Howl & Growl: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set Read online

  But she’d had experience with men who’d tricked her into thinking they really wanted her and then tried to use her. They’d seen her lonely yet caring nature. They’d tried to take advantage of her, then when she wasn’t cravenly grateful for their attention they dumped her. She was lucky to retain her virginity. Besides, far too much had happened to her today for her to relinquish that to Zack. She wasn’t about to simply let go with him, however tempting he was. So much had happened in a short period of time. Memories flooded back, confusing her and leaving her shaking despite Zack’s alluring proximity.

  Worse, her body trembled with more than lust. She was afraid it wanted to become a dog again. “All right. My name is Dara. Now you. Explain,” she pleaded. “What’s happening to me?” Her voice cracked, the desperation in it raising Zack’s eyebrows. She pushed half-heartedly at Zack’s broad chest.

  In the twilight, Zack’s eyes glowed like twin candles. Her weak shove had no effect on him. He didn’t move away from her. “I can smell your arousal. And your fear. You want me. And we don’t have much time.”

  “What do you mean?” This time Dara’s shove meant business. It almost pushed him off her. It really didn’t help that Zack was correct. She did want him. More than was healthy.

  He exhaled, impatient. “I’m a lone wolf—I don’t have a pack of my own. Packs never want me to stick around. Reason for that is I have an unfortunate talent: I can scent true mates with total accuracy. It’s a matchmaking thing that I’m saddled with and every werewolf knows about it. I know right away when a couple is supposed to be together, and when they’re not. It’s a long story. Too long for now. What you need to know is I’m not popular around most existing couples and that I can tell when a pair bond is inevitable. I know. I can scent when a pair is doomed and when they’re meant to be. We’re meant to be,” he said meaningfully. His eyes gleamed. “Don’t you feel it? You and I have to mate now.”

  Dara glared at him. “Ever heard of dating? Why are you in such a hurry? Why doesn’t a pack value your talent more? Why--” Her words cut off with a gasp as she doubled up, clutching her belly. She groaned. Her limbs went icy and her fingers began to tremble.

  “It’s happening again,” Zack said grimly. He lowered his body onto hers. His large phallus pressed heavily against her inner thigh and nudged at her inner lips. “It’s not safe to wait anymore.”

  “No! Don’t!” Dara bit out despite the lovely warmth of his body against hers. His erect cock throbbed manfully against her thigh. He was as eager for her as she was for him. But she resisted. After what had happened with those other men, and what had happened to her own mother in these same woods so many years ago, she had to resist. “Don’t make me have sex with you. I don’t want to. Get off me.” She wondered if he would. He could, after all, smell how much she wanted him. It stripped more privacy from her than her nakedness. It also made her feel vulnerable.

  And excited, damn it.

  Zack groaned with frustration, then rolled half off her. His cock still lay snug against her leg, a large, hard temptation. He brought his hand up between her slightly parted legs and cupped her plump, downy pussy lips. “Dara, I’ve looked for you everywhere. I’ve waited so long for you. This is mine,” he growled. Then he hooked one large, warm finger into her slit.

  3

  The contact of his fingertip against her clit made her body go rigid with shocked pleasure. If his touching her nipples was a minor blast of sensation, then this was a major explosion. Dara cried out, and heard Zack’s low chuckle in response. He probed further, parting her slick folds to pinch her clit between thumb and forefinger. He twisted teasingly, cruelly. Friction set her afire as he twirled the nub with diabolically talented fingers, then dipped his head to lick at her breasts. Zack took the nearest nipple into his mouth, suckling and licking with firm, flickering movements that made her squirm with unfulfilled desire.

  She tried to work up the strength of will to push him away. “Zack… you have to stop.” She was dismayed at how sultry her voice sounded.

  “I don’t, actually.” He bit her nipple gently, scraping his teeth over her for a forever moment.

  She shuddered with fear and desire.

  Then her body shuddered harder. This was more than fear or desire. It was something distressing. “Zack,” she cried out with worry. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.” Her body seemed to ripple. She whimpered with fear.

