down, I might have to pay you back. Unless you end up with a real…dog.”

Hunter snickered, and Lucas rolled his eyes. “With such wit, you should be on that box for fools that everyone over here seems to be in love with. I can see you fitting in with the people on one of those, what are they called, reality shows?”

“One TV show about a bounty hunter is all the world needs.”

“I was thinking of the one where people with no singing ability perform in front of ridiculing judges. You’re a natural.”

“F. U.”

Lucas glanced at the sky. “I need to go.”

“Are you anywhere nearby? Want to meet up for a beer?”

Startled, since his relationship with Hunter had always been more of a long-distance one, both physically and emotionally, he replied, “Sorry. Nowhere near New Orleans.”

“Too bad. Scarlett would like to get to know you. One of these days, you need to stick around between full moons. I’d like to see you, but I’d prefer not to do it at that time of the month when you’re, you know, PMSing.”

“What’s PM—” He heard his brother laugh. “Never mind.”

After finishing the call, he again checked the western sky, noting the sun had dropped further toward the horizon. He was hours from LeBeaux. Riding under the stars with the powerful engine between his legs and the wind whipping through his hair was one of his favorite things to do over here.

So ride all night. Go back to see her in the morning.

The idea had merit, and probably made sense. Given his mood, not to mention his instantaneous reaction to her, he should steer clear until sunrise. All those dark, hungry urges he’d been so unsuccessful in hiding from her this morning would be more powerful tonight.

But an inner instinct wouldn’t let him stay away. He didn’t know why, but he had the sense that something was wrong. Maybe even dangerous. And Lucas trusted his sixth sense, he
always had. He felt compelled to go back to that dusty, dour little town. Back to
her
. Not tomorrow. Tonight.

He set off again, mentally deciding on a plan. He’d lay low, near her house, keeping an eye out for whatever danger he sensed was coming. Then he’d approach her first thing in the morning.

He had one more day to convince her. After that, the border crossing would be too thick to traverse. He’d have to go home, wait until the next full moon approached, then come back and try again. No way would he consider spending a full month over here.

Queen Verona, however, wasn’t the patient type. And while he had no intention of allowing Penny to marry that idiot Ruprecht, he still intended to fulfill the contract by bringing her back to her homeland. But he didn’t entirely trust Verona not to renege on the deal if she had a month to think about it.

No, he couldn’t wait a month. He simply had to convince the princess to come with him.

Or just take her
.

If he did that, however, he couldn’t guarantee they’d end up at the castle. Because taking her by force was one step from claiming her altogether. His deepest impulses already screamed for him to carry her to his cabin, lock them both inside and have her until she acknowledged what he already knew.

That she was his. Penny Mayfair, that beautiful, wild-haired, wild child, was the woman he wanted.

He still couldn’t quite believe it, even though he’d always been told it would happen. That someday, he would meet a female he couldn’t do without. Like others of his kind, he would know her and would do anything to have her.

It had nothing to do with love. It was simply the way he and those like him were made. Some believed every body contained only half a soul, that mates were simply the soul’s recognition of their other halves. Lucas had no idea whether that was true. He only knew he’d seen her, and he’d wanted her. Forever.

It was that simple.

There were a few sticky problems, however. He would be escorting her back to the homeland to be inspected for marriage. Oh, he knew Queen Verona would not allow Penny to wed her precious son. Lucas could deliver her, wait for the five minutes it took for the queen to faint in horror, then escort Penny out of the castle. Having completed the job he was hired to do, he would collect his payment—both gold and deed to some land the queen had offered to sweeten the deal—on his way out the door.

Afterward? Anything. First, he’d take her on a trip throughout the land she’d been denied since childhood. Something told him she was going to like that world. Perhaps it was the rebelliousness she exhibited here, where she
thought
she was supposed to be, that told him she was unhappy. Or maybe it was simply a recognition of someone who, like him, was never entirely sure where she belonged. Part of one world, part of another.

She might not stay.

His mother hadn’t been able to stand being away from her old life. She’d chosen it over her Wolf husband. And Lucas.

But Penny was different. She had been born over there. Elatyria was her home. Her birthright.

What if she decides to claim the
rest
of her birthright?

It was possible. She might decide to pursue her throne. The idea that a Wolf could end up with the Queen of Riverdale was almost as ridiculous as seeing Penny in the arms of that weak-kneed Ruprecht. But he’d deal with that when it happened.

