Werewolves and Wranglers

by Kristen Banet

  “Yeah, and I’m going to need your help forgetting about it for the night.” She smiled wickedly and he returned it. “How does that sound? Where’s Easton? Maybe he can help.” The two of them would wipe her problems right off her mind.

  “He’s out doing something. I didn’t ask what. Have you eaten?” He leaned on the wall, watching her put her jacket up and remove her gun belt. Once she was done, she looked back at him again and let her eyes take in all of him. His unique orange eyes, the messy black hair, his lack of a shave. The dark clothing he always wore and how tight it fit to his stocky, rock-hard body. The bulge in his jeans. His eyes were glowing by the time she reached them again.

  “I’m not hungry for food.” She walked with purpose and grabbed his shoulders, yanking him into a kiss. He growled against her lips and picked her up without needing much more encouragement.

  As they climbed the stairs, he pulled his head back. “Tell me what I’m helping you forget.”

  “My best friend has feelings for me. He knows I know. It’s not something I want to deal with.” She wasn’t going to lie to him. Not if she was going to use him like this.

  “Maxwell did too.” Remy seemed unsurprised.

  “You’re okay with doing this with me, right? For this reason?” He pushed the bedroom door open, still holding her to him. She had her legs wrapped around his waist, refusing to let go.

  “Adalyn, I’m completely fine being the man you run to for great sex to forget the others.” He dumped her on the bed at that, grinning down at her.

  She lay on her back, still fully-clothed, as he began to strip in front of her. He revealed every inch of his flesh slowly. She couldn’t pull her eyes away. As he undid his belt buckle and opened his fly, she began to do the same, remembering two people needed to be mostly naked for this.

  He helped her, kissing her as they both fumbled with her belt and jeans. Finally everything was gone and he went between her legs.

  Oh yes. This is what I wanted.

  The moment his mouth connected, all her problems were forgotten. He shoved his tongue into her, tasting her, claiming her, consuming her. She ran her fingers through his hair and held him there. She ground against him, unashamed of her behavior. He grabbed her ass, trying to hold her in place, but it only worked so well. She pulled his hair lightly, trying to direct him to give her more, and he delivered. Those damned wonderful canines nipped delicate flesh, making her scream. She nearly came for him right then.

  He pulled away and crawled over her, forcing her to move up the bed until her head hit the pillows. He captured her mouth in a fiery kiss and she could taste herself. Damn, she had been wet for him.

  The head of his cock pressed against her and she reached down to guide it home. He shoved in the moment there was a chance, and again she screamed, this time muffled by his lips.

  He fucked her hard for several long, excruciating minutes, keeping his mouth on hers, owning her mouth and every sound that came out of it. When he finally pulled his mouth from hers, he gave her a crooked, almost mean smile.

  “Yeah, who needs those other men when you have me and Easton?” he asked, tauntingly. “Hm?”

  She whimpered. What other men? The only thing she was thinking about was the way he was driving her into the mattress. She grabbed hold of him, letting her nails sink into his back as he thrust into her time and time again.

  He changed it up by leaning back and grabbed her hips. He pulled her back to him, using them as leverage. Now she was on full display for him, running her hands over his abs as he continued to work his cock in and out of her. Over and over again. Her entire world was just that. Just him and the glowing orange eyes that lit up her bedroom.

  He released one of her hips and moved to rub her clit, as he rocked. She was convinced fireworks went off. She came hard on him, screaming his name out. Her body lost control. Her thighs were shaking.

  “Forget about him,” he murmured as she rode it out. “The only thing you need to think about in this house is what we can do to you, for you, and with you.”

  He leaned over and kissed her again, still fucking. She was out of it. She could only hold on, trembling, as he pushed through her climax and forced her to approach a second. She was certain that she had scratched his back all to hell now, as he lifted her and made her legs wrap around his waist. She bit into his shoulder until the swelling began.

