Hot Blooded

then he bit down again, harder than before. She rocked her hips,
taking his fingers in and out, riding his hand.
    His mouth left her breast, but his free hand took its place there, pinching
and twisting and pulling. He leaned close to her, whispered in her ear, saying
things that made her even hotter. And when she exploded with the force of the
orgasm, he kept working her, making it go on and on and on.
    He was still holding her, still kissing her, when the blood stopped pounding
in her ears, and it occurred to her that the drumbeat no longer echoed in her
chest. It was just her heart pounding now. She was standing with her back braced
against a tree, and his body was pressed tight to hers. Her dress was hiked up
higher than her hips, and she was breathless and burning. He'd returned his
hands to her hips, and his mouth to her mouth.
    She didn't remember pushing his shirt off his shoulders, but it was. Her
hands ran over his hard shoulders and chest, and then her lips followed suit. He
moaned, his fingers dragging through her hair.
    She lifted her head away. "The Voudons have gone home."
    His eyes opened slowly, revealing a predatory gleam.
    "My heart's pounding so hard, I thought the drums were still beating."
    His gaze seemed to clear, his brows drawing together. Passion faded slightly,
and some kind of worry replaced it.
    He withdrew his arms from around her, and she shivered in the sudden chill
while he squinted down at his wristwatch in the darkness. Jenny righted her
dress. "What's wrong, Samuel?"
    "The time… I—"
    "Look," she whispered. "The moon's rising."
    His head came up fast, eyes spearing her, then he turned to follow her gaze.
"No…"
    Jenny put her hand on his shoulder, longing for his touch, his arms around
her. "It's all right."
    "I… lost track of the time."
    "I did, too. It's my fault as much as yours." She moved in front of him,
sliding her hands up his chest.
    He turned away again, this time pushing his hands through his hair as he
lowered his head. "Go back to the car, Jenny."
    She frowned. "But—I don't understand."
    "Go!" His hands clenched in his hair, his face pulling into a tight grimace.
    "God, Samuel, what's wrong? Are you all right?"
    He dropped to his knees, right there in the forest. He seemed, suddenly, to
be in excruciating pain. Jenny hovered nearby, unsure what to do. Every time she
touched him he jerked away as if her touch burned. "Samuel?"
    He fell forward, hands pressing to the soil, head hanging down between his
arms.
    "Samuel, what can I do to help you? Please." Tears choked her. She got in
front of him, crouching low, running a hand over his hair. "Please, let me help
you. What can I do, Samuel?"
    He lifted his head, and his eyes gleamed with yellow light. He uttered a
single word, that drew out into a growl. "Run."
    His face—God, his face was… changing.
    Jenny backed away, one step, then two. She couldn't take her eyes from him.
His hair twisted and lengthened. His face contorted, deep wrinkles appearing
where none had been before. His lips pulled away from his teeth, and incisors,
no—canines—gleamed in the moonlight.
    She turned, and she ran. Roots sprang up to trip her. Limbs swiped at her
face from every tree. She crashed through the woods headlong, unsure which way
to go, thinking only of escape. She couldn't tell if he—or it—was pursuing her,
but she felt as if it was. Chills raced up her spine, the back of her neck
tingling as the fine hairs there stood on end.
    Which way is the road? God, where the hell is the car? Did he leave the
keys?
    Her foot caught on a root and she smashed face-first into the ground.
Scrambling to get to her feet again, she heard a low growl at her back.
    "Oh, God!" She rolled onto her back, and saw it. A huge black wolf, front
paws splayed widely, back legs bent, ready to spring. Its teeth were bared, its
eyes on her.
    Never taking her eyes from the wolf, she clawed the ground, her hand closing
around a limb. She brought it upward, knowing by its lack of weight that it
would make a poor weapon against such a powerful animal.
    And then, suddenly, the wolf's stance changed. It shifted its gaze upward,
looking at something beyond Jenny.
    "Go, now!" a woman's voice said. "Oya commands it! Go!"
    The wolf's ears perked forward, and then suddenly, it turned and loped
gracefully into the dark woods.
    Only then did Jenny dare to turn and look at