by Anna Lowe
Try me, his wolf snarled.
“Right,” he said calmly. “Let’s say you do. Then the whole pack will be on your ass, and the lady here will be less than impressed.”
Jed’s eyes slid to Rae, and for a moment Zack saw something like affection there. The question was whether the affection was for the woman or a lunatic’s cocky vision of the future. Either way, he wanted those eyes off Rae and on him.
You touch her, I kill you. He hurled the words out, straight from his mind to Jed’s.
Let Jed know exactly who he was dealing with. Let him show a little respect. That’s what it always came down to. Respect.
He knew he had it when Jed’s chin whipped over to him, eyes registering surprise. Bull’s-eye. Now he really had the man off-balance, because few shifters could reach into the mind of a complete stranger.
Maybe we should try that trick with Tyrone someday, his coyote snickered.
Zack ignored him. It was time to get Rae out of Dodge. Keeping a firm eye on Jed, Zack tilted his head just enough for Rae to get the message. Get on the bike. His mind was already calculating—he could get her back to the ranch within a couple of hours, then turn around and chase Jed down.
He threw a leg over the bike and nodded Rae onto the back. The crazy woman detoured to grab her quiver of arrows out of the car first, which had him steaming, but once she slipped into place behind him, his innards went all warm at the barrage of sensations. Her thighs, clamped around his hips. Her breath, tickling his ear. The soft flesh of her breasts, pressing against his back. And most of all, that scent, like a whole season was clinging to her shoulders, ready for a wild ride.
Thunder clapped in the distance, snapping him out of his trance. The storm was close. Very close. He started the engine with a sharp kick and took off. Originally, he’d been thinking to head back to the highway, but the hills were a better place to take shelter, and he knew just the place to go.
His wolf hummed in recognition. The cozy little cabin tucked in behind Scarecrow Mesa?
Yes, that would be just the place.
Chapter Ten
They reached the cabin just after sunset and only seconds before the rain hit. Rae ran straight inside, holding the door for Zack. He pushed his Harley under the overhang of the porch then whisked right up to her, and they stood side by side, watching the storm break.
She’d never seen anything like it, not in Nevada, not in Colorado. The front edge of the clouds rolled and twisted, while dark, thin tendrils reached ahead of the mass like scouts. The storm was menacing. Powerful. Thrilling, too.
Only part of her attention was on the storm, though. The rest was on Zack, standing shoulder to shoulder with her while the thunder rumbled. His chest rose and fell as if he wanted to fight this intruder, too.
She breathed him in as if she hadn’t been doing that for the past hour, half an inch away from his neck while the motorcycle throbbed between her knees. At first, she’d inhaled Zack’s scent to settle her fears, because Jed was back after all this time. A crazy man on a mission—and he wanted her in on it. She’d been so absorbed in thinking ahead to her hunt that she let Jed sneak right up—her worst nightmare come true.
So she’d nestled deeper between Zack’s broad shoulder blades and inhaled the thick scent of his leather jacket. She’d concentrated on the tiny curl of saddle-brown hair behind his ears and his steady heartbeat. Bit by bit, her anxiety faded, replaced by another emotion aroused by the heat of his body and the pulse of the engine.
Desire.
At least her nose had had the good grace to maintain a tiny distance because what her arms and legs had been up to under the guise of hanging on was positively scandalous. His heat pulled her in, inviting her hands to slip into his jacket pockets and trace everything underneath. Like the thick layers of muscle stretched diagonally over his ribs. Like the mogul course of his abdomen. Like the waistband of his jeans…
Thunder shattered the air, and Rae fought the urge to flinch.
“After you.” Zack tilted his head toward the cabin doorway.
“After you.” She echoed his movement, trying to keep her cool.
Zack arched one perfect eyebrow, and she held her breath. This was it. Either the alpha in him would show his true colors, or he would prove himself able to give and take.
The air around them crackled as the next stroke of lightning gathered its energy. She could feel the power building, building, waiting to snap.
