by Bianca D’Arc
Breathing deep for courage, he knocked on her door and was relieved when he heard her call out that he should come in. First hurdle jumped. Now, he’d have to see about all the rest.
He found her in the front room, sitting on the sofa. She looked a bit shell-shocked, if he was any judge.
“Are you okay?” he asked gently, pausing in the archway that led into the living room.
She looked at him, and he could see her skin was pale with the shock of all she’d been through, and all she’d seen, that night. He went to her. He couldn’t do anything else. Her need for comfort was an imperative in his soul, even though he didn’t know how he would be received. Still, he moved closer, wanting to offer comfort.
“I’m just…” She shook her head and tried again, as he walked slowly closer. “I’m still in shock, I think.”
“Can I sit down?” he asked, not wanting to take anything for granted.
“Sure,” she said, indicating the space next to her on the couch.
Something broke free and felt like blessed relief inside him. She wasn’t telling him to stay far away. She was willing for him to sit beside her. How much farther would she be willing to go with him?
He sat right next to her and put one arm out, on the back of the sofa behind her. In his embrace, but not fully. He would wait for her—watching her cues—to see if she would accept his touch.
“Believe me when I say, that was not how I wanted to tell you about all this,” he said, exhaling a bit of his frustration.
“I bet,” she said, her voice holding a touch of humor. “Were you going to tell me at all?”
He met her gaze and was troubled by her question. From anyone else, it would have been a valid question, but she was his mate. He wouldn’t have kept her in the dark about his true nature. He wouldn’t lie to her. Not ever.
“Yes, I was,” he replied, hoping she would believe him. “But, as you know, there were some other things I had to explain first. Tonight was part of that. Just the beginning, actually. Once you knew who I was, I was going to explain that I’d been sent here. Eventually, the rest would have come out. I wanted you to know because…”
She seemed receptive, so far, but would she scoff if he came out and told her why? It was his biggest fear.
“Why?” she prompted him with the soft-spoken word.
“Because there’s something very serious happening between us, Cassie. Please tell me you feel it, too.” His gaze held hers, searching. Hoping she would admit to the same tempestuous feelings that had filled his soul since the moment they’d met.
Cassie wasn’t going to lie to him. “I feel deeply for you, Cody,” she admitted. “Or I did…for the man I thought you were. It was already a challenge trying to reconcile Cody, the cowboy, with C.T. Billings, the business mogul. After those two pointing guns… And then, you…did what you did… It’s…” She threw her hands up in the air. “Very confusing, Cody.”
He moved a little closer, his arm inching closer to her shoulders but still not touching. She didn’t feel threatened by his position. On the contrary, he made her feel safe. And wasn’t that just the oddest thing in the world? Especially after what she’d seen him become.
“C.T. is Cody. The wolf is me, too. I’m one person with multiple facets. And every one of them cares deeply about you, Cass,” he insisted in a low voice that sent butterflies alight in her abdomen. “Would it help if I showed you the full wolf? What you saw—the battle form—isn’t something we do often. It’s more or less a last resort. A form to use when we’re in danger and need the extra oomph. Most of the time, I’m human. Occasionally, when I want to run free, I’m a timber wolf. Like a really big dog, who really wants you to scratch behind his ears and rub his belly.”
Okay. She had to laugh at that image. “I’ve never owned a dog, but I guess I get what you’re saying,” she told him. She thought about it for a moment, then turned to look him in the eye. “I think I’d better see this wolf of yours,” she said, feeling incredibly brave.
Then again, this was Cody. She knew, deep down, he would never hurt her. Even tonight, when he’d been that terrible looking beast, he’d been protecting her.
Cody stood up and dropped what was left of his clothing to the floor. She sucked in a breath. She hadn’t quite expected that, but it made sense if he was going to change shape into something that didn’t wear clothes. His gaze met hers, and he smiled.
Then, the magic began. A swirl of tingly, sparkly little pinpoints of golden brown energy zipped all around him, twining around his limbs and concealing him as he changed shape right before her eyes. He went from over-six-foot-tall man to a wolf sitting up on its haunches, right in front of her. A big wolf. A really big, big wolf.
