Free Wolf at the Door by Sadie Hart

still half asleep,
as he tried to coax some feeling back into the limb. Damn. Sleeping
on a couch was like medieval torture. He’d be lucky if every cell
and molecule didn’t ache today.
    Blinking blearily into the soft morning light
that filled Timber’s living room, he found himself staring at the
soft purple hair scattered over his chest. Her hand clutched at his
shirt, as if even in sleep something stalked her, terrified her,
and she was clinging to any hope of safety. Then again, after
hearing her screams last night, he had no doubt that something in
her dreams still stalked her. Terrified her.
    Unable to help himself, Brandt reached out
with the arm not trapped under Timber’s weight and brushed aside a
long strand of hair. Her skin was so soft. She was also beautiful.
Purple hadn’t exactly been on his list of sexy colors, but seeing
it now, the way it framed her face, bringing out the red of her
lips, making them look so perfectly kissable...
    Brandt leaned his head back against the
armrest with a sigh.
    She was a job . Someone to protect. A
victim.
    He sure as hell shouldn’t be obsessing about
kissing her.
    Timber snuggled closer into his chest with a
soft moan, and desire flared like she’d tossed a lit match into a
pool of gasoline. He went up in a whoosh of flames. Especially when
one thigh slipped over his, pinning his hips against hers.
    He’d been a fool to end up like this. A
bloody, damn fool.
    He’d taken her out on a run last night
because he suspected, after seeing the longing in her eyes when she
gazed out the window, that a good run, free in the moonlight, was
the only way she would find any peace. Or get any sleep. And after
hearing those heart-rending screams, he simply couldn’t deny her
that relief. She had been happy, too. Free. Running and playing
outside like a pup, the little girl within her free and happy.
She’d still been laughing when they shifted back and went back
inside for the night.
    Just the memory of her laugh made him
smile.
    But the moment she looked at those stairs,
she’d hesitated. All the fear she’d shed earlier had stormed back
into her eyes. With hindsight, he understood exactly how she’d
ended up sleeping on the couch next to him. But at the time he
hadn’t expected one movie to turn into three, or that somewhere
along the way he’d fall asleep, and so would she.
    And he sure as hell hadn’t expected to wake
up with her tangled around him, her so-perfectly-kissable lips just
inches from his as she snuggled into his neck. Brandt drew in a
long, deep breath and begged for restraint. Then her eyes opened,
and any rational thoughts he had fluttered right back out of his
mind. Brandt swallowed.
    “Morning,” he said, the word sounding rough,
even to him.
    Her gaze slipped down to his chest and her
fingers played against his shirt. Brandt just focused on breathing.
Breathing and ignoring the heat of her hips against his. Damn, but
she had to feel that. Then her hand pressed flat against his chest
and she moved, rising up until her lips snared his in a kiss.
    Shit . Brandt gripped her hips, but he
couldn’t push her away. Instead, he dragged her closer, his body
straining up into hers, his mouth opening to invite her inside. Her
tongue writhed against his, teasing, tasting, and Brandt growled, a
low, dark sound. Then he rose up, turning her gently until she lay
on the couch with him leaning over her.
    He broke the kiss first, but he didn’t pull
away. Not when his lips found the edge of her jaw, the smooth
hollow with her pulse, the curve of her neck. Timber shuddered
beneath him, her breath a whisper against his skin. Brandt pressed
his face into the side of her neck and inhaled. Her scent rolled
through him—wolf and female—and he wanted nothing more than to
taste it again.
    But he’d already crossed far too many lines
this morning.
    “Sorry,” he whispered, his voice hoarse, and
tried to pull back.
    Timber’s ragged laugh hiccupped beneath him.
“My