Free Asanni by J. F. Kaufmann

right?” She heard his voice,
thick with sleep, yet worried and alert.
    Heaviness had settled in her chest and she
felt a painful knot in her belly, but the warm, solid body beneath
her held her together.
    Jack’s arms tightened around her back in a
strong, protective grip. “It will be all right, everything will be
fine. I’m here and I won’t let anybody hurt you,” he whispered into
her hair. “I’ll keep you safe.”
    He lay still, as if the slightest movement
would disturb the fragile equilibrium they had established. She
could feel his hard ridge through their clothes, the masculine
scent of his arousal and her own sexual excitement.
    That’s what I need, a voice whispered in her
head. I want him now, here. I need his light, his flesh. I need him
to give me his strength to stop the darkness that threatens to
swallow me.
    “I feel safe with you. I trust you,” she said
in a throaty voice. Her hips moved, almost in invitation.
“Jack?”
    A soft growl escaped from deep inside his
chest. “Astrid...”
    “Jack, can I stay here? I need you.”
    “As long as you want.”
    “Just a bit longer. Until dawn. Darkness
scares me sometimes,” she murmured. A few minutes later, her body
relaxed and he could hear her deep breathing.
     
    BRACED ON her palms, Astrid lifted her torso.
The pleasure of her middle part against Jack’s groin felt
wonderful.
    Jack opened his eyes. The two blue slits
glared at him from five inches above. His hand reached for a long
gold-reddish lock and tucked it behind her ear.
    “How did we end up here?” she said.
    There was a bit of tension in her voice, but
the expression on her face didn’t match it. She looked rather
amused with arched eyebrows and a smile that curved her lips. The
horror Jack had thrown at her last night was under control.
Somehow, he sensed, she had conquered it.
    As if she could read his mind, Astrid said,
“Jack, don’t feel terrible because you told me things that I needed
to know long ago. I prefer to know. And if Seth is going to strike
again, I better get ready for the battle, so to speak.”
    She reluctantly pulled herself away from him
and moved to the opposite corner. “I’ll take a shower and you can
make coffee.”
    “I see you don’t have a problem with giving
orders. I’ll go the extra mile and make us breakfast, too.
Omelette?”
    “Perfect. Please, no—”
    “Chives, I know.”
     
    “YOU ALL right?” Jack asked her again as they
ate.
    “Uh-huh.” She jabbed a piece of bread in his
general direction. “One of the advantages of having a logical and
analytical mind is that when you are threatened for any reason, you
immediately start looking for a solution. The first step is to
conquer fear,” she said. “Fear, terror—they come from opposite
sides of the emotional spectrum, they are probably there to keep
the balance with the positive emotions. Conquer your fear and
you’ll conquer your enemy... I’m talking nonsense, pay no
attention.”
    “You’re doing great, given the
circumstances.”
    As if she had an alternative, she thought. If
she couldn’t change the fact that she was a werewolf, and that
Ellida, whatever that was, then she would try to be the best
werewolf and best Ellida. As she was the best doctor, and the best
wizard with the skills she was given.
    And I’ll be damned if I’m going to be
someone else’s mate and be forced to carry someone else’s child
except Jack’s .
    The last thought came out of nowhere, as if
somebody else had put it in her mind. Uncertain, she glanced in
Jack’s direction and blushed. Her heart skipped a beat, but if Jack
heard it, and she knew he could, he decided not to show it.
    “Jack, can your kind manipulate somebody
else’s thoughts? Humans’, for example?”
    Jack smiled. “Well, we can often guess them,
but normally we don’t mess with humans’ heads, except out of
necessity. I’m not talking here about our humans that live
among us. That’s different. If those outside