Lone Star Lycan

by Regina Carlysle

  The wolf whimpered, making Quinn smile.

  Until now, she hadn’t realized how lonely she’d been over the past few days. Basically she’d been ignored and left to her own devices. “You gonna keep me company?”

  She stood and looked down at him suddenly grateful for the company. Turning away she went into the bathroom and turned on the faucet in the big tub. She’d made herself right at home since arriving. Her makeup bag, a hairbrush, toothpaste and all her other little things were arranged neatly on the doublewide bathroom sink. While the tub filled, she took down her ponytail and ran a brush through her hair several times before heading back into the bedroom.

  The wolf was still there, watching her. Comfort stole through her and she sighed. “Mm. Glad you’re keeping me company. Guess Joe’s got better things to do now that he’s already fucked me stupid on his desk.” She blew out a breath and went to the mirrored dresser. Pulling out an oversized Texas Tech Red Raiders football jersey, she set it aside and drew the flimsy tank over her head then reached for the bra snap between her breasts. When the lingerie drifted down her arms and she set it on the dresser, the wolf whined. Quinn turned, smiling at him and pushed her shorts and panties down her legs. Catching the garments with one foot, she kicked them away. “What, wolf? You’ve never seen a striptease before?” she laughed. “Very sexy, huh?”

  Turning back to the mirror, she took her breasts in her hands, thumbing the nipples into sharp little peaks. “Wonder what he’d think if he saw me like this, boy? Not very skinny, huh? I never was built like the other girls.” Quinn sent her hands down her torso and settled one on the slight bump of her tummy. “Little fuller, maybe. I’ve never worried about stuff like that before but I’m sure thinking about it now.”

  Behind her, the wolf growled low and deep causing her to look back over her shoulder. She smiled. “Hey! What’s up with you?”

  Quinn bent and stroked her hand over the wolf’s head before heading into the bathroom to turn off the water. She’d left her cell phone on the bathroom counter and it rang just as she dipped a toe in the warm water. “Damn.”

  She checked the number and smiled before answering. “Hey, Graham. What’s up?”

  “Haven’t talked with you in a few days. Thought I’d give you a call.”

  “I was just getting into the bath. Let me put you on speaker.”

  Quinn pressed the speaker button and set the phone safely away from the tub before stepping into the water and sinking down with a sigh. “Ah, that’s better. What’s up, sugar?” The wolf sat on the floor beside the tub, watching.

  “Been missing you. You still want me to come up next week?”

  She sighed and leaned her head back against the tub but reached down with a wet hand. The wolf promptly ran his long tongue over it making her smile. “No, um, I don’t think so, Graham. Something happened to me here and this might not be the best time.”

  “Oh yeah? What’s up? You sound funny.”

  “Probably just sound confused.”

  “Confused? You’ve never been confused a day in your life. You’re the most take-charge woman I know.”

  “Ha. You give me too much credit. No, I’ve gotten myself in a little mess here.” She heard the sounds of Graham’s television in the background and pictured him sprawled on his couch with a bottle of beer in his hand.

  “What happened?”

  “Remember me telling you about the ranch foreman? Joe?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well I did something that’s probably really stupid but, I swear, it didn’t feel stupid at the time,” she said, sitting up in the water to reach for a bottle of liquid soap and a sponge. “We had sex.”

  She heard Graham laugh. “Is that all?”

  “No, that’s not all. It was the best sex I’ve ever had and that includes you. It was so good and so raunchy, I thought my head was gonna explode.” From the side of the tub, the wolf growled and Quinn frowned at him. “Thing is, it was impulsive and that’s not like me. I’m not an impulsive woman but things just went kind of crazy and suddenly we were fucking on this big desk. Damn, Graham. It was so good.” She heard silence on the other end and went quiet too, before she finally spoke again. “Hey, I have to ask you something. You’ll think it’s dumb but do you believe in love at first sight?”

  “No, I don’t, Quinn but it’s pretty obvious to me you’re fixated on this guy.”

  “Hm. Fixated. Yeah, I guess I am. Thing is, since it happened, he’s avoided me. Maybe he was disappointed but I would’ve sworn he was as blown away as I was.”

  “Be careful, honey,” Graham said.

  “Oh, I will. Still have a lot to figure out but I really like this place. It’s mine and I’m not ready to leave it yet. Maybe never.”

  Graham’s voice lowered. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come to you?”

  The wolf growled louder and Quinn swore the animal bristled as if in outrage. He snapped and snarled, making her gasp and then he lunged for the cell phone sitting on the ledge of the tub.

  “Hey!”

  The wolf tossed his massive head and the phone smashed into the wall, landing in a nearby wastebasket. She rose naked from the bath and he snarled. “What the hell? You’d better not have broken my phone! Damn it!”

  The beast backed to the door of the bathroom and looked at her, his body tense and suddenly still. He snapped once then turned and ran from the room leaving Quinn bewildered. Shakily, she reached for the towel and retrieved the phone. By the time she’d disconnected from Graham and dried her wet body, she was feeling calmer but then she wondered about the wolf and what had set him off that way.

  Dumb.

