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  Tall Dark Handsome Lycan, Book 2

  Copyright © 2013 Anastasia Maltezos

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Tall Dark Handsome Lycan, Book 2

  by Anastasia Maltezos

  Chapter One

  A tall, dark, handsome man will change your life.

  Sam wanted to take her Tarot cards and throw them into the ocean. A tall, dark, handsome man had already changed her life! When she had placed her cards on her beach blanket ten minutes ago, she’d wanted to learn something new. Frustrated, she drew three more cards and lay them down.

  You will have a deep and satisfying love.

  Her annoyance immediately ebbed. She knew that, too. Leo did love her, but that didn’t make things any easier for her.

  She glanced at her watch and sighed. It was no use. Her cards weren’t telling her anything she didn’t already know. Besides, it was time to head back. Sam collected her Tarot and shoved them in her bag.

  Quickly, she rose from the beach and slipped on her shorts and top over her bikini before she reached down for her beach blanket and rolled it up. She stuffed it in her bag, her thoughts still on Leo. Her tall, dark, handsome man had definitely changed her life, only he wasn’t a man.

  He was a lycan, and on the last full moon a couple of days ago, he’d turned her into one, too.

  Sam slid her feet into her flip flops and made her way from the beach. Her only comfort was Leo had explained lycans controlled their turning, so she could live out the rest of her life without ever transforming. Sam inhaled slowly. The rest of her life had taken a new meaning for her now. Lycans were immortal and if silver never found its way to her heart, she would never die. The thought left her feeling despondent. She was going to watch her family and friends grow old and die.

  Sam tried focusing her thoughts on Leo and their love for one another, but it did little to assuage her gloom. If their relationship had been normal, if he had been normal, she’d be soaring with happiness because he wanted to marry her, yet all she could think of was that she was a monster! An immortal monster who would eventually lose everyone she loved.

  The back of her eyes burned and she blinked, pushing back the tears.

  If Sam had never allowed Toni to coerce her into this vacation, she would be back home in Maine, running her shop and giving her customers Tarot readings. If she’d never listened to Toni, she wouldn’t be with Leo, a taunting little voice rang in her ears.

  Why, she thought? Why couldn’t Leo have been an accountant? Or a plumber? Or even unemployed? Why did he have to be a gorgeous, irresistible werewolf?

  Lycan, she corrected. Leo had been very clear that lycans and werewolves were different. A lycan could shift into their wolf and beast form, whereas a werewolf could only shift into their wolf. Well, Sam had shifted into both her She-Lycan and wolf the past couple of days and that was something she was not going to repeat.

  Lost in her dark thoughts, she walked past a house where a woman was watering a flowering bush. The sweet scent of roses drew Sam’s gaze to the woman’s front yard, and the woman looked up and smiled.

  “Kalimera,” she said.

  The little Greek Toni had taught her helped. Kalimera, Sam remembered, meant ‘good day’. She returned the woman’s smile and kept walking.

  Meeting Leo and falling in love with him would have made this the perfect holiday. Actually, it would have made this the best time of her life. He was warm and kind, courageous and honourable, sexy and strong. Sam paused on the latter and remembered their lovemaking this morning. Even amidst her troubling thoughts, her knees almost buckled as the memory invoked a sudden rush of heat in her limbs.

  He had awoken her with a gentle peck on the mouth, followed by slow, sensual caresses and a trail of hot kisses along her neck, her shoulder, her breasts. Her stomach quivered at the memory. His lovemaking had been both tender and passionate, making her cry out in sheer bliss the moment they’d both climaxed. And then, he’d held her in his arms and had whispered tender and loving words, promises to make her happy. She believed him. He did want to make her happy. He did want to build a future with them, a home filled with children and laughter and love.

  Sam knew her transformation wasn’t Leo’s fault. He hadn’t set out to purposely turn her into a lycan. It wasn’t as if he had bitten her on a full moon. In fact, he had been just as shocked as she when he had realised she was his one, but by then it had been too late. The Lycan Legend had apparently struck again.

  How had he explained it? When a lycan made love to their soul mate—their one—immediately after consummation, the lycan involuntarily shifted into their beast, and their mate would transform into a lycan on the next full moon.

  That was a couple of days ago, but her life had really changed the moment she had met Leo at the airport.

  In the span of two weeks, she’d found herself reluctantly going on a two vacation to Greece, thinking she’d stay in Toni’s family summer home alone, only to discover Leo would be staying there, as well. Following some big misunderstandings and discovering he wasn’t the cold, arrogant brute she’d initially thought he was, their initial attraction gradually developed into a deep passion and they fell in love.

  A sweet and simple story for any couple describing how they met, Sam thought wryly, with the exception of one thing.

  When they first made love, immediately after Leo climaxed, he had harshly told her to leave his bed, only to explain the next day he was a lycan and he’d been involuntarily shifting into his beast form. Sam didn’t believe it then, and she still couldn’t believe it now.

