Free Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Lapthorne

hair, the deep blue eyes held the same intelligence and knowledge Josephine had come to expect from her William.
    Josephine felt her mouth hang open, totally unsure if she believed what was right there before her eyes. Unintentionally, she felt her hands come protectively over her stomach, pressing into her little sons.
    This was their daddy.
    Josephine took a few deep, calming breaths and still slightly stunned said, “Okay, that is one hell of a party trick.”
    The huge beast rumbled, in what Josephine instinctively knew was laughter. That man was laughing at her!
    “Yeah, yeah, you’re a comedian.”
    Josephine crossed her legs Indian style under the blankets. Unable to help herself, she stared at the truly huge wolf beside her bed, totally unashamed. Never before in her wildest dreams had she imagined werewolves really might exist—no more than she believed in the tooth fairy, vampires or mermaids. She would never have expressed these views to a child of any age, nor would she ever get into arguments with adults who believed, but she personally had never thought they truly existed.
    Yet watching her lover turn into a wolf in front of her very eyes had a strange effect on her. She felt no fear at all as the wolf pounced onto the large bed. Josephine was feeling a childlike curiosity. Yes, this was a wolf, but it was also William. The eyes that held her gaze were William’s. The fur of his thick coat reminded her of his long, soft hair. As the huge beast padded next to her, settled down beside her, she couldn’t help herself from stroking his soft fur.
    The rich, warm scent of the forest ran through him, the heat from his fur warmed her chilly hands. She stroked him as if he were a gigantic cat. Surprisingly, a rumbling sound emanated from his chest. Josephine swallowed a giggle. He reminded her of a content, tame cat, if one could but ignore the fact he was an enormous wolf with sharp teeth and a cold muzzle.
    The idiocy of this thought merely made her snicker more.
    “Wow, I think you’re going to have some major explaining to do to our sons. I sure as hell won’t be able to help them out here. It must be so much fun to run free and wild, to explore as an animal.”
    She stroked William’s soft fur. As the minutes passed, she felt lulled, surrounded by the cozy, safe warmth of his wolf’s body. Josephine found herself slightly jealous of William’s dual nature, where not ten minutes ago she had been highly skeptical.
    When William-the-wolf stirred, she removed her hand. She thought he would jump down from the bed and change back into his human form. When he simply stood on the bed, and with his muzzle started nudging her to lie down, she complied, confused.
    As before, the wolf shimmered slightly, then in the blink of an eye, William lay kneeling over her, totally naked. Josephine felt a million questions rise in her mind, yet she lay silent. Something in her knew William wanted, needed to do something.
    William lay over her, covering her body with his. Gently, almost reverently, he kissed her, exploring her mouth and lips with his. The kiss was beautiful, yet she could nevertheless feel the leashed fire in him. He stirred her, but this wasn’t the ordinary, passionate, heat-filled kiss she had come to expect from her lover.
    William moved down her neck, to the juncture between her neck and shoulder. There, he kissed her, but then bit her too. The tiny sting he created wasn’t painful, but some sort of heat, maybe some sort of essence or emotion, she whimsically wondered, moved from him to her.
    Josephine had no real idea what passed between them, she only knew something did. This kiss had some significance to him, and hence should mean something to her.
    Before she could query, or even voice a single word, William moved up from her neck and kissed her lips once more.
    For a half second, Josephine wondered if she had dreamed the last ten minutes, wondered if she had finally cracked and gone mad. For just a