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Authors: Vonna Harper

Tags: #Man-Woman Relationships, #Ranchers, #Paranormal, #General, #Romance, #Erotic Fiction, #Erotica, #Fiction, #Love Stories

Spirit of the Wolf (10 page)

BOOK: Spirit of the Wolf
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“Crazy? What makes you say that?”
“Nothing. Wrong choice of words. I’m sorry.”
Despite her apology, he didn’t look convinced.
“Matt, we all do things we have trouble explaining. That’s all I was trying to say.”
To her relief, he placed his hand over hers. “This isn’t easy, Cat.”
Her name coming from Matt tied her in a sensual knot. If only they could go back to what they’d had before. “Things have been rough the past few days. We’re still reeling.”
“That’s not it, not the only thing. Hell, maybe if I don’t say anything, I won’t have to face it.”
“It?”
“Yeah.”
You’re not helping
. “Okay, I’ll tell you what I’m thinking. If I’m wrong, you can straighten me out and I promise I’ll stop trying to play shrink. Coming here should be a practical matter, right? Something you do all the time. But it isn’t that simple. There’s something going on inside you. I don’t know what it is, don’t know how to get you to open up. All I’m asking is for you to explain some things. You stood over a torn-apart calf and took some nerve-racking pictures. You aren’t a man who scares easily.”
“No, I’m not. Not anymore.”
Before she could think how, or if, to ask him to explain, he closed his fingers around hers and brought their hands to his side. Her knuckles brushed his hip, adding fuel to her flames.
“Okay.” He sucked in air. “I’ve been having this dream, if I can call it that.”
“Dream?” she repeated, feeling stupid and near the edge of self-control at the same time. Having to acknowledge how a simple touch could get to her like this unnerved her.
Matt was returning her stare and yet he wasn’t, his eyes holding with hers while she had no doubt his thoughts resided elsewhere. “The
thing
hits when I least expect it. That’s why
dream
isn’t the right word.”
“I need more, please.”
“I know. It happened twice last night, first when I was trying to figure out how much hay I was going to need now that I’ve increased the herd, then later while I was brushing my teeth. This morning I’d just stepped out of the shower when I forgot what I was doing. Where I was.”
He’d been naked this morning, water dripping off his hard body, his hair glistening, thin rivulets rolling over his belly and parted by his cock. His erection. “What comes over you?” she asked around her thudding heart.
Releasing her, he took a half-dozen long-legged strides before facing her.
Trapped,
his body said.
No way out of this except the truth.
“The wolf. The big one. Alone and staring at me. He’s always at a higher elevation. Making me feel small.”
Small? Matt? Never. She clenched her hands to keep them from shaking but couldn’t do anything to quiet her short-circuiting nerves. The instant before penetration was like this for her, losing control of so much.
“How, ah, how big is he?”
Matt rocked back as if waiting for her to make fun of him, which was the last thing she’d ever do. “Hard to tell. My perception’s off during those
times
. Part of me says this isn’t happening, that I’ve been drinking when I haven’t. The rest is so deep in the moment that I’ve lost objectivity.”
A short-lived breeze made the aspens rattle. She wondered if they were truly alone. “How long has this been going on?”
“Since we found the tracks.” His mouth became a harsh slash, and he shook his head as if trying to escape something. “No, that’s not the truth.”
This man with his god-sexy body and eyes that reminded her of thunder had nearly lied to her? No, not lied. Avoided exposing himself and frightening her.
“What is?” she asked when his mouth remained closed.
“Cat, I’ve been having images, or whatever the hell they are, since Santo’s accident, if that’s what it was. I chalked them up to losing him. Now I’m not so sure.”
His slow and hesitant delivery filled her with longing. She wanted—hell, she needed—to touch him. To wrap her arms around him and protect him. But he needed to stand alone until he was finished. Otherwise . . . hell, they both knew what might happen once they touched.
“Is that it?” she asked, hoping to get him started again. “The wolf shows up. It watches you. Just that? There’s nothing menacing in its behavior, no attack?”
“I wish.”
Matt was positioned so the grove was behind him. It was only her emotions getting the best of her; still, it wouldn’t take much for the wild and remote area to surround and swallow him. Take him from her.
“You wish?”
“Crazy, isn’t it.” He dragged his hand down his face.
“There’s that damned word again. What doesn’t make sense is I’m not afraid of him. Fascinated. In awe. I know that what’s going to happen won’t be good, but at first I just feel blessed.”
Don’t speak. Just listen.
“I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who knows about the wolf’s existence. I don’t understand why I’ve been chosen, but I can wait for an explanation. I know it’s coming, just not when. I stand there waiting and watching as he slowly approaches.” He shook his head. “When only a few feet separate us, I realize I don’t feel his breath.”