Finally, after an endless stalemate, one corner of Zack’s mouth twitched, and he headed in.
Rae exhaled, long and shaky, then followed. A lightning clap exploded, chasing her over the threshold and directly up to his chest.
Zack looked at her, wondering, perhaps, what demands she’d place on him next. There was only so far an alpha wolf could be pushed. So she took a step back and nodded at the rafters, pretending she hadn’t noticed the king-size bed that took up most of the tidy space.
“Nice place.”
He smiled a small, secret smile, the first she’d ever seen on her dark knight. If she hadn’t been steeling herself to resist at all costs, that smile would have been devastating. A curl of those perfect lips, a crinkle in the corner of his eye, and the briefest flash of white teeth. Part of her heart melted right there, wondering what this man would look like if he had a little more joy in his life.
She forced away a lump in her throat. What would it feel like to be the one to help him find joy—not just in tiny doses on stormy nights but in broad daylight, too?
“The pack has a few cabins scattered around. Just in case,” Zack said, nodding around the cozy space.
Rae leaned her bow in a corner, making sure to place the quiver at exactly the right angle for quick action.
Just in case, the stubbornest part of her insisted—the same part that said men were not to be trusted. She’d had a prime example of that not an hour ago with Jed. So what was she doing letting her guard down with Zack?
Lightning illuminated the single room in three distinct flashes, chased by a mighty clap of thunder. The storm was directly over them now, surging with power.
“How did you know where I was, anyway?” she asked.
Zack shrugged, as if finding her in a several hundred square miles had been child’s play. “I’m a tracker. I track.”
Anything on two feet, she remembered Aunt Jean saying.
“Wait. Why were you after me, anyway?”
As soon as she said it, she wanted to rephrase the sentence so he wouldn’t take after me too literally. But Zack was already breaking into a mischievous grin.
She hid a smile. Maybe she should get him off the ranch more often. He seemed freer here, more at peace.
She leaned in, wanting more of that look, then froze at what she found. Deep in his eyes lurked a wolf, and the green of his irises shone with resolve.
I would come for you, the wolf said, through a thousand fiery hells.
That look went on for an eternity, and she wondered if she’d ever break free. She wondered if she even wanted to. Everything about Zack was honest, sincere, and strong—a promise that wrapped around her like a high, defensive wall. But when thunder clapped again, Zack blinked the look away. Mumbling something to himself, he pulled a phone from his pocket.
He dialed, held it up to his ear, and studied her. “What were you thinking, coming out here on your own?”
She opened her mouth, thought a second, then closed it. How much to tell him? How much to trust?
He lowered the phone and studied the display. “Shit.” He squinted at her, like she’d hexed it or something. “No reception.” His eyes bored deeper. “Why did you run away from the ranch?”
She huffed. “Can’t a woman decide to hunt for a day or two without being accused of running away?”
“Hunt?” The way his eyes gleamed, she was sure his wolf liked the sound of the word.
A second ticked by, then another.
“You shouldn’t be out here alone.” He stepp
ed so close, she had to tilt her head back to keep her eyes locked on his. The heat of him embraced her, pulling her even closer.
I’m not alone. Not any more, she wanted to say.
“You sound like someone I know,” she said, testing him.
Zack fixed her with a deep, dark look that said her comment had cut deep. “I will never be like him,” he said, punctuating each syllable.
Every sentence the man uttered was an oath: that he’d never be like Tyrone, the overbearing alpha, nor Jed, who took without asking, nor any other alpha she’d ever known. He was Zack, no more, no less.
“I know,” she whispered, bowing her head so low, it touched her chest. But he was already shunning her, turning to the window to study the emptiness outside.
The emptiness inside, something whispered from the depths of her mind. That’s what he was seeing.
Her wolf cursed. Why do you keep pushing him away?
Because a man can steal my freedom, croaked a voice from deep within her scarred memories.
This man can give us freedom, her wolf snarled back. And we can give him his.
