Foxy Lady: A Cougar Falls Story

by Marie Harte

  “Come on. Let’s spend some time getting to know each other better.” Ned tried to drag her from the house.

  Finally, even Meghan looked worried. Everyone knew Ned had a temper, but they’d yet to see it unleashed on them. Jason, however, had warned them to be wary of his oldest brother. As much as Jason loved his family, he was smart enough to understand and acknowledge their faults. Bullheaded tenacity was one of them. Their love affair with guns and hunting anything on four feet another.

  Gabby reached for her arm. “Ah, Ned? We really need Julia’s help with Meghan’s wedding planning.”

  Meghan hurriedly added, “Maybe you could see her another time?”

  In another lifetime, maybe. Ned and Gabby tugged on Julia’s arms, making her feel like a piece of rope in a tug-of-war. She growled and yanked her arm back.

  He dropped his hand and rubbed his chin, considering. At times, his gruff features bordered on attractive. Rough, thick, but pleasant. Until that obstinate glint lit his dark eyes. He reminded her of a bear, but without the true bulk and smarts of a grizzly to back him up.

  Foxes, she reminded herself, made do with their smaller size by being smarter than the average predator. Hell, she couldn’t beat him, but maybe…

  The answer to her prayers arrived in a streak of speed. He shoved Itchy and Snitchy out of the way and slid past Ned with the ease of a skilled predator.

  Gabby announced with breathless reverence, “Ty Roderick?”

  Julia stared at her nemesis with equal amounts of desire, frustration and grudging relief. She threw herself into his arms and met his astonished gaze with a determined one of her own.

  “Ty, sweetie. I didn’t realize you were coming today. I’m so excited to see you.” She kissed him quickly—ignoring the hum in her blood—and stepped back, pleased at this solution. Even Ned couldn’t fail to realize she was taken now. Maybe that would make him leave her alone.

  Except Ned didn’t appear to care.

  “This is your boyfriend?” He huffed and gave Ty a disapproving once-over. “Funny, you never mentioned him before.”

  Ty stood a few inches smaller than Ned but still topped Julia by a foot. Strength and vitality vibrated under the breadth of his chest and tightly muscled arms. He smelled like chocolate, and she chalked up her sudden need to sniff him again as hunger and not desire.

  Ty narrowed his silver eyes, glaring at Ned with a meanness that didn’t bode well. The sheriff was hard to rile, but when angry, Ty could tear a strip off a bear. “Who the hell are you?”

  “I’m her fiancé. Who the fuck are you?”

  “Fiancé? No way in hell.”

  Meghan interrupted, “Actually, Ned is Jason’s brother.”

  “Jason?”

  Gabby gave a nervous laugh. “Meghan’s fiancé. His family’s from Nowhere. Long line of Williamses in this area. All of them hardworking men who practically own the town.” Her subtle warning did nothing to sway Ty’s anger.

  “Hunters?” he asked straight out.

  “Hell, yeah. I hit anything I’m aimin’ at,” Ned bragged. His brothers nodded behind him.

  Ty’s eyes flashed with more than anger, but with a fury that really worried her.

  It took Julia a moment to understand, and she quickly corrected Ty’s misapprehension. “His family hunts, with a lowercase h.”

  Ty’s gaze swung to her. “You sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure. Do you really think I’d be standing here so calmly if I wasn’t?” she asked, not happy he would question her common sense in front of her sisters.

  Ty didn’t say anything, but his tension eased considerably. He turned his gaze back to Ned.

  Julia had had enough. Meghan was damn well coming home with her, this instant. Ned could go to hell. Ty could lecture until he was blue in the face, but this wasn’t his problem, and—

  He jerked Julia into his arms. “Well, well. Congrats, Meghan. I can’t wait to see what your aunt and uncle think of Jason.” He gave a tight laugh. “You know, Julia, it’s tough to keep up with all these hearts you keep breaking. Why, just a few weeks ago you wanted me. Now it’s Ned?”

  If she’d had a gun, she might have shot him. “I don’t want—”

  “To fight, I know,” he said smoothly and hugged her tighter. “I came to tell you I’m sorry. You want me? I’m yours. I think we should start with you moving in to my place, though. You know how much my folks want grandkids. Now how about we grab your sisters and head home in time for the spring festival?”

