Beastly Tenderness

A soft tongue lapped at her nose, and with it drifted the sweet familiar breath that made her think of warm food and cozy beds. A muzzle nudged hers. She opened her eyes. Esmé. Safe. Dismay forgotten for a moment, she sprang to her feet and pranced a few excited steps. But Esmé stepped aside,…

Aiden let out a delighted yelp of laughter, but it was cut short by someone calling out to him in the distance. “Gotta go. Parents home,” he said, and Vivian found herself holding a dead line. Vivian was surprised when Bingo showed up at her door that evening. “Thought you might like some company since…

Lucien Dafoe hobbled between two friends, complaining loudly that he was still too hurt to fight. Vivian sniffed in disgust. Her people healed faster than that. “I hope someone beats the crap out of him, ” Lucien said, nodding toward Gabriel, who was laughing with a friend. “Someone not so prissy about where and what…

“Having a hard-on doesn’t make you an adult, boy,” Gabriel said, and some of the grown males laughed. Orlando waved them quiet. “The Law is specific in this matter, Rafael. Bone and flesh, flesh and bone, a man takes time to grow them. Two-five-two number the moons that it takes for a man to know…

Vivian smiled at their banter, her mouth wide and toothy. They broke apart, turned, gathered speed; they leaped and met in midair. Bucky knocked Jean askew and landed straddling him. Now for the quick nip, Vivian thought, and Jean is out. But Jean went for Bucky’s throat. Bucky jerked away. He lost his footing and…

“Make that a Coke,” Vivian said. Brenda winked. “Want me to goose that?” Vivian shook her head. “Nah. The old lady needs to keep her job.” “Old lady!” Esmé squealed, and Brenda left giggling. It wasn’t until they were wiping the crumbs from their mouths that more members of the pack came drifting in, some…

“But they’re our jerks. You know what to expect from them.” “I know what to expect from Aiden.” She thought of his gentle caresses and his dreams of magic. “But he’ll never know you, not really.” Vivian opened her mouth to speak, then clamped it shut. Esmé must have read the argument in her eyes.…

Aiden pulled away abruptly, and Vivian looked up to see Kelly peering in the driver’s-side window. “Uh, oh yeah, Kelly, in a minute,” Aiden said. “Where?” Vivian asked, not bothering to conceal her irritation. “For pizza, of course,” Kelly answered. She gestured to Mama Lucia’s Pizza right in front of their parking space. Her smile…

“I see you’ve met my sister.” Vivian recognized Gabriel’s throaty growl. The tall biker froze for a second, a look of panic on his face; then he turned. “Hey, Gabe! Your sister, man. Wow. Real pretty girl. I wuz just tellin’ her. Yeah. Your sister. Wow.” “Uh, come on, Skull. We got a party to…

Then they were past, racing upstream, devouring the night. “Wow,” Aiden said. “For a moment I thought it was the wild hunt-Herne the Hunter chasing down the damned.” She could feel the goose bumps on his arm. “People shouldn’t let their dogs run loose like that. Maybe we should call the pound.” “At this time…