At that moment, it felt as though they were both out in the open, being buffeted by the storm. The cabin stood in the eye of one of those electrifying desert storms that filled the sky with raw power without the relief of rain. Clouds were swirling, building, and heaving all around, kneading her emotions.
Trust. That was the issue. Was she capable of it, even for just one night? Zack had come after her. Not to drag her away, as Jed would have, but to protect her. What was the malice in that?
Lightning lit his downcast face. Thunder clapped right on its heels, nearly on top of them, but Zack didn’t flinch, not even as the walls shook with the power of the storm.
Some spark of lightning must have leaped over to Rae, because her lips tingled the way they had when Zack had kissed her. The feeling raced along her synapses, igniting something in her soul.
Maybe it didn’t have to be one or the other: her freedom or a man. Maybe for once, she could give herself the freedom to take a man—a real man, an alpha. Like Zack, who promised her everything while asking for nothing.
Her wolf gave a long, lusty grrrr.
Tomorrow, she reasoned, she would have plenty of time to be alone. Her whole life had been spent alone. So why not give herself this one night, far from the reach of the pack?
One short step and she was at his side, a hand resting on his waist. Layers of muscle, one chiseled over another, bundled around his torso like overlapping sheets of armor. She wanted to feel his arms around her the way she’d had hers around him on the motorcycle.
Trust. She pulled it around her like a blanket and then tugged the edge over toward him. With one quick inhale, she was on her toes, reaching for his brow with her fingers. No, with her lips. Because she wanted more than a stolen kiss. She wanted more of this man.
All of him, if only for one night.
Chapter Eleven
Zack had given up counting the beats between sledgehammer blows of thunder and flashes of lightning. They were right on top of each other now, cracking directly overhead.
If only his brain could catch up to his body the same way. Because the more Rae melted into him, the harder he grew. His shoulders pulled back, his stomach knotted, his cock pushed at the confines of his jeans. He was a rock, but she was the stream, running gently, soothingly over him. So much, he wanted to dive right in.
Deep in, the coyote in him growled.
While his body raced away on wild fantasies, screaming for the woman at his side, his brain muddled along in a fog. He was stuck, immobile, unable to react.
Off-limits, his mind said. She’s way, way off-limits.
That didn’t stop his heartbeat from spiking as she inched closer, though.
Thunder rattled the windowpanes, yet the tickle of her breath on his ear had a greater impact on him. He struggled to keep his breathing steady, not to give anything away. Why did he feel so out of control?
Because she’s so close. The coyote grinned inside.
So close that every rivet in his mental armor was creaking under the pressure to break free.
Take her! Take her now! his wolf howled.
In that moment, it was easy to believe the old stories. That there really was such a thing as a destined mate. Not that destiny had spent a lot of time visiting Twin Moon Ranch in the past century, or so much as spat in his direction. But maybe the drought was over. Maybe even a guy like him—a mutt, the product of an empty union—could get that lucky.
Lightning flashed, illuminating the harsh truths concealed amidst the desert landscape. He could see them cowering out there. Truth, like the fact that a life lived alone was empty. Truth, that good enough was not enough, not for his restless soul.
Truth, that the path to his future lay not in the barrens but at his side. His future was her.
For all that lightning tried to tell one tale, though, thunder told a different story. Each roar was like the stomp of an insistent foot.
Duty! Duty!
Every member of the pack had a duty and Zack knew his. He was supposed to bring Rae back to the ranch. To protect her, not get carried away with crazy ideas.
“Zack,” she whispered, running a hand over his shoulder.
She seemed hell-bent on encouraging those crazy ideas, though. It was in her whisper and the warm slide of her hand along his chest. He’d sensed her wrestling with indecision earlier, but now she seemed to have made up her mind. Didn’t she get the memo about the kid from the wrong side of the ranch?
