My Heart's Passion

  MY HEART’S PASSION

  An Ellora’s Cave Publication, November 2004

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

  1337 Commerce Drive, #13

  Stow, OH 44224

  ISBN MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-4199-0066-8

  Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned):

  Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), Mobipocket (PRC) & HTML

  MY HEART’S PASSION © 2004 ELIZABETH LAPTHORNE

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. They are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Edited by Martha Punches.

  Cover art by Syneca.

  Warning:

  The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. My Heart’s Passion has been rated S-ensuous by a minimum of three independent reviewers.

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-rotic), and X (X-treme).

  S-ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

  E-rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words such as “fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature.

  X-treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles, stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

  Rutledge Werewolves:

  My Heart’s Passion

  Elizabeth Lapthorne

  Prologue

  Wednesday

  “Are you sure you and Dominic don’t mind?”

  Mary laughed huskily.

  “Chloe darling, I’m still feeling like a newlywed, even after six months. The last place Dominic and I want is to be within spitting distance of his nieces, nephews, and siblings. They’re a great bunch, and we certainly love them to bits, but someone is always dropping around, interrupting us at delicate moments to have a chat with us, or to play a game of Chase or something. We’re only going away for four and a half days, and we’re only renting a cabin thirty miles on the other side of the park—but trust me, no one is going to disturb us and we can have some fun before bub arrives and we can’t make polite or even half-believable excuses anymore.”

  Chloe grinned. “One last fuck-fest before you become responsible adults, hmm?”

  Mary laughed. “Who said anything about being responsible, Chlo? I’m only talking about having a baby—not starting a career in politics or something.”

  Chloe rolled her eyes and heard an answering snicker from the other end of the line. They might be on opposite sides of the state, but Chloe shared a special closeness with her cousin. They were best friends as well as family.

  “Anyway,” Mary continued, “I think you’ll enjoy the break—after six months of standing in as a high school teacher anyone would need a break. Just don’t complain to me when all the rugrats over here insist you play games with them. They’re darling children—but they’ll drive you nuts if you let them.”

  “I think I can handle a handful of overenthusiastic kids after subbing for six months and coping with thirty junior high teenagers in a cooking class. As long as the kids don’t start a food fight, we’ll get along just fine.”

  “A long weekend away, hopefully hidden in the cabin, might give you the time you need to think about where you want to go now.”

  Chloe sighed. “Mar, please don’t start on that again. You know I don’t want to study anymore.”

  Chloe’s refusal to keep a steady job, what she liked to refer to as her “itchy feet” was a running joke between the two of them. She couldn’t bear the thought of bogging herself down in more studies. Instead, she had taken the first available job after graduating high school.

  Moving from job to job, Mary had shown constant astonishment at her innate skill to pick up jobs with ease, and then finding something different to do.

  “Well, some time out in the cabin might be helpful to you. Take a break and you can think about things and read to your heart’s content. I’ve already mailed you the keys, so we’ll leave very early tomorrow morning. You can move in anytime after about eleven tomorrow morning. Those keys should arrive first thing tomorrow morning, and once they arrive you can start that awful drive. Don’t forget Dominic, the lazy ass, hasn’t fixed the lock as of yet. It might stick a little, so don’t be afraid to jiggle the key. He swears to have it fixed by the time we leave, but I’m not holding my breath. Oh, and one more thing—”

  “Mmmm?”

  “Be careful in the woods Thursday night. It’s the full moon.”

  “Oh. Right. Sure.”

  Chloe wasn’t really sure what more to say. She believed Mary, who insisted Dominic was a werewolf. Yet at the same time, she didn’t believe her. It was rather confusing and she didn’t think about it much. Mary had assured her they weren’t the werewolves of movies—insane killers and feasters of flesh. But rather, insisted they were mostly normal men, who happened to turn into wolves and run around in the huge national park on the evenings of the full moon.

  Chloe didn’t like to think of it any more than she wanted to think about Dominic’s brother, Samuel. She had been Mary’s bridesmaid, and Samuel had been the groomsman. She had spent most of the wedding avoiding the drop-dead handsome man.

  It had been the strangest feeling, walking down the aisle ahead of Mary, feeling proud and sad at the same time. She was overjoyed for Mary finally finding the love she deserved. Yet, having her brother and cousin moving to the other side of the state to be with this family had made her feel slightly odd.

  She was happy for them, but sad at the same time. She wasn’t sure what she thought of the large, boisterous family. She certainly liked them, but also resented them slightly. That resentment ate at her and made her feel awful and mean.

  She had been determined to like and get to know the family her cousin was marrying into, and had been doing an admirable job—until she had met the elusive Samuel. Standing next to Dominic, in a navy blue suit just like his brothers, he had taken her breath away.

