“Well, good for you guys, but I can smell my brother’s scent, and he’s alive. And he didn’t do anything to your…people or species or whatever like you’re saying. He wouldn’t.”
Travis stood up and stared at her. Okay, the hormones might be messing with his head and, yes, he was tired, and he wasn’t handling this optimally, but… “LeAnn, you do know that you’re a Lycan, right?” Even if the naked thing hadn’t tipped him off, she smelled like a Lycan now that she was as aroused as he was. There was a wild aspect to the sweet musk she was putting off. It was making him insane. Knife or no knife…crazy or sane…he wanted to drag her back to bed with him.
She laughed, and for a moment, he was relieved…because of course she knew.
Then she shook her head and said, “No, I’m not.”
His mouth fell open.
What?
“And Ross isn’t dead.”
Chapter Two
Seriously, why did all the hot ones have to be freaking out of their minds? And wow, was he hot. It was just as well she’d gotten that kiss out of her system and gotten the hell out of there. Now she could have a rational conversation with the local sheriff. Well, rational on her end, anyway. She knew he was wrong—about so many things. All his crazy accusations had rattled around her brain last night keeping her awake. She blinked forcefully. There was not enough caffeine in the world for mornings like this and the man who’d just arrived.
LeAnn wrapped her fingers around her warm mug as she watched him get out of his truck and head toward Ross’s front door.
He is so wrong. She’d tell herself that every few minutes. LeAnn tilted her head, considering. Wrong in all the right ways.
Opening the door, she left the screen door shut between them as he approached. Mm-mm. Travis was worth watching. That sandy-blond hair of his had felt so good against her hand. And not once had those hazel eyes looked panicked despite the fact that he had a knife at his neck. It looked like she’d managed to nick him a bit. Oops.
He caught sight of her and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He was wary today. He shouldn’t be. With him being able to turn into a wolf, he really had the upper hand. He could tear right through this screen door.
She leaned casually against the doorframe and sipped from her mug.
“Are you feeling more reasonable today?” he asked. Hell, even his voice was sexy. He talked slowly, like he had all the time in the world for conversation…like it was a lazy morning and they’d woken up in bed together.
Blinking slowly, she shook her head to rid it of that image. She’d never gone zero to sixty with a guy like this. She wanted him—really wanted him—like attack-and-take-no-prisoners sort of want.
He took her head shake as an answer and muttered, “I didn’t figure so.”
“I can hear really well, too.” She had remarkable hearing, actually. She could hear crazy well.
“Of course you can—you’re a Lycan!”
Whatever. She’d have noticed if she turned into a wolf. Her brother apparently lucked out on the good genes. The wolf genes.
Travis must’ve decided she didn’t bite and took a tentative step up onto the porch. Hah! He was wrong again. She loved biting. She’d really love to bite him. Instead, she took another sip from her mug.
“How do you explain being naked at my house last night?” Travis tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.
He was adorable. It was a shame they were at cross-purposes here. She inhaled as his scent reached her. How could one man smell so much better than every other man on the planet?
Mm. It was too bad he was insane. “I sometimes run naked, and I ran to your place from here.” It was a bizarre exhibitionist side of her that surfaced occasionally. She cleared her throat and hid her heated cheeks behind her mug as she took another sip. One minute she was dressed and then the next she was looking down at her stark-naked limbs and wanting to scream that it had happened again. At least she’d been out in the wilderness this time.
He scowled. “Because you’re a damn wolf. Of course you run naked.”
“Whatever. Do you have any real news about my brother?”
“Just the same as last night.” He stared hard at her. “Your brother was a murdering bastard who is now dead.”
Hm. “I see you’re pouring on the charm this morning.”
“I tried to be nice and gentle with it last night, but you seem to need things blunt and with a hard edge, and even then you apparently won’t believe them.” He folded his arms.