Maybe Matt wasn’t aware that his voice had dropped, forcing her to lean toward him in order to hear. Something about the man now frightened her.
“That’s significant?” she belatedly asked.
“Yeah. I think.” When he again looked at her, she turned cold because his beautiful dark eyes now carried a light she’d never seen. “I hold my hand up to his nose and wait, but there’s no breath, nothing to make me think he’s alive.”
Moments ago she’d been sweating under the afternoon sunlight. No longer. “How far are you from him?”
“Not far enough.” He closed his eyes. “Suddenly his fangs sink into my shoulder.
“Fortunately, the bite doesn’t hurt,” Matt continued. “I tell myself that it can’t be because I’ve started bleeding. Then he lets go, and I pull off my shirt.”
“What do you see?” she asked when the silence again went on too long.
“Puncture marks.”
“Do you feel pain now?”
“No. Instead of hating the wolf or spirit or whatever it is for what he’s done, I’m grateful.”
Spirit?
Was that possible? Rocked by the notion that Matt might be losing his mind—he’d reacted to the word
crazy,
hadn’t he?—she forced herself into his space and clutched his shirt at the neck. Forcing herself, she pulled it off his shoulder.
Nothing. Only the magnificent flesh, muscle, and bone she’d repeatedly lost herself in. Then Matt settled his hands over her hips, and two deep, dark red punctures appeared. Past trying to comprehend, she twisted out of his grip. Growling, he reached for her.
“No! Stop it!”
“I can’t, damn it. Don’t you understand that?”
She didn’t understand anything, only glowing eyes in a face she no longer recognized. To her shock, heat slammed into her to steal strength from her legs. The too-familiar inner flames scorched her cunt and forced her to clamp a numb hand over herself there.
“What are you doing to me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the same thing that’s been happening to me.”
Impossible! Everything about these moments were part of a damnable nightmare. Even with sexual need searing her, she flattened her hands against his chest and shoved. As he backpedaled, his shirt slid back into place, and she told herself she hadn’t seen anything.
Another howl raked her nervous system. “Stop it!” she started, only to jam a fist against her mouth. The sound hadn’t come from him.
Cursing herself for not carrying a weapon—she spun away from the lover who’d become a stranger. Her desperate gaze first went to the aspens. Then, choice stripped from her, she stared at the sagebrush to the left of the aspens.
A wolf stood there, flanked by gray-green bushes.
“Matt?” Was that scared-little-girl voice hers? “Look.”
“I know.”
He knew? From the beginning?
Frightened to the point of being sick, she sprinted toward her horse. As the trembling animal started to whirl away, she grasped the reins, shoved a boot into the stirrup, and hauled herself into the saddle.
Matt could take care of himself. This was his land, his nightmare, his goddamned wolves!
Crying, she dug her heels into the mare’s sides.
10
 
F
or maybe the better part of a minute—Matt had only a rudimentary comprehension of time—he watched Cat gallop away.
Go with her,
his nerves screamed. At the same time, a force he knew he’d never understand kept him next to his prancing gelding. Even with trying to prevent his mount from panicking, he managed an occasional glance at the wolf.
The predator was incredible, its thick coat a rich blending of brown, cream, and black. Its lips were parted to reveal fangs that appeared twins of the ones that had closed around his shoulder during whatever the hell had overtaken him. Maybe because it had yet to move toward him, he felt more awe than fear, but then a well-aimed bullet would more than level the playing field, wouldn’t it?
Magnificent. Like stepping into the past to when man didn’t belong on this land but the ultimate predator did. He longed to apologize for the bounty his ancestors had placed on wolves’ heads. Instead of trying to coexist with the creatures and accepting them as part of nature’s balance, man had blasted them out of existence.
Only,
civilized
man hadn’t finished the job. Close but no cigar. And now many decades after the nearly successful bloodbath, the survivors’ offspring and offspring’s offspring had returned.
Once again, Antelope Grove and other places like it were the wolves’ domain. Today he stood looking at one of them.
He was asking himself whether he should stay or follow Cat when the wolf flattened its ears and lowered its head in what he recognized as a submissive gesture. Another wolf? The alpha, perhaps.
Maybe something else.
His teeth and mind clenched against thought, Matt swung into the saddle and galloped after Cat.
 
Cat neither knew nor cared how long it took Matt to catch up with her. By the time he came alongside, she’d slowed the heavy-breathing and still-agitated mare to a jerky trot. She acknowledged Matt with a look but then kept her attention trained on where the mare was heading. Two things drove her. She needed to keep an eye out for holes before her mount lost her footing. Also, she couldn’t think of a thing to say to her lover.
