Hot Blooded

importantly, he never denied it." There was a long
pause. "Yeah, I believe it. But it doesn't really matter what I believe. Celeste
believed it, and she avenged her daughter's innocence by cursing my ancestor and
my line. In each generation, a La Roque male will be possessed by the spirit of
the loup-garou, until there are no more males born."
    "The curse dies with the line."
    He nodded.
    "Do you think Mamma Louisa knows how to remove it?"
    "Of course she knows how—but she won't. I've asked her, believe me."
    "Then you
do
want to be rid of it." He shot her a look. "You said
you'd asked her," she rushed on. "You wouldn't have asked if you didn't want it
gone."
    "Early on, I thought the curse was the end of my life. I hated it. I fought
it. I raged against it. But over time, I learned to live with it. And over a
little more time, I began to realize that it wasn't all bad. I even learned to…
to embrace it."
    "But you may not have to."
    "It's a part of who I am now, Jenny." He climbed out of the bed, paced away
from her, then turned suddenly. "It's made me a better doctor."
    Jenny frowned. "How?"
    "I don't know. The heightened senses, maybe. The sharper instincts. I can
tell what a patient's problem is even before I've run tests to confirm it. I
spot potentially fatal complications before they happen, and I'm able to avert
them." He shook his head. "I don't want to give that up."
    "And you don't want anyone to know. But they will, Samuel. Eventually, the
people around you are going to catch on. How are you going to deal with that?"
    He shrugged. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."
    She closed her eyes.
    He came back to the bed. "I know you're disappointed, Jenny. I know it would
mean a lot to your career to make a case study out of me—but it would be the end
for me. I'd be hunted by superstitious fools wanting to kill me and pursued by
scientists wanting to study me. My life would be over."
    She couldn't argue with him. "When I came here, searching for the creature, I
was convinced all I would find, if anything, would be an animal. An unknown
species. I never for one minute thought the myths would be true—that a human
being could change forms, or that a curse could be the cause. I've never
believed in magic."
    "And now that you've seen the living proof of it? How is that going to change
your approach to this, Jenny?"
    "I don't know. I have… I have to rethink everything." She got to her feet. "I
should go." She got out of the bed, tugging the sheet around her, then bent to
retrieve her clothes from the floor.
    "Jenny."
    She paused, not looking at him. "I won't tell anyone, Samuel. When I decide
what I have to do, I'll let you know first. Before I do anything at all, I'll
talk to you. I promise."
    He nodded. "For some reason, I believe you." Then he came closer, slid his
hands over her bare shoulders, squeezed gently. "But that's not what I was going
to say."
    "It isn't?"
    "No."
    "Then… what?"
    He turned her to face him. "Just… this." He kissed her, softly, slowly and
thoroughly. When their lips slid apart, she relaxed against his chest and he
held her to him. "It hasn't been this way for me in a long time. With a woman, I
mean. I've… I've been afraid to let anyone get too close. But with you, I
just—it was like I had no choice. Something else took over."
    "The wolf?" she asked softly.
    He tipped her chin up, looked her in the eye. "My heart, I think."
    A lump formed in her throat, making it hard to breathe and impossible to
speak.
    "I've handed you the loaded gun, Jenny, with the silver bullet already in the
chamber. I'm trusting you not to pull the trigger."
    He kissed her again, then with a sigh, walked into the bathroom.
    Jenny heard the shower running a few minutes later. She didn't want to see
him again before she left, because she still didn't know what the hell she was
going to do. She would keep her word to him, she vowed. She would tell him her
decision, once it was made.
    God, she felt like an assassin for even considering moving forward with her
work, making a study of him, perhaps without his consent. There had to be some
way she could keep his identity secret. She had to at least consider the
possibility, weigh the options. How could she not?
    She threw her clothes on quickly and headed back to the plantation while he
was still in the shower.

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Chapter 9
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    "WHAT are you working on?"
    The