Chapter 6

Roosevelt

Fuck me. This woman was addictive. As much as I wanted to feel her soft, moist pussy wrapped around my cock, I ' d be content to just spend the night kissing her, tasting her, exploring every inch of her perfect body.

But I also knew that her coming here, seeking me out was the most important event of both of our lives. The outcome of this week would determine the course of the rest of our lives and I couldn ' t let sex get in the way.

So with great reluctance, I ended the kiss. Closing my eyes, I pressed my forehead against hers, our breaths synchronizing. In and out. I took another moment to savor the feel of her before rolling off of her and to the blanket, pulling her body close to mine. With a satisfied sigh, she snuggled tight to me, closing her eyes and placing her head on my chest.

" Look over there. "

" Huh? " She opened her eyes and looked to where I was pointing.

" On the other side of the lake. "

She frowned as she searched for what I was pointing to and then a wide grin spread across her face. " Are those fireflies? "

" They are. "

" They ' re beautiful. " She slowly sat up into a sitting position. " I ' ve never seen them in person before." She looked over at me and then back at the fireflies. " It ' s amazing. "

He sat and watched them in silence, listening to the symphony of the frogs and crickets.

" How about a swim? " Standing, I kicked off my shoes and then began to undo my pants.

" I don ' t have a suit ," she stated, pushing herself to her feet and standing next to me.

I looked down at her, eyebrow raised. " Is that a problem? If you ' re shy... "

" I ' m not shy. " She protested as she pulled her t-shirt up and over her head.

" That so ?" Pushing my jeans down, I kicked them off, and then grabbed the hem of my shirt, pulled it up and over my head, and tossed it to the ground with the pants.

" That ' s so. " She gave me a nod as she stripped the rest of her clothing and stood before me beautifully naked, basking in the moonlight and glowing like a goddess.

I inhaled sharply. " Damn." I tried not to look, but I ' m only human. Well, werewolf. Same principle applied.

" Race you to the water. " She giggled as she took off for the lake.

" You ' re on." Shedding the remainder of my clothing I took off after her, easily overtaking her and diving into the water, coming up in the middle of the lake. Raking a hand through my hair I watched her dive in after me.

She seemed to remain under for an eternity. When she re-emerged she was treading water a couple of feet away. " Okay, you beat me, but not by much. Next time. "

" You ' re on."

" After waiting tables all day a swim is just what I needed. " She ducked under the water before I could respond.

" Sophia? "

The water splashed behind me and arms slipped around my waist, her breasts pressed against my bare back. Damn, maybe this wasn ' t a great idea. The idea was to cool off and bring the heat level between us down a notch, but all it was doing was keeping my dick at full attention. If her hands slipped just a little lower I ' d be in trouble.

Her being here was to test whether we were in fact destined to be together. Lust can be felt with virtually anyone, but true love. That ' s unique and special. Sex would just make things more complex. I needed to keep my head straight and not allow my dick to take over.

Spinning around in the water, I turned to face her. When I did, she slipped her arms around my neck and pressed against me, her lips desperately seeking out mine. A growl erupted from me as I grabbed her, pulling her tight, my lips crashing down onto hers. Her lips were so soft and inviting. Her tongue tasted of wine and berries.

The beast within cheered me on.

Dammit. I was moments away from taking her here in the water.

Pulling away, I began to swim.

Sophia

" Come on Roosevelt. Get back here and finish what we started! "

I wasn ' t sure if I was more annoyed or amused by him playing hard to get. It wasn ' t the usual reaction I got from men when I offered myself to them. I ' d felt his erection against me, he wanted me as much as I wanted him. Swimming off, leaving my pussy craving him deep inside of me was just cruel.

If what he and the townsfolk that I ' d talked to throughout the day said was true , then we had less than a week to decide if we wanted to be together. Sex was an important part of a relationship. We needed to know if we were compatible, didn ' t we? At least that was my excuse for wanting to fuck him when I was just beginning to know him.

He stopped swimming about twenty feet from me, I could just make out the outline of his shoulders and head above water. " I ' m keeping my distance because if I was near you I ' d certainly finish what we started. "

" Then what ' s the problem?"

I could hear him sigh before swimming back to me. " One taste of you would lead to two and three. If I had my way we wouldn ' t leave the bed for the entire time you ' re here. The bed, the prep counter, the blanket in the sand, the lake. I ' ve thought of them all already."

" The prep table? At the restaurant? "

He brushed his lips along the side of my neck. " We could get very inventive in the kitchen. "

My pussy clenched at the thought of having him devour me for days on end. With him being a wolf would he be wild in bed? Would he be able to fuck me for hours on end? My body was demanding to know the answers.

