Before Midnight (18 page)

“Loupe—”

“Etienne!” Loupe gasped.

Etienne laughed, startled when she grabbed his face. She peered at him as though trying to see into his mind, then looked over his entire body.

“Are you hurt? Are you all right?” she demanded. The scent of saltwater tickled Etienne’s nose, telling him his full senses were his once again. The joy of the thought was short-lived. She was crying.

“Loupe,” he said softly, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes. “Why are you crying?”

Loupe sniffled, blinking rapidly as if trying to hold the tears back. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you. You could have been killed, they could have—”

“Shh,” Etienne hushed her, pulling her into his arms. “I am the prince here, remember? It is my duty to look after you, not the other way around.” He laid his cheek on top of her head. “It is my fault you were injured, my fault you were terrified into the change, into running from the palace. Loupe, I never meant to scare you.”

She huddled into his body, clinging to him as if he were the only solid thing in the world. “I don’t care, I don’t care about any of it,” she whispered fiercely. “That is all behind us now and I will never let anyone threaten you with me again. I will never let my monstrous stepfamily take what is mine.”

Etienne smiled, filled with pride at the vehemence in Loupe’s voice. Just as his great-great-grandmother had before her, Loupe had found her strength and drawn her line in the sand. She would make a strong queen.

Queen. The thought drew Etienne’s mind to the future. He wanted Loupe, wanted her as his mate, his wife. A wedding was all well and good, but after coming so close to losing her he wanted, needed, a connection now.

It’s your beast talking, Etienne told himself firmly. It has been growing weak for so long that you have forgotten how to mediate your baser instincts. This is not the time nor the place to cement your bond with Loupe.

He understood what he was telling himself. He agreed. And yet, Etienne could not smother the rush of arousal that flooded him at the feel of Loupe’s naked body pressing against his. His beast, strong and vital for the first time in months, rolled like a leviathan beneath his skin, its appetites fresh, sharp, and demanding. His senses were a thousand times sharper and every detail of the world etched itself into his brain. The crisp scent of earth and fresh green leaves, the lapping of the lake water at its banks, and the heat of Loupe’s body all made his head swim. He buried his face in her hair, inhaling deeply and relishing the musky scent of her wolf beneath her skin.

He tightened his arms around her, the comfort he’d been offering turning into something more. The blood in his veins grew hotter, flowing south until he was painfully hard. He tried to fight it, tried to pull away and offer her his cloak like a gentleman. But he’d nearly lost her. The pain of walking away from her was still fresh in his memory. He had to claim her, establish their connection that would last forever.

Now.

Chapter 13

Loupe pressed her ear to Etienne’s chest, concentrating on his heartbeat. He was alive, she was alive, and they were together and unharmed. What’s more, she could feel the beast still inside her, but instead of a scary hulking shadow, it seemed…familiar. She felt in control and powerful enough to do anything. She could have anything she wanted right now.

Still very much naked, and wrapped in his arms as she was, Loupe couldn’t help but remember the feelings he’d stirred in her body when he’d kissed her at the ball. He’d been so passionate, so hungry. She’d been frightened by the intensity of his attentions. She shifted in his arms. She wasn’t frightened anymore. And she wanted that intensity again.

His cock swelled against her leg and heat rushed down her body to pool between her thighs. She bit her lip, her newfound confidence warring with nervousness over the foreignness of the sensations. Her body wanted something, that was certain. She just wasn’t quite sure how to get it. Loupe started to pull away, trying to figure out what she was going to say. Etienne’s hands closed around her arms and she gasped. Her gaze met his.

His mouth covered hers, stealing her breath. Sparks crackled over her nerves and the liquid heat between her thighs burned like molten lava. She moaned, pressing against him. The sound seemed to spur Etienne on and he quickly released her arms to grasp her hips and jerk her into his lap. This was exactly what she’d wanted, needed. Loupe’s desire took on a sharper edge and she raised her arms around his neck, desperate to press her body closer, hold him tighter.

