Desert Bound

by Elizabeth Hunter

  “Sometimes ancient history can still bite you in the ass.”

  Yes, it could. She was reminded of their hour in her office, chatting about their day. Alex tossing around jokes as she worked. It reminded her of when she was in school. Ancient history to some, but old patterns were easy to fall back into when you let yourself.

  “You know,” he said, “that was nice back there.”

  “Back where?”

  “In your office.”

  She smiled that his thoughts had been in line with hers. “Yeah. It was.”

  “I miss that.”

  She forced herself to say it, even though it made her feel naked. “Me, too.”

  He just smiled and looked back at the road.

  “Ted…”

  He stopped, as if he’d thought better of saying something. He was even biting his lip. He only did that when he was trying to hold his tongue.

  “What?”

  Alex took a deep breath. “We were always shit at communicating with each other.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She knew exactly what he meant.

  “Physical communication was never a problem. But verbal?”

  “Yeah.” She relented. “We were.”

  “You assumed things about my life and my plans. I assumed things about yours—”

  “And we both held them back, because we didn’t want to rock the boat.”

  “Hey.” His voice was softer, and she looked over. “It was a pretty great boat. Hard to risk something like that.”

  She nodded, but didn’t say anything more.

  He started, “I’ve been thinking—”

  “Don’t hurt yourself.”

  “You just can’t help it, can you?”

  “Nope.”

  He grinned. “I’ve been thinking about what we can do. So our ancient history doesn’t come back and bite us in the ass.”

  The fact that he’d been thinking about it loosened something tight in her heart. “Yeah?”

  “Maybe…” He pulled over to the side of the road, just around the corner from the turnoff to Old Quinn’s. “Can we try? At least try this?”

  “Being friends? That hasn’t been going so great, Alex.”

  “We were never just friends. Why do you think we fight so much when we’re trying to pretend we are?”

  She paused to think. Breathe. Think some more.

  They’d gone down that road before with both amazing and explosive results. To try again. To open herself up like that… She didn’t want to admit how scared she was. But every week that passed, she had to admit to herself that Alex appeared to be settling. He’d rented out his condo in LA. She hadn’t seen his city car in months. Sure, he hadn’t bought a house, but she was refusing to think about the reasons why right now. Holding on to that excuse just seemed stubborn and immature at this point.

  She still worried.

  “We’re not kids anymore, Alex. We have responsibilities.”

  “We always did, Ted. Even when we were twenty-two. We can deal with that.”

  “There’s so much stuff in the past.”

  He took her hand and held it, playing with her fingers. Light. No pressure. Just… there.

  “We can’t go back. I’m not who I was then. You’re not who you were. We’ve grown up. Hopefully. But… You know there’s still something there. Something good between us, along with the bad. Something that could be great.”

  Could it?

  It could.

  “It’s complicated, Alex.”

  “The good stuff always is.” He squeezed her hand. “I’m willing if you are, Tea.”

  Tea.

  He was the only one who called her that. The only one who ever had. A soft name for those times he held her close. Groaned her name in passion. Whispered it in his sleep. For a long time, the memory of it hurt. But now?

  She slowly leaned over and kissed him. Light. Just a taste. His firm lips angled over hers when he took the kiss farther, but he wouldn’t be Alex if he didn’t. He was hungry for her, and she liked it. His callused hands were light against her skin. Holding her, but not bruising.

  When he finally pulled away, she said, “I’ll think about it. I promise.”

  “Fair enough.” He smiled. “Now, lets go ask a shady old man about money.”

  Chapter Eight

  Progress on the Ted front was slow, but steady. He’d take that. Her kiss still burned on his lips as he turned the corner to see three of the Quinn boys sitting on Old Quinn’s porch, beers in hand and a scattering of empty cans around them.

  “Oh, this looks promising,” Ted muttered.

  “Only one way to honor a loved one, getting shit-faced in their memory.”

  “Give them some credit. This might just a normal afternoon for them.”

  “I recognize Connor and Marcus’s brother, Rory. Who’s the other one?”

