CHAPTER TEN
Stetson rolled onto the bed and pulled Poppy into his arms. He unwrapped the tie from around her wrists. He found himself wishing that he had allowed her to touch him, although he wasn’t sure he would have been able to control himself if he had. His animal form had been so close to the surface throughout, brought on by his sheer desire for the woman who quivered beneath him. He could only imagine how she might have reacted if he had changed while on top of her. His human weight was already crushing to a small human like Poppy. He could only imagine what the crushing weight of the knowledge that he was a wolf would do to her. He hoped he would never have to inflict that kind of dangerous truth on a woman as wonderful as her. He found himself thinking of Brett and Bronte, wondering not for the first time whether he might be able to have something like that. But the thought of losing Poppy to his secret was unbearable.
The sudden urge to go for a run almost overwhelmed him. He felt the need to shift growing ever closer to the surface. His heart thundered rapidly in his chest as he felt Poppy’s warmth beside him. It wasn’t until he heard the soft murmurings of her drifting into sleep that he realized he might be able to sneak out.
I hope she’s a heavy sleeper, he thought to himself as he began to carefully slip himself out from beneath her. Even as he did so, he couldn’t help but think of how not ten minutes before he had been deep inside her, thrusting his cock so deep that all she could do was scream his name. For him, that had been gentle, for him, he’d been going easy on her. He knew that and that was what scared him. The thought of hurting her had him ready to run, ready to sneak out of her bed. Though he felt guilty for leaving in such a way, he knew that if he stayed, he would be putting her in greater danger than she already was.
It was that thought that made him leave his clothes as they were, strewn across the floor like remains of what they had just done. He slipped from the room quickly and quietly and clicked the bedroom door shut behind him. For a moment, he paused to listen for any sign from inside that she might have woken. When he heard nothing, he began to make his way to the stairs and the back door and the relative safety of the woods beyond the hedge-line of the garden.
His hands began to tremble as he felt his claws start to grow from his fingertips. He had to bite the inside of his lip to stop the change from coming on too quickly. He needed to be out of sight of the house, needed to be out of view of the onlooking windows that Poppy might be able to see him from.
When he glanced over his shoulder, he wasn’t sure if he saw her standing at the window. God, how he hoped she hadn’t been standing at the window. It was too late to turn back now. The change was coming on too quickly and he wouldn’t have been able to hold it back long enough to explain himself. After all, what could he really say? I’m sorry I snuck off to shift and go chasing rabbits in the woods. She would simply think he was mad and he wasn’t sure which was worse - the truth, or the fact that she would think he was mad.
***
Poppy rolled over in bed, stretching out like a feline as she felt the delicious ache that reminded her of everything Stetson had done to her. She reached out to find him next to her and found herself wondering just how large the bed really was. When her fingers didn’t meet skin, she began to wonder whether she had dreamed the whole thing. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d had a dirty dream about the mysterious man, but this one had felt so real. She could still feel the ache between her legs where he had been.
Feeling sick with the thought that it had only been a dream and not reality, she found herself opening her eyes. She was staring up at the pale green ceiling of the guest room that he had shown her to. And sure enough, there were clothes spread across the floor, just as they had been left when he’d discarded them.
But why had he snuck out on her? Was he regretting what they’d done? Did he regret sleeping with her? Did he regret doing all those things to her body, making her beg and plead for release time and time again? The only light in the room was that of the moon shining down through the floor to ceiling window that overlooked the back garden.
Poppy wrapped herself in the top sheet off the bed and wandered over to it. The tranquil light of the moon was calming, and she allowed it to wash over her as she closed her eyes to simply enjoy it.
When she opened her eyes again, something across the yard caught her eye and she gaped in amazement as she saw Stetson striding butt naked in the direction of the woods at the end of the garden. The curious thing was not that he was wandering off in the middle of the night to go into the woods, but the fact that he was as naked as he had been while he had been with her. It caused Poppy to raise an eyebrow as she watched him.
Her heart thundered in her chest as he turned at the edge of the trees to look back at the house. She remained stock still, hoping that in the shadows of the bedroom he would not be able to see her from such a great distance. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure but had she been a woman with less common sense, she might have thought he was looking directly at her. However, there was just no way he could see her from such a distance. It just wasn’t possible.
“Whatever he is up to,” she told herself with a sigh, as she wandered back over to the bed, “It’s none of my business.” Her wary mind was too tired to begin questioning things now.
Running wild through the forest was what Stetson did best. It was the only time he truly felt himself. He loved the way the wind whipped through his fur and the sensation of the soft, damp mulch between his paw pads. At least, that was how he usually felt but that night was different. That night, he felt the burden of his secret hanging heavy on his shoulders as he found his mind wandering back to the beautiful woman he had left alone in her bed. He found himself thinking of how he had buried himself deep inside her and how she’d called his name in pleasure. How he’d barely managed to stop himself from throwing his head back and howling at the moon. His wolf wanted to serenade the woman whose skin he had caressed, wanted to howl to let her know that he was out there, to let her know it had been he who had stood outside the observatory.
He skidded to a halt in the very center of the forest and tilted his head back to look at the stars through the thick canopy of trees.
What the hell am I playing at? he asked himself as he thought of everything that could go wrong if Poppy found out about his secret. He imagined the probes and needles that would pierce his flesh. He imagined all the experiments and torture the humans would put him through if they found out about him. He’d watched enough television as a child to know what would happen to his kind if the human race found out that they were not in fact alone on this planet. Those thoughts made his entire body shake and his teeth chatter.
