Elle James - Possessing the Witch

He winced and growled, small hairs rising on his neck and arms. Fascinated, she stopped cleaning and reached out to touch the hairs. “What are you? Half man, half beast? I have a million questions for you when you are up to answering.” She sang her words, soothing him as she applied the new remedy and bandages.

By the time she finished, his face had paled alarmingly and his body shook so hard his teeth rattled.

She pulled the sheet up over his chest.

“Shh, you’ll be okay,” she said, worried when he shivered so hard he shook the bed. Even after she’d covered him with a blanket, he trembled and his jaw clenched.

Afraid he would go into shock, Selene did the only thing she knew to do. She stripped down to her panties and slipped beneath the blanket and sheet, pressing her warm body against his cold skin. Careful, so as not to touch his wound, she draped an arm over his belly and a leg over his thigh. Curling her body around his, she held on, praying to the goddess the fever and shock wouldn’t be the end of him.

Slowly, the tremors lessened, dropping from constant to intermittent and finally, they stopped altogether.

Warm alongside him, and tired beyond exhaustion, Selene lay her face against his chest and closed her eyes. His deep, even breathing reassured her that he would be okay while she took a short nap. Sleep claimed her instantly and with it began the dreams...

Wandering through the dark, she recognized the tunnels. They were just like the ones she and her sisters had traversed beneath Chicago to save the youngest of her sisters from an evil Chimera a couple of years ago.

So dark...

Selene carried a flashlight, the beam barely lighting the way, pushing against the inky blackness like a hand shoving back heavy drapery.

The longer she walked, the longer the tunnel seemed. She stepped over old railroad tracks, discarded pallets, pipes and debris, searching for...whatever, she wasn’t quite certain.

Something clattered behind her. Selene stopped to listen. Nothing but the eerie silence. When she started walking again, she sensed something moving with her, getting closer.

At a T-junction, she ducked to the left, clicked off her flashlight and waited, barely breathing so that she could hear the sound of footsteps treading softly in the passage.

There it was.

The soft steps, moving slowly toward her. Not those of a human but the close succession of patters on the ground like those of a four-legged creature.

The closer it moved the faster her heart beat and the more shallow her breathing. She was afraid if she made even the slightest sound, she’d give away her position.

Just as the creature eased to the junction, Selene flicked her thumb over the on switch, shining her light into the eyes of the predator, hoping to blind it while she made her escape.

The red eyes of a wolf shone back at her like twin blood orbs in a face so dark it blended into the black of the tunnel.

Selene screamed and backed away, the hand holding the flashlight shaking so badly she almost dropped it.

It was huge, as big as any man, only twice as menacing. Its lips curled back, exposing long, sharp teeth, and it emitted a growl so frightening, Selene spun and ran through the tunnel.

“Help me!” she cried, her voice echoing off the empty walls. No one was there—most sane people didn’t venture into the subterranean underworld beneath the city. She was alone, being chased by a wolf. She ran, knowing she couldn’t outrun the creature.

Her foot caught on a broken rail and she crashed to her knees.

The wolf caught up, braced its paws on either side of her and breathed its hot breath onto the back of her neck, as if waiting for her to turn over. To face her death.

Selene rolled to her back, clutching her pentagram between her fingers, unable to close her eyes to the wicked gleam in her attacker’s face, knowing she would witness her own death.

The wolf’s body tensed, his mouth opened and he bunched his muscles.

Then a tawny golden flash of sinew and fur hit him head-on, knocking the wolf onto his back.

Selene scrambled backward, grabbing for her flashlight as a mighty battle for supremacy raged in the beam of her light between the wolf and a glorious male lion.

The wolf lunged at the lion, his teeth sinking into the lion’s shoulder.

Selene gasped. “No!” She pushed to her feet and would have thrown herself at the wolf, but hands held her back.

“Let me go. I have to help,” she whimpered.

“Shh,” a low male voice crooned. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” She wept, struggling to free herself. “He’ll die.”

“It’s only a dream,” the voice said. A hand smoothed the hair back from her forehead. “It’s only a dream. Come little angel, wake up.”

“A dream?” Selene whispered. Rising from the darkness, she blinked her eyes open...

Selene stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars she’d tacked to the ceiling shortly after she’d moved into her small apartment. The stars reminded her of the night sky filled with twinkling stars that dispelled the darkness and gave promise of the vastness of the universe.

A solid warmth pressed against her side. She turned her face, her cheek resting against skin—a lot of skin. Selene tipped up her chin and stared into golden eyes and lips quirked at the corners.

“The angel awakens.” His words rumbled in his chest, echoing into her ear. His arm shifted beneath her head, his hand cupping her shoulder.

“I must have fallen asleep,” she said.

“I think you and I must have been having the same dream. I woke only moments before you.”

“I was being attacked by a—”

“Wolf?” His brows descended. “I saw you.”

“But then a lion saved me.” Selene’s eyes widened. “Was that you?”

His gaze grew guarded. “I should be going.” He tried to sit up, growled in pain and fell back against the pillow, wincing at the effort.

“You’re in no shape to go anywhere.”

“I can’t stay here.”

“Why not?” Selene leaned up on her elbow before she realized she was only wearing her bra and panties. She lay back down, her face burning.

His eyes flared, the pupils dilating. He opened his mouth to say something.

Selene placed a finger over his lips. “Don’t get any ideas. I only lay here to warm you when you were going into shock.” She cupped his cheek. “It seems the fever is gone.” Sitting up, she pressed a pillow to her breasts. “You won’t need me to keep you warm.”

His good hand closed gently around her wrist. “Stay.”

“But I’m not dressed.”

“I know. And neither am I.” His voice had lowered to a warm rumbling purr. “I feel a chill coming on.”

Selene frowned. “Yeah, right.”

His body shook and his face tightened in pain. “Please. It’s your bed, and you need sleep as much as I do.”

“I don’t know you.”

“I’ll keep the monsters away from your dreams.”

“What if you’re the monster?”

“You’ve already proven you can tame my beast.”

She wavered, the warmth of his skin tempting her. “I’ll need to change your bandages soon.”

“They can wait.” He tugged on her hand, drawing her back to the bed.

“I am tired.” She settled against him, trying to read into his mind. She couldn’t hear his thoughts, could only feel his emotions or see flashes of images. They weren’t malevolent so much as hot and lusty, sparking an answering heat deep in her core. “I shouldn’t.” Her hand rested on his chest.