“What are you doing?” was the first thing she blurted out. Her lips still tingled where they’d met his, her tongue feeling dry, hungry for more of him.
His eyebrows creased downward. “What am I doing? What are you doing?” His voice, seemingly his normal voice now, was a great deal deeper and gruffer than it had been a decade ago. “Why are you in Texas?”
“You’re the one who owes me answers,” she said, pushing off the wall, needing more than just a few inches between her and the sexy man or she’d get ideas about more kissing again. He moved one arm, letting her walk off to the side, still in the shadows, while he kept himself between her and the street.
His eyes creased in response, looking away from her for the first time since he’d pulled her into their dark little corner.
“There’s no time to explain. Even if there was, I can’t tell you.” The slight hint of regret in his voice spoke volumes. He just didn’t offer any explanation as to why.
But that just made her more frustrated. For years, she’d had to deal with the fallout of being without him without any reasons given as to why.
“You knew it was me in the bar, didn’t you? Why didn’t you say anything?”
Reno was silent for a moment, gaze moving to hers, then toward nothing, then back at her as if thinking rapidly.
“The same reason I had to leave before.”
“Leave?” Perhaps he’d forgotten exactly how he’d “left” back then. She felt like an idiot just bringing it up. “You told me we were done and that you never wanted to see me again. And that was after three years of almost complete silence on your end. Or do you not remember that?”
His eyes said he did. “The more I tell you, the more danger you’ll be in.”
She felt like her quiet life of photography had suddenly been dropped into the middle of a mystery novel with the way he spoke so cryptically. “Danger? You mean those guys back at the bar?”
“No. The people following you.”
An icy shiver crept over Dani’s shoulders like a cold hug, piercing the warm air around her with fear.
Hearing him say it out loud only confirmed the thing she’d suspected for a long time now. Whether it was strange men following her around town or unfamiliar cars parked across her street back in Granite Falls or even having the feeling of being watched, only to look around and see nobody around.
It had been more obvious at first, in the months and years immediately following Remi’s disappearance. As time wore on, it was more of a pervasive sense of dread, like being trailed by a second shadow that’s never there when you look behind you.
“How do you know about that? What do you know?” she asked, knowing this was all connected but not having enough pieces to even make out what picture the puzzle before her made.
He took a step toward her, powerful leg muscles covering the several feet between them in one stride. “We shouldn’t be here. Together like this.”
The shifting light behind him gave her a better angle to see his face, allowing her the first moment to really take in the person before her, to see all the ways he was so like, and very unlike, the man she’d known.
So sexy. So handsome now. But harder. And not just the square jaw and the hard planes of his face that looked like they could be traced with a ruler. But the firm set of his brows and the glower in his eyes and the creases on his face that hadn’t been there before. Evidence that life hadn’t been easy on him as she’d always assumed, always hoped, in spite of her own heartbreak.
As a photographer, she spent a lot of time looking closely at things, at people.
His was a face she wanted to study for the rest of her life.
Or punch. At least right now.
But it was harder to hate him knowing he’d been out here in the literal middle of nowhere, living a hard life so far from the opulent comfort and wealth she knew his family had back in Granite Falls. She’d always figured he’d just been off somewhere, living it up and leaving behind the loser, outcast friend he’d had as a kid.
It hurt a little inside to know that in all the many moments she’d felt alone or sad or needing her friend Remi, she’d comforted herself with the thought he’d moved on to a better place without her.
And now, seeing the want in his eyes, feeling strong emotions inside her mirrored in those icy, electric depths of his irises, it filled Dani with a renewed sense of wonder at how funny life was sometimes.
Even as he tried to push away at every turn, to run from her even as he protected her in the bar, Dani knew there was a connection between them that defied space or even time.
“I never thought I’d see you again,” she said softly. Around them, the warm dusty air was heavy.
“You weren’t supposed to.” His mouth pursed, and Dani wanted very badly to feel his lips on hers again, like a wildfire burning across her insides.
She couldn’t escape the feeling of fate that had somehow brought them back together for reasons still unknown.
There was a sound from down the street, someone shouting, and Reno turned away, making to leave.
“Fine! Go. Run. See if I care,” she said to his back, wrapping her arms protectively around herself. “At least then I can finally get over you, Rembrandt.” She said his name harshly, knowing he never liked being called by his full name but uttering it all the same like some incantation. As if she could somehow lift the curse of wanting him from her broken heart.
Instead of disappearing into the darkness, though, Reno whirled around, approaching her with barely contained ferocity as his body crowded her against the wall and his palms flattened against the brick at her sides. The wall seemed to tremble with his strength, and he appraised her openly, gaze drawing down then up her with a mixture of want and anger and frustration that made her curious to know this new Remi even better.
“You have no fucking clue how badly I’ve wanted you.” He leaned into her neck, practically growling in her ear as the animal magnetism between them reached a fever pitch. Never before had she felt so utterly wanted, even needed. “Every day. Every damn day since I left that hell we called home.”
