Chapter Ten
They didn’t have much to say after that—at least, not to her. Stef politely told her she could go outside to get some fresh air if she wanted, which was a tactful way of asking her to leave so they could confer with each other. She insisted on giving Krista another sandwich.
“Stop being likeable,” Krista scowled at her.
“I can’t help it. I’m a giver. It’s in my nature,” Stef said cheerfully, which annoyed the hell out of Krista, who was trying really hard to hate everyone here and failing miserably.
“Nightmare,” she replied loftily.
Stef still refused to take offense. “Oh, like I’ve never heard that one before. Like you, I bet you get called foxy lady more times a day than you have fingers on your hands. It’s the worst, isn’t it?”
“Right?” Krista rolled her eyes. “Seriously, what is up with that? ‘Let’s fox around, do you want to fox me’… wait! No! We are not bonding, this is not happening!”
“Yes, it is. I’ll buy you drinks after this is all over and we can bitch about men. Shut up, we’re going to be pals, I can feel it.”
Stef, smiling hugely, gave her a finger wave and headed back into the dining room.
“She’s good, isn’t she? Here, don’t want you getting dehydrated.” Mal grinned and shoved a bottle of iced tea at her, which earned him a warning snarl from Blake.
She left the cabin and sat on an Adirondack chair in the front yard, eating and straining her ears, trying to hear what they were saying inside. She was too far away, and she wasn’t in fox form, so she couldn’t pick up anything more than a low buzz no matter how hard she tried. She hoped they weren’t single-mindedly focused on Dawnie because she had meant what she’d said—Dawnie would not hurt a cub.
And if Dawnie wanted to go into business with Mr. Coffman, that gave her even less reason to hurt Ethan.
Finally, the front door banged open, and Blake headed over to her.
She scowled at him. “Do they want to interrogate me some more? Maybe break out the cattle prods?”
“Aren’t we melodramatic.” But he said it with a gleam of humor in his eyes.
“There is no we.” Her fox let out a little growl deep inside at that.
“Not yet,” he said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “And we’re done for the night. We’re going to get up at the ass-crack of dawn, so we should head out now. Are you ready to set up camp?”
Her heart sped up, thudding against her rib cage. She and Blake, together in a tent. A sudden vivid image flared through her, the two of them naked, limbs tangled together, his fingers tangled in her hair…
She could just sleep in the SUV. Or he could. He didn’t think they were sharing a sleeping bag, did he? He probably did, the presumptuous son of a bitch. Well, that wasn’t happening. So what if her hormones were raging out of control, screaming to let him claim her? She would just take those feelings and stuff them deep down inside, so deep they suffocated from lack of oxygen.
She arranged her face into an icy, featureless mask.
“Certainly,” she said, stiffening her spine and forcing the word out. She was proud of how dignified and calm she managed to sound.
He looked worried. “You okay? Your lips are moving funny. And your face is turning red. Are you having an allergic reaction?”
“I’m fine!” She backed away from him quickly.
“Are you sure? I should go get Dexter. He was the medic in my unit. Seriously, you don’t look so hot.”
“Well, thank you very much,” she said furiously and stormed off to the SUV. She walked into the side mirror, banging her forehead and bringing tears to her eyes. “I’m fine!” she yelled, and leaped into the car, slamming the door.
Blake hurried after her and jumped into the driver’s seat.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he protested. “I do think you’re hot! Feverishly hot. I mean… damn it, I’m trying.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel again. She heard it creak in protest and felt a little twinge of worry that he might actually crush it. “I told you, I’m not the smoothest guy around. I don’t know how to sweet talk.”
“Clearly,” Krista said, still stung, as they pulled out of the driveway.
The oddest thing happened as they drove in silence. She could sense that she’d hurt Blake’s feelings. She could feel his pain as her own, throbbing inside her.
She didn’t want to think about what that meant—because as she recalled, that was holler superstition, too. She twisted away from him, doing her sullen-stare-out-the-window thing as they wound down the narrow, unlit road.
Finally, she couldn't take the ache anymore. “So… how did you get in with Shifters, Inc, anyway?”
“I know Dex from when we served together. He got out before I did and got a gig with Shifters Inc. We had a lot in common. Both of us lost our parents young, never had a family group to take us in. Grew up in foster care, I mean, not together, on opposite sides of the country. When I was dishonorably discharged, he hooked me up with Stef.”
She noted the way he consciously, deliberately said “dishonorably discharged”. Like he was probing a sore tooth with his tongue, to see how much it hurt. His hands were tense on the steering wheel, his fingertips white from the pressure.
“They mean the world to me.” He said the words so softly that she almost didn’t hear them.
Then he snuck a quick glance at her.“Uh, I know I don’t have any right to ask for any favors, but if you have any mercy in your heart, don’t tell Mal and Dexter I said that.”
She nodded in understanding. “Because they’d feel obligated to feed you a ration of crapola about it.”
“It’s the army way.” He smiled ruefully. “I’d do the same to them, I guess, if I ever caught them saying something mushy.”
“They’re your pack now,” she observed. “They really do mean everything to you.”