" What ' s wrong with that? " I pressed my body close to him as I nipped at the side of his neck. His body was so warm, much warmer than the other men I ' d been with. " Is your body always this warm? "

" Werewolves run a little hot, yes. " Slipping his arm around my waist he pulled me closer to the shore where we could stand. " As much as I would love to taste every inch of your body right now. I think sex will just get in the way of us discovering each other. "

I knew he was right. My body wished he wasn ' t, but it made sense. Even if I didn ' t completely believe this curse business it was evident that he did. With great reluctance, I swam out of his arms.

Nibbling on my lower lip, I looked up and into his eyes. " Maybe we should eat some of that delicious picnic you packed and get to know each other then. "

" Good idea. " Taking my hand he led me back to the beach.

Laying naked on the blanket, facing each other we began the feast he ' d prepared. The conversation was so smooth and easy that it was crazy to think that I had just met him yesterday. It felt like I ' d know n him all my life. Maybe it was that we had an amazing connection, and maybe it was the curse. It was hard to say which, all I knew was that I wanted to spend more time with him. I wanted to know every single detail of his life before we met and his aspirations for the future.

I wanted to know it all and wanted to be with him moving forward.

Once the food was finished and the bottle of wine empty, he stood and began getting dressed. " It ' s getting late, we should be getting home. "

" What ' s the sudden rush?" Despite my question, I got to my feet and started getting dressed as well. " Are there bears or something in the woods?"

As if on cue, a series of howls echoed, breaking the tranquility of the still night sending a chill down my spine.

" There are bears, but they aren ' t what I ' m concerned about. I ' m not the only werewolf in town. There ' s many others living in town and last night was the full moon. Most will still be in wolf form, roaming the woods. I ' d rather not have any trouble. "

" Trouble how? " Grabbing the basket, I placed it in the back of the Jeep. " I mean, they ' re your friends, right? "

" You may have been sent here for me, but that doesn ' t mean one of the other werewolves in town won ' t try to claim you as their own. "

" Does that happen? "

" From time to time. " He opened the door to the Jeep and helped me inside. " This can be a lonely place without a mate. Most of us just put the time in hoping their connection will come. " He started to turn away from me, then reconsidered, facing me again. " I ' ve waited a very long time for you. It ' s part of the reason why I don ' t want to ruin things by having us move too fast. "

I watched him as he rounded the front of the Jeep and hopped in. He started the engine just as another series of howls began.

" We ' ve got less than a week. I think fast is the only way to go in this situation."

" I know. " Reaching out to me, he placed a hand on my knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. " But it ' s not just about what I want. It ' s also about your life and if it ' s fair to even ask you to remain here with me for an unknown amount of time. We might be the ones to break the curse, but it may never be broken. I don ' t take that lightly ." He looked over at me, catching my gaze for a moment. " And neither should you. "

We remained silent for the rest of the trip home. A few times I could have sworn I saw amber eyes similar to Roosevelt's peeking out from the treeline. But in the blink of an eye, they were gone, if they had even been there at all.

He pulled into the front yard and cut the engine. The urgency that had appeared on his face at the lake seemed to have faded as he helped me out and led me inside.

" So what do we do now? " My eyes drank in his living room. It was cozy. What you ' d expect for a cottage in the woods, minus the animal head mounted to the wall. A far cry from the modern homes with state-of-the-art appliances and living room sets that cost as much as some people make in a year. I was beginning to think I didn ' t need those things to be truly happy.

" I don ' t know about you, but I ' m tired. I was out until the early hours this morning for the shift. "

" Want to cuddle in bed and watch some television? " Walking up to him, I wrapped my arms around his waist, placing my head on his shoulder.

" We don ' t have satellite signals here. No television. "

I crinkled my nose up at him. " How does all the electricity work? "

" We have no idea. Things just work. The gas stations always have fuel. The water always runs and electricity is always flowing. Must be the magic of this place."

" Wow." No television. No phone. No contact with the outside world. No more podcasts or social media. Staying here would mean sacrificing everything I knew and living a life that was entirely new.

As if reading my mind, he continued. " That ' s why you can ' t make a rash decision. Your world will change. Mind you , there are also benefits. There ' s no stress here. We just live our lives. We don ' t have to hide who or what we are in fear that humans won ' t accept us. While we ' re captive here, we ' re also freer than we ' ve ever been. Does that make sense?"

Looking up into his eyes, I nodded. " It does. "