by Wilde, Kati
“I will.” Cougar Ridge. My gaze swings out to the hills behind my house, shrouded in thick smoke. Maria’s only a few miles from here. “I have to hang up, but I swear to you—help is coming. Okay?”
“Okay.” Her voice trembles and rips up my heart. “And just in case…I love you.”
“I love you, too. But help’s on the way. So just hang tight.”
Heart thundering, I disconnect and try the emergency number. Then Sam’s phone. Then Ranger. All circuits busy.
Shit shit shit. I look out at the hills, then think about how fast my beast’s form was all the times I went looking for Ranger. A second later, I type out a message to him.
Alicia: Maria’s trapped on Cougar Ridge. I can’t get through to anyone. I’m heading out there. I love you.
I’m pulling off my shoes when my phone chimes with a message notification.
Ranger: Text me when you’re done. I love you, baby.
Ranger: Also just got word of two hikers up on that ridge. I’ll tell them a search and rescue is on the way.
As if he doesn’t have a single doubt that I can accomplish it, and that I’ll be safe. I grin and shove my shorts down my legs. Now I’m only wearing one of Ranger’s giant shirts. And the transformation into my beast’s form is almost like breathing—so smooth, so easy, so natural.
Just like loving a man with sparks in his eyes and charcoal in his voice.
* * *
Two nights later, I’m in the farmhouse kitchen, sharing a block of Neapolitan ice cream with Samantha when Ranger comes through the door—and heads straight for me.
“You’re so damn brave, baby,” he growls softly.
I leap into his arms, my mouth finding his. He smells like smoke, and soot smudges every visible inch of his skin. Only two hours ago, I looked and smelled the same. Now the fire’s mostly contained. Not out yet. But not spreading.
And Ranger’s finally home again.
Dimly I hear Brandon tell Samantha, “Rumor is, there’s a Bigfoot running around, tossing burning logs off the road and rescuing people.”
“But she has little feet,” my sister says.
“Probably not so little when she’s seven feet tall— Hold up. Why is there only vanilla left? And how the hell did you two dig out the chocolate and strawberry all the way down on either side?”
“With grit and determination,” Sam tells him.
When I laugh at that answer, Ranger grins against my lips. “You had the chocolate?”
Because he can smell it on me. Taste it on me. “I did.”
My sister licks the last of the strawberry from her spoon. “Mom used to be the vanilla.”
“Then I guess I’m the mama bear now.” Brandon hauls out the chair beside her, then steals her spoon. “You want some of this, brother?”
Ranger doesn’t answer, just begins carrying me toward the stairs—the sparks in his eyes telling me he’s hungry for something else. He has my panties torn away by the third stair, his belt and pants unfastened by the top.
But he comes to an abrupt halt just inside my bedroom. And I’d forgotten how empty it is. The bed’s still here, but almost everything personal of mine is gone.
At his searching glance, I tell him quietly, “It’s all at your place.”
Eyes narrowing, he pushes me back against the wall. “Our place.”
“Our place,” I agree breathlessly as he lifts me.
Then he’s deep inside me, so deep, pumping his thick cock into my drenched heat, stretching me so deliciously that I whine and push back against him.
“Two days,” he snarls. “Only two days, baby. And it felt longer than the whole fucking year without you.”
Forever. It felt like forever. “I missed you, too,” I tell him, clinging to his shoulders, licking his throat, kissing his jaw. “So much.”
“And you were alone through so goddamn much.” With a growl, he pins me against the wall and fucks me harder, my breasts bouncing with each thrust. “Your first change. Your first run. And I wasn’t with you in that fire.”
“I was okay.” And he’s here now. Oh god, he’s so here. Driving that massive erection so deep, filling all the empty, aching hollows that his absence left inside me.
“I know you were. But I missed you. And I need you, baby.” He takes my lips in a rough kiss. Then another, scorching and wet, before angling me up higher, pumping deeper with long strokes that send pleasure bursting through me in white hot flashes. “I need you so fucking much, Alicia. It should scare you how much.”
