The Wolf's Joy

by Holley Trent

  So full of him, so much delicious pressure and tension at the tipping point of resolution.

  “That’s what you want? Hmm?” Ben thrust up into her, shocking her breath out of her body and mashing the call button for the release she’d thought she’d wanted, but she wasn’t ready.

  She didn’t want him to stop. Didn’t want to roll off of him, catch her breath, and then wonder, Now what? She wanted to keep connecting.

  “No.” He probably didn’t hear her.

  His mouth covered hers again, and he kissed her so hungrily that she wondered if everything he was doing was part of a well-rehearsed act designed to soothe and placate women like her.

  His thrusts became more frenzied, or perhaps her dips and rises did. She was lightheaded from her blood rushing away from her head, gaze unfocused, confused as to what part of him her hands were touching.

  She was swaying as the waves ripped through her, reflexive laughter spilling from her mouth as she spasmed around him, and him within her.

  There was his tongue, lapping around an aching spot on her neck, hot and angry.

  “You bit me?” She pushed away from him a bit, but her gaze was unfocused. She closed her eyes. Swallowed. Took a deep breath. “You bit me?”

  “Didn’t mean to. Instinct, when the wolf part of me’s so close to the edge like it is, is to bite.”

  “Am I going to turn into a werewolf?” Her voice had taken on that high, chirpy quality again. Frantic.

  Chill.

  “No, sugar.”

  She forgave him for the deep chuckle that followed because the sound warmed her up in a way she didn’t get, but didn’t want to refuse.

  She opened her eyes so she could see that he saw that she was being serious. “Hannah Foye got turned into a Cougar after she got clawed up.”

  “Yep.” Ben slipped out of her and settled her onto his lap, leaving his hands beneath her bottom and a little grin on his face.

  She sighed. “I’m trying to have an important discussion with you.”

  “Can’t help it. I’m in a good mood.”

  “I can make your mood go south again if you don’t get serious.”

  “I am serious. I’ve got a pretty lady on my lap, and the beast part of me is soothed.”

  “Lucky you, but what I’m worried about is whether or not I’m going to become a beast.”

  “You’re not. I promise. That doesn’t happen unless I bite you when I’m furry.” His lips parted to reveal adorably crowded teeth, four of which were extending up and down from his gums.

  Of course she jerked back and away—that was her fight-or-flight instinct kicking in—but he held her tight and so she had to watch.

  “Even when I have these out like this,” he said through his bared, clenched teeth, “can’t infect you.”

  “Are . . . you sure?” she asked haltingly.

  He put the teeth away. “Been a Wolf all my life. Trust me. Calvin would have made Julia a Wolf a long time ago if infecting was a simple matter of biting. He’s not the kinda guy who’d hold back, if you catch my drift.”

  “I don’t want to catch your drift. I don’t want to imagine the things your dissolute alpha does behind closed doors.” Especially not with a lady as sweet as Julia.

  Ben shrugged. “Sorry, though. I should have asked first.”

  “Oh, well I don’t mind that.” She put her hand over the mark. The bite had stung, yes, but the pain had come at the exact right moment. A perfect counterbalance to the pleasure. “I guess I’m thrilled you’d be swept away enough that you’d want to.”

  “Swept away is a good way to put it. Hard to explain where a Wolf’s head is at when he’s making love to a lady the beast would accept as a mate. Not really thinking so much as chasing the pleasure, wherever it goes.”

  Mate?

  She was pretty sure that was what he’d said, but maybe that word didn’t mean the same thing to Wolves as it did to Cougars. Maybe with Wolves, any lover was a mate.

  He was staring at her in that intimate way again. Before, the intensity had aroused her. At that moment, it unnerved her because she was confused and maybe falling a little too hard and fast for a man who had no plans for a relationship.

  Clearing her throat, she pinned her gaze on the ceiling and made her hands busy by tightening her ponytail.

  She wasn’t the kind of woman who believed that every tryst should lead to a commitment. She’d certainly had a few, both before and after Kyle, but the thought of Ben moving on to some other “fix,” and that Alex was little more than a benchwarmer, unsettled her.

