Free Claiming Curves (Werewolf & BBW Erotic Romance) by Arwen Rich

Claiming Curves
    T he first time I saw him, I was irresistibly drawn.
    It wasn't just lust – I mean, that was undeniably there, in the pounding of my heart and the hot blush that spread across my cheeks. And that feeling that made me want to bite my lip when our eyes first met ...
    But there was something else there too – a little bit of fear . Swirling amidst the butterflies in my stomach. And for some reason, that drew me even more.
    There was something about him, some quality of darkness which simultaneously reached out to me, even as it made me afraid. It was strange, the way that tinge of fear only intensified the inexplicable longing that burst to life when I first saw him.
    I think it wasn't only a fear of him that I felt, either. Certainly, that danger lurking in his eyes made me nervous. But in retrospect, I think that it may have been a fear of myself that he brought out in me, too.
    Maybe a part of me knew that after meeting him, I would change forever.
    Let me take you back to the start. Explain how it all began.
    It was my twenty-first birthday. And instead of being out celebrating, there I was at home, bent intently over a book. Studying.
    I had a biology exam coming up in a few days, and it was preying on my mind. I was attempting to memorize reams of information, but my eyes seemed to merely skim over words which were forgotten as quickly as they were read. I sighed for the thousandth time, realizing that my mind had wandered once again from my workbook.
    To travel, of all things.
    Several of my friends had recently gone overseas, and I was always seeing their pictures up on social media – beautiful, foreign scenery in the background, my friends' grinning faces in the foreground. The expressions on their faces spoke of freedom. Of adventure.
    A longing for that – for adventure – bloomed inside me every time I saw those photos. I'd always been a meek, studious person, and now I felt trapped in that pattern. I was stuck at home, trying to memorize facts for an exam, when what I really wanted was to be out exploring the world.
    I sighed once more, my gaze drifting to my bedroom window. The sun was beginning to set, and its golden light illuminated the signs of Spring that were dawning in the garden. The trees swayed slightly in the breeze; they seemed to be awakening, stretching and shaking off the remnants of a long winter slumber. Touches of green were beginning to color their branches.
    My bedroom door was suddenly flung open, and the intrusion shocked me from my reverie.
    “What the hell are you doing?” Came a familiar voice from the doorway. I turned to see Jade, my friend and roommate, an expression of mock outrage written across her pretty face. She had a bottle of something in her hand, and was clearly tipsy.
    “You better not be studying!” she said. “It's your fucking birthday. And we have to celebrate!” She raised the bottle and took a swig.
    I laughed as the shock of the sudden intrusion wore off. “I'm trying to study,” I said, “but I'm not having much luck.” My previous train of thought came back to me – my longing for adventure – and I slammed my biology book shut with a bang. “Maybe you're right,” I said. “What kind of celebration did you have in mind?”
    “You're damn right I'm right!” Jade exclaimed gleefully. “Don't you worry, I have the perfect plan for the evening.” She had a slightly manic grin on her face which made me kind of nervous, but I also felt a tingling of anticipation – her excitement was always contagious.
    I couldn't help but return her grin.
    But my nervousness only grew as I got ready to go out. This would be my first actual expedition to a bar, and Jade wouldn't even tell me where we were going.
    Although she was the same age as me, she'd had a fake ID for years, and had plenty of experience going out partying. Sometimes too hard. On more than one occasion I had been woken in the morning by the sound of her being sick, struck with