  “I do,” Zack said grimly, speeding his finger’s stroke. Temporarily distracting her. “You’re about to change again. What I’m doing is the only thing in the world centering you, tethering you. It would be extremely dangerous for you to change to a dog again, Dara. We probably won’t be able to change you back again. So don’t do it.”

  She forced herself to gather her thoughts. “You have to help me,” she pleaded. “But not with sex. I’m a virgin. And… my mother was hurt in these woods. A stranger—my father—did horrible things to her. She died giving birth to me nine months later. I don’t want my first time to be violent and forced.” She was crying in earnest now. Her body might be betraying her to Zack, screaming for more of his touches, but her mind held firm.

  On hearing her words, Zack froze, the look on his face revealing his extreme struggle with himself. “Fine,” he finally growled. “But this much, at least, has to be done. You’ll shift again if I don’t. Forgive me.” His fingers, formerly cleverly gentle, suddenly pinched her clit and twisted with a savagery that made her yelp with surprise. “Feel this, Dara, if you want me to save you. Feel me, your mate. Feel my domination. Wolves like it rough. It’s what you are. It’s the way you want it whether you know it or not. Let yourself respond to me. I’m your mate and I only want your safety. Your happiness. Let me make you happy.” His deliciously brutal touch combined with his intense voice made her incredibly wet for him. She writhed and groaned at what he was making her feel.

  Then his mouth snapped shut on one of her nipples and his hot, slick tongue caressed the sensitive pebble of flesh, driving a cry of ecstasy from her.

  His fingers convinced her further. He brought his thumb into play, flicking her clit as his fingers spread and plundered her. Her wetness eased his way as his thick index finger invaded her cleft further, at first shallowly then deeper. His finger penetrated her just enough to make her crave his huge cock. It could do the job so much more thoroughly.

  Then a second finger joined the first, stretching her painfully but not filling her. Then the fingers hooked upward, touching and rubbing her in a place just inside her opening that sent a throbbing thrill throughout her body.

  Her strange shaking shudders receded, pushed back by the heat Zack gave her. Together with his teeth on her nipples and his thumb on her clit, Zack’s onslaught made her gasp and moan helplessly. Her body arched, half overwhelmed with the painful intensity of sensation and half aching for more. In response to the sensual attack, her change faded further, making her feel centered yet helplessly eager for more of his touches.

  Dara realized she was in diabolically good hands. His touch made her buck up against him, and she realized she’d become desperate for his cock. She needed it. Zack’s masterful playing of her body almost made her forget he was making her squirm in the dirt in the middle of the forest. She ached for so much more, wanting him despite herself.

  His harsh breaths and hypnotically rhythmic fingering swept her up in the moment. She almost forgot her shameful nudity. And his. His cock’s pre-cum made it slip more easily against her leg. He was hard as a rock. She could vividly imagine Zack’s cock piercing her virginal opening and shoving in deep.

  Despite her fears and her reservations, his girthy finger inside her made her burn for his big, hard cock to pound her virginity away.

  Her curvy thighs trembled with need. She let Zack open her further. He seemed to truly want her as much as she wanted him. He must not be able to see her large body very well. She shouldn’t allow this to happen. “Please,” she begged him. She wasn’t sure
if she was begging for Zack to take her or for him to back off. Her mind reeled with confusion as her pleasure spiraled higher.

  She was helpless to halt either her doubts or her impending orgasm. The hot contact of his rubbing thumb and the delightful fullness of his internally rubbing fingers sent her into a frenzy. The sensation inside her had her nearly mindless, the way he aimed his touch inside to hit her in a way that sent desire spiking all through her body.

  All the while, Zack’s teeth scraped and his tongue flickered on first one bare nipple, then the other, as if he was ravenous for her and just couldn’t decide what to eat first. His cock moved rhythmically against her thigh, throbbing but not penetrating, just undeniably there. It felt frighteningly large and hard as rock. She shouldn’t want a stranger’s bare cock thrusting into her. She knew she shouldn’t.

