Wolf on the Run: Shifter romance (Shifters of the Glen Book 4)

by Jones,Skye

  I nodded. Me too! It stank to high heaven.

  Turning to begin my task, I made myself stop all thoughts of joint showers and other nice things Boyd and I might get up to while we were holed up together.

  Chapter Eight

  Boyd let me shower first, which I appreciated as the cold had seeped right down to my bones. My fingers and toes burned when the hot water hit them. I’d found some old shower gel and used it now to wash the fox crap out of my hair. I normally used a salon brand shampoo and conditioner, and the cheap shower gel left my hair feeling like straw, but after three go-rounds with the suds routine, at least I didn’t stink anymore.

  We’d found a few towels in the bathroom, and thank God there were tins of food in the kitchen and basics such as coffee, creamer, tea, and some biscuits. Even a bottle of scotch. From the look of it, someone had come and cleaned the place after the last scientist had been here and set things up for any future visits.

  I had found a new respect for Brooke as I’d moved around the small cabin. No way I’d be able to stay here all alone. The woman had a set of balls on her, for sure.

  I turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, wrapping one of the towels around me.

  “I’m done,” I called out.

  Boyd came out of the bedroom, holding a pair of sweat pants in his hands and wearing another pair. “Found these. There are some T-shirts if you want to put one on, should fit like a nightdress on you, so you might not need the pants. Whoever left these clothes must have been tall, they might drag on you. I’ve built a fire in the lounge, so you should be warm. I’ve also poured you a wee drop of whisky. It will help with the shock and the cold.”

  I smiled at him. “Thanks.” I looked beyond him to the bed where a few T-shirts were laid out. “You not going to take one?”

  He shot me a rueful grin. “Won’t fit. Dude must have been tall and lean. They are a medium. They’ll probably tear if I try to wear one. These sweats are a medium too, but they’re elasticized and I’ve loosened the waist some, so hopefully they won’t cut off my circulation.”

  “There’s some shower gel in there. Some toothpaste, too, but no toothbrush. I used my finger.” I waggled my index finger at him.

  “Thanks. I won’t be long. You hear anything, anything at all, and you shout. Okay?”

  I swallowed and nodded as fear clawed at me, making my skin prickle. We were, in essence, locked in this tiny cabin, whilst God knew how many rogues hunted us out there. It scared the crap out of me.

  “Don’t think about it.” He came toward me. “Drew and the rest will come check here once they realize we aren’t back at the village. And I’ve disguised our scents and tracks thoroughly. I doubt they’ll find us, unless they happen across here and sniff around the door. Plus, we’re pretty well barricaded. And if they do manage to get through one of the windows, there’s a nice big shotgun in here they’ll have to deal with. And if they get through that, there’s me.”

  “Will a shotgun work on them? Don’t you need silver to harm them?”

  “Silver is best, but get one of them in the heart, and they’ll be down for a good long while. And I’m a good aim.”

  I’d bet! I imagined Boyd to be good at everything he put his mind to. I became achingly aware of his closeness and the short amount of space between us. Unfortunately, he still stank of fox crap, so any romantic thoughts were shoved to one side by the awful stench.

  My nose wrinkled automatically, and he grinned. “I’m off to take a shower.”

  Curled up on the sofa nursing a shot of whisky in a tumbler, I stiffened when I heard the water turn off.

  The bathroom door opened and closed, followed by the bedroom door. I didn’t turn around. Part of me wasn’t sure how to act around Boyd now. Before, we’d been fleeing, then barricading ourselves in. Now, I had to sit with him and make what? Polite conversation? This strange current of attraction ran between us. I had an inkling from the way he reacted to me that he felt it as keenly as I did, only he didn’t want to act on it. Nerves made me sip again at the amber liquid in my glass.

  Once we were out of this mess, I needed to take stock of my life. I’d gotten myself into a seriously dangerous situation, and I couldn’t risk being taken by rogues again. I needed to get away. Before the whole taken by rogues nightmare, I’d been down and brooding. Perhaps some time far away would do me good.

