by Jayne Ripley
Luke grunted. He wished Cindy had called him or one of the other pack males. He’d have found out exactly what the stalker had been up to. One way or another. When he spoke, his words came out more growly than necessary. “So you think there’s a connection?”
Detective Carpenter shrugged. “Could be. My job to find out.” He looked at Chief Smith. “I’d like to talk to some of your pack.” He held up his hands in a placating gesture when the chief scowled. “Nothing aggressive, mind you. Just a chat, see if any of them have been bothered or have witnessed anything a bit off. Any little memory might help.”
Luke could sense that his alpha didn’t like it, letting a bear shifter talk to the people he was responsible for. Then again, Carpenter was an officer of the law, and if he could catch the man who had burned down Cindy’s house then that would make the entire town safer, even if ResCo Pack preferred to handle its own business.
“All right,” the chief replied. “We have a big barbecue planned for Sunday afternoon at D.W.’s place. The whole pack should be there. Swing on by if you like.”
“Thank you. I’ll keep it as discreet as possible. Now I’m going to head on over and follow up with Cindy again and see if she’s recalled any other detail.” He nodded a good-bye, headed back to his sedan and left.
The chief pulled out his cell phone. “I’m going to make sure Cindy has the full protection of the pack, twenty-four seven.” He looked at Luke and his face was grim. “Start spreading the word.”
Luke nodded. He was furious that someone would attack a member of his pack by burning down her home. All he could think of was the two women in his life—his sister and now Gabriela. Maybe that was possessive of him, but dammit, he was worried.
He only hoped he was being over-protective and that there was no real threat to either of them.
* * *
Gabriela was herding goats. No, scratch that. She was trying to herd goats. You’d think it would be easier to get them to move, being a werewolf and at the top of the food chain. But they only made goat noises at her and blinked their strange eyes. When she tried to get them back inside the pen from where Nicole had released them to graze, they broke in every direction but the one she wanted.
Nicole found the whole thing hilarious. She sat on the fence, sipping an ice tea and giving free words of encouragement. The encouragement didn’t help.
“You’d think they’d be scared of a predator like me,” Gabriela said after the third straight time a gray-and-black mama goat had scampered away from the pen’s gate and circled off toward the trees. Gabriela blew her hair out of her face in frustration.
“No, they know we love them. A happy goat makes good cheese.”
“Unconditional love makes for defiant livestock,” Gabriela shot back.
Nicole laughed. “What do you know about livestock, Philly girl?”
Gabriela grinned and opened her mouth for a witty retort, but then she spotted Luke coming through the back door and heading toward them. He wore casual clothes—jeans that made her body go unf, and a shirt that did wonderful things for his muscular physique. But he also seemed alert and tense, almost aggressive. He scanned the yard and the tree line and then scented the air. Then he finally seemed to relax a little. The smile he threw her way made her warm from the center outward.
“Looks like you’re having a bit of trouble with the farm animals,” he called.
“You’re wrong. I got these goats right where I want them.”
“So, in other words, you’ve ‘got their goats.’”
Nicole groaned at her brother’s horrible joke and hopped down from the fence. “That sorry attempt at humor was so terrible that I’m heading back inside. You two have fun rounding up the herd. I’ll be lounging in my whirlpool bathtub if you need me.” She grinned. “And you don’t need me.”
“Not fair,” Gabriela called, but Nicole only waved and headed into the house.
“Mind if I help?” Luke said after the screen door had banged shut. “I’m an expert.”
She placed her hands on her hips. “You saying I suck at goat herding, mano?”
“Nothing wrong with sucking.”
His words sent a thrill of desire tingling through her from her pussy up her spine right to her brain. She gave him a closer look, a faint smile lingering on her lips. Was that a double entendre? Or was she only being horny?
“What about swallowing?” The words popped out of her mouth before she could think twice. And she didn’t even blush. What a shameless vixen she’d turned into, with this man around to inspire her.
His grin was feral. He moved toward her, crossing the lawn with easy strides, powerful but strangely graceful, moving in such a masculine way that it had her panties damp. His nostrils flared as he drew closer, and she knew he could scent her arousal. That turned her on even more. What really had her knees weak though was the hard outline of his cock pressing against the crotch of his jeans.
He was not abashed in the least. In fact, his pupils were dilated, and the overwhelming male scent of him flooded her senses, leaving her head spinning. He slipped his hands around her waist, watching her with those intense blue eyes, and slowly—giving her plenty of time to break free—leaned down to kiss her.
As if she would ever break free.
As if he hadn’t owned her from the second he’d run out of the fire station to help her.
The kiss was divine. His lips, warm, delectable, touching her mouth, first gently, testing her. And then with more passion. Claiming her mouth. He pulled her against him. Part of her mind was aware of his hard cock pressing against her. Another part of her mind was aware that her nipples had gone hard and tight and her pussy was achingly wet. The rest of her mind simply gave up and lost itself in the kiss.
When he finally broke the kiss, she felt disappointed, as if he’d ended a connection with her, an electrical circuit that was only complete when they’d been touching. Her lips were tingling, her body humming with need. She slowly opened her eyes. He was gazing at her, and the heat in his eyes practically melted her right there.