  Gabby and Meghan watched the spectacle with their mouths open. Julia wasn’t sure what to do. Agree with Ty to leave? Or try to wrestle back control of the situation?

  “What in the hell are you talking about?” Ned roared. “You ain’t leaving. The family reunion is next week, and Mama wants to see the gals at dinner tomorrow. Jason has to bring Meghan, and I’m bringing Julia.” He curled his meaty hands into fists, and that quickly Ty went from teasing to lethal.

  He pushed Julia behind him. “You want her, you go through me.”

  Ned took a step closer, apparently saw something he didn’t like on Ty’s face, and stopped. “Hell, I’m not going to fight you in front of the women. But none of you is leaving until after the reunion. You need anything, Meghan, call Jason. Julia, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He gave Ty one final glare and left, his brothers in tow.

  Through the front window, Julia watched Itchy and Snitchy climb into the cab while Ned grabbed a rifle from his truck. Lightning fast, he shot out each of Ty’s tires, as well as the tires on Julia’s SUV, leaving them stranded. With a one-fingered salute to Ty, Ned jumped into his truck and spun his wheels as he left.

  “Uh-oh,” Meghan murmured. “I don’t think we’re going anywhere anytime soon.”

  As one, she and Gabby turned slowly to regard Ty, who gripped Julia’s shoulders hard enough to leave marks. As if sensing her pain, he let go, and she faced him.

  “Well, well. My two-timing girlfriend and her troublesome sisters. Now how about one of you pretty ladies tell me what the hell is going on before I turn feral and bite you?” His eyes smoked as they settled on Julia. “And not in a good way.”

  Chapter Two

  Ty didn’t know whether to spank Julia or kiss her senseless. Just seeing her again aroused him in a way he was hard-pressed to explain. Her scent, the feel of her smooth skin under his hands, her soft kiss, all of it made him want to throw her down on the nearest bed and fuck her until he couldn’t move. He wanted to tie her to him and make her admit she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Because he sure as hell couldn’t stop thinking about her.

  Hearing that Neanderthal claim Julia had nearly ended Ned’s life. It had taken a lot of discipline to remain still. Ty didn’t like that loss of control. As town sheriff, he came into contact with conflict on a daily basis. He had a reputation as calm and collected. So why did Julia Easton tie him in knots?

  At least the woman looked nervous. As she should.

  “Well? I’m waiting,” he said in a quiet voice, pleased when Julia and Gabby jumped.

  The three sisters were exceptionally popular in the clan. Meghan was the youngest, and at the age where she needed to explore. No one had balked when she’d left town for college on the outside. Still, this Jason business would need some explaining.

  Everyone liked Gabby, the most outgoing and genial of the three. She had a tawny complexion that suited her dark red hair, and a curvy frame where Meghan and Julia were leaner.

  Slender, sexy and beautiful, Julia made him ache. She made him want to beg. He huffed. A Roderick didn’t beg. Hell, at home he rejected sexual offers from women left and right. But Julia had never asked a thing from him, not until the sly vixen had propositioned him, drunk as a skunk. Now how the hell could he say yes to that and not have her hate him in the morning?

  Meghan was the first to answer him. “Ty, uh, I’m, well…”

  “Get on with it, Meghan.” She really was cute. A younger version of Julia.
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br />   “The brat thinks she’s in love,” Julia said, her words laced with disgust. Her gaze met his before it skittered back to her sister.

  “I am in love,” Meghan retorted. “Just because you’re turning into the neighborhood cat lady is no reason to be jealous I’ve found someone special.”

  Ty coughed to smother a laugh. “Cat lady?”

  “You know, the old lady with no life who lives with like thirty cats for company.”

  “We like cats,” Gabby defended, shooting Meghan a look that surprised Ty. She seemed genuinely annoyed.

  Meghan flushed. “I’m just saying Julia blames me for having a sex life.”

  “I so did not need to hear that,” Ty muttered.

