Wild Cat: Wild Things, Book 2

by Beverly Rae

  “What the hell is going on?”

  Dirk, sporting his mischievous grin, shook his head and continued to brush the dirt and leaves off his body. “Nothing. He’s getting all excited—oops, poor choice of words—over nothing.”

  “Nothing? You call waking up with your arms wrapped around me nothing?” Conner spat onto the ground and stalked a few feet away.

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, seriously, Conner, what’s the big deal? I mean it’s not as if you haven’t already seen his he-haw.”

  “He-haw?” Dirk’s expression was priceless. “If you’re referring to my manly package, I’ll thank you to use a more fitting term.”

  “You—” Conner pointed at Dirk. “You are a freak. Stay away from me, got it?”

  “Aw, Connie, you’re hurting my feelings. I thought we shared something special last night.”

  Alex choked back her giggle although she wanted nothing more than to let it loose. It had been a long time since she’d laughed like this. A long time since the one person who could always make her laugh had changed. “Okay, okay. Fun’s over. Conner, calm down. I’m sure it happened after I got up to, uh, use nature’s facilities, then lay back down on the other side of you. He probably rolled next to you thinking you were me.”

  “You do have a very feminine side to you, cat-man.”

  Conner darted toward Dirk, hands open to throttle him, but Alex jumped between them, blocking his way. “Don’t we have more urgent matters to attend to?” The two men grumbled but stepped back from her. “How about we agree that last night never happened?”

  Not that she ever wanted to forget and she hoped they felt the same way. When she was sure Conner wouldn’t lunge at Dirk again, she moved away, already concentrating on the real problem. “I was thinking. We shouldn’t have shifted into our animal forms to check out the ranch. After all, there’s less chance of getting shot, at least intentionally, as humans. Granted, we won’t cover as much territory, but at least we won’t wind up dead.”

  “Agreed.” Dirk bit his lip, humor showing in the lines around his eyes. “Is that okay with you, cat-man?”

  Alex frowned and shot him an imploring stare. Granted, he was funny, but Conner obviously didn’t agree, so why keep baiting him?

  Dirk caught her meaning, coughed and did a one-eighty. “Uh, seriously, man. What do you think? Should we stay in our human forms?” After she rewarded him with a soft smile, he added another attempt to get on her good side. “And how are you doing today, anyway? Wound all healed?”

  “Alex, so help me, I’m going to chew him up and spit him out.” Conner’s face flushed a purplish-red.

  “Actually, Conner, I think he’s sincere.” She couldn’t help but wonder, but decided to give the werewolf the benefit of the doubt.

  Conner didn’t appear to agree, yet grumbled a curse at Dirk and nodded. “I’m fine.” He put his back to Dirk who made a “hey, I tried” shrug. “I think we should tackle the next ridge near the two smaller ranches.”

  “I agree with ca—with Conner. From the locations where the bodies were found, it looks like the killer’s moving in that direction.” Dirk’s grin was gone, seriousness replacing any sign of mirth.

  She had to admit she liked his serious side almost as much as his jovial one. Her thoughts drifted back to last night’s activities and landed squarely on his excellent package. Of course, his physical attributes put both those other sides to shame.

  “Alex? Did you hear what I said?”

  She blinked, wiping away the sexy image. “Yeah. I heard you, Dirk.” Avoiding their silent perusal, she forced her mind back to her mission. “So what are we waiting for? Get your tails in gear, men.”

  She marched off, leaving the men to follow her.

  A skimpy breakfast of berries-on-the-run and twenty minutes later everything was forgotten except picking up the trail of the killer and trying to stay out of gunshot range of the armed humans scouring the hills. Using hand signals to relay his intent, Dirk ordered the other two shifters to spread out, moving out of eyesight of each other but close enough for their sensitive ears to hear a shout.

  A noise to his right had Dirk ducking, narrowly avoiding being spotted by two hunters. Hiding behind some bushes, he let them stroll past him as they argued about which baseball team would win the championship. How they expected to hunt while flapping their gums he’d never know. In fact, if they’d all stay home, he could make better time. He resisted the urge to stand up and tell them so. Now that he had Alex to worry about, he couldn’t take unnecessary risks.

