The stranger

Emma came back to consciousness with a splitting headache.

The pain was so great, that she kept her eyes closed, feeling that any outside stimuli right now would only aggravate it. She was so distracted and disoriented be the pain, that it took a few seconds before the memories of last night came back to her.

But it soon came rushing back. Mr. Long's men, trying to run away, the fight between the black beast and the men and the transformation of the beast into a man, feeling that strong pull towards him, and then...

A sharp jab of pain stabbed at her already aching head when she tried to remember what had happened next.

She supposed that she had finally collapsed due to the blow to the side of her head. After another few seconds, her brain seemed to have rebooted enough for her to think about the most important thing: If she had collapsed, where was she now?

She could feel that she was lying on her stomach her head resting on something warm and firm in what appeared to be a brightly lit room, judging by the warm glow she could see through her closed eyelids.

She had collapsed on the street, in a murky back alley, so where was this? Due to the pleasant temperature and quiet, she decided that it was definitely somewhere indoors.

A sudden chilling thought hit her. What if she had been picked up by another one of Mr. Long's goons and was now in fact being kept somewhere by him or his men?!

The thought caused her heartbeat to spike suddenly, and defying the splitting headache, she opened her eyes and sat up. Using her arms to push against the firm surface where her head had been, she sat bolt upright in a swift movement.

As she catapulted upwards, the back of her head collided with something hard, sending a fresh wave of pain through her already aching skull.

"Ouch!" she yelped, ducking her head down and away from the offending hard object, which emitted a rumbling "oof".

Her head now smarting even more, Emma rubbed the back of her head with one hand, while still supporting her upper body with the other. Then something registered in her dull, aching brain.

That sound...

Her eyes flew open and she turned her head up to the left, looking straight into the grimacing face of the strange man from last night!

Emma was so taken aback that she completely froze, staring dumbfounded up at him, her mouth a perfect round little 'o'.

Seeing her frozen in place with such a comical expression on her face, the stranger couldn't stop the corners of his mouth twitching in amusement.

The contents of Emma's brain seemed to have turned to mush, and she continued staring at the man for a good few seconds. Then as their closeness registered, her gaze moved slowly down over his broad shoulders, and wide chest, and fixated on her hand. Her hand which was gripping the man's muscled thigh. Quite high up on his thigh...

Even more surprised, Emma looked back up into the man's face.

Seeing how she was still gaping like an idiot, he raised a questioning eyebrow.

Her brain suddenly launching into high gear, Emma blushed and quickly yanked her hand away from his thigh.

However, she had misjudged how much of her weight she was supporting with her hand, and removing her hand caused her too loose balance. In danger of falling face first onto his lap, she reached out, her arms flailing, trying desperately to grab anything other than the stranger.

Unfortunately, there was nothing handy nearby, and Emma was about to topple head first into the man's lap, when she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her protectively.

Now cradled in this strange man's arms, the man which had been the subject of a steamy dream of hers and which had last night been ripping grown men into little bits in the form of a large black wolf. Emma couldn't stop herself from gulping nervously.