  And if that had not been bad enough—learning the man she fell in love with was a fictional monster—he had then proceeded to tell her she would transform into a lycan on the next full moon in a couple of days.

  Sam played the last few days over and over in her mind a thousand times and she was still no closer to accepting what happened. She still walked around in a daze, wondering if it had all been a bad dream. Only when she was in Leo’s arms did she feel safe and secure, but she couldn’t spend the rest of her life in bed with him, could she?

  Now she was walking back to his home after spending the day on the beach, trying to calm her ever growing anxiety, terrified that at any moment her bones and skin would stretch and grow into that seven foot monstrosity she’d become a couple of days ago on the last full moon.

  She tried wiping that memory from her mind and failed. Sam couldn’t even focus on the road in front of her. All she saw were her fangs, her jowls, her talons, her grotesquely protruding forehead.

  “I look awful,” she heard a woman whisper.

  Startled, she snapped her gaze to a car speeding down the road. Sam realised with a start that she’d heard the woman’s whisper a good fifty feet away with the car’s win
dows closed. Suddenly, the woman driver leaned up and began applying lipstick.

  Sam’s heart stopped. The woman’s car was heading straight for a young boy who was playing on the street.

  ****

  ,

  Leo stiffened violently as he tightened his grip on his glass. It shattered under the pressure, sending a razor sharp piece deep into his palm. He grimaced as he glanced down at his hand, blood gushing from the deep cut. Leo was paralyzed. His connection to Sam was strong, powerful and he sensed the danger surrounding her.

  He swore roughly under his breath, dropping the remaining pieces of glass on the floor and clenched his fists. Without another thought, he ran from the kitchen and vaulted through the front door, his inner beast going mad with fear. It howled and thrashed deep within him, fighting to be released, its single motive to protect his one.

  Leo knew his lycan speed would get him to Sam faster than his car and he raced through the streets. Anonymity be damned!

  If anything happened to his beloved, he would plunge a silver dagger into his heart rather than live out the rest of his existence without her.

  After living alone for three hundred years, he had finally found his one.

  He sure as hell wasn’t going to lose her

  ****

  Sam froze, staring at the car. The woman driver, having stopped applying her lipstick, was gaping at the road. Sam knew by the dazed expression on her face, she wasn’t going to move her car in time.

  Panic jarred Sam’s senses and she clenched her fists, a low growl rising from her throat. The little boy was going to die!

  She dropped her bag, her lycan hearing picking up the woman’s breathless, “No!” and something inside of Sam snapped.

  She couldn’t explain it, but it was as though a door opened and something wild and primitive escaped, rising to the surface, taking over her human.

  “Get out of the way!” Sam yelled to the boy,

  The child tossed her a frightened gaze as fire and ice pumped through her veins. A powerful rush of adrenalin assaulted her senses and before she could think, she launched herself twenty feet in the air, her gaze fastened on the boy. Sam moved so fast, she saw everything pass by her peripheral vision in a blur. She landed firmly on her feet in front of him, wrapped her arms around his little waist, and held him close before she sprang through the air, landing off to the side. Two seconds later, the car sped over their spot and screeched to a halt.

  Sam squeezed her eyes, gasping, as she held the boy. She couldn’t believe what she’d just done. It had been instinctive, natural, as though summoning a super human speed was as every day as taking a stroll. Her heart was beating so fast, she thought she was going to have a heart attack.

  The boy squirmed in her arms and she opened her eyes and looked down at him. Surprisingly, he didn’t look frightened anymore. His expression was one of wonder and awe as he stared up at her.

  Sam swallowed hard. “Are you hurt?” She asked, running her hands gently over his shoulders and arms. “Ow…er…ow?” She asked, feigning a pained expression as she touched her arm.

  He shook his head. “You saved me.”

  Relief washed over her. She loosened her hold on him. “Oh, good! You speak English.”

  She tossed a nervous glance around her and prayed no one had seen her flight through the air. Leo would kill her. He had been very clear when he had explained lycans lived in secrecy, under the radar, a life of anonymity. He’d used a whole lot of other examples, but Sam was too shocked to remember them all now.

  Thankfully, the residents of this little Greek island took their siestas seriously because the street was deserted expect for the woman driver stumbling out of her car. She staggered toward them, her hand rising to her mouth, her expression terrified. Sam almost felt sorry for her. Almost, but not quite. She could have killed the little boy if she hadn’t been primping.

  The woman driver collapsed on ground beside them. “I’m so sorry! Are you all right? Should I call an ambulance?”

  Sam could have sworn she heard the rapid beat of the woman’s heart. She immediately stiffened, wondering about all the things Leo had forgotten to mention to her about her new and improved self.

  The woman driver choked back on a rising sob and compassion welled in Sam’s breast for her in spite of her earlier displeasure. “An ambulance isn’t necessary. He’s fine,” Sam said.