His lips hovered along her ear, then down her neck. She could feel the warmth radiating off his body, could feel the tension in the air like a rope being stretched to its limit, about to snap.
And his eyes. They practically glowed with heat, like blue fires, blazing around the black centers of his irises as he watched her intently.
Dani definitely hadn’t expected to hear that.
She was somewhere between kissing him again, slapping him for jerking her around like this, and falling into his arms for warmth and comfort.
Suddenly, there was the piercing peal of a siren somewhere distant, a police siren perhaps, and Reno looked over his shoulder toward the street, still caging her against the wall. Then his gaze snapped back to hers, deadly serious.
“Where do you live?”
“Just outside town. It’s a house I’m renting.”
“Where’s your car?”
“Just around the corner. I parked there and walked to Earl’s,” she replied, his dominant energy almost forcing the responses from her unbidden, like a command.
As they spoke, the siren was getting closer, coming down the street toward them.
“Go. Now. Before anyone sees you,” he demanded.
Dani’s mouth hung open. She only had more questions than answers now.
Except perhaps to the question of whether he still liked her. Even if he denied it with his words, his kiss had said otherwise.
“I’ll be watching,” he said.
“When will I see you again?” It was the first question that popped into her head.
He growled again. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one frustrated by the turn of events. “You never saw me. If anyone asks, a brawl broke out at the bar, and you ran. Are we clear?”
“But…” She hesitated. The siren was nearly upon them.
“Go. I’ll figure out a way to contact
you.” His urgent words brooked no refusal on her part.
He moved out of her way, and Dani wanted to hold back. To touch him again and reassure herself it was real.
But her better sense kicked in, and she bolted for the sidewalk, making for the end of the block, feeling Reno’s gaze behind her as she ran. Up ahead, red and blue lights flashed, and she turned onto the new avenue and unlocked her car, slamming the door behind her just as the police car passed, the blaring tone going quiet as he went down the street, likely toward Earl’s.
She took a second to catch her breath, then started her car and made a U-turn to head in the direction the police car had just come from. She looked over her shoulder, at the corner Reno had kissed her senseless, and only saw bright-blue eyes and the silhouette of a man watching her as she drove past. Then it all disappeared behind her as she headed for home.
The fear she’d never actually see him again hovered in the back of her mind.
But she’d believed that to be the case for ten years, yet here they both were. Right where he happened to have been all along.
And though relief, anger, sadness, and curiosity all warred equally within her heart, her resolve steeled her frayed nerves. Resolve to find him and finally shake him down for some actual answers to her questions.
She’d find him even if she had to drive out into the desert and comb it mile by arid mile until fate brought them together once more, if for no other reason than to know why.
And to maybe feel his kiss one more time…
4
Reno bit back a curse as the wrench he was using fell, once again, from his distracted fingers and bounced across the barn floor. He took a deep breath and rubbed the sweat from his brow as he leaned down to pick it up.
He just couldn’t seem to keep his mind on fixing the damn tractor engine. Instead, his thoughts kept flickering back to the shock of seeing Dani after years of telling himself he would never see her again.
Memories of her kept flooding his head. Her smile and her familiar green eyes that had only grown more beautiful with the passage of time.
The way her soft, luscious lips felt against his and how her scent called out to him, causing his senses to tingle with awareness.
He shook his head, pushing away the thoughts as his eyes flickered across the room to where Diesel, the newest addition to their crew, was taking apart and reassembling the spare engine Reno had given him.
For only having been out of the ground and in human form for a short while, the basilisk seemed to be doing well. His short chocolate-brown hair was clean, and his beard was trimmed and well-kept.
Like Gunnar, his arms and chest were covered in long, sloping black tattoos. Unlike Gunnar, however, Diesel was far less social, less interested in being around the other Dragonclaw members, preferring to stick to himself and his work.
That was unless someone brought up mates. Then both Gunnar and Diesel were very interested in the conversation, too interested almost. There had almost been a few scuffles over the basilisks eyeing the Dragonclaw mates a little too closely.
Still, Diesel kind of reminded Reno of a less-abrasive version of Beck, the surly, matter-of-fact mountain dragon that handled much of the day-to-day work at Dragonclaw.
Just at that moment, however, Beck entered the barn, the door creaking as he opened and closed it.
Speak of the devil.
“Hey, Reno.”
Reno nodded sullenly in acknowledgment but didn’t say anything as he went back to his work.
Beck hmphed as he made his way across the room and leaned against the workbench. “Damn, what’s got your goose so damn cooked?”
“Nothing.”
“I don’t believe that,” Beck replied amusedly, reaching over and putting a hand on Reno’s shoulder. “But nothin’ a good sandwich can’t fix. Come on.”
Reno shoved away the hand and glared. “I’m not in the mood, Beck.”
Normally, he didn’t mind Beck’s roughhousing or jokes. They had been fast friends on the ranch for a long time. In fact, when Reno had initially come here, Beck had been the first person to really warm up to him.
