His lips tantalised every nerve ending as he traced light kisses down her cheek, neck, throat, breasts, and abdomen.  She was in the throes of ecstasy as he gently lifted her buttocks and slipped off her panties. This was so wrong.  She shouldn't be with this man. And he shouldn't be doing these things to her.  But, oh, it felt so good.  Her eyes fluttered open as his weight lowered upon her.  "Be mine," he whispered. "I can take you to places you cannot even imagine exist. Show you the world in a new light, a new perspective. We could soar over oceans and skies, travelling on the winds of time.  Be mine, Suzi..."

   "Yes, I will," she replied breathlessly. His mouth pressed down on hers.  His kiss was deep, full of promise.  He pushed up on his hands, leaving her gasping, wanting more. 

Suddenly, he was shouting at her, his words slurred, his breath toxic with alcohol. "Wake up! For fuck sake!!"

Suzi's eyes sprung open.  The room was dark but she could make out someone looming over her. It was Tex.  Drunk yet again and in a very strange mood.  She pushed herself up and reached over to switch on the bedside lamp.  The room was flooded with light.  Tex staggered back, shielding his eyes.  "You stupid bitch!"

   "S - sorry," she mumbled, unnerved by his tone. She made to put the light off again.

   "Don't do that you dumb bitch! I can hardly s- see as it is."

When her own eyes adjusted fully, she was shocked to see blood on his face and shirt.  His knuckles were encrusted in dried blood too.  "What happened?" She threw the duvet off and grabbing her dressing gown, scampered through to the bathroom to get the first aid kit and a damp face cloth.  Tex staggered after her.  "I don't know.  I was walking home and someone...no...some thing....oh I don't know!"

She dabbed at the blood on his face.  He winced, covering his face. She pushed his hands out of the way and continued cleaning his face.  He was reeking of drink but he seemed oddly alert now.  Perhaps the shock had sobered him a bit.  "You were mugged?" she asked, trying not irritate him further.

   "Not exactly.  Well I don't have anything for them to take. But whoever or whatever it was, it was fucking huge and strong."

   "What do you mean what ever it was. Do you mean an animal?" Just then a dog howled in the distance.  It was an eerie sound.  Unearthly.  Tex' eyes were wide with alarm.  He was far from the bravest of men she knew, with phobias about almost everything of the creepy-crawly variety, but she had never seen him like this.  He looked terrified.  "Suzi, I honestly don't know."

   "Well, we'll get you cleaned up. It doesn't look quite as bad as I first thought."

   "Thanks Suzi.  And....look, I'm really sorry."

   "What about?"  This was a first. An apology was not something Tex ever uttered.

    "Well, I kinda took more out of your bank than I said I needed."

She dropped the cloth in the sink.  She was seething.  "How much this time?" she said, trying to keep the tremor from her voice.

    "Three hundred.  But I'll pay you back, I promise."

    "How exactly?"

He was momentarily stumped for words.  "When I get work."

    "Well perhaps if you stayed out of the pub and the bookies you might have a better chance of that happening!"

   "Oh come on! I can't help it if there's nothing out there."

    "How the hell would you know what's out there, eh?  You never look, that's you're trouble."

    "Now hold on a minute..."

    "No! You hold on a minute! I want my card back. NOW! And be rest assured you will never get it again.  I have bills to pay, and I'm damn sure you are not going to put me in debt again."

    "Fine!" he spat, fishing the card from his back pocket and throwing it at her.  Then he turned, a little unsteadily,  and headed to the bedroom, slamming the door firmly behind him.

She gathered up the bits and pieces from the first aid kit and put them back in the cabinet, still furious with Tex.  Fastening her dressing gown tightly, she padded down to the kitchen. She slammed on the light and switched the kettle on.  How much longer could she stand this kind of existence.  That's all it was. An existence, not a life.  All she was to Tex was a landlady and personal bank.  The heady days of boundless passion were long gone.  Happier times, where he promised her the world, and said he would take good care of her, were but a mere memory.  They shared nothing, no hobbies, interests, opinions, laughter, friends, nothing.  They hardly even shared a meal together. 

Her eyes drifted towards the window and the old house across the road.  It stood in a shroud of darkness.  For all the world, you would still think it stood empty, a shell of it's former self.  Just like the woman who wistfully searched for even the briefest sighting of the man who had filled her mind and fantasies this day.

