by Kate Douglas
An hour later, they drove by Chelo’s flower shop on the way to pick up Nell’s car. She was still calling him Ferdinand, and funny thing was, he seemed to get a kick out of it. She wondered if anything ever pissed him off. He was a truly gentle soul with a fun sense of humor that was every bit as addictive as the rest of him.
Evan pulled over and parked.
Darnell rolled the window down. “Hey, Chelo. I like the shop.”
“Thanks. Want to come see?”
“Maybe later. We need to pick up my car. Had a flat.”
“Okay.” She went back to sweeping the walkway, and Trak stepped out of the shop with a couple of potted plants in his arms, waited for Chelo to point, and then set them down and walked over to the truck.
“What are you two doing in town?”
Darnell hung out the open window. “Ferdinand here promised me breakfast and we have to pick up my car.”
Trak glanced over her shoulder at Evan and raised one expressive eyebrow. “Ferdinand?”
“Long story,” he said. “One day I’ll tell you, but it’s going to be over more than one beer. You might have to get me loaded first.”
“I’ll remember that. Enjoy yourselves. I’ll be here most of the morning, but I want to get together with you and the guys sometime this afternoon.”
“Just let me know when.”
They pulled up in front of a small café and went inside. It appeared the morning rush had slowed—an older lady was clearing the tables and a group of guys in the back looked like they were finishing up.
For some reason, they made Darnell think of the men after Chelo. They were rough looking, dressed like transients, and for whatever reason didn’t look like they fit the area or this cute little café. Evan seemed to have the same sense about them that Darnell did, and she noticed his gaze slide over to their table before he led Darnell in the opposite direction. He pulled out a chair for her at a table the waitress had just cleared.
The woman left menus for both of them, asked if they wanted coffee, and went to fill two cups. Evan pulled out his cell phone. “Just a sec, babe.”
He typed his message, sent it, and Darnell’s phone chimed. She frowned, but before she could say anything he shook his head. She took out her cell phone and saw he’d copied her on a text to Trak. The guys after Chelo are at the diner. Look left of the front door. Nell, don’t say anything.
She glanced at Evan, who was reading his menu as if nothing were going on. “What’s good here?”
He grinned at her. “Everything. I always get the lumberjack special.”
She found it on the menu. “You could feed an entire city with that.”
He shrugged. “I’m a growing boy.”
She grabbed her cell phone and typed a message. Is Trak coming down here?
“That he is. Decide what you want yet?”
She glanced up as the waitress stopped by their table, set two cups of coffee down, and pulled out her pad.
“Thank you. Eggs Benedict for me.”
“Cook does a great job on that one. You’ll love it.”
“Regular for you, big boy? Lumberjack special? Four eggs scrambled, fried potatoes, sausage, and bacon?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Darnell laughed. “You’ve been here before, I take it?”
“A time or two.”
“I’m glad you’re here.” The waitress leaned over as if wiping the table and whispered, “That group in the corner is making me nervous. I think they were waiting for the place to clear out, but then you walked in.”
Evan kept his voice just as low. “Don’t worry, Maisy. We’ll hang around as long as you need us. Trak’s on his way down, too.”
She patted his hand. “You’re a good boy, Evan. Thank you.”
Darnell grabbed his hand. “You are a very good boy, Ferdinand. I think you made her day.” She glanced up. “Trak’s here.”
Evan turned and waved. Trak walked over to their table and sat next to Darnell.
“I hope you appreciate the fact that Evan’s brought you to the best place in town.”
“Believe me, I do.” She took a sip of coffee just as Maisy walked back to their table and set a cup in front of Trak.
“Did you want something to eat, Trak?”
“No thanks, Maisy. I’m good. I just needed a cup of your coffee. Best in town.” He held his cup up in acknowledgment before taking a sip. “Definitely better than what I make.”
Evan laughed. “Trak, I’ve had your coffee. Anything is better than what you make.”
“There is that.” He glanced toward the four men and then turned his back on them when he spoke. “Manny and Drew are at the shop. Not leaving her alone.”