  She felt his loss and wondered at it. Silly. She was just feeling lonely and confused. But her confusion grew to immense proportions when she glanced across the room at the balcony door. Quinn sucked in a startled breath and held it. The wolf was gone and the door was still shut. How had the wolf left the room? Oh my god! What the hell was going on?

  By the time she crawled between the cool, crisp linens of her bed, she was more restless than ever before. There was a mystery here in this desolate place and she wasn’t the kind of woman who liked unanswered questions. Maybe the appearance of the wolf had amplified everything for her but now she wondered about what had happened with Joe that day and where he was. He’d been almost savage with the way he’d taken her. Possessive even. And there was the confrontation with Selena and all those men, eyeing her in that weird predatory way. Things had been said that she didn’t understand. This place brought her senses alive and an intuition had been born inside her from the moment she’d spotted Joe at her father’s graveside.

  Quinn knew what she had to do. She had to find answers and starting tomorrow she would stop hiding out. Maybe it was time to face Joe and talk with others who lived here. It was obvious they all knew something she didn’t and she’d always believed knowledge was power. Well, she was damn sick of being in the dark.

  Once the decision was made, she closed her eyes as weariness settled over her like a cozy blanket. Tomorrow was soon enough to find out what the hell was going on around here.

  * * * * *

  Joe shifted as he ran. Anger, along with a healthy dose of over-the-top lust, rode him hard. He’d never experienced such a feeling in his entire life! Frustration, pain, passion. Violent reaction ripped through him as he remembered the desire in the other man’s voice. God help the man if he had the balls to show up here. He didn’t know who he was messing with. Eating up the distance to his house with long strides, he fumed and then he recalled the way she’d looked standing in front of that fucking mirror without a stitch on. When she’d taken her plump nipples between her fingers and played with them, he’d almost shifted then and there. Damn! It was too soon. Joe had wanted to place his lips along her sweet belly and then nip the spot with his teeth before moving lower to taste her deeply. His cock throbbed and grew thick. How could she ever in a million years think he’d prefer a skinny wom
an? He hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her since the moment she’d stepped from her car that day at the cemetery.

  Something had to give. Quinn had no idea that she was half wolf. She didn’t know that she was his destined mate and the queen of their pack. Once he got past his anger, he knew he’d have to tell her and he dreaded it. She would be confused. Damn it, she might even cry. What would he do then? He didn’t want to cause her any pain but he knew it was coming faster than a runaway train.

  He’d never known a female who turned him on more. She was the kind of woman a man like him dreamed of, wished for. To think she was here, at the ranch and all too real was a miracle to him. Tomorrow he’d make his move, ease her into the truth of her place here at the ranch and in his life.

  Joe had almost made it to his front door when a large black wolf moved from the shadows. Recognition stopped him dead in his tracks as Selena shifted and stood naked to glare at him. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you out with the others?”

  Brazenly, she looked him over slowly pausing at the erection that rose high over his belly. Selena licked her lips then caught his gaze. “Why aren’t you?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business but I had other things to do.”

  She laughed huskily. “Well, I know you haven’t been fucking that blonde, querido. That’s fairly obvious.”

  Joe moved close, scenting her lust. Some things never changed. “Move out of my way. Now.”

  The smirk left her lips and her voice lowered. “Let me make you feel better, Joe. Please.”

  “Begging doesn’t suit you, Selena. Go back to the hunt and leave me alone.” Joe stepped around her and continued on, finally turning back. Selena looked like a dejected child and he almost felt sorry for her. He forced himself to soften his voice. “She is my mate, Selena.”

  The she-wolf gasped, her eyes widened. “No. It can’t be.”

  “Believe it. She can feel my emotions and I feel hers too. You know what that means with our kind.”

  “A true mating.”

  Joe nodded. “Whether you like it or not, you have to accept it. Quinn is my lupa and you will show her respect.”

  Selena recovered from her shock and anger took its place. Her dark eyes fairly snapped with outrage. “Never,” she spat. “I’ll never give my allegiance to that woman.”

  Joe stared her down. “You will or you’ll leave. Got that?”

  She opened her mouth to speak but then seemed to think better of it. Immediately she shifted back into her wolf form and ran toward the sounds of the hunt.

  Dragging in a deep breath to calm himself, he went through his front door and then leaned against it. Bart had told him many times over the past one hundred years that ruling was a bitch and he was right about that. But he’d also told Joe that he was a born leader, an alpha through and through and that he could take charge when the time came. Only a few days into this mess and he was already sick of it. Maybe once Quinn became accustomed to what she was and learned to accept it, she could help him with these responsibilities. She was a tough woman.

  But she was also soft.

  With a low groan, Joe walked to his living room couch and flopped down. He reached for the lamp on the end table and switched it on. Soft light bathed the room. He sighed and leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Yeah, soft. Quinn was all woman. Real and infinitely loveable. Fuckable. He’d only known her a few days but the connection between them was strong.