Cassie was breathless as the magic faded, leaving the furry version of Cody staring at her. His head tilted to one side, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth, making her laugh. He looked both perplexed and adorably canine at the moment. It was hard to wrap her head around the change, but she couldn’t deny the evidence of her own eyes.
Tentatively, she reached out her hand toward him, and Cody surged forward, placing his head under her palm. He was soft, though a little bristly. Fur. Luxuriant fur that invited her to run her fingers through.
“Do you really want me to scratch behind your ears?” she asked in a low voice, feeling a bit odd talking to a giant wolf. Cody’s furry head bobbed up and down in an unmistakable yes motion. She chuckled and moved her hand upward, toward his ear. “All right then.”
She petted him, learning what he wanted her to do. One part of her mind was enchanted with the giant, furry version of Cody, while another stood off and watched, almost unbelieving at the night’s turn of events.
Cody, as the wolf, stepped closer to her and laid his head on her shoulder. It felt right to hug him close, even as her body gave in to the tremors of residual fright shaking her to her core. She gasped for air, running her hands over his back, his soft fur soothing to her senses.
“Oh, Cody. I don’t understand any of this. It feels like a dream, and yet… You’re so real.” Her words were almost a sob, but he just stayed still and let her cling to him.
Cassandra was no expert, but she didn’t think a regular dog would stay so still while their human friend lost their marbles. The thought made her smile, and a watery chuckle issued from her throat as she pulled back to meet his canine gaze.
She saw it then. The eyes. Cody’s eyes. He might be wearing a fur coat and walking on all fours, but she would have known his eyes anywhere. That really was Cody in there, watching her. Protecting her. Caring for her.
How had she gotten so lucky? And why in the world would this amazingly magical man be wasting his time with boring old her?
The swirl of magic returned, and the wolf became Cody, crouched in front of her, his glorious body naked, but he didn’t seem to notice. His eyes remained the same throughout, confirming her thoughts. It didn’t matter what form he wore. He was still, always, Cody at heart.
She reached for him, and he took her into his arms, moving so that they were sitting on the sofa again, his body cradling hers. He just held her and held her, both of them seeming to be overcome with the emotion of the moment. After the silence had stretched and she’d calmed a bit, she found the breath to speak, quietly.
“Thank you for showing me you, Cody.” He just hugged her close, and they sat there, like that, for a moment out of time that was both pure and charged with discovery and acceptance.
A thought occurred to her. “Is this why everyone in town was so standoffish with me? They were afraid I’d somehow discover this big secret?”
Cody drew back a little and smiled at her. “We’ve learned to be ultra-cautious in these modern times,” he explained.
She put her head back on his shoulder and breathed deeply. “I can see why. I hope this sort of thing doesn’t happen all the time.”
“No,” he told her, stroking her hair in a calming way. “Hardly ever.” He sighed. “We�
�re very careful. Very few people are ever let in on our secret these days. We’re just legends. Myths. That’s how we avoid trouble.”
“But somebody knows about you. About the town,” Cassandra said, lifting up a little to meet his gaze. “Otherwise, Jones and Pepe wouldn’t have been laying traps.” She sat up, going to her corner of the couch.
Cody ran one hand through his hair in clear frustration. “Yeah, that’s a problem. But we’ll get to the bottom of it, eventually. Joe isn’t one to let a threat to our Pack go unanswered. Tonight was a good start. Shane is probably questioning those two as we speak. He’ll get something useful out of them, I’m sure.” He moved closer, putting his arm around her shoulders again. “But for now, I think it’s time we went to bed. That is, if I’m still welcome.” He gazed at her with puppy-dog eyes that made her laugh.
“As if I would throw you naked out into the night,” she said, rising to her feet and offering her hand to him. He took it and rose, standing beside her for a moment. “Come on. I need sleep. Maybe I’ll understand all this upheaval better in a few hours.”