  “Penny for them?” Boyd’s low voice made me jump.

  I turned to look at him and smiled.

  “So…spill. What were you thinking so damn hard about?” He walked to the kitchen area and poured himself a large measure of the whisky before grabbing a packet of digestive biscuits and heading to sit by me on the sofa.

  The space suddenly felt even smaller. His presence in the room immense. I didn’t need the whisky to get drunk, just a shot of Boyd. Needing to stop my train of thought, I turned to him and told him what I’d been turning over in my head.

  “I’ve been wondering what to do once I get out of this mess. I’m clearly not safe in Edinburgh anymore. Which sucks because I quite like it there. I’ve been thinking I might go to America.”

  “What?” The word came out almost as a growl, and I tensed.

  “I have an aunt and uncle there. They live in Minnesota, so not my first choice. Too cold. But I’d be away from the rogues, I also have friends in New York. Can’t see those grizzled freaks running around such a big city.” I sighed and drank some more whisky. “I’m not in the same position as Cait, or even Brooke and Izzy. They have their mates to protect them and the pack. I don’t have anyone. Maybe I’ll meet a guy out there and start a new life.”

  A low rumble filled the room, and I paused, listening. With shock, I realized it came from Boyd. A soft, regular growl reverberated in his chest each time he breathed out.

  “What’s wrong? Is there someone outside?” I whispered the words.

  “What? No? Why?” He shot me a puzzled look, brows drawn down.

  “Because you’re growling.” I pointed at his chest.

  He looked down, cocked his head, and then raised his eyes back to me. “Fuck.”

  Hard and angry, the word flayed against my skin. His hand tightened around his whisky glass, and a loud pop rang out in the room, making me jump. The glass shattered in his hand, and I squealed.

  I shot up and moved around the couch, walking backward away from Boyd. My gaze darted around the room, and I spied the shotgun. I picked it up and held it in front of me, moving it from side to side as I backed away from him.

  God! Right when I’d managed to distract myself from the awful ordeal I’d been through, something else happened to scare the crap out of me all over again.

  “Laura?”

  He took a step off the couch and I backed up some more, but I didn’t look where I was going and tripped over something in my haste to get away.

  I went down hard onto the wooden floor and twisted the leg I’d already hurt coming through the window.

  Boyd was by my side before I’d even seen him move.

  “Where does it hurt?”

  I still tried to move away. He’d been growling for God’s sake, and then the whole glass-shattering move. It didn’t instill confidence in my safety with him.

  “Laura, stop moving. Where are you hurt?”

  He reached for my leg, but I pulled away. “No!”

  His brow furrowed. “What’s wrong? Why are you so scared?”

  “Are you going to go rogue?” Words tumbled from my mouth. “Is it because I…you know…I made you…I tried to flirt with you. Are you going to attack me?”

  “Jesus, Laura. Calm down.” He ran a hand over his short hair, back and forth, as he took a couple of deep breaths in. “I’m sorry about the glass. I didn’t mean to scare you, but I’m not going to go rogue.”

  “You were growling,” I pointed out.

  “Yeah.” His eyes darted around the room, as if hiding from my scrutiny, and it suddenly mattered a whole lot to me to unders
tand what the growling meant.

  “Boyd. Why were you growling?”

  He didn’t speak for a long moment, then his shoulders slumped and he looked at me, his eyes filled with some emotion I couldn’t identify.

  “It seems my wolf doesn’t like the idea of you moving away. It also doesn’t like the idea of you not being safe. It really, really doesn’t like the idea of you meeting someone.”

  My breath caught in my throat. “And what about you?”

  “My wolf is me, or at least, part of me.”

  “What does the other part think?” My heart hammered in my chest. God! He’d been growling at the thought of me leaving? Hope blossomed where before there’d been only embarrassment and unrequited yearning.

  “I don’t know what to think. I can’t offer you anything, Laura. You don’t want me. I failed my mate. Let her die. Let our child die with her. You don’t want such a man.”

