As he made his way deeper into the house searching for the intruder, a singsong voice floated in the air.
“A woman.” Astonishment crashed over Calder. His strong legs suddenly lost all coordination and were replaced by what felt like those of a newborn deer. Another step on shaky legs sent him crashing into the wall as he worked his way closer to the tantalizing sound.
“Is someone there?” the female voice called out.
Calder opened his mouth to speak, but his tongue was too heavy and thick; no words were forthcoming. He forged on, using the wall as a support, desperately needing to confirm that his dreamlike state was a reality and not some twisted trick of majik played on him by someone wanting to see him fail.
The singing resumed as Calder slowly worked his way to the master bedroom— hoping and expecting to see a divine goddess stretched across his bed, lying in wait for his homecoming. Instead he found the door to the master bath ajar.
He knew he should give her some privacy, but honor be damned, he had to see the woman who possessed the harmonious voice that was keeping him in a state of awe. Leaning against the doorframe, Calder felt his heart skip a beat, maybe two—and his wolf screamed in his head, “MINE!”
The amount of sheer willpower it took not to launch himself directly on the dark-haired, bronze-skinned beauty in the bathtub was monumental. Like serious effort, gold-medal-award shit.
Calder sucked in a deep breath, mesmerized by the droplets of water that trickled down her chest and over her full breasts as she slowly sat forward. Feeling like a voyeur, he tried to avert his eyes but failed as billows of steam rose from her heated skin. He tucked his fingers deep into his tight pockets to keep from reaching out and seeing if her skin was indeed as soft as it looked. His cock grew painfully hard as he imagine climbing into the tub behind her and pushing her hair to the side, trailing soft kisses over her neck and shoulders.
A war with his animal raged within. The wolf wanted to mark and claim her as his own, taking what the Fates decreed as his. The man was much more cautious, not wanting to terrify her, sensing she held no majik of her own. She was as human as could be—a thought that should have sent him running for the hills, but didn’t. He had full trust in the Fates that this woman, in all her human glory, was made for him, and him alone.
Chapter Six
All of Daisy’s tension from the long drive evaporated the second she dipped her toe into the oversized bathtub. When she’d first arrived at the address Gerri had given her, a fresh wave of panic almost sent her speeding back to her tiny apartment in the city. But she held her ground, thinking instead that if some lonely wolf wanted to treat her to the lap of luxury for a few days, she was game. After all, what did she have to lose? It wasn’t like she expected to fall madly in love at first sight or some crazy shit like that. She read romance novels for fun here and there, but knew they were nothing more than random fantasies dreamt up by people far more creative than her—and besides, her life didn’t even come close to the sexy women always cast as the heroines in the garden-variety romance books she found tucked neatly behind action/adventure books at her local grocery store.
She found the front door unlocked, just as Gerri had promised, and made her way inside. Her jaw nearly hit the damn floor on her solo tour of the gorgeous log home. Private accommodations were one thing, but this place was off the charts, with windows stretching from the floor to the three-story ceiling, beautiful hardwood floors extending from one end of the home to the other, and a large library packed with leather-bound volumes that left her well and truly speechless. She could spend her entire vacation poring over the vast texts housed on perfectly framed bookcases.
And then she spied the master bedroom with its glorious four-poster bed and puffy comforter. Daisy couldn’t help but launch herself halfway across the room onto the bed just to see if it was as comfy as it looked. Heaven help her, it was.
Just when she thought life couldn’t get any better, she stumbled into the bathroom to find a glorious jetted bathtub that beckoned her as if she were a mermaid who’d been stuck on dry land for far too long.
Her stomach grumbled, letting her know that food would be required in the very near future, and she had to agree. Promising the tub she’d be back shortly, she went off in search of the kitchen. The sparsely filled fridge would need to be remedied if she planned on staying there for any length of time. Searching through the pantry and freezer, she found enough ingredients to throw together a quick—but guaranteed to be yummy—beef stew. Filling the crock pot with all the fixings and setting it on ‘high,’ she headed back to the bath in a state of sheer excitement.