  With only a couple more thrusts, he was stuck in her, and a jet of hot cum began to fill her. That was all she needed for her second climax, moaning into his neck and shoulder as she clung to him.

  Her back touched the mattress again and Remy propped himself up over her, not letting his weight push down on her. They were trapped together, as they always seemed to find themselves.

  “How was that?” he asked in a pant, kissing her cheek.

  “Perfect,” she mumbled, unable to speak coherently.

  “You don’t need him,” Remy promised softly. “You have us. We aren’t going anywhere.”

  “I know,” she answered. She had no idea what he was talking about anymore. She was still enjoying the haze of pleasure that she was living in now. He was still coming in her, that fucking cock of his shooting very hot cum into her. There was nothing like it, really.

  “Good, because I’ll shoot a man who tries to take this away from me.”

  She wasn’t sure she heard that right so she ignored it.

  “I’ve missed all the fun,” a suave, mysterious, and somewhat annoyed voice said. She heard the bedroom door shut. She hadn’t realized it was still open.

  “Hey, Easton,” Remy greeted, still panting. “Think you can grab some towels?”

  “I’ll get a bath started too,” he answered. She could hear him walking around, but couldn’t see the Nephilim as Remy was in the way.

  The hellhound thrust minutely, his cock jerking inside of her as well. It pulled a moan from her.

  “I love that sound,” he whispered in her ear, nipping it. “Care to let me hear it more later tonight?”

  “How about in the morning?” she offered. She was willing to let him hear it whenever he wanted at that point, but she was exhausted.

  “I can work with—”

  Her stomach picked that moment to growl.

  “Did you fuck her without feeding her?” Easton demanded, all self-righteous indignation. “Remy. You treat women better than that. She’s not our toy whenever—-”

  “I wanted this,” she cut in, waving a hand to stop the Nephilim. “I wasn’t hungry when I got home. I just wanted to come up here.”

  “Okay.” Easton shut down quickly, his voice softening. “And did you get whatever you were looking for?”

  “Damned right.” She looked around Remy now and finally saw him. He was smiling softly, obviously happy to hear that Remy hadn’t jumped her, but instead it was the other way around. “Now, food and a bath would be nice.”

  “We can do that for you,” he promised.

  “Well, we can once I can leave,” Remy corrected. It made her laugh, and she wiggled underneath him. He was finally relaxing inside her, but couldn’t quite pull out. It made him groan, his head nuzzling up to her neck. “Torturous woman.”

  “You’re the one who gets stuck,” she pointed out.

  Easton was laughing as he walked back out, leaving them to their fate.

  By the time she was in the tub with a plate of fruit and cheese to nibble on, everything else seemed very far away. She could think on it later. She didn’t remember she wanted to talk to William until it was far too late to go out. She could talk to him after the new moon.

  11

  Valen

  Valen tapped his fingers on the bar, concerned by what he had just seen. Adalyn Lovett, running scared. Spooked. It was the strangest and scariest thing he had ever seen. Demons? She made jokes. Authority figures? She insulted them with a smile.

  Tobias’ feelings? That got her running. Of course it does.

  He shook his head, watching his fri
end sit by himself, nursing the ale without a sound, still staring at the door as if he was waiting for her to come back.

  “Tobias, it’s going to be okay,” he tried.

  Tobias narrowed his eyes but didn’t move or even look in his direction.

  As it continued to grow later, Valen got back to his work. He broke up a small scuffle between a shifter and a human. He tossed the human straight out the door and into the dirt road without blinking. When the human tried to walk back in, he ran into a solid, invisible barrier.

  “I don’t like humans picking fights in my saloon. Move on or I’ll have the sheriff put you in a cell.” He could get Adalyn down here in a second. She would hate it, and take it out on the man. The human, not knowing that, still made the right decision and took his drunk ass somewhere else. He didn’t really care where the damned human ended up. Mortals were tiring things. Humans were the worst of them.