“You don’t,” I pant, then nip the side of his neck, wrapping my legs tighter around his waist when that teasing bite makes him snarl and buck his hips against me, harder and harder. “You don’t scare me at all.”
With Ranger, my world is filled with the opposite of fear. Only hope. Only love. Only joy.
Only ecstasy, as he fills me over and over. I cry out against his neck as the heat and tension and need all begin unraveling inside me, as his heavy grunts become faster, more erratic. The edges of the world blur as the bliss sharpens, and there’s only Ranger now, only Ranger harshly growling my name, the hot and wet sounds of our frantic mating, the salt of his skin beneath my tongue. Then the world splinters and I cling to him, his solid body my only anchor as an orgasm shatters my senses into razored shards of pleasure. Ranger’s groan is a tortured rumble against my ear, and he drives into me for two more hard pumps before stilling. His mouth captures mine as his thick cock pulses deep inside me, claiming my lips as if he would possess my very breath, though I’m already all his. Even the beat of my heart is only for him.
As my shudders ease, Ranger breaks the kiss—but only barely. A mere breath separates us as he says, “I want to be married by next week, Miss Simmons.”
“Sounds good to me, Ranger Ranger.” Fingers buried in his hair, I hold him tighter. “Afraid I’ll run away if you don’t lock me down?”
“No, baby. I just want the whole damn world to know you’re mine. So you won’t be Miss Simmons much longer.” The sparks flaring through his eyes glow bright. “If you ever tried to run away, I’d simply hunt you down.”
Oh. I never had any intention of running away…but that sounds kind of fun. Breathlessly I ask him, “What would you do when you caught me?”
“One day, you’ll find out. But not tonight,” he says with a kiss, then begins carrying me across the room. “Because before you can run, first I’d have to let you leave this bed. And I’m not doing that for a long damn time.”
That sounds good to me, too. Though I’m already wondering how far I’ll get before he finds me…and fucks me.
Oh god. “So I just have to wait until you let me go?”
“Let you go?” He pushes me onto the bed, pins my hands over my head. “No, baby. I’m never doing that.”
And he doesn’t.
11
Epilogue
Ranger
One year later…
This time, I’m the one being hunted. Alicia’s gotten better at it. She’s had plenty of practice learning to be quiet, to stay downwind while I’m tracking her. Now she’s turning all of that knowledge around, seeking instead of hiding—though the last few hunts, I suspect that I only found her so quick because she wanted me to.
It’s the same reason that I step on a twig now.
The moon’s high and full, but that’s not why we’re out here. Alicia has complete control. It’s been a couple of months since we’ve done this, though. Not since Alicia got nervous about transforming while pregnant, even though it’s safe. So this is the first time since our baby girl was born, and only because Samantha volunteered to watch our little Emma so that Alicia and I could have a date night.
And we can do dinner and a movie at home. So this is our favorite kind of date.
We’re up in the hills behind her old farmhouse. The fire that raged through this area did some damage, but although the scars are still visible, the forest is already recovering and regrowing. Green grasses bl
anket the clearing where I’m waiting. Wildflowers perfume the summer air. Seedlings sprout between burned tree trunks. I’ve heard and smelled plenty of deer and other wildlife—most of them quiet and still now, because they’ve also gotten a whiff of Alicia and me. But our only prey is each other.
A burst of movement gives away her location. Not hiding anymore.
So the real fun can begin.
She’s so damn quick, sleek and gorgeous in the silvery light. Her fangs gleam, because she’s already laughing even as her powerful body springs toward me, a leap that carries her from the edge of the clearing and might have bowled me over if I didn’t catch her, spinning her around and lowering her to the ground on her belly. Her claws rip out chunks of soil at first, trying to regain the upper hand—then abruptly she shifts to her human form, laughing wildly.
“You cheated!” Smaller now, she almost slips away before I catch her again, my giant hands gripping her hips. “You’re supposed to run!”
