by Elena Aitken
“Ma’am?”
Zoe turned to the voice and immediately was hit with a shock wave of desire. The man in front of her was tall and built, with hard muscles that were evident even through his uniform. The stubble on his chin, not quite enough for a beard, but just enough to look dangerously sexy, matched his black, thick hair. His dark sunglasses hid his eyes. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, because Zoe was pretty sure she’d be lost if she could only see his eyes. It was clear that he was a bear. Even if she hadn’t been able to scent it, he had the look.
“Do you know why I pulled you over?”
It took Zoe a moment to realize he was speaking. His thick, gruff voice, every bit as sexy as the man who stood in front of her, put every one of her senses on high alert.
She took a breath, trying not to inhale, and answered. “I’m sure it was because I’m a woman on a motorbike.”
He opened and closed his mouth, clearly not expecting her answer. “No,” he said after a moment. “I assure you, that was not the reason. You were speeding, ma’am. On the ridge road.”
Slowly, Zoe unhooked the buckle on her helmet and removed it. In doing so, she shook her long blonde hair out so it fluttered over her shoulders. She knew exactly the effect it had on men. It never failed. And when she finally snuck a look over at the officer, it was clear that her technique wasn’t going to fail her this time either. “I’m really sorry if you thought I was driving too fast, Officer…”
“Wilder. And you were driving too fast.” He stiffened his spine and stood straight once again. “License and registration, please.”
The smile fell from her face. “What?”
“License and registration, please.”
“But, I…” She let the words trail away. It wasn’t as if she could tell him that her flirting had never failed to work before. Even when that female cop pulled her over in Idaho, she’d batted her eyelashes a little and accidentally undone a button on her blouse, and she was given a warning to slow down. There was no way it wouldn’t work with this guy. Especially because…well, she couldn’t put her finger on it. But there was something about him.
But maybe he didn’t feel it.
Zoe turned away and opened the small console where she should have kept her registration. She fumbled with a stack of papers for a moment before dropping them. “Oops.” She shrugged as casually as she could before bending down to retrieve them, and popped a button of her blouse at the same time. When she righted herself, she flung her thick hair back and pressed her chest forward. She knew her purple lacy bra would be peeking out. Not enough to be slutty, but just enough to be enticing.
It’s not that she liked using her sexuality for her benefit, but she liked to think of it as a tool in her kit. Besides, if it worked, why not use it? Especially because she’d left her purse with her driver’s license in it and her updated registration back at Grizzly Ridge.
“Here you go.” She slipped her sunglasses off and batted her eyelashes at him as she handed him a stack of papers that was most definitely not her registration or her license, but he barely looked at her.
“What’s this?”
“What do you think it is?”
He shook his head. “It looks like a stack of coupons for burgers and fries.”
She shrugged but he still wasn’t looking up.
“I’ll need to see your license and registration, please.”
It was no longer just lust, or attraction, or whatever it was that was racing through every one of her senses; it was also anger. Who the hell did he think he was not to notice her?
She was being petulant and she knew it. But Zoe couldn’t seem to stop herself. Of course, she had been looking for trouble. Maybe this was exactly what she was looking for.
“Look, Officer.” She licked her lips in one last effort. “I don’t have them on me right now.”
For the first time, he took his glasses off and made eye contact. The second his gaze connected with hers, it was as if someone had taken a match and lit a fire. The heat was instant and intense and it threatened to knock her off the bike altogether.
Why had he done that?
He should have kept his glasses on. He knew that. From the moment he’d pulled her over and approached the bike, he’d known. She smelled of jasmine, cherries, and…trouble.
And if his bear had reacted as strongly as it had before she even said a word, then when she opened her mouth to speak, his bear went into full animal mode. He was lost. He was also smart enough to know exactly what an attraction so intense meant.
He needed to hold it together. Which was exactly why he never should have taken his sunglasses off. It was bad enough she was flirting shamelessly. Licking her lips, batting her eyelashes, and…fuck—that cleavage. It made him want to do things to her that he had absolutely no business thinking of during a traffic stop.
