"Um-hmmm." Vivian stroked his hair, reveling in the way she'd made him drunk with wanting her.
He kissed her mouth, and she returned his kiss fiercely, pressing hard against him, holding him tight by his shirt. Her fingers found a circle behind his pocket - the rolled rim of a rubber encased in foil. A thrill ran through her so sharp and delicious that for a moment she thought she was changing.
With trembling fingers she unbuttoned Aiden's shirt. She smoothed her hands up his firm abdomen and across his chest. His flesh was burning hot and oh so sleek and alien to her touch. She tested his neck with her teeth and tried not to bite too hard. His breath became ragged.
A chorus of howls echoed down the river. A cherry bomb burst in the distance.
Or was it a gun?
Vivian froze.
"Ow! Your nails." Aiden pulled back.
She quickly sheathed her claws. "I'm sorry. I . . ."
Aiden laughed wickedly and reached for her again. "You wild woman."
Vivian felt a vibration in the ground. She struggled to her knees while Aiden held on and murmured in protest. Out in the night a dark mass swept though the grass, coming their way.
"What's wrong?" Aiden asked and rose to kneel beside her.
"It's nothing," she said, and flung her arms around him and carried him to the ground. That can't be the pack, she thought. They wouldn't run in town. But there were too many to be only the Five.
Aiden rolled over on top of her, and she tried to fake interest. She had to keep him occupied. If he saw what hunted tonight, he might panic and run; if he ran he was prey.
The grass hissed louder and louder as if a storm approached. Voiceless they came - many paws softly thundering.
They passed to the right.
"What the . . ." Aiden sat up.
Vivian snaked an arm around his neck and dragged him back. "Stay down," she told him. "Dogs. They're crazy in packs."
Aiden looked startled. "Jeez, there's a lot."
The musk of them filled the air - familiar scents. Astrid was in the lead. Damn the bitch. What was she thinking to lead a run this large through the middle of Riverview?
After Astrid came Lucien Dafoe, Rafe's father, stinking of drink. Rafe was rapidly edging him out. The rest of the Five were there, but so were others, mostly Astrid's age-mates, no elders, and all male. Ulf brought up the rear. She could hear him pant with an asthmatic wheeze.
Then they were past, racing upstream, devouring the night.
"Wow," Aiden said. "For a moment I thought it was the wild hunt - Herne the Hunter chasing down the damned."
She could feel the goose bumps on his arm.
"People shouldn't let their dogs run loose like that. Maybe we should call the pound."
"At this time of night?" Vivian said.
He grimaced humorously. "Guess not."
A shout came from up the river.
"Scared someone." Aiden laughed.
Unlike Aiden, she could hear that someone scramble down the bank. Her heart leaped to her throat, but the pack didn't turn to follow the human.
"We should get out of here," she said. "They might come back." And who knew what they'd do if they got the urge for blood on the muzzle? She had to send Aiden home.