“Care to explain why, for the second time, you managed to break into my house and sleep in my bed?” I said with a hoarse voice. “Or do you want to wait to do that when Sheriff Henderson gets here?” He merely smiled, and I’m pretty sure he flexed too. Wow…I’d better leave before I crawl back into that bed. I nodded, agreeing with myself. “Fine, sheriff it is then.”
I stormed out of my bedroom, Reggie at my heels. I looked down at him. “I so have to get a new dog. You’re about as fierce as a Shih Tzu.”
When I passed my door I saw that it was still locked and dead-bolted. How the—? I was positive my wolf had slept with me last night. I looked around briefly and didn’t see any sign of him. Maybe he’d gone outside when Cash came in. How did he keep getting into my house?!
I made a large pot of coffee and grabbed my phone. I pretended to dial as Cash walked into the kitchen wearing only his cargo pants. He could have been a Chippendale dancer, and I was wishing for some dollar bills.
He poured himself a mug and sat down next to me, our thighs touching. Those flames I had become friends with burst into life and worked their way up my body until I knew my face was flushed.
“Hello, Sheriff?” I asked the phone in a rough voice and heard in reply the movie times for the Met Cinema in Oakhurst. The recording on the other line gave a short list of movies playing before going into the times. “Yeah, this is Shelby Flint. I’m calling to report that warden Newcomb broke into my home last night.” I paused, and listened to the show times for Harry Potter. “Yes, that’s right, and he also slept in my bed without my permission.”
Cash just sat there and sipped some coffee with a bland expression on his face.
“Yes, I’d like to press charges. It’s too damn creepy for me, sheriff, no matter who he thinks he is.” I glared at said intruder.
“Ask the good sheriff what time he wants to go see Harry Potter.” Cash said smoothly.
Oh crap. I swallowed a few times before setting the phone down. I blushed and got myself a refill, wishing for some Bailey’s.
“I should report you, you smug bastard,” I said, without much feeling and with my back still turned to him.
I hadn’t heard him get up, but his big, strong hands grabbed the countertop on either side of me, trapping me. His bare chest pressed against me until I was sandwiched between him and the cabinets and I could feel his breath in my hair.
“You shouldn’t turn your back on me.”
I reveled in his heat, though I was glad I was turned so he couldn’t see how much he was affecting me. I almost lost it when I felt his hot mouth on my neck, kissing his way down to my shoulder. I shuddered.
“I thought you only wanted to sleep on my couch.” I said, trying, and failing to keep the tremor of lust out of my voice. He kissed his way back up my neck and breathed deeply into my hair. Little shivers of desire traveled down to my toes.
“I never said that,” he growled into my ear. “I would have stayed there, though. But you smell like heaven.” The vibrations from his voice tickled my ears and sent goose bumps rippling down my arms.
“Oh Good Lord,” I moaned, and put my hands over his.
I had to use the cabinets to hold me up. In a flash, he had spun me around and lifted me to sit on the counter. My entire body was tingling as he put his hands on my knees. It was then I realized that I was still in my pajamas, a pair of boxers and a spaghetti strap camisole. My breathing spiked as Cash stepped in between my legs and ran his hot hands on a searing path up my thighs. Thank God I shaved!
It was his turn to moan when his fingers slid underneath the boxer shorts and discovered nothing else. I was starting to hyperventilate. He groaned in torment and buried his face into my belly.
“Shit, woman,” he panted into my stomach, “you’re going to kill me.” I barked a rough laugh. I thought that statement was pretty unfair, since he’d turned me into Jello. Cash lifted his eyes to mine. I gasped when I saw the eerie, primal green glow.
A wave of longing crashed over me hard and I wrapped my legs around his waist and slammed my mouth against his. I desperately needed to taste him, and he responded. I hooked my feet around the backs of his thighs and pulled him tight up against me. My mouth opened to let his tongue invade and I moaned. He tasted tangy and sweet like wine. I wanted more. I slid my tongue along his lower lip and felt the sharp tips of his teeth.
