I dreamed of a chase. Not me being chased by some boogeyman or monster, but the kind of chase Richard’s pack has the night of the full moon. Only I was with my leopards and Edward was there, but it was him we were after. Thankfully, I awoke before we caught him. For once I had to bed to myself. A girl could get used to this. Now that Jean-Claude had showed me how to control the ardeur I didn’t have to have a male body to wake up with. Still, it would’ve been nice to cuddle for a few minutes before I had to get up and face the day.
Since it was Sunday I could stay home and relax. I threw on some jeans and a black polo shirt along with jogging socks and my Nikes. After stretching a bit I headed to the kitchen to make coffee. There was a fresh pot waiting for me along with a note on the table.
“Anita—Nat and I are out doing some pard business. We’ll see you tonight—Micah.”
Great. A day off and the house to myself. Could life get much better?
A knock on the door broke the silence. So much for my plans of doing nothing. With a sigh I walked to the door. “Who is it?”
“Edward.”
I had no choice but to let him in. “You just missed Nathaniel and Micah,” I told him. “Unless you want me to call some of the others up, it’s you and me for now.”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. They have to come back here eventually. I don’t mind waiting.”
Typical Edward answer. “Okay.” I sat down on one couch and he mirrored me on the other side of the room; arms crossed over my chest, feet crossed at the ankle. Oh, yeah. This was going to be fun. “Well, do you want to talk about anything?” Hey, at least I was trying to be sociable.
Another shrug. Apparently he wasn’t feeling very vocal today. I noticed that his right hand was positioned over his holstered gun. Looks like somebody was uneasy. “Did you talk to your people?” he asked finally.
“Briefly. I think they need a little more time to let the idea sink in.”
“Do you blame them?”
I considered. “No. I hate to say it, Edward, but I don’t think they trust you at all. Don’t take it personally. They’re like this with everyone until they get to know them. Hell, I had a hard enough time getting the lycanthropes to tolerate me. Though the leopards were much more accepting than Richard’s wolves.”
“I remember.” He should; he was there when one of them actually tried to fight me. This was way back when Marcus was alive and trying to have me assassinated. Ah, the good old days. I was glad Marcus was gone, but having had seen Richard eat him still didn’t sit well with me.
“So, Edward,” I started cautiously, “have you had anymore thoughts on this? Have you at least decided to stay alive long enough to give furred life a chance?”
He looked at me with neutral eyes. “I’ve thought about things.”
I sighed. No more beating around the bush. “Have you accepted the fact that you might be a were? That you might indeed be one of the monsters you’re so fond of hunting? Come on, Edward. Show some feelings here.”
“I think I’d be able to handle it a lot better than some people out there.”
Great. Not only was he being a jerk, he was treading on thin ice. “So some shifters have a hard time adjusting. Lycanthropy is a major lifestyle change, Edward. It’s not like deciding to get married or change jobs. At least I know you’d never go boyscout on me.” I thought about Richard’s struggle for humanity. I must have been focusing too hard because suddenly I was getting all sorts of visuals from Richard. The marks between us crashed open and I felt him so vividly it was frightening.
Richard was in the middle of sex with another woman. More specifically, another shifter. I couldn’t tell what flavor she was in human form. I’d gotten some glimpses before, but this went beyond that. Perhaps the ardeur had something to do with it. The woman underneath my ex-lover writhed and held onto his backside with hands more claws than anything. He pumped furiously into her, pulling a scream from her throat. After one last thrust he shuddered and collapsed.
When I came back to myself, Edward was staring at me with alarm. “Anita? What was that?”
Edward had glimpsed the ardeur. Now that I focused on it, it flared into a full-blown hunger. I remembered that I had not yet fed it this morning. Shit. Without wanting to I eased forward enough to put my palms flat against the carpet. Suddenly I was seeing all sorts of new possibilities for Edward, none of them good.
“Anita?” His hand was on his gun. He stood slowly and looked like he wanted to back away from me but knew it wasn’t a very bright idea.
“Stay back, Edward.” I went to all fours. “Don’t come any closer, and whatever you do, don’t touch me.” If I could keep my senses I might be able to get out of this without molesting him.
“Would you mind telling me why you look like you’re going to eat me or…fuck me?” Smart man. Hopefully he’d stay that way and heed my warning. He drew his gun finally and pointed it in my general direction.
Never before had I thought of Edward the way I was thinking of him now. I swallowed hard. “It’s a side effect of the vampire marks. When Jean-Claude, Richard, and I married the marks, this happened. I’ve inherited Jean-Claude’s ardeur, his incubus, his hunger for lust and sex.” Now I closed my eyes and willed myself into stillness. I was stalking Edward like prey. “I’m still learning to control it.”
He nodded, eyes still a bit wide. If anything, it would be fun to tease him later for losing his cool. “So how do you stop it?”
“The ardeur needs to be fed. Micah and Nathaniel left while I was still asleep, otherwise we wouldn’t be in this mess now.”
“You are not feeding on me.” He pulled back the hammer of his gun. He was giving me a final warning. I opened my eyes and was startled to see that I was only six feet away from him. There was a sound at the door, and it tore a small gasp from me. The door opened and Cherry and Zane walked in. Their laughter died when they saw us.