  That little notebook Scott carried around would tell Ben everything he needed to find another woman just like her, but better, probably. She wanted to rip it to shreds.

  “So, empanada?” Ben asked.

  She looked down at him in time to watch him raise one dark eyebrow.

  “Could use a little sugar.” His tongue edged provocatively around her lips, and then he grinned against them. “Different kind of sugar.”

  Stop talking like that if you’re just going to leave.

  She took her breath and closed her eyes. Couldn’t bear to look at him. “I don’t want to go out. I changed my mind.”

  Just go, if you’re going to.

  “Maybe we can slice that fruitcake up, then. Got milk?”

  “You’re staying to eat it?”

  She felt his shrug. “It’s early. Rather be here than listening to Scott run his damn mouth all night. We could watch TV or something.”

  “Okay,” Alex said, probably too quickly, too desperately.

  It really didn’t matter if she acted desperate. He was going back to North Carolina and probably wouldn’t think about her again once he did.

  Shame was pointless, and there was nothing wrong with experiencing the thrill of a single night if it meant she could move forward from events of the past.

  She could worry about the future later. After all, she was young. She had plenty of time.

  Chapter Seven

  “Holy smokes, it’s really coming down out there.” Belle stomped snow off her boots onto the rubber mat at Alex’s front door.

  “What are you doing in town with the weather like this?” Alex pushed the door shut against the wind when Belle got out of the way.

  “Didn’t have a choice.” Belle nudged her scarf down from her mouth and peeled her snow-sodden cap off her red-bronze hair. “Mom’s started her holiday baking. Trying to get all the desserts done so she can focus on the savory stuff on Christmas Eve. She sent me into town for supplies. It hadn’t started snowing at the ranch when I left. Since your house is on the way to the store, I figured I’d stop by and say hey.”

  “Well, hey. You’re insane, but I’m glad to see you, anyway.”

  “I hope so!” She laughed, and Alex got the briefest glimpse of Belle’s fangs. In their retracted state, they were only noticeable to people who knew they were there. “But maybe I’ve got more than ‘hey.’”

  “Oh?” Belle wasn’t the savant of small talk Alex was, so if she had extra words, they were bound to be important.

  “I’ve still got to get to the store and hurry home before the back roads turn nasty, but I had some news for you.”

  Alex pushed aside the curtains and peered outside, eyes widening at the blinding white sight. There had to be the forecasted inch on the ground already. “Damn. I can’t remember the last time it snowed so much so fast here.”

  “Neither can I, but the meteorologist on the radio did one of those annoying mea culpas and is saying now that folks should hunker down. The wind gusts are terrible, and they’re going to pick up.”

  “Well, don’t let me keep you. Glad to see you, but get the hell out of here. Call me on Christmas, or whatever.”

  “Not until I tell you this. Meant to call you yesterday, but had to move part of the herd and I was so tired afterward that—” Pinching her sentence short, Belle furrowed her brow.

  “That what?” Alex nudged.
/>   Belle cleared her throat quietly and murmured, “I hear breathing.”

  “I’m standing right in front of you. Much like plants, people breathe to stay alive.”

  “No, goofball, extra breathing. Is someone else here?” Belle took a step down the hall, then stopped as though she’d remembered then that her boots were wet. She made that spine-tingling hissing sound she always used to do when she was on high alert. Leaning in close, she whispered, “Kyle’s not here, is he?”

  “Kyle?” Groaning, Alex rolled her eyes. “No.”

  Just the one-night-stand Wolf.

  When the doorbell had chimed, Alex had left Ben in the kitchen. He’d been sketching out a new seed room configuration. He’d claimed hers “made not one lick of sense.”

  “I try not to judge,” Belle said, then pressed her lips together tight in their bullshit configuration.

  “I swear, he’s not here. I learned my lesson.”

  “Did you? You were wavering for a while.”

