by Tasha Black
Mac paused to take in his intended mate.
She was exquisite, blinking up at him like a movie star with her tousled curls, that teasing mouth pouting for his kiss.
If she had been anyone else he might have held back, made her beg.
But this was Parker, his Parker, the woman who held his soul in the palm of her hand. Parker, who was playful and self-assured.
That beautiful tilted chin was as close as she was going to get to begging.
He leaned in to kiss her, glad it was what she wanted.
She pressed her lips to his and he stifled a groan.
She tasted like honey.
Parker slid a hand up his chest, the gentle contact driving him wild. He pulled her close to him, reveling at the softness of her. Parker shivered and pressed even closer.
“You’re cold,” he said. “Let me start a fire.”
“I’m okay,” she protested, but the shiver in her voice betrayed her.
He cursed himself inwardly for forgetting that she was human and vulnerable.
“I’ll be right back,” he assured her.
He’d seen the fire pit against the side wall. Mercifully, there was a stack of dry wood to one side of it. On the other side, he found an old cookie tin with matches inside, and a newspaper.
He said a silent thanksgiving for the local scouts, who always left things nicer than they found them, and vowed to come back and replace everything tomorrow.
He felt Parker’s eyes on him as he placed a log in the fireplace, started the flame, and fed it with smaller sticks.
When it was crackling merrily, he turned back to her.
She was struggling with her boots.
“I guess my foot is swollen,” she admitted.
She was soaked through and through.
“I have an idea,” he told her. “You’re not going to like it.”
“Try me,” she said.
“First of all, I’m going to get that boot off and look at your ankle,” he said. “Then we’re going to get the rest of those soaking clothes off you and lay them out to dry by the fire. You can get in the sleeping bag and warm up.”
“So was this part of the p-plan?” she asked, unable to control the cold-induced chattering. “Take me out in the snow and then ask me to slip out of my wet clothes and into a dry martini?”
“Well, it wasn’t…” he teased.
“Sure,” she said. “I guess it makes s-sense.”
He grinned at her, glad she wasn’t going to make it hard on him.
“Let’s get it o-over with,” she suggested.
He knelt in front of her.
“Do you want to do this, or should I?” he asked, indicating the boot.
“You do it,” she told him, closing her eyes and looking away.
He studied her riding boot, then took her calf in his left hand and tugged the boot off swiftly with his right.
She gasped, but didn’t whimper.
His wolf strutted in his chest, proud of his brave mate.
Mac examined her ankle gently.
“It’s swollen, probably a bad sprain,” he told her. “But we’ll have it checked out to be sure. As soon as that kid comes looking for us.”
“I’ve got news for you,” Parker said. “Anthony isn’t c-coming looking for us.”
“Of course he is,” Mac said. “We didn’t bring the horses back.”
“The horses aren’t dumb,” Parker said. “They’ll go back to the stables. They probably got there about ten minutes after they ran off.”
“Wow,” Mac said. He hadn’t thought of that.
“Anthony isn’t staying to look for us,” Parker said. “He’s going home. It’s late, and it’s snowing.”
“We’re on our own,” Mac agreed.
“Hopefully the swelling will go d-down, and I’ll be able to walk on it by morning,” Parker said, unable to keep the chill from her voice.
“Do you want help with your clothes?” Mac asked.
Parker started to shake her head, then appeared to change her mind.
“I can close my eyes while I do it,” he offered.
“Better keep them open, or I might give you the slip,” she said with a grin.
He leaned forward and tugged off her other boot.
“We’ll keep the socks for now,” he told her. “Jeans next.”
She lay back and unfastened her jeans, holding his gaze.
Mac watched her, riveted.
When she moved her hands to the side in invitation, he peeled the jeans down her hips, taking her panties with them.
Parker lifted her hips and he managed to pull everything off both feet without making her wince.
The delicious scent of her was thick in the air now. His wolf was pacing in his chest, wild with lust.
Easy, he begged it.
She sat up and lifted her arms, making it easy for him to remove her jacket and peel off her t-shirt. She left her arms up and he reached around to flick the clasps of her bra, releasing it. Parker let it fall down her shoulders and he slipped it from her wrists.
She lay back, and he tried and failed not to take her in.
She was quite a sight.
Parker’s skin almost seemed to glow in the firelight. One ankle was swollen but the other was slender. He admired the curve of her hips, her round belly and beautiful breasts with their taut little nipples. The necklace she wore rested in her cleavage, somehow making her look even more naked.
But it was the teasing expression in her eyes that nearly sent him over the edge.
“Let’s get you warmed up,” he growled, pulling the open portion of the sleeping bag over her and zipping her in.
He carried her clothes over to the fire and spread them out slowly, willing his heart to slow.
“I’m still cold,” she said quietly.
“Do you want me to hold you?” he asked, without turning around.
The world seemed to stop spinning on its axis as he waited for her answer.