  “You could have been nicer,” Tobias said finally, standing up from his table. The shaman made a slow walk over to the bar. He was a little drunk now. Valen raised an eyebrow. He didn’t normally count drinks for his patrons and hadn’t been paying attention.

  “How many have you had?” he asked. “And I’m not going to be nice to some human.”

  “Too many, apparently.” Tobias leaned on the bar. “How did she find out?”

  “She’s not distracted by a perfect marriage anymore,” he reminded his shaman. “Makes every man a potential partner. She probably just noticed and kept her mouth shut until tonight. You were never too good at hiding it. She just wasn’t paying attention.” He felt for the man. He was in the same boat, which meant it was very easy to relate. She never noticed how his flirting wasn’t just joking around. Of course, he stayed behind his bar most of the time, so she rarely saw how he reacted when she walked in. It never seemed to matter what she was wearing, either. She would stroll in, all that gorgeous and wondrous magic, and he would find himself rock hard in minutes.

  “Do you think she even considers me that way?” Tobias asked softly. “Or you?”

  “I think she’s looking for something that doesn’t have emotional expectations for her. She’s pretty much made that clear, actually.” Valen wasn’t sure what his friend wanted to hear. Her undying love? He figured no one was ever going to get that from Adalyn Lovett, not after she lost William. He couldn’t blame her for it. They lived in a dangerous world, and even someone as powerful as him could die.

  “She’s got those two. They’re probably just—”

  “Stop. We can’t run the deputies out of town, Tobias.” Valen didn’t want to. He liked them when he saw them. They were private men, though. They followed her around and did their jobs. “And what if she ends up having feelings for them? Would you break her heart to have her for yourself?” I couldn’t.

  Tobias was silent for a second before the worst fears came out of his mouth. “They’ll break her heart. I’m sure of it. Two men like them? I bet they’re going to get what they want for a little while, then leave town.”

  “You’re drunk.” He shook his head, reaching out to the shaman and rubbing his shoulder. Tobias wasn’t normally so fatalistic. He tended to see the good in people first. “Why don’t you head upstairs?”

  “We have to protect her from that,” he said strongly, pulling away. “They can’t hurt her.”

  “That’s not our call,” Valen strongly reminded him. “I’m going to remind you of something. William told you to talk to her for years. For years, Tobias. He said the same to Maxwell and I. He had no problem with us admitting to her how we felt. We’re the ones who decided to hold back. If Adalyn falls for either of them—hell, even both—then we have no one to blame but ourselves. And we’re not going to interfere with her happiness.”

  “You should tell her what you are,” Tobias said, changing the topic. Valen groaned, cutting him off. He was suddenly thankful the saloon was winding down. The few patrons left were all on their last legs. He could get away with moving them out now, so he did.

  “All right, everyone! I’m closing up! Off your asses and move on!” he called out. Those last patrons jumped up and staggered for the door. Valen smirked. He loved seeing well-treated patrons leaving. As they went, he reached out with his power and took what he was owed. Not all of it. He didn’t charge them nearly what he should, but then, he didn’t need to. They gave him something much more important than their money.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to nearly spill it,” the shaman apologized. “I’m just…”

  “Acting younger than you are,” Valen accused. “What were you thinking, asking her how to deal with ‘the woman you have feelings for?’ Why would you put her on the spot like that?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe so I could understand how she would want me to treat her. She’s changed a lot since William died. I don’t know if our Addy is still in there.”

  “Oh, she is. She’s just…” He couldn’t find the right word. “More mature isn’t right, but it’s the closest thing I have.”

  “Why don’t you admit how you feel to her?” Tobias asked.

  Valen wanted to roll his eyes. His friend was full of all sorts of questions tonight, and the sad thing was, Tobias already knew the answers. He didn’t think they bore repeating. He waved a hand and locked up shop then grabbed his friend. With a solid jerk, he had the shaman following upstairs.

  “Valen, I don’t need the rough treatment. I can make it up the stairs to my room.”

