by Marie Fraser
“There’s a way to feel better.”
“Yeah?” she said, quirking up an eyebrow.
“Sure,” Alex smiled, his eyes giving away nothing. “But I’m not sure if it’ll get me a response other than a punch in the face maybe.”
“Oh,” Ava said. She bit her bottom lip, contemplating. “Then I promise, on our friendship, that I won’t punch you.”
“Alright,” Alex grinned. “Let’s see if this helps.”
Ava found herself hoisted onto the tailgate of the truck, Alex’s strong hands around her small waist. Immediately she put her hands on his shoulders, a chill going through her as she felt his muscles tense with the movement.
She had a moment to look into his eyes before she felt his mouth capture hers. Stars exploded behind her eyes and instantly she kissed him back. Surrender was a need and she gave to it with abandon. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and molded her body, as best she could, to his in invitation. She tasted the smoke on him and felt a rush of heat that had nothing to do with the fire they fought. She could feel his hands run up her back and then back down to cup her ass. Then she touched his face, feeling the strong line of his jaw, the small, almost unnoticeable cleft in his chin. He pulled back then, shattering the spell and leaving her woozy.
“Jesus,” he cursed. “Jesus, Ava.”
Ava couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Inside she was trembling and the animal inside her was raging to be set free. She didn’t trust herself to say anything, but it seemed that Alex had enough to say for the both of them. “This is going to sound crazy,” he said, looking into her eyes. She could see that he was serious, this wasn’t playful, joking Alex.
“Are you…are you capable of being something, someone else?”
“You mean, do I change into something other than myself?”
“Y…yeah.”
“Well I do have a tendency, once in a while, to be a bit of an animal.”
“You do?”
“If I was going to pick one,” she said, lowering her voice to a whisper, “I’d choose to be a wolf.”
“Really?” He said looking up and into beautiful, dark eyes.
“Really,” she said, grinning.
“I wouldn’t have guessed that,” he admitted.
“You expected me to pick like a unicorn or horse or something else girlie?”
“Maybe not a unicorn,” he chuckled. “But definitely not something as fierce as a wolf.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
“You didn’t,” he said, turning and walking back toward the fire line. She sighed and hopped off the truck, picking up the Pulaski and following him.
“You ever get the urge to be something you’re not?”
“No,” he said flatly. “But every once in a while I get the need to be a little feistier than my normal, cool and calm self.”
“So what would you be?”
“Same as you, a wolf. Although I actually know what mine would look like. I can feel him inside me.”
“Wow,” Ava said and those pretty eyes met his again. He saw the unasked questions there, but kept quiet. The less she knew about him, the better. Kissing her had been monumentally stupid and now that he’d done it, Alex knew the pain he’d suffer trying to pretend like he didn’t know what she tasted like.
There was a sweetness to her that seemed endless, but there was a fierceness inside her too, like that wolf she spoke of. It had thrilled him and now he had to pretend like he didn’t know what it felt like to touch her, to feel the yielding inside her that would have become surrender if he’d pressed his advantage. Chris he was an idiot sometimes. “That must be interesting when the interest peaks.”
“I have ways of dealing with it,” he said, turning away to swing his axe into a nearby tree. He ignored her until he heard her axe sink into a tree on the opposite side of the swath of trees they needed to clear. The fire was closer now. He could feel the wall of heat press against his back.
Chapter Three: Heat
Alex had to work hard to put Ava out of his mind. The endless monotony of swinging the axe helped some, as did the constant reminder that the fire pressed closer and closer with every hour. When he heard the others getting closer, he looked up to see where Ava was. Squinting as the smoke began to affect his vision, Alex saw her swinging away at a large tree that speared up into the sky. The tall cottonwood towered over Ava, who barely stood over five feet and already Alex could tell that it would fall wrong. The wind was starting to pick up and with the top succumbing to it, Ava didn’t stand a chance at it’s base.