His hands ran up my ribcage and cupped my breasts, his thumbs stroking the sensitive and perky little nubs through my shirt. A tingle like electricity jolted down into my toes. I gasped and arched my back, pushing myself harder into his hands. A growl rumbled deep in his chest. He cupped his hands under my butt and lifted me off the counter taking me into the bedroom.
When he laid me down on the bed, I whined when he released his hold on my thighs. He pushed them apart and lay down on top of me, keeping his weight on his hands placed on either side of my body. I ran my hands up his stomach, delighting in the feel of his warm muscles flexing underneath my fingertips.
I sat up and feathered kisses on his chest. His skin was smooth and tasted a little salty. He hissed when I bit his nipple a little, so I soothed it with my tongue and turned my attention to the other. Cash groaned and his eyes rolled back into his head, the vein on the side of his neck popping out. I tugged his face to mine, running my fingers into his hair, needing to taste that tang once more. I bit at his lip with my teeth and teased him with my tongue.
When he started alternating between kissing and nipping down my neck, it was more than I could bear. The heat that had been building was driving me crazy. I responded by wiggling my hips against his. I delighted in the feel of his arousal against my oh-so-sensitive area. So that’s where he keeps his backup...Cash moaned into my neck and rolled off of me, his chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath.
Far from the reaction I expected, I frowned at him. His arm was covering his eyes, so I felt free to look him over. His chest glistened with a little sheen of perspiration, and if the bulge in his jeans was any indication, he must have been pretty uncomfortable. I reached over and pulled his arm off of his face so I could look at him, but his eyes were squeezed shut.
“What’s wrong? Why’d you stop?” He turned his face away from me and shook his head. “Is this about your eyes? I already noticed they get all freaky and green when you’re feeling lusty, but I hope you know that doesn’t bother me.” He jerked and looked at me.
“They what?”
“Well, normally there this incredible sapphire shade of blue, but when you start kissing me seriously, they get this green glow.” He just stared for a minute, and then hopped off the bed and picked up his white undershirt.
“So you’re going to leave? When I’m lying here, wanting you?” I watched, incredulously, as he pulled on his shirt. “You’ve been trying to seduce me since the moment we met, and you’re taking off now?”
“I’m sorry, Shells, I just can’t right now. I shouldn’t have even started in the first place, but you just smell so good.” He shook his head, as if to shake off something that bothered him. Hurt, I pulled my knees to my chest and looked at my feet. He sighed deeply, sat down next to me and pulled my face to meet his.
“I’m sorry. I attacked you like an animal. You deserve so much better than that.” I saw the regret in his eyes, and misinterpreted it.
“Ah, the whole, ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ thing. Okay...” My stomach sunk. I wasn’t exactly experienced, but I thought things had been going well. That is what I get for putting myself out there.
“No, Shells.” He waited until I looked him in the eyes. “I want you more than you can possibly imagine.” His eyes burned with the desire I’d heard in his voice. I nodded, wide eyed, and he went on.
“I just want to take this a little slower. I want to make your first time wonderful and that won’t happen if we do this today. I don’t have the control right now.” I gaped at him.
“How did you know I was a virgin?” I whispered. Surprise
mingled with irritation on his face. I could tell he was trying to think up something so I sat and waited.
“I—I guess I just sort of assumed,” his hand flicking out dismissively. That put my back up.
“Hey now!” I said defensively. “I’ve had lots of guys want to take me out! And I could’ve had sex with any one of them.”
As petulant as it sounded, the truth was I hadn’t wanted to, with any of them. Most of the guys were idiots, and watching my mom bring home a long string of men over the years made me almost swear it off entirely. And even though I didn’t get to church as often as I liked, I still felt like saving myself for the man I would marry. I always figured there were two ways my life could turn out. I could end up being just like my mother, a floozy, or I could do whatever it took not to be like her. Staying a virgin had been my solution.
But there I was, practically begging him for it. No one had ever made me feel that way. Pure, irrational lust consumed me and I just wanted to feel every wonderful inch of him against every inch of me. And I knew somehow, even as it terrified me, I wouldn’t feel complete ever again unless I did.
