Amanda Carlson - Full Blooded

Um … chocolate syrup goes where?

Sex and food. It was too much. I shook my head, trying to knock it out of my brain. Marcy had to be playing a joke on me, getting me back for making her worry. It was the only real explanation. What else could it be? What a minx. I glanced down the hallway again just to make sure she wasn’t giggling behind someone’s door.

The voice continued without pause. Graphically.

No, no, caramel can’t go there. It’s too sticky for that.

Before I could do anything to stop myself, my nipples budded to hard peaks under my shirt. I was totally and completely turned on. Damn you traitorous body parts. No guy’s voice should be in my brain without my permission, but it didn’t stop me from imagining what he smelled like. Rich pine boughs or salty ocean was my best guess, possibly with a hint of fresh rain. Yum.

A rush of wetness hit my panties.

Jesus Christ!

This was too much. The joke had gone too far. Marcy, if you’re in my head, get the hell out! It’s not funny. I’m going to practical joke you to death. Do you hear me? To death!

I had to be temporarily out of my mind to get that turned on by an imaginary voice. I straightened and walked briskly to my door, keys out at the ready. I didn’t even know what the guy looked like, hot voice or not; this was not an appropriate reaction. It was wrong on so many levels. Marcy’s scrawny ass was mine.

I stopped in front of my door and a low growl escaped my diaphragm with no provoking on my part.

Did I just growl?

I growled again.

Suddenly it all made sense.

Marcy hadn’t been messing with me.

Why would you possibly do something like that? I asked my wolf, even though I already knew the answer. This was payback for winning my Dominion.

She snapped her teeth at me.

If you start playing games with me, how in the hell am I supposed to trust you? Last time I checked, we were in this together. We share the same mind and body, for better or worse. If I’m horny and unsatisfied—you’re horny and unsatisfied. Got it? I grumbled. We have to get this we’re-playing-on-the-same-team thing figured out. If not, it’s going to tear us apart. And guess what? I’m holding you completely responsible if we can’t. Hear that? Your. Fault.

She huffed at me like I was an idiot. Then fed me an image of her lying on her back wiggling around like she was trying to scratch an itch. She got up, paced a few times in a circle before lying down with her head on her paws.

Then she closed her eyes and shut me out.

Just like that.

Very mature, I told her.

No response.

I shook my head and unlocked my apartment door. I pushed it open and inhaled an unfamiliar scent.

Werewolf.

Then he was on me.

He lunged at me from my left side, where he’d been hidden by the shadow of the door, plowing into me with the force of a battering ram, slamming my door shut in the process. My upper body jerked backward and we both crashed to the floor. We skidded, me on the bottom with a two-hundred-pound werewolf anchored to my chest.

Unimpeded by a single lick of furniture, we crashed into the opposite wall, blowing out the bottom Sheetrock. I was pinned. He was in his full animal form, and it was all I could do to keep his snapping jaws from my face. My hands clung to the fur around his neck and I held on for dear life as we rolled back and forth across the floor.

“Get off me,” I gasped as we took another turn. My wolf’s ears were pinned back, a fierce snarl reverberating through my psyche, adrenaline and strength pounding through me. The same psyche she’d just been messing with a few seconds ago.

The werewolf’s foul, mangy breath wafted over me, his eyes radiating a fierce, pulsating yellow.

I absorbed everything she sent me as quickly as I could. Without it, I’d already be dead. The constant infusion of power gave me a small edge. My arms hardened, growing stronger by the second. I managed to wrench my attacker’s jaws backward a few precious inches, twisting my fists farther into his fur, like I was wrapping my hands up in a dish towel. When my hands were strung into his fur as far as they could go, I gave a little.

Just enough.

He came down hard, viciously snapping at my face, his jaws within a hairsbreadth of tearing my skin. Then I extended my arms forward, snapping my elbow in a quick motion, at the same time twisting his head to the side. There was a small but satisfying crack. One angry yowl and he went still, the weight of his head falling heavily into my arms.

“That’s what you get for messing with me,” I panted, my hands still firmly planted in his fur. Adrenaline pumped through me at a steady pace. It was delicious. The strength dizzying.

One twitch, and the wolf’s head shot up off my chest. Shit. This one must heal faster than normal. I hadn’t really thought I’d killed him—that would’ve been too easy—but a girl could dream. My arms were still firmly entwined in his fur, so I kept him back as his teeth gnashed inches from my face. He unleashed a low, nasty growl as his jowls dripped thick saliva on my chest.

Well, hell. Fear pierced me deep in the chest for the first time. I might lose. This wolf was too strong for me. As quickly as the thought entered my mind, a massive tide of power surged up inside, pushing against me so fiercely I almost let go.

In an instant, my fingers pulsed, my nails morphing to sharp points. My canines followed, lengthening to deadly spears in my mouth. My muscles danced under my skin, pulling and shifting. Fur sprung heavily along my forearms.

No pain this time. Instead it was exhilarating.

My attacker lifted his nose and scented the air, growling as he registered the power shift. His eyes blazed with a cold fury.

My wolf was not going to be denied a fight this time. She slammed against the barrier that still held, even though it was cracked, whining and barking. Be my guest. I don’t think I’m going to win this without you anyway. I focused hard to drop the wall between us. It didn’t fall easily, but the small fissure that I’d made before finally ruptured under the force and our minds snapped together like a slingshot as we merged.

Then all hell broke loose.

I reared up and sank my new fangs into the side of his neck and ripped happily. He let out a strangled howl and tried to scramble backward. I’d missed his jugular by an inch. My new claws were now fully embedded into his neck and blood flowed in rivers down my arms, coating us both.

He howled again, trying to shake himself free.

In one powerful heave, I flung him away and sprang to my feet, power rushing through me in a sweet continuous current, hitting every single nerve ending. My wolf was in control of the fight, she was leading, but I was there. It was different than before. We were united this time, but she had the wheel.

My attacker paced back and forth in front of me. Blood coursed down the wound in his neck, dripping onto my recently mopped floor in thick dark streams.

He leapt without warning.

I was ready.

My body launched itself into the air and we clashed in the middle. The only way to kill a wolf was to sever the vertebrae completely. No more impulses from the brain and you were done. I’d only cracked his neck before. Anything other than killing him at this point was not an option. If he gained the upper hand for even a moment, I was dead.

We rolled again, my arms coming around his body tightly. As we fought, my body continued to change and morph. We rolled twice before smashing against the plywood inside my sliding glass door. It wavered for a moment before it crashed down on top of us, startling my attacker.

It was the edge I needed. As the werewolf lifted his head and shoulders up to dislodge the wood, I slid my feet into his soft underbelly. Then I punched my legs forward, tossing him, and the board, off me in one powerful thrust.