“I’m not the one who thinks he’s dead when he’s clearly been around here.” She sniffed. “Can’t you smell him? He went from here to your place last night.”
“He’s lived here—of course his scent is around. That’s all it is. That’s all it can be.”
Typical. He didn’t even try to pick up Ross’s scent. Maybe it was just as well. It sounded like wolf-man had a bone to pick with her brother, anyway. She’d be on her own trying to find Ross—which was fine. It was how she preferred things. You couldn’t trust anyone but yourself. A lesson she’d learned and relearned.
“I tried to look you up. I couldn’t find any connection between you and Ross.”
She shrugged. “His dad didn’t acknowledge my mom…partly because he was still married at the time, and I was born right before Ross’s mom died. He never even told Ross about us. I got a hold of Ross about five years ago when my mom finally fessed up. I get the sense that she didn’t necessarily want to explain that she’d gotten freaky with a werewolf at one point in her life, let alone admit that he was married. Ross didn’t want to believe his dad had an affair and then wrote us off. Then we met, and he knew.”
They’d finally made progress two years ago when he came to visit. He’d talked about this girl he liked who didn’t seem to want him as more than a friend. LeAnn had been ditching out of a bad relationship. He’d helped her finally end that relationship. Helping her had seemed to help him. He needed to be needed. He was a good guy. He’d even said that she shouldn’t be with someone who didn’t treat her right. That she deserved to be treated right. There was no way he’d done what Travis said he had.
“What’s your last name?”
“It’s none of your damn business,” she said calmly as she took another sip. This was fun. It was only fun because her brother was alive, though.
“Maybe I’ll take you in for trespassing.”
“Maybe you’ll need to find my brother and ask him if I’m trespassing.”
He took a deep breath and then kept his eyes closed for an extra-long blink. When he met her eyes again, she could see the wolf in his eyes, and she had the feeling she was on a very short leash. Ironic. Since she wasn’t the one here more likely to be leashed. Well, maybe recreationally.
“So, what are you intending to do here?”
“Track down my brother and find out the truth of what’s going on.”
“Trust me, you don’t want to go down that road. It ends in a cabin surrounded by a lot of death that your brother caused.”
For an instant…just an instant…she doubted herself. She hadn’t spent as much time with her brother since that visit two years ago. The phone call last week was out of the blue. But this was Ross. Ross who’d taught her how to track on one of her trips to visit. Ross who’d beaten the tar out of her ex, Clayton, when he’d shown up and tried to hurt her. She only had a handful of memories of her brother, but they were all good.
And he was alive. His trail from here to Travis’s place was fresh. It couldn’t have been more than a few hours old. That was how she’d ended up on this man’s doorstep…and in his bed…and reading his mail. He was paying way too much for internet.
Travis cleared his throat. “Now, on to the other thing we need to talk about.”
She raised both her eyebrows at that. The other thing? He sounded the tiniest bit arrogant there.
He gave her a long look. It probably intimidated the idiot girls he was used to dealing with. He probably
dated pretty airheads. At least she knew he wasn’t married; the only other scent around his house had been another male’s in the guest bedroom. But she shouldn’t have kissed him. Even if he’d been irresistible. She was resisting him today just fine. Well, sure, her grip on the mug was a smidge tighter, and she fought the urge to shift around uncomfortably or run through the screen door, but she could fight her urges. She wasn’t an animal.
“What other thing?” she asked when he appeared to be waiting for it. She was going to be able to fight these urges for only so long. Hopefully he’d stay right where he was, too.
He gestured between them. “Us. We’ve scent-matched. It means we’re mates.”
So…she wasn’t expecting that. She stood there blinking stupidly. He’d said that. Mates. Her mouth opened and closed. It was insane. Sure, there was this primitive sort of connection between them—she didn’t just kiss anyone—but this pull…this brain-frying lust…it’d fade. They weren’t mates. “Does that line work often?”