  The implication of his thoughts struck him, making him stay behind the bushes a little longer than necessary. Why should he worry about Alex? Not only was she competent enough to take care of herself, she had Conner. Yet he couldn’t shake the need to protect her. Hell, he wanted to protect her. Wanted to keep her safe from not only the hunters, but from anything else that might hurt her.

  Once the hunters were out of sight, he rushed off in a different direction, his footsteps barely making a sound. He then circled around, making sure he stayed close to Alex’s position.

  Conner’s exclamation alerted him and he took off in a run. A few minutes later, he dashed into a clearing to find Alex and Conner standing over a dead cow. “Damn it! Not another one already.”

  “Looks like it.” Alex’s scowl, a scowl that couldn’t mar her beauty, matched his inner turmoil.

  Conner knelt next to the carcass. “Yep. It’s definitely the work of the same cat. Same earmarks. Same everything. And it happened recently, too. The body’s not even cold yet.”

  “But how does he do it?” Dirk scanned the surrounding tree line for any signs of the killer, but found none.

  “What do you mean?” Alex kicked her toe against the cow’s still-limp leg. “He attacks and rips out its throat. Exactly like he did to the rest.”

  “That’s not what I meant. I’m asking how does he strike so fast? And with all these hunters around? I spent most of my time hiding from them instead of tracking him.”

  “Why would you hide?” Alex held her hand up to shield the light coming through the trees. “I thought you liked humans.”

  “I like them well enough, I guess. But if you called out and they heard you, then they ran into a beautiful woman—” he covered the length of her with his gaze, then landed back on her face, “—they might question what the hell you’re doing out in the wilds.”

  “Which is why I stayed hidden, too.” She blinked and he could almost read her thoughts.

  Taking compliments wasn’t easy for her, but it was more than that. He reached out to her, hoping to dive behind the pain he’d seen all too often since meeting her. She saw his gesture, started to smile, then caught him studying her and forced a passive expression. Instead of pulling her into his arms, he dropped his hand uselessly to his side.

  Conner cleared his throat, loudly, rudely. “If you two are through discussing the obvious, maybe we can get going?” He pointed to an area of grass where drops of blood were scattered. “Wait a sec. This is different.”

  “How so, cat-man?”

  “It appears Bry—uh, the killer decided to take some of the meat along with him this time.”

  Tension between the two werecats rippled in the air. Alex bristled at Conner, then abruptly turned in a different direction, placing her back to Dirk. Dirk took them both in, tried to understand the conflict, then decided to bide his time and ask questions later. Adding more tension wouldn’t gain him any answers. Until then, he’d have to wonder what Conner had started to say.

  “Well, at least we know he has to eat. But why this time and not before? He’s always torn the cow apart, then left all the meat at the site of the kill.” Dirk searched the ground around the cow but didn’t see any signs that he’d fed beside his prey.

  “Probably because of the hunters.”

  Dirk shook his head at Conner’s explanation and pointed toward the sky. “I don’t think so. He’s never worried about
them before so why start now? I think maybe it’s because of that storm coming in. If he’s smart—and obviously he is—he’s heading for shelter.”

  Alex’s and Conner’s gazes followed his direction. Black clouds formed nearby, darkening the sky to the west of them. “Crap. The rain will wash away his tracks.”

  “That and catch a lot of unprepared people in the mountains. Including us if we don’t find someplace to hunker down and wait it out.” Dirk pivoted on his heel and started toward the nearest ranch.

  “Hey, hold up, Dirk. Where’re you headed?”

  “Um, to find cover, of course. You know. Like at a ranch. Personally, I don’t like flash floods, and I kind of thought cats didn’t like getting wet, either.”

  “Very funny. Look, I don’t like getting wet, but I don’t like the idea of trying to explain who we are and why we’re hunting the killer cat, either. Didn’t you say they’d wonder about a woman being out here?” She glanced at Conner and lifted her eyebrows in question. “I know a safe place the pride uses.”