“I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you,” Luke said. He traced a line along her jaw. “I hope you don’t think I’m too forward.”
She shuddered with delight and sighed. “I don’t, but the goats probably do.”
“Good thing I don’t listen to farm animals for my romantic advice.”
“Speaking of which, maybe you can help me get these goats back in the pen before we get caught up in…something else. Because your sister seems to think I can herd them on my own, and from what I’ve seen, she’s crazy.”
“She is crazy. But I’d be glad to help solve this problem.” He went over to the nearest goat, grabbed it around the middle and heaved it off the ground. The goat made an outraged “baaah!” noise as he hauled it into the pen and gently and safely set it down again. The goat immediately ran for the open pen gate, but Luke out-raced it and shut the pen.
“That’s cheating,” Gabriela said, folding her arms and glaring at him.
“I didn’t know there were goat-herding rules,” he replied as he caught another goat and deposited it inside the pen. In a few minutes he had them all penned up again. The goats ran around the fence-line, trying to find another way out and making angry goatish noises. “Guess I’m not popular with the goat-crowd anymore.”
“You can’t be a hero to everybody. I’m sure cats still love you.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you kidding? Ever see how a treed cat responds to a werewolf firefighter trying to rescue it? Not pretty. I got scars, I tell you. Scars.”
She laughed and took his hand. “Thanks again for helping me out. You and Nicole have been great.”
“My pleasure. Oh, and I towed your car to my place so I can work on it. No promises, but if I can’t fix it myself, I know a good mechanic. We’ll get it back on the road again, one way or another.”
“Did you pay to have it towed?” She hoped she didn’t sound alarmed. But
she’d only been in town for a little while and had only just begun her job hunt. An unexpected tow fee would set her back and cut into the money she’d wanted to chip in to Nicole for groceries and utilities and whatever.
“Nah, I have a trailer. Me and some of the guys loaded it up. Not a big deal. Haven’t had a chance to dig into it yet, but I’ll let you know what kind of damages you’re looking at.”
“I…I don’t know what to—I mean thank you.” Her heart was beating fast. The gesture had touched her, in a very different way than he had with his lips. The feelings whirling around in her brain were too many and too confused to make sense of right then. She only prayed she didn’t fall for this incredible man too fast. If she fell in love with him and he didn’t feel the same, hot kiss or no, it would crush her.
He smiled and shrugged as if the whole thing were no big deal. She wanted to kiss him again, but she wasn’t sure how he’d react—if he’d think she was only doing so as a thank you for helping her—so she held herself in check…and hated herself a little for it.
“What do you say we head inside?” he asked. “I could use a beer.”
“Me too. Those goats really took it out of me. How was your day?”
He looked away from her and shook his head. “Long. There was a fire last night. Lost most of the house. We were still watching for flare ups this morning.”
“Oh my God. How horrible! Was anyone hurt?”
“Luckily, no. But it could’ve been bad.” He seemed as though he wanted to say something else, but he kept quiet.
She wasn’t going to pursue it. He’d either feel comfortable telling her the details or he wouldn’t. She understood either way.
He took her hand. She nearly jumped at the connection between them, so strong it was like an electric shock. Their wolves reacted to one another on a primal level, in a different way than when they’d kissed. His touch was less intimate, but in a way even more possessive. Without her human lust and reactions dominating her brain as she’d kissed him, her wolf was free to react to his. And damn, what a connection. So powerful she almost pulled away, because she was momentarily afraid of what that part of her felt for him. Belonging. Desire. The mate. The one.
Get a grip, chica, she warned herself, even though her heart was pounding fast and her blood rushing through her veins and her skin felt as if it were on fire. Put a leash on that nonsense. Part of her mind wondered if not getting laid often enough led to some kind of madness like this—where your wolf latched on to the nearest strong male and dug her metaphorical teeth in.
Luke smiled at her. That smile simultaneously dampened the tension but stoked her lust. She did love how his smile lit up those piercing eyes of his.
“How about we grab two cold beers and take a walk?” he suggested. “I could use some peace and quiet. Some nature time.”
Her grin was wicked. “You sure you just don’t want to get me lost in the forest so you can have me all to yourself?”
“First off, hell yes I want you all to myself. Second, if you get lost in that forest, you’ve been in the city for way too long.” He drew her hand to his lips and kissed it. She gasped in breath at the delightful touch of his lips against her. The gesture was courtly and formal. It should’ve made her laugh. Instead it turned her insides to a hundred fluttering butterflies. Her neck and face felt hot, and she was glad her darker skin tone would hide any blush. The way he looked at her…that intensity, that possessiveness, it lit her body up.
She managed to recover quickly though. “I don’t want a walk. I want to run.”
He grinned, and she suspected the desire in his eyes was for something besides a nature walk or a beer.
Then, without a word, he started to pull off his clothing.
* * *
Luke let loose with a joyful howl. He couldn’t help it. His wolf was having the time of his life. He was with a female, his female, and he was running free through the forest. No worries. No stress. Simply the pleasure of the run.
