“Oh, n-n-nothing. Just making sure I had what I needed, ha,” she replied, nearly jumping out of her brand-new boots with shock and sudden heat that burned her nerves just from his nearness.
Probably just the Texas heat.
Yeah, that’s what it was.
Dallas smirked at her, then shrugged, backing away a pace and standing near the ATVs patiently while she took a few more photos, then joined him.
Even as he appraised her with that nearly glowing orange gaze, she found herself looking away from him for fear of getting too many ideas about him.
After all, she was just a stranger to him, and he was just being nice.
They got everything together, and she put her goggles on before going to start the ATV, but when she turned the ignition, nothing happened.
Huh?
She tried again, but it wouldn’t start. When Dallas noticed, he came over to evaluate the situation.
“I broke it. I’m sorry,” she said, hopping off so Dallas could take a closer look. But ten seconds later, and before she could fret too long, he pulled a small bundle of wires from somewhere beneath the seat, showing her where several wires had been frayed by use or by an animal.
“Not your fault.”
What a relief. “Phew. Whenever something breaks, I start blaming myself right off the bat. Though, what will we do?”
He stood and nodded over at the ATV as if insisting she take his back to the truck. “You go. I’ll walk.”
It was her turn to make a stand, though. “That’s a silly idea. Here…” She walked over to Dallas’s quad, sat on it, then scooted backward until there was enough space for him too, though they might be a bit cramped. “We go back together, or we walk together. That’s my offer,” she said with a wink.
Dallas’s eyes went a little wider as he watched her, seemingly incredulous she would offer something that seemed like plain logic to her.
“What, you scared of riding on the same seat as me?” She teased him, hoping he’d take the bait.
And if she wasn’t mistaken, she could see a red tint flush across his high cheekbones as she patted the seat for him to take. Then he looked away, scratching the back of his head nervously.
Seeing him get nervous about it made her get nervous. Thankfully, he joined her, and the ATV rocked up and down as his heavy weight shifted the small vehicle.
There was just enough space for the two of them on it, and she wrapped her arms around his midsection and pulled herself close to his strong, muscular back and taut ass.
Big. Mistake.
Mel felt a blush that was probably a hundred times more obvious than Dallas’s had been warm her cheeks and chest, and she was grateful he couldn’t see over his shoulder right now, or he’d see just how embarrassingly turned on she was.
After all, it wasn’t every day she got to wrap herself around such a tall, handsome, protective, thoughtful…
“Ready?” Dallas called over the hum of the idling engine.
“Ready!” she called back, reinvigorated and, thankfully, a little distracted from the sensation of his back muscles pressing against her breasts as Dallas pulled away and roared down the trail at full speed.
With more confidence than she’d probably ever have in her whole life, Dallas carved along the turns of the trail while the engine squealed. At one point, he revved hard just as they hit a bump, and Mel felt the ground fall out beneath her feet like they were on a rollercoaster, but the wheels smoothly connected with the ground.
If he was showing off right now, it was definitely working.
And Mel was having the time of her life.
She whooped and yelled in excitement, and Dallas grinned over his shoulder at her a few times as they made their way back to the truck in double-time.
And as the excitement of their adventure continued to fill her soul, Mel wondered how her mission to find wild, gigantic beasts out in the hills of the Texas range had somehow led her to find an altogether different kind of beast.
A sexy, mind-blowing beast of a man named Dallas. One that, if she could have one wish, she would use it to get her hands on this very second.
But that was just wishful thinking, right?
8
Dallas’s thoughts were going a mile a minute, much faster than the ATV, as he drove them both back to his truck parked at the head of the trail.
Granted, he couldn’t have anticipated the technical issue that had suddenly popped up with Mel’s vehicle, not that he had any complaints. He’d send Reno out to pick up the dead ATV later since it wasn’t going anywhere right now.
No, what had shocked him most was Mel’s firm, kind insistence that he be included. All his life, he was used to being on the outside of the conversation, at the edge of the group. Always watching, never including himself.
Someone who wanted to be with him, even if it meant cramming two people onto one ATV so they could go together…
For some reason, it made his heart thud against his ribcage.
That, along with the feel of her curves pressed against him. Her cute arms, wearing the orange shirt he’d bought earlier that day, wrapped around his midsection, barely able to reach all the way.
Even her little shouts of anticipation and glee were too cute to bear. And if he wasn’t careful, his animal would tear out of his skin at any moment roaring, “MATE!” if he didn’t keep his distance.
He had something else on his mind too, though. Something he’d found that, alone, could be distracting enough from thoughts of Mel.
A short distance from where the basilisk burrow had been, he’d seen something he never would have expected out here in the middle of nowhere.
Footprints. Human footprints. No shoes, just the impression of huge (by human standards) feet that were headed away from where the basilisk had been. They’d been headed south, toward the city, though the impressions had disappeared only a few feet from where he’d spotted them. And any scent he might have used to track whatever it was had long ago dissipated with the weather.
He hated hiding things from Mel. But then again, he was hiding so many things they couldn’t be crammed into a book, so telling her about some strange footprints was sort of at the bottom of the pile of secrets he was keeping right now.