Yeah, I’ll never be able to play this game right. Not if running takes me away from her. Growling softly, I nuzzle aside her tumble of hair and nip the side of her neck. Her laughter abruptly fades into a small moan, and her fingers curl around fistfuls of grass.
“Ranger,” she whispers, arching her back as I lick my way down her spine. Lower. Her body trembles when I urge her onto her knees, the sweet fragrance of her arousal filling my senses. Breathlessly she tells me, “Oh god. You’re so dirty.”
Fuck yes, I am. Because it only takes a few long, rough licks before she’s squirming against me and crying out. I get her good and riled up, then I start eating her pussy like I’m meant to, sucking on her clit and feasting on all the wetness that her need is providing to me. So hot and sweet. I’ll never get enough of her. Not now, not ever.
She chokes out a scream into the ground when she comes, her body shaking wildly. With her arousal still heavy on my tongue, I kiss my way up her spine. “You look ready to be fucked, baby. Is that what you want now?”
“Oh god. Yes.”
I grip my thick cock, slicking the head through her glistening folds. “Then you show me how you want it.”
Panting, she widens the spread of her knees, deepens the arch of her back, inviting me into her sweet heaven.
And after two years, I still don’t know what I did to deserve this. My shy little teacher, so vulnerable and so wary…yet trusting me. Giving herself to me. Loving me.
She cries out when I push deep, surrounding my erection with lush heat, then she moans before rocking back against me. Needing more. I’ll give it to her. Give her everything.
Wrapping her hair around my fist, I pull her head back and capture her lips, capture her moans with every hard thrust that stretches her pussy around my swollen cock. I get my free hand down between her thighs and my fingers stroking her clit, knowing that it’s too much but that she’ll take it, and go fucking wild on me. And she does. Christ, she does. Writhing and grinding herself harder onto my shaft, fucking herself onto me until she abruptly stiffens, her pussy locking me in and squeezing so goddamn tight that her clenching inner walls suck the self control right out of me. Grunting, I battle the hot surge of my own orgasm until her grip eases up, then drive into her tight passage with hard, fast strokes until I can’t fucking hold back anymore, can’t do anything but mindlessly pump my cock into my wife’s perfect cunt, spilling hot seed with every thrust before finally ramming deep and coming so goddamn hard I nearly black out.
But not even the most incredible fuck in the world will ever make me lose sight of my wife. I collapse onto the ground beside her and pull her over for a long, sweet kiss. She grins up at me before pillowing her head on my shoulder, both of us lying in the grass beneath the full moon.
“This was fun, Ranger Ranger,” she says with a sly glance up at me, teasing her fingers through the hair on my chest.
I rumble out a laugh. “Yeah, it was, Mrs. Ranger.” And our date’s not over yet. “My mom’s coming up for another visit. So we’ll ask her to look after Emma so we can do this again.” Samantha’s always willing but she works most nights. “Or Brandon, too.”
Alicia’s head shoots up and she looks at me, frowning. “Brandon?”
Ah, shit. I forgot to tell her. “He finally answered one of my e-mails. He’s heading back this way to see the baby. And says he’s staying this time.”
Alicia hides her troubled expression when she lays her head down again. Because…well, I don’t know what the hell happened. Except about two weeks after our wedding, Brandon just took off and disappeared—leaving behind his clothes, his wallet, and some claw marks gouged into the wall outside Samantha’s bedroom door.
Alicia’s sister is real hard to read sometimes, but hurt smells like hurt. And although Samantha acted like nothing happened, she was hurt bad.
I know Alicia worries about her. Just like she is worrying now.
Smoothing my hand down her hair, I tell her, “It’ll be all right.”
She shakes her head. “You don’t know Samantha like I do. Leaving was the very worst thing he could have done. And then to stay away so long?”
Taking his sweet damn time, like he always does. This time, he might have waited too long.
But although my brother might take a while to get around to something, he’s also as stubborn as fuck. So if he’s on a path back to Samantha, she’s going to have her hands full.