“Ava!” Alex yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. She didn’t budge and again her axe came down. Knowing in his human form, he’d never get there in time, Alex took off at a run, his wolf emerging midstride and landing hard on four large paws as he continued toward his partner. His ears picked up everything as his eyes and nose were assaulted by the smells of smoke, heat and sweat. Another axe blow and then another as he ran to reach Ava. Looking ahead, he could see that she wasn’t far from felling the tree and if he was too late, it’d be too late for her.
Alex growled, spurring his legs to move faster. Then he started to howl, hoping his voice would reach her ahead of his body and still, he watched her. The tree, huge in front of him with its impending doom only a matter of swings away, taunted him as it swayed high in the air. Howling again, Alex begged his body to move even faster and just as he reached her, Alex saw Ava turn; saw the shock in her eyes as his body ran into her, knocking her clear of the tree that was coming down in the wrong direction. He heard her yell just as the first cracks of the tree letting go rang in his ears and just when it began to fall, Alex jumped clear of its path of destruction. Standing clear as the huge tree fell, Alex breathed in and out, his lungs taking in air as his tongue lolled out the side of his mouth. Panting, he tried to recover some semblance of normality as he came to realize that he can’t change back to Alex without turning into a buck-naked man. Not exactly the sort of impression he wanted to make on Ava, especially after earlier this afternoon.
“Easy, boy,” came her soft voice. Alex looked up at her now, her hand outstretched toward him. Smiling inside, he didn’t see why he couldn’t play with her a bit before disappearing to turn back and change into decent clothes.
Sticking his nose out, Alex waited for her hand to get closer before he licked it with his tongue. She didn’t even flinch and Alex had to admit that her steel spine was sort of sexy. So far she hadn’t been phased by anything that had happened. “It’s okay. That was some heroics back there.” Alex followed her outstretched arm to the tree that now lay twisted behind her.
He whimpered, sat on his hind legs and pawed the air in an attempt to get her distracted. If he could get her distracted for even a second, he could bound away, turn back to his human self and re-dress. Like typical Ava, however, she was tenacious in her curiosity as to where he came from and he had no way to tell her, human or not. Not to mention that whatever was going on between them was driving him crazy.
How in the hell was he supposed to do his job, including living with her in the damn wilderness, when he couldn’t even manage to put her out of his head for more than an hour or two? The more he tried, the harder it seemed to get. And it wasn’t like he could talk to their teammates about it. It was a cardinal rule, a damn sin, to date someone you worked with on the fire line. So why couldn’t he get her out of his head?
***
Ava watched the massive wolf with a hint of genuine curiosity. He’d saved her life and now he was just sitting there with his long tongue hanging out. He was friendly, for a wolf, certainly one as large as he was. But where the hell had he come from? She hadn’t seen any animals, scented any animals in this area. Certainly the fire would have warned them off, wouldn’t it? And where the hell was Alex?
“You alright?” Jasper Jansen asked, giving her shoulder a squeeze.
“Yeah,” she said. “Although I have no idea where Alex is and this…
wolf…is quite interesting.”
“Oh?”
“He saved my life. That tree was coming down wrong, but I didn’t notice until it was too late. If he hadn’t knocked me out of the way it would’ve come down on me.”
“Huh,” Jasper said. “Maybe Alex is the wolf.”
Ava looked up then, her eyes bright with curiosity and disbelief. Then she simply started laughing. “You’re a funny one, JJ.”
“What?” he said. “You don’t believe people can shift into something outside themselves?”
“No,” Ava said, lying through her teeth. “You do?”
“Sure,” he smiled. “Although I have to admit, it’s easier to believe when you can do it yourself.”
“You shift?”
“Wolf,” he said. “I’d show you, but then I’d end up naked and that’d ruin it for both of us I think.”
“You’re telling me, you shift into a wolf?”