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He watched the slender figure of the woman across the road, as she busied herself making a hot drink.  He stood just behind the overgrown azaleas in his garden, panting, his muscles aching from the transformation he had just gone through.  Bones, nails and teeth were gradually settling back and returning him to his more human-like self. When her eyes had searched the night, he stepped back into the shadows and slipped into the house through the back door.  Keeping it in darkness, he was drawn to the bay window and the wonder of her again, a mere two hundred feet across from him.  All his senses heightened, he drank in the scent of lavender that radiated from her skin through the small open window in her kitchen.  She was stunning.  He marvelled at her hair as it lightly brushed against her shoulders.  The hazel colour accentuated from the lights in her kitchen, it looked like silk.  He reached out, imagining the feel of it.  Eyes closed, his memory of her enabled him to observe every little move she made.  She was intoxicating.  Like a drug.  Who would have thought, after all this time, he would find someone who captivated him so.

He had been rash and undignified in his meeting with her earlier.  It tore him apart that he had made her feel such fear.  He'd reprimanded himself brutally, slashing at his chest and arms with blades so sharp they could cut through falling petals in the breeze.  But, he was cursed, and his wounds healed quickly, robbing him even of the satisfaction that he'd been justly punished.

Had she read his note, he wondered.  He desperately hoped so.  Even if she had, did she then cast it aside with disgust? Perhaps she simply threw it away without even looking at the contents.  A  sudden sharp pain in his chest caused him to tense and draw his body inward.  This was so alien to him.  How could his dead heart feel so alive, without even having the ability to produce a single beat. He pictured her delicate fingers opening the folded plea and a gentle, understanding smile on her soft, full lips as she read his words. Was that how it played out? 

He remembered taking her hand, and marvelled at how delicate she felt.  The fact she had not shrank from him when the coolness of his skin touched hers had given him hope.  Hope that finally, his lonely existence would be filled with a warmth, the kind which, no thermometer could monitor.  Love.  Deep and eternal.  Would fate show him a kindness at last?  Or was he destined to live forever, cursed, moving from place to place, constantly changing his name,  so people wouldn't start to wonder how it was he never aged.  What occupation would be his next cover?  Was there no end to this continual uprooting and wandering?  Then again, if she was to agree to become his, it wouldn't matter any more.  He would go wherever she wished for as long as she wanted.

The attack he had launched tonight was brought on by nothing more than jealousy.  He had caught the scent of her from the drunk.  Even though alcohol had seeped from its every pore, he knew without doubt this was the one who shouted her away from him in the morning. It enraged him to think that this useless slob of a man was going to be the one who lay beside her.  He would touch her skin, her hair, her womanhood.  The rage had taken over all sense of survival and discretion and his body had started the change.  He could not risk the man recognising him though, so he took one of his other, more unidentifiable forms.  His eyes had turned fiery amber, hair sprouted from every pore, his limbs cracked and reshaped as he took the form of the wolf.  Then he had waited.  The drunk had been muttering various profanities under his breath as he'd passed through the park that led to the street from the west.  It was sparsely lit thankfully, so the attack had been easy to pull off.  He'd sprang at the alcohol ridden creature  as it staggered, nearing halfway through the park.  He had ripped at it with his claws, but even though it had been intoxicated it fought back.  He was about to finish it off, when a picture of her flashed through his mind.  If he took the life of this creature, it could in-adversely affect his chances with her.  What if she was torn by grief?  She may be unable to meet with anyone, let alone himself.  He just couldn't do that to her too.  Although he knew the creature was well beneath what she deserved, he couldn't bring himself to tear out its throat. So, he'd fled and let it live.

As he stood in his garden, concealed by the shrubbery, his keenly honed senses heard every word that had passed between them.  It was then he'd wished he had killed him.  He'd howled at the sky in frustration which triggered his body to slowly return to its more appealing form.

Now, he stood, his blood on fire with the desire he felt for this fragile woman who he so wanted to protect and cherish.  His eyes followed her as she slipped momentarily from view, then with a flip of a switch, she reappeared in her livingroom.  She disappeared once more, then returned, carrying  pillows and  a cover.  His lips formed a small smile, the pain in his chest receded.  She would at least sleep without the creature tonight.  He glanced up to the bedroom window.  The sounds from within confirmed that she would not be distrubed as she slumbered downstairs.  He cast one more longing look at the livingroom window.  "Goodnight, my sweet lady.  Sleep well."