  The woman gawked at her. “I didn’t even see you! One minute the boy was there, and the next, he was gone.”

  The boy tore his gaze from Sam and smiled at the woman. “She picked me up and we flew in the air.”

  Sam attempted a dismissive laugh, but it sounded brittle to her ears. “Luckily I was very close to him and was able to grab him to safety. I’m sure you didn’t notice me because you were in shock.”

  The woman wiped an errant tear. “I didn’t see him. It all happened in one second.”

  Sam’s stomach lurched. It had seemed as though everything had happened in one second. Her super human hearing, her super human strength, and…and she flew. The raw power she had summoned to the surface was still pulsing beneath her skin, and oddly she didn’t fear it.

  Leo had a lot of explaining to do when she returned to the house.

  Sam placed a gentle hand on the woman’s arm. “It’s all right now. He’s safe and that’s all that matters.”

  “To pethimou! Yani!” a woman cried, as she ran from a house. She stumbled to the little boy’s side and gathered him in her arms. “Ti eyeene?” She asked Sam, giving her a frantic, panic filled gaze.

  “Ma, she speaks English,” the little boy said.

  “What happened?” His mother repeated.

  Sam was about to explain when the woman driver jumped in. “I…I was driving down this road when, out of nowhere, your son was on the street. And then….and then he was gone,” she said, giving Sam a strange look. “Almost as though something invisible pulled him away,” she added, her voice trailing to a faint note.

  Sam was becoming uncomfortable. She offered the mother of the boy a smile. “We’re all still in shock,” she began as calmly as possible, “but the important thing is your son is safe now.” She rose from the pavement, the little boy’s awed, brown-eyed gaze following her.

  He was such a sweet looking boy, with big brown eyes, dark unruly hair, and cherubic cheeks. He grinned, their gazes locking in secret.

  Sam returned her attention to his mother. “I’m Samantha Hope. I’m staying at Leo Stefanos’s house for the rest of the week. It’s the villa up—”

  “Leonidis, yes! My husband did renovations for him last year. Leonidis is a very good man.”

  “Yes, well, since everyone seems to be fine now,” Sam began, “I think I’ll…I’ll be heading back.”

  “Thank you, Sam. Thank you,” the mother said.

  “It was no problem.” She looked down at the little boy. “Be careful next time, young man,” she said softly. “If you play on the street, always make sure there are no cars coming.”

  The little boy nodded, smiling from ear to ear. Sam wondered how long he was going to try convincing people that a strange woman had flown in the air with him. She couldn’t help feeling guilty about this, but it couldn’t be helped. Leo had been firm that no one know of their existence, and having the boy’s family believe he’d imagined the whole thing was a small price to pay to guard Leo’s true heritage. His family had kept his lycan history a secret from humans for centuries and she wasn’t about to betray his trust.

  A sudden revelation hit her. If she hadn’t been able to summon her speed, the little boy could have died. Would have died, she corrected, remembering how close the car had been to running him over. Her thoughts stilled as she felt something she didn’t think she’d ever feel. She was thankful she was a lycan.

  She gave the woman driver one final look and resisted mentioning that her primping could have cost the young boy his life. Somehow she knew the woman would never make that mistake again.

/>   Sam nodded goodbye to everyone and walked to the spot where she had dropped her bag. She was about to pick it up when a powerful blast of energy slammed into her gut, winding her.

  She gasped as the back of her neck pricked with awareness and slowly, she turned around.

  It was Leo, grim-faced, striding toward her, his hands clenched into tight fists at his sides. His expression was a mixture of anger and relief, and her gaze dropped to his tight-lipped mouth, the same mouth that had heated her skin this morning with passionate, ardent kisses.

  Her heart skipped a beat as it always did when she saw him. Tall, broad shouldered and muscular, he strode purposefully toward her, his jeans outlining his powerful legs. Her admiring gaze went to his chest and she stiffened. Was that a blood stain on his white T-shirt?

  As he devoured the ground between them, a ridiculous sense of fear mingled with the worry over the stain. Nervously, she looked at his face and their gazes clashed. She knew he would never hurt her, but she couldn’t help feeling he looked like he was ready to throttle her.

  He stopped directly in front of her, his dark eyes flashing anger. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into his arms.

  A low, deep growl rose from his throat as his head crashed down, his mouth fastening over hers, leaving her breathless after one fast and furious kiss.

  Chapter Two

  Leo dragged his mouth away from hers, his heart hammering in his chest. Relief pulsated through his frame as he cast a quick, cursory glance around him. Thank God he had found Sam unharmed.

  The only people he saw was a little boy being led into a house by a woman.

  “You will never play in the street again. What if that nice woman wasn’t here to save you?” The woman asked, shutting the door behind them.

  He snapped his gaze to another woman walking to a car that was parked in the middle of the street, the driver’s door ajar. The woman appeared shaken and he picked up the faint sound of her ragged sigh. His gaze caught two skid marks behind her car.