  Julia’s eyes sparkled and her scent grew richer. When angry, the little spitfire turned him hard in a heartbeat. He casually crossed the room to stand behind an oversized chair to hide his erection. Talk about embarrassing, not to mention irritating. The vixen made him crazy like no one could.

  “Okay, you want to talk about your sex life? Fine,” Julia sneered. “Are you using birth control? Does Jason know what can happen when you go into heat? Is he prepared to help rear your litter?”

  Fascinated, Ty watched the family interplay. He’d never seen Julia so impassioned. Normally she did her job with calm precision and couldn’t be described as anything other than cool. But with Meghan, she acted like a virtual firecracker. A sultry redhead with a temper to boot. God, he wanted her.

  Meghan stared from Julia to Ty and back again, her cheeks scarlet. “I am not going to talk about this in front of Ty.”

  Thank God.

  She continued. “I’m going to call Jason to come get me.” Tears filled her eyes. “He’s the only one who understands me. The only one who cares.” She sobbed and fled the room.

  Everyone stared at the slammed door in silence.

  After a moment, he asked, “You sure she didn’t major in drama?”

  Julia’s lips curved.

  Gabby choked on a laugh. “I’ll go talk to her. You deal with him,” she said to Julia, a knowing look in her eyes that made Julia blush. Gabby joined Meghan in the bedroom, leaving Julia and Ty alone together.

  “Now it’s just you and me, honey. Where should we start?”

  Julia gnawed on her lower lip, and he wanted to kiss the sting away. She turned her direct amber-eyed gaze on him. “Why are you here?”

  “You’re welcome for saving you, by the way. Or would you rather I stepped aside so you and Ned can head down the aisle?” he asked dryly.

  “Please. I can handle Ned.”

  “Oh?”

  “Granted, he’s an ass. But I know how to handle the type.” The look she gave him heated his blood to boiling.

  “I raced nearly two hundred miles on no sleep and shitty gas station food. I left the raptors in a frenzy, ready to rip out Sarah Duncan’s feathers one by one. The cats are at the throats of the gray wolves again, the bears are losing their minds, and half our clan is in favor of instituting a new mating policy, whereby the silver foxes will soon have arranged marriages. I left all that behind to save you from Hunters.”

  “Hunters?” Julia blinked in confusion. “Rip out Sarah’s feathers? Is she okay?”

  He spoke through gritted teeth. “The Whitefeathers and Gerald have it all under control. Sarah’s the one who told me you were having trouble with Hunters.”

  “What do the Whitefeathers have to do with this?”

  “Julia, focus, would you? Why would Sarah think you were dealing with Hunters?” The thought of Julia being hunted down and killed had nearly stopped his heart before he’d managed to bear down and concentrate on finding her.

  “Hunters? Where would she get that idea?” Her expression cleared. “Oh. Right. The last time we spoke I mentioned Jason’s family’s disgusting hobby of mounting dead things in their homes. She might have gotten the wrong impression.”

  “I’m not sure she did. Ned Williams seems pretty threatening.” And he likes you way too much for my liking.

  “He is, but he’s nothing I can’t handle.” Now she sounded like the competent legal assistant he knew her to be. Sexy, unruffled, self-contained. “I’m sorry if you rushed out here on our behalf, but we’re fine.”

  “Oh, right. I can see that. Some asshole just shot all of our tires. Your sister is involved with an outsider the clan knows nothing about, and you’re getting married to Ned No-Neck Williams.”

  Julia pinched the bridge of her nose. “I didn’t say we weren’t having some problems, but it’s a family matter. Not your concern, Ty.”

  He liked her saying his name. He’d like it a whole lot better if she’d cry it out as her body clenched around his in orgasm. “Oh, but it is my concern. Meghan’s in some serious trouble. And it doesn’t seem like she’s going to drop this Jason anytime soon.”

  “I know.” Julia sighed. “But we’ll handle it.”

  “Yes, we will.” Ty made a sudden decision. Maybe he could fix a few issues at once. He had no transportation at the moment. Considering the “long line of Williamses” in Nowhere, he’d venture a guess he’d have a hard time finding spare tires for his truck in town.