But then again, maybe that was just because Reno had been the only one willing to put up with Beck when he was drunk.
Thankfully, his drinking issues had mellowed out ever since he had met his mate, Sierra.
“Now I know something’s really wrong,” Beck said, frowning and gesturing toward the barn door. “Let’s go talk.”
Knowing the dragon was unlikely to let it go, Reno followed him out into the morning sun and blinked as his eyes readjusted.
“So out with it, wolf. What’s going on with you?”
Reno sighed. “It’s just… everything. The last few months have been crazy. The basilisks, the war we barely stopped, and shifters almost being exposed to the world.”
“Nah, that ain’t it,” Beck said, shaking his head. “I’ve seen you weather some of the worst summers we’ve had these past few years, and nothin’s ever gotten you like this. What’s really up?”
Reno hesitated, unsure of what to say. No one was supposed to know about Dani or his past or any of it. It was just safer that way, for everyone.
But as a mountain dragon with virtually no ties to family or the outside shifter world, Beck would probably be the best person to talk to, and it wasn’t like Reno needed to tell him everything.
“I ran into someone in town,” Reno said finally.
“Who?”
“A woman, someone I knew a long time ago.”
“Interesting.”
“Why?” Reno asked.
Beck shrugged. “In the years you’ve been here, I haven’t heard a lick of anything about your past, so it’s interesting that it’s come up now.”
Yeah, it was supposed to stay that way, Reno thought. Everything he had done had been to make sure that his past remained buried, and the fact that all of it could be unearthed made him nervous.
“I know we all have secrets here,” Beck continued. “So I won’t go asking for yours until you’re ready. I’ll just ask you one question.” He paused and looked at Reno meaningfully. “Is she your mate?”
Reno didn’t know how to respond to that. He knew damn well the answer, but if he told Beck, the dragon would inevitably push him toward her, and that was the last thing he needed right now.
So instead, he remained silent, but even that seemed to betray him as, after a few minutes, Beck nodded slowly.
“I see,” he said. “I assume there’s more to the story than that.”
“Oh, there is. We were friends. Best friends, in fact,” Reno explained vaguely. “We met when we were kids, grew up together. We spent our summers hanging out, playing together.” The words were coming easier now, and Beck just listened quietly.
“Then, when we went to the same high school, we got closer, and I began to realize more about what she meant to me. We only kissed once, but…” He trailed off, then shrugged. “I knew from that moment.”
“Then why did you leave?”
Reno shook his head. Even if he wanted to, that was something that he definitely couldn’t talk about, not even with the big, gruff mountain dragon. He still had next to no idea what was going on, and he didn’t know why Dani was in this town of all places.
Plus, there was too much going on, and everyone on the ranch had their hands full trying to keep the place running while making sure the basilisks stayed out of trouble.
Just as he opened his mouth to tell Beck that he couldn’t talk about it, a loud clang resounded from the barn, followed by the faint smell of smoke, probably only noticeable to Reno’s highly developed nose.
“Shit,” Reno muttered as he and Beck rushed back inside to find Diesel leaning over the tractor engine Reno had been working on, which was now billowing smoke and had many of its parts displaced across the floor.
When Diesel turned around, waving a hand and coughing, his eyes widened.
“Was broken,” he said simply, as if th
at were an explanation.
Reno scowled as he walked over to the dismantled engine and stared down at it. “Of course it was broken. That’s why I was fixing it. You just made it more broken!”
Diesel just grunted.
Beck chuckled. “That’s all right. Can’t blame a man… er, basilisk for trying.” He nodded at Reno. “I got this. You clearly have a lot on your mind and things to figure out.”
Reno nodded. Ever since yesterday, he hadn’t stopped wondering if Dani was safe. He’d made sure to watch as she got back to her car and drove away, but that didn’t mean she was safe.
What if they found where she’s staying?
The thought sent an unpleasant chill through his body. Even if he couldn’t tell her everything, or mate her, he still needed to make sure she was all right. She meant too much to him.
“Okay, you thick-headed bastard,” Beck said, his voice loud and gruff as he stepped up and clapped a hand on Diesel’s shoulder. “You’re gonna help me fix this, or Dragonclaw’s gonna be short a tractor tomorrow.”
Diesel frowned slightly, then huffed in assent.
Reno nodded, thankful for the mountain dragon’s help. It had been good to talk to someone about his past, even in vague terms. Plus, whether he worried about the past or not, it was here in front of him. Whether he liked it or not, she was here.
The question was why.
Why on earth was Dani in this town? Reno had made sure to pick an extremely remote location when he had run away, yet here she was, and she’d been surprised to see him.
What are the chances of that?
Also, what was he going to do if people sent by his family were tracking her? It wasn’t a stretch, considering everything that had happened and the fact that they had likely hired people to try and capture a basilisk and incite war.
If his family had sent people, they could be in the town as well, and if that was the case, things had gone from bad to worse.
Rogue Wolf Page 3