“Why do you think we’re called the Lobo Crew? Alex brought us all together. When we all learned that we could shift, it was a natural fit to name us after the animal that we all become.”
Ava didn’t respond, but it certainly shed new light on the man Ava wanted. She’d come to that conclusion when Alex had kissed her, because never before had a man lit her up inside like that. True, she hadn’t given many men the chance, but with Alex, it was right. She wasn’t much for questioning things and she wasn’t about to start now. The fact that Alex could shift into the same animal as her was new and only heightened her interest.
Now that she was on a crew with all wolf shifters it really put a spin on things. Why hadn’t anyone spoke up before, Ava wondered. It was something she’d explore more when the fire was beyond burning any more foliage or reaching the homes that sat behind the forest line.
***
Alex figured now that the proverbial cat was out of the bag, there was really no point in running off to try and change back. He sauntered over to the truck, grabbed his pack from the back and swiftly changed back into a human. Staying in his wolf was fun, but almost always it sapped his energy like a leach. He was just zipping his jeans when he felt Ava behind him. Turning, he felt his belly quiver at the sight of her.
Soot smeared one cheek and across her forehead. She had a scratch near her jaw and damn if she didn’t look sexy. “You okay?”
“Thanks to you,” she said and Alex cleared his throat when her lips didn’t part in a smile. He was so used to seeing her that way, he forgot that she, like everyone else, had a serious side. “Although I’m very interested in the other you.”
“Sorry,” he said. “I don’t often come into contact with people who don’t know I’m a wolf shifter. And those who don’t know are usually people who aren’t in my circle of influence so it doesn’t matter.”
“And me?”
Alex knew it was sheepish and borderline avoidance, but he didn’t have much of an excuse, so he shrugged his shoulders. She turned away without another word and Alex cursed. What was it with women? At thirty-two, he still hadn’t learned anything about them that could be counted as a blanket statement.
***
Ava was livid and more to the point, she was deeply hurt. What could it cost them if there was no trust between them? Theirs wasn’t a job that lent itself to blasé relationships. If trust wasn’t explicit to the core of what they did, she didn’t want to think about what could happen.
“Hey.” Ava turned at the voice behind her and then turned back and kept walking. When she felt a hand on her arm she jerked away. “Ava…don’t be like this.”
“Like what?” she said smugly. “Like, honest? You’d prefer me to lie, like you, and pretend that you hiding something like that doesn’t bother me?”
“No,” Alex said, his teeth grinding out. “I prefer that we talk this out, we can come to an understanding you know.”
“Oh?” she said with a smirk. “I suppose I should just curtsy and say all’s forgiven and forgotten. Would that suit you?”
“Would you stop being annoying?”
“Yessa, masta,” she said, pantomiming an exaggerated Southern accent. She could tell he was riled, but Ava couldn’t bring herself to care. When she went to turn, however, the hand on her arm tightened. She looked at it and back at him. “Let go of me.”
“I’m not done, yet.”
“Too bad,” she said, but when she jerked this time, he didn’t let up. “You’re going to want to let go of me.”
“I think not,” he said, pressing her. Ava could feel the animal inside snapping at the bit to get free. Rage was a powerful motivator and Ava had worked hard to tell the difference between motivation and weapon. Still, she couldn’t quite stop her wolf from showing. Her teeth had lengthened to those of a canine and she snarled, her lips peeling back to show Alex that she was serious.
The release of her arm was enough to satisfy her and she allowed her body to relax and return to that of a woman.
“I knew it!” Alex said, giving one jovial jump into the air. “I knew you were a wolf too.”
“Could you keep your voice down?”
“Why?” Alex asked, clearly baffled. “We’re all the same, a shifter family of firefighting rock stars.”
“If you think that, perhaps you shouldn’t be on the line.”
“I was meant for the line,” Alex said. “So were you.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes what we think we’re meant for isn’t quite the right fit.”
“Would you please stop talking out your ass.”