  Taller by a few inches than Dominic, he was lean and athletically muscled. His shoulder-length hair had been restrained into a short ponytail. Staring at him, he made her heart stutter out an unusual rhythm, and, temporarily, she wondered if she would faint from lack of oxygen.

  Quickly snapping back to reality, she continued to her designated spot a little faster than the priest had asked. Watching Mary walk down the aisle, her face alight, looking beautiful in her wedding gown, Chloe forgot Samuel and concentrated on her cousin.

  The rest of the afternoon, however, hadn’t been so easy. Samuel hadn’t been an easy man to ignore, sadly for her peace of mind. They had politely conversed through a number of light, noncommittal subjects such as the weather, and didn’t Mary look stunning, throughout the small reception.

  Yet the underlying sexual tension between them had been almost impossible to ignore. She was sure he felt it too—yet when he made no mention of it, she stubbornly refused to bring it up either.

  Chloe had quickly left the following morning after helping Mary pack for her brief honeymoon. She had been trying desperately not to think of Samuel ever since.<
br />
  Somewhere inside her, she was honest enough to acknowledge that part of the reason she accepted Mary’s invitation to spend the extended weekend in the cabin was the potential to meet up with Samuel again—maybe to try and sort out the strange chemistry between them.

  Chloe had no intention of fucking him out of her system—look where that had got Mary! Married to the man.

  Yet for six interminable months as she taught twelve and thirteen year old children to bake cookies and muffins, and safely use an oven and burners, the wretched man had hovered around the edges of her thoughts, teasing her at odd moments and causing more than a few nights of intensely erotic dreams and consequential early morning cold showers.

  More and more she had found herself thinking of him last thing at night and would wake up with him on her mind early in the morning.

  It was slowly driving her insane and ruining her for other men. She had finally had enough. She didn’t have a particular plan, but her plans rarely panned out anyway. She would simply wing it, like so much of her life.

  “Helloooo, you still there? Have you even heard a word I’ve said?”

  Chloe cleared her throat.

  “Umm…sorry. I was zoning.”

  Mary sighed.

  “Just remember to be careful driving over, okay? Go grab a pen and paper, brat, I’ll give you detailed, explicit instructions so even you couldn’t get lost.”

  Laughing, Chloe stretched for the pen and pad of paper she always kept near the phone. If nothing else, four days in the secluded cabin would be perfect for her to catch up on her reading. Her pile of books to-be-read had dramatically increased over the last six months, threatening to take over her small room.

  Jotting down directions and odds and ends she thought of to pack, Chloe smiled at her cousin’s thoughtfulness. Even if she didn’t manage to talk to Samuel, an extended weekend of rest and contemplation was exactly what she needed to recharge her batteries.

  Chapter One

  Late Thursday Evening

  Chloe had been driving for what felt like years—or weeks at the very least. Her eyes were gritty, her arms and legs ached from being cramped in her small car for hours and hours with only toilet breaks. She desperately wished for a decently cooked meal, and not drive-thru rubbish.

  Ten minutes ago she had just turned onto the gravel road her directions stated ran past the outskirts of the park. From what Mary said, ten miles up this main road was the turnoff to Artemais and William’s house. About a mile before that was a much smaller dirt track leading to a narrow, winding road that split. Left was to Dominic’s cabin, right was to his brother, Samuel’s cabin.

  The throbbing ache behind Chloe’s eyes grew worse as she strained to catch a glimpse of a sign. Sighing, she pulled her small car over off the road. With one thing after another, it had taken her forever to get on the road. It would be beyond stupid if she crashed her car into a tree less than ten miles from her destination.

  It was already past midnight, another twenty minutes to stretch her legs and relieve herself wasn’t going to make much difference. Besides, her needs had passed beyond urgent about an hour back.

  The full moon hung so low and bright in the sky she decided not to take her flashlight with her. Pulling her huge coat from the backseat, she locked the car and looked left and right. The woods were far more dense on the left. Knowing she would only be going fifty feet or so into them, she wrapped herself up in her coat and headed towards them, eager for any sort of break to stop the monotony of simply driving along the road.

  When her small car was only just barely out of sight, she stopped and looked around the moonlit woods. It truly was beautiful. The moonlight and stars above glowed down onto the earth, as if bathing it in its safety and care. The forest felt alive. Small animals made noises, owls hooted, and Chloe could almost feel the tension and life hidden beneath the surface.

  Smiling, she stretched her legs and rubbed her eyes, taking a few more steps into the woods, being careful not to stray too far.

  Maybe ten, maybe fifteen minutes later as many of the kinks as she could fix had left her legs. At least her more immediate problem of her filled bladder was also taken care of.

  Her back still ached from all the driving, but at least her eyes had adjusted to the beauty of the woods and felt slightly less gritty. Reluctantly, she admitted to herself she would a) freeze to death and b) be eaten alive by bugs if she simply lay down in this beautiful woodland area and fell asleep.

