Howl of the Wolf by N.J. Walters Page B

do with setting him free, but she was curious about the whole curse thing. Maybe it could help her figure out what evil was stalking her and how to break free from it.
    She leaned against the wall, studying Arand’s strong jaw, broad nose and dark eyes. He really was attractive in a rugged, masculine way. And he was certainly at home with his body and sexuality, not bothered at all by the lack of clothing. She wished she were half as confident.
    “Hades is coming for me, for us. We have to evade him for twenty-four hours and then we will be free.”
    Sabrina snapped to attention. “Whoa, back up. What do you mean Hades is coming for us, for me?” She swallowed hard, fighting of a wave of nausea. She knew something evil was stalking her, but she’d been holding out some small grain of hope that it wasn’t the devil himself.
    She silently whispered a small prayer, glad she had Jessica’s beads wrapped around her wrist and Tilly’s amulet around her neck. They weren’t much protection against such a powerful force, but they made her feel better, stronger.
    Arand rested his forehead against hers and wrapped his strong hands around her shoulders. “Hades wants me to join him. If I will not, he’ll try to kill me.”
    “And me, what about me?” She hated the way her voice trembled.
    “You, he will want to kill you and steal your soul.”
    Sabrina shook her head. Enough was enough. “Okay, time for you to go. I need to pull myself out of this trance and figure things out.”
    Arand frowned. “You still do not believe me?”
    She tried to push him aside, but it was like trying to move a slab of granite. “You’re a vision, a part of my meditation. You’re not real.”
    But if he wasn’t real, why was he so damn heavy?

Chapter Seven
    Arand stared down at the woman who’d freed him and set the remainder of the curse in motion. Sabrina. Her name was strong and feminine, like her. He cupped her face, marveling at her beauty. This woman, this fragile human had released him from five thousand years of torment.
    And she smelled divine. His senses were overloaded with the stimuli bombarding him. Lavender and sweat coated her skin, but beneath it was the sensual musk of slightly aroused female. She might be afraid of him, but she wanted him too.
    He could smell lemons and some kind of food, which made his stomach grumble. He hadn’t eaten in a very, very long time. But touching her was more important than food, more important than anything.
    Her skin was soft and smooth, pale as the moon and warm as a summer’s night. He wanted to strip her naked and touch every inch of her. His cock pulsed in ready agreement. He ached, but it felt good. It meant he was alive, no longer held trapped.
    The room was dimly lit, but he could see every inch of it as though it was bathed in the noonday sun. And he could see her too.
    Hair as red as the leaves in the autumn fell in loose curls around her shoulders and framed her face. Her nose was straight, her cheekbones defined. Full lips were parted on a sigh and his balls contracted when her tongue slicked over the bottom one.
    Vivid green eyes widened as he rubbed his thumbs along her stubborn jaw and tilted her head back so he could get a better view. Her eyelashes were long and thick, her eyebrows slightly arched.
    He’d seen more beautiful women during the years he’d walked the earth, certainly he had, but he just couldn’t seem to remember any of them. Sabrina washed away the memory of them all. There was a vibrancy, a pulsing energy of life that surrounded her, and he wanted to bathe in it, in her.
    He knew she didn’t believe he was real and was inexplicably saddened by that. It shouldn’t matter. His mission was clear—protect Sabrina, evade Hades, find his fellow warriors, if any of them still lived, and free the Lady. There was no place in his life for a fragile human female.
    But she was here, so very close. And he’d been alone for so very long. Arand leaned down and