I nearly undid all the good the cold water did as I started to think about her body. The swell of her breasts and the curve of her hips. We were going to fit perfectly together. I could hardly wait to experience the pleasure she had waiting for me. But I could wait. I was going to savor every moment and make sure she did the same.
“Ian?” She called out my name tentatively.
“Yes?” I turned around. Finally ready to see her again.
She was fully dressed, but now that I had seen her naked body, it was only that gorgeous view I was going to see anymore. “You got a text message. I know I probably shouldn’t have looked, but I heard it vibrate in your pants pocket.” She pointed to where my pants lay on a rock while keeping her eyes well above my waist.
“You did nothing wrong,” I assured her even though I worried about what kind of message she’d seen. Hopefully it wasn’t Tyler making a joke.
I walked out of the water and dried off as best I could before getting dressed. I needed to get my jeans on before I lost it again. I pulled out my phone. It was a text from a number that wasn’t in my phone anymore, but I knew exactly who’d sent it. Meet me tonight at 8, old friend. You’ll get your answers.
“Don’t worry, we can go home anytime.” Mara waited a few feet away from me.
“No. It’s probably a wrong number.” I was positive it wasn’t, but I wasn’t giving up my chance to spend the night with Mara. She was more herself in the woods. She wasn’t fighting the pull. This could be my best chance to make her mine.
“It’s not a wrong number.”
“Why would anyone want to meet me?” I pulled on my t-shirt.
“I don’t know, but I think you’re hiding something.”
“I’m not.”
“You are. You’re hiding something, and I don’t like it. Let’s turn back.” She nodded in the direction we’d come from.
“Really? Now?” I stepped toward her.
“Nope.” She held up a hand in front of her. “None of that.”
“None of what?”
“Kissing, touching. That makes it impossible to say no, and I need to.”
“You’re not staying out here without me. I’m pulling the safety card.”
“Still?”
“Still. There are a lot of wild animals out here.”
“And your presence would protect me from wild animals?” She narrowed her eyes.
“I know a few tricks on how to handle them.” I couldn’t wait to tell her the truth about my second form, but I couldn’t yet.
“Then I’m fine going home.”
“But you wanted to camp.” She’d made that clear when she ran off in the middle of the night.
“There’s always next time.”
I knew she was right, and the meeting was important. I knew exactly who the text was from and what information she was providing. This was about Jonovan. “It’s happening. We are making this up another night.”
“Sure.” She reached for her backpack.
“Nope. I’ve got it again. And don’t start in. This has nothing to do with you being weak. Blame it on me being a gentleman.”
“Gentlemen don’t strip women naked in the woods.”
“If I recall you are the one who stripped yourself naked.”
“You took off my shirt.”
“I did. But you did the rest.” And it had been both incredible and completely unexpected.
She sighed. “Don’t remind me.”
“Are you okay?” I reached out for her.
“I can’t believe I did that.”
“We did that. I was only teasing.” I’d have to be careful with my teasing.
“Still.” She brushed her hair away from her neck.
“Do you actually regret it?” I hoped my gut was right and she didn’t.
“No.” She shook her head.
“Good.”
“Why is it good?”
“Because I never want you to have regrets with me.”
“I already have plenty.”
My anger flared. “What kind of regrets?”
“Ever meeting you.” She looked down.
“You wish you never met me?” I closed the space between us, pulling her into my arms. “You can’t mean that.”
She glanced back up. “Not for the reason you think.”
“Then what reason?” I demanded.
“Because now I know it’s going to be impossible to say goodbye.” The sadness returned to her eyes, and I was even more determined to discover who’d hurt her. They were going to regret it.
“It’s a good thing you’re not going to say goodbye then.” I brushed my lips against hers, leaving her with the slightest and sweetest kiss I could. It took all my resistance not to make it more. “Ready?”
“I’m ready.” She sighed, and I knew she was as disappointed by the change of plans as I was.
21
Mara
I was lucky Mrs. Peterson wasn’t making me foot my own water bill. Otherwise I’d have been broke. I took a long cool shower. I couldn’t quite handle a completely cold one, but I was determined to find a way to push off thoughts of Ian. The further away I was from him the easier it was to see things were moving way too fast. What had I been doing with him? Being in the woods didn’t give me the excuse to lose my mind. If anyone ever found out what I’d done. Well, they wouldn’t. I’d make sure of it.
By the time I finished my shower I was determined to keep my distance. I wouldn’t run off into the woods this time. Clearly that didn’t work. Instead I’d just have to make it a point to shoot down his advances no matter how much I wanted him. Eventually he’d get tired of me like all the others, and the only thing I’d be left with was regret and hurt.
I got dressed and made myself a sandwich for dinner. It wasn’t the most satisfying dinner, but it was easy to make and didn’t require a trip to the store. I wasn’t up for facing anyone.