  “Kellan. Another cousin of Marcus’s. He’s a follower. Not that bright, but loyal.”

  Alex parked carefully, but a cloud of dust kicked up anyway. Quinn didn’t waste his money on gravel for his drive. His home didn’t have any pretense of a yard. It was dry brush and cactus. Rocks and scrub and the occasional kids’ toy tossed in the dirt. Alex opened the car door and stepped out, standing by the truck as he called to the house.

  “Hey guys. The old man around?”

  Connor walked forward. He had a typical Quinn build. Whip thin with lean muscles. They were all quick. It was hardly surprising that most of their clan shifted into rattlesnakes or some other deadly reptile. Connor’s natural form was a coachwhip, a lean, aggressive snake with the habit of eating his prey live. As human, he was just as aggressive.

  “He’s not here,” Connor said. “And you’re not wanted, McCann.” His lip curled at Ted. “Neither are you, pussycat.”

  Ted didn’t react to the provocation. While some of the cats in the Springs did shift to domestics, everyone knew Ted was a mountain lion. She wore her power like other women wore heels. It was one of the sexiest things about her.

  Nevertheless, Alex warned, “Watch your mouth, Connor. Poking a lion is dumb, even for you.”

  He heard Rory snort behind him, but the young man quickly covered his smile.

  “Why?” Connor turned back to Alex. “You going to kill me and tear me up like some dog did to Marcus?”

  The other men stood, walking to the edge of Old Quinn’s porch, still holding on to their beer.

  “Marcus was my friend. And I don’t make a habit of shooting my friends in the back.”

  “Maybe not,” a voice called from inside. Alex heard it and sighed when a young woman slinked out onto the porch. “But you don’t have a problem stabbing them in the back, do you?”

  “I’m shocked—shocked—that Maggie’s here,” Ted muttered. “Who would have expected that?”

  Alex eyed her in disgust. Maggie Quinn was attractive, and she knew it. And she made everyone else around her aware of it, too. The woman used sex like a weapon. Despite that, Maggie didn’t have a problem attracting attention when she wanted it.

  “I haven’t seen Maggie in a few years,” he mused. “I didn’t miss her.”

  “You sure know how to show a girl a good time.” Ted patted his shoulder. “This afternoon just gets better and better.”

  Maggie Quinn stepped in front of Connor, two of her sisters flanking her. If there was anyone who could stir up shit even faster than old Connor, it had to be his childhood friend’s sister. There were multiple reasons that Sean had fled the Springs when he was eighteen, and one of them was standing on the porch, glaring at Alex.

  “Does Maggie know what really happened with you and Sean?”

  “Nope.”

  Quinns were shit to each other, but they valued family loyalty above all else. And Sean had stuck with his family. Through every fight. Every scam. He’d lost a tooth in a bar fight Maggie had provoked. He wasn’t one to complain, but he desperately wanted out.

  Which was why—whe
n Sean had asked him to—Alex had accused his childhood friend of stealing from both the feed store and the diner, giving his friend a perfectly legitimate reason to leave town. No Quinn was going to argue with one of their own running from the law, and no one needed to know the money had been quietly returned with no harm done. The accusation meant Sean got out, but it left Alex on the shit list of most of the Quinn clan.

  But then, he’d been on their shit list anyway, just for being a wolf.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Maggie called. “Come to betray another friend? Or have you already done that, McCann?”

  “None of the wolves had anything to do with Marcus’s death, Maggie. I’m just here to ask the old man some questions.”

  “That poor girl.” Maggie wiped alligator tears from her eyes and put a hand on Rory’s shoulder. “Your own niece and nephews, Rory. Fatherless. Not that this dog cares.”

  Ted said, “She really is a snake, isn’t she?”

  “Rosy boa. Fitting, isn’t it?”

  “Kind of.”

  Whipping her head around as if she’d heard them, Maggie said, “What do you want here, Alex? We’re just trying to grieve our cousin and brother in peace.”

  He resisted rolling his eyes at her drama. Barely. “I want to talk to Old Quinn.”

  “He’s not here.”