Stripping off her jeans and T-shirt, Daisy adjusted the temperature of the water and climbed in, reveling in the heat of the water as it quickly surrounded her. She had no idea how much time had passed as she soaked, enjoying the gentle massage of the jets pulsing over her skin, nor did she care. She closed her eyes and began softly singing the catchy tune that had been stuck in her brain for days.
Suddenly she shot forward, thinking she’d heard the sound of a door closing. She called out, but no one answered. “Huh. Must be my imagination,” she said out loud. Daisy managed to shake off the notion that someone had entered the home, leaning back once again and letting the sweet melody flow from her lips until she felt as if she were being watched.
Cocking her head to the side and slowly peeling her eyes open, she sucked in a deep breath when she saw a stranger standing in the doorway watching her every move. Daisy gasped at the sight of the man before her, and not just because he was leaning against the door frame staring at her with his mouth agape. Oh no. It was much more than that. Every hormone in her body sprang to life with one glance in his direction.
Her eyes roamed greedily over the man, sizing him up. Starting at the top and working her way down, Daisy catalogued each of his remarkable features, committing them to memory, from his dark shaggy hair—which she itched to run her fingers through—to his high cheekbones, strong jaw, and Grecian nose. His shoulders nearly too wide to fit through the door frame, he leaned against it at an angle. A black T-shirt stretched over his broad shoulders and thick chest to meet his perfectly defined arms, which she wanted nothing more than to feel wrapped tight around her.
She drew a shaky breath as her eyes dared even lower to his trim waist, and the firm backside encased in a pair of faded blue jeans that was barely visible. Daisy bit her lip and tried to glance away as she spied the bulge that became more evident as he shifted his stance.
Sweet Jesus, the man exuded an air of sexuality like she’d never felt radiating from another male. He looked raw and dangerous—and built for sin. She had no problems imagining all of that raw sexuality stretched over her body. His rippling muscles flexing to—
“Stop that, you little perv! You don’t even know the man and here you are fantasizing about him.” She thought as she looked away sharply, embarrassed by her brazen behavior. She opened her mouth to speak, then quickly snapped it shut again. What could she possibly say to make the situation any less awkward than it already was?
“Nothing! Zip. Zero. Zilch.”
With that thought in mind, Daisy did the only thing she could think of. She folded her legs and allowed her body to slip slowly under the water, hoping like hell that when she came back up for air, the sexy stranger would be nowhere in sight.
“Do you make a habit of breaking into homes and trying to drown yourself in the owner’s bathtub?” The stranger’s amber eyes sparkled as he pulled her, flailing and sputtering, from the water that she’d hoped to seek refuge under.
Daisy swatted him away. His hands were far too warm on her skin, and she had to break contact before she warped into a babbling lunatic. She needed her wits about her.
More now than ever.
“Your home?” Daisy asked, confused by his statement, knowing damn well she had triple-checked the address Gerri had given her. She had even called to confirm it when she arrived. “There must be som
e mistake! I was given this address by a friend who—” Her voice trailed off. What the hell was she supposed to say? And how desperate did she want to look in front of the male she’d just undressed with her eyes?
The stranger cocked his head, waiting for her to continue. “Go on.”
“Well—I was given this address to stay at for a few days while I met someone.” Daisy grabbed a fluffy white towel and quickly covered her chest, suddenly embarrassed by his nearness and her complete state of undress.
“Why don’t you get dressed and meet me in the kitchen? We can discuss this matter further there.”
Daisy bobbed her head in agreement, feeling like a complete idiot.
Chapter Seven
Feeling like he had less control than he’d had in the throes of puberty, Calder hurried to the kitchen and away from the woman in his bathtub. He needed a moment to rein in his wolf before the animal acted on his pure, raw, and base instinct of claiming their mate. If the woman were another shifter, he would have surrendered control to the wolf in a heartbeat, but she wasn’t. She was human.
