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He scrubbed a hand over his face. "You shouldn't have come after me. That was dangerous."
Wrinkling her brow, she asked, "How did you know I came after you?"
Sam rose, presenting her with his ta
Despite the nice view, Laura wouldn't be distracted from the conversation. "If you know that about me you know me better than I know myself," she assured him. "But I was worried about you. There's a wolf in the woods. I heard it howling last night. I think it chased me all the way to the cabin."
When he turned, she had an even nicer view of his broad bare chest. "And you were afraid."
She forced her gaze to lift. "Of course I was afraid. I was terrified the thing would eat me."
He sat beside her again, taking her cold hands into his warms ones. "What if I told you that you didn't have to be afraid of the wolf? That it would never hurt you?"
Sam looked perfectly serious. Was he also perfectly crazy? "How can you be certain of that?"
"I've seen the wolf before. He won't harm a human. At least not unless he's threatened."
The feel of Sam's strong hands holding hers had a calming effect. "Is the wolf someone's pet around here?"
"I suppose you could say that."
"Then he's domesticated?"
"As domesticated as a wolf can be."
Now she understood. "He's like a dog?"
Sam flinched. "Well, no, he's not like a dog. He's a wolf."
Laura wasn't even sure she liked dogs. She was fairly certain she didn't like wolves. "None of this explains exactly what you were doing ru
Releasing her hands, Sam rose and went into the kitchenette. He poured himself a cup of coffee. "I like to run around naked at night. It's a rush."
How could ru
He nearly spewed the sip of coffee he'd just taken. "Hell no, Laura. An exhibitionist likes people to see them naked. If I wanted that, I wouldn't run naked in an isolated area in the dead of night."
That was a relief. "Well, I can see where you might want to be," Laura admitted. "You have a pretty impressive package."
His laugh broke the tension between them. Sam returned to her, leaned in close and nibbled her earlobe. "Your fla
Her husband was still the man she fell in love with, even if Laura had discovered a peculiar quirk about him. He'd discovered things he didn't know about her too. Maybe eight months wasn't long to get to know someone, but Laura was still certain she'd done the right thing by marrying Sam. Their love needed reaffirming after a stormy night. She knew the perfect way. Exposing a glimpse of fla
"Come back to bed. It was a long night without you."
THEY'D SPENT MOST OF THE DAY IN BED, enjoying one another, laughing, teasing, but night had fallen and Sam worried about sneaking out without waking Laura again. He also wondered if the curse might be broken now so he wouldn't have to run away. If it wasn't, the cycle ended for him tomorrow. But it only ended until the next one. Could he manage to deceive Laura for the rest of their lives? Sam didn't want to. Maybe after they'd been married for a while, Laura could accept the truth.
Snuggled beside him, his wife said, "Something just occurred to me."
He kissed the top of her head. "What's that?"
"I'm afraid of a wolf and my last name is now Wulf." It had taken her a while to make that co
Since he'd honestly believed the curse would be broken for him on their wedding night, Sam decided on a wait-and-see approach concerning his children. No need to worry Laura u
"See, you shouldn't be afraid of him. You're practically related," he finally responded.
She giggled and snuggled closer. "You've worn me out. I'm going to sleep like the dead tonight."
He hoped so. If nothing had changed for him, Sam must leave her soon. What else could break the curse if simply finding his soul mate and marrying her wasn't the answer? There had been something said about a man facing his greatest enemy. As far as Sam knew, he didn't have any enemies. Could the verse be an archaic way of saying a man must face his greatest fear? Losing Laura was his greatest fear. The only way to face that was to tell her the truth.
If he did, Laura, terrified of the woods and the creatures that dwelled within them, would want to be as far away from her new husband as possible. Unless he taught her that not all creatures were to be feared. There was a way Sam might prove that to Laura. But she wasn't going to like it.
THE CABIN WAS FREEZING. EVEN LAURA'S FLANNEL PAJAMAS weren't cutting the mustard tonight. She scooted past the crack that resulted from pushing two bunks together in search of Sam's warmth. Not only was the warmth absent, so was her husband. It was still dark. Light failed to penetrate the ugly drapes she'd pulled closed before they went to bed. But she did see a sliver of moonlight coming from the open door.
"Sam?" she called, hoping he was somewhere in the cabin.
No answer.
"Good grief." Laura threw back the covers. "If you must run naked in the woods at night, you could at least close the door behind you!"
Although complaining did no good, it made her feel better. She was about to get out of bed when she spotted it. A shadow to her left. A set of glowing eyes. A scream rose in her throat. She bit it back, afraid the response might spur an attack from the animal.
When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Laura realized the shadow was that of a wolf. It must be the same one she'd seen the night before—the one Sam told her wouldn't harm a human. But her husband wasn't around to chase it back outside where it belonged.
"Nice wolf," she said. "Go back outside now."
The wolf rose and moved toward her. Laura rolled off the other side of the bed and made a mad dash for the door. Adrenaline pumping, she actually made it and ran outside, pulling the door shut behind her.
"Ah-ha!" she yelled. "Tricked you, didn't I?"
Her cockiness lasted only a second. It was cold outside. The car was locked and the keys were inside the cabin. The only choice Laura had was to go in search of Sam. She knew it wasn't a good idea to traipse off into the woods without a flashlight or anything to mark her trail, but she had to at least look. Maybe Sam wasn't far from the cabin.
Taking off in the direction she'd seen Sam run the night before, Laura tried to keep a level head. The full moon lit her way, but it also outlined the trees. They still looked scary. Her breath steamed on the night air and her socks were wet because of the thick dew on the ground. Behind her, the wolf continued to howl, almost as if warning Laura to return.
"Yeah, come back so I can eat you," she said with a snort. "Sam!"
No answer.
As she moved farther into the trees, the silence around her should have been comforting; instead it made her feel as if she'd fallen off the face of the earth. How could Sam stand to run around naked in the cold at night? Laura was freezing. She blew on her hands and would have stomped her feet if she wasn't afraid she'd step on something and injure herself.