  Oh, but I did. I wanted him very much, but I understood saying so would only push him away again. He might be built like a brick wall, and more male than anything I’d ever laid eyes on in my entire life, but Boyd acted as skittish as a newborn foal when it came to his feelings for me.

  I needed to take the lead. Talking about it would only scare him off more, but maybe if I showed him how much I wanted him…needed him, he’d finally believe me. Believe in himself.

  With shaking fingers, I reached for him and trailed my hand down his arm. I looked up at him and shamelessly widened my arms. “I’m scared, Boyd. Will you hold me? Please?”

  Damn, I hoped I didn’t go to hell for blatant manipulation.

  His hard features softened, and he pulled me into him, cradling my head against his rock-solid chest, big arms coming around me to cage me in.

  Holy hell! It felt so amazing being held by him. Safe. Secure. Warm. He ran hot like a furnace.

  “Come here.” He helped me up, and I winced as I put my weight on my leg.

  “We need to look at your leg.” He jerked his chin toward it.

  “Not now,” I whispered.

  “Not now,” he agreed.

  He carried me back to the sofa, where he sat against the corner and settled me on his lap, still holding me close. I sighed and went slack against him, relishing the contact and the safety.

  I began to plan how to seduce him, but the steady rhythm of his heart lulled me and my eyes began to droop.

  I woke with a start and, for a moment, had no idea where I was. Then the steady rise and fall of the warm chest underneath my head had it all coming back to me. Boyd!

  Lifting my head, I watched him as he slept. His face looked younger in sleep. The harsh lines softened, his normally fierce expression smoothed out. His full lips parted slightly, and I realized what a handsome man he made when he wasn’t so full of all the woe and guilt he carried around with him daily.

  I wanted to take it from him and have him looking young and carefree all the time. But I only made it all worse. Sharp sorrow hit me, and I blinked away tears.

  The sofa shifted, and Boyd moved from under me. I lifted my head, and his eyes opened. The moment our gazes locked, all my plans fell away. Game playing didn’t exist in the suddenly heated space between us. His chest rose and fell, and I propped my head up on my hands and stared into his soulful eyes.

  “I know this can’t last. I know we can’t be anything long term, but kiss me. Please.”

  He didn’t speak, but his warm hand cupped my cheek and his rough thumb stroked across my skin, sending tiny sparks of delight dancing in its wake.

  “Laura.” My name was a benediction against his lips.

  “We’ll take the here and now and pretend the real world doesn’t exist. Just for a while.” I snuggled in closer, loving the feel of his warm, bare chest against me.

  I wanted my own clothing off, and seeing as I only wore a T-shirt, it wouldn’t take much to rid me of it.

  Moving up his body, I brought my lips to his. “Kiss me.”

  And he did. The moment his lips touched mine, my whole world crumbled and rebuilt itself. Nothing would ever be the same for me again, and I knew wherever I went, whatever I did, I’d always carry a part of this man with me.

  He tasted of whisky—and Boyd. I let out a small moan, and he deepened the kiss, pulling me into him.

  We lay entwined in the tiny cabin, God alone knew what stalking us outside the door, but we tasted one another over and over again as if nothing else existed.

  His hand slipped down to my neck and bunched the hair at my nape. He lifted it and let it fall down again, and his hand slid down my shoulders to my back. It rested there, heavy and comforting against me. Anchoring me to him, holding me right where I wanted to be.

  “We can’t make love.” He broke off the kiss and spoke, his eyes searching mine. “There’s too much between us. We make love, and we risk setting the mating bond in motion.”

  “So we kiss and we hold one another and we make it all okay. For a while.”

  I placed tiny butterfly kisses along his jaw, and he let out a long exhalation, as if letting go of the cares of the world.

  “Can we do…you know? Other things?”

  “Yeah. We can do other things.” He started to smile as he watched me. “You wanna mess around?”

  Oh yes, I wanted to mess around. “Yes. Yes, I want to mess around.” I wriggled against him, and he huffed out a soft laugh.