The very thought made his head spin. His whole life, he’d been led to believe his mate would be some sort of shifter, like himself, or at least in possession of some majikal abilities of her own. But no—oh no, there would be no such luck for him. The Fates appeared to have had other plans for him.
Even as he stood in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, his cock was as hard as a motherfucking rock. The second he’d caught sight of her, he knew there was no turning back, human or not. Plain and simple, she was his mate and he would claim her. She may not have any idea how the whole mating process worked, but she was about to get a crash course on the subject to get her up to speed. Something that needed to happen really fucking quick.
“So, uhh—this is pretty awkward.”
Calder had scented her approach long before she’d entered the room. “Indeed. Why don’t you start by telling me who you are and what brought you to my home?” Crossing his arms over his chest, he gave her his best stern look, needing to discern the truth from her. He replayed his last call with Gerri in his mind. The woman she was supposed to send, Daisy, wasn’t supposed to show up for another day. Could this be her?
His eyes roamed over every inch of her luscious curvy body. Her long dark hair fell to the middle of her back, and his mouth went dry as he pictured it cascading over them as she straddled him, leaned in to him, taking every inch of his cock deep inside of her. Her full breasts and luscious hips did nothing to ease the strain of his cock against his tight jeans, imagining her thick thighs wrapped tight around his body. And those bright pink toes, just like little jellybeans—oh, how he longed to suck each one of them into his mouth.
His wolf snorted. “Daisy, huh? She smells like her name.”
Calder silently agreed with his wolf. After all, it was pretty damn ironic.
Full of spunk and sass, the woman dared to mock his stance, looking as if she were ready to play hardball with a shifter who was easily a foot taller than her, and close to double her weight. She even had the nerve to lift her little chin in the air when she opened her mouth to speak. “My name is Daisy Parks. Gerri Wilder sent me to meet Calder Lorenson,” she said with an exasperated huff.
“Ahhh, so you’re the infamous Daisy Parks that Gerri’s been gushing about.” He smiled—she was indeed the one who’d been sent by Gerri. That knowledge alone helped to calm any lingering fears floating around in his mind.
Her full lush lips gaped open at his statement. “Are you Calder?”
“I am.” This time he flashed his best brilliant white smile, hoping to convey an air of charm instead of the tougher stance he had taken when she’d first walked into the kitchen.
***
Daisy grabbed on to the side of the table, suddenly needing support, her legs quaking underneath of her. Holy hell! she thought, knowing she was in way over her head with the hunky homeowner who was searching for his mate. Gerri had told her a few things about male shifters, but not much. First and foremost, it would have been awesome had Gerri forewarned her that Calder wasn’t just hot, he was smoking-fucking-hot, like straight up sizzling, and there she was in a pair of well-worn yoga pants and an old tank top, looking like a drowned river-rat with her long hair dripping down her back.
Every ounce of her flesh zinged to life just being in the same room with him, not to mention the fact that, when he’d yanked her out of the tub, she’d felt a jolt of awareness the second his fingers had wrapped around her wrist.
“Are you okay?”
Suddenly looking concerned for her well-being, Calder approached her slowly, his hands up in surrender.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Daisy desperately worked to regain some sort of composure. Way to go moron, her conscience shouted. She cleared her throat. “Yeah.” Great, she thought, horrified by the squeak in her voice. “Just surprised to find you here. Gerri told me I would have my own private accommodations. I assumed she meant I’d have the house to myself. I am so sorry for intruding.”
Daisy felt like a complete and utter ass, absolutely stupid. How could she have strolled into a stranger’s house and made herself at home, cooking dinner, lounging in his bathtub for hours? Fuck! She covered her face with her hands, hot tears threatening to embarrass her further.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt the heat from his hand press lightly against her shoulder.
“Hey. It’s okay. No harm, no foul. It wasn’t so bad coming home to a home-cooked meal and a sexy woman in my bathtub.”