  He glanced at Ted, who nodded silently. “We can wait.”

  Maggie only sneered. “You’re not wanted. This is Quinn land.”

  Alex and old Joe Quinn got along better than most. He didn’t have the soft spot for Alex that he did for Jena, but Alex suspected Old Quinn knew exactly what had happened with Sean, because the man wasn’t an idiot. And he’d been the one to raise Sean after his dad took off and he couldn’t stand being around his mother and sisters anymore.

  “Yeah, it’s Quinn land,” Alex said. “But it’s not your land, Maggie. It’s the old man’s. So we’ll wait.”

  She started toward him, clearly unhappy to have her claim challenged. She didn’t like her great-uncle, and Alex had to wonder why Maggie was even there. Was a dominance challenge brewing in the snake clan? She might not have been strong enough now, but Alex had no question that at some point, Maggie Quinn would make her move to take over the Quinn family. And if she was successful, God help everyone in the Springs.

  Maggie gave up trying to get a rise out of Alex, so she shifted her attention to Ted.

  “And if it isn’t the mannish kitten. Are you taking a turn fucking the wolf now?” She cocked her head. “Didn’t he have a cute little human just last month? She came out to your sister’s house when Willow was gone.” Maggie grinned. “Looked nice and loose when she left the next day.”

  Bitch. Did he explain that his project manager in Palm Desert had come out for a meeting and they’d had too much to drink after dinner? Lexi was a friend and nothing had happened, but did he explain her presence to Ted or not let on that Maggie was getting to him?

  He shouldn’t have worried.

  Ted leaned over and said, “That was your friend from Palm Desert, right?”

  “My project manager, but yeah, a friend, too. Thank you for not going off on me, mannish kitten.”

  “Just because I don’t flash my boobs around town…” She shook her head with a sigh. “You forget I’ve been living in the same town as Maggie for three years now. I’m well acquainted with her shit.”

  He grinned. “You’re pretty damn cool, Vasquez.”

  “I know. Going to get naked now.”

  He blinked. “You’re—what? Why are you getting—”

  “Listen to the grass, McCann.” Her dark eyebrow arched. “We’re surrounded.”

  It had happened slowly, but the minute he looked around, he saw them. Dozens of rattlesnakes curled up and hissed, surrounding the truck. They’d approached through the dry brush and scrub, blending seamlessly with the land around Old Quinn’s house.

  “So that’s why he doesn’t have a yard.”

  Ted had already slipped off her jeans and t-shirt. Within seconds, a cougar lay sprawled on the roof of his truck.

  Alex winced. “Please avoid scratch marks if possible. And are you just going to hang out in natural form until Old Quinn gets back?”

  She gave him a lazy stare that told him nothing.

  Alex stepped forward, trying to get to the porch, but a sidewinder darted in front of him and whipped his head forward, his flat head gave a lethal shake.

  No.

  Alex growled in the back of his throat. “Call them off, Maggie.”

  “No.” She was gleeful. “Leave. I’ve told you more than once now.”

  If she’d been Old Quinn, she’d be justified in attacking. Shapeshifters had strict laws about territory.

  But this wasn’t her territory. And he was tired of her shit.

  Giving her no warning, Alex burst from his clothes as he shifted, snarling as the snakes cowered back from the massive silver-grey timber wolf. He felt the power run through him. Deep. Settled into his natural form, his senses roared. The smell of dust and sweat and alcohol from the porch. The tickling scent of the lion at his back. The sun was brighter. The wind teased his fur.

  One rattler came too close and the wolf snapped, baring his teeth at the snake. The snakes, frightening enough as a group, knew that one wrong step by the massive predator would be their end. They slithered back, waiting in a circle, still rattling and twisting around as Alex watched them. If they attacked at once, the sheer power of their venom could take him down. But if they did, they’d start a war, and they knew it wasn’t a war they were liable to win, no matter what their numbers.

  Further, the woman commanding them was far from leader of the clan.

