It wasn't that she didn't have the opportunity to practice. Surely if she and a partner took things slow, allowing her to focus and get a handle on the ineffable force that opened her to demons, she might achieve control.

Closing her eyes, she willed the rain to stop, to release her from the dilemma she didn't want to face. Was she scared of ending up with a fully shifted werewolf? Yes.

A lot. She didn't want to get tossed around like a stuffed animal and likely mauled. Scribble that one under least preferable ways to die.

'I could give it a try.' The voice sounded softly at her side.

Alcide just stood beside her. The heat of his presence tickling down Lucinda's spine. 'I could make a run for town. It's the wolf that doesn't do rain. But in this were-form, I can.'

Were was that man. Wolf meant the animal that walked on four legs. And werewolf? Man and wolf combined.

'And what would you do in town? Molest some innocent woman?'

'I don't harm humans, Lucinda.'

'I didn't mean to imply you would. Sorry.' But hearing him say it eased a wonder she didn't know she had. 'I just, well, I suppose it's better that you stay here than risk a werewolf stalking Bon Temp.'

Alcide lifted his shoulders and sighed. 'So what's it's like for you with other guys? I mean, seems like your dating life-'

'Sucks the big one. Trust me, men don't come looking for another date after they've seen me climax.'

'Maybe it's not mortals you should be dating in the first place.'

He touched her back, but didn't do any more than that. Bless him. She was strung high enough as it was. 'The taste of you is in my mouth. I need more.'

'I want you, too, Alcide. It's just not feasible. Don't take this personally, okay?'

'I'll try not to. Probably haven't been too many times you've wanted to reveal your condition to a potential lover.'

She nodded and rubbed her arms. 'It's not a condition. It's simply who I am.'

'I'm not afraid of demons.'

'That desperate for sex, eh?'

A step back put her against his chest. The man was hard and soft at the same time. Lucinda snuggled her cheek against his shoulder. This quiet contact felt good. And for the moment, unthreatening.

Alcide's hands moved to caress her breasts, and she allowed the easy lingering strokes. It felt terrific to be touched by a man – one who was not afraid of her danger.

A man who presented his own, equal danger.

Maybe the risk would be worth the earth-shattering sex she knew they could have. Alcide's hot tongue traced the side of her neck, gliding along the jugular. Now, vampires she did not tolerate, and she would quickly stake a sexy night brooder, with little regret.

'You thinking about vampires?' he asked, his mouth still at her neck.

She chuckled. 'Hate 'em.'

'Me, too. Glad to know we share the same priorities.' He nipped at her vein. Hugging her, he lifted her feet from the ground briefly. 'Damn, I can't not touch you.'

She turned and pressed her breasts just under his stone-hard pecs. The sound of his sucked-in breath bolstered her confidence. They could do this. She wasn't about to let the opportunity slip through her fingers. 'Maybe foreplay would be enough.'

'I don't think so.'

Rain still mercilessly clattered the steel roof.

Was it too much to ask to abandon anxiety while a gorgeous hunk of a man made love to her?

Lucinda stoked her fingers over Alcide's tense shoulders. His skin was hot and dewed with sweat.

There was a fifty percent chance that when she did bridge a demon that it would be benevolent, probably a bit disorientated as to how it had suddenly arrived in the mortal world and more than willing to return to its own realm.

But the other fifty percent were nasty and so ready to wreak havoc. And as much as she wished she could just let them dash off on their own, Lucinda did feel responsible for any bit of nasty she brought into this world.

'Still raining,' he said on a sigh.

'I love the rain.'

'It's growing on me,' he offered.

'Why doesn't the werewolf like the rain?'

'I was trapped in a rain sewer a few years back. Chained, actually, during the full moon.'

'Chained?'

'It's a long story. I pissed off a vampire. Learned my lesson.'

Alcide bent her forward over the pool table. She slid up to pull him in for a deep kiss. Alcide's hot breath rasped in her ear. 'I'm ready for this.'

The time was nearing midnight. Now or never. Face the wolf or bring forth demons. Hell of a choice. But easy, because she knew she wouldn't be denied the pleasure she craved. Or the connection she wanted with this man.

'Yes.' Lucinda slid her hands behind and over his hips. He'd removed his shirt and jeans. Lucinda unzipped her shorts. Soft denim slid down her thighs. Her heart raced. Her body hummed. Fear had decided to strike. But it was still small. Moreover, she was hot for this man who simply had to have her.

'I…' he growled '…can lock myself upstairs. Maybe…' He was trying to protect her, even as his body fought against the moon's insistent command. He grunted as his body convulsed against hers, obviously reacting to some inner torment.

Lucinda ground hard against his straining thighs and abs, inviting, promising she was in for a wild ride.