He leaped over a tree trunk that had fallen across the deer run they were following. Gabriela took the opportunity to speed past him with a playful nip at his flank.
They followed the deer run up into the hills, along Blueback Ridge where they stopped to look down on the entire town of Cadillac Falls spread out below them. Then they were off again. Running. Racing. Dodging through the trees. He loved the clean air out here. The thousands of scents of the trees and the moss and the ferns, the deer and raccoons and squirrels that fled from them as they raced through the forest. They were lucky his wolf was in no mood to hunt.
Finally they returned to his sister’s house. He shifted back into human form without hesitation. He had no qualms about being naked in front of Gabriela. Wild wolves didn’t have any shame, so why should he? Besides, he was proud of his body. If she wanted to look, let her have fun. But as much as he wanted to watch her shift back to human and admire her lush, curvy body, he was a gentleman. Well, he wanted to appear to her as a gentleman anyway. The actual truth was, he didn’t think he could look at her naked body without getting a raging hard-on. He was almost certain she would take that as the compliment it was. Almost certain. Even though their wolves had a connection, and the two of them seemed to have clicked, their relationship hadn’t progressed past that first kiss. He was aware he might be overdoing it, rushing things—hell, she had to have felt his rock-hard cock pressing against her when he’d been kissing her. Still, that was different from ogling her naked body before they’d even finished an official first date.
He reached for his pants that were hanging in the hedges where he’d tossed them.
“I’m going to miss that view,” Gabriela said from behind him.
He couldn’t help it. He looked back over his shoulder.
Gabriela stood there completely naked, gazing at him with brazen heat in her eyes. Her skin was smooth, flawless. He could never have had the will power to stop his gaze from traveling down her body, lingering on her full breasts, following her curves to the patch of dark pubic hair between her thighs. What was even more of a turn on than her nakedness—though he was damn well getting stiff at the sight of her—was the wanton, shameless way she held herself. As if she knew what effect the sight of her would have on him.
As if she enjoyed it.
He groaned. “You are going to drive me mad. Do you torment all the wolves you run with like this?”
Her smile widened and her gaze dropped down to his cock, which was now fully erect and jutting from his body. “Only you.”
He could think of nothing but wrapping her in his arms, capturing her mouth, wrapping her scent around him and marking her with his own scent. Marking her so the world would know his claim to her. Then he would proceed to pin her against the nearest tree and fuck her senseless. He started toward her, intending to do all of that and more…but then a goat ran between them bleating loudly.
It vanished into the forest.
Pursued by his sister Nicole.
As she ran past them, she shielded her eyes as if she were a horse with blinders on. “I’m not looking! I’m not looking! Luke, would you get some clothes on for the sake of all that’s holy before I have to wash my brain with bleach? And help me catch my goat that you left loose!”
Fuck. This was definitely not the way he’d imagined his run with Gabriela would end. But when he glanced at Gabriela, he found she was covering her face and shaking as she tried to suppress her laughter. Finally she gave up and began laughing,
He couldn’t help it. He joined in too.
CHAPTER SIX
The next day, Gabriella went on a long walk into town, intending to explore a little and run some errands. She took side streets that wound their way toward the downtown area, choosing paths at random and humming along with the music on her mp3 player.
Luke was back on duty, so that ruled out any forest runs or any other tempting extracurricular activities. She could feel the sexual tension smoldering between them, and it was driving her
mad. Every time she was in the room with him, it was all she could do not to jump on top of him and start ripping his clothes off. She’d never experienced anything this intense before. Which made it all the more ironic that his work or other craziness kept getting in the way of a true out-on-the-town date between them. She did have the big barbecue on Sunday to look forward to. All the Rescue Company Pack would be there, along with friends and significant others. She was looking forward to meeting new people and possibly seeing some faces she recognized.
Walking had always relaxed her. She felt the last remnants of the crushing stress that had nearly broken her in Philly finally leave, melting away in the sunlight and the slight breeze that rustled through the pines and spruce trees. She waved to the people she saw. Most of them even waved and smiled back, although one lady driving a Lexus gave her a look so hot with contempt that it could’ve hard-boiled an egg. Gabriela didn’t let it bother her.
She was coming down the hilly sidewalk on Serrano Street when she crossed paths with Mrs. Fulsom, a kind woman who’d tried to teach her how to play the piano back when Gabriela had been a freshman. She was a shifter—a werewolf—but Gabriela couldn’t remember what pack she’d been with. Mrs. Fulsom was walking her dog. She had a Great Dane roughly the size of a refrigerator with what looked like a platinum collar around his neck. Surprisingly, Mrs. Fulsom recognized her right away.
“My stars, is that Gabriela back in Cadillac Falls!” she said, digging in her feet and trying to stop the Great Dane’s forward progress. Finally the Great Dane seemed to notice and halted, panting happily.
Gabriela stopped and smiled. “It is! How do you remember me from all those years ago?”
Mrs. Fulsom tapped her left temple and winked. “I have a photographic memory. Especially for names and faces. I tried to teach you music years ago. The piano, wasn’t it?”
“You got it. I was horrible. Still am.”