Page 1 of The Wolf's Secret Baby

Chapter One

Ambrosia

I could feel the craving for some hot, unbridled fun churning within me. My mind was a mess, and it was a blessing I wasn’t driving, because the car would have spun out of control. My gaze kept being drawn to him, my body screaming at me to give in to my instincts, my analytical mind nagging at me to remain reserved.

“It’ll be good to get out of the city,” Derren said, his hand languid against the wheel, the wide road stretching before us. There wasn’t another soul in sight. It was the beginning of a long weekend, and I was filled with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. The early evening sky ahead of us was filled with color, as though a fruit had burst and the juice was pouring out. The harsh grey of the city had been left behind, replaced by lush greens and browns, earthy tones that spoke to the instincts inherited from our long-forgotten ancestors.

“I can’t believe this is happening. I finally get a long weekend with Ambrosia Hart,” he added, smirking. His right hand drifted down and settled against my thigh. I tried to relax into the touch. I told myself to stop being so restrained. This was a good thing, a chance for personal growth. It had been too long since I had felt the intimate company of another person, and it was time for that to change. My body needed nourishing. I fed my mind a lot, but my physical desires were often neglected. It was just so difficult to find people on the same wavelength as me. Derren wasn’t either but I had made an exception for him. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a thick head of hair and muscles that looked like they were about to explode. I wanted toget back to nature and embrace something wild, become more like an animal than a human.

As a psychiatrist, this wasn’t the kind of treatment I would usually prescribe, but I was a responsible practitioner and as an expert I thought it was just what I needed. It’s why I insisted we come out here, far away from the prying eyes of the city, a place where the immortality of our wild acts wouldn’t seem so taboo. I cast a side-eyed glance towards him, trying to quell the hesitant feelings within. I wanted to be unbridled but there were still constraints placed upon me. I had been raised to be prim and proper, responsible and respectable. I worked hard to cultivate a successful career and a reputation for being trustworthy. It was hard to leave all of that behind and become someone else.

He squeezed my thigh, and a jolt of arousal shot through me. I breathed slowly, embracing the feeling, trying my best to appreciate it rather than analyze it.

“I don’t know if it’s that much of an accomplishment,” I replied dryly.

“Are you kidding me? I’ve been waiting for this for ages. You know, my buddies said that I should just give up with you, but I knew that you were worth the wait. This weekend is going to be incredible.” He glanced towards me, and I saw the intense desire within his eyes. I turned away from him and looked out of the window, promising myself that I would indulge this different aspect of me.

We pulled up at the old cabin. It had been in my family for generations, although I never managed to come out here as often as I would have liked. It was framed by trees and the sloping ground led to a shimmering lake nearby. There was a pit for a fire.

“Man, this place is amazing,” Derren said as he got out of the car, placing his hands on his hips as he enjoyed the view.

“Yeah, it is. I should come here more often.”

“I’m surprised you don’t live out here. It’s so peaceful. You could be away from the world and all the stupid rules.”

“You think rules are stupid?”

He barked a laugh. “Some of them. I mean, I just think people should be free to pursue what they want. Sometimes I feel as though society is just a way for us to be controlled. You can’t do this; you can’t do that. I feel like I should be allowed to say what and where I drink. People just need to get out of my business, you know?” I looked at him and realized that perhaps I didn’t know Derren as well as I should have.

He hauled the luggage from the car and waltzed inside, expressing his admiration for the interior of the cabin, which was just as enthusiastic as his opinion of the outside. When he found the bedroom, he gave me a lascivious glance.

“We’ll be seeing a lot of this place.” He stepped past me, running a hand along the small of my back. This was a man who was primed with testosterone. It practically seeped out of his pores, and it was the main reason why I had chosen him for this weekend. We spent a little while settling in. Derren set about building a fire while I prepared dinner. It didn’t escape my attention that without realizing it we had settled into the stereotypical gender roles, and I wondered if there was something about being in nature that brought this dynamic about. Hmm, there could be a research paper in that… would people taken out of the city regress to a state of an earlier society? It was a most intriguing prospect, and I intended to give it more thought.

“I wish that we had the opportunity to live out here,” Derren said. “Away from everything.”

“You find the city suffocating?”

“Don’t you?”

I considered the matter and tilted my head from side to side. “I suppose there are times when I would prefer to get away from it all but I feel safer in the city.”

He grunted. “You shouldn’t. The more people there are, the greater chance there is of getting hurt.” Some may have thought of this as an offhand comment, but my training had taught me that there was no such thing. I arched an eyebrow.

“You don’t trust people?”

“I trust people when they give me a reason to trust them.”

“I see, and who taught you that?”

“My dad, not that he intended for me to learn anything.”

“I see. It was a fractious relationship then?”

He looked at me blankly. “I don’t know what that means.”

“You didn’t get along.”

He smiled darkly. “That’s putting it lightly. He didn’t want me. I was a mistake, a burden, and he never shied away from telling me.”

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