He heard the sound of the zipper on the sleeping bag, slowly unzipping.
He turned and unbuttoned his shirt slowly, slid it off and laid it before the fire.
Parker’s eyes widened as she saw his body.
Mac generally dressed like an English professor would be expected to dress. He knew she probably hadn’t expected him to be muscular. He wasn’t the kind of guy who wanted to show off his hard body to just anyone.
As a matter of fact, Parker was the only one he wanted seeing it.
And he was glad if she was impressed.
He kicked off his shoes, but left the rest of his clothes on.
If he was going to claim her, it wouldn’t be like this, half outdoors in the snow while she was injured.
But he couldn’t resist getting close.
She opened the bag in invitation, and he got another glimpse of her luscious skin.
Then he was lost in a wave of sensation, the warmth of her body heat, the sweet fragrance of her.
“Mmm, that feels good,” she whispered, pressing her bare body to his.
The need to claim her was nearly overwhelming. His heart pulsed in his ears like a drum beat.
She nuzzled his chest, her plushy lips against his skin sending starlight through his veins.
He wrapped his arms around her, palms drinking in every inch of her, the curve of her spine, the warm swell of her buttocks.
Parker arched into his touch and he groaned with need.
She didn’t tease him, just tilted up her chin again in wordless demand.
He took her mouth again, his kisses a demand instead of a question.
Her nipples pebbled against his chest.
His cock was rigid now, pressing painfully against his fly.
Not now, not like this…
But Parker was moving against him, her fingernails sinking into his shoulders as he plundered her mouth.
She needed him, needed relief.
He took one last taste of her clever tongue, then kis
sed his way along her jaw to the shell of her ear.
Parker stilled.
He nibbled her earlobe, then trailed feather light kisses along her neck and collarbone.
Her breathing was faster now, her response drove him on, desperate to keep up, to give her what she needed.
When he cupped her right breast in his hand she whimpered lightly.
“Good girl,” he whispered, lowering his mouth to flick the stiff little nipple with his tongue.
“Ahh,” she cried, her hips quivering.
Lost in her pleasure, he lapped at her breasts, sucking and nipping until Parker began to moan.
He eased off then, stroking her belly and sliding a hand slowly between her legs.
She stiffened for a moment, then relaxed, allowing him to ease her thighs open.
“Oh, Parker,” he murmured, inhaling her exquisite scent, stroking her warm thighs as he crawled lower.
He could hear her fingernails scrape the fabric of the sleeping bag and smiled.
She craved his touch, wanted it more than her next breath.
She didn’t know it yet, but it wasn’t just about scratching an itch.
She needed him because he was her mate.
He settled in between her legs and spread her open with gentle fingers.
Parker whimpered. She was ready for him, so ready.
Mac lovingly licked her opening.
She cried out.
He licked her again, this time with a firmer stroke.
Parker moaned and lifted her hips, as if begging for more.
Mac smiled and feasted on her.
She tasted like honey, and he wanted every drop. The more he toyed with her, the more delightful sounds she made.
At last he was licking her fast and hard, easing a finger against her opening, licking all around his finger, but avoiding her stiff little clitoris so as to prolong this heaven.
“Please, Mac, please,” Parker begged.
A jolt of need shot through him.
He licked her clit into his mouth and sucked lightly.
“Ohhhhh,” she moaned and melted all around him, tightening on his finger in a way that made him throb to be inside her.
He kept his mouth on her until her tremors ceased, then crawled up to hold her in his arms.
“Wow,” she whispered.
“That’s what I was going to say,” he confided.
Her warm hand slid down his abs, toward his aching cock. Mac knew he needed to resist, but wondered if he had the willpower.
Then the wind changed, and so did his focus.
A scent was carried to Mac - unfamiliar, male, with a hint of danger.
He caught Parker’s wrist and held it still, listening.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I… I thought I saw something,” he said, feeling embarrassed that he hadn’t come up with a better lie. It was now almost fully dark outside, what could he possibly have seen?
But Parker sat up partway, her eyes squinting against the firelight.
“I’ll run out and check on it,” he told her.
What he really wanted to do was shift and find whoever was out there. What if it was the stranger Carol Lotus had scented while she was running? Strange magic could be out there.
“No,” she said, clinging to him. “Please don’t go.”
That wasn’t like Parker.
He gazed down at her.
She looked like she had seen a ghost.
He felt a sudden pang of guilt that he had drawn her into his world. Whatever this was, it was a pack problem. It didn’t have to concern Parker.
“You’re not going out there, are you?” she asked him.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured her. “I’ve got you.”
He pulled her close, gliding his fingertips slowly along her bare shoulder blades until he felt her relax and her breath deepen.
8
The Stranger
The stranger watched from behind the trees, shadows drawn around him like a cloak.
He was captivated by the woman - she pulled him inexorably to her.
A tenderness he couldn’t explain tugged at his hardened heart at the mere sight of her.