I brought my plate over to the sink and started planning out my quiet evening at home. My options were limited. Either I could read a book or find something on the three channels of TV I got in the cottage.
My heart about jumped out of my chest when there was a knock on the door. Ian had his mystery meeting, which meant it couldn’t have been him. I pushed aside the curtains by the door and peeked out.
I smiled at the sight of Lauren, the woman with the southern accent from the garden store, and I hastily opened the door. “Hey.”
“Hi, Mara. You busy?” She looked around me into the small cottage.
“No. Not at all. I just finished dinner.” I didn’t mention that dinner was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “Can I help you with something?”
“The only help I’m looking for is some company. I was going to head over to Green Acres for a few hours. You interested?”
“Green Acres? Any particular reason why?” I hadn’t heard much talk about the nearest town to Crestview.
“Sometimes I need a break from this town.”
I understood how she felt, and I figured getting out might be good for me too considering I’d already lost my mind with Ian. “Sure. Let me get changed.” I hurried to my room and changed into a sundress. I assumed my gym clothes weren’t going to cut it no matter what we were doing. My hair was a mess, so I threw it up in a ponytail and put on some lip gloss. That was the most effort I was putting forth.
Five minutes later I was in the passenger seat of Lauren’s truck heading away from town.
“I’m glad you could make it.” Lauren smiled.
“I don’t exactly have much going on.” I didn’t mind having the free time, but I didn’t want her to worry about me getting back in time for anything.
“Are you sure about that?” She raised an eyebrow.
“What? Ian?” My heart rate accelerated just saying his name.
“Yes, Ian.” She smiled. “Didn’t take you long to figure out what I meant.”
I shrugged. “He’s the only one you could mean, and I’m ju
st seeing what happens.”
Lauren glanced over before returning her eyes to the road.
“What?”
“I— forget it.” She reached for the dial as if to turn on the radio, but then stopped.
“No. Tell me.” I hated when people did that. It was impossible to pretend they hadn’t started to tell you something.
“That’s one of the reasons I asked you to join me.”
“What do you mean?” I fidgeted in my seat. “What is?”
“I wanted to talk to you about Ian.” She kept her eyes fixed on the road.
“And you couldn’t do that in town?”
“No.” She shook her head. “There are eyes and ears everywhere.”
“Uh… why would anyone care about what you have to say to me?”
She adjusted her hands on the wheel. “There’s something weird about Crestview.”
“Weird? Then why are you there?” She’d never explained her presence in the small town.
“Because it’s off the beaten track. I can lay low.” Her voice was soft and distant.
“Is there a reason why you’re lying low?” For the second time in two days I was driving off with someone I barely knew. I was being far more reckless than usual.
She rolled her shoulders back. “My ex.”
“Oh.” I was at a loss for words.
“I won’t go into the gritty details, but they’re gritty.”
“I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.
“Don’t be. And it’s why I’m torn to even be saying the things to you tonight I am. I feel like a backstabber.”
“Backstabber?” My stomach turned. I already knew I wasn’t going to like what she said next.
“Ian and his brothers are protecting me. I have finally stopped looking over my shoulder.”
“That’s nice of them.” So I was right about Ian liking to play the hero. Then I was hit by a wave of guilt. He was helping a woman being hounded by her ex. That was hardly something to berate the guy about.
“But that doesn’t mean I’d want to date one of them.”
I wasn’t expecting that line. “Meaning?”
“You haven’t met Jonovan.”
And there was the mention of that brother again. “No. But I heard a waitress at Anderson’s Steakhouse talking about him, and Ian makes him sound like a piece of work.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“Meaning?”
“He’s real trouble. The kind of guy you should hide from.”
“And Ian’s like him?” I struggled to come to terms with what Lauren was saying and the guy I’d gotten to know.
“No. I don’t think so, but that doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous. I have an odd feeling about that family.”
“Yet you allow them to protect you?” I wanted to make sure I was really understanding her. If I was scared of someone, I wouldn’t want them around me. But then again I’d never dealt with an abusive ex. Maybe I couldn’t relate to her situation. I refused to judge people for their decisions.
“I know how this may sound, but I’ve been debating this since I met you yesterday. I wanted you to know.”
“You haven’t really told me anything concrete. His brother is bad. I got that, but that doesn’t mean Ian is. Not that it matters. I’m not planning on seriously seeing him.” No, only fooling around in the woods. I still couldn’t believe I’d done that. “But why is Crestview weird?”
“You haven’t been in town much.”
“No.” That had been a specific choice. I hadn’t wanted to deal with all the things that came from being a new face in a small town. “What am I missing?”
“I won’t bore you with all the details…”
“It’s the details I need.”
“Have you noticed that people here are fixated on the past?” Lauren asked.
“On the past how?” I hadn’t interacted enough with anyone in town to notice anything.
“I guess what I really mean is that they are big on how long your family has been here.”