  His hand moved farther down my back until it brushed over my bottom and he hit the bare flesh of my upper thigh. Under the T-shirt, I wore nothing but my thong, which I’d dried on the bathroom radiator whilst I took a shower. As he moved the material of the shirt up, up, inexorably up, I waited, breath held, for him to touch the bare skin of my behind.

  When he did, he groaned and kissed me again, harder this time. He licked the seam of my lips, and I parted for him, loving the moment he swept in and claimed my mouth. Perhaps he refused to let himself make love to me, but right then, he made love to my mouth with his.

  His hand moved over my left butt cheek, palming the flesh there. He traced the curve of my hip, dragging the T-shirt farther up. I reached down and held on to his strong wrist, moving it around to the front of my body, where I yearned for his touch. Forward? Perhaps, but who knew when Drew, or more unwelcome guests, might intrude. We might have all night or only the next five seconds. And I wanted as much as possible.

  I deepened our kiss and sighed into his mouth when his fingers brushed against the lacy front of my thong. I twisted my hips to give him better access, and he splayed his hand across my mound. From hardly any foreplay at all, I already felt on the edge of the precipice. So wound up that my body hummed with need.

  His lips left my mouth and meandered down my throat, kissing and nibbling as his hand moved up, only for two fingers to dip inside the hem of my panties. I gasped when those fingers found their way to my folds and parted me.

  His middle finger gently rubbed against my clit, and I parted my legs, wanting more. Needing more. I wanted him inside, and if I couldn’t have his cock, I’d take his fingers.

  I pulled away from him and stood. He cocked his head to one side, lips parted as he watched.

  “Let’s move this to the bedroom. More space.” I held out my hand, and he took it and followed me.

  Where this confident inner goddess came from, I did not know. I doubted she’d become an integral part of me, more she seemed a visitor here only because of the strangeness of the situation.

  I’d heard people say danger made a potent aphrodisiac, and I’d never believed it. If anxious about something in my life, my libido always shut down, went on strike, and put up the no sex, please sign until things calmed down. However, it seemed like real and immediate danger did turn me on to the joys of sex.

  I’d never been so damned horny. We entered the bedroom, and I pulled the T-shirt over my head, throwing it to one side. Next, I slipped the thong down my legs and kicked it off.

  Boyd’s gaze ate me up. He followed every single
movement with a hungry, feral focus that should scare me half to death, but instead turned my insides molten. God, I’d love to make him lose control completely. To help him forget the burdens weighing him down, if only for a short time.

  “Your turn.” I gestured at the stupidly small sweat pants he wore, and he pushed his thick thumbs into the waistband and shoved them down his legs. The moment he was revealed to me in all his glory, he took my breath away. I doubted a more stunning man existed anywhere on earth. His body resembled a stupendous work of art. Every single inch came hard and chiseled.

  Talking about hard… I let myself take in his cock, and it was beautiful. I had always been able to take or leave men’s dangly bits. I didn’t dislike them, and I liked what they could do for me, but I hadn’t been one to think about them much one way or the other. Not like Gemma who owned a porny collection of dick pics on her laptop. But Boyd’s cock—wow! My mouth almost watered.

  He stalked toward me, and his predatory gait made me want to run away for the sheer thrill of being chased and caught, but overwhelming desire turned my legs to rubber and stopped me.

  When he reached me, he pushed me onto the bed and lay beside me, trailing a hand over my belly, up to my breasts, where he brushed over my nipple and made me sigh.

  He cupped my breast in his hand, and for the first time, I thanked God I’d gained weight. At least now, I owned something to fill his large palm. He hefted my flesh and gently squeezed before pinching my nipple lightly. His mouth found my other breast and sucked me into his heat, and I cried out.

  “You’re so responsive,” he murmured around my flesh.

  For him, maybe. Not so much for the other men who had been in my life. I’d miss this. The intense connection between us. The way everything felt ramped up, heady, and overwhelmingly hot.

  His hand left my breast and moved down again, down, down, trailing over my belly, leaving shivering, yearning skin in its wake, until he reached my core. He cupped me with his palm, and I pressed against him. Pressing back, he massaged my whole mound with his hand, and soon I gasped out each breath.