“You know it’s not a line. You can feel it. That’s why you kissed me. It’s either that or you’re really…”
“Slutty?”
“I was going to say friendly.”
She shrugged. “I’d had a long flight. Plus, there’d been a bit of an adrenaline spike. I was wired.” Which explained last night. How are you justifying wanting to curl yourself around him today, LeAnn?
“Uh-huh.”
“You kissed me back.” It had to be said. She’d had his enthusiastic agreement there.
“That’s because I know we’re scent-matched and meant to be together.” The corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile. “Also, typically when a naked woman starts kissing me—there’s not a downside.”
Oh, there was a downside. They were up against it today. “Trust me, we’re not meant to be together. If you knew anything about me, you’d realize that.”
“It can’t be helped. We’re not going to scent-match with anyone else. It’s you and me—or no one. Once we’ve accepted the scent-match, we’re considered married by the pack.”
Married? Her eyes widened. She swallowed thickly and starting mentally preparing an exit strategy. Okay, deep breaths. Deep breaths. That was nuts. Married was tied down. Married was trapped. Guys cheated. Guys left you. Married was opening yourself up to having your heart ripped out. He had to be joking. “Have you noticed everything out of your mouth seems to be more and more ridiculous?”
“You can deny a lot of things, LeAnn, and believe me, you’re the last person I’d want to scent-match to, but this thing between us isn’t going away.”
The swift pain that followed that remark stole her breath for a moment. Not that she believed in soul mates or love at first sight, but she was the last person he’d want to be with? The last person? There was a whole world of people out there. She wasn’t that bad.
“Yeah, you’re really not charming, are you?” In fact, he’d just about charmed himself into a kick in the nads, and she wasn’t buying this scent-match crap. It was good that her anger was nixing this girlie need to cry…even if she still felt sick inside.
The last person. If he knew her, that’d be different. He could get in digs like that—he was the damn sheriff. But he didn’t even know her. What a bastard. She rounded her shoulders, tucking into a smaller target before she recognized she was doing it and stiffened her spine. No. No one tears me down like that. Not anymore.
He clenched his teeth. “I didn’t mean that the way it came out. I only meant that this isn’t something we can ignore and hope it fades. It won’t. And this whole thing with your brother puts us in an…awkward position.”
It wasn’t much of a recovery. Nothing was quite as romantic as him settling for her because he thought she smelled nice. Scent-match, my ass.
“I don’t feel anything for you,” she lied. In her lifetime of lies, this was a small one, and it was all about self-preservation. She wasn’t about to show weakness. She’d been weak for a guy before. Never again.
“Yes. You do.” He took a step closer.
“No. I don’t.”
“You can’t resist me.” He took another step toward her.
She sipped from her mug. Hm. It seemed like she could. Today. Which was especially good since she was the last person he wanted to be with. Last night, resisting him had been impossible. When he was all warm and drowsy in a room that smelled like him. Her grip tightened again. Okay, she had to steer clear of the local sheriff and then get out of here as fast as she could.
He started unbuttoning his shirt.
Her eyebrows shot up, and her mouth went dry. Oh wow. It was like he’d peeked inside her head.
He kept going.
“What are you doing?” Hopefully he couldn’t hear the panic in her voice. She’d smothered it pretty well, but…holy hell, he had a nice chest.
His uniform’s shirt and undershirt hit the front porch.
Oh, his abs were about the best she’d seen. Where was a bucket of ice when she needed it? It felt like she was running a fever. A fever for the local sheriff. This was so not good.
Unlacing his shoes, he shoved one off and then the other. His hands went to his pants.
Whoa. “Uhh, seriously, what are you doing?”
“Proving to you that you won’t be able to resist my scent and this whole thing is futile.” And off went the pants.
She felt light-headed, and her knees went weak. It was too much. She huffed out a breath. Okay, no. He wanted to play dirty. They could play dirty.