  Joe reached down and took his aching cock in one fist. Slowly he moved his fist up and down, squeezing, flexing. He dragged his thumb over the fat end of it, feeling the moisture that beaded there. Pitiful. Sitting here alone, jerking off, while the woman he wanted was a heartbeat away. And what a woman she was too. Seeing those lush curves tonight made him want to howl his need for her. Her hips were full. Some might say she had a plump ass but damn if he didn’t love plump. He was a big man, way bigger than most and she was perfect for him. Her legs were long and shapely, her breasts full enough to almost overflow his hands. She dipped and curved in all the right places. He wanted to sink his fingers into her thick, pale hair and devour those lush lips, drink her every sigh, drive his cock into her pussy until she begged for release.

  Joe closed his eyes and slowly pumped his shaft as he imagined Quinn’s hands there, working him. In the distance, he heard the howls of the pack, knowing he should be with them but he didn’t have the hunger for it. Until he had his mate in his bed, that’s the way it was gonna be.

  Chapter Five

  Several mornings later, Quinn sat at the table in the enormous ranch kitchen, nursing her second cup of coffee. It had become a ritual of sorts, to run into Selena as the other woman prepared heaps of eggs, bacon and homemade biscuits. The scent of breakfast was heavy in the air and already most of the men had stopped by to shovel down plates of food and gulp cups of hot coffee. Selena had already loaded the dishwasher and flounced from the house, and Quinn knew she wouldn’t return until sometime before the noon meal. Thank God! The surly woman was wearing on her last nerve with her cutting looks. Negative energy snapped in the air whenever Selena was around.

  Now, blissfully alone with her thoughts, she took up her cell phone and punched out a familiar number. “Darcy? Hey, it’s Quinn. How’s everything going at the shop? Any problems?”

  “Hey! How’s it going in no-man’s-land?”

  “Mm. Okay, I guess. Heading into town today to sign some papers at the lawyer’s office.” Quinn sighed. “I’m ready to get home, I think. I mean, I like it here. For such a barren place there’s something so beautiful and rugged about it but…well, I don’t know how to say this but I’m lonely.”

  “Are they being mean to you, honey? You want me to come out there and kick some cowboy butt?”

  Quinn laughed picturing the petite brunette with her “dukes up”. “Nah, that won’t be necessary. I’ll be out of here soon enough. How’s business?”

  On the other end of the phone, she heard her friend and employee sigh. “Slow. Really slow. I’m sorry but I think we only had three sales all day yesterday and they were just small items.”

  Quinn’s little gift shop was on shaky ground and she knew it. The bad economy had hit her small town like a sledgehammer. People were leaving the area to find higher paying jobs in cities like Dallas or San Antonio. If she had a lick of sense, she would do the same. Standing, she carried her empty cup to the sink and then braced her forearm on it. This morning she had her hair pulled back with a big clip but some came undone to fall in her eyes. She pushed it back, surprised to see her fingers were trembling. “I’m going to have to think of closing up, Darcy.”

  “I’m sorry, hon.” Sympathy laced Darcy’s voice. “Maybe Christmas will pull us through.”

  Quinn shook her head. “Maybe but I doubt it.”

  Suddenly the air in the room changed. A chill prickled over her skin. She glanced up to see Joe filling the space in the doorway. He wore a pair of worn jeans that hugged his hips. A black tee shirt was tucked into the waistband and he clutched a battered cowboy hat in one huge fist. Releasing her breath, she ended the call and straightened. “Mornin’, Joe.”

  “You’re upset.”

  “A little. Nothing for you to worry about.”

  “Tell me what’s wrong and I’ll try to fix it.” He moved further into the room, dominating it with his presence. “Did one of the men say something? Selena?”

  She shook her head and dragged her gaze from the sudden anger in his eyes. Needing something to do with her hands, wanting to look away, she reached into a cupboard and took down a mug. “Coffee?”

  “Trying to change the subject, Quinn?” He sighed. “Okay. Coffee would be good. Black.”

  As she poured coffee into the mug, she heard the sound of his boots on the floor and the scrape of a chair.

  “The men have been polite but they’re not really a talkative bunch are they? They’re downright primitive. And Selena? She’s just Selena. I try to stay
out of her way.” She laughed a little to hide her nervousness and turned to see him seated at the table, his elbows propped on it. Morning sunlight streamed through the kitchen window to catch the golden streaks in his brown hair. The sudden urge to run her fingers through the messy length caught her by surprise. She set the mug in front of him on the table but when she started to move her hand away, he caught it with his own.

  “You know you can tell me what’s bothering you.”

  “Can I, Joe?” Anger whipped up hard and fast. “I’ve hardly seen you since that day in the office. I tend to avoid guys like you.”

  He scowled. “Guys like me?”

  Quinn crossed her arms over her chest and glared back. “Yeah. Guys who take advantage of a woman and screw her silly then ignore her as if she’s unimportant.”

  Joe opened his mouth then clamped it shut before raking his fingers through his hair. “Christ! Is that what you think?”

  “I’m right.”

  “You couldn’t be more wrong. Sit down, Quinn. Let me explain.”

  Eyeing him cautiously, she sat and looked at him. He reached out and took her hand and she tried to pull back to no avail. He leaned closer and something in his expression made her give up the fight.

  “I’m listening.”