All Dallas knew was that they didn’t make sense.
He was torn from his thoughts—warring between trying to unravel a mystery and obsessing over Mel’s curves at the moment—by the scent of wolf catching his attention. Wolves and engine oil.
A second later, as his own truck came into view over a short hill, his eyesight confirmed what he’d smelled.
Parked next to it, there were several smaller, beat-up trucks, all loaded with trailers carrying various ATVs and UTVs.
Copperheads.
Though, what they were doing out here, Dallas could only guess.
He parked a short distance away from them, hoping to deal with things diplomatically so he could get Mel safely home without further trouble. But as their wolfish gazes lifted toward him and his precious companion, he could feel his tiger growling and snarling in challenge.
Dallas helped Mel up off the ATV, and she cocked her head at the two dozen men who were milling around uncomfortably close to their ticket home.
“Wait here,” he said, and Mel thankfully just nodded up at him, beautiful brown eyes sparkling in the noonday sun.
Before they came over, Dallas turned and strode toward the bunch of them. Some were wearing work clothes. others just had on jeans and undershirts. All of them looked mean and half-feral, and he made notes in his head as he quickly appraised each man individually in a matter of seconds, noting potential weak points or things to look out for.
After all, his extensive training as a child in how to kill and maim hadn’t entirely gone to waste as an adult.
“Howdy there, friend,” one of the Copperheads, a wolf by the name of Drew who Dallas recognized, led the rest of the group as they sauntered up. “What can we do for you?”
“Why are you here?” Dallas said, folding his arms. After all, this was far from the so-called “ranch” the Copperheads used as a home base.
Drew looked past Dallas in the direction of the hills. “Well, I guess we weren’t the only ones who heard about old Vern’s story. The old coot. Hell, maybe we’re even trying to find the same thing.”
“What’s that?” Dallas replied, enjoying their predatory, confident gazes as the Copperheads surrounding him realized that he was here alone, without the dragons today.
But Dallas didn’t need his friends to beat wholesale wolf ass if necessary.
“Well, that would spoil the surprise now, wouldn’t it? But seeing as you already made the trip, why don’t you just tell me and the boys what you saw, and maybe we’ll let you off easy this time, huh?” Drew’s expression fell, canines showing in his unfriendly grin.
If that meant looking for a basilisk, they were just as late to the game as Dallas was.
Then again, they seemed to know something he didn’t.
Dallas just shook his head and stood his ground.
“Not telling, huh? You sure about that, Dragonclaw rat?” Drew advanced, his cronies flanking him closely. “Yeah, I know about you and the others there. How you all think you’re better than everyone. Beats me how they even let you run with them anyway. So if you don’t pipe up now, we’re gonna beat whatever you’re hiding out of your smug little mouth.”
Dallas didn’t move an inch. He wasn’t afraid of bullies.
Even if there were more than twenty of them.
Then Drew’s gaze drifted past Dallas, and the wolf’s expression widened slightly as there were murmurs to the side. Despite their whispering, Dallas could hear their voices clear as day.
“Ain’t that the reporter we’re looking for?”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
“Nice. Pity she wasn’t in her hotel room when we trashed it…”
Dallas’s entire body tensed with rage and realization. So they were the ones who’d done that?
He’d tear them all from fucking stem to stern for even looking at Mel that way. Not to mention how threatened she’d been by their ransacking of her room.
But why? They were thugs and thieves. What could they want with a reporter chasing basilisks?
It didn’t look like he had time to think about it as Drew grinned and looked confidently up at Dallas. “Yeah, she’s coming with us. Curvy little piece like that is wasted with company like yours. But we’ll let you entertain us for a minute before we rip you to pieces and make off with your lady.”
Then Drew extended an arm, patting Dallas roughly on the shoulder in that friendly-but-not-friendly way, using his wolf strength in what Dallas imagined might have been intimidating.
If Dallas had been human, that was.
Dallas’s hand grasped Drew’s wrist, and with utter ease, he twisted the wolf’s arm sideways and down as snapping sounds punctuated the relative calm.
“You don’t touch what’s mine,” Dallas growled, watching as Drew’s eyes went wide in utter shock. Then he wrenched harder, and bones all up Drew’s arm and shoulder popped, even louder this time. “That includes the lady.”
CRACK.
Dallas’s fist exploded into Drew’s cheek, sending the wolf crashing into the dirt at his feet.
And all the wolves around him attacked.
They were haphazard, uncoordinated, as fists flew and growls resounded through the air.
But whatever speed, strength, or experience these wolves might have had in a fight, Dallas had them beat by a long shot.
Hell, he could do this blindfolded.
He ducked a wild fist, then grabbed the nearest Copperhead by the front of his shirt and pummeled his face with his other fist, hard enough to send them rolling into the dirt. There was a kick from his right, and he grabbed the haphazardly swung leg and threw the guy bodily into a small group on the left, sending them tumbling into a heap.
But wherever he dodged one attack, there were three more coming from every direction.
No matter. He’d take them one by one if he had to.
