Sarah moved through the woods along the riverbank, peace seeping into her soul with each step she took. After burying her grandmother just yesterday the wind rustling through the treetops and the sound of rushing water was a balm to her sorrow. Grandma's home was now her home including all the wooded property behind it. Lost in the peace and serenity she so desperately needed Sarah went deeper into the forest than she had ever been before. It quite shocked her when she came upon the house. Her grandmother had never mentioned a house in the woods. It was very large, a two story with nearly all of the windows broken. Green chipped shutters clung to the house on rusty hinges while others had given up the fight and lay along the ground in broken, jagged pieces of rotting wood. The rest of the house had great patches of bare wood where the white paint was entirely gone and now stood unprotected against the elements.
That natural urge to explore, the kind that one always gets when one sees an old school house or industrial building, the wonder of what it actually looked like back in its hey day grew inside her. Impetuously Sarah decided to act on that impulse. Stepping carefully onto the studs that made up the skeleton of the porch, she was just about to enter the doorless entryway when a low, rumbling growl sounded behind her. The sound crept over her raising the hair on her arms and sending fear streaking like lightning through her body. Turning as slowly as possible, Sarah was stunned to see a huge wolf, larger than any she had ever seen in any zoo standing no more than ten feet away from her, its teeth bared in a ferocious snarl and the reddish brown hair of its hide standing on end.
When it advanced, Sarah retreated. It continued stalking forward forcing Sarah slowly backward until she had passed through the doorway. Expecting to be attacked at any moment, fear was like a living thing roiling around inside her. The wolf herded her up the central staircase, down the corridor into one of the dilapidated bedrooms stopping only when she was cornered in a small closet.
This was it, she thought, now he'll attack and I'll be dead. It didn't happen that way. It didn't happen at all. Dropping down onto its belly, the wolf laid his head down on top of his paws and stared at her. It was very disconcerting, that stare, containing an intelligence that was almost human-like as it traveled along Sarah's form. For some reason it reminded her of other male stares, the kind where you feel like you've been stripped of your clothes.
Several hours and one unsuccessful attempt at escape later she was still there having learned very quickly that any attempt to escape would be met with a vicious snap of his teeth and several deep-throated growls.
Dusk was turning the inside of the house dark, so dark that visibility became a challenge, but Sarah didn't need sight to know the wolf was still there, she could hear his breathing through the silence of the room.
Waking with a start to the soft glow of candlelight, Sarah could hardly believe she had actually fallen asleep with a dangerous animal ready to attack her at any moment. Her gaze jumped to where the wolf had been and still was, but now was not alone. He had gained a companion. In the center of the room stood a man so handsome he nearly took her breath away. She couldn't help but stare completely forgetting the wolf entirely as she looked her fill. His long blond haired, gleaming like spun gold in the flickering candlelight, was left free from any confines to drape over his massive shoulders, ending about mid-chest. The face had an Old World elegance to it with firm features that spoke of an ageless strength and the dark compelling eyes that stared back at her were a deep onyx. The white silk shirt he wore clung to his chest, hinting at the taut, muscular structure beneath while soft black trousers outlined his powerful thighs, the cuffs tucked into polished black riding boots.
His voice when he spoke was cultured with a silken undertone that set Sarah's senses screaming awake and shudders of rippling awareness arcing through her flesh to pool low in her nether regions. "Let's see what you have found for us, Dominic. Come out of the closet my dear. There is no protection from me in there."
"No." But even as she said that her body was moving forward, forced by the allure of his voice and the demand in his eyes to do his bidding. With increasing alarm she tried to resist only realizing that her will alone was not enough to defeat the preternatural power he wielded.
He lowered his eyes and began a leisurely foray of her figure, lingering at her gently rounded hips and high, firm breasts. She felt naked and exposed by his perusal, yet there was also pride in his obvious enjoyment of her body.
In the time it took her to blink he had moved and was now standing right next to her. His hand lifted, sliding into her auburn tresses. Raising them to his face he captured her with his eyes, mesmerizing her until she could not look away while he inhaled the flowery scent clinging to her hair. Desire smoldered in the depths of his eyes, leaving her feeling equal amounts of fear and excitement.
"She looks to be quite a tasty morsel, Dominic. However did you find her?" He paused as if waiting for the wolf to reply.
From behind him came a yip of pain followed by the most horrible sounds of breaking bones and splashing blood onto the wooden floor. It seemed to go on for an eternity until finally with a last eerie howl of pain the noises ceased.
Giving Sarah a wicked smile the blonde devil shifted to the side, giving her a clear view of the room. Eyes widening she could feel heat staining her cheeks. Where the wolf had been there was now a man, a very naked man. He was glorious to look upon with long waist-length curls in a deep brown color that had red highlights mixed throughout. He was handsome in a rough sort of way, with high cheekbones and a slightly crooked nose. He smiled at Sarah while she studied him showing gleaming white teeth that in one minute looked normal and the next slightly pointed and sharper. Taller than the blonde by a few inches, he was broad shouldered, lean and muscular. The shaft between his legs drew Sarah's attention; it grew in size, as she looked until it was standing erect and rock hard. He had more than enough to make a girl happy but not so much that it would be painful.
Her blonde captor cleared his throat startling Sarah out of her reverie and bringing back the blush that had just left her. And when her eyes raised to stare into the naked mans warm amber eyes she realized with only a mild amount of fear and a great deal of fascination that the wolf and the man were one and the same.
Thoughts whirled around in her chaotic head with the speed of a tornado. A werewolf, that's what he was. She hadn't believed until now that they existed. So if he was a werewolf, what did that make his partner?
"I caught her trying to explore the house." His voice was smooth and strong with a slight gravely undertone that had to come from his animal nature. "I would have killed her but then it seemed such a waste to destroy something so appealing. What do you think Braeden. Should we keep her?"
"She'll definitely liven things up." Braeden once more stood in front of her, staring at her, into her. Sarah felt those magnetic black eyes all the way to her soul. It seemed as if his spirit were inside her, overriding her will and replacing it with his own so that when he commanded her to sleep it caused an immediate reaction, shutting down her mind and body.
She felt his arms wrap around her just as she slumped. Then she knew no more.
* * *
Sarah awoke disoriented, lying in an extremely large bed covered in black satin sheets. Glancing down the length of her body she could see that either Braeden or Dominic had dressed her in a long silk nightgown the color of blood as if first wells up from a cut. The thought of them seeing her naked brought the familiar blush to her cheeks.
Looking away from the disturbing color of the gown, she studied the room she was in. Candlelight flickered over smooth stone walls of a deep gray from sconces placed throughout the room while a huge fire crackled in a carved out niche in one wall keeping the room at a comfortable temperature. Lifting up she surveyed the entire room, every shadow and corner, even going so far as to get up off the bed, somewhat unsteadily, and checking underneath the bed.
