would have let his animal take over. Desire should have made it impossible to resist the scent of my slickening pussy. I closed my eyes, expecting him to leap upon me.
But Rafe Lowell was not an ordinary werebear.
Instead, he finished mixing our drinks and came back from around the mahogany bar. I had never met anyone who had a bar in his house before, but then again, I had never met anyone, human or shifter, like Rafe before.
Rafe placed his foot on the sofa next to me and leaned his elbow on his knee. "Selena, correct?" He extended the rocks glass to me. His hand was massive and I caught the sight of a thickly muscled wrist under his crisp white dress shirt.
"Correct," I smiled winningly.
"You were named for the moon?"
I blushed slightly under his penetrating gaze, but I had to stick to my story. "That's right."
"It's pretty."
"Thank you."
"But it's not your real name."
I looked at him sharply.
He reached out a long finger and tugged lightly on an escaped lock. "But I give you credit. It suits you more than 'Lindsay.'"
I swallowed to hear my real name. No one had called me that in years. Not since I left the country and moved to a city with a large population of wolf and bear shifters. I’d changed my name to fit in, but that wasn’t the only reason…
"You thought it would make you feel powerful when you were with my kind, didn't you?"
I still wasn't speaking, but it was like he was pulling my thoughts out of my brain and lazily examining them in the firelight. I shifted again. Was this part of his game?
"You of course know that we no longer depend on the phases of the moon for our shifts. Some humans still believe those fairy tales, but they aren't true. We overcame that handicap centuries ago." He bent forward, and the air around him seemed to vibrate as he spoke, his voice deepening into a low, menacing growl. "We...evolved," he snarled.
And then his face was no longer human. His stunning, chiseled features swam and blurred in front of me, the beast within his flesh showing its nature as his amber eyes turned upward. He bared a mouth full of sharp, angry teeth, the bear maw curved upward, changing once again until I was staring at his grinning human face once more.
Fear was flashing in my veins and my mouth was flooding with the bright, coppery taste of terror. Shifters rarely showed their form around anyone who wasn’t among their kind. Sure, we’d all seen the videos of transformations floating around on the internet, but to see it up close… To see how much control Rafe had over the process…
He growled a low, bass sound, so low that I felt it more than heard it. I felt my limbs relax and I was suffused with the feeling of immense relaxation as he held me in his gaze. It didn't make sense. At any moment I knew he could shift back, bringing his bear form from beneath his calm appearance. All I could do was smile. I felt myself move in spite of myself, grasping his proffered drink and lifting it to my lips.
"Cheers, Selena," he growled, his human voice still hoarse from his change. He pulled up and clinked our glasses together, extending the rocks glass to me and clinking it together.
The amber liquid tasted like moss and earth and burned like lava as it slid down my throat. "Cheers," I coughed, trying to suppress the watering of my eyes while clearing my head of the powerful spell I was under. I felt drunk with desire. I had never wanted anything more than I wanted to be under this beast's power.
"Did you have any more questions?"
I felt my heart flutter, here it comes.
"One night, yes?"
Rafe leaned down further and I shied away involuntarily. I wasn't naked...yet...but his gaze made me feel that way nonetheless.
"Our agreement is for one night, yes. One night where you are completely mine, and you must do whatever I say."
"And after