Brindle by V. Vaughn

CHAPTER ONE
    I watch hot coffee soak through my notebook in the pile of things I just dropped. “Mother of all that’s holy!” I quickly grab my essay that had fluttered down next to it. The one that’s due in five minutes. I shake the stapled pages, hoping the brown liquid will somehow fall off without staining, and warmth splashes my face and arms. “Piss on a pretzel!”
    “Is that really what you want me to do?” His voice makes tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand up and take notice.
    Before I realize what I’m doing, I deeply inhale the intoxicating scent of male musk. My sex-o-meter siren blares. Of course it does, because crouched next to me is the guy who’s the source of my current predicament. I glance up at his face that’s inches from mine. “Brindle.”
    “Katie.” After we stand, he hands me the coffee cup he retrieved. “There’s a little left, and it looks like you need it.”
    It’s mating season, and I’m so horny I’m a raging lunatic. Snatching the container from Brindle’s hand, I sneer at him before downing the contents, which scald my esophagus.
    “Heat’s a bitch, isn’t it?” He flashes me a smile full of teeth.
    I glare and take in his appearance. Gone is the lanky, clean-cut guy I dated in high school. Now Brindle’s got a Thor thing going on with his pumped-up physique and overgrown hair. My gaze scans downward. I bite my lip as he chuckles.
    I snap my attention back to his face. “You got your braces off.”
    Now he’s grinning so hard his eyes are slits. “That’s what you noticed?”
    I turn away from him to continue walking to class. “You really don’t want to mess with me right now.”
    Brindle steps to my side and crowds me against an old oak tree. He is well over a foot taller than I am, and the bark pokes into my back as I shrink away from his towering height. He places a hand above my head and one on my hip to press his erection against my belly. I gasp as my body responds.
    His voice is a low rumble. “I want to do more than mess with you. And you want me, too. You can’t help it.”
    I do. My chest heaves as I will my body to stay under control. My nipples are hard, and my core is quaking with need. I close my eyes and try to block my nose from his scent by breathing through my mouth. “Don’t.”
    Brindle releases me and allows distance between our bodies, but he’s still hovering. He speaks softly. “Tell me, have you tried screwing other guys to satisfy your hunger? Doesn’t work, does it?”
    No, it doesn’t. And I’ve done more than try. Hot shame flushes my cheeks as I recall the night last weekend with the lacrosse player whose name I didn’t even bother to learn. I duck under Brindle’s arm to get away. “I can’t do this right now. I’ve got to get to class and turn in my paper.”
    “Fine.” He points toward the student union. “I’ll be there when you’re done.”
    I have no doubt he will. Cold March wind blows around me as I power walk to the lecture hall. I’m purposely leaving my coat open, hoping the chill will alleviate my overheated state of arousal. We’re werewolves, and Brindle is my mate. I kick myself every day about that decision. Apparently, he was right that it was a lifelong commitment I wouldn’t be able to avoid. Even though I haven’t seen Brindle in more than six months, every cell of me is screaming to be with him right now.
    The front door is about to shut behind another latecomer, and I slip through to enter the building. My footsteps echo in the stairwell as I jog up to the second floor. When I get to the hall, I meet Mr. Bellow’s glare as he approaches the classroom from the other end of the building. “Miss Winslow, nice of you to join us today.”
    He’s referring to the fact that I cut class all last week while I was learning to deal with my first season in heat. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have liked me humping a chair. “Sorry, I’ve been sick.”
    “Not a luxury you can afford,