Fox Hunt: The Stallions of the Hidden E Ranch

by Ellis Leigh

  Fox Hunt

  The Stallions Of The Hidden E Ranch

  Ellis Leigh

  Copyright © 2018 by Ellis Leigh

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  FOX HUNT is available in multiple formats including

  E-Book: 978-1-944336-63-9

  Print: 978-1-944336-64-6

  Contents

  Fox Hunt

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Epilogue

  Want more?

  THE GATHERING TALES Sneak Peek

  Also By Ellis Leigh

  Have you met Kristin Harte?

  Don’t forget London Hale

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Fox Hunt

  The Stallions Of The Hidden E Ranch

  If two is better than one and three is better than two, then seven must be better than just about anything.

  I was on the run from my past when I met Liam—the man I thought was my one true mate. But when he took me home to his ranch, I found out he wasn’t alone. Seven stallion shifters own the Hidden E Ranch, each ready to make me theirs, with Liam leading the charge.

  Horse shifters mate as a herd, something we fox shifters know nothing about. But I’m ready to learn, and my seven stallion mates seem more than happy to teach me.

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  Chapter One

  No one had ever said life would be easy, but if mine got any harder, I was going to have to throw in the proverbial towel. Too bad I couldn’t afford to buy one.

  “That’ll be two dollars, ma’am.”

  Ouch. I gave the gas station clerk a pained smile and dug into my change purse, counting coins and hoping for the best. Almost gone—I’d spent nearly every penny I’d taken with me when I’d been forced to run from my home. A tragic event for sure, but I only needed to make it through one last leg of my crazy journey. I had enough for the Push-Up Pop in my hand. Just barely. Definitely a win in my book.

  “Here you go,” I said, handing over a sad collection of dimes, nickels, and pennies—not even a quarter in sight—before smiling brightly at the man behind the counter. “You have a nice day now.”

  He grunted, his gaze dropping from my eyes to my full breasts and staying there. Typical, though the fact that my dress was about a size too small certainly didn’t help matters. I’d have said I should cut back on the sweets, but I knew that wouldn’t be happening. Sugary treats were the only thing keeping me going at that point.

  I spun away from the counter, the short skirt of my dress flaring and my dark hair flying, before hiking my backpack onto my shoulder and heading outside. The sun blazed down on the parking lot, blinding me and practically melting the cheap plastic of my shoes. Locals could talk all they wanted about this dry heat business—dry or not, a hundred-plus on the thermometer was too hot. Perfect weather for ice cream, though. I dropped my sunglasses over my eyes and tore off the paper to my cold treat as I sought a shady spot to relax.

  A few more hours, and I’d be at my final destination. Just one more leg on my trip across the country, and I’d be holed up at the fox shifter sanctuary with the rest of the runaways and rejects. One more bus ride, to be exact. Nice thing about buses—they didn’t require you to use a credit card or show identification to buy a ticket. Which was good, because if I’d left any way to track me, if I’d somehow gotten messy and left behind of a shred of evidence that would indicate where I was headed, I’d be dead before I got there.

  My inner fox peeked out from where she hid inside my mind, sniffing, interested in the treat I held, but cautious. Always so cautious. The fallout I’d been through over the last few months had shaken her all the way down to her core. She’d gone from a typical fox—ballsy, sneaky, and confident enough to be brazen at times—to a scared little ball of fur. But her sweet tooth hadn’t lessened a bit, which was why I didn’t mind spending my last two dollars on something as ridiculous as a Push-Up Pop. She needed it, and we were almost to our new home. Almost safe again.

  At least, I hoped we were.

  I was right in the middle of the first lick of my citrusy treat when I felt a familiar sensation—eyes on me. Someone watching. A shiver of fear shot up my spine as I looked up, terrified of what I’d see. But instead of the short, light-haired man who’d been the worst mistake I’d ever made, there stood a different man. One who was tall and dark and as hot as the sun itself. He might still have been a mistake—most men were—but for just a second, I didn’t care.

  His long legs were encased in dark jeans, a short-sleeved plaid shirt pulling tight across his chest and arms, and a hat—a real, honest-to-goodness cowboy hat—sat perched upon his head. I’d never seen someone so gorgeous in real life, never been around someone with such a muscled body. And his stare—so deep and intense. Directed right at me. Even my scared little fox noticed the weight of it, the intensity.

  And we both liked the attention.

  I held eye contact as I took another lick, thinking about all the ways I’d like to use my tongue on him. All the ways I’d like for him to lick me instead. Something made me want to give myself to him right there in the gas station parking lot. Something that also made my heart pound a little faster and my pussy grow a little wetter.