Apparently not, his coyote chuckled as she wiggled closer, making him feel impossibly good. As good as she’d made him feel on that glorious bike ride. He’d tasted freedom, purpose, and companionship, all on two wheels. Those forty-five minutes might have been the high of his life, what with her wrapped around him like a lining to his jacket.
You think that was a high? his coyote sneered. Try this.
Before he realized it, his hand slid around her waist, and sure enough, her body shuddered with delight that echoed through him.
This is the way to get high, his wolf agreed as he tugged her closer.
Her hand settled over his heart while her lips played along his jaw, licking him up. She’d fought her inner battle and won; why couldn’t he do the same?
The harder his cock grew, the more his wolf came up with lame excuses why this would be all right.
Ty only said something about keeping other guys from messing around with her, right?
Logic had never been the beast’s strong point. Had it forgotten that Ty’s father, the pack alpha, had also warned Zack to stay away from Rae?
Still, the coyote was mesmerizingly persuasive.
This isn’t messing around, the beast promised in a silky, sure tone. This is destiny. Not even the old man can fight that.
And hell, it certainly felt that way. Every cell in his body seemed to lean toward Rae, and the urge he felt was as much a directive to hold her forever as to bury himself in her body.
She wants us, too!
That, Zack had to give the wolf. The woman who refused to flutter her feathers for any man was melting fast — for him! Her gray eyes were glassy with desire. For all that she’d been on guard with him, she’d reached the conclusion that this was worth it. He was worth it.
His heart gave a little sputter, then hammered on.
She tugged on his chin, turning his face to hers. “I’m declaring it open season on trackers. Fair warning.”
He wanted to smile at that, and a lot of other sweet things about her, but his facial muscles were too stiff.
“I can’t kiss you,” he heard himself say, even though he leaned forward. He might as well put the rule he was about to break out there for the record, right? Maybe that would lessen the guilt, if the guilt ever came.
“I can’t not kiss you,” she insisted.
A flash of lightning revealed the landscape, and it was different than the familiar view of
home. A reminder of just how far away the ranch and its rules were.
Zack hauled in a deep breath. How long had it been since he’d taken a risk? How long had since he’d cared enough to dare?
Too long, his coyote howled.
So, dare. Risk. Kiss, his wolf urged.
Rae closed the distance, letting her lips cover his. Slowly, he locked his arms around her and pushed everything else away.
He’d been fighting the attraction with everything he had because this woman was to arrive back on Twin Moon Ranch untouched. She was forbidden. That was as clear as the ivory fangs the old alpha had flashed when he’d interrupted their first kiss. Zack was entrusted with her well-being. He couldn’t fail in the one sliver of trust afforded him by the old alpha. For her sake, and his own.
But for once, he didn’t want to settle for playing the good beta. He wanted to jump right to the top, where he belonged. To take destiny in his hands, not wait for it to come to him.
A man could spend a lifetime waiting, and he had had enough.
Finally, he closed his eyes on duty and opened his lips to hers.
That kiss should have been an explosion of sound and color and lust, for all that his wolf had been straining to have Rae. But it was soft, cushiony, and restrained. Lingering, as if every second represented a lifetime. Trusting, with more than just the physical. The kind of kiss he’d had only once before—the one with her, back on the ranch.
Lightning and thunder receded until all he heard was the tame crackle of a fireplace sparkling a cozy vision to life: a bowl of popcorn, two pairs of intertwined feet, and a couple of carefree lovers wrapped around each other atop a thick rug.
All that in one kiss. Either this was destiny or he was losing his mind.
Whatever it was, he had no choice but to go along for the ride. No seat belt, no helmet, no rules.
No limits, something in him agreed. Not tonight.
Rae’s soft touch took him from the fireplace to a sunny mountaintop with a miles-wide view over a landscape carpeted in the colors of spring. Hope bloomed all around. In his imagination, the two of them lingered there a little while. Then they ambled to a hollow filled with the white fleecy fluff of cottonwood trees, so thick it came right up to his ankles. Rae pulled him onward, toward his little shack out by the mesa on the ranch and the bed inside.