“Yes.” Then he shrugged, grimacing, trying to sound dismissive. “I guess.”
“I understand that wolves are pack animals. I see how important they are to you. That’s why you threatened to get my license yanked.” She needed a reason. She needed to know he had been forced into it.
“That was part of it.” He glanced at her ruefully. “But mostly it was because you were the only ‘in’ we had. I don’t know if I could have made myself do it in the end though,” he said.
“Oh,” she said, feeling something tight inside her loosen at the admission.
“But if you push Stef, she would in a hoofbeat,” he added. “She does genuinely like you. I know her. She’s not faking, she doesn’t do that. But she’ll play whatever card she has to in order to get what she needs. And she needs to find Ethan and keep a shifter war from boiling over in this valley—which is what will happen if the Coffman kid has been caught up in some sort of sick game out here. His father will rain down hellfire on their heads, believe me.”
No pressure, then. “Fine. Go down that road there.”
The silence was a little more companiable now. About five minutes later, he parked in a weedy gravel parking lot by the side of a silvery lake.
He made quick work of setting up the tent while she leaned on the truck and watched. When he was done, she gave him a thumbs-up.
“I’m sleeping in the truck,” she said.
He gave her a thoughtful look, but to her surprise, he didn’t argue. “Okay,” he said. “But will you sit outside with me for a little bit?”
The air was deliciously cool, and a faint breeze ruffled the leaves of the trees by the shoreline. She’d forgotten what the country sounded like at night, no traffic sounds, no blaring sirens every ten minutes, no chatter of conversation right outside her window. Out here you could hear yourself think.
“I’d love to,” she blurted out. Then she winced at her burst of enthusiasm until she saw the big, genuine smile spread across his face. Suddenly the night air didn’t feel so cool after all. In fact, she felt very, very warm, more so in som
e parts of her body than others.
She fanned her face with her hand. “Woo. It’s a scorcher.”
“Seriously,” he said, looking worried. “Are you feverish or something? I have aspirin… I could drive you to a doctor… I’ll get the aspirin.”
“I’m not sick! It’s you!” she spluttered.“It’s… you have a certain effect on me. A purely physical effect,” she added quickly.
“Oh,” he said, and then his smile threatened to split his face in two. “Ohhh. Well, you have the exact same effect on me. But you already know that.”
They sat down, a foot apart from each other, on a felled log, tension crackling in the air.
What had he meant by that? She wondered. Why had he used the word “exact?” It sounded like he was saying she only had a physical effect on him, too. Fine. That was just fine. Better than fine. Good. Excellent.
Big stupid jerk. Fated mate, her furry ass.
“So, you know about me now,” he said.“Are you going to tell me about you? The stuff that’s not in our files?” She knew what he was asking. What dark cloud hung over her departure? Why was she so dead set on never setting paw here again?
“Quiet,” she said intently.
He froze.
“Trouble? Company?” he said in a low voice.
She shook her head and partially shifted, letting her ears curve up and her snout poke out so her senses would be their sharpest.
The only scents that drifted through her nostrils were from regular old non-shifting wildlife. The only sounds she heard were the cool rushing wind, the crackle of paws on leaves, the creak of peepers and crickets, the rippling of the water on the lake.
She shifted back, smoothing out her skin, rounding her ears, and glanced at Blake. “No, I didn’t hear anything, but I had to make absolutely sure.”
She took a deep breath. “Ok. Why I left. Did your research turn up the fact that my mother was a raging drunk?”
“Yes,” he said, sounding apologetic. “Kind of hard to miss, with all the DUIs and drunk and disorderlies she had. Five DUIS, got her license yanked, a dozen d&ds.”
“I didn’t know about most of those, actually. Huh.” After all this time, Krista still found herself getting pissed off at the extent of her mother’s dishonesty. “She’d disappear for days on end on a regular basis after my father left us, sometimes weeks, but I never knew where she was. So sometimes she must have been drying out in jail cells a few towns away. Our town has one part-time police chief and one jail cell, and gossip flies from one end of town to the other faster than a 747. I’d have heard about it if she was there.”
“Some of them happened after you left.” Grant gave her a sympathetic glance.
“Yeah, figures. Anyway, my mother… she’d bring home different guys all the time. Some of them got a little handsy. And finally, when I was fourteen, there was this one guy who she really liked, because he had a job and everything. One night, he flat-out tried to rip my clothes off when she was passed out drunk, and I actually had to shift and bite his ankle to get away from him.” A growl rumbled up from Blake’s throat. “And the worst thing was, when she sobered up, she slapped my face and accused me of leading him on and trying to steal him from her. I just had to get out of there.”
A cloud of anger enveloped him, so thick she could have chewed it. His face went hairy and he clenched his fists. “If I ever meet that person, I’ll tear their head off and play soccer with it.”
“Thank you, I think? He died from bad moonshine a few months later. But that’s very nice of you. And terrifying.”
But she smiled because she could feel the anger and protectiveness flowing from him, and it wrapped around her like a warm blanket, making her feel snuggly and safe.
Even if just a few minutes ago he’d admitted that he only wanted her for her body. Which was hurtful.