  Alex shrugged and studied her craggy fingernails. “Breakups are hard, even when you know you should never have gotten involved in the first place. He came by earlier, though. I told him to leave.”

  “Good for you. What’d he want?”

  “Saw me driving. Followed me home claiming he wanted to catch up, but . . . ” Alex cleared her throat, crooked her thumb in the direction of the kitchen, and slowly mouthed, “Ben is here.”

  “Ben the Wolf?” Belle mouthed back. “One of Calvin’s Wolves?”

  Alex nodded.

  “Why?”

  Sighing, Alex made the crude universal gesture for sex—a circle with her left hand and two spearing fingers with the right.

  She was dealing with Belle, after all. Had Belle been anyone else, Alex wouldn’t have been nearly as candid. Belle was the most practical person she knew. She was half animal. Better than anyone, she would have understood having certain urges.

  Belle blinked mutely at her.

  Alex shrugged. She didn’t know what she could say in her defense, especially not with him in earshot.

  “You know we’re going to talk about this later, right?” Belle whispered.

  “I expected as much. Are you going to yell at me?”

  “No. I’m going to ask some questions.” Grimacing, Belle scratched her head and shook it. “Crap. I keep feeling like I’m out of the loop on everything. Every time I come into town, someone new has gotten married, divorced, had a baby, has started selling stuff in a multilevel marketing scheme, or has recently spent a night in jail. Tiny keeps selling new stuff at the taco truck, and I haven’t even had a chance to try the original menu yet.”

  “Maybe you should take a day off and experience the taco truck magic.”

  “Can’t. On track to make a lot of money in the spring. I’ll rest later. Money’s kinda what I wanted to talk to you about, though.”

  “I told you not to worry about what you had left on your share of the lease. Dawn covered that when she was here.”

  Belle flicked her hand dismissively. “Oh, not that, but housing-related, though.”

  “What’s wrong?” In the blink of an eye, Alex’s avenging warrior mode clicked on. “Is Steven being a dick? Do I need to rough him up? Do you need a place to stay?”

  Belle let out a startling cackle and clasped her hand over her mouth. “Steven?”

  Alex shrugged. “Whether he’s your fated mate or not, I had to ask.”

  “Of the two of us, I think I’m the bigger dick.” Belle got her laughter under control and swiped tears from the corners of her eyes. “Thanks, I needed that. No, Steven and I are wonderful, especially now that he works the day shift and I actually get to see him. Anyhow, I was talking to Mom about your business plans and how you were saving to be able to buy a little piece of property. She was really frustrated that no one had talked to her sooner.”

  “Why? It’s not really my style to whine about my problems to everyone who crosses my path.” Alex had Chet to whine to if she were desperate, and he certainly did more than his fair share in return.

  “Because she could actually do something for you. You know the plot of land to the right when you’re turning onto the ranch road?”

  “Yeah? Coyote Ugly?”

  “That’s the bit.”

  Some of the Cougars called the acre “Coyote Ugly” because it was situated at the boundary of where the local Coyote pack had been willing to trespass back when they’d been running wild. They’d made a mess of the place. All that was out there were stunted cacti and tumbleweeds.

  “She said she could cut you a deal,” Belle said. “Lease-to-own agreement with the land. She’d have to figure out what market value is. You could build to suit.”

  Alex’s jaw dropped. “Are you kidding? Why would she do that?”

  “Because she was once twenty-three and remembers how hard it is to run a business when you don’t have people believing in you.”

  “She believes in me?”

  “Of course she does. She’s going to believe in anyone who’ll befriend her demented children.” Belle smiled wickedly.

  “Wow, I don’t know what to say.”

  “Don’t say anything. Think about it. You’ll have to rustle up the funds to put a house on it, so give your budget some thought.”

  “I can do that. Oh my God. I can actually do that. I might actually be able to own some property without getting my mother involved.” The revelation was staggering, and Alex had to put a hand against the wall to prop herself up.

  All by myself. I might have a shot at this dream.