She rested now in the arms of a man.
And something about that man was wrong.
He could feel it, and it gnawed at him.
He longed to emerge from the trees and go to her, bring her away so that they could explore this connection between them, this sea of emotion he felt whenever she was near.
She felt his presence too. He could see it in her wide eyes and the way she searched the trees as if she knew he was there, waiting for her.
But he would not go to her when she was with that man.
He let out a breath that plumed in the freezing air. He would keep his vigil. He could not leave her entangled with that not-right man, not alone.
The snow fell around him, soft and silent, but he didn’t notice the cold. He was too focused on the woman.
He felt her drift away into sleep, felt the strange quality of her dreams.
She was torn.
But she was also his.
He would bring her to the shadows and make her whole again.
9
Parker
Parker awoke from dreams of snow to the feeling of someone nuzzling her.
Mac…
She stretched before opening her eyes.
He snorted a little, mussing her hair. She didn’t remember his affections being so boisterous.
She looked up in surprise to find a horse snuffling her head.
The dark mare tossed her mane and stamped her foot one time.
“You came back,” Parker said fondly.
“She brought her friend, too,” Mac said from the clearing.
The gray stallion nibbled at the foliage on the edge of the campsite.
“Anthony’s going to be in trouble,” Parker said.
Mac laughed, the soft light of dawn glittering in his hair.
He looked great. Especially considering that he’d spent all night half outdoors in a sleeping bag.
She could only imagine what she must look like.
“You’re very sexy in the morning, did you know that?” Mac asked, as if in answer to her unspoken thought.
“Don’t get any big ideas, Mr. MacGregor,” she warned him. “Someone is going to be coming after these horses as soon as they realize they’re missing.”
“What are the chances Anthony has two shifts in a row?” Mac asked, striding toward her in a predatory manner, one brow arched.
Just like that, she was feverish for him again.
“Stop that,” she said. “Seriously. We’ve got to get out of here.”
But he had a look in his eyes that told her she was in for it.
And she couldn’t exactly say she was disappointed. He had been incredible last night. She was already desperate for more, desperate to give him the release he’d given her.
“Marshmallow,” someone called from the trail.
Crap.
Parker wiggled halfway out of the sleeping bag and snatched her clothes off the floor of the shelter.
She tried to ignore the fact that Mac was right there, seeing her naked, in the daylight.
She managed to pull her shirt over her head and get her jeans into the sleeping bag with her before a man appeared in the clearing.
He was short and stout with a wispy goatee. His staff t-shirt had a nametag that said Joe.
He looked a lot older than the kid who was on duty last night.
“Oh, thank Christ,” he said as soon as he saw the horses.
He bent forward and leaned on his knees, panting.
“Hi there,” Mac said, walking over to him.
Parker appreciated how Mac got between her and the employee, allowing her time to slither into her jeans.
“These horses were supposed to have been returned by six last night,” the man said angrily. “And you can’t sleep in the
preserve without a lodging reservation.”
“Are you accusing us of wanting to sleep outdoors in the middle of December?” Mac asked, an edge to his voice.
“Well, you’re here, aren’t you?” the man replied, sounding a little less sure of himself.
“Your employee didn’t bother to tell us that this mare is skittish,” Mac said. “My partner here was thrown and injured. Our only consolation was that surely your employee, Anthony, would notice something was amiss when we didn’t make it back with the horses.”
“Oh,” the man said.
“But he never came,” Mac said darkly. “Parker narrowly avoided a concussion. If she’d had a head injury this might not have ended happily.”
“Damn it, Anthony,” the man muttered.
“So you’re familiar with this employee?” Mac asked.
“He’s my nephew,” Joe admitted, a stormy look on his face. “I never should have promised my sister I’d get him a job.”
“The horses ran off last night, but as you can see, we’ve collected them again,” Mac said. “Do you want to check on them before we ride back to the stables?”
“That’s funny,” Joe said. “I would have thought they’d run back to the stables.”
“I thought the same thing,” Parker piped up.
“Do you need help, miss?” Joe asked her.
“I think I’ll be okay,” she replied. “I just need a minute to get shoes on.”
“We’ve got it from here,” Mac said. “We’ll meet you down at the stables shortly.”
“Fine, fine,” Joe said, sounding utterly defeated.
Mac gave him a little wave, and the man headed back toward the trail.
“Are you really okay?” Mac asked Parker, concern in his blue eyes.
“I’m okay,” she told him, hoping it was true.
“Let’s see if your boot will go back on,” Mac offered.
She slid her legs out of the sleeping bag.
“You got dressed so fast,” he remarked.
“Are you impressed?” she asked.
“I would have said wistful, but I guess impressed is also accurate,” he said with a wry smile.
Parker braced herself as Mac slid her foot back into the boot.
It was snug, but it fit. He helped her on with the other one, even though she didn’t really need help.