I can’t believe I’m doing this.

I was still trembling as Irvine led me on the moonlit path through the forest to his cabin, but not from the cool night air. I can’t believe I’d told him that. I kept waiting for him to laugh at me. A 23-year-old virgin. It’s pretty damn laughable.

Instead, he seemed to find my virginity attractive. What he’d said to me … I want to taste every inch of you. I want to feel your hips tighten around me as you come on my face … I replayed them over and over in my mind as I walked. My whole body was rigid with tension, and an ache rose inside of me that cried out to be sated by him. Irvine’s fingers in mine burned against my skin.

“Here we are.” Irvine gestured to a clearing ahead of us, where a small wooden cabin sat nestled amongst the trees. It was gorgeous, made of rough, round logs, with a gabled roof and wide porch running around two sides. Irvine steadied me while I climbed the steps, then he let me inside.

The cabin was small, containing only a small kitchen to the left of the door, with one long bench against the wall and a small table in front. Behind that was a bed covered with navy sheets and a fur blanket. A tall stack of books stood on a small wooden stool beside the bed. In the far corner, a single overstuffed chair sat in front of a pot-belly stove, with a basket of wood all cut up next to it.

It was comfortable and cosy, but rugged and masculine – perfect for Irvine.

Irvine gestured to the bed. “You can have the bed. Do you want a drink?”

“Tea,” I said automatically, my mind reeling.

He wasn’t kidding. He really wasn’t going to try anything. A wave of disappointment surged through me. It was odd, almost as if I wanted him to push me, to take the intensity of the decision away from me. This is totally nuts.

I was totally nuts, not least of all because I was alone, in the middle of the forest, with a werewolf. Mum’s voice echoed in my ears. Run away. Run as fast as you can.

But I didn’t want to run. I trusted Irvine. I saw only genuine concern for me in his eyes. That, and hunger. But it wasn’t hunger for fresh meat, it was hunger for my body. And it mirrored my hunger for his.

Carol Winters might’ve run crying back to Mummy, but Willow Summers knew what she wanted.

Irvine puttered in the kitchen, filling the kettle and setting out cups and tea bags. Instead of setting the kettle on his hotplate, he knelt down in front of the stove and built a fire. In a few moments, he had a blaze going, and he shut the door, placing the kettle on top.

I sat down on the edge of the bed, painfully aware that this was where Irvine slept. His naked body had been between these sheets. He might have even taken other woman back to this cabin, woman with perfect bodies and two functioning legs who knew how …

I want to feel your hips tighten around me as you come on my face.

I squeezed my legs together, trying to force down the ache inside me. But it only flared worse than ever.

Irvine handed me a hot mug of tea, and I wrapped my fingers around it, grateful to have something to focus on other than the way his broad shoulders pulled against the fabric of his t-shirt, or how his intricate tattoos wound around his forearms. I imagined what it would feel like to have that body pressed against mine, skin to skin.

I gulped down my tea, unable to take my eyes off him. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I held back. As much as I wanted him, I wasn’t ready. And the guy tonight, running after me and yelling like that, was still fresh in my mind.

“You finished your tea?” Irvine asked, his voice gruff. I nodded. He leaned over and took my cup from his hands, and before I realised what was happening, his lips were on mine. This kiss fired up my whole body, sending a shiver of electricity that fed the ache growing inside me.

He kissed me harder, his lips and tongue a force of nature. I drowned in that kiss, sinking deeper.

“You said you wouldn’t—” I moaned against his lips.

Irvine pulled away, and gave me the faintest smile. “And I’ll abide by my word. But that doesnae mean I cannae make a convincing argument for myself.”

I looked away, biting my lip. “I can’t. I want to so bad, you have no idea—”

“Oh, but I think I do,” he growled. He stroked my cheek with his hand, the action lighting a thousand candles under my skin.

“—but not tonight. There’s so much …” My tongue caught on the words. What could I say? My mum taught me that your kind are evil and monstrous. I’m just starting to see that things might not be so black and white. I need some time to wrap my head around it.

But that wasn’t true. Not really. No one has ever wanted me. The only person who’s even seen me naked told me I was disgusting. I’m just getting to know you. I’m just starting to like you. To see your face curl up with loathing like that … I can’t deal with it.

I’m broken. I’m deformed. And you … you’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. As soon as you realise that, this is all over, and I don’t want it to be over.

I wanted to savour the ache, the desire in his eyes, just a little longer.

I met his gaze, my lips begging for his touch. “Can’t we—”

The look Irvine gave me was wracked with need. “Willow Summers, do you have any idea what you do to me? If I taste those sweet lips again, I’m gonnae blow. And as much as I need that right now, I want to save it until I can come inside you.”

His words sent a shiver through me that nearly made me change my mind. “I’m sorry.”

Irvine tipped my chin up, assaulting me with an intense gaze. “Donnae ever apologise for being your gorgeous self. But you’ll be forgiving me if I pop outside to the bathroom for a moment to get things in order.”

I nodded. “The bathroom is outside?”

“Aye. You have to walk around the back of the cabin, and there’s no light. But Dinnae worry, I’ll hold your hand if you’re scared.”

“I think I can manage.”

Irvine drew back, a sigh escaping his lips. He reached into a drawer under the bed and handed me a t-shirt. “You can sleep in this,” he said. “I’ll be right back, and then you can use the bathroom.”

I glanced at the chair beside the fire. “Are you really going to sleep there? It doesn’t look very comfortable.”

Irvine shook his head. “I’m gonnae be outside.”

“Outside? It’s freezing out there!”

“I wonnae feel it through my fur.”

I gulped. He was going to shift, right here in front of me. “I’m not sure I’m ready for that, either,” I said.

“Willow Summers, I swore that I’d protect you, and protect you I shall. I can do that much better if I can stand guard out there, with my wolf senses ready to catch the scent of any would-be stalker. Besides, you showed me your secret, the hidden side of you that no one else sees. It’s only fair that I give you the same courtesy.”

I found myself nodding, even as a heavy ball of fear rose in my throat. Irvine kissed the top of my head. “I’ll do it outside,” he said, his eyes boring into mine. “On the porch. You can see me through the window over the bed. You donnae have to look, but I’ll be there, Willow Summers. I’ll protect you.”

Before I could say another word, he backed away, and disappeared outside. I heard a door creak open as he went to the bathroom. The lump of fear rose through my throat, but I gulped it down. I leaned over and pulled off my shoes and socks, then slid off my trousers and finally released my prosthetic leg, rolling the sleeve and liner off the limb.

With shaking hands, I pulled the one-shouldered top over my head, unclipped my bra, and dragged on Irvine’s t-shirt. I breathed in the heady scent of him that clung to the fabric, and lay back against the sheets, trying to quiet my swirling mind.

Irvine was outside, beating himself off and transforming into a werewolf, so he could stand guard over me.

The door creaked again. Was Irvine back from the bathroom? Was he human, or wolf? I couldn’t look, even though my fingers itched to grasp the windowsill and pull myself up. The curiosity ate away at me as Irvine’s scent invaded my nostrils.

If I looked, it would make everything real.

I’d remember that he was a werewolf. That he was a monster.

It would all be over.

He called me beautiful.

I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready to lose the first person who’d made me feel like I was okay, like I wasn’t broken. Even if he was supposed to be my enemy.