by Renee Rose
I learned about cattle and the solar panels he’d installed. I’d asked after his time in New York, hoping to learn more about his job and how he no longer had it, but all I’d gotten was a lesson in bond trading.
It had been painful, but it was a start. Maybe I’d smiled and feigned more interest than his previous dates because he’d definitely thought he was going to score.
Now it seemed he didn’t know when to stop.
I debated putting my clothes back on, but he wasn’t staying long, barely long enough to tell him I had a headache and was just about to wash my hair then shut the door in his face. I threw on my short silky robe and tied it at my waist. Just to be safe, I grabbed my Glock and carried it downstairs, tucking it under a basket by the front door before I swung it open, a slight scowl in place.
And my nipples went hard as diamond points.
Rob Wolf. At my door. Wearing a furious scowl of his own.
“Well. You have a habit of showing up at the worst times,” I told him. Although the truth was, after a date with Markle, Rob’s large real cowboy form was a delicious sight. As attested to by my nips.
“You armed?”
Those two words gave me goosebumps. Yes, it was ridiculous, but the deep timbre of his voice set me off. I glanced down at myself. “Where would I hide a weapon?”
“You had on a towel earlier,” he countered, his gaze raking down my body.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “No gun on me.”
He understood what I didn’t say and looked around for a weapon. Smart man.
He took off his hat, which showed his dark hair was long on top with a curl to it. A little wild, just like him. His scowl grew deeper, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Tell me you didn’t just kiss Jett Markle on this porch,” he demanded.
I narrowed my eyes. “Tell me what business it is of yours.”
“Fuck.” He clenched his jaw like he was grinding his back teeth. I seriously didn’t know what his problem was, but he definitely was wound up. “You—” he spluttered then stopped, like he had no idea what to say next. “You have a gun, that’s good.” He paced a step on the porch then pivoted, like he was trying to work something out. The summer sun had just set, but I could still see him clearly. “I’m sure you think you can take care of yourself, but, dammit, Natalie, that man is trouble.” He lifted his eyes to mine, and they were burning with conflict.
Aw.
I shouldn’t have been so touched by his concern. Of course, he was probably over here because he’d thought he was going to be the guy getting into my pants. Now he was pissed it was Markle.
Although he did seem genuinely distressed for my safety, not just butt-hurt. Yeah, he’d burst into my house and into my bedroom, but he’d heard me scream. And now he was on my doorstep again—this time he knocked—because he thought I was… what, in danger?
Maybe he knew something about Markle.
Dammit. Now I wished I had gotten dressed because I couldn’t exactly invite him in wearing my robe. The last time we’d met I’d been in a towel. This was getting ridiculous.
I leaned my hip against the doorframe. “Trouble how?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
Rob shook his head with frustration. “The bad kind.” His nostrils flared like he could smell Markle’s cloying cologne on my skin, and he frowned deeper. But that was impossible. Sure, I could smell it on my face because the guy had kissed me, but I’d taken off the clothes that carried the scent. His cologne alone made me hate the guy.
“He shot my dog,” Rob blurted, like his mind had just arrived on evidence of Markle’s evil. “When you wouldn’t sell, he cut your fence and let his cattle in to graze on your land anyway. You heard all that from my brother, Boyd. Believe me, if he’s showing interest in you now, it’s only because he’s gonna look for some angle to not only screw you but screw you out of what belongs to you.”
I stepped out onto the porch with him, not because it was a good idea, but because my body seemed to want to be closer to his. “Uh huh. What about you? I seem to recall Boyd made an offer for the land, as well. Markle took me to dinner and didn’t get the show that you got earlier. Maybe you’re here because you’ve got plans, too.”
Rob had gone still the moment I came close, like a predator preparing to pounce. His gaze was locked on mine, and the intensity in his eyes was no longer frustration. It was heat. “Oh, angel.” His voice was soft and low. He stepped forward, closing the distance between us. “My plans for you have nothing to do with your land.”
“Then I guess it has more to do with what you saw earlier?” I cocked my head, letting my lips curve at the edges.