Cody followed her up to her bedroom and took her into his arms as they tumbled into bed. He undressed her gently, not demanding anything more than her compliance as he got her naked and then tucked her under the covers, held in his arms. Cassandra might have been a little disappointed that they didn’t make love, but the events of the night had taken all of her energy, and she drifted off before she could think too much about it.
She woke, hours later. It was still dark outside her window, and Cody was doing delicious, naughty things to her body under the covers. She wrestled the white sheets down, so she could see his head, and he was grinning up at her from where he’d been nibbling on her breasts.
“Good morning,” he said, a devilish smile on his handsome face. “Feeling better?”
“Yeah,” she whispered as his fingers found her clit and began a circular motion that made her want to move her hips in counterpoint. “Much better.”
“I’m going to go back to the bunkhouse before anybody else wakes up, but I figured we had time for a quickie,” he told her. “That is, if you’re willing.”
She gasped as he hit a particularly exciting spot. “Ready, willing and able,” she managed to say, her words breathy and wanton. “I don’t want to wait, Cody. Don’t make me wait.”
He growled, and she could hear the edge of his inner wolf in it. Damn. Sexy.
Maybe it was the dramatic events of the night before. Maybe it was Cody being the sexiest man she’d ever known. Whatever the reason, she was primed and ready in no time flat, clawing at his shoulders, begging him to come into her and make her scream with pleasure.
She needed it after all she’d experienced just hours before. Something earthy and grounding. Something real and passionate. Something fiery between herself and the man she’d come to admire and respect as Cody Tyler. C.T. Billings. Werewolf. Whatever. To her, in that moment, he was simply the man who had given her the greatest pleasure she’d ever known. Repeatedly.
She wanted that again.
Cody was wild over her. There wasn’t time for finesse. No room for games or fetishes. It was just them. Real. Together. No masks. Nothing hidden.
Cody made love to her like a tiger, she thought, laughing at the image. He was wild and ravenous. Then again, so was she.
Cassandra tackled him, rolling so that he was under her as she took full advantage of her position to take him inside with few preliminaries. She had meant what she’d said. The time for waiting was over. She needed him desperately. Now.
He grabbed her ass as she took him deep, learning to ride her cowboy in the way that suited them both. Hard, deep, fast and slow, staggering the rhythm because her body was on the razor’s edge of a release so great it might just blow her away.
When ecstasy struck, it shook her entire body, her entire spirit. She was flying, moving at the heart of a whirlwind with Cody the only thing to cling to, the only thing grounding her and keeping her from flying away completely. When her head cleared, she realized he’d rolled them so that she was beneath him, her legs wrapped around his waist, still joined intimately.
He took over, driving her higher and higher still, when she hadn’t thought there was anything left inside her. He showed her more. Hard, fast, vigorous thrusts taught her how wrong she’d been as he brought her passions to a boiling point yet again.
This time, when she climaxed in an unknown realm of bliss, Cody was right there with her, holding her, their bodies shaking in the grip of ecstasy unlike anything she’d ever known before. He held her throughout and she clung to him. He was real. Man or werewolf, what did it matter? She was well and truly hooked on him, at this point, and she knew, deep in her heart, she could never walk away from him, no matter what.
“I accept you, Cody,” she whispered, unable to keep her discovery to herself. “I accept your wolf side, your man side, and everything in between.”
He growled then, and lifted his head to he could meet her gaze. “You’re my mate, Cassie. I’ve been dying to tell you. To claim you. But I was so afraid you wouldn’t be able to deal with…well…with everything.” He kissed her gently, his eyes full of a special kind of joy. “Mating is for life, Cassie. I’m yours, and I will never stray. Now and forever.”
“Wow,” she breathed, realizing his words went far deeper than she’d expected. “You really mean that.” She didn’t have to pose it as a question. The truth was right there in his eyes.
“Mates are special. We only get one. We search for years, and some of us never find the one who was meant to complete their soul. I was lucky. I found you when I least expected it, and now, with you, I am complete. At long last. My roaming days are done, and it’s time to settle down happily. With you.” He kissed her again, his joy overflowing so that she felt the same jubilant excitement.