Sexy? Ha! she thought. “I am so sorry. I feel like an idiot. I don’t know what is wrong with me. I shouldn’t have assumed. I won’t be upset if you want me to leave.”
Chapter Eight
Leave? She was nuts for even thinking that? The mere thought of her getting up and walking out of the door was simply unacceptable. Now that she was in his home, there was no way he was letting her go that quickly, especially not because of a stupid mix-up. No way in hell. “No! I don’t want you to leave.”
Calder quickly adjusted his tone. “Sorry, it’s just that I was expecting you tomorrow, not today. So when I came in and found someone here, I was on high alert. I guess all the adrenaline is still rushing through me.” The lie burned his tongue as he spoke it, but he wasn’t about to tell her the truth, fearing he’d come off too intense and scare her away. “Gerri told me you’d be here on Thursday.”
He watched as Daisy cocked her head to the side and quickly opened her mouth then closed it, deciding on if she should speak or not. “Umm—it is Thursday. I think your days might be a bit off.”
Calder stomped over to the fridge to look at the calendar, the sole item hanging there by one lone magnet. Stunned by the fact that he’d somehow walked around all day thinking it was Wednesday, it was his turn to feel like an idiot. “Huh. How about that, it is. Well, now I feel like an ass.” He turned back to Daisy, who busted into a full-on belly laugh.
“We make quite the pair already, don’t we?” she managed to chuckle between laughing fits.
“We sure do.” Finding her laugh contagious, Calder gave in and laughed with her, something he hadn’t done since he’d moved to Twisted Tail. Maybe the old saying—‘laughter is the best medicine’—was right, because in that one tiny moment with a girl he barely knew, he’d felt the weight of the stress he’d been buried under since taking over as Alpha rise and lift slowly away from his shoulders.
When the laughing finally faded away, Calder was the first to speak. “I’d planned on taking you out for dinner tonight, but”—he motioned to the crock pot—“that smells amazing, and I can’t even begin to remember the last time I ate something homemade.”
“Really? You don’t like to cook?” She looked shocked at his admission.
“I wish I knew how to cook, God knows I do, but somehow I end up burning everything I try to make. Even a simple pan of boiling water ends up as a smoking pot.”
“I don
’t mind cooking while I’m here. Granted, we’ll need to hit up a grocery store, but it’ll be fun. I find the whole process of making new creations very relaxing, probably because of the repetitive motions.”
His mind went straight to the gutter, as did his wolf’s. “I’ll give her some repetitive motions.”
“There I go assuming again. I should have said, if it’s okay with you.”
He gave a nod and an agreeable grin. “Only if you’re comfortable doing so, and not every meal. I’d like to take you out as well. We don’t have a huge selection of restaurants here in town, but the few we have are good.”
“I’d like that. I can’t wait to see more of the area. I kind of had tunnel vision on the drive in, just wanting to make sure I found the right place.”
He wanted to lay it all out for Daisy, to let her know exactly what she’d be getting into by becoming his mate.
“I have to warn you, the pack is undergoing a lot of changes right now. I’m the new Alpha and I haven’t been here long, so please excuse the mess with all the construction going on. The last Alpha left the pack in pretty rough shape, but I have high hopes that I can pull it all together and get everyone back on their feet.”
“I grew up in an itty-bitty town in rural Wisconsin, so small-town life isn’t a problem for me. It’s quaint and quiet, a lifestyle that I find myself missing more and more. I thought city life would be neat, that a country girl like me could handle it, but yeah—it’s pretty hard to get used to, and talk about serious culture shock. I miss walking outside and seeing grass, and trees instead of concrete and traffic. And stars. Oh, how I’ve missed actually being able to see the stars in the sky! I’ve been in the city now for a few years and I still feel like I’m stumbling my way through everything. My life has been a series of trials and errors when it comes to big city living. Sorry, I’m babbling—I tend to do that when I’m nervous.”
His Twisted Tail Page 3