He rolled his shoulders and unclenched his fists. “But you weren’t living at home anymore when you left Flowering Dogwood. You’d been living with Dawnie Reed’s family for two years.”
They had surprisingly good intel, she had to admit. Then again, federal agencies were always sniffing around the Reeds, trying to dig up dirt on them. Trying to find some mud that would stick. That was near-impossible. She knew that better than anyone.
He looked at her intently.
“Yes.” She paused again, sniffing the air. If she were going to talk about what happened with the Reeds…
She hesitated.
“You were saying?”
“Quiet. Now we are being watched.”
He looked at her, puzzled. “I’ve got a wicked sense of smell, Krista. I don’t…”
She shook her head.
“I know, I don’t smell or hear anything either. This is… holler intuition. I can sense someone’s eyes on us. Might even be through a telescope. I just know.” She looked at him defensively. “I’m not crazy. Well, okay, you drive me crazy, but I’m not imagining things.
“I believe you. I mean, I also think you’re just legit crazy whether I’m here or not, but I believe you if you say someone’s watching us. That’s a problem. We’re supposed to be fated mates,” he murmured. “And we’re not acting like it. Maybe we should go into the tent so they can’t see us? Or, ah, we could fake a kiss like we did back at your office.”
“You think you’re getting your lips on me again after you just said that the attraction between us was only physical?” That still stung.
“I never said that!” he said indignantly. “I never said anything like that! You really are loony-tunes!”
“Oh, great! You think I’m crazy, and you only want me for my body!” She leaped to her feet, and he followed suit.
“I swear, you are hearing voices!” he was shouting with frustration now. “You need professional help!”
She turned to storm away, but he leaped in front of her. “You are not stomping off into the woods without me, woman!” She tried to dodge him, but he blocked her again.
“Caveman!” she yelled.
“Nutcase!”
She tried to shove him again, but she tripped and fell into his arms.
“Clumsy nutcase,” he added.
Then the next thing she knew, his lips brushed against hers.
“But you’re my clumsy, crazy nutcase.” And then he claimed her mouth with a kiss so hungry and passionate that her eyes rolled back in her head and all rational thought vanished from her mind.
Chapter Eleven
He pulled her against him, pressing her into his body, and she let out a gasp, desperately sucking in oxygen.
The fire in those tawny eyes stirred a heat in her belly that she didn’t want to put out.
She wanted this. She needed this. Every part of her cried out in hunger.
She moaned against his mouth, not fighting it anymore. Surrendering to the sensation. She was utterly on fire. Her skin craved him; her hands yearned to touch. She pulled his shirt over his head, exulting in the feel of flesh under fingertips.
She nuzzled her face into the hollow between his shoulder and throat, inhaling his scent. She could smell his need, his carnal cravings—and he did crave her, just as much as she craved him. That much hadn’t been a lie.
She should have felt vulnerable. She’d never thought she was beautiful, never felt at home in her own skin. But the way he devoured her with those eyes made her feel like she was the most desirable woman in the world.
Somehow, they tumbled to the ground; she barely noticed the fall, and he cushioned it for her so she landed on top of him. He quickly rolled and flipped her so she was underneath him again, pressed into the soft, damp, mossy ground.
“Mine,” he repeated with a growl, and then kissed her neck, gently nipping at the soft skin. Warmth flowed through her body, and a pulsing need throbbed between her legs.
His hands tore at her shirt as he kissed his way down her neck, searing her with his kisses. He nipped at the sensitive juncture of her neck and shoulder, wrenching a whimper of arousal
from deep inside her.
“Say it,” he urged her in a throaty rumble. “Whose are you?”
“Yours?” she gasped.
He nipped harder, making her yelp. “Not a question.”
“But I…” she protested faintly.
He ripped her shirt open from top to bottom, still hungrily kissing and suckling, moving along her shoulder now.
“Belong to me.” He finished her sentence for her, as he quickly unhooked her bra in the front, freeing her breasts.
“We…” she tried to protest. He bent down and suckled on a ruby tip, the heat of his mouth searing her sensitive flesh, and she moaned aloud. “We barely know… oh, God… know each other…”
He released her breast and slid into place so his hard cock pressed against the ‘V' between her legs. She eagerly reached down to unbutton her pants, but he grabbed her wrists in one swift motion and held them in place over her head.
“This. This thing we feel. We’ve felt it for weeks, ever since the first night I laid eyes on you. Before then, even, because I felt something pulling me towards you. I dream about you at night. Do you dream about me?”
“Clothes,” she groaned, struggling to pull her hands free. “Too many of them.” But he didn’t budge, just stared down into her eyes, his amber gaze burning into her.
“Yes, I dream about you!” She yelled the words out, then winced at the loudness. He was driving her crazy. She needed him inside her now.
“Fated mates are real. It’s a thing. You’re my thing. Not my thing! My mate. Jesus, I can’t really… really can’t think straight when I’m with you.”
“What does that mean to you? Me being your fated mate? Let me go!” she added, writhing underneath him. The friction of his cock rubbing against her when she moved made her want to yip with frustration.
Blackmailed By The Wolf (Shifters, Inc. Book 6) Page 8