More Blazing Bedtime Stories: Once Upon a Mattress by Julie Leto, Leslie Kelly

start ordering me around.”
    He sighed. One step forward, two steps back . “I wasn’t trying to. It was a suggestion.”
    She mumbled something, sounding more annoyed than confused, then dug back into her salad. After a few more bites, she spoke again.
    “Tell me about this one-quarter Wolf thing.”
    He had wondered when she would get to that.
    “Is being in the Wolf family some big deal? Since you’reonly one-quarter related to them, did you get disinherited or something?”
    “You know that’s not what I’m saying.”
    She froze.
    “You know .”
    Penny lowered her fork to her plate, eyeing him closely. His long hair hanging over his shoulders, his face, his eyes, his beard. She dropped her attention to his arms, straining against the jacket that seemed to have shrunk since sunset. To the dark hair on the backs of his hands.
    Then she looked at his face again. He intentionally smiled, baring his teeth. His white, gleaming teeth, always a little bit sharper by full moonlight.
    She looked. She gulped. And she muttered, “Oh, fuck.”
    “The queen won’t like such language.”
    She scooted her chair back at least a foot. “You’re trying to tell me you’re a…a werewolf?”
    “There’s no such thing.”
    Nodding quickly, she sighed in relief. “Right.”
    Poor girl, he almost hated to explain. “You humans over here call us werewolves. In truth, we’re just part wolf. No were about it. We don’t turn into murderous animals when the moon grows full.” He glanced out the window at the night sky. “Though I can’t deny we do enjoy the moonlight, and some of our genetic qualities become more prominent beneath its glow.”
    “Your family must own stock in Gillette.”
    Not knowing what she meant, he ignored her.
    She licked her lips, those pretty, tempting lips. “So you’re saying you’re part wolf?”
    He nodded. “My father, as well as the others in my clan, are descendants of a race of half-humans, half-wolves, and they almost always intermarry. Keeping the line pure.”
    “Pure wolf-man. Gotcha.”
    He ignored her sarcasm, knowing it was generated by shock. “My father fell for someone outside the clan.”
    “Uh-huh. Where was she from, the Land of Oz?”
    Remaining patient, he answered, “No. But since my mother was fully human, I only have a quarter of that wolf ancestry.”
    She hesitated, then finally snapped her fingers and grinned. “Wait! I’m unconscious. That pig knocked me out when he slammed me into the ground, and this is a coma-induced hallucination.”
    He simply stared at her. She stared back, her smile slowly fading. Penny was grasping at straws, trying to find a rational explanation for something that didn’t have one. At least, not according to her view of the world.
    A view of the world she wasn’t going to part with easily.
    “No. No, no, no!” She thrust each word out harshly. Penny pushed back her chair, rising from it. “You need to leave now.
    He stood as well. “To use your favorite word, no.”
    She backed up until she reached the counter and could go no further. “I mean it. Get out of here.”
    “Not until I make one thing clear,” he muttered, following her across the kitchen, step by step.
    Fear flitted across her face, but he couldn’t make himself do as she asked. He couldn’t leave her, giving her time to adjust. They didn’t have time. Besides, tonight wasn’t the kind of night when he could even pretend to be patient.
    When he reached her, he inhaled deeply, smelling not just that hint of fear but more of that excitement. It made her body quiver and her lips tremble. Her hands were behind her, clenching the edges of the countertop.
    “What do you need to make clear?” she whispered.
    Her heart started pounding as he stalked her. He felt it—almost heard it—in the silent air, thick with so many layers of tension he’d have trouble counting them all. But she didn’t try to run.
    Because she wanted him still. That was causing the most