*Author's intro: A LOVE TOO DANGEROUS TO POSSESS. Dana Gibbs, a biologist who specializes in wolf behavior, is in Arizona to join an investigative team looking into a serious of violent and mysterious deaths. Some people believe wolves are the killers. Dana knows better: there are no wolves in Arizona, not normal wolves anyway. And Dana doesn't believe in the supernatural . . . until she meets Morgan Wilder.

TOO IRRESISTIBLE TO LET GO. A former psychiatrist now living alone in an isolated cabin, Morgan is a man tormented by a past he cannot erase or escape. When he rescues Dana during a spring blizzard, he carries her into the circle of his desire--and his secrets. As passion sweeps Dana and Morgan into an affair neither can resist, Dana begins to see a threatening side of Morgan. The good man she thinks she knows sleeps behind a barred door...disappears when the moon is full...and is cursed beyond redemption--unless he is saved from this evil by a woman's love.

Morgan and Dana have been trapped inside by a fierce snow storm and having been fighting off their fated attraction. Now, free to go outdoor at last, they share a light and tender moment that quickly escalates to passion . . .

GLAD TO BE FREE of the wind and blowing snow, the team romped on the frost-hardened snow, eagerly chasing the bones that Morgan had gotten from the smokehouse. Occasionally, one of them hit a soft patch, sunk and scrambled, coming up with a snow-covered head that made it look like it was wearing a cap. Each occurrence brought shared laughter, and Dana found she enjoyed Morgan's rare laugh more than she enjoyed her own.

As she threw yet another bone, Odin bumped her, sending her lob straight up in the air. Simultaneously, Odin and Aphrodite leaped for it, collided and fell on top of her. Aphrodite hit Dana's shoulder full force and she staggered back

"Whoa!" Morgan tried to catch herl, but they both tumbled to the ground along with the dogs. All four of them ended up rolling in the snow, which was wet and squishy and cold. Some of it crept into the gap at Dana's wrist, seeped down her neck.

"That's cold," she complained as the dogs scrambled up and vied for possession of the bone. She scraped snow off the wristband of a glove, then looked up at Morgan, who was angled across her legs, grinning madly.

"You think it's funny?" With a giggle, Dana grabbed a wad of snow and shoved it in Morgan's face.

He raised his thick eyebrows, slowly wiped the snow away. "You shouldn't have done that. Big mistake. Big."

Dana lunged for his hands, but too late. He'd already armed himself, and he pitched a huge ball directly at her head. It bounced off, leaving crystal pebbles in her hair.

"Playing rough, are you?" She dug out a two-handed scoop, shot it back.

Morgan found an arsenal, and his fresh ball struck her just as her own weapon started to fly. She tried to roll and scoop an armful, but Morgan grabbed her legs. Their shrieks of laughter filled the air.

Morgan didn't know when he'd had a better time. He felt mortal again, alive and happy with the woman he loved. A momentary remembrance of what would come nibbled at his joy, but he successfully pushed it away. He'd have this day, if nothing else. This day.

Dana wiggled in his arms, trying to escape, pelleting him with snow. Still laughing, he moved up and grabbed her around the waist.

Ice hit his neck. Melting rivulets immediately ran into the collar of his suit.

"No fair," he said in a fake whine. "I'm getting wet."

"Sorry. I was just--"

He shoved a snowball in her mouth. It crumbled, fell away from her lips.

"Oh," she squealed, "You brute. You cheated!"

She scrambled for more snow and Morgan slid up her body, grabbing at her hands. Her bucking hips shoved repeatedly at his belly. Suddenly he felt a tightening of his jeans. He froze for an instant, both thrilled and horrified by his response. Dangerous, this feeling, much too dangerous. Men sometimes fantasized about devouring their women, but with Dana so close, so desireable, what some called fantasy could become all too terribly real. He should let her go before it was too late.

But his joy was greater than his fear.

He had her wrist now, had pinned her down with his larger chest, could feel her soft breasts give beneath his weight. The thick suits between them felt like armor and he ached to strip them off.

He stopped laughing.

So did Dana.

He looked down, saw excited color in her cheeks, a sudden darkening of her green eyes. God, they glittered like emeralds and her open lips were moist, inviting. Still staring, he let go of her wrist. She touched her gloved hand against his cheek. Cold it was, yet warm and thrilling too.

"Morgan?"

She arched her neck, brought her mouth closer to his.

He'd sworn to himself he wouldn't take this risk, but a plea was in her eyes and her body now softened beneath him in subtle invitation.

With a groan of despair, Morgan claimed her lips. She opened her mouth for him, violently claiming his tongue, holding, suckling. He rose to his knees, slid his arms beneath her body and lifted her from the ground.

And in the deep woods, a pair of dark eyes burned with jealousy as they watched Morgan stumble toward the cabin, never parting his lips from those of the woman in his arms . . ..© 1997

*SHADOW OF THE WOLF, the sequel to Shadow on the Moon, will be released by Topaz in January '98. The love story of Lily and White Hawk, it is also a tale of redemption.

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