Free Wolfe's Lady by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy Page A

discussing it, they made their way with care up the rocks toward the falls. On the bank, Darien turned and gathered her into his arms. He held her so close that she could feel his rapid heartbeat and the fine quiver that shot through his body.
    “You’re really scared.”
    His mouth moved against her hair, speaking into her ear.
    “I am, Stella. This will be the most difficult thing I have ever done.”
    She snuggled against him, hoping her embrace would give both comfort and courage.
    “Will it be harder than becoming a werewolf?”
    “Yes.” Darien said, without any doubt at all. “That was difficult enough and I had no idea what would happen. With my fears, jumping into the water will be harder. The hardest of all, though, is now, Stella.”
    He pulled out a knife and the blade caught the remaining light so that it shimmered between them. She held out her hand to him, palm up and waited. As they had discussed and decided, he slashed the knife across her open palm so that a cut, about two inches long, opened. Although it stung, Stella held her hand over the water and let the blood drip from her cut into the water.
    “Let my love and my blood restore you,” she said.
    Then she staunched the blood and let him stick a large adhesive bandage over it. He brushed it, light as a breath, with his lips.
    “I will be waiting for you, Darien,” Stella said. “Help will be on the way and will be here by the time you hit the water.”
    He eyed the rushing waters and shivered. The noise of the falls was very loud.
    “It is time, then. I will do it or die, my lady. Kiss me.”
    Stella pulled him closer, her hands clutching his shirt and brought the full force of her lips against his, pouring all the love that she could muster into his body by that conduit. He responded, his body answering her call and returning it in kind, pouring powerful emotion and potent desire into her veins until she felt almost drunk with love. Every atom in her body craved more, ached for full release, but Darien pulled away.
    “If I survive, we shall have world enough and time for that later. Stella, I love you.”
    Without another word or look, Darien removed his shoes and waded into the water. He gasped when he entered the cool river then continued out, walking with care and some apparent difficulty. Stella watched him, even as she dug her cell phone from her jeans pocket and punched in 911.
    “911. What is your emergency?” A bland, professional voice answered the distress call.
    “My boyfriend just fell into the river at Grand Falls and I think he’s going over! He can’t swim! Can you please send help?” Stella cried, the panic real, not feigned.
    As she watched, the current knocked Darien from his feet and propelled him toward the falls with speed. He struggled to stand, reaching a half-crouch when he realized he was at the brink. With arms spread wide, he shouted,
    “Geronimo!”
    He leaped or fell over the brink, plummeting down over the high falls as she watched, one hand clutching her throat with fear.
    Stella then ran as fast as she could over the rocks, hurrying to the bottom of the falls to see if he surfaced in the choppy waters. In the distance, over the noise of the falls, she could hear the approaching wail of sirens. His sleek, dark head surfaced for a moment and she cupped her hands together to yell.
    “Darien! Hang on! They're coming!”
    If he heard her voice, he did not respond but floundered, then vanishing beneath the waters again. Two minutes, long, awful spans of time, later, the paramedics rushed up with stretchers and gear.
    “He’s out there!” Stella screamed. “Help him, please help him!”
    Everything happened quickly after that and she could never remember just how they pulled Darien from the waters. When they did, however, she was there, pushing through the emergency workers and a few bystanders who had arrived on the heels of the ambulance.
    Darien lay on his back on the rocks, his chest not moving, and