  Belle had never been a particularly affection-motivated person, but Alex couldn’t help pulling her into a hug and squealing with glee. If she could make the dollars and cents work, she’d not only have her very own roof over her head, but plenty of space to expand her business when the time came. She could actually start planning for success.

  And she’d be closer to her friends. That was probably worth whatever she had to pay.

  Belle chuckled and patted Alex’s back. “Okay, don’t go getting weepy on me.”

  “I won’t. I promise. I’m just so happy that something in my life is coming together in a good way.” She backed away, sighing. “I know I’m lucky to even have the option of asking her for help. Most people don’t have anyone to fall back on, but I really want to do this my way.”

  “Remember to thank the little people when you become a success. Maybe draw a picture of me in my cougar form into your fancy seed brand logo or something. I wouldn’t mind that.” Belle pulled her hat back on, rearranged her scarf, and took a deep breath. “All right. I’m heading back out into the yuck.” With her hand on the doorknob, she whispered, “Answer your text messages.”

  “Okay. I will.”

  Belle left.

  Alex did a little celebratory shimmy, thrilled at the prospect of moving forward in her life’s ambition, and then she stopped.

  Even if she didn’t have to rustle up enough cash for a down payment on an existing home, she’d still need to figure out how to get a house built. She’d been stashing away some cash at the end of each pay period, but even that could get wiped out by one good disaster. If she had to immediately replace her truck, for instance. According to Ben, that was a likely prospect. She’d be right back at square one unless she was willing to take out a dealer loan. Like her grandmother, Alex had a philosophical aversion to financing property that depreciated the moment she drove it off the lot.

  “I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “Do what?” Ben had ambled through the living room and leaned against the wall, hands jammed into his pockets.

  “Oh, business stuff.” She waved him off, not wanting to needlessly explain her plans. He wasn’t going to be there to see them come into existence. “Ignore me. I’ll figure it out.”

  “What happened? Did you remember some seeds you’d meant to swipe?”

  “No. I have a running list in my head of places I want to raid.
I could hardly forget.”

  “Well, let’s go. It’s dark out.”

  She turned to him, slowly. “Are you kidding me?” He hadn’t sounded like he was kidding, and not a single chuckle had fallen out of his mouth.

  He had that shapeshifter practicality. The same stuff that had made Belle such a compatible friend.

  And apparently the stuff that would make the Wolf a desirable boyfriend.

  He wasn’t going to be Alex’s boyfriend, though.

  Just my luck that he’d have to live half a country away.

  He shrugged. “You need them, don’t you? Let’s go get ’em.”

  “Need isn’t the right word,” she said after a moment of staring at her socks. “I think it’d be important to have them in a catalog of native New Mexican plants, though. Oddly, the ones I’ve been itching to acquire grow fantastically well in one place in particular in Maria, but they’re rare as hen’s teeth elsewhere.”

  “Where’s the place?”

  “A gated property that’s been abandoned for a couple of years. Noelle’s been trying to get in touch with the owner and see if he’s willing to sell, but . . . ” She shrugged. “He and his wife are in prison for conspiracy and kidnapping. The property has a very high fence. Can’t get in without a ladder or cat burglar acrobatics.”

  “That the guy who snatched Mason Foye’s mate?”

  Startled, she looked up at him. “You heard about that?”

  “You must forget.” He shoved his feet into his boots. “She’s not from here. She’s from back east. I see her sister pretty much every day.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  Back east where he’d be going as soon as Clarissa had concluded her visit.

  “Well, come on,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  “Go where?”

  “You said you wanted to shake some plants.”

  “I said I couldn’t get in, and so therefore, I’ll stay here in the house where there’s heat.”

  “Put your boots on, woman. You ain’t an excuse-maker. Don’t start now.”

  “Oh, you know me so well?”

  He canted his head in a not-answering-that sort of way and let out a ragged breath.

  Maybe he did know her. At the very least, he seemed to possess an innate ability to get her ass in gear. She didn’t want a man like him who was so creative and industrious to think she couldn’t succeed at the small stuff.