Magical Holiday Love (The Anthology Novella Series Book 4) Read online

  “My purse,” she murmured, then let out her breath in a rush when she spotted it lying in the snow. “Can you stand on your own?” She asked, looking up into his face and their gazes clashed and held, stealing the breath from his lungs in an instant as he nodded dumbly.

  She released him and dashed over to retrieve her bag, opening it and digging out her keys; and he couldn’t help but to miss the warmth of her embrace. Easy there, big boy. He silently warned himself.

  She rushed back over to where he stood and unlocked the door, her arm wrapping around his waist once again and he felt a sigh ease from his lips. Damn, that was nice.

  Megan led him over to the elevator and followed him in, leaning away to hit the button for her floor. When the doors opened, she kept her hold on him as she guided him down the hall, and Jax found himself really liking the contact. Maybe more than he should.

  Megan opened the door to her apartment and led him over to the sofa. She gently eased off his jacket and threw it onto the chair as she helped him to sit. With that done, she walked back over to the door and made sure it was locked before shucking off her own coat and hanging it on a nearby hook. She suddenly froze as the realization that she had just brought a complete stranger into her home hit her like a Mack truck. Just what the hell was she doing? Was she completely insane?

  She chewed her lower lip as she reasoned that he may be a stranger…but he was a stranger who was injured because he had taken it upon himself to save her sorry ass. He had risked himself to help her and she wouldn’t turn him away. She just couldn’t! That being decided, she quickly went into motion.

  “Lay back,” she ordered, walking back over to him and softly pressing her hand to his shoulder so that he would stretch out. When he had settled himself into the cushions of the couch, she dashed off into the bathroom for some antiseptic and bandages. Luckily, she was a walking talking accident just waiting to happen and was fully stocked with all the necessary first aid supplies.

  When she walked back into the living room, she found him still lying there, his eyes closed; his breathing deep and even. She hesitated a moment, just taking in the man’s utter beauty. He was long, and lean, yet well-muscled. He didn’t have that lanky appearance that many tall men had. He was solid. His features were strong and masculine and she found herself wondering if his hair would be as silky as it appeared or would it be coarse to the touch.

  She silently berated herself and pushed the thought aside. She needed to focus! She cleared her throat, swallowing hard when his eyelids fluttered and he looked up at her. Dear Lord, but his eyes were amazing. They were a deep, rich amber that was the same color as warm honey. A girl could get lost in eyes like those, she thought with a grunt.

  “I’ve got something to clean that with,” she said, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

  “It’s just a scratch,” he whispered, gracing her with a grin that literally curled her toes in her boots.

  “Well, let me be the judge of that.”

  She walked over to where he lay and knelt down in front of him, setting her supplies down on the floor beside her. She reached out with hands that trembled slightly, she noted with a blush heating her cheeks, and carefully lifted his shirt, her eyes widening at the toned firm stomach that greeted her. Christ! The man just had to be a model or something! She bit back a laugh at the thought. Yeah, a fighting ninja warrior model! Ugh! She was such an ass.

  She glanced up and caught him watching her intently, those amber eyes locking in on hers and holding fast. They just stared, neither one moving, and the room seemed to suddenly be charged with an electrical energy that was snapping and crackling around them. It was like nothing she had ever felt before.

  Megan cleared her throat nervously once again, and looked down at the floor; reaching for the antiseptic and washcloth and trying to get her rattled nerves to calm down.

  “This might sting a bit,” she choked out, trying hard to ignore what his gaze was doing to her. She could feel the heat rushing through her body, and fought hard to push it back and concentrate on the matters at hand. This man had most likely just saved her life and she shouldn’t be salivating after him like a dog in heat!

  “It’ll be fine,” he replied, giving her that damn grin again. “By the way. What’s your name? I’d like to know who is taking such good care of me.”