Poppy would never allow something like that to happen to me, he insisted to himself, although the truth was he had no idea what Poppy might allow if she realized that he was a monster. He closed his eyes and thought of the spark of emotion he’d seen in hers as he’d thrust inside her. Something about that look told him that there was more to her. And more to their relationship than anything he’d had with anybody else.
Could she really be the one? he asked himself, then quickly shook the thought away. His brother had already found his one. What were the chances that he would find his as well? It was a miracle that one of them had been so lucky. That was one thing Stetson had never been. Luck had never seemed to be on his side. He’d had to fight tooth and nail for every single little thing that he had. That was how it had been and that was how it always would be. There was no reason that it would change now.
With that realization, he turned and began to pad back towards the outer edge of the forest. The moon had started to dip towards the horizon hours ago and the first light of morning would soon begin to appear. He couldn’t afford to be caught out in the forest so late, especially naked as he was or worse, in his wolf form. He could imagine her beautiful eyes opening wide at the sight of him and how she would run a mile just to be away from the dangerous creature she saw before her. That thought caused his heart to ache and he found himself wishing that he could wrap her in his arms again and never let her go.
Poppy woke the next morning to the mid-morning sun beaming in through the open curtains. She stretched as she had the night before and again, she began to wonder whether she had dreamed the entire thing. She could almost imagine that the sex, the naked man wandering to the forest, and her slipping back into bed had all been in her imagination. None of it seemed truly real until she rolled over and breathed in the scent of Stetson that still lingered on the pillows. She pressed her face into the pillows and inhaled deeply, enjoying the familiar scent of him. It reminded her how his hands had travelled up and down her body the night before. Her sex ached as she remembered the sheer pleasure he had caused to erupt throughout her every nerve ending.
Suddenly the urge to see his handsome face was overwhelming and she wrapped herself in the top sheet as she scrambled from the bed. Holding the sheet together over her breasts, she scooped the length of it up with her free hand and made her way from the room.
As she walked down the hallway towards Stetson’s study where she had found him the night before, he appeared up the stairs ahead of her. The way his wet hair was slicked back from his face told her that he was freshly showered even before the scent of soap hit her nostrils.
“Oh, good morning.” Stetson looked startled to see her as he straightened the front of his shirt. “I wasn’t expecting you to be awake just yet.”
“I can’t spend all day in bed.” Poppy shook her head. “I have things to do, a business to run.”
“No, you don’t,” Stetson denied immediately. “All business is on hold until the guy who attacked you last night is found and questioned. We need to get some answers on whoever the hell it is that wants to hurt you and Lila’s clients.”
“I can’t afford to lose any business,” Poppy protested. She could only imagine what her clients would think if she up and abandoned them. “And I want to hear more about this business with Lila. I’m not really sure what this all has to do with me and you didn’t explain very much of it last night.”
“You don’t need to worry. I have an assistant ready and waiting by the phone for you to tell her exactly what she needs to do for your next event. And if I am not mistaken, the next one is in a week’s time?” Stetson watched her closely, as though he was searching for her reaction, but she did not give him one. She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing how he surprised her. Poppy had learned to guard her reactions well in her line of work.
“Thank you,” she said simply. “But what am I supposed to do with myself if I can’t work?”
Stetson stepped up to her and placed both his huge hands on her upper arms to give them a gentle, comforting squeeze. “Relax, Poppy, you give yourself time to relax and recover from the trauma you experienced last night.”
For a moment, she thought that he was talking about their sex until she remembered how she’d been attacked in her apartment. Stetson’s hands on her body had almost made her forget all about it. Never had anyone been able to affect her like that. Usually her mind held on to things like a vice.
“I’d almost forgotten that,” she said, quivering at the thought of it.
“Well, you have plenty of time to allow yourself to forget,” Stetson assured her. “Do you like to swim?”
“I love to swim,” Poppy admitted with a shrug. “Why do you ask?”
“Why don’t you head out to the pool and relax out there for the day? It’’s lovely weather outside,” Stetson replied, and his words caused her to remember how he’d been out in the forest the night before. Had he come back this morning while the sun was up? Was that how he knew it was a lovely day?
Don’t be stupid, Poppy told herself sharply. Anyone can just look out of the window to see that it is a beautiful day.
“Will you join me?” The thought of leaving him made her feel anxious inside. She didn’t want to be alone.
“Just as soon as I have given Brett a call to get an update,” Stetson promised.
“I don’t have a swimsuit,” Poppy suddenly realized. Stetson’s mouth twitched up in a smile.
“We don’t really need suits out here,” he explained. “There is nobody around for miles and I’ve given the maid a couple of days off.”
“Is that why you were running around naked outside last night?” Poppy asked innocently, and Stetson stiffened remarkably. His hands dropped from her arms and he took a step back. His gaze locked with hers and she was almost sure she saw fear in the depths of his eyes.
“You weren’t supposed to see that.” He said the words so quietly that Poppy might have missed them had she not been able to read his lips. He added a little more loudly, “Don’t you worry yourself about that. It’s just something I like to do in my free time.”
“So, you are a naturalist?” Poppy found herself giving him the only reasonable explanation. She wasn’t sure whether she was simply trying to ease her own thoughts on the matter or showing him that it didn’t really matter to her what he chose to do in his spare time.
“Something like that,” Stetson shrugged. “Help yourself to anything you want in the kitchen on your way out to the pool. I will join you as soon as I can.”
With that, he pressed his lips to her forehead and then turned in the direction of his study. Poppy remained where she was until he clicked the door shut behind him. Then she turned and began to head down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, the marble floor of the hallway was cool on her feet and it remained so until she reached the sun room at the back of the house. She didn’t really want anything to eat, at least not before she swam. A quick dip in the pool was just what she needed to rinse away the last of her anxiety and trauma of the night before.