Fury leaped up to put his paws against her breasts and lick her face.
"Yo, down," Vane snapped, forcing the wolf back. "There'll be none of that." "I don't mind," Bride said charitably.
Fury wagged his tail and smiled wickedly, then tried to look up Bride's dress. Vane caught him quickly by the neck. "Stop!" he snarled mentally to Fury.
"Or I'll rip your head off."
Bride frowned at them. "Don't you like my wolf?"
"Yeah," Vane said, patting him roughly on the head. "He's my new best friend."
"I'm your only friend, dickhead."
Vane balled his fist in the wolf's fur as a warning to him. "You know you have to be firm with wolves. Let them know who the alpha is."
"Your father?"
Vane smacked Fury's head.
"Owl"
"Yeah," Bride said. "That's what my father says about all canines."
"Your father?"
She nodded. "He's Dr. McTierney, the leading expert in Louisiana on dog care.
He's a vet over in Slidell. You might have seen his commercials. 'If you love your pet, neuter or spay.' He leads that whole campaign."
"Really," he said, grinning at Fury. "Maybe we should make an appointment."
"Yeah, right. Try it and die."
Vane clenched his fists as he tried to hide his anger from Bride. He was only one step away from choking the wolf in front of her. Bride frowned as she glanced at Fury. "Strange" She reached for his back paw. "I don't remember him having a brown patch there."
Vane bit back a curse as he realized Fury wasn't an identical match for him. Damn, she was observant.
"Maybe you just didn't notice it before," he said, trying to distract her.
"Maybe."
Bride led them across the back courtyard. She opened the door to her apartment and let the wolf in. She paused in the doorway.
Vane leaned his hand against the doorframe above her head and smiled at her. "You're nervous," he said quietly. "Why?"
"I'm just not sure what you're still doing here."
"I'm talking to you."
She laughed at that. "You know, I don't exactly have a manual of etiquette on what to do when a gorgeous guy drops into my life one day, gives me an expensive necklace I've been dying for, then we have the best sex of my life, and you vanish. Then pop back in when I need a hero and pay more money than those movers probably make in six months just to help me out. You take me out for a great dinner and then spend an entire night making my head spin. I don't know where to go from here."
"I have to say this is a first for me, too." He reached out and let his fingers rub against the lock of hair lying against her cheek. "What can I say? You're irresistible to me," he breathed.
It was hard to stay sane and rational when he looked at her like that. As if he were starving for a taste of her.
"And you're even more nervous." He sighed, then stepped back.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "It's not you. Really. I'm just not used to things like this happening to me."