  She looked up and gave him a small smile. “Megan. Megan Daniels. And you are? I’d like to know who to thank for coming to my rescue. I…I heard that…” she stopped cold, the image of that bastards glowing eyes and fangs invading her senses and making her dizzy, and she shuddered straight down to her very bones. That had to have been some sort of…hallucination. It couldn’t have been real! It just couldn’t!

  Jax watched her closely, knowing without a doubt in his mind that she had seen what Dimitri was, and that she was now trying desperately to make sense of it all. His eyes went to her throat and the overwhelming urge to rip the son of a bitch to shreds hit him full force when he saw the red hand print that marred her perfect alabaster skin. The son of a bitch deserved to die a long, painful death!

  “Jax Powers,” he responded softly, trying hard to get a handle on his fury. He needed to explain to her what she had seen. He needed to make her understand before her mind snapped.

  He took a deep breath and sighed. “Listen, I know you saw…” he broke off when she met his eyes once again, and he noticed that they were glistening with tears. He knew that she was holding on by a thread and he didn’t have the slightest idea how to stop it.

  Christ, his track record with dealing with women left much to be desired. He didn’t do relationships… or talking to or even caring about another person’s feelings, for that matter. He did sex. Plain and simple. But, for some reason he couldn’t completely understand, he wanted to comfort this woman. He wanted to make her fear and confusion go away. He wanted her to feel safe and protected.

  “Megan,” he husked quietly, watching as a shiver raced across her. “I don’t know what your beliefs are…but, I’m going to need you to try and keep an open mind for me. Okay? Do you think you can do that?”

  She nodded slowly, those glorious eyes of hers wide and questioning, and he noticed the way she gripped tightly onto the washcloth that she held.

  He reached out, and took it from her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze and wasn’t surprised to find that it was ice cold and trembled slightly. “That piece of shit that attacked you, was a Vampire,” he murmured as gently as possible and watched as her mouth dropped open. “I know it seems impossible, but…it’s true.”

  “Are you…” she stopped abruptly, chewing at her lower lip again as it began to tremble.

  “No,” he reassured her. “But, I’ve been hunting that bastard for a very long time.” Jax pushed himself up a little so that their faces weren’t even five inches apart and he caught her eyes, holding them…urging her to trust him. It was now or never. “Megan, I’m a Werewolf.” God, he hated that term, he thought with an involuntary grimace. It brought up all types of horrible Hollywood cliché’s, but he was pretty sure she would have no idea what he meant if he had told her he was a shifter. This was just easier. Cheesy, but easier none the less.

  He heard her sharp intake of breath and those beautiful eyes widened even more. Please, don’t lose it, sweetheart. Please don’t. That was the absolute last thing he wanted. He didn’t want her to look at him in fear. He didn’t want that at all. It felt as if it would kill him.

  The silence in the room was almost deafening as he watched the play of emotion on her face. Finally, she took a deep, shaky breath.

  “This is a whole hell of a lot to digest all at once,” she finally responded softly, although her tone held a strength that he couldn’t help but admire. This lady was tougher than she looked. “So, I guess the question of the night is…can I trust you not to hurt me? You aren’t going to like, wolf-out and rip me to shreds or something…are you?” she asked, and Jax couldn’t help but chuckle, wincing
when the pain in his side shot a sharp reminder to his brain that he was still injured.

  That seemed to snap her back into action and she pressed him down against the sofa cushion and grabbed the washcloth from his hand. She poured antiseptic on the cloth and rested it above his cut.

  “Remember, this might sting.” She reminded him as she pressed the cloth to his wound, then flinched when he sucked in a deep breath. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

  “It’s completely fine,” he once again gritted out between clenched teeth. He watched in quiet fascination as she deftly cleaned and dressed his wound like a damned professional. When she finished, she swiped a hand across her brow and gave him a small smile.

  “You should probably have stitches,” she informed him, and her mouth turned down when he broke out into laughter. He couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed so much. “What?” She asked, her brow rising quizzically and her brows furrowing.

  “I’ll heal quickly,” he replied, his mouth set in that grin. “I just need to rest.”