Alcide groaned and slapped a hand on the table near her arm. Claws jutted out from the fingers. Knuckles bulged and skin stretched. The entire hand began to lengthen. Fingers curled, tearing through the velvet.

Another hand – paw – slapped across her stomach in a tight clutch.

'I love you for this,' he growled.

Her feel left the ground as he impaled her. His intensity filled her. Pinpricks pierced her stomach. Claws lengthened. He was still changing.

'Faster,' she cried.

Alcide took directions well. He pounded into her, his harsh gasps and moans increasing, along with his speed. Wolf or were, she couldn't even know. No matter which he was he was still Alcide. A man she had come to know a little about, and to crave more than the dry earth needed the rain.

Alcide reached the edge, that moment when his body tensed and every fibre of him succumbing. The hand on her stomach relaxed and slipped away. Her lover climaxed with a shudder. The growl near her ear was a man's voice, not an animal's.

The claws digging into the table retracted. The wolf had been put to heel. That didn't stop Alcide from howling a triumphant cry into the stormy night.

Dropping her arms across the table and collapsing forward, Lucinda smiled with relief because she had just had some awesome sex. With a werewolf. Alcide wrapped an arm across her shoulders and brought her up to rest against his panting body. 'That was amazing. The werewolf was so close.'

'You didn't change?'

'No.'

'Will it stay away for the night?'

'Not sure. This has never happened before.' He huffed. A teasing bite tweaked her shoulder. He followed with a kiss that sucked in her flesh and would surely leave a mark. 'Might have to go a few more rounds to be safe.'

'I'm up for that.'

She turned in his embrace and kissed his perspiring throat where the Adam's Apple throbbed. He had been so close, half changed, those claws tearing through the table as if it were mere tinder.

He pressed his forehead to hers and touched her stomach. 'Oh, hell, what's this?'

'Just a scratch. You barely grazed the skin.'

'Lucinda, I don't want to – I'd never intentionally hurt you.'

I know that. I trust you, Alcide.'

'You should never trust me as the wolf. Know that.'

She nodded. 'So, it looks like you're ready to go for round two.'

Suddenly airborne, Lucinda landed over Alcide's shoulder. 'Time to make the kitty cat purr.'

Alcide laid Lucinda on a blanket on the bar floor and crouched over her. Ribbons of dark hair spilled over her breast , and he dragged them away with a lash of his tongue. She sucked on his lower lip and bit not too softly. Alcide's arms shook as he strained not to rest completely upon her body. He intended to make her purr. Wasn't fair to deny the woman. But he couldn't fight the rush that coursed through his system.

Head diving backward, Lucinda splayed out her arms and gripped the blanket. A cry of mounting pleasure segued to gasping, shuddering purrs.

'That's what I wanted to hear.'

Before he could bring her to climax she gripped the hand he had about his cock. Her legs clutched his hips and forced him down inside her, where the world was warm and right and all rational thought fled.

Alcide came instantly. Again, she'd brought him to heel.

Alcide rolled off her and onto his back beside her. 'Why'd you do that? Let me come again.'

'You're questioning my ability to bring you to heel, wolf?'

'Hey, don't get me wrong. I can go another ten rounds if that's your game. But I think you're trying to stop the inevitable.'

'We stopped the werewolf. That was inevitable.'

'True.' He rolled to his side and skated his fingers purposefully down her stomach. I'm not afraid of a demon. And I sure as hell won't let a girl show me up. You can stand fearless before a werewolf? Let's bring on the demon.'

So now it became an issue of male pride. She'd let him have that. But it seemed an awful way to end a perfect evening. Great sex with an extraordinary lover, cut to a bloody halt by a nasty demon.

Lucinda rocked her hips, hoping to redirect his tracing journey. 'Is it possible to form such an intense bond with a stranger?'

'It is.'

'What about us? Cats and dogs.'

'I'm not a dog, but a wolf.'

'Dogs drool,' she said lightly, 'wolves rule.'

He laughed and kissed her shoulder. 'You're avoiding the subject. Purr for me, Lucinda. Surrender to the wolf.'

'Yes,' she said, and it wasn't a thought, but more a visceral response to his touch.

Most men never really learned the way to satisfy a woman in a lifetime. Alcide was attuned to Lucinda's every flinch, her every murmur and moan. He expertly mastered her body and knew when to alter his touch from light to hard, or from slow to fast.

She lifted her hips, grinding her wetness against his fingers. Kisses covered her breasts. The hard column of his erection fit into her groping fingers. She began to stroke him, but the world slipped away as orgasm overwhelmed her.

It attacked so fiercely, Lucinda cried out. It was too good to contain. Too remarkable not to surrender to. As her body hummed with joyful success, the dark tickle of warning went unnoticed.

It was too late. An ashy cloud gushed from Lucinda's pores. And above her and her lover, the demon formed.