Lover? If only it was that simple.
The ride back to his place seemed to take forever, yet when she spotted her truck, she realized she hadn’t decided whether to stay or leave. Right now she didn’t care what he wanted.
Yes, she did, she admitted when he dismounted and took control of her mare. “Get down,” he commanded.
A frisson of discomfort chased down her spine. Thankfully his eyes had returned to their true color, but she’d feel a lot better if they weren’t so intense.
Intense? Hungry was more like it.
“What are you planning to do?” She remained seated. “I need to get this out in the open, Matt. Right now I don’t trust you.”
“Then get the hell out of here.”
The sharp challenge triggered something inside her, and no longer concerned with self-preservation, she swung a leg over the mare’s rump. Hitting the ground jarred her. “Is that what you want?” she shot back. “For me to run off with my tail between my legs?”
His mouth a slash, he grabbed her upper arm and swung her around so she had no choice but to face him. “What’s between your legs is no tail.”
They’d indulged in sex talk back when life had been simple and things between them primitive. This was different. As much of a challenge as his
warning
for her to leave had been.
“You should know,” she came up with. “You’ve been there often enough.”
“Do you regret it?”
They were so close his breath heated her scalp. Signing up for her first wilderness ride at thirteen had called for courage she hadn’t known she was capable of, but that had been nothing compared to standing toe-to-toe with Matt. Her breasts ached, and she couldn’t get her stomach muscles to relax.
“I hate the word
regret,
” she told him. “An adult should be capable of thinking things through beforehand.”
“Damn it, Cat, you know what I’m talking about. Don’t give me rational and reasoned.”
The Antelope Grove wolf had exuded not just deadly strength but also a raw sensuality. The creature lived to hunt and breed; it was that basic. Right now it didn’t matter whether she was being influenced by the brief and incredible moments when there was nothing except her and the predator.
That experience was being repeated, with Matt. With hunger taking bites out of her and turning her into as much of an animal as the wolf.
“What do you want from me?” Her arm ached where his fingers pressed, yet the pain added to her need to fuck, to mate.
Where had those words and thoughts come from? Was the wolf responsible? Maybe Matt was.
“Look down,” he commanded. She did but had to blink several times before she could focus. Not surprisingly, his jeans bulged.
“I see.” Only inches separated them. If she arched toward him—
“That’s what
this
is about.” He tightened his hold. “What’s it going to be, Cat? Flight or—”
“You’re hurting me.”
Rough sex had been an exciting part of their relationship, but he’d always been aware of boundaries, as had she. Staring at his fingers pressing into her flesh, she again acknowledged that he’d changed. Consideration no longer mattered to him.
Maybe it didn’t to her either.
“Did you hear me?” she repeated. “That hurts.”
“Make me stop, then.”
Had the Antelope Grove wolf been male or female? Didn’t matter; only the creature’s world did. Not sure who she was anymore, she ran her free hand between Matt’s legs and clutched his cock.
“Damn you!”
“You told me to make you stop. How’s this working?”
Maybe she should have known what he was going to do; maybe she had, except the feel and heft of him had distracted her. Whatever the truth, when he planted a hand on her shoulder and shoved, she nearly lost her footing. Determined to have her arms behind her to cushion her fall, she let go of him. His heat and promise went with her, again splintering her thoughts.
Too late! The ground coming!
A half instant before she landed, he grasped her shoulders and pulled her upright, which caused her to slam against him. Breathless and with her breasts flattened, she struggled to look up at him.
“We should have never met,” he said in a tone she’d never heard. “That way you’d be safe.”
“Safe? What—”
He twisted her away from him, his fingers raking her flesh as he did. Dizzy, she found herself staring at the corral where a half-dozen horses watched. She was still working on her equilibrium when he hauled her arms behind her so her elbows nearly touched. Even with the strain, she gave herself over to her body’s insistent message.
It needed Matt’s hands on her, controlling and confining.
“You’re lucky you left the grove before I did,” he muttered against her ear. “Maybe that saved you.”
“From what?” Fighting, even if she wanted to, would be futile. Better, maybe, to stay in the moment.
“That’s the hell of it. I don’t know.” Using his hold, he swung her from side to side. “It doesn’t matter. Only this does.”
Mumbling something she couldn’t catch, he marched her toward the barn. With every step, the distance between her and her truck increased. They walked as one, his longer legs and stride forcing her to concentrate on matching him. Her breasts strained against her shirt to distract her.
All too soon, muted light surrounded her. The smell of fresh hay warred with that of wood, leather, and animal. Although the double barn doors now behind her were open, the walls, wooden stalls, and high roof trapped her. Her arms were becoming numb, the sensation at odds with her sensitized pussy. She wanted to know why being manhandled had turned her on so much and yet she didn’t.