But the second he made eye contact, he was a goner.
Shit.
“Ma’am.” It was a Herculean effort to control his voice when his bear was so close to the surface. “I’ll need you to get off the bike.”
So I can bend you over it and—
No! He could not afford to lose control. Not now.
If she recognized what was going on with him, it didn’t show. Not that Gabe was in any way fit to identify what was going on with her—the woman whose name he still didn’t know—when he could barely control his animal.
All he knew was she was a bear of some kind, and his instincts had kicked into overdrive.
Pull it together, man.
She did as he asked, and lifted first one leg and then the other from the bike until she stood directly in front of him. “Officer, I don’t—”
“Call me Gabe.” Why had he just said that? He needed to maintain some sort of professionalism or he’d be completely lost.
“Gabe.” Was he imagining things or did her voice have an extra little lilt in it when she said his name? Either way, he loved the way she said it. “Have I done something wrong?”
She’d lowered her eyelids and was very obviously making an effort to flirt her way out of whatever trouble she might be in. It would have worked, too. If he’d been any other officer in Jackson Valley. Hell, it might even work with him. Especially if he couldn’t keep his animal under control for at least another ten minutes.
“Yes,” he said slowly. “If you can’t produce your paperwork, ma’am, I’ll need to—”
“I’m afraid I don’t have them on me right now, Off—Gabe.” She winked this time as she said his name. “I was in kind of a hurry to get away from my sister and I’m afraid I left my purse back at the ridge with my license and my new registration papers.”
“Grizzly Ridge?”
Her gorgeous face lit up with a bright smile. “You know it?”
Gabe nodded once. “I do. The Jacksons are friends of mine.”
She jumped up and down a little and as much as he knew he shouldn’t, Gabe couldn’t help noticing the way her breasts bounced, only barely contained in her blouse. Damn. She was special. Curvy in all the right places. She wore tall black leather boots that hugged her strong calves, and her tight jeans showcased full hips and an ass he’d love to get both his hands on. She was shorter than him, and the height difference gave him the perfect vantage point to take in her ample bosom that strained her blouse, her nipples hard beneath the thin fabric, either from the cool October day, or…attraction?
“So you must know Luke? He’s my sister’s mate. But I don’t know how he puts up with her. I mean, she’s always—”
“You’re Chloe’s sister.” It wasn’t a question, he remembered Kade mentioning that she’d shown up.
“Yes.” She tilted her head and stared at him. “You’ve heard of me?”
“Word travels fast.” He shrugged. “Small town.”
“So does that mean you’re going to let me go with a warning?” At once, her flirty tone was back. She took another step closer to him until she was literally only inches away fro
m touching him. His bear roared and when he looked down once again to see her chest heaving with every breath, he came closer than he ever had before to completely losing control.
Gabe clenched his teeth and shut his eyes against the vision of her breasts and the urge to rip the next tiny button from her blouse so he could cup his hands around each perfect swell to feel the heft of them. He knew they’d fit as if they’d been custom made just for him. He knew it.
Finally, he took a breath and opened his eyes. It was a force of will, but Gabe took a step backward to put distance between them. “I will give you a warning,” he said. “This time. But I—”
“Thank you.”
Before Gabe realized what was happening, she had her arms around him and was squeezing him in a hug. He knew how he was supposed to handle situations like this. He’d been caught up in more than a few awkward moments when women wanted to thank him for something or another. So, yes, he knew he was supposed to delicately extract himself from the embrace, take a step backward and move on with his day.
But knowing what he was supposed to do versus what he wanted to do were two very different things. Which was why, before he could stop himself, he had a hand on either side of her head and kissed her thoroughly.
* * *
What is Gabe willing to risk? And what exactly is Zoe running from? Will he be able to tame her and make her his? Read the rest of Zoe and Gabe’s story in, His to Tame.
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