  But just the thought of it filling her sent her over the edge. The fantasy of Zack fucking her made the passion at the core of her body spill outward in a sudden, shocking tidal wave of lust. She shouted aloud with the erotic pleasure of it, yielding to the searing need that had been building from the first moment Zack’s body touched hers. Electricity seemed to arc through her and her body exploded into a million pieces.

  Her whole body spasmed as she enjoyed the most intense orgasm she’d ever had.

  Dara panted on the ground, all her troubles for the moment forgotten. Zack slowly, reluctantly released her nipple from his mouth and withdrew his fingers, with a sinuous trailing touch that made her arch toward him shamelessly. His body met hers in a brief contact that seared like liquid fire. One thrust, and Zack would be embedded in her. Just one thrust. Her thoughts fragmented as his hands smoothed the sides of her body, as if memorizing her curves. Another emotion joined her lust. Zack was making her feel cherished.

  A warmth kindled in her heart that had nothing to do with the amazing orgasm he’d given her. She looked up at him wonderingly.

  Zack’s eyes gleamed a silvery yellow that seemed part moonlight and part gold. “Tell me you want me. Tell me you want me right now.” He was clearly ready to accommodate her.

  “I…” The words poised on the tip of Dara’s tongue.

  Then she remembered. She was in the forest. At night. And, naked. Vulnerable.

  “No! Please take me home.” She started to tremble again, only partly in reaction to his appealing masculine proximity. “I need time to think about all of this.”

  He shook his head slowly. Chills ran down her spine and the night grew suddenly cold as Zack rolled away from her. “I can’t allow that.”

  Even as he moved away, Dara was reaching for her clothes. “What do you mean?” Her hands grasped dirt and pine needles before she remembered she had none. As a Golden Retriever, she’d had a fur coat and no need for clothes.

  Reaction hit her, making her hyperventilate. “I’m going crazy. I didn’t really change into a dog, did I?” Dara scrambled away from Zack. But this time he was ready, and scrambled right after her. He hauled her to her feet with a lack of gentleness that made her moan with fear. It didn’t hurt, exactly, but his roughness was startling.

  “Stop moaning,” Zack commanded, pulling her by the wrists after him. “There’s no time for it, and I’m not going to hurt you unless you make me.”

  Dara didn’t like the sound of that, and yet her body tingled, its manhandled nerve endings still delightfully sensitive from Zack’s sensual work. That had to be the only reason she felt such a surge of need at his fierce words.

  She tried not to look at his magnificent backside, but the light of the rising moon highlighted his muscular rear to perfection.

  When he got her to his truck, he held her by one arm as he rummaged around in the cab. When he pulled out a coil of rope, Dara shook her head. “Oh, no you don’t.”

  To his credit, his expression was solemn, even pained while he began to wrap the rope around one of her wrists. Then the other. When he turned her to thread the rope around her elbows, behind her back, Dara felt his undiminished erection brush against her nude thigh. She noted with amazement that it felt huge and harder than ever before. She yelped softly, jerking away from him, but not before she heard Zack’s soft curse. “Dara. Please don’t make this more difficult than it has to be. It was bad enough back there. Touching you. Smelling you. I can still smell your arousal,” he growled, jerking her against him for a moment. Dara gasped. He thrust her away. “I can’t handle your little noises and your jiggling around right now.”

  At the word “jiggling,” Dara frowned. The residual warmth of the lovemaking seemed to vanish at the reminder of her nakedness. She grew self-conscious once more. How she hated the reminder that her larger, curvier form wasn’t a gym-rat’s hardbody anymore. Not that it ever really had been. She liked food too much, and sweating too little. She did more than enough sweating at work from walking and playing with her beloved dogs.

  For a magical moment, Zack had had her convinced he cherished her curves. Crashing back to reality, Dara tried to lift her hands to cover her “jiggling” parts, but the rope restrained her effectively. Anger flared up. “If you don’t like the way I jiggle then don’t look.”

  Instead of answering, he exhaled with frustration and marched her to the back of his truck. She noticed the truck’s bed was open to the sky and held a rolled-up foam pad, which Zack unfurled by plucking the fasteners on either side. The thin blanket on top was folded over, sleeping-bag style.

