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She had, but she didn’t want to admit it, didn’t want him to think she was a coward, so she shook her head “No, have you?”

“Not a chance” He aze fixed on hers

She wanted to back up, to run away, but she seeaze fro her na so fast, Savanah thought she asp when his arm circled her waist and drew her close She could feel the latent strength of him, knew that he could crush her with no effort at all Never in her life had she felt so helpless, so vulnerable

She looked up at hi to breathe The rest of the world faded away until all she saw, all she kneas thisher cheek as he bent his head toward hers He was too near, his presence too overpowering She started to say she had changed her mind, but it was too late His mouth captured hers in a kiss that left no roo beyond the wave of sensual heat that unleashed a fa in the pit of her stomach and threatened to turn her blood to liquid fire For a moment, she stared into the depths of his eyes, and then, with a sigh, she closed her eyes and surrendered to his touch

Lost, she thought, she was lost in a churning sea of ecstasy A di bells If his kiss was this arousing, she would be wise to avoid anything more intimate

It took her several moments to realize the kiss had ended

As sanity returned, she glared at hihtened around her waist “Are you ready?” he asked

She blinked “Ready for what?”

He laughed softly “I thought you wanted to seeto do it now?”

He grinned at her

She sla a block wall “Get your utter,” she said irritably, “and do your trick”

His grin widened His teeth were very white

“Stop that! You knohat Ihis hold on her, he took a step back There was a tremor in the air, a rush of Supernatural power as Rane’s body shie black wolf stood in his place, staring up at her out of Rane’s deep black eyes

Savanah shook her head She glanced around the parking lot, looking for Rane, looking for so, that would explain what she had seen But there was no one else there, no acco in the shadows

She looked back at the wolf It was sitting on its haunches now, grinning a wolfish grin

Feeling foolish, she whispered his naed its tail

She took several steps backward “It can’t be”

Yet even as Savanah told herself that what she was seeing was iy surfaced in her h school, she had done a paper on shape-shifters for her English class She had found the subject so fascinating, she had researched it far more than was necessary for one paper In British folklore, fairies, witches and wizards were all known to have the ability to change shape

In Norse y, both Loki and Odin had been shape-shifters Buddhist folklore featured stories of thenaga, snakes which could take on human form There were numerous tales of Werewolves, humans compelled to turn into wolves when the hly debated the hether it was voluntary or induced by outside influences Circe had transformed those who intruded on her island into swine Some Indian shamans were believed to be able to take on the form of animals Then there was Savanah’s favorite fairy tale,Beauty and the Beast, in which the prince had been cursed by an enchantress and turned into a beast, only to be saved by Beauty’s love