“Probably Celeste’s stomach rumbling because she couldn’t finish me off. We’ve got time.” I twist my fingers inside of her. Can I give her one more before we—
“It sounded like someone calling my name.” She grips my wrist, stopping my movements. “Come on.”
Pushing me away, she grabs our discarded clothes, sliding on her shirt and bra before I could even wipe away her scent from my hand. Her lips are swollen, her hair dishevelled, her lipstick smeared across her cheek. She looks enchanting.
I shove my twitching, desperate cock back into my pants as he reminds mepainfullythat he isn’t going to get any release tonight.
Cockblocked by a werewolf withearrings.
A timid voice calls from the cell. “Hello? Arabella? Is that you?”
“I’m here.” Arabella struggles into her coat, finds the key among the detritus of our Catan game, and unlocks the cell door. I step to theside, my hand resting on the sword Allie made for me, ready to act in a moment if she’s in danger.
Celeste – in human form – rushes Arabella, wrapping her in a huge hug. Arabella doesn’t normally like displays of intimacy, but she squeezes her friend back, resting her head on Celeste’s shoulder.
Her verynakedshoulder.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you—” Celeste’s eyes fly open, and she sees me. “Argh! Man!”
It takes me a moment to step back from the intimacy of the scene and realise that Celeste is stark naked. Her eyes widen as she realises this too, and she yelps and attempts to cover her lady bits with Arabella’s body. Only Arabella is tall and willowy and Celeste is a rather lovely but very different shape.
“Gideon,” Arabella snaps. “Can you give her some privacy?”
“Of course.” I cover my eyes with my hands. “I didn’t know—”
“You didn’t know werewolves don’t shift with their clothes? This isn’t a shifter romance novel where logical inconsistencies are explained away by magic. That’s not how it works.” Celeste grumbles as I try not to peek through my fingers. I fail, but only because I’m looking at Arabella, not her.
Arabella shrugs off her designer trench coat and tosses it to Celeste, who wraps it around her voluptuous figure. From what little I’ve seen of her, that woman will stop hearts. Not mine, of course. My undead heart beats for one woman, and it’s the one glaring at me.
“You can lower your hands now, Gideon. How did I get here?” Celeste ties the trench coat around her waist. She’s shorter than Arabella, so it brushes her ankles. “Andwhereis here?”
“You’re in the dungeon Gideon installed in the basement of Sanctus Estate, because he’s a weirdo who assumed he’d need a dungeon.”
“Ididneed a dungeon.” I gesture at the claw marks Celeste has raked in the wall. “Vindication is mine.”
Arabella ignores me. “And as for why you’re here… What do you remember?”
“I thought I was helping but I guess I… er, got a little wolfy,” she admits. “The truth is, ever since the Midnight Garden party, I’vebeen sneaking into the woods near your house and watching over you. I knew you’d be safe during the day because the vampire killer would be asleep, too, so I’d come at night and guard you. Outside of the full moon I have control over my shifting. I can move between my wolf and human forms at will. But during the full moon I go full wolf. I run on instinct. I’m in control, but who I am changes, if that makes sense? Usually, I lock myself away during the full moon, but I thought I would still be okay to watch you because the wolf inside me recognises you as part of my pack, but the fact I’m in here suggests maybe not.”
“It didn’t look that way,” Arabella says. “So when you go to your mother’s house for a week every month, you are actually—”
“Locked away in a grain silo up at the Old Mill so I don’t hurt anyone. I shouldn’t have risked it! But no one else was looking out for you and you refused to let me tell Gideon. I don’t even know what happened last night. I can only ever remember fleeting snippets during the full moon. I stayed later than usual, after you woke up, because I smelled something off in the trees, something that reminded me of the smell on your door when we found the graffiti. I remember seeing you through the window, Arabella. I was worried for your safety. I remember eyes in the gloom. I remember trees, woods, exciting smells, scraping my claws into vampire flesh. I remember tasting fresh meat.”
“That was me.” I wave my injured arm. “Hi. Thanks for the trauma.”
“I’m so sorry, Gideon.” Celeste winces.
“Don’t be,” Arabella assures her. “Whatever your reason for taking a chunk out of him, he deserved it.”
“She’s right. I was probably the eyes you saw. I came to see Arabella to wish her a happy—” Arabella makes a throat-slashing motion and I quickly amend my words. “To work on our performance for the variety show. I was standing on her porch when you… er…” I don’t think I’ll be popular if I sayattacked me. “Gave me a lovebite.”
“I really am sorry.” Celeste lowers her head. “I should have recognised your scent, but I’d just managed to scratch the killer and I had his scent and then you stepped out and it seemed like you were covered in his scent—”
“Hold on a second.” I’ve been distracted by Arabella’s beautiful legs and how dizzy I am after staying up past sunrise, and I missed half the conversation. “What killer? You mean the killer who husked Patrick and Danny?”
Arabella waves a hand impatiently. “Celeste has this absurd theory that the killer is after me, despite there being absolutely no evidence.”
“It’s not absurd, and there’s tonnes of evidence.”
