me this,
Carrie. I will soon be your husband, and your master, as you will be my wife
and love for all time. And as my wife, you must consent to my every wish.”
If any other man had been so demanding, Carrie knew
she would have screamed at the top of her lungs and kicked him in the shins
before making her escape. But from Max, the commanding words sounded right. She
would allow him to make love to her, to master her, for she knew he would bring
her nothing but exquisite pleasure. Already, just sitting in his arms, she felt
more passion than she ever believed possible between a man and woman.
She gave a slight nod then leaned back against him
once more. Carrie felt his breathing hitch, then he released a deep sigh. He
resumed his touching, and plucking her nipples until the sensations between her
legs left her feeling hot and achy and wonderful. She squirmed a bit on his lap
and he took his hands from her nipples and eased her to stand between his legs.
With his hands on her waist, he turned her to face him, his eyes burning over her
body as he settled back in the chair and clutched the arms.
“Remove your skirts, stockings, and shoes,
sweetheart.”
Carrie obeyed for she couldn’t do anything else as she
met his mesmerizing gaze. Somehow, for the first time ever, she felt powerful
standing before him. Even with her myopic vision, she could see how her body
affected him, from the rigid settling of his body on the chair, to the tight
jaw and narrowed eyes and lips. He appeared to be holding himself back, she
decided as she undid the buttons on the side of her skirt and it slid to the
floor, followed quickly by her underskirt and finally, the last vestige of her
modesty, her bloomers. Reaching up to one thigh to remove her white cotton
stockings she paused when he spoke.
“Leave them on, but remove the shoes.”
Looking at him with what she knew was a quizzical
expression she eased off her sensible low- heeled shoes. She couldn’t meet his
eyes and again her cheeks heated up at the thought of him staring so intently
at her naked body. Carrie was self-conscious about her plump bottom, and she
kept her front side to him the entire time. Her breasts were also large and
melon-shaped but they jutted out nicely and she knew men appreciated them for
she’d seen them looking at them at the King’s Tavern.
Finished undressing, she stood before him, so close
she could reach out and touch him. Clenching her hands at her stomach, her legs
tightly together, she met the potent, heated look on his face. His face, with
the fire illuminating it, made it appear craggy, harsher somehow. He seemed to
have sprouted more of a beard, she noted. How strange! Glancing down at his
hands, she frowned when she saw him still clutching the armrests. His hands
were large, tanned, and mostly hairless, now appeared to be covered in a fine
growth of hair. Perhaps, in daylight, she hadn’t noticed because of the light,
and the fine growth of hair was also pale—the same color as his hair. But now,
with the glimmering firelight the hair seemed more dense.
Lifting her gaze to his hair she gasped and one hand
covered her mouth in surprise.
He scowled and rose from the chair. “What’s wrong?”
She backed away from him and pointed at his head.
“Your hair, why, it seems to have grown in the last few minutes!”
* * * *
Max groaned inwardly as he realized something was
happening to him. Slowly, he turned to face the mirror hanging over the hearth
and groaned aloud this time when he saw his hair had indeed grown inches
longer, touching his shoulders now. While he’d had the slight shadow of a
beard, it had thickened. Lifting his hands, he noted more hair on them as well,
and his fingernails had grown longer with sharp, pointed tips. Then he knew the
legends he’d heard from his grandfather were true; that once he met his true
mate he would begin to shift a bit into his wolf form until they completed
their first mating, though he wouldn’t