“You staying in town today?”
“For now. I’ll call you when I get home. We need to talk.” He took another swallow of coffee and set the cup down. Then, instead of going out the door, he walked toward the four men at the table, and Darnell held her breath. Trak walked past them without acknowledging them at all and went through a door leading to the restrooms. Darnell noticed how the men watched him. Did they know he was with Chelo? But how could they?
A minute later Trak came out, glanced at the men and nodded, and then left the restaurant. It was all very strange, and for some reason Darnell felt as if she was missing something important.
Maisy brought Darnell’s and Evan’s breakfast about the same time the four men got up from their table. An older man wearing a white apron and a chef’s hat came out of the back to ring up the men’s tab while Maisy cleared their table, pocketed what appeared to be a tip, and carried the plates into the back.
Again, that strange sense that she was missing something, which made no sense at all. Darnell concentrated on her food and the sexy guy across the table from her. No point at all in wasting time worrying about four butt-uglies she hoped never to see again.
CHAPTER 7
After breakfast, Darnell and Evan picked up her car and she followed him back to the resort. A while later, Evan took off for his meeting with Trak while she sat out on the deck in front of his cabin with a book in her lap. One she hadn’t even opened yet.
There was just too much to think about. She’d never tried to imagine where Evan actually lived, but this place was unbelievable, and he said he’d built it himself. Well, with help from the other guys, but still …
It sat in a small clearing with forest all around. The deck wrapped across the front with a view of the most magnificent mountains ever, and while the cabin wasn’t huge, it didn’t feel at all small. There was a neat kitchen downstairs that opened into one big room with a stone fireplace against the wall at the opposite end. He had a bar with tall stools instead of a kitchen table, though there was room for one. Two rooms downstairs shared a bathroom between them.
“Kids’ rooms,” he’d said when he gave her a tour. Which, of course, had her thinking of what his kids would look like if they were hers, too. For some reason she imagined sons, not daughters. Strong sons with their father’s beautiful body and quiet disposition. He was such an easy man to be around, and he’d make a wonderful father. She didn’t doubt that at all. Yeah, she could imagine filling those kids’ rooms with their sons. Upstairs was a big loft—the master bedroom with a nice bathroom and a shower that she’d discovered had plenty of room for two. It was open to the rest of the house, now, but he showed her how easy it would be to close it off and make it more private should she ever want to do that.
And that was how he’d said it—if she ever wanted to close it off. He still hadn’t said he loved her or asked her to be his, but he talked about them as if that was a given. Obviously, it was too soon to make any commitments, but Evan was definitely talking long term.
She glanced toward the driveway. His truck was still parked next to the cabin and now her little red car was right there beside it, but Evan was still gone. She wished he’d come back. Trak had called some sort of meeting at the lodge, probably about those big guys after Chelo,
and Evan left.
She’d have to ask him about the guys here. They weren’t related except for Trak and his brother, but they all seemed as close as brothers. It was obvious that Trak was the one in charge. She could see why—he was smart and certainly had an air of authority about him. She’d been around actors like that, usually men who, when they walked into a room, owned it. Trak was like that without ever actually doing anything to reinforce the image. His charisma was part of him. He epitomized the concept of a natural leader, but leader of what? She could ask Evan, but there was always so much more to talk about when they were together.
And just what did Evan do? Did he have a job somewhere away from the resort, or was this it? When she thought about it, there really were a lot of questions about him. About everyone here. Except every time she and Evan started talking about stuff, they ended up making love. That beat just about anything they could possibly need to discuss.
She glanced up as a big gray wolf with reddish highlights glimmering under the sun trotted toward the cabin. She remembered this one! He’d spent a lot of time with her last time she was here. “Hey, big guy! Do you remember me?”
The wolf stopped and watched her.
