Read Online Taming Her Heart by Marisa Chenery - Free Book Online Page A

that wouldn’t stop him, come morning, from looking to see if Tiw’s mark had begun to appear on her skin, high up on the right side of her back, near her shoulder. It would look like the one he had on the cap of his left shoulder, only hers wouldn’t be quite so large. Anglo-Saxon in design, the black mark depicted a figure of a stylized man, Tiw, flanked on either side by two stylized wolves standing on their hind legs.
    Dolf’s breath caught in his lungs when Maggie finally made a move to touch him as he’d asked. Her hand slid across his pecs to his shoulder and down his arm. Her gaze followed her movements, and he watched her.
    After a few more minutes of stroking his upper body, she said, “Your fur feels a lot softer than I thought it would.”
    “Touch more of me,” he urged, his voice gruffer than usual. He liked Maggie running her hands over him, even in his werewolf form.
    She raised her head and met his gaze as she lifted her hand and stroked along his muzzle. She then continued up until she reached one of his pointed ears on top of his head. Maggie outlined it with the tip of her finger. It tickled when she did that, but Dolf forced himself to remain still.
    “What does it feel like to be in this form?” she asked in a soft voice.
    “Really not much different than my human one, except I’m stronger, faster and my senses and eyesight are a lot sharper.”
    “Does it hurt when you shift?”
    Dolf shook his head. “No. It happens so fast I barely notice it anymore. Since it’s an ability Tiw has gifted me with, I guess the best way to describe it is that it’s more magical than anything.”
    Maggie ran a hand down the side of his neck and snuggled closer with her head against his chest. “I do have to say you exude a lot of body heat when you’re like this. It’s making me sleepy.”
    Dolf shifted back to his human form and rolled to his back, arranging Maggie so she lay up against his side, her cheek pillowed on his pec. With his feet, he snagged the covers and tugged them up. He kissed the top of her head.
    “Go to sleep. It’s really late. And you’ve had quite a day.”
    She covered a large yawn with her hand. “Good night, Dolf.”
    “Good night, Maggie.”
    * * *
    Dolf found himself brought out of a deep sleep, but unsure of what had awakened him. After Maggie had drifted off, he’d been quick to follow her into slumberland. For the first time since he’d met her, he’d actually had no problem falling asleep. Usually, he would be so worried about Maggie, hoping the next day would be different, he couldn’t settle his brain enough to shut it down for a good night’s rest.
    A whimpered sound drew his gaze to Maggie. Sometime while they’d slept, she’d rolled to her other side away from him. She was practically curled up in a ball, close to the edge of the mattress.
    He shifted behind her and propped himself up on his bent arm. With his other hand, Dolf squeezed her shoulder. “Maggie, wake up.”
    She whimpered again and her body went stiff. Her chest rapidly rose and fell, as if she were fighting to catch her breath. Dolf pulled her against him, hoping his presence would sooth her. That didn’t exactly work. If anything, it had the opposite effect. She screamed, fighting his hold as if he were doing something other than trying to comfort her.
    Clamping his arm tighter around her, he bellowed, “Maggie. Stop it. It’s me. Dolf. You’re having a nightmare.”
    She continued to shriek until he gave her a hard shake. With sharp intake of breath, Maggie came awake at the same time Dolf heard Wulfric yell his name through the closed door.
    “Dolf,” Wulfric called again. “What the hell’s going on in there? Cydney’s worried you’re scaring Maggie.”
    After he turned his mate toward him and pressed her shaking body against his, he said loud enough for his friend to hear, “Sod off, Wulfric. Maggie’s fine. She just had a nightmare.” Dolf was thankful he had the