His words were startling. Amazing. And a little confusing. She drew back to ask some pertinent questions, but he got out of bed and started ransacking her closet.
“I’d better get back to the bunkhouse before anybody notices,” he said, grabbing a sheet off the top shelf of her closet and wrapping it around himself toga-style. “Do me a favor and hide what’s left of the clothes I was wearing last night. I’ll dispose of them later where nobody will see.” He leaned down and kissed her so sweetly her mind glazed over. Then, he was leaving. He looked back from her doorway and smiled. “Hold that thought. We’ll talk about everything later, okay? I promise. For now, we just have to act as if nothing special happened last night.”
“Nothing special?” she huffed, shaking her head.
“I know, I know,” he replied, a lopsided grin on his face. “Do your best, all right? A lot is riding on nobody discovering that there’s anything strange about the town and its people. Remember that. It should help.”
Sobering at his words, she realized how serious this really was. “Okay. I’ll do my best. See you later.” She couldn’t help the little thrill that coursed down her spine when she said that. She would see him later. And, if this mating thing was as serious as he’d made it sound, she would be seeing him for a good long time to come.
Chapter Ten
The morning passed with little comment. Cassandra had dressed after Cody had left and done a quick clean up around the house, making sure there was no sign of his ripped clothing or anything else that might indicate what had gone on the night before. Emma came over for lunch, explaining that some of her carpentry crew had been drafted to help with other chores this morning and that Rich, himself, was working with the horses since it looked like two of the ranch hands had taken off in the middle of the night.
Cassandra did her best to act both surprised and concerned. She hoped she’d got it right, but Emma seemed to take her reaction at face value, talking about how ranch hands were either loyal to a fault or drifters who pulled this kind of thing on a regular basis. Cassandra was relieved to hear that the sheriff’s plan had been the right thing to do.
For her part, Cassandra started laying the groundwork for a change in her relationship with Cody. They’d been discreet, but Emma had seen them together. Cassandra explained that the injured girl in Cody’s car had been his sister. Emma was surprised and a bit skeptical until Cassandra told her about the dinner they’d had together the night before, how she’d met his sister, Megan, and had the story confirmed beyond the shadow of a doubt.
At that point, Emma seemed to change her mind about Cody, and then, the teasing and prying questions began. Cassandra humored Emma, to a point. It would be good to be able to be seen with Cody without it raising too many eyebrows. If what Cody had said about them being mates was true, then the people in her life—Emma and Rich among them—were going to have to get used to it sooner, rather than later.
After Emma left, about mid-afternoon, Cody came up to the house. He joined her on the front porch, in full view of anyone who cared to notice, and he kissed her hello. When he pulled back after a long, lingering moment, he smiled down at her.
“I’ve been thinking about kissing you since I left your bedroom this morning. Damn. What a sight. You all sleepy and sexy in that rumpled bed. I hope you know how hard it was for me to leave,” he whispered, a growl in his voice that made his words ultra-sexy.
“I had lunch with Emma. I told her that we’d had dinner together last night and that she’d had the wrong end of the stick about Megan and her injuries,” Cassandra confessed.
A satisfied smile lit his face. “Good. I thought I sensed a change in her attitude toward me after lunch. Now, I understand why. I went from scum who beats on women to protective big brother.”
She chuckled at the look on his face. “You don’t have to sound so affronted. It was sort of a reasonable conclusion to jump to when you think about it.”
“Only if you have a suspicious mind and a lurid imagination,” he quipped. “I’m not sure I want to forgive Emma, just yet, for thinking the worst of me.” He swung her around, and they sat for a moment on the porch swing, just enjoying the late afternoon breeze. “By the way, Joe wanted me to remind you about the bakery thing. Seems he’s making plans for there to be a new pastry shop in town. He has this idea that maybe you could teach a few of the youngsters all your secrets and they could run the place with your oversight. Joe doesn’t want to make you work too hard.”