She set her book aside, walked down the steps, and sat on the bottom one. She knew better than to approach a wild wolf, though this one should remember her. Shouldn’t he? She waited while he stood there. “Ya know, fella, my feelings are really going to be hurt if you’ve forgotten who I am. I haven’t forgotten you. Don’t tell Evan, but I actually dreamed about you after I left, even more than I dreamed about him.”
The wolf’s ears pricked forward and he took a couple of steps closer. “The dreams about Evan were sexier, though.” She laughed. “Oh, yeah. A whole lot sexier. You I just wanted to pet.”
He yipped and trotted close enough for her to reach out her hand and almost touch his nose. He stepped closer and licked her fingers, wrapping that long tongue around her palm. Then he moved even closer. Close enough to butt her chest with his head before trotting up the steps. Darnell followed him, well aware she hadn’t stopped grinning since the moment he’d arrived. A wolf had come to see her. This was just too cool for words. She sat down on the deck with her back against the cabin logs and the wolf lay beside her on the warm planks. After a moment, his head was in her lap and she sat there, stroking his ears, wishing Evan were here to share this.
Of course, it wouldn’t be special to him. He saw wolves all the time. Still, she wished he’d come back. It had only been a couple of hours, but she missed him.
Evan quietly climbed the steps to the deck. Darnell still slept. She’d dozed off while petting him, totally unaware he was the big wolf she thought was so beautiful. He still wasn’t sure how to tell her. He’d talked to Trak about it this afternoon, almost certain Darnell loved him, and while he expected her to be shocked, he didn’t think it would make her fear him, fear what she would become when they mated.
The men still weren’t comfortable telling their women in advance. Cherry had figured them out and told her sister and Stephanie, but that had worked out okay because they’d loved their guys. Same with Darian and Lawz, and Jules and her two guys. She’d figured them out and no one knew how she’d done it, but it was similar to Darian. Somehow they just knew.
Elle and Tuck had been a unique situation—Elle had her own magic, the ability to heal, and she’d saved Trak’s life when he’d been shot while in his wolf form. But Darnell? So far there was no sign at all that she’d figured them out, which meant he had to be sure. Completely sure, before he told her.
Then Trak had told him more about the mess with Chelo’s brother-in-law, that he could show up here on the preserve with three other shifters, all of them determined to take Chelo. That wasn’t going to happen, but it could get ugly. It was too risky to say anything to Darnell now, not until he could safely turn her. If she were in that deep sleep after he bit her, the one that women fell into while going through the change, there’d be no waking her until the change was complete. It would make her vulnerable should the rogue pack make it onto the preserve.
Should they somehow overpower the guys, maybe even kill him … If that happened, he wouldn’t be here to protect her. No way could he let that happen. Trak had agreed.
Which meant they waited. Waited until the threat was neutralized. In other words, until they killed the rogues before the bastards managed to steal anyone away from the Trinity Alps pack. After seeing those four this morning, he was sure the pack could handle them, but it was never a good idea to take anything for granted.
He knelt beside Darnell, leaned close, and kissed her. She made a soft humming sound, stretched her arms overhead, and the moment her fingers touched the rough logs behind her her eyes flew open.
“Evan! When did you get here? Where’s the …?” She glanced at the spot where he’d been dozing beside her with his head in her lap. “Oh, damn. He’s gone.” She wrapped her arms around Evan’s neck and he pulled her to her feet.
“Who’s gone?” He nuzzled beneath her ear and ran the tip of his tongue over the ticklish spot he’d found.
She scrunched her shoulder against the side of her head and giggled. “Stop that. The wolf is gone. The same wolf I remember from my week here in May. He came to see me and I guess I fell asleep while I was petting him. He put his head in my lap. It was just so cool!”
“Hmmm. Hope you don’t have fleas …”
“Evan!”
She gave him such a look of utter disgust that he bit the insides of his cheeks to keep from laughing. It was so much fun to get a rise out of his Nellie. She seemed to get a kick out of the nickname, though he was more often than not Ferdinand now.
“He wouldn’t dare have fleas. He’s much too beautiful, and he didn’t scratch once.”
