Read Come Moonrise for Free Online Page B

as the main
room.
    The closet was empty, as was the small
dresser, but a picture of a man with his arms around a woman was on
top. He looked about King’s age and the way he held the woman said
everything important about how he felt about her.
    Tears stung Frankie’s eyes unexpectedly.
Something so nice should not make her cry, but she turned away from
the photo anyway.
    "There’s hot water on for coffee."
    She pivoted to face the door at the sound of
Ty’s voice. He was looking at the bed with a pained expression,
then his gaze snapped to hers and the desire burning in his blue
eyes was unmistakable. Even to her less than tutored eye.
    She stepped toward him, "Ty..."
    He moved back, his face shuttering with the
speed of light. "There’s no cream, but there’s sugar."
    The coffee. She sighed. "No, thanks. I’m
tired. I think I’ll just turn in if there’s nothing you need me to
do."
    He shook his head and looked at the bed
again.
    "It’s big enough for both of us."
    " No ." The vehemence in his voice might
not be warranted in her opinion, but she wasn’t totally shocked by
it.
    "Why are you so adamant against having a
relationship with me?" she asked, unable to help herself. "You want
me."
    "It’s a bad idea."
    "Says who?"
    "I say."
    "Well, I say you’re wrong."
    This time when his eyes met hers, they were
filled with anger. "I don’t give a damn. You’re my friend, Frankie
and that is all you will ever be."
    The words hurt, but they didn’t make sense
and so she couldn’t quite make herself accept them. "There’s an old
saying that friends make the best lovers."
    "And sex can ruin a beautiful
friendship."
    "It wouldn’t just be sex."
    "Yes it would."
    Now that really did hurt. He was saying he
might want her, but he didn’t love her...not like that. And
seriously, after all these years – what were the chances he ever
would?
    "I’ll take the sofa. I’m shorter."
    "Forget it. You’ll sleep on the bed."
    She didn’t bother to argue. She’d learned
long ago that he could be as stubborn as a mule with a behavior
problem. She waited until he left the room before stripping her
clothes and pulling on his flannel shirt she’d filched from the
outer room. It smelled like Ty and covered her to her knees.
    She rummaged in the closet and found another
quilt. She grabbed it, picked up the quilt she’d dropped earlier
and grabbed one of the pillows off the big bed before padding out
to the main room in her bare feet. The sound of chopping came from
the lean-to and she figured Ty would probably be out there long
enough to let her fall asleep.
    She really was tired.
    She curled up on the sofa under both quilts
and willed her mind to stop spinning around the insurmountable
problem of her useless love for her best friend.
    ***
    Ty walked into the cabin and was hit
immediately by her scent. He wanted to howl at the moon, but even
more than that...he wanted to taste her whole body, to soak that
scent into every one of his pores.
    He frowned when he realized her presence was
so strong because she was sleeping on the couch.
    Stubborn.
    He smiled grudgingly. He should have known
she’d do it when she didn’t argue with him. She’d spent over a
decade taking care of him too. He’d laughed at her efforts
sometimes, finding it genuinely amazing that this small human woman
could think he needed her to protect him in any way.
    Even though she didn’t know he was werewolf,
she did know he was a strong man...and determined. Only this time,
she would get her way. Normally, he would have just picked her up
and put her in the bed, but he couldn’t trust himself to touch her.
He wanted her too badly. The full moon and his change were getting
closer by the hour, making it more and more difficult to control
his baser impulses.
    He stoked the fire, trying to ignore the
lure of her scent. After putting on another big log, he went into
the bedroom and shut the door. Hoping for a respite from the
seductive smell tormenting him, he