His gaze raked down to the peaks of my nipples through the thin robe, then to the hem, which ended far above my knees.
He pressed his hand against his dick, which visibly ran down the inside of his thigh. Oh damn. Was that all for me? I was pretty sure my eyes widened. I knew my lips parted. He was as huge as I remembered.
A smirk formed on his mouth when he observed my reaction to his rather noticeable interest.
“And what I heard.” The roughness of his voice had smoothed into dark velvet. “I won’t ever forget the way you sound and how you look when you’re getting fucked. It’s a good thing it was a toy you were playing with because if it was some other guy and his dick was in you, I’d have to kill him. Tell me, angel, did you finish after I left?”
In the porch light, his eyes took on an uncanny glow.
Slowly, I shook my head. “No. You killed the mood.” If I didn’t sound so breathless, my words might’ve been the wet blanket I intended.
Oh, who was I kidding? I did want to ride this cocky cowboy. I’d been denying it all day. Yes, it was crazy to have the hots for the guy who broke into my house. Usually, I arrested someone who did that. But I wasn’t a DEA agent with Rob. I was just a woman who had needs. There wasn’t anything wrong with having them scratched by him.
“Good.” The syllable came out as pure satisfaction.
“Good?” I put my hands on my hips, which had the unfortunate effect of loosening the sash on my robe and parting the V at my chest.
Rob groaned, staring at the exposed curves like a starved man. “Yeah, good,” he rumbled. “The next time you come it will be beneath me.”
“Oh really?” I shot out, but my mouth stretched into a reluctant grin. My bare pussy slickened, moisture leaking onto my inner thighs at how bossy he was. I didn’t like bossy men. They annoyed me. But Rob? I loved it although I wasn’t going to let him know that.
His nostrils flared, and his eyes did that trick of glowing again—almost yellow instead of brown. He stepped even closer, gripping the sides of my robe at my chest. I caught his hands, unsure whether he was going to close or open it. I was unsure which action I wanted.
“Uh huh,” he murmured in a smooth-as-whisky tone. “Real dick. Bigger than your dildo. Guaranteed to please.” He lowered his head, and I found myself tilting my chin to let him brush his lips across mine.
For someone so fierce, he slid his mouth over mine slowly once. Again. Then his tongue swept between my lips, and my arms looped around his neck. With all of his pent-up energy, he was actually gentle.
Until he wasn’t. He backed me against the wall beside the door and pinned my body with his, deepening the kiss until I forgot all about Jett Markle, or the job, or even what my name was supposed to be.
It was just him and me. His lips on mine. His large, hard body caging me in, the rock-solid bulge of his cock pressing into my belly. I could feel every hard, hot inch of him. Unlike Jett, Rob smelled good. Like hard work and hot man. I couldn’t explain it, but it called to me. I craved it, wanted to breathe him in all the time. When he eased back, rubbing his lips like he was still tasting me, his lids were at half-mast.
“Think about my offer,” he rumbled and released my robe. He set his hat back on his head. I had no idea how he’d done all that with his hat in one hand, but he had.
I drew in a shaky breat
h, my pussy clenching. “I will.” The words wobbled as they came out.
Rob backed away, tipping his hat before he walked into the darkness.
As I pushed into the house, my legs trembled. And it wasn’t from fear.
Damn.
Maybe I should’ve invited him in because the ache I’d felt for him before was nothing compared to this. One taste of Rob Wolf, and I was hooked. I was a DEA agent, but he was my drug. And I wanted more.
6
ROB
I walked back to Wolf Ranch with the taste of my mate on my tongue. I hadn’t intended to go to her. After the pack meeting, I’d realized how fucking impossible this situation was and let my wolf lead.
I’d seen Markle’s truck pulling away from her driveway, and my entire thought process changed. My wolf howled, knowing he’d been anywhere near our mate. Breathed in her scent, seeing her smile. Her scowl. Anything from her.