  “If you have as much control over your feet as you do your mouth, I highly doubt it.” Valen was annoyed in a way he didn’t get very often. The entire situation was a disaster. He wasn’t sure how they had avoided it for so long. Three men, all friends, in love with the same girl—who was also a friend. Now he had to hear Tobias’ sad pining when all he wanted to do was go to his room and work one out while thinking about how he’d held her during their dance. Maxwell would be indignant about the entire thing if he saw what happened tonight. Or trying to get into Adalyn’s good graces again. Maxwell was always a strange one.

  He was struggling to deal with Tobias’ behavior and how to help him. If he helped him, there was a chance the shaman would sweep her completely off the market and Valen would lose his chance forever. But the man was also a friend, and one that was hurting.

  She ran from him. That had to be painful. I’m such an ass right now.

  He stopped, helping Tobias stand up straight. He brushed off his friend, trying to be nice. The shaman leaned on the wall.

  “I’m sorry. It was shocking to see her act that way. It’s hard to see you hurting like this. It’s hard to know we’re in love with the same woman, and have been for years. For a long time, it was a bonding thing. We both know how easy it is to fall for her and her wildness. Now…” Valen swallowed his pride and admitted it. “Now, it’s hard not to see you having a chance with her before me. She knows what you are, who you are. She knows what you can do. I don’t have any of that. How can she ever love or trust me if she doesn’t know anything important about me?” Valen smiled sadly. “And how do I tell her any of it without changing everything?”

  “I’m sorry too. I know you hate being on the outside the way you are.” Tobias sighed audibly, his shoulders sagging with it. “How did Maxwell handle those two?”

  “Maxwell lives his life as if he doesn’t have a heart. He handled them well enough. He was annoyed because they weren’t…reputable enough for him.” Valen couldn’t help a crooked smile. “You know. Maxwell things.”

  The shaman chuckled. “We’re a pair, aren’t we? Let’s make a deal, then. Our feelings for Adalyn will continue to not get in between us. We’ll help each other because we both deserve to be happy.”

  Valen considered that. “I can agree to that,” he finally said. “And Maxwell.”

  “Yeah, sure. Maxwell.” Tobias was still chuckling.

  “He doesn’t have much of a chance, but…” He shrugged as he trailed off.

  “He’s a friend.�
��

  “Exactly. He did help us out last month. Without him, it would have been a whole lot worse. I promise. Now, you get on to bed, Tobias. I have things to do.”

  “Of course you do.” Tobias stood straight and somehow made it into the closest door. Valen barely had the chance to make it his bedroom before the shaman opened the door. Luckily, when Tobias staggered in, it was the right space.

  Valen watched the door close and sagged. What a night. What’s next? This is where something makes everything go from bad to worse. I know it is.

  With that thought on his mind, he went to his own sanctuary. At the end of the hall was his ‘office,’ or rather, that was how he made it appear to everyone. Not many people could even enter the glamoured space, much less his real room. When he opened the door, he was greeted with the wilds. Beautiful, open, and very fake space. A recreation of his home. In the distance, there was a cave. He walked to it slowly, enjoying the memories of the chilly air. Everything there was fake. He had to build this from his memories and keep it hidden. He walked into his home and fell on his favorite chair.

  He didn’t like what had happened tonight. He didn’t trust that it wouldn’t happen again, especially not when Maxwell and all his rigid morality came back. I need a solution to this. I won’t see my friendships torn apart because of this. I won’t see Adalyn run out of Redstone by it.

  12

  Adalyn

  The new moon. She watched the sky darken from the front of the jail and waited. There was nothing glowing and bright coming out for them tonight. The moon was important to her magic, but tonight wasn’t a night for witches to do rituals and dance in that glow.

  No. Tonight is the night of the werecat. Those cursed by the feline to live in a bestial form for one night, out of control and dangerous. When the sun breaks over the horizon, they will first regain their human mind, if they can. They will only regain their human form if they win that battle.