She went to get her phone. He wasn’t kidding…he smelled amazing…and he had on paisley boxers…or he had. They were off, too.
Her brother had a few numbers and business cards on the fridge, including one she’d memorized and dialed now as he was taking off his socks.
She really shouldn’t breathe. Her eyes kept wanting to roll back in her head while she moaned. He was…wow…but she could resist. For a very short window of time. A window that was shrinking.
“Hello. Sheriff’s department. How can I help you?” a woman’s sweet voice answered on the phone.
“Yeah, my name is LeAnn, and I have a naked man on my front porch claiming to be your sheriff.”
“You do?”
Yes, she did, and he was standing there as naked as the day he was born, and he was right—he was irresistible. Her grip on the phone and the mug were near shattering them.
“Are you sure?” the woman asked.
“Yes, would you like a description?”
“Um. Maybe. I don’t know. Are you sure it’s Sheriff Flynn?”
Travis had his arms folded and was shaking his head back and forth. He also seemed to be fighting a smile. He’d asked for this.
“Well, let’s see, shall we? He’s well-built.” It was hard not to inflate his ego while still being honest. “Looks like he lifts free weights. Definitely a runner. Nice ass. Real six-pack abs. He’s got the whole…uhh…package. Oh, also, he’s got a sweet tattoo. I don’t know how you feel about tattoos, but this is some sexy ink. Looks like an R, but also a wolf.” It figured a Lycan would have a wolf tattoo.
Grinning, Travis bent down and grabbed his clothes…and not a moment too soon. She was seconds from tossing the phone and the mug and jumping through the screen door.
“Hm, looks like he’s getting dressed again. Never mind.”
“Did you want to file a complaint?”
“Oh, there’s definitely nothing to complain about.” Well, it was a shame he was getting dressed, but it was really just as well.
“Are you sure it’s our sheriff?” The poor woman sounded halfway between scandalized and titillated.
“Yep. He’ll be a little late getting in to work,” LeAnn said, hanging up.
“This isn’t going away,” Travis said as he buttoned his pants.
“I don’t know. A cold shower. Maybe a nice, long run. That should make it go away.”
He laughed outright. Then he settled a somber gaze on her. “I�
�m serious, LeAnn. You and me were meant to be together. First, you accept the scent-match and the fact that your brother was not the man you thought he was. Then we can start figuring out our future together.” He’d ticked them off on his fingers like he had a mental list going.
How clinical he sounded about it. First, recognize that I’m the new god of your world and your only family was a genocidal maniac. Second, we have sex. No, “have sex” still sounded too casual. Procreate. No. Participate in sexual congress with an aim of reproduction. Something like that.
“And if I don’t?”
He shook his head again. “The pack will accept you. You can stay here. We protect our own. We may not be your brother, but we can be your new family.”
She held back a sigh at his words so he wouldn’t guess that this was the most seductive moment yet. But a sheriff with her? No. Hell no. Besides, as he’d said, she was the last person he wanted to be with, and he didn’t know how right he was. She’d find her brother and the truth—then she’d get the hell out of here.
“I won’t accept them,” she said. It was for the best. She really wasn’t the right person for him. He hadn’t needed to say it out loud, but it was still the truth.
The stark…naked…truth. Damn, it was a shame he’d put his clothes back on. Her knuckles were white where she was gripping the phone and her mug. If he stayed here much longer, she’d turn into an animal—which she never did, despite what he thought. LeAnn clenched her teeth.
How did he manage to smell like sex without smelling like sex? He smelled like raw, savage passion. Like going at it under the sun in the middle of a field. Or stripping down in the backseat of a car because there was no way you were making it all the way home. Travis Flynn smelled like your best time about to happen—when everything turned white behind your eyelids and a scream caught in your throat. That was him—all wrapped up in muscles and now in a uniform. And this bad, bad girl had always had a thing for a guy in a uniform.
He scowled and turned away.
Crazy Over You Page 2