  “Oh, of course. You’re a Werewolf.” She worried her lower lip again, and he found himself fascinated with the way her perfect teeth chewed at that plump, full lip. “So, you never did answer my question,” she said finally, eyeing him with what seemed to be caution.

  “And that was?” he found himself asking, completely mesmerized by this woman. There was an independence and determination about her that he found completely enthralling; yet a warmth that just emanated from her and he found that he wanted to explore it.

  “Are you going to go all Wolfy on me and rip me apart?”

  Megan’s body shivered when his deep, rich laughter filled the room once again. Damn, but the man had a fabulous laugh. It was deep and smoky and husky and just sexy as all hell.

  “I promise that I won’t.” he choked out finally, and she found herself smiling in spite of herself. Damn it! She just couldn’t seem to help herself.

  “Do you have a wife to get home to… or perhaps a passel of puppies?” She asked, and again he broke into a fit of laughter.

  “No,” he snorted, his eyes gleaming now.

  “Good, then take off that shirt and those jeans so that I can throw them in the wash. They’re covered in blood, and you don’t want it to set in. You’re welcome to sleep on the couch tonight until you…heal; or whatever it is you do.” She stood and began gathering up her supplies, taking them back into the bathroom.

  When she came back, she stopped short, her breath leaving her body in a whoosh. In the few minutes that she had been gone, the man had stripped down to only a pair of black boxers and was sprawled back out on the couch…and it was a breathtaking sight to behold. She had never seen such a perfect specimen of the male gender before. Not anywhere other than in her dreams that was; and still this man put them all to shame. Holy crap!

  “Are you hungry?” She asked, cursing the tremor in her voice. “Would you like something to eat…or a glass of wine?” As she spoke, she dashed across the room and grabbed a blanket. It was her go-to snuggle blanket, but at least it would cover up what was quickly becoming a complete distraction. How in the hell was she supposed to concentrate when the man looked like that? He was a freaking Adonis! Good Lord in Heaven! She walked over and threw the blanket over him as he adjusted himself more comfortably on the sofa.

  “I’d love a glass of wine if you have it.”

  She gave him a jerky nod, which most likely made her look like a blathering ass-hat or some sort of demented bobble-head and quickly took refuge in the kitchen, busying herself with getting them their wine. She opened her fridge to see what she could offer him to munch on and was sorely disappointed by the meager offerings it contained. She really needed to eat more.

  She found some cheese, and olives and luckily a pack of crackers. Well, she thought with a shrug – beggars can’t be choosers. She only hoped that his diet didn’t consist of road-kill or something else equally raw and bloody. She shivered at just the thought.

  When she walked back into the living- room, she found him sitting up, the blanket draped across his impressive lap and that muscular chest of his completely bare. Oh, ugh! Life was just so unfair sometimes. She felt the heat rising up her neck as she handed him his glass and went back into the kitchen to retrieve her sorry ass excuse for food.

  She set the tray down on the coffee table, and stationed herself on the other end of the sofa, taking a hearty swig of her wine.

  “Why don’t you have any Christmas decorations?” He asked, looking around the room.

  Megan shrugged, not meeting his gaze. “I’m really not into the whole Christmas thing,” she whispered, wondering how he could ever understand her isolation. It had been Christmas when her father had left, it had been Christmas Eve for God’s sake when she had discovered that David had been cheating on her for years. No, Christmas just wasn’t her thing. “So, you hunt Vampires,” she burst out, hoping to steer the course of their conversation away from her lack of holiday spirit.

  Jax lifted his glass to his lips and took a drink, his eyes locking with hers. What was it about this woman that drew him in? He didn’t have a clue; but she did. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and taste that sweet mouth of hers, to discover if her skin was as silky smooth as it looked…to kiss the pulse that was beating wildly in her throat. He gave himself a mental shake and tried desperately to remember what she had asked him. Christ on a crutch!

  “Yes, I do.”

  Megan picked at a piece of lint on her jeans and cleared her throat. “That must be…fun.”