No matter the situation with my pack, this was personal. Markle might be a pain in the ass, but he wasn’t getting Natalie. No. Fucking. Way.
I’d run the rest of the way to her place without even thinking.
I’d had a taste of her, and my wolf had been right. She was ours. I licked my lips then grinned. She tasted like strawberries and honey.
I’d just kissed my mate.
I chuffed a low laugh in the darkness. Yeah, my situation was as fucked as it could be with the pack demanding I mate a she-wolf and my true mate turning out to be the human next door, but that didn’t stop the buoyancy in my chest at having been near her. Having kissed her. I felt like a middle school boy who’d had his first smooch or copped a quick feel.
My wolf wasn’t happy I hadn’t parted her robe, lifted her up so my dick was at her entrance and plunged into her, fucking her against the side of her house. My wolf wasn’t happy I walked away at all. If it were the full moon, I wouldn’t have been able to leave.
I might have lost control and done something regrettable because she wasn’t a wolf and didn’t know our ways. Didn’t know it had been one deep breath, and I was done for. She was mine, forever. Somehow, I’d forced myself to leave her place tonight.
Humans didn’t take kindly to being claimed before they knew a guy. At least that was what my brothers found, and I’d watched them fuck up. I didn’t want to do the same. Oh, I’d fuck up. There was no help for it. The pack was going to lose their shit when they learned the truth, especially Nathan and anyone else who thought I was steering the pack wrong. It was the outcome, besides having Natalie for a mate, that was uncertain. I hadn’t been alpha eighteen years to have it yanked for petty shit now. Who I mated wasn’t petty, but the concept of it dividing the pack… that made me the only one to resolve it because I was the one who was causing the problem.
As I arrived back at the ranch house, I realized something was up. I paused, glanced at the place with all the lights on. No one should be there.
I jogged up to find Clint’s parents’ car parked in front, along with my brother Colton’s. He and Marina were back from North Carolina. Funny how that brought a sense of relief, knowing I had both of my brothers home. Having my family back was huge.
It was as if this whole time—years—I’d been treading water, keeping the ranch going, leading the pack, doing everything expected of me except taking a mate, but none of it was for me. It was for them. For their future.
Now that they were back, I could breathe. Figure out my own future. I could think about myself and what my wolf wanted for five fucking minutes.
Although it didn’t seem like that was going to start right now because something was fucking wrong, which meant my life was about to implode.
“There he is,” Tom said from the front door, looking concerned. “You go for a run, son?” He glanced at my clothes because shifters didn’t usually run in human form.
Tom moved to the side, and Colton came out onto the porch. “Heard about the meeting.”
I growled. I really didn’t want to fucking talk about the meeting. I wanted to thump my brother on the back and welcome him home.
Like everything else when it came to being alpha, I didn’t get a break until the issue was put to bed. I said nothing, only nodded, and went past them into the house, heading straight to the kitchen. I paused in the doorway, took in the small group around the table. Clint, Levi, and the rest of the ranch hands sat with Janet and Boyd.
“What the hell are you all doing in my kitchen at midnight?” I demanded.
“Nathan Brown met with pack elders after the meeting,” Janet said in a tight voice. “We weren’t included, of course, because he knows our relationship with you, but the Thompkins told me. The elders are very concerned about your mating status and moon madness destroying the pack. Of course, they don’t want to be absorbed into the Madison Range pack—it’s not like they’re getting into bed with them. At least not the way Ginny Thompkins portrayed it. But there’s a lot of concern.”
I slapped my palm down on the table. “I’m not going to succumb.”
I hadn’t meant to throw alpha power into my words, but it came out anyway, blasting everyone back in their seats, the coffee cups on the worn table rattling.
“I called a friend up in Manitoba,” Tom said. His hair was more salt than pepper these days, but his calm demeanor and quiet way had been a good influence. I respected his words because he used them sparingly. “Their alpha’s daughter hasn’t been mated yet, and her father’s dead set she only mate with an alpha. He wanted another Canadian, but it hasn’t gelled. He’d like to arrange a meeting with you.”