“That’s because he leaves them with the unsuspecting women he visits.”
“Yeah. Right. Where’ve you been? I missed you.”
“The meeting went longer than planned.” He opened the door and they went inside. “He wanted to tell us more about Chelo’s old boyfriend. I guess they totally trashed her apartment yesterday, which is why she’s staying here at Trak’s. He’s afraid they might try and come out here after her if they find out where she’s staying. If you see them anywhere close to the preserve, you need to call and raise the alarm.”
“How? There’s no cell service out here.”
“There is, now. We added a tower after Cherry moved in with the guys. She’s telecommuting to her job in San Francisco along with the work she’s taken on here. I want your phone so I can add all our numbers. You see anything, send a text and it will go to …” He coughed, cleared his throat. “Everyone here.”
Crap, he’d almost said “to the pack.” This was going to be so damned confusing until he could make her his mate. Darnell got her phone and Evan created a group for her with all the pack names and numbers. “Okay. You’re all set. Brad’s cooking dinner at the lodge tonight, so we’ll eat down there, if that’s okay with you.”
“What time?”
“About an hour.”
She set the phone aside and slipped her hands under his shirt. “I have a really good idea how to fill some of that time.”
“Oh, really?” He arched an eyebrow as she ran her hands along his ribs. “How much time?”
She tilted her chin and gave him a seductive grin. “How much time ya got?”
“Plenty.” He reached for the hem of her shirt and tugged it over her head.
She shrieked and covered her naked breasts with her crossed arms. “Evan! We’re outside. Anyone could see us.”
“No one out there but critters.” He went to his knees and tugged her shorts down her legs, pleased to note that her tiny scrap of bikini panties went with them.
She was still grumbling, but she lifted her feet out of the shorts, one at a time. When she tried to cover the dark triangle at the juncture of her thighs, he picked her up and set her on the railing with her back to the fore
st.
“Hang on,” he said. Nellie wrapped both arms around the upright beam attaching the porch railing to the roof. Evan grabbed a footstool, positioned it between her dangling feet, and planted his butt on the cushion. He adjusted her position, pulled her forward on the broad railing, spread her legs, and then smiled at her from his spot between her legs.
“You look like my gynecologist, except he’s about sixty.”
“I’m not your gynecologist, though I am planning to check things out.”
“Oh. Really?” She scooted her butt around a bit, obviously getting more comfortable. “What are you looking for?”
“Sensitivity.” He grinned. “Comparing feminine erogenous zones to find the most sensitive.”
“I see. Where do you plan to begin?”
“Here.” He reached for her right breast and rubbed his thumb over her soft nipple. It tightened immediately into a taut peak. “Mmmmm. That one works.” He repeated the same test on her left. “So does that one.”
“That’s good, right?”
Her voice sounded breathy. He bit back a grin. She was so responsive. Already his sensitive nose caught the scent of her arousal.
Running both hands down her sides, Evan noted the involuntary tremors as he passed over her ribs and then grasped her thighs. He spread her legs wider, leaned close, inhaled, and then used his tongue to gently separate her folds. The muscles in her thighs clenched and the moisture of her arousal dampened her dark curls.
He swept his tongue between buttery folds, drawing a soft whimper from her. Swirling the tip of his tongue even higher, he found the sensitive bud swelling out of its protective hood, circled it, and backed away. Not yet. He wasn’t about to rush, even though Nellie obviously wanted to fly. Instead, he took his time, licking, nipping, and tasting, keeping her just this side of the edge. Her body jerked. He wrapped his arm around her hips, holding her safely on the railing, lifting and resting her legs on his shoulders. Then, certain she was safe in his arms, he continued his very thorough investigation of all her feminine charms.
She’d never felt so exposed in her life, stark naked with her bare ass planted firmly on a smooth pine railing, safely held by a wonderful man with his tongue between her legs—a tongue that should probably be outlawed. Her entire body throbbed to the beat of her pounding heart and she was certain she’d bitten into her lower lip, doing whatever she could to keep from screaming.