He lunged to the side, drawing them away from Mel, and the crowd’s attention shifted as the Copperheads gave chase. One Copperhead, who was snarling and a bit overeager, got a face full of Dallas’s fist with a deadly uppercut that shattered the man’s jaw.
It would heal.
Maybe.
“What are you guys even waiting for?” one Copperhead yelled angrily at the group as they continued to circle Dallas and attack.
“How does he move like that?” another exclaimed.
But Dallas just ignored them, deflecting several punches with his incredible reflexes, then kicking one guy in the gut hard before following up with an elbow straight into the nose of another who’d been attacking from behind. He sidestepped as a Copperhead leaped past, catching nothing but air and Dallas’s shadow before Dallas grabbed two men in front of him and smashed their heads together like cymbals.
There were still a ton of them, but their numbers were dwindling fast. And each time one had the audacity to try and strike Dallas, he retaliated with blows ten times stronger than the low-blood wolf shifters could ever muster.
Compared to the kind of brutal punishment he’d had to endure at the hands of his “family” in his youth, fighting some Copperheads was Easy Street.
His tiger wasn’t just growling now. It was roaring, itching to tear out of his skin and terrorize these Copperheads like the filth they were. But even though that sounded like good fun, Dallas wasn’t a killer. Not like that at least.
And he was aware Mel was watching in the background. So even when he had the opportunity to throw a Copperhead thirty or forty feet away when they got too close to him, Dallas chose the more subtle option and just beat in their face instead.
There were only six left, one of them Drew, who’d somehow picked himself up and charged into the fray.
From every direction, they attacked. But Dallas was a flurry of motion, gone like air the second a punch or kick was about to connect on him, then crashing like a hundred-foot wave the instant his enemies were off-balance or their weakness was exposed.
Three. Two.
He slammed the second-to-last one into the ground, then followed with a swift jab to the face, ensuring the guy was out cold.
Leaving just Dallas and Drew.
He yanked Drew forward easily, his huge hand able to wrap around even the meaty shifter’s neck, and Drew let out a choked gasp.
“Who sent you?” Dallas wasn’t playing nice anymore. This shit was personal.
“I… I don’t know.”
His hands clenched down harder, almost cutting off Drew’s air completely. “Wrong answer.”
Drew made a hurk sound. “I swear. This guy, he contacted us online, said he had a job for us.”
“Go faster.” Dallas was getting impatient.
“They wanted us to follow the reporter. See what she was after. Stop her if we had the chan—ugh.” Drew’s eyes bulged a little in their sockets. “I don’t know who it is. I swear!”
Dallas punched Drew out cold, knowing there wasn’t any more information to be gained here.
They’d been hired as thugs. Anonymously.
Just great.
To his surprise, Mel had moved closer to the carnage, not away from it.
And from the looks of the phone she had in her hand, she’d been filming it the whole time.
A rush of dread fell over him, and he quickly came up to Mel, happy she was safe but worried about what could happen if anyone saw what he’d just done.
Granted, he hadn’t shifted. But he was still a wanted tiger, even years later. He couldn’t risk the people he’d left finding out.
“Holy cow, that was incredible! I mean, how’d you do that? Do you do martial arts or something? Was that jiujitsu?” she exclaimed.
“Delete it.”
“Huh?” She looked up at him as though he’d just asked her to
do a backflip or something, though he could scent that she’d been scared watching him fight too.
The fact she cared about him only meant that video needed to be gone, now, forever.
“Delete the video. Please.”
“Oh, I was just taping in case the police needed a report or evidence. But I guess…” She saw the seriousness in Dallas’s gaze, and she impressed him utterly by not questioning why he wasn’t budging on this. “Yup, deleted. Though, I would have liked to have seen it again. I don’t even know how you moved that fast.”
There was just a hint of a pause in how she said it that made Dallas’s nerves tense, and he quickly ushered Mel back toward the safety of the truck, just leaving their second ATV stranded.
He didn’t care if the Copperheads or anyone stole it. They were Reno’s pet projects, but Dallas would buy him ten more just to be out of here, fast.
Not that he was scared of Copperheads.
It was what they couldn’t tell him that scared him the most.
Mel was safe. That was all that seemed to matter to his tiger right now.
And if anyone or anything dared come for his mate again, he’d show them exactly how vengeful a tiger could be.
9
Back at the trailer later that evening, Mel sighed as she pored over everything she had found so far.
Interviews, recordings, journals, notes, all of it.
A ton of information right in front of her, and still she couldn’t seem to fit all the pieces together. It didn’t help that, except for her trip out to the range with Dallas, the afternoon had been unfruitful.
Then again, getting to share an ATV with Dallas had more than made up for the fact that they had found little except for some upturned dirt. She blushed as the feel of his buff chest and arms came to mind, all beautiful, corded muscle.
She’d tried to contact Trent after they’d gotten back, but he’d run off again to hang out with his new “friends” in town.
This whole trip was making her wonder how he ever kept his job in the first place, though, strangely, even this level of flakiness was new for him.
Mel stopped for a second to peek out the blinds of the trailer to get a look at Dallas as he sat in a camp chair, whittling something yet again. In the few hours since the attack, he’d been more watchful and careful than ever.
Outlaw Tiger Page 5