  “Alex. No.” Conner obviously didn’t like the idea of showing a werewolf one of the pride’s secret hideaways.

  “Conner, we don’t have a lot of options.”

  “Why do I get the impression that you two are speaking in some kind of feline code?”

  She chuckled, ignoring Conner’s sour face. “Follow us, werewolf. We’ll keep you safe and dry.” Alex turned toward the mountains and the rock outcrop situated on higher ground. The men followed behind staying silent and matching her pace for pace. Together they left the valley, traveling through the forest and onto the rocky ledges until Alex stopped in front of a large growth of bushes. With a glance at Dirk, she pulled at the branches and the false barrier fell away, revealing a large cave. The mouth of the cave reached above their heads and was wide enough for all three to stand side by side.

  “Holy shit. I’ve spent a lot of time in these woods, but I never knew this was here.”

  The clap of thunder following Dirk’s remark sent them scurrying into the cave.

  Alex stared at the flashes of light slashing through the falling darkness. “Am I imagining it or was that lightning too damn close?”

  “Freaky damn close.” Conner scowled at Dirk. “The storm must be our ancestors telling us how displeased they are by our hanging around with a werewolf.”

  “Conner, my friend, you do have an interesting way of viewing the world.” Dirk puffed out an exasperated breath and dragged in a leveling one. “Not a good view, but an interesting one.”

  Why did Conner have to be such a prick? Especially since Dirk had tried so hard to be nice to the cat-man to make Alex happy. But a man could only put up with shit for so long before it stuck in his craw. He gritted his teeth and returned Conner’s snarl. “For Alex’s sake, I’m trying to control the part of me that wants to flatten you and stomp your furry butt into the cave’s rocky floor. Hell, through the floor.” Yet when his gaze fell on Alex standing at the mouth of the cave, he immediately forgot about Conner.

  Lightning lit up the world outside, bursting splashes of brightness across her upturned angular face. Soft shadows played with her features, accentuating the high cheekbones, the way she jutted her chin out in a defiant manner. The fire of lights outside made the copper in her hair sparkle with its own flame. She stared into the night that had arrived with the storm, her eyes darting from one point to another, searching. She pursed her full lips together, plumping them as though waiting for a kiss.

  He’d love to kiss her. To ravish her lips, her eyelids, her pussy. And, surprising even himself, her mind. Captured by her beauty, Dirk let his eyes devour her. She was taller than most women, even most shifter females. The way she stood, her shoulders thrown back, gave her a regal posture and, if he believed in such things, he would swear she was a Greek goddess returned to Earth. From the rounded curve of her shapely buttocks to the long, lean length of her legs, he took her in, his mouth watering at the idea of her lying beneath him, writhing in lust-filled ecstasy.

  A clap of thunder jolted her and she jumped. Her gaze locked onto his, her green eyes glowing, sprinkled with brilliant golden flecks. Shifter flecks. The night’s storm called her inner beast just as he could feel his own animal heeding the call. His animal roared to life inside, aching to answer her unspoken summons to take her. His gut twisted in the familiar stirring of lust, but stronger than he’d ever felt it, different than he’d ever felt it. He let his fangs grow and returned her stark perusal. “Alex, I need your legs wrapped around me, holding me.”

  She swallowed and narrowed her eyes at him, almost as though she’d heard his thoughts. Then her pink tongue flicked across her kissable lips and his knees nearly buckled in the rush of desire. He swore at that moment that he heard her answer in his mind. “Then come to me, Dirk. Take me. I’m yours.”

  A soft rumble rolled in his chest and he took a step forward—until an arm pushed against his chest.

  Chapter Four

  Dirk’s growl rumbled out of him and he glared at Conner. “Get your stinking paws off me, you oversized mouse-chaser.”

  Conner dropped his arm, then took a step in front of him. “Alex, get away from the entrance of the cave.”

  Alex, still uneasy on her feet after the unnerving connection with Dirk, could merely nod. Normally she would’ve balked at such a brusque order, but she was in no position to argue. At least not until she’d figured out what had happened.