Cash just met my hungry gaze with one of his own. He leaned forward, his face inches from mine, and I saw that his eyes were going green again.
“I’m sure you had plenty of men wanting to have sex with you, Shells, but you wouldn’t have wanted them,” He said, his voice low and rough. “You’re mine.” I trembled. His words had echoed my own thoughts, and the sheer possessiveness of his last statement gave me a tingle of fear.
I am in way over my head on this one.
“Umm…so, I’m really sorry to have to ask this but, what the heck did you just say?”
I couldn’t hide the slight tremor in my voice. His eyes were glowing again and his gaze was so intense, I felt like the hippos from Fantasia were doing their dance in my stomach. I had sat up and scooted on the other side of the bed to put some distance between me and Mr. Growly.
His eyes widened a bit before he squeezed them shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, shit,” he muttered.
I folded my arms around my knees and waited for him to elaborate. I was disappointed. He exhaled and stood, straightening his pants. He stared at me for a minute, seeing me and seeing through me at the same time.
As he started to turn toward the door, I hopped up and socked him in the arm as hard as I could. I smiled to myself as he grunted. I might stop hitting him someday, but today is not that day.
“So you’re just going to leave.” I said, more as a statement than a question. “You drop a nuclear bomb of crazy on me and you’re just going to walk out?” He stood there looking pole-axed before he turned, practically jogging for my front door.
“I have work to do. I’m sorry Shelby.”
“You can’t do this. You just can’t leave, not now.” I didn’t like being vulnerable. I was raised to be tough and self-sufficient. This man had come in and turned me into a needy, hot mess. It shouldn’t have to be like that.
“I...I’ve got to go.” He glanced at me and I stiffened. There it was again in his expression. Pity.
In an instant he flipped that internal switch of mine and I was an inferno of rage. I jogged after him snatching up my 12 gauge that was leaning against the door and pumped it with one hand. I trailed behind him out the door and aimed it just to the right of him. I fired. He yelped and spun with the most hilarious look of incredulity on his face. Oddly enough, I’m not laughing.
“What the hell are you doing, Shells?” he yelped.
I put every ounce of malevolence I had into my glare, keeping the gun raised and pointed it at his chest. He stared wide eyed at the end of the barrel and gulped. I could see his beautiful Adam’s Apple bobbing up and down as he tried to swallow.
“If you ever set foot on my property again, I will not hesitate before pulling the trigger. Now get the hell off my land.” I said in a calm, steady voice. The only thing that showed how amazingly angry I was were the tears streaming down my face.
Cash backed away slowly, hands raised. All kinds of emotions were warring in his face but he hadn’t moved fast enough for my taste. I pumped another shell into the chamber. He leapt for his truck door and peeled out of my driveway.
I’d always had a temper, but I couldn’t remember ever threatening to kill anyone. A beating, of course, but never murder. But the way he tore down all my walls, poked at all my insecurities, and then took off? I was not having that.
I sat down on my porch steps. I couldn’t catch my breath. My lungs opened and closed, but it seemed like there wasn’t any oxygen. Panting, my vision started to go black, so I laid the shotgun down beside me and put my head between my knees.
Chapter Eleven
“So he’s called you how many times this week?”
Jess was on the phone. She had been so great to me, letting me stay with her a couple nights while I fought to put myself back together. She even kicked Tyler out of their bed and slept with me when I started having nightmares. I’ve got to remember to buy that man a Bass Pro gift card, I thought to myself.
I still couldn’t believe I was so upset. It seemed ridiculous to me, I’m sure to Jesse as well, since I had only known the man a week. I kept trying to ponder how he’d messed with my head so badly. Jesse seemed to think I just needed to get laid, but the fact that I’d admitted not wanting to have sex with any man but Cash tripped her up her logic a tiny bit.
