Werewolves

Werewolves have a long history that is rich in lore. The word werewolf, literally means man-wolf. According to lore and legend, they are creatures who aren’t quite human and not quite animal, but something in between. They are creatures capable of shifting their shape from man to wolf and then back again. They also have super-human strength, reflexes and senses.

Some authors write these creatures as monsters who crave human flesh while in their animal form, aware of nothing but the next kill. Others write them as handsome, irresistible heroes with a sense of honor that is unquestionable and a need to help others.

I am one of the latter. I love my alpha male werewolves. They have a sense of honor and duty they live by that leaves every red-blooded shifter-lover panting for more. Each of my shifter worlds has its own set of rules. Some of them are similar and some completely different.

In, It Was Always You, a shifter knows his mate the first time he has sex with her and, if he can’t control his wolf, and he’s not using a condom, the female can find herself bound to her male without consent. 

While I, and my male shifters, realize mating a woman without her express consent is a bad thing, you must admit, the possibility of it happening does lend a certain amount of tension to a story.

Now, the question: Is Candy Jared’s mate, and if she is, can he stop his wolf from claiming her on what they have agreed will only be a one night stand?

It Was Always You

After dreaming of him for months, Candy can’t believe the 1Night Stand dating service has found a man fitting the description of her ideal lover. After all, her dream man is no other than A-list actor, Jared Harwell, and since she’ll never have him, she’ll settle for a close match.

Shapeshifter Jared Harwell is ready to call it quits—his acting career and Hollywood lifestyle—if he can find the mate he’s searching for. But, evidently, his perfect mate is only to be found in his nocturnal dreams and the closest he’ll ever get to her is with the help of Madame Eve’s 1Night Stand service. And even then, it’s only one night with a fantasy lookalike.

Will that be enough time for Candy and Jared to realize dreams truly can come true? 

Excerpt:

The loud jangle of the phone ripped Candy from one of the best dreams she’d ever had. She’d dreamt of him again, her favorite actor and fantasy lover rolled into one. After having them for so long, she couldn’t remember when they had started. She only knew they got hotter and hotter.

Her heart raced every time she touched Jared Harwell in her little visions. Her breathing hitched, and her clit throbbed, aching with the need to come. He’d brought her so close to climax this time and then the damned phone had to ring. Tempted to throw the offending object out the second-story window, she rolled over and grabbed the receiver.

“Hello.” Candy didn’t keep her irritation from her voice. She couldn’t. Every damned time, someone, or something, dragged her from the fantasy which could very well make her life complete.

“At least you’re not dead,” her best friend and neighbor, Samantha James said.

“What the heck are you talking about?” Pushing to a sitting position, Candy leaned against the headboard, closed her eyes, and wished she’d unplugged the phone the night before.

“You’ve had a man pounding on your front door for the last ten minutes. Don’t you hear him?”

She canted her head and listened. “I don’t hear anything.”

“The poor guy gave up. He sat down in your rocker with a suitcase in his lap.” Samantha paused. “Do you have a tall, dark, and handsome brother I don’t know about?”

“Uh, no.” Sam knew better than that. “The fact that I just received a sizeable inheritance from my grandmother’s estate should have told you something.”

“Yeah, well, a girl can hope.” Sam sighed. “He sure is something to look at. And why is he carrying a suitcase?”

“I have no idea.” Candy slid from her bed, donned an old, comfortable bathrobe then sat at her desk.

She moved the mouse, and the computer screen lit up, showing her she had a new email from the 1Night Stand agency.

Her stomach did a flip. She’d taken some of her inheritance money and paid to have the fantasy of a lifetime. She’d described Jared Harwell on her application and thought it possible that having a fling with someone who resembled him would get him out of her system. Pining after some movie star for the rest of her life couldn’t be healthy.

“What are you doing, sitting at your desk?” Sam shouted. “Go answer your door.”

“Why? Whoever the guy is, he’s at the wrong house. He’ll figure that out soon enough. And stop spying on me with that stinking telescope of yours.”

Candy clicked on the subject line and opened her mail. It contained instructions, telling her to meet her date at a hotel in Ottawa during some kind of author/reader event called Romancing the Capital.

April seventeenth! That’s tomorrow. I can’t possibly be in Ottawa tomorrow. Hell, it barely gave her time to make travel arrangements.

“I don’t think he plans to go anywhere any time soon. He just leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs. I think he’s gonna wait you out.”

Candy, always multitasking, read further. Apparently, she should expect a courier, who would hand deliver a plane ticket and the information about her date. The letter also informed her she had one shot at this. Her date could not and would not reschedule. One chance only.

Sighing, she shifted the phone to her other ear. “I have to go, Sam. I’ll call you back as soon as I can.” Setting the phone down, she pushed away from the desk, pulled her robe tighter, and headed for the stairs. She couldn’t screw this up. A friend at work had told her about Madame Eve, the mysterious Frenchwoman and owner of 1Night Stand, who seemed to know who to pair with whom.

Like magic, Madame Eve nearly always managed to put two people together who got along famously. The rumors in Candy’s circle of friends were the woman had some sort of psychic ability, or she used magic—if one believed in such a thing.

Why shouldn’t she believe? After having visualized her ideal lover for the last several months, she’d begun to wonder if the two of them had some sort of real psychic connection. She’d fantasized Jared had somehow been aware of what he did in his sleep, much as she had been. What if he’d also mastered the art of lucid dreaming not long after her nightly visits with him began? Every night she lived her fantasies—if only in her sleep.

“They found someone who matches my description.” She danced toward the stairs, giddy.

Seriously, what were the odds a man who resembled the one she wanted in her life would need the services of the 1Night Stand agency? She’d lay odds Jared Harwell never wanted for female companionship for even one day in his charmed, movie-star life. She had a difficult time imagining anyone matching his description would have a hard time finding dates.

“But, tomorrow?” She bit her lip. It gave her almost no time to prepare. She hoped Madame Eve really had worked everything out.

You have had the last six months to prepare, Candy. Suck it up, otherwise all of this will have been for nothing. Not to mention the fact she would lose her only chance at her fantasy.

Pausing at the front door, she brushed her hair back, smoothed down the front of the oversized robe, and reached for the knob.

A tall, forty-something Adonis with dark hair and sky-blue eyes stood on her front porch, just out of the early-morning spring sunlight. Sam had been right. He was gorgeous, even if he didn’t look like her dream lover. Had Candy not already been in love with Jared Harwell, the guy before her could very well be someone she’d go for. In a heartbeat.

The low-slung sports car parked at the curb didn’t mark him as a commercial courier. If she had to guess, she’d peg him as a successful businessman. Maybe the owner of 1Night Stand had her fingers in a little bit of everything and called in favors as she needed them.

What do I know?

“Yes?” She tried to catch her breath as he handed her an envelope and set a medium-sized suitcase at her feet.

“Candy Williamson?” At her nod, he continued, “My name is Jamie. Your 1Night Stand date sent me to give this to you. It contains instructions, along with your plane ticket. I’ve been told you’re to open and read the first page in my presence. I’m to get affirmation that you understand the rules of the game before I leave."

“Game? I thought this was—”

Find more about Tianna Xander at:

www.tiannaxander.com 

Find Tianna on:

 Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest