by Amanda LeMay
“I guess the wolf boys of San Francisco are bossy assholes who lack certain skills.”
My dad leaned down as Maygan lifted her head to receive a kiss, which he gave sweetly while he snatched a plate from the counter.
“Seriously? Not your type, huh, baby girl?” He sat down next to me and took a bite of his food.
“No. Way.” I looked at my plate and saw more food than I had eaten in the last month. Not really, but sweet heavens, my stomach growled so loud, it sounded as if I’d starved for last two years. “Maygan, you are a goddess.”
Sandwiched between two inch-thick slices of toasted homemade bread lay a slab of hot, juicy meatloaf. My first bite confirmed what I’d been thinking: I had died and gone to wolf heaven. The dark brown, chewy crust and tangy, soft bread were absolutely perfect. Slathered with lots of butter, the toasted bread crunched with every bite.
Maygan set out three big glasses of ice-cold milk. My skin broke out in chills as I gulped it down. Cream floated on the top and coated the roof of my mouth and tongue. Yep, heaven.
“I haven’t had real food in so long. Seriously, Maygan, this meatloaf is to die for.” I took another big bite. “Those city wolves have forgotten they’re meat eaters.” I chewed. “If I never eat another piece of fish in my life, it will be too soon.” I swallowed and shoved another bite in my mouth, chewed, and took a big gulp of milk.
“We didn’t claw our way up to the top of the food chain to eat fish and tofu, that’s for sure,” Dad said just before he took another bite.
I nodded in agreement as a delectable male scent entered the kitchen and overwhelmed the aroma of meatloaf and butter. My skin tingled with awareness. I broke out in goosebumps from head to toe.
And then, he was there. In the kitchen. Like the most vivid dream I’d ever had.
Dain.
“How am I supposed to study with this smell invading...”
Deep, husky, and sexy as hell, the sound of his voice sent little electric shocks through my brain and all the corresponding parts of my body that made me a female of the species. I couldn’t do anything but stare while his huge, shirtless chest expanded on a deep breath.
His head turned slowly my way until his cherry-wood eyes locked on mine.
“Jessy...” It came out as a whisper.
There I sat with a milk moustache and a mouth full of meatloaf sandwich.
I couldn’t have spoken even if I hadn’t had a mouthful of food. I looked him up and down, took in every glorious inch of him, and because I couldn’t help myself, I did it again.
Oh. Sweet. Heavens.
His mouth curved into a smile. Deep dimples appeared on his cheeks.
I think I smiled back.
I might have blacked out a little, too.
“Hey.” He cleared his throat like he wanted to say something else and I was so hoping he would because I had lost the ability to speak. “Jess.”
Say “hey”. Say something—say anything—just open your mouth, dammit!
A deep pink blush crept up his neck and covered his gorgeous face. In the next second, he had a plate in his hand and disappeared from the kitchen. The last I saw of him was a thick, long, shiny, black ponytail that seemed to split his wide shoulders in two as it hung down past the waistband of his low-riding, completely ass-hugging, faded jeans.
My dad chuckled. “We didn’t tell him. Thought it would be a nice surprise.”
I opened my mouth to reply. Nothing came out.
I stared at the empty doorway. At the food between my trembling hands. A shuddering breath went through me. The gooseflesh that sprang up made my skin tighten and tingle. I tingled pretty good in a few hidden places, too. Dain’s presence in the room for those few brief seconds made my twitchy, jelly-like, overused muscles tense up while my insides seemed to go all hot and melty.
The sound of my name on his lips echoed through my brain on a crazy endless loop.
And it was perfect.
Somewhere in the background I heard Maygan say, “Filled out quite a bit, hasn’t he?”
Fuck, yeah!
I didn’t say that though, only nodded my head and tried not to choke.
Are you kidding me? Filled out? Holy shit! Someone looking for a model for an ancient Norse Wolf god?
I didn’t say that, either.
Sweet heavens, he was perfection. Just like I’d remembered only...more. Along with his gorgeous eyes and raven hair, he had a sweet, full-lip smile, dimples to die for, linebacker shoulders, lean, cut waist, thick thighs, and even masculine bare feet. All that plus long, muscular arms to wrap me up and big, male hands to hold me down.
Oh, yeah.
No doubt about it. All those feelings I’d felt for Dain Louvel before I’d moved away rose to the surface from where I’d buried them. The urge to let my inner wolf run free through the house straight to wherever he was hiding, lick every inch of his beautiful body, and roll around on him were almost more than I could contain.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
Which, since his delicious male scent still lingered in the room, deep breathing was not the best idea, but what the hell. If breathing him in was all I could do, I’d go for it.
I took another bite of my sandwich and chewed slowly and deliberately, savoring every single buttery, juicy bite.
Swallow.
I did.
Drink.
I did.
Eventually, it got easier to repeat the motions.
Maygan and Dad carried on a conversation. I think I nodded and mumbled a few uh-huhs in the appropriate places.
I bit. Chewed. Swallowed. Drank.
Kept my mind on my food.
Didn’t think about Dain.
Hah.
CHAPTER THREE
IT SEEMED I HAD FALLEN asleep only a few minutes before the sound of running footsteps came down the hall, turned, and quickly moved toward Dain’s bedroom.
Maygan’s soft voice drifted into my room. “It’s time.” She turned back up the hallway and stopped when she reached my door. The light from the hall blinded me a second later.
“Jessy?”
“I’m awake.” I leaned up on my elbows. “What’s happening?”
“One of the mares is about to foal. Your dad thought you might like to see it.”
“Sure!” I yanked the quilt back with one hand, the other hand fumbling at the nightstand as I sought out the little phone that would have been there—if I hadn’t left it packed away to keep from doing exactly what I was doing.
Stop that!
I shook my head and smiled. Grabbing for my phone every other second proved a hard habit to break. I would definitely need to find something to keep my hands busy while on vacation, or I’d break the little promise I’d made pretty fast.
I pulled on a pair of jeans, shoved my arms into a jacket over my nightshirt, and slipped my feet into my shoes. In the bathroom, I splashed cold water on my face to wash the little bit of sleep from my tired eyes, ran a brush through my blond hair, and fluffed it up into my usual bed-head messiness.
The barn glowed with light. Dad was inside the large stall with the horse. The chestnut mare lay on her side, her midsection moving in small spasms as if an alien creature were trying to burst forth. Every few seconds, the mare lifted her head, strained to glance across her body, over her huge, round belly, then let her head fall back to the soft hay and sawdust again.
I glanced around the well-lit barn and didn’t see Dain.
How in the world did I make it here before he did?
A tingle traveled down the back of my neck as the sound of booted footsteps came through the door.
Dain.
There you are.
His dark eyes twinkled as they landed on me.
I think I smiled.
Or maybe I sighed.
Probably both.
How could I not?
Unbound, his black hair swung freely back and forth with each step he took. One thick tendril broke free from the r
est, drifted over the bridge of his nose, and, sweet heavens, my fingers itched to reach up, touch him, and slip that wayward strand back into place. My gaze drifted down over his perfect lips and thick neck to the open V of his shirt. He must’ve dressed in a hurry. He’d fastened only the bottom two buttons before tucking his shirt into his jeans, leaving a good portion of his exquisitely defined chest on display.
The little tingle I’d felt before turned into a full-on flush, spreading up into my face, over my breasts, throughout my arms to my fingertips, down my torso, spiking between my legs, before it traveled all the way to my toes.
I shivered as his mouth spread in a shy smile, complete with dimples. I shivered again when he stood next to me, his lips parted, and because I was so entranced, the words he spoke were lost on me.
“Hmmm...?” I tasted his scent on my tongue.
His dimples deepened as his smile grew. “You cold?”
I clutched my jacket tighter around my body. “Uh... ” Crap. Say something! “Nope.”
And that was all I managed to get out before he nodded, accepting my one-word answer.
At some point, while I openly gazed at him like a freaking stalker, he’d rolled up his shirt sleeves and revealed his muscular forearms. Tearing my gaze away from his face, I focused my full attention on those bare forearms as they came up on either side of his head. His fingers drifted through his hair, combed it back, gathered it, twisted it into a thick knotted bun at the base of his neck, then slipped a hair-band over it the perfect mess to keep it in place.
I was never one for hipster man-buns, or long hair on males, for that matter, but on Dain, both were a thing of beauty. And watching him gather all that silk in his big hands—freaking hot as hell.
If I were brave—which I wasn’t—I’d reach up, pull the hair-band free and let his hair swing loose, just to watch him go through the process again and again.
He turned and folded his arms on top of the stall railing. His body so close to mine, I could see the shadow of morning stubble on his face, as well as the outline of his lips and nose, the separate colors that made up his unusual eyes—darkest rich cherry with even darker streaks of brown shooting out from the center in a sunburst pattern all the way to the edge. When his lips parted again, I wanted to catch his breath in my mouth.
“DJ’s on his way,” He said quietly.
DJ?
“Good,” Dad answered.
Dain’s arm brushed against mine. The warmth of his body seeped through my jacket, stoking the coals banked deep inside me. He stepped away, left my side to stand across the stall, and though I missed his warmth, his nearness, he’d made it easier for me to gaze at his handsome face, and sensual mouth.
And to kick my own ass for acting like a moonstruck little female with a mad-crush thing going on.
Which wasn’t true in the least.
I had an all-out grown-up female lust thing going on.
How I would get through the next two weeks without drooling all over myself every time Dain came near, I had no idea. I had a plan, though, and he wasn’t part of it. Besides, if he’d been interested, he would’ve come looking for me. Right?
Dad moved around the stall, crouched low, and laid a hand on the mare’s rump. “Any time now.”
The last time I’d been this close to a horse, I’d been six years old. Dad had lifted me on to the bare back of a thoroughbred and led me around a barn much different than the one we now stood in. With the many warnings he had given me when I was younger, about where to stand, how to touch them, how to keep from spooking them with my wolf odor, horses kind of scared me.
I came from a large wolf pack, grew up surrounded by ranches and spent my young life hanging out at the Downs Race Track with my best friend, Jules. Not because I loved horses, because I didn’t—I was there for the males. I thought I was a sophisticated city wolf who needed lots of wild country nearby. But not horses. I didn’t trust horses. Which I found pretty dang funny, now that the job I had waiting for me back in Albuquerque was at the very race track Dad had worked at for so many years.
We stood watching and waiting until Dad backed away and grinned up at me, his voice low and soothing, “Hey, baby girl. Bet you didn’t expect to see something like this while on vacation, huh?”
I shook my head as I answered just as quietly, “Nope.”
The grin on my dad’s face made it clear how excited he was to share this moment with me. Since he’d mated Maygan, I hadn’t allowed him to share any of his new life with me. I’d been stubborn and selfish and downright silly. For over a year and a half, I hadn’t answered his calls, texts, or emails and, because he loved me, he’d never given up.
“Just like the old days when you’d ride along with me on my calls. I’d always kinda thought you wanted to become a vet too, until I realized you were only there for the cowboys.” His golden eyes winked at me.
I almost wished he’d demand an apology, at least for Maygan’s sake, before forgiving me so easily.
“I’m all about the cowboys.” I winked back, then glanced up at Dain to catch him staring at me, his face unreadable. I fumbled for words. Nothing came out except, “I mean...” I choked. Heat hit my cheeks. Crap. “Not all cowboys, of course, just present company.”
Dain’s face softened. His lips quirked into a little grin.
“DJ’s here,” Maygan said as she turned to the barn door and saved me from making any more of a fool of myself.
In the distance, a truck sped down the long, long dirt road they called a driveway. When the truck pulled up and stopped, two doors opened and shut. A young man ran into the barn, his cowboy hat tilted back on his head. His wide smile spread up to his brown eyes.
“Hey, Mrs. Maccon. Hey, Mr. Maccon.” He nodded toward the mare. “How’s she doing?”