An arranged marriage?
No, my wolf snarled.
No fucking way. I kept my mouth shut, though. An alpha thought before he spoke. Even when it came to his mate.
“My brother should choose his mate,” Colton said. I glanced over where he leaned against the back stairs, Marina tucked under his arm.
Tom nodded. “Of course, he should. But there’s no harm in meeting the she-wolf, is there? It would show Nathan and the pack he’s addressing their concerns.”
I wanted to shout “No!” so the walls shook but bit it back. Stayed quiet. I wasn’t Rob Wolf, the man. I was alpha, and that meant I had to listen to my pack, even about my fucking love life. It wasn’t just my happiness and livelihood at stake here. If Nathan and the others tossed me out, everyone around me would have their life impacted and not for the better.
“I’ve arranged for her to visit,” Tom said. “Just to give you a chance to meet her. If she’s not the one, she’s not the one. Just show the pack you’re looking.”
I wasn’t looking. I’d found her. But I wasn’t about to drop that bomb now, even if I did consider everyone in the room to be like family.
“Fine,” I spat.
“What?” Boyd said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Fuck that.”
He knew the truth about Natalie but kept quiet. I knew what he was saying, that Natalie should be claimed, be mine. Not some Canadian alpha’s daughter. How was I going to be with Natalie again—because one taste was not enough—if a woman was coming to pack land just for me? I might not want her, but I wouldn’t disrespect her feelings or intentions. She wasn’t a pawn any more than I was.
I glanced at him, then Clint. “I’ll meet her, and then I will decide.” I was alpha. Tom was right. I had to show I was taking action for the pack. Even if the thought of receiving another female here killed me.
I said nothing more, only went up the backstairs and to my room.
Alone.
7
WILLOW
When I’d first arrived and chosen a bedroom, I couldn’t pick the biggest, the one that Adam Shefield had used the fifty-plus years he’d lived in the house. His clothes still hung in the closet, his slippers tucked beneath the side of his bed.
Instead, I chose a smaller one down the hall, which turned out to be a good thing since it had rained overnight, and there was a small puddle on the floor in the big bedroom. It appeared the roof had a leak
. I had to assume it was a new thing, but it would need to be fixed right away. Roof damage, especially bad enough to have water come all the way through a ceiling, could destroy a house.
A money pit, definitely.
I’d learned the guy had never married or had kids, which was why Natalie, being a great-niece, inherited. Also, because they had a musical connection. Adam had played fiddle, and Natalie became a concert violinist. I had to hope no one asked me where my violin was because I couldn’t play a note to save my life.
My bedroom seemed to be for guests although I didn’t know how many the old man had had. Natalie had visited when she was a kid but hadn’t been back in years.
I’d emptied the few things from the closet—an old robe and a few moth-eaten sweaters on the top shelf. I’d vacuumed the rug, mopped the wood floor and even dusted. At least the room I was staying in was cleaned out. While I didn’t want to mess too much with the real Natalie’s inheritance, it also wouldn’t look right if I didn’t properly move in.
Downstairs, I’d thoroughly cleaned the kitchen and aired out the rooms.
After being closed up for months, the house was cleaner than the clothes I’d worn last night. I hadn’t gotten dirty on my date. The only thing I could’ve done was dribble steak sauce on my shirt. But I’d wanted to shower the second he brought me home last night, the cloying scent of his cologne had lingered on my clothes… and still did in my room. I grabbed all my laundry and headed down to the cellar to get the washing machine running.
I’d always had a sensitive nose. Even now, I grimaced and held the stinky clothes away from my body. Growing up, my foster brothers used to purposely leave smelly things hidden in my room to drive me crazy.
I sighed as I lifted the lid on the washer and tried to figure out the buttons. The machine was avocado green and probably forty years old. I pushed the dial, and the water began to fill the basin.
I dropped the clothes in, then poured some soap in from the box on the shelf. I was used to the little pod things and had to hope I wouldn’t suds the cellar. On my way up the stairs, I heard knocking.