“I’m no-“
Ava never finished the sentence as Alex caught her wrist and jerked her against his body. “Stop,” he said harshly, his mouth claiming hers in a kiss that meant, clearly, to possess. Ava’s hands gripped his arms, readying for a fight. Then his tongue slid over her body lip, begging for a surrender she was all too ready to give.
Her arms circled his neck, pulling just enough that he held her a little tighter. His mouth fit more snugly to hers and the completely male flavor of him soaked into her. Passion and need exploded inside her as she pressed herself harder against him, her breasts flattening against the hard muscles of his chest, her hips fitting tightly against his. She could feel his arousal through her coveralls and it only fired her yearning.
“Ava,” he breathed, pulling back so she could see the deep blue of his eyes.
***
For a fleeting moment she wondered if they’d be the same color when he turned. Thinking back she couldn’t be sure. And right now it didn’t really matter. She wanted him, plain and simple. “I can shift too,” she said, waiting for him to pull back.
“I know,” he grinned. “I’ve known for a while, but having you admit it is nice.”
“How’d you know?”
“I’m a shifter too, for starters,” Alex said, his eyes enticing her. “But I’m also a clan leader. In my culture, there are leaders and we’re entrusted with a sacred right, to find and help those of our kind. This is my way of doing that.”
“So, these guys are all part of your clan?”
“Yep,” Alex said. “Although some of them are more involved than others. The one thing they all know is that I’m there for them, we’re there for each other.”
Ava pulled away now, trying to take in everything he was revealing. Part of her was elated to have found common ground among other shifters. And part of her was furious that he hadn’t revealed who he was sooner, although the rational part of her brain told her she’d have kept her identity hidden. Hadn’t she done the same thing, she argued with herself.
“Alright,” she said, turning toward him. “So what do we do about this?”
“This?”
“Us?”
“You mean us as in…”
“As in this sexual tension between us, and don’t you stand there and laugh as if you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
Ava watched as he grinned and stepped closer. “I know exactly what you’re talking about,” he said softly, re
aching out to snake an arm around her waist. “I also know that it’s practically the un-forgiveable sin to get involved with someone on the crew.”
“Then why’d you recruit me?”
“Partly because you’re amazing and partly because I want you in my bed.”
At least he was honest, she thought. “And if I don’t want to be in your bed?”
“Too late,” he said simply. “We both know that’s just a matter of time, although if I’m being completely honest, I think that you’re here with me because that’s just about all you can manage to think about when your mind isn’t occupied by the job.”
Damn if he wasn’t perceptive. Ava grinned. “Well, if we’re being honest and all,” she cooed. “I absolutely want to be in your bed, but on my terms.”
“Which are?”
“I’ll let you know when I know.”
“Alright,” Alex said, apparently playing along. “I’m a patient man, Ava. But remember, when I’ve waited long enough we’ll see whose terms we settle on.”
Chapter Four: Wants
Alex liked a good challenge and he hadn’t met one yet, he couldn’t beat. Ava was the sexiest so far and still the idea of taming her, even in the short-term was a dare he couldn’t turn down. He picked up the Pulaski and started to section off the tree that had nearly come down on Ava. It wasn’t common practice, but it was something he could afford to do.
The winds had died down and it looked as if an afternoon thunderstorm would help dampen things down. Still, Alex knew they’d camp here tonight and watch over the fire to make sure it didn’t get past the fire line. By now the others on the crew had cut out their sections as well and the fire line would stretch for at least thirty miles. Always in a crescent shape, it would curve around the fire and if they winds stayed calm, hopefully put the fire out.
“What up, Cap?”
“Not a lot, JJ. You?”
“Same,” he said, his light eyes appreciating a pretty woman as Ava headed their way. “Ava.”
“JJ,” she smiled, resting her hand for just a moment on his forearm. Then she headed out and Alex ground his teeth together. When he turned to see JJ smiling like a loon at him he sighed.