  He warned you not to even look at another man, let alone drool over one.

  I shoved that thought aside as the man walked closer. No words from my ex mattered at that point. All that did was the dark-haired, blue-eyed man before me. The one watching me with something close to hunger on his strong face. He looked like some sort of model for a calendar, like a cowboy ready to lasso himself a lady and take her home to his ranch to dirty her up a little. I liked that thought. A lot.

  Too much.

  “Good afternoon,” my handsome stranger said, his voice sliding over my body like warm honey. He tipped his hat—actually tipped his hat as if we were in some sort of old movie—and gave me a smile that I felt all the way down to my toes.

  Trouble. I was in so much trouble.

  “Hi. Do I know you?” I took another lick of my ice cream, his eyes following the movement of my tongue. I wanted to do it again, to tease him, to wrap my lips around the treat and see if I could make that heated stare burn hotter. What the hell was this? Never before in my life had I felt such an attraction to a man. This was almost…too strong to resist. Almost. Sort of lik
e what other shifters had described as a mating pull, but incomplete somehow. Not all-consuming but close. Completely confusing for sure.

  The man before me didn’t seem confused at all, though. He looked me up and down, pausing on my full hips, stopping for a good long look at my breasts before giving me another one of those killer smiles. “No, ma’am. I’d definitely remember meeting you.”

  Smooth. Very smooth. “Oh. I thought, since you were staring at me and all, that maybe we’d met and I’d somehow forgotten.”

  Not that I could have. No woman would forget meeting a man as handsome as this one. One with sex in his eyes and a fire burning behind that charming smile. Deadly. The man was deadly to things like resolve, modesty, purity…and panties.

  His smile grew all languid and steady, like a slow sunrise on a cloudy day. All that delicious warmth directed right at me. “I was staring because you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and I wanted to make sure you weren’t just a figment of my imagination or some sort of mirage. Would have been a shame to see such a vision standing here and have her disappear before I could tell her exactly how lovely I thought she was.”

  I fought the swoon. I fought it as hard as I could. “Ah, so you’re a sweet talker?”

  “Guilty as charged.” He stepped closer, breathing me in. Surrounding me in his addictive scent—sunshine, warmth, and a little bit of lemon. The deeper whisper of a shifter tickled my nose, but not that of a fox. Not a wolf either. Something different, earthy. Something intriguing. “I’m also completely honest. How’d someone as pretty as you escape my notice in this small of a town?”

  “I’m not from here. Just passing through, really.”

  His eyes darkened for a moment, taking me by surprise. That expression made him appear almost dangerous, but in the best way possible. “Aw now, don’t tell me you’re leaving so soon. I haven’t even gotten a chance to learn your name yet.”

  “I’m Waverley.” Wrong name. Wrong. Name.

  A twinge of fear raced through me at my slip. I should have lied to him as I’d been doing all along my trip, but for some reason, I couldn’t. Couldn’t think of the name I’d made up when I’d thrown my stuff into the backpack on my shoulder and run away from my life. Couldn’t come up with anything but the honest truth. I sucked at being incognito, at least around handsome strangers in cowboy hats.

  “Liam.” He held out his hand. Rough, callused, and thick, his fingers wrapped around mine and held on, so much bigger than my own. So much stronger. The sparks shooting between us ignited something deeper, stoking a fire in my gut and making my fox chatter in my head. My breath caught. I stared into Liam’s eyes, unable to look away. Drowning in the sea-blue color. Suddenly wanting to feel how soft the black hair peeking out from under his hat would be. Needing to know what the muscles cording their way up his forearm tasted like.

  Wet. I had become ridiculously fucking wet from just a handshake. What was wrong with me?

  But our moment ended too quickly, interrupted when the bus I’d bought a ticket for pulled up. Brakes squealing and engine roaring, the rolling trash can of a vehicle loomed over us in a way that instilled fear within me. That sent a sense of panic skittering across my mind. If there was one thing I’d learned from my recent fall from safe and comfortable into terrified and in danger, it was to trust my instincts.

  My instincts told me not to get on that bus, but how could I not?

  “That’s my ride.” I sounded defeated—heartbroken, really—even to my own ears.

  Liam glared at the vehicle over my shoulder, looking ready to fight it at any moment. A funny thought, though I couldn’t bear to laugh. I needed to get on that bus. Doing so had suddenly become the last thing I wanted to do, but I had no other options. No choice in—

  “Don’t go.” Liam’s words exploded out of him, his grip on my hand tightening.