  Deciding to try and remember the placement of this beautiful spot to revisit later, Chloe began to turn back to her car when she caught the white glow of another human. Startled, Chloe stopped. Thinking it must be another person, maybe lost in the woods, she was about to call out and offer help, when the man turned around and she recognized who it was.

  Samuel.

  He was so handsome it was hard to catch her breath for a moment. His chest was bare, giving off a pale glow from the reflected moonlight. Even though he had a light tan, in the silvery moonlight he looked ghostlike, pale. Her mouth dried up, and Chloe couldn’t move her eyes, even when he began to unbuckle and remove his jeans.

  Her lust-numbed mind briefly wondered why the hell he was standing in the middle of the forest, stark naked, but she was enjoying the view far, far too much to be too bothered by it.

  Chloe rested against a convenient tree, licked her lips and prayed he would stand like that for another twenty minutes or so while she looked her fill. He really was a most stunning man. Why the hell hadn’t some lucky woman snapped him up yet?

  He obviously hadn’t seen her yet, and she liked that just fine. Being able to watch him without him knowing of her presence made her feel decadent, naughty. His shoulder-length dark brown hair glowed darkly in the moonlight, caressing his shoulders in a flirty way she briefly envied.

  Why was it men’s hair always behaved, no matter how badly they treated it, yet women would pamper and coddle their hair from age about ten onwards, yet it never did what they required from it? Men with long hair never had bad hair days. Or bed hair. Chloe smiled as she mentally recited the indignities women put up with.

  The thought of bed hair briefly sidetracked her, however, and made her wonder how Samuel would look, rumpled, first thing in the morning after a long, intense night of loving. The mental pictures whizzing through her mind had her blood heating and the chill of the night air suddenly became a much-needed breeze rather than a freezing wind.

  Far too soon for Chloe’s liking, Samuel started stretching his muscles and shimmering.

  Shimmering?

  Chloe rubbed her eyes, damning how tired and worn out she felt after a full day of driving. If the gorgeous hunk in front of her was shimmering she must be far more tired than she realized. Maybe she should just bunk down for the night in her small car.

  One minute Chloe was rubbing her eyes, hoping to refocus on all that gorgeous naked masculinity, the next she was staring open-mouthed at the largest wolf she had ever seen.

  The wolf was huge, far larger than the few specimens she had watched at a safe distance behind a fence at a zoo or parkland reserve. Chloe frantically looked around for where the naked Samuel could have disappeared to.

  He was nowhere to be seen.

  That so did not happen. I’m overtired. Or over-stressed. Or something. No way in Hell did Samuel just turn into a wolf before my very eyes.

  Too panicked to think about anything except the instant denial hammering in her brain, Chloe stood rooted to the spot.

  When the wolf-Samuel—he is so not that wolf, her brain injected—turned to stare directly at her, then sniff the air, Chloe couldn’t help the girlish gasp that escaped her lips.

  Oh shit, he’s scenting me.

  Unsure and uncaring where the thought came from, Chloe tried to gather her wits.

  The wolf silently padded over to her. Frozen in terror, Chloe mentally begged her legs to run, to move. Never in all her years had she felt so terrified she could not move. S
he had always been in full control of her body. She didn’t enjoy the feeling of helplessness her terror caused her.

  In less than a minute, the wolf had come right up to her. Yet it was not growling, its hairs were not raised in anger or threat. Chloe blinked, totally confused.

  Why wasn’t the animal threatening her?

  Like a gigantic dog, the wolf stuck its muzzle into her hand, making her pet his head. Despite herself, Chloe felt the warm, silky fur covering the giant beast. For the barest moment, wolf and woman stood in the woods, frozen together.

  When a piercing howl broke the silence of the night, Chloe snapped back to reality.

  She was standing in the middle of the woods petting a wolf.

  Bad idea girl, the big bad wolf ATE Red Riding Hood’s grandmother.

  Jerking her hand back from the silky head of the wolf, she turned and fled back to her car.

  For a few paces the wolf loped after her, as if they were playing a game of Chase. As her car came into view, she continued running, panting for breath and the wolf fell behind. Digging her keys from the pocket of her coat, Chloe rushed to open her door. Jerking it open, she was about to jump in, when some niggling sensation made her pause and turn back.

  The wolf stood there, on the edge of the forest line. Fierce and proud, he stood watching her. Woman and beast stared at each other for a moment, while time seemed to stand still.

  Chloe was scared, but unafraid at the same time. It was the strangest sensation. Not once had the beast growled at her, threatened her in any way, yet he was a wild beast, who hunted and killed smaller animals. And when that wolf in the distance had howled, she had felt very much lower on the food chain.

  Coming to her senses, she climbed into her small car, closed the door and roared the engine. Dirt spewing everywhere, she made a 180 degree turn, coming perilously close to a number of trees, and headed back out of the forest.