She nibbled at his mouth as if she would devour him, a passion that she’d never felt before seizing control of her body. He ran his hands up and down her naked flesh, and her breath hitched in her throat and she dropped her head back.

“Loupe,” he whispered hoarsely, dropping his mouth to feed on the delicate column of her throat. His hands closed over her breasts and Loupe cried out as his thumbs flicked the stiffened buds of her nipples. The sound seemed to snap something inside him and she cried out again as he surged forward and pressed her down into the soft earth.

Helpless to do anything but stare up at him through eyes gone hazy with desire, Loupe watched, fascinated. Etienne pulled away just long enough to quickly divest himself of his clothing. He laid his body over top of her, careful to hold the brunt of his weight on his forearms. Loupe couldn’t help but run her hands over his chest, tangling her fingers in the dusting of hair she found there. She experimentally dragged her fingernails over his nipples.

A strangled sound came from Etienne’s throat. He dove toward her neck, sinking his teeth into her flesh. Instead of pain, the bite sent a wave of pleasure over her that was so erotic, her thighs parted and her hips thrust up of their own accord. The beast inside her moved with her, encouraging her to give herself over to him. It was a strange sensation, but it felt right all the same. Etienne jerked his lower body forward, the hot length of his cock sliding through her wet folds.

“Etienne!” Loupe whimpered, the thrusting of her hips becoming more erratic. She threw her head from side to side, overwhelmed by the urgent need gripping her body. Something large moved under her skin and for a split second Loupe thought the wolf was going to break free from her body.

Her arousal took on an edge of fear. What if she lost control? What if she hurt Etienne? She grabbed his face, needing to look into his eyes, needing to tell him of the danger. Etienne seemed to sense the change in her immediately and he looked up into her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he rasped. He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep, shuddering breath. “I forgot myself, I’m sorry—”

“Etienne, the wolf is trying to get out,” Loupe whispered, keeping her voice down as if the beast in question would hear her. The tentative peace she’d thought she found with the wolf faded now that her body had grown hot and desperate. She raised her hands and gripped Etienne’s forearms. He was a werewolf, he had know what to do. “Etienne, I don’t want to hurt you. What if I change?”

“Shh, Loupe, it’s all right,” Etienne soothed her. He laid a heated kiss on her neck, nuzzling her skin in an affectionate gesture. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you. I swear it. Relax and trust me.”

He stroked her body in long soothing motions. Loupe didn’t know how he could be so calm, but she wanted to trust him. She sucked in a deep breath and concentrated on the feel of his lips caressing her cheek, his fingers trailing in long, lazy strokes up and down her body. After a moment she realized the beast no longer felt as if it were directly under her skin. She could still sense it, but it was more like a warm fuzzy weight inside her.

The tension slowly leaked out of Loupe’s body until she was once again writhing against him. Something thick and hard pressed between her legs and Loupe gasped and arched toward him.

“Loupe,” Etienne breathed. He shook his head then pressed his forehead to hers. “Loupe, I don’t want to hurt you. I’ll try to—”

Loupe’s head swam with heat and desire, muddling her thoughts until she couldn’t even understand what Etienne was saying. Her body trembled with need and ached with an emptiness so intense she feared she would shatter into a thousand pieces. With a cry that sounded more animal than human, she shoved Etienne’s chest, rearing up off the ground, and following his momentum until she’d knocked him over backward and straddled him.

Etienne’s eyes burned into her face, his arousal making his face rougher, more primal. A rush of power erupted like a geyser inside her as she wrapped her fingers around his cock and pressed it against her entrance. She held her eyes open, looking into Etienne’s gaze as she sank down on his shaft.