“It’ll be all right,” I tell her again. “No matter what happens. And, hell. It might be fun watching them butt heads.”
A little giggle shakes through her before she sighs deeply and says, “I just want everyone to be as happy as I am.”
“You’re happy, then?”
Her green eyes shine up at me. “Completely. It didn’t end up being much of a curse, did it? Here I am, with the most amazing husband, the most beautiful daughter, with the best family and friends. I couldn’t ask for more.”
My Alicia wouldn’t ask for more. Which is why I’ll keep giving it. “And you know what I think? You aren’t happy enough.”
She laughs. “No?”
“Nah. Not yet. But I’ll spend my whole life getting you to that point. While you’re making the world a kinder, better place for our kids—and while I’m making sure there’s still a world for them to live in—all that time, I’ll be making you even happier. No matter what it takes. I’ll do it.”
Those glowing eyes are glimmering now, too—with happy tears, and her scent filled with so much love. “I believe you will.”
“Because I will,” I vow to her.
“And I’ll do the same for you.”
“You already have, baby,” I tell her and she laughs again.
“So you haven’t made me happy enough yet, but I’ve made you happy enough?” She bites her lip in the sexy, teasing way she has. “I think that means I win.”
“Good.” I always want her to win. “Though if this is a competition, just remember who flew three thousand miles to get to you.”
She scoffs. “On a plane? If the nights were any longer, I’d have run three thousand miles to you.”
“How’s that?”
“During the full moons.” She lithely straddles my stomach, dragging her claws down my chest. “I used to make it all the way to Canada.”
I frown, not understanding. “You did what?”
“My beast would— I mean, I would try to get to you each time. So I kept trying to run to Alaska.”
My heart’s so fucking full I can barely breathe. “Each time, you ran four hundred miles trying to get to me?”
She nods, something so sweet and vulnerable in her posture now, as if remembering those long and painful months before she tamed her beast. “Something inside me must have known you would be everything to me. And how much I needed you. And how you’d become my whole world. Because I was willing to run across it to find you.” Those happy tears swim in her eyes again. “But you came to find me, instead. And loved me. And changed a curse into the most wonderful
, incredible gift.”
My heart bursting open with all the love I feel for her, I sit up, cupping her beautiful face in my hands. My voice is hoarse as I say, “That was all you, baby. And it was me who was given something so damn wonderful, so damn precious. That’s you, and this family we’re starting.”
“We could spend all night arguing about who is luckier, then.” Her soft lips curve into a sweet smile. “How about we spend the time making our family a little bigger, instead?”
Hell, yes. That sounds like a damn fine plan. Not just for tonight, but for the rest of our lives.
So I drag her mouth to mine, and get started.
The End
* * *
So…what’s going on with Samantha and Brandon? Turn the page to find out about their book and more upcoming titles from Kati Wilde.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
* * *
Hey there, book lovers! Kati here, hoping you loved this romance as much as I enjoyed writing it! This is a story I’ve had sitting on the mental back burner for a while (no joke, I made the cover for it three years ago) but wasn’t quite sure when I’d get a chance to get to it.
The chance ended up choosing me! After finishing a long and difficult book, the general advice is to step away from it and work on something else before revising and editing. So that’s what I did after finishing the three year, stop-and-go process of writing Stone’s book. Pretty Bride was ridiculously over-the-top and a complete 180-degree turn from Losing It All, and then Teacher’s Pet Wolf was just sheer fun to write.
I’ve visited this world before, first with Beauty in Spring—that was a werewolf story with a strong fairy-tale sensibility, with most of the mythology simply serving as a base for the classic Beauty and the Beast framework. In High Moon, I got a chance to really expand that mythology and take a broader look at the worldbuilding with a longer story and big plot. But with Teacher’s Pet Wolf, I wanted to go smaller again, and focus on the romance and Alicia’s internal conflict. So all the books in this series have had a different tone and approach—and I love the way that makes writing each book seem fresh, and offers a new angle for me to tackle. And speaking of new angles…