  Still, she taunted him. “Take off, puppy dog. Or do you need a little more encouragement?” He heard the distinctive rack of the shotgun before he looked up, and Maggie was pointing it right at him, dead between the eyes. “I’m not gonna ask again.”

  Alex snarled as Ted’s scream split the air. From the shadows of a twisted mesquite that grew on the edge of the house, the cougar pounced. Landing with a soft thud, she pinned Maggie Quinn to the porch, knocking the gun from her hands. Her sisters skittered back from the snarling cat, eyes darting everywhere but at their sister.

  Alex had never even heard her move from the truck. The snakes continued circling, even more agitated by the scent of violence in the air. One reached out in a half strike, slamming his head into Alex’s foreleg, though the teeth didn’t sink in.

  He bit down his urge to bite. One careless move and there’d be a dead shifter on his conscience. He didn’t want that, even if they were threatening him. The problem was, they knew it.

  Connor, Rory, and Kellan had backed up, scooting away from the mountain lion pinning their cousin. Ted bared her teeth and screamed in Maggie’s face again, one paw locked on the shotgun that the woman had pulled, the other pinning Maggie to the ground. Her claws dug into the woman’s chest, five deep gouges that welled red with fresh blood.

  It filled the air, exciting every predator in the vicinity. Alex could feel his hackles rise. The urge to attack the snakes around him swelled.

  “Enough!”

  He heard the roar coming from the cliffs as Old Quinn walked down the trail, red faced and wearing a furious expression.

  Ted backed off of Maggie and let Quinn pull the young woman up by the throat. He pinned her against the wall.

  “You dare, Margaret Quinn?”

  “Uncle—”

  “You dare pull my gun on a clan leader while on my land?”

  “I asked them to leave! Twice!”

  “You’re a stupid child, and I have no use for you.” His graveled voice rasped in the dry air. “This is not your land, and the territory laws don’t protect you. Now I’m telling you to get off my land and not come back until I give you leave. That is your only warning.”

  He tossed her by the neck toward her sisters, who caught her and scrambled off the porch. Connor, Ro
ry, and Kellan stood watching, none of them daring to say a word. Old Quinn stepped out into the yard and yelled at the snakes. “Get! I want all of you gone.”

  Just as quickly as the rattlers appeared, they left, slinking into the grass and rocks as if they’d never been there at all. Old Quinn glared at the boys on the porch, especially Connor.

  “Connor, get out of here.”

  He had the gall to look hurt. “Why?”

  “Because I want you gone!”

  Old Quinn didn’t have to say it twice. Connor took off without a word. Quinn grunted at Rory and Kellan and pointed at two chairs at the end of the porch.

  “Stay there and don’t come inside. Rory, don’t be an idiot like your cousins. Kellan, listen to Rory.”

  The boys went to sit immediately while Quinn turned to Ted and said, “If you’re not here to give me any kind of fucking exam, then shift and get in the house, doc. We have things to talk about.”

  Then he glanced over his shoulder and said, “You too, McCann. And I don’t want any fur on my couch.”

  Chuffing out what had to be a laugh, Ted loped back to the truck, ducking behind it to get dressed. Alex shifted and tried to pick up the scraps of clothes that had ripped when he changed. He tossed them in the back of the truck and didn’t even flinch when Ted walked past and slapped his ass.

  “You still get little freckles on your butt.”

  “And you still like my ass,” he said, trying not to smile. “Cats. Always taking advantage.”

  “I like the freckles. They’re cute.”

  He couldn’t hold back the grin. If they were alone…

  Shifting made him horny. There was no delicate way to put it. After the initial nausea they all went through during puberty, a shift set the blood running. For fight, flight, or sex. It left the body revved up, and very little helped except giving in to whatever urge struck hardest.

  He pulled on the spare sweatpants he kept behind his seat and hoped that Old Quinn had something stronger than sweet tea to give him.

  Alex was sucking back a beer by the time all three of them sat down in the living room. Old Quinn may have never married or had children, but he was still the head of his family. The Quinn women kept his house for him and kept his kitchen stocked. There was always food and drink to be had, which came in handy when your house was the unofficial hangout of a good third of the town’s population.