Matt stopped before a stall with a chest-high wooden door. After running an arm under her elbows to keep her against him, he unlatched the door and shoved her inside. Despite the fresh hay covering her boots, she managed to keep her feet. The far wall stopped her.
Feeling primal, she faced him. He stood in the opening as if challenging her to try to rush past him. She met his stare, echoed his motionless body, waited. Wanted.
His cell phone vibrated loud enough for her to hear. Drawing it out, he stared at the display, nodded, and then shoved it back into his pocket. Guessing she’d be wasting her breath, she didn’t ask who it was.
Thanks to the deep shadows in the confining space, she could only guess at his expression. Vowing to match him, she kept her features neutral. She’d be damned if she’d let him know she hadn’t come close to recovering from his manhandling. After taking a single step, he latched the half door behind him.
Wait. Let him make the next move.
When his hands settled over the fastening on his jeans, her mouth dried. He seldom wore a belt, and today denim clung to his nonexistent belly.
He unsnapped and unzipped without taking his attention off her. Much as she needed to hear his voice, to be given an explanation, silence was easier.
Reaching into the opening he’d created, he cupped his cock, briefs and all. Earlier today he’d directed one of his cowhands in how to deal with a bull. Now he’d become one himself.
Either that or a male wolf.
Shock squeezed her heart . Could it be? Was it possible that . . . that what?
No! The wolf they’d seen earlier hadn’t touched Matt. He was the same man he’d been this morning—maybe.
Knowing he was waiting for her to do or say something, she vowed to learn everything she could about him. His mysterious past had been part of his allure, shadows untouched perhaps. What a fool she’d been for not trying to fill in the gaps, but who would she ask? Not Matt because he’d gone to a place she couldn’t comprehend and become someone she barely knew.
One thing she had no doubt of. He wanted to have sex with her. Hell, he’d insist on it.
She could fight him and in the battle lose him forever, or she could acknowledge her deep-seated need and meet him animal to animal.
Animal. Wolf.
Taking a deep breath didn’t come close to settling her nerves, although the hay scent that was a core part of her existence helped a little. Then she took another breath and found something else, a feral quality perhaps.
Shaking, she freed her blouse’s top button. The second bent a nail. Wincing, she tackled the third.
Take this, Matt. You want to play wild animal, you’ve found the right woman to play with.
She wasn’t sure how she felt when he yanked his T-shirt over his head. Intimidated—there was no way she could deny that, but seeing his naked chest lit something deep inside her. Either her eyes had adjusted to the quiet lighting or she was indeed becoming animal-like. Clothes were for a modern woman, not a creature, a beast.
Lifting her lip in a snarl, she pulled her blouse out of her waistband. Something tore as she hauled on the last two buttons. Done with the damned thing. Nothing between their bodies except for her bra.
Potent male legs killed the gap between them. Fear struggled to be acknowledged only to whimper and die as Matt’s heat seeped into her. Not just heat. It was as if his strength and determination had found an inroad to her core. He closed a hand over her throat, pressing just enough that her attention went to breathing. Backing her against a wall, he stared down at her.
This time he was going to speak, and in the words she’d find . . . what?
Instead, he reached into her right bra cup and hauled out her breast. He did the same to her left, then stepped back. Determined not to turn everything over to him, she drew down the straps. Much as she needed to touch herself, she fisted her fingers because if she gave in, she risked losing what little self-control remained.
His hand again. Capturing her shoulder this time and spinning her away once more. Before she could untangle her legs, he’d again shoved her against the wall and flattened her breasts. Holding her in place via the hand at the back of her head, he unfastened her bra. It remained trapped between her and the wood.
Hot moisture dampening a shoulder blade told her he’d leaned close. She made no move to lift her arms from her sides.
Matt’s tongue gliding over her shoulder blade gave birth to a series of shudders. Not sure why, she clenched her teeth to keep from moaning. Leaving her shoulder damp, he bathed her spine from just below where his hand resided nearly to her waist. Floating in molten heat, she felt her knees start to give way.
“You’re killing me.”
“No.” His mouth remained against her. “I’m not. Today.”
Alarmed by his final word, she tried to look back at him only to forget when he worked his hand between her legs. He pressed against her cunt, forcing her onto her toes. The pressure continued, working its way deep inside and threatening to shut her down. She fought to concentrate on the hand at the back of her neck and waited endlessly for him to lick her spine again. Matt’s fingers burning through her jeans’ crotch claimed her.
BOOK: Spirit of the Wolf
6.2Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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