  Jax lips curved up into a smile, loving the pure moxie of this woman. She was straight forward and blunt, and he loved it. “It has its moments.”

  “So, where do you live?”

  Jax chuckled softly, shaking his head. Shit, where didn’t he live? He had been a hunter for longer than he cared to remember, and the job of tracking and taking down rogue Vampires was beginning to take its toll on him, as was proven tonight with the fact that Dimitri had gotten close enough to actually cut him. Damn it, this woman was a distraction, but she was also such a pleasant one.

  “I move around a lot,” he replied, grabbing a piece of cheese from the platter and popping it into his mouth. “Right now, I’m in a hotel down on third.”

  “That’s got to be…lonely,” she observed, staring down into her glass.

  “I’m a fairly solitary creature by nature,” he responded with a sad smile.

  “Yeah,” she sighed, “I hear that. So am I.” She glanced back up and watched as he grabbed another piece of cheese and bit into it, drawn to the gentle motion of his perfect mouth as he chewed.

  “So, tell me, Megan. What do you do?” He eyed her cryptically a moment. “No…wait; let me guess…you have got to be a nurse?”

  Megan loved the sound of her name coming from this man. It was like a warm caress and it wrapped itself around her in a comforting embrace. She kicked off her boots and curled her legs up under her. “No, not even close,” she laughed and Jax felt a shot of pure adrenaline hit his groin. Ah, hell!

  “I’m an executive assistant. Nothing too glamorous, but it pays the bills. I’m sorry that I didn’t have much in the way of food to offer you…but, I’m not much of a cook.” She said as she watched him snag an olive. “I didn’t have any raw meat in the fridge; everything’s frozen.” She said the last part with a wicked grin and Jax felt another damn shot to his groin.

  “No, this is fine. I’m not even really hungry,” he explained, “but when Were’s are injured, our bodies need sustenance to help us heal faster.” He eyed her up and down a moment. “And I don’t eat raw meat,” he laughed. “Well, not that often at least.”

  Megan broke out into a fit of giggles; she just couldn’t stop herself. Maybe it was the insanity of this entire evening -perhaps it was just the effect that this man was having on her, or the adrenaline rush finally wearing off, but she suddenly found the thought of him munching down on a dead raccoon hilariou
sly funny.

  Jax watched as she laughed uncontrollably, wiping the tears from her eyes as she snorted. “I’m sorry,” she choked out, shaking her head in embarrassment. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  Jax leaned forward and closed the space between them. “You’ve had a pretty big scare tonight,” he whispered, his breath whispering across her face and the laughter died on her lips in an instant. “It’s your body’s way of dealing.”

  With that he pressed his lips against hers, needing to taste her mouth more at that moment than he needed air. And it was everything that he had imagined. Her mouth tasted like nectar…sweet, warm nectar, and he thought he would explode when her lips parted to let him gain access to the recesses of her mouth.

  He pulled her to him, leaning back against the sofa and pulling her along the length of his body, his mouth cherishing hers. She tasted like nothing he had ever experienced before.

  Megan’s hands twisted in his hair as she responded to him… kiss for kiss. His mouth was a strong and demanding presence that she just couldn’t deny. Not that she even had the slightest desire to. This man was a virtual stranger to her, yet she found herself trusting him as she had never trusted anyone before. It just was.

  She could feel the hard, rigid proof of his desire pressing against her belly and moaned into his mouth. His hands slid around her to the curve of her backside and he pulled her against him, as close as he possibly could and she shivered at the contact.

  She came to her senses when she twisted slightly and felt him grimace as her knee brushed against his bandage. Oh, God! She shouldn’t be doing this…he had been stabbed for God’s sake! He had to be in pain!

  She lifted her head and looked into his eyes, shining so brightly with what had to be desire; and she knew beyond a doubt that they mimicked her own. Yes, she wanted this man. More than she had ever wanted anyone before, but she wouldn’t give in to her needs when he was in pain.