  If only. “But I’m supposed to be somewhere.”

  “Stay for a day or two, then. You can take the next bus that comes through town.”

  My cheeks burned, and my words tasted burned and bitter as I said, “I really can’t. I spent my last few dollars. If I miss my bus, I won’t be able to afford another ticket.”

  “No problem. I’ll buy you a new ticket right now so you can leave on the next bus.”

  So confident, this one. So intense. Hard to resist for sure, though I had to try. “This is crazy. I don’t know you, and besides—I’m supposed to be in Fairview tonight. I have a job waiting for me there.”

  “What kind of job?”

  “Cooking. I’m a chef, and the place is a ranch of some sort.”

  “You don’t know what kind of ranch you’re heading for?”

  I shrugged. “I’ll be spending all my time in a kitchen. Whether they raise horses or cattle didn’t really matter to me when the opportunity came up. It could be a llama farm for all I know.” Foxes and llamas—I almost laughed at the image of that mix running around on some far-off field.

  Liam grinned, looking quite a bit like the cat who caught the canary. “Funny thing. I happen to own a horse farm up the road called the Hidden E, and I could use a cook. No bus ride to Fairview necessary.”

  That was…awfully convenient. “Are you offering me a job?”

  “I’m offering you whatever you want. Just come stay with me. I’ll buy you a ticket to Fairview right now for the next bus out of town in case you hate it. Though, you won’t.”

  Cocksure, this one. And he was offering me whatever I wanted? I wanted to stop running, to have the comfort of a few extra dollars in my pocket again, to know that when I lay my head down to sleep, I had a good shot at waking up in the morning instead of worrying someone would break in and kill me in the middle of the night.

  I wanted normal.

  Liam and my attraction to him seemed anything but normal. And yet…

  “You’re not an ax murderer, are you?”

  He laughed so loud and brash, it dragged a smile out of me.

  “No, sugar. I’m not an ax murderer—just a rancher with too much work and not enough hands to do it all, who happens to think you’re going to like it on my land.”

  “Sugar?” I scrunched my nose, not sure if I liked being called something so…soft.

  “Sugar.” He moved closer, brushing against me and sending shock waves of need from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. “Because you smell so damn sweet. I’m wondering if you taste the same as you smell.”

  Oh my. “I—”

  The bus groaned, the engine growing louder as the old behemoth rolled across the parking lot and back onto the highway. Without me on it.

  “Shoot,” I said, thinking I should be panicked about missing my ride and yet oddly sure I had somehow ended up right where I was meant to be.

  “Looks like the decision’s been made for you,” Liam said, his mouth curling into a self-satisfied sort of smile and looking far too pleased with himself. “C’mon, sugar. Let me take you home with me. I promise, if you end up not wanting what the Hidden E has to offer, I’ll put you on the next bus out of town.”

  Considering what I’d been running from, Liam’s offer wasn’t the worst option available. So long as he didn’t turn out to be as violent as my ex, I figured my fox and I would be okay. Somehow, someway.

  And if not, I’d make sure to use that ticket and get the hell out of town.

  Chapter Two

  The land rolled past, beautiful and wide open. So much more space than in the big cities I was used to. A fox could get used to all that room to run. Not that I was thinking about getting used to anything at that point.

  But…maybe.

  I turned away from the window, letting my eyes dance over the strong arms and hands of the man sitting next to me. “What kind of horses did you say you raise?”

  “Friesians.”

  That took me aback. “Seriously? I expected Quarter Horses or something.”

  Liam chuckled, the sound almost like a caress. “Because the farm’s
out here in cow country?”

  “Well…yeah.”

  “We have a few Quarter Horses on property to help us with the cattle we raise, but our main business has more to do with studding out our Friesian stallions. The rest of the ranch is really just for us to have fun with.”

  “And you want me to cook for you?”

  He glanced my way, his smile teasing and his eyes lustful. “I want you to do whatever you’re willing to, sugar.”

  There was that nickname again. “I’m not sure I like you calling me sugar.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not soft.”

  “But you’re sweet.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe I’m bitter. How would you know since you haven’t tasted me?”

  That…had sounded way different in my head. Not so sexually suggestive, though I wouldn’t mind if he took a little nibble. My fox preened, agreeing with me. Ready to see what the big, bad shifter beside me could do. The hussy.

  Liam yanked the wheel and pulled over onto the shoulder, making me squeal at the speed of it all. Without a word, he unbuckled his seat belt and dove across the seat. Grabbed me with his strong hands, yanking me into his arms. Pulling me close. Close enough that I could feel his breath across my lips.