A sharp bite of pain preceded a flood of pleasure so intense, Loupe screamed. Her body took on a life of its own, possessed by the need to chase the prize shining at the end of the tunnel. She jerked her hips back and forth, riding him hard and fast. Etienne bellowed her name into the forest, his hands closing with bruising force on her hips. He thrust inside her, adding his own force so that each stroke went deeper, harder.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Loupe murmured, tossing her head from side to side as the pleasure built to an unbearable force. The orgasm hit her hard and she screamed again, clutching Etienne’s shoulders as her hips jerked in time with the pulsing pleasure. A few seconds later, Etienne shouted, his body spasming beneath her as he spilled his seed in her body.

As the last rippled faded, Loupe collapsed on Etienne’s chest. He rolled her over beneath him, stroking her hair as she came down from the high of her orgasm.

“Loupe, did I hurt you?” he whispered, his voice hoarse.

Loupe couldn’t speak, so she responded by looping her arms around his neck and pulling him down for a slow, lingering kiss. Etienne seemed to accept her answer, running a hand through her tangled tresses as he kissed her back, sliding his tongue over her lower lip before slipping it into her mouth to battle with her own.

After a few glorious moments, he pulled back, cradling her body with his and just held her. They lay like that for several long minutes, each one just listening to the sound of the other’s heartbeat.

“I would love to stay here and hold you forever,” Etienne said quietly, “but I’m afraid we are already pressing our luck. I need to get you safely to my castle before your family comes after you.”

Loupe tensed.
My castle.
She pulled back to look Etienne in the eyes. “Etienne, tonight is the full moon. Your parents…they’ll know. Surely you don’t stay in the palace on the nights of the full moon?”

Etienne frowned for a second. He contemplated her as if trying to parse out what she was talking about without asking. Then understanding dawned in his eyes and he hugged her. “Oh, Loupe, how stupid of me. There is much I need to explain to you.” He pulled back and gave her a kind smile. “Come, let us get dressed and we can talk on the way to the palace.”

Loupe blushed, the warmth scalding her cheeks. “I, um, don’t have any clothes. They were destroyed when I changed into a wolf back at home.”

“You will wear my cloak then until I can replace your clothes.”

Etienne stood and picked up his cloak. He pulled her to her feet and wrapped the rich cloth around her shoulders. Loupe couldn’t help but snuggle into it, inhaling the scent of Etienne that clung to the fabric.

She looked up and caught Etienne staring at her. The possessive look in his eyes sent a shiver down her spine and a fresh rush of desire between her legs.

“I like the scent of you wrapped in my clothing,” he said, his voice low and deep enough that it vibrated inside her.

He was still mostly naked, only having just pulled his shirt on. Loupe shivered in remembrance of the pleasure that body had given her and she wrapped the cloak tighter around herself to keep from leaping on him again.

“I can teach you to control it.”

His words snapped her out of her wanton thoughts and froze her in the present. Her hands trembled as she fiddled with the edges of the cloak, her scattered brain trying to pull itself back together as that one simple sentence threatened her reality. She and the wolf had been in agreement when she’d shifted to go after Etienne, but surely that was just a fluke, the result of dire circumstances? The harsh reality of the situation was much darker and she couldn’t let a few unique moments blind her to that.

“You do not control a wild animal,” she said quietly, her voice hushed and heavy with sadness. “It tears its way out of my body and steals my life for hours at a time. I cannot fight it, and I cannot remember what it has done, even after my body is mine again.”

“Loupe, I was born a werewolf. I’ve lived with having a dual nature since I was a child, I’ve dealt with having two forms since I was twelve. Control comes with balance.” He pulled his trousers on and fastened them before stepping closer to her. He ran a hand down her cheek. “You were bitten by a werewolf, weren’t you?”

Loupe nodded, not trusting her voice enough to speak yet. She absorbed every word he said, testing it in her mind. She wanted so badly to believe him.

“You are what we call a cursed werewolf—a
loup garou
. You did not have anyone around you to help you deal with the transition.” His face darkened. “You did not even have a loving family to support you in human form, let alone the terror they must have inspired in you with their damnable hunting.”