  When she’d stared into Dirk’s eyes, she’d experienced a bond unlike any she’d ever had with any of her werecat lovers. Somehow she and the werewolf had come together, emotionally, sexually, without physically touching. If Conner hadn’t broken their connection, she would’ve gone to Dirk and begged him to take her. At that moment, she’d wanted him to push her down and ride her from behind. She’d wanted him to tell her what to do and how to do it. She still wanted him to.

  Another flash of light and the resulting clap of thunder shook her from her fantasy. Dirk frowned, a crease marring his forehead, but he never stopped staring at her.

  “Conner, could you gather some firewood and start a fire?”

  Conner glanced at Alex, then at Dirk and frowned. He opened his mouth to speak, but clammed up at Alex’s hard look. With a curt nod, he eased into the darkness outside the cave. She swallowed and paused, half expecting Conner to return, then tossed her hair over her shoulder. Glancing at Dirk, Alex hastened into the interior of the cave. Voicelessly, she begged him to follow her.

  The plea was in and out of her mind before she realized what she was thinking. Was she going crazy? Or was it her imagination playing out with the storm’s eeriness? She quickened her pace and kept moving toward the rear, into the blacker recesses of the cave that ran approximately fifty feet deep. What would Conner think? Moreover, what would he do if she hooked up with Dirk? The other night had been unplanned and spontaneous. But this time she knew what she wanted, had even instigated it. Suddenly, her strength left her and she leaned her shoulder against the cool wall. Did she dare continue this sexual escapade? She chuckled, speaking her answer before logic could talk her out of it. “Hell yes.”

  “Hell yes what?”

  She whirled, placing her back against the wall to find Dirk standing close to her. Too close. “What did you say?”

  The intensity in his eyes echoed the frown on his face. “That’s what I’m asking you.” She instinctively knew that he understood what she wanted before he spoke. “Or do I already know what you’re saying yes to?”

  “You’re a strange man, Dirk Claxton.” She needed time to think. Not caring if he responded, she looked down and immediately regretted it. Her gaze fell to the bump in his jeans, his cock pressing against the material. Her breathing shortened and she struggled to look elsewhere, at anything else.

  “Strange but sexy, I hope.”

  She forced her words to come out stronger than she felt. “A bit conceited, are we?”

  He touched a lock of her hair,
spreading the strands between his callused fingers. “Hey, when you’ve got it, why deny it? You’re not exactly a dog, you know. Although some of the female dogs I’ve known have been real knockouts.”

  She laughed at his joke, letting out some of her anxiety along with it. “Gee, thanks. Your flattery is underwhelming.”

  “Okay, then let me say it straight out. You’re the most captivating woman I’ve ever known. And I’m not talking just about the way you look, either. I think you know that. You can sense this thing between us like I can.”

  Dirk lifted her chin to make her meet his eyes—his gorgeous ocean-colored eyes filled with amber speckles—and she blinked at the passion in them. Suddenly he pressed against her, his muscled chest flattening her breasts. His mouth crushed hers and he thrust his tongue between her lips, past her teeth to seek out hers. She inhaled, as much from delight as surprise, and met his forceful kiss with her own. Pulling the bottom of his shirt from his jeans, she slipped her hand along his muscled back, running her fingers over his scars. “How?”

  His chuckle spread warmth into her mouth. “How? I figured you already knew how. But if you don’t, then not to worry. I’m a great teacher.”

  She gasped as he nibbled at her ear, sending delicious spirals of desire along her neck to the tips of her breasts. “I’m talking about your scars, wolf-man. How did you get the scars on your back?”

  He paused, then took her face between his hands, forcing her to look at him, his gaze delving deep inside her. “Seriously? You want to talk about my scars?” But when she didn’t answer, he continued, “They’re souvenirs of a bad time in my life when I fought with everyone and everything I could find. Including a man with a whip.” He tilted his head. “Why? Do they bother you?”

  She slid a hand over a large scar and shook her head. “No. In fact, I think they’re kind of sexy.”