The churning thoughts filled the trip back to LeBeaux, and by the time Lucas reached Penny’s hometown, darkness had fully descended. Each hour had brought the full moon—that enormous full moon—higher in the sky. The night wasn’t entirely clear and the white-gold orb was occasionally blocked by swathes of misty clouds as long and silky as great sheets of black cloth. Whenever its light was extinguished, he
felt the loss on every inch of his skin, each strand of his hair, right down to his core.

Just as everything else was bigger over here, including time itself, the moon seemed double its usual size. It consumed half the heavens, quietly powerful and mysterious, a silent answer to his own body’s cry for recognition.

Maybe this world wasn’t
all
bad.

Though he knew the princess’s address, instead of heading to her house, which he’d located this morning, he swung by the diner. Smart move, as it turned out. A quick glance confirmed she was closing the empty restaurant for the night.

“Long day, your majesty?” he murmured, watching from up the block as she and an older woman stood chatting outside. They were both softly silhouetted beneath a streetlight on the corner.

All the other shops around them were closed and dark. That wasn’t surprising, given the hour. This area of town boasted mostly small, dusty businesses and a few residences. The two people in front of the diner were the only ones in sight.

But they weren’t alone. Oh, no. A predator was in the vicinity.

Lucas wasn’t referring to himself.

He tensed, his heart pounding within his chest. Though his breaths remained even, they deepened, filling his lungs as if in preparation for some fierce exertion. Beneath his taut skin, his muscles tightened and flexed, instinctively readying for conflict. His fingers clenched tightly around the handlebars of his Harley, until the thick pads dug into his palms. He released them and curled his hands into two tight fists.

Why? What is it? What’s wrong?

He remained still, so still. His acute hearing picked up the soft murmur of the women’s voices. He heard nothing else.

It didn’t matter. He sensed the presence. Hell, maybe he just
smelled
something dark, ugly and malevolent.

He slowly stepped off the bike, moving silently into the shadow of a nearby shop. He walked lightly, not wanting even the sound of the heels of his boots hitting the sidewalk
to betray his proximity. Then, tucked safely out of sight, he froze, remaining motionless. Waiting.

Their conversation carried to his hypersensitive ears.

“Goodnight, Penny. Thanks again for working a double shift. Sorry you couldn’t run off with that sexy guy this morning.”

“Run off?” Penny said with a grunt. “You have no idea.”

“Well, if you get the chance again, you
go
for it,” the other woman said, reaching out and touching Penny with what appeared to be a tender hand. “I know you haven’t been happy since you came back here. As much as I love having you around, please don’t feel like you need to stay because of me.”

“Here’s as good as anywhere,” Penny replied, sounding wistful, resigned. Which merely cemented what he already suspected about her feelings for her homeland.

You don’t belong
.

“Besides,
you’re
here.” Though it didn’t seem like something that came naturally to her, Penny put her arms around the other woman’s shoulders and hugged. She just as quickly stepped back. “And you need me. Who else is going to haul your butt out of the fire when Gina calls in sick?”

“She’s going to have to grow up one of these days.”

The princess smiled. She looked younger now, softer in the darkness without the sun spotlighting the thick, unnatural makeup. “Keep dreaming.”

The women exchanged goodnights, then separated, heading in different directions. As she walked, Penny rubbed the back of her neck with one slim hand. The slump in her shoulders and the trudge of her feet told him she was exhausted. Not paying close enough attention to her surroundings.

Obviously she didn’t notice
him
, though he felt sure his heated stare must be burning her from a block away.

Knowing the danger was directed at Penny, not at her coworker, who’d walked off the other way, Lucas followed the princess. He remained on the opposite side of the street, hugging the buildings and the shadows and the silence. At one with the night.

As she left the puddle of light from the streetlamp behind her, Penny was completely swallowed by darkness. The next streetlight wasn’t working.

Coincidence?
Possible. But he doubted it.

The full moon played a game of hide-and-seek with the thick clouds that had followed him steadily from the west, so even it wasn’t able to provide much illumination. Yet he saw her, heard the soft scrape of her rubber-soled shoes on the sidewalk. If he stood still and concentrated all his attention on it, he thought he might even be able to hear the beating of her heart.

He also smelled the light, flowery scent—feminine, and at odds with her tough-girl appearance—wafting from her skin. Just as he’d smelled the wanton need arising from her this morning.