I finally sucked it up and went back to my routine. I had seen neither hide nor hair of Cash. I guess he took my threat pretty seriously. Now I wondered if I’d actually make good on it, or just hit him in the face and then kiss it to make it all better. Just listen to yourself, I thought fiercely, You sound pathetic!
“He hasn’t called at all,” I said bleakly.
She muttered some things on the other line which didn’t bear repeating. “What a bastard! Do you want me to make Ty kick his ass? I’m sure we could round up a couple of the Albert’s to help, too.” I smiled. I was sure Matt, his brothers and cousins would leap at a chance to defend my honor, and gain my favors.
“Aww…you’re gonna make me cry!” I joked, though it wasn’t far from the truth.
I had been so wrecked emotionally it seemed like I’d been on the verge of tears all week. Grandpa would have been appalled. I sat on my porch, looking out at my driveway. He’s not coming, sang a snide voice in my head. I scratched Reg absently and repositioned the phone on my shoulder.
“I’m serious, Shells. I’ll make those boys hold Cash down and I’ll punch him in the junk myself! What an absolute bastard, walking out on you that way. It makes me want to curb stomp the asshole.” Aww, Jesse, I smiled. She must have watched American History X recently. I didn’t know why, but my little, sweet friend was into those violent movies. It was endearing. I put on my boots and stood.
I sighed. “Jess, as much as I love your threats of violence, I’ve got to go check on the cows. I’ll talk to you later.”
She just laughed hung up. I put my .45 in my leg holster and walked with Reggie to the barn. The man who had tried to kill me still hadn’t been found, so I was never more than a few feet from a firearm. I patted the Glock unconsciously and walked Roanie out of the barn.
I vaulted into my saddle kicked him into a trot. We jogged that way until we hit a meadow where I booted Roanie into a lope. He surged forward and crow hopped a bit, so I let him have his head. I relaxed into the rhythm of his long strides and finally felt a little happier than I had all week. The wind tugged strands of hair out of my braid and they whipped around my face as he ran. I inhaled the brisk autumn air, and felt clean.
When we reached the end of the meadow, I let Roanie walk and take a breather. His sides were heaving, but he tossed his head and pranced. He needed this too, I smiled to myself. We walked until we found the cattle. They were all congregated by one of the several natural springs-turned water trough on the property.
My grandpa had the water tested once and the man had
said we could bottle that water it was so pure. He piped in the spring so it flowed into a ten foot wide concrete tank. The water in the tank could get pretty manky with all the algae and grass cow-backwash, but the stuff that came out of the pipe was clean, cold and delicious.
I let Roanie shoulder a few cows aside so he could get a drink. He plunged his nose in and started slurping wetly. I laughed and patted him, massaging the thick muscles on his neck. I glanced away when I saw Reggie take off into the trees. What is he up to ? I un-holstered my pistol, resting it on my lap.
Reggie walked back up to me with my wolf by his side. I practically giggled with glee. For some reason, he hadn’t been around lately and I’d been worried someone else had shot or captured him. He stopped and crouched looking like he was going to bolt. I put away my pistol and jumped off the horse, jogging over to him. The wolf relaxed and sat down on his haunches letting his tongue loll out of his mouth.
I laughed and threw my arms around his big shoulders, sighing and burying my face in the fur of his neck. I breathed in the calming foresty, smoky scent. When he started to shift in discomfort I released him. Somewhere along the way I’d seemed to forget he might be a wild animal. I sat down in front of him and scratched his ears.
“Where have you been?” I asked. “I could’ve used your company this past week.”
He licked up the entire side of my face. “Eww…okay, I guess you missed me too!” I said wincing. I sat there loving on him for a few minutes before standing.
“Well, you want to come with? We’re going to go for a nice long ride.” He stood and followed me back to where I’d left Roanie standing. The horse was trained well; he knew to stay put if I dropped his reins. I vaulted back on, we rode for several hours before doubling back to the same trough to get a drink of water.
The cows had long since gone, leaving for another area they favored in the late afternoon with plenty of oaks for shade. Both Reggie and the wolf were on their hind legs lapping and slurping up the cool water.
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