Page 49 of The Wolf and his Witch

“Is she really going to be okay, Gabriel?”

“Oui.I promise.” He dropped a kiss on her head. “I couldn’t say anything more in front of Isobella, but I don’t want to keep anything from you. Not anymore. You deserve to know the truth. If Isobella is half as smart as you, she’ll have a good idea of what’s going to happen.”

Annabelle jerked her head back to look at him. “Someone’s going to turn her? A werewolf in the tenth century?”

Gabriel grinned. “Oui.”

“And you know who it is, don’t you?”

Gabriel nodded. “Neither I, nor my brothers, would exist if it were not for Isobella. She’s my many times great-great-grandmother.”

Annabelle gaped at him, her mouth working like a fish out of water. “Isobella is yourancestor?”

“Isobella is going to survive, Annabelle. I’m here, aren’t I? I’m living proof she’s going to be more than okay.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled deeper. It was so good to have her in his arms again. Right where she belonged.

“Trust me, Annabelle.It will all work out exactly as it’s meant to.”

“I hope so.”

He held her close, the events of today still fresh in his mind. If he never time traveled again, it would be too soon.

“So, what happens now?” She gazed up at him, wariness in her blue eyes. “With us, I mean? Do you bite me and…” She gave him a nervous smile. “I’m not sure how this is supposed to work.”

Gabriel chuckled. “Ever the impatient one.” He cupped her face. “All in good time,bebe.Let’s not rush things.” He pressed a finger to her lips. “Now, before you start fretting, I am going to turn you, that I promise. And soon. But a turning is not something you want to rush. We’ll need medical supplies and time.”

“Medical supplies?” she squeaked around his finger.

“The turning is painful. I’ll keep you sedated for the three days you’ll need, then—”

“Threedays?”

“Three days,” he affirmed. “Then you’ll need perhaps three months, maybe more, of training. Three months where we’ll need space and privacy so you don’t accidentally shift and reveal yourself in the middle of downtown San Francisco.”

“Oh.”

Her disappointment was a balm to his chaotic emotions. She wanted the turning as much as he did. But it would not be tonight, no matter how much his wolf called for it. Or how much his canines threatened to punch through his gums at the thought of sinking into the soft curve of her neck. He needed to rest and to be in prime condition before she began her turning. Annabelle as a witch was a handful. As a wolf witch, she would test all his reserves. Reserves he did not have right now.

“Tonight, I need a nice hot shower and then to sleep in a soft bed with the woman I love in my arms.”

At his declaration of his feelings, her pretty mouth parted on a gasp, and his cock surged. Okay, maybe not only a shower and sleep.

A slow smile spread across Annabelle’s lips, and he caught the mischievous glint in her eyes. She took his hand and led him up the floating staircase and into the master suite bathroom. She turned and slipped off her jacket, dropped it to the floor and toed off her shoes. With a tug on her blouse, she pulled it out from the waistband of her jeans and unbuttoned it, one slow button at a time.

Gabriel swallowed. Moonlight bathed the room, giving everything—the lava stone tiles, the soaking tub, the large shower, the double vanities, Annabelle—a bluish cast, like a black and white film effect. With his enhanced vision, thesubtle shadows of her collarbones, the curve of her breasts, the dampness of her lower lip after she’d run her tongue across it were clear to him. Did he scoop her up now and rip the rest of her clothes off? Or did he wait, watch and enjoy the slow reveal of her creamy breasts cupped in white lace?

Her blouse joined her jacket, then she popped the button on her jeans. Gabriel was torn. The slow slide of her zipper echoed loud in his ears with the promise of sex. Annabelle’s jeans joined her blouse, leaving her in two pieces of white lace. The sweet and tantalizing scent of her arousal bloomed and hit him harder than the Mack truck from their crash.

Putain, she was beautiful. For a moment, he was too stunned to move. Then a slow smile spread across his lips. Quid pro quo,bebe.

Gabriel ditched his jacket, grasped the back of his shirt and pulled it over his head, tossing it aside. He snapped the button on his jeans. Her gaze blazed a trail across his abdomen, and her breathing hitched. He slid his zipper down with slow deliberation. Her heart beat a staccato rhythm, louder than a bass drum to his sensitive ears. Then he kicked off his boots, peeled off his socks and shucked his jeans. He stood naked before her, legs spread and his cock granite hard and already leaking pre-cum.

“You’re not naked yet, Annabelle.” His words were barely more than a growl.

Her trembling hands reached behind her back, undid the clasp and hersoutien-gorgeslid to the floor, revealing rosy nipples peaked and ready for his touch. Her white lace panties, she slid down over her hips, the hint of dampness glistening on the fabric and on the fine blonde hair at the crutch of her thighs.

Gabriel breathed her in, and a throaty rumble reverberated through his chest. There was no finer perfume in all of this world than the scent of his mate aroused. He would never tire of it.

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