  Dara glared at Zack. He lifted her up and tossed her onto the makeshift bed. She landed softly on her side, immediately curling into a ball to hide her private parts. At least the bed was comfortable.

  Turning her head miserably, she could see the dark sky scattered with millions of stars. The nighttime breeze had little bite. Surprisingly, she felt safe here in the forest that had always terrified her, at least here in Zack’s truck. She realized it was due to Zack’s presence. Despite his having manhandled her and tied her up, he inexplicably made her feel protected. She looked at him watching her. He was still magnificently naked. Beautiful and careless as a statue. A hard statue. In other circumstances… But this had gone on long enough.

  Dara slammed a fist against the bedding. It muffled the sound to a neutered whump. “Please. You have to stop this craziness now. I want to get out of here, I want my clothes, I want you to take me home. You’ll be in big trouble soon if you don’t. I have friends who’ll look for me. Family too. Lots of friends and family.”

  “Don’t lie. You’re bad at it.” Zack gazed calmly at her, his evaluating expression at odds with his matchless erection. “If you had lots of friends and family, you wouldn’t have changed into a domestic animal. In fact, having just one serious boyfriend that you slept with could have prevented it. You’ve been alone most of your life, haven’t you? And you’re around dogs a lot. That Golden Retriever especially. She has your affection. Your pet?”

  Dara felt her mouth hanging open. She shut it. “How did you…? The dog was Goldilocks. My favorite at the vet’s where I work. I was going to adopt her…”

  Zack nodded. “But the dog’s owner showed up. He must’ve threatened the dog or hurt her, to trigger you that way. I think Goldilocks escaped into the forest. We can go after her when you’re stabilized.”

  “What do you mean, stabilized?” Dara clutched the blanket, feeling animal hairs under her fingertips. “Stabilized?” If anyone was unstable it was Zack. She spoke softly to convince him. “Wouldn’t it be more helpful to get me to a doctor if you think I’m sick in the head?”

  “It’s not a sickness. It’s more of a condition. I want to help you with it. If you’d just let me.” Zack stopped talking and gripped the edge of the truck bed with a white-knuckled grip. “Let me. You are so damn tempting.”

  So now he thought she was tempting? She glanced at his erection. Maybe he did. His animalistic desire gratified her even though she knew it shouldn’t. It was probably only some kind of automatic werewolf mating instinct. His woodsy, masculine scent wafted to her
and she inexplicably got wet for him. Did Zack’s scent carry special pheromones? He was definitely messing with her mind somehow. It would help if he stopped talking crazy with that erection aimed at her. Dara tried harder not to look at it. “You’re frightening me.”

  Zack’s fingers left the truck bed. He clenched his fists and didn’t move any closer to her. “You’ve made your feelings about me known. I’m going to get more rough with you if I don’t leave immediately. I’m going for a run until I can get my control back.”

  “Okay, but…”

  He’d already started away, but turned back at her voice. The moonlight gilded his features and made his eye glimmer supernaturally. “What? Invite me to stay. Invite me now.”

  She wanted to say yes. Her body cried out for his, but she made herself shake her head. He was leaving her alone. Her throat prickled with emotion: fear, attraction, loss. If he left, she’d feel less safe. Which was stupid.

  He was waiting. She thought of something to tell him. She nodded at her bound limbs. “If I change again this rope won’t hold me. I’ll slip out and run away. Aren’t you concerned about me getting away?”

  Zack didn’t smile. Or come any closer. “You’re meant for me. One way or another, you’re mine. Anywhere you run, I’ll find you.” He shook his head. “You don’t understand yet. Or you’re just not listening. If you change again into that Golden Retriever form so soon, I don’t think anyone can help you change back. You’ll live and die a dog. But I don’t think you will change again so soon.” Now he smiled, a wicked quirk of his lips. “The orgasm I gave you is meant to hold you along with the ropes. Let me show you what else I can do to you. You’re driving me insane, Dara. You smell like my mate. Mine!” His voice roughened and his body blurred as it hunched and sprouted fur. It happened quickly.