  Time to match wits with a sexy, conniving adversary. Satisfaction flooded him at the thought of tangling with Julia again. He really had missed her.

  “What does ‘we will’ mean?” Suspicion made her voice husky.

  “It means I’m here to fix a few things. But first things first.” He took a step closer, pleased when she licked her lips, nervous.

  “Ty—”

  He answered how he should have the first time she’d asked, four weeks ago. “Yes, Julia. Yes, I’ll take you home and make love to you until neither of us can walk.”

  He kissed her before she could close her pretty mouth.

  Julia had to be dreaming. No way Ty Roderick would step in to save her from Ned and fulfill her deepest desires all in the same day. But she couldn’t ignore the heat building inside her from the taste of him.

  He tasted like chocolate. She couldn’t explain how, but he did. And his scent. Like spiced male and sex, topped with sugared seduction. He groaned low and deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue between her lips to sweep her mouth.

  She never could have guessed it would be this good. Oh, she’d fantasized. For years she’d had a thing for the town sheriff. The unflappable man every woman wanted and every man wanted to emulate. Ty was a man’s man. He fished and hunted with deadly accuracy in shifted form. Quick and devious, he could also talk politics or sports with the best of them.

  Possessing a body corded with strength and a face anyone would call attractive, he was the catch of the season, if you could grab a hold of him. As slippery as an eel, he’d cut a swath through the females in town without settling on anyone. Julia refused to be added to his notch of conquests, so she’d kept her distance. And watched. And waited. But Ty never approached her. The other dogs in town did, but not the one silver fox she wanted.

  And now he was kissing her like he meant it, and her entire body gelled. He shifted, drawing her closer, and she couldn’t help noticing his insistent erection. Good Lord, he felt huge. Her sex throbbed, growing wet and needy while he ground against her.

  “You feel so damned good,” he whispered and ran kisses down her neck.

  So did he. Though she had to reach up to kiss him, she liked his size. Petite, Julia would look up to most men she dated. But Ty topped most silver foxes she knew.

  She gripped his neck as they kissed again, and her nipples strained against her clothing, begging to touch his naked chest. All thoughts of trouble and family and danger faded next to the need to feel Ty inside her.

  She’d dreamed about him for so long…

  A knock at the door interrupted them, like a spray of very cold water.

  Julia sprang back, doused in reason once more.

  Ty took a step in her direction, his eyes cloudy with lust, his mouth parted and ready for another kiss.


  Julia couldn’t help looking him over, centering on his obvious arousal. Oh boy. He looked big. Really hard, and really big.

  “Don’t move,” he warned and walked to the door. After cracking it long enough to take a sniff, he stepped back and pulled it open. “You must be Jason.”

  Jason blinked in surprise. “Ah, well, yes.” He cleared his throat, sensing the buried frustration in Ty as easily as Julia felt it. “I’m here for Meghan.”

  Ty drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Come in.” He closed the door behind Jason, subtly adjusted himself in his jeans and walked to the bedroom. “This isn’t over,” he growled in a low voice to her before calling Meghan outside.

  Julia had just avoided a very big mistake. She should have been thankful Jason had saved her from sure disaster. But she wasn’t. Even knowing Ty would bed her and leave her, like all the others he’d dated, Julia wanted a taste of that passion. How stupid. She knew better than most what heartache could do. If she could keep the relationship strictly sexual, she’d have done it already. But she was more than half in love with the stubborn man and had been for years.

  Her stupid crush had blossomed into what she suspected was a bad case of puppy love. Considering male foxes were called dogs, she didn’t think the term puppy love all that far from the mark.

  “So I hear you saw Ned again,” Jason said in a somber voice. “I’m sorry, Julia. I tried to talk him out of this obsession, but when Ned gets something into his head, he won’t quit.”

  “I don’t get it. Why the whole marriage thing?”

  Jason shrugged. “Mom’s tired of waiting. She’s been after Ned to settle down for a while, but he hasn’t seen anyone he likes as much as he likes you. My mom wants grandkids, and she wants to see her sons married. That’s part of the reason she’s so in love with Meghan. Not that Meghan isn’t terrific on her own,” he hastened to say with a flush.