“Isn’t that how most small towns work?” It was definitely how the one I grew up in worked. The longer your family had owned your farm or store the better.
“Yes and no.” Lauren leaned her arm on the driver’s side door.
“What are you getting at?”
“Certain families here are held at almost a reverence, as if they are better than the rest of us.”
“Like Ian’s family.” I remembered Mrs. Peterson’s words about how his family was one of the original founders, like her husband’s.
“Yes.” Lauren nodded.
“Ok. But like I said, aren’t most small towns that way?”
“There’s more at play. Fear somehow.”
“People are afraid of Ian’s family?” I thought about his brother Tyler. He’d made me uncomfortable, but he didn’t scare me exactly.
“Yes. And I think that when that’s the case, there is usually a reason.”
“But there is nothing more?” I wanted to believe her, but I needed something concrete. “No real experience with Ian that makes you think I should stay away from him?”
“First, I don’t think you should stay away from him.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“I’m saying you should ask the right questions before you do.”
“And what are the right questions?”
“I’d tell you if I knew.”
“Right.” I wasn’t sure what to make of Lauren’s thoughts. I already planned to stay away from Ian, but it wasn’t going to be because of someone else’s strange feelings. I was staying away from Ian because it was the best thing for me.
22
Ian
I waited for the woman I both wanted and dreaded to see. I wanted the information she could provide, but I didn’t want to deal with her. When Claire showed up, she always brought trouble.
She didn’t need to tell me where to meet her just as she hadn’t had to use her name. Claire never found the need to explain things because she was a creature of habit, and she wanted everyone to know and expect that.
I’d know she’d want to meet at the creek that served as the line between her familiy’s land and my own. I was down by the creek right on time. She’d have wanted me to show up early, but that didn’t mean I was going to give her what she wanted.
I heard her before I saw her. There was a faint rustling in the brush before she stepped out in her spotted and long-legged animal form. I watched as the cheetah walked toward me. She circled around me over and over. It was annoying, and I was impatient, but I let her. Sometimes giving a little could get you a lot.
Finally she tired of the circling and shifted into her human form. She stood before me completely naked, but I kept my eyes off of her.
“Afraid to see me naked, Ian?” Claire taunted. “It’s not like it’s the first time.”
“And the last time was the final time.” I’d learned the hard way what getting involved with Claire could do to a man. Even before Mara showed up in town I knew I’d never go down that road again.
“Who’s the girl?” Claire walked toward me. Her brown eyes fixed on mine.
“Who said anything about a girl?” I looked off into the distant plains toward the mountains. “I’m done playing your games.”
“Yet you’re here.” Her voice came from right next to me, but I didn’t look at her.
“Because you have information I need.”
“That’s not the only reason you’re here.” She ran her hand down my arm, stopping at my bicep.
I shook off her hand. “Put some clothes on.”
“Not until you tell me who the girl is.”
“It’s none of your business.” Even thinking of Mara in the presence of Claire felt wrong. Mara needed to be protected from women like Claire who would tear her apart at any opportunity.
“Everything involving you is my business.” She pulled down on my arm.
I turn
ed to her but kept my eyes level with hers. I had no interest in looking at her nude body. “Nothing involving me is your business.”
“Then maybe I should go.” Her eyes twinkled. She had my attention, and she knew it.
“Tell me what you know.”
“You aren’t being very nice to me.” She tilted her head to the side.
“You don’t deserve for me to be nice.” I pushed her head back up. I didn’t want her exposing her neck. I didn’t want to deal with her any more than I had to.
“Are you still mad at me, Ian?” She reached a hand out to me. She used my name entirely too much, and I knew it was an effort to prove that we were close. But we weren’t.
“Get dressed.”
Claire sighed. “I already told you I would when you told me who the girl was.”
“And I already told you it’s none of your business.”
“I thought you wanted to know who murdered your brother.” Her voice was light and at odds with her words. She was playing with me like she always did, but she had information. I was sure of it.
I fought to keep my anger in line. “Get dressed.”
“Ask nicely.”
“Please, get dressed,” I said through gritted teeth.
“You’re a bear, Ian. You can handle nudity.”
“I can handle anything.” I struggled to keep my patience. “But that doesn’t mean I want to see it.”
“Does the girl know?”
“Stop messing around. I asked nicely.”
“I would get dressed, but you see I don’t have any clothes.” She spread out her arms. “Maybe you should follow me back home, and I can get some.”
I pulled off my t-shirt. “Put this on.”
She accepted the t-shirt. “Aw, Ian. One of your shirts. You shouldn’t have.”
“Don’t get excited, it’s the only one you’re getting.”
“So you are still mad.” She slipped on the shirt slowly.
“I would have to care to be mad, and I don’t care. At all.” I let my eyes drop from her eyes to ensure she was actually dressed. I relaxed slightly.
Hunt (The Grizzly Brothers Chronicles Book 1) Page 11