“Just fine, DJ,” Dad answered as he stood and leaned past me to shake the guy’s hand. “DJ, this is my daughter, Jessy.”
“Hey, Jessy.” He grasped my outstretched hand and dropped it just as quickly.
His brown eyes, so friendly and warm only a second ago, lost their sparkle as they went wide. And not because he thought I was attractive in some way. No. He was...scared. His gaze flicked over my shoulder to where Dain stood on the other side of the large stall.
“Dain.” DJ’s mouth moved, his lips parted, but nothing more came out.
Dain nodded back, then looked at me, cocked his head as if to ask, “what happened?” and because I didn’t have a clue, I offered a little shrug.
DJ stared at the ground while adjusting his hat. His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed up and down the length of his throat as he rubbed the back of his hand nervously over his chin.
At almost my height, he was lean to the point of being skinny in his loose-fitting jeans, button-down flannel, and lamb’s wool lined denim jacket. The large size of his boots in no way matched the rest of his body.
Dad squinted at me, the same “what happened” question on his face, and hell if I knew what was going on.
“GW.” Dad nodded to someone behind me.
I turned to find another young man, about the same height as Dain, standing just inside the barn door. Not a wolf. Neither of the men were wolves, but this man had the quietness of one. He nodded at my dad and lifted his head in greeting to Dain, who nodded back.
Where DJ was thin and wiry, GW was thick. Broad-shouldered with big arms, nicely muscled, a slight belly protruding over his belt. From what I could tell, not as hard and defined as Dain, only heavier. His hands were shoved deep in the pockets of his jeans, with only an unzipped windbreaker to keep out the cold morning air. He’d tucked his curly, sandy blond hair back behind his ears beneath his backward Spurs cap.
The contrast in the two men was almost comical, DJ all smiles and good cheer—until he got a look at me, that was —and GW all, well, bored and unsociable. I wasn’t sure if these cowboy types were a quiet bunch or if they were holding back due to the situation.
“Here we go.” Dad c
rouched low near the mare again. There was no mistaking what he’d meant as water poured out of a swollen area beneath the mare’s tail.
For the next several minutes, we stood silently watching as the miracle of birth happened before us. First, spindly legs appeared, followed by the head, slick and wet and black. The next spasm expelled the entire body except for the tips of the little hind legs. Though the birthing wasn’t completely finished, mother and baby lay there in the bright light of the stall for a few minutes.
Glancing across the stall, the intense expression on Dain’s face had softened into one of awe.
Beautiful, glorious awe.
I shook my head and sighed.
“Amazing isn’t it?” Maygan whispered next to me, obviously mistaking my sigh for something it wasn’t.
“Yep,” I agreed, as I laughed to myself. Yep, I was still all about the cowboy. “How many babies have been born here?”
“Gosh, I don’t know how many, offhand,” Dad answered. “We don’t always have control over the breeding here. They are a bunch of animals.” He chuckled. “But as far as foals, this one’s number thirteen. There were a couple of times we didn’t think this one was gonna make it, but...” Dad moved closer and gave a little tug, dislodging the hind legs from the birth canal. He lifted one leg up and took a closer look. “Aha! This little colt was a fighter.”
DJ yanked off his cowboy hat and slapped it against his thigh. “Did ya hear that, GW? A colt.”
I looked back toward the barn door. GW didn’t seem that thrilled. Bored was more like it. Must have been the fact that he was out of bed before the chickens or something. When I looked back, Dain had stepped into the stall. Both he and my dad methodically checked the newborn colt over from tip to tail as Dain asked questions and Dad answered them in his kind, patient way.
I turned to DJ. “Does this colt belong to you?”
“Sure does. My stallion is that colt’s papa. This one’s number seven for me. Lucky number seven.”
“Hmm, wow.” I fought back a yawn. I was beat. Not only did I not have enough sleep, I also needed to adjust to a two-hour time difference. Even though the clock said it was around five, my body said it was three. I yawned again and somewhere in the barnyard, a rooster crowed. I glanced out past GW to the yard, seeing nothing but pitch black beyond the barn door.