Wanted: Undead or Alive

“You—you turned down sex?”

“Yes.” Phineas trudged down the court to retrieve the ball.

“How could you do that?” Freemont followed him. “You’re the Love Doctor.”

He shook his head. “Not anymore. I can’t do it anymore.”

Freemont gasped. “You can’t get it up?”

Phineas shot him an incredulous look.

“Don’t worry about it, bro.” Freemont smiled encouragingly. “There are doctors for that sort of thing. And drugs. We’ll get help for you.”

“I’m not impotent, dammit! I’m falling in love!”

Freemont’s eyes widened. “You are?” He grimaced. “With a wolf?”

“Werewolf. And I’m falling for the human part of her.”

“What about the wolf?”

“What about it?” Phineas yelled. “I love her just the way she is.”

“Okay, okay.” Freemont held up his hands. “So I guess she doesn’t return your feelings?”

“No, she doesn’t.” Phineas picked up the ball and tossed it back into the plastic bin.

“But she wanted to have sex?”

“Yes.” He slammed the lid down.

“Then why are you here?”

He glared at his bloody hands. “She wants to keep our relationship a secret. I want to shout it to the world. She wants to jump right into it. I want to take it slow and savor every moment. She wants to get it over with, and I want it to never end.”

Freemont was silent a moment, then said, “You’ve got it bad.”

Phineas sighed. “I’ve had one-night stands with women I can hardly remember. I’m not doing that with Brynley. It would be an insult to her and to the feelings I have for her.”

“Damn, you’re tough, bro. I don’t think I could have turned her down.”

He smiled sadly. “Believe me, I want to make love to her more than anything. But I want it to be love.”

Freemont nodded. “Let’s get your hands cleaned up.” He motioned toward the side entrance. “Don’t give up, bro. She could still fall in love with you.”

Phineas groaned inwardly. Even if his wish came true, and she somehow magically fell for him, there were still major obstacles in the way. She would never be happy if she were forced to live in the vampire world. And he would never be accepted in the Lycan world. Hell, her father would probably send his minions to kill him.

The next evening, Brynley paced nervously about her brother’s cabin. The sun was setting. Phineas would be waking soon. And when he teleported to the cabin, her mortification would be complete.

If he teleported to the cabin. She wasn’t sure he’d come. He might never want to see her again.

Early that morning, Trudy had arrived at the trailhead campsite with her trailer, and they’d transported the horses back to the stable at her brother’s cabin. After Trudy left, Brynley had dashed into the cabin to see if Phineas was all right. She shoved the sofa away from the trapdoor, then moved the ladder from the loft to climb down into the basement.

No Phineas. He hadn’t returned to the cabin.

After lunch, she fell asleep on the sofa, exhausted from a sleepless night at the campsite. She hadn’t been able to relax after Phineas had left. She’d felt too insulted. Too angry. Too frustrated. And eventually, too embarrassed. Mortified.

She’d practically forced herself on him! What had come over her? She’d never behaved like that before. Sure, the inner wolf was a lusty creature, but she’d always had control over it. Until last night.

Her inner wolf had never been so strong before. And she’d allowed it to overwhelm her. Hell, she’d welcomed it. The wolf had given her the wild boldness she’d craved. It had matched her desperate passion with its fierce power. Together, she’d never felt stronger. She’d felt invincible. Her prey was targeted, and he couldn’t escape.

But he had. He’d abandoned her without explanation. And it had hurt. It hurt so bad, she knew she could no longer deny what was happening. She was falling in love. And she’d chased him away!

What if he never came back?

What if he did? How could she ever face him? Mortified.

She strode outside to the porch and watched the last rays of the sun disappear over the horizon. If Phineas had spent the night at Romatech in New York, he was already awake.

The nearly full moon tugged at the wolf inside her, and it tensed in anticipation. Tomorrow night, it would be free. A surge of power shot through her, and she gasped. Why was the wolf so strong? Was it because she’d come home? Or because she’d fallen prey to such strong emotions?

A sound in the cabin made her heart lurch. She whirled around to peer in the window. Phineas was back! And he was loading bottled blood into the refrigerator. That meant he intended to stay. Yes!

Her sense of relief was short-lived. She still had to face him.

She opened the door and stepped inside.

He glanced at her and smiled. “You made it back.”

“Yes.” She inched forward. At least he was smiling. “So did you.”

“I brought some more blood from Romatech.” He shut the refrigerator door and motioned to a box on the island. “And I brought you a dessert from the cafeteria.”

“Really?” She eased toward the island. He didn’t seem to be angry about last night.

“Yeah. Chocolate cake. You like chocolate, right?”

“Yes.” She peeked inside the box and nearly drooled at the sight of a seven-layer double chocolate piece of heaven.

“We have a lot to cover tonight.” He retrieved a folded piece of paper from his jacket pocket. “I hope you got some rest.”

“Yes. I slept most of the afternoon.” She shifted her weight. “Maybe we should talk . . .”

“Sure.” He unfolded the paper. “I got an e-mail from Angus. After reading my report, he thought we should check all the local clinics and hospitals to see if any other people were admitted with a severe loss of blood. So I made a list here, and we’ll hit as many as possible tonight.”

“I thought we were going to the Carson ranch? To check out the cow mutilations?”

“We will, if we can fit it in. But Angus thinks, and I agree with him, that Corky will stick to human victims if at all possible.”

“Okay.” Brynley retrieved a fork from the cutlery drawer and tried a bite of the cake. It looked like Phineas didn’t want to talk about last night’s fiasco. Maybe he was as mortified as she was. The chocolate melted in her mouth, a warm, gooey comfort.

“Good?” He smiled, his eyes softening and looking as sweet as chocolate.

“Mmm.” She swallowed. “Yes, thank you. So, did you want to teleport?”

“Actually, I mapped the trip for us.” He handed her the paper. “If you don’t mind driving me around.”

“Oh.” Her heart swelled, grateful that she could help him. “Sure. Let me get my purse and a bottle of water, and we’ll hit the road.”

They were halfway to the town of Shell when Brynley finally worked up the nerve to talk.

She glanced at Phineas, who was sitting calmly beside her, sipping from a bottle of blood and looking out the window. “I owe you an apology.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Oh, I do. I . . . I practically attacked you last night.”

He shrugged. “No big deal.”

“But it is! I scared you away.”

His head turned slowly toward her. “Scared?”