Outlaw Tiger

by Terry Bolryder

  “So how do you know these people again?”

  “They’re friends.”

  Not true. They were family, but telling her that would only bring more questions, and she already had plenty of those.

  She looked puzzled. “Is it anything like the rumors say?”

  Tonight, it definitely won’t be, he thought, shrugging.

  Tonight, everyone would be on their best, completely and totally normal human behavior.

  It looked like she was about to say something, but instead, she leaned forward, eyes narrowing at the ranch in the distance.

  They were there.

  As they pulled into the large clearing between the main house, the barn, and the guest houses, Dallas felt a sudden wave of relief wash over him. He hadn’t noticed how much he’d missed home, even though he’d only been away a few days.

  They pulled off to the side and parked in the dirt. When they got out, they were greeted by most of the crew who were standing beneath the shade of the porch.

  Harrison was there, wearing his usual cowboy attire and surly expression, next to his mate, Marian. She had brown hair and a warm smile. Clancy looked fancy, as usual, and was standing next to his mate, Billie, whose red hair shifted to the side as she leaned up to talk in his ear.

  Standing against one of the pillars was Reno. The blond wolf cowboy-turned-mechanic nodded, smiling easily.

  Beck and his mate Sierra were nowhere to be found, but that wasn’t particularly surprising given the fact that he preferred to spend time on her estate and would come back and forth as needed.

  “Hello,” Marian said, smiling as the group stepped down from the porch to greet them.

  Harrison nodded. “Welcome to Dragonclaw, our humble ranch. You must be Mel.”

  Mel, who had still been taking in the place with a look of awe, nodded emphatically, eyes going wide as she shook the huge cowboy’s hand.

  Harrison went down the line, introducing each of them, while Dallas just stood mutely by Mel’s side.

  When he was done, Billie nodded, her brown eyes curious.

  “So,” she said. “You that reporter out here lookin’ to do a story on the recent thunderstorms?”

  Mel shook her head. “No, I’m actually looking into a few mysterious disturbances. You seen anything weird lately?”

  Harrison and Clancy shared a quick knowing look.

  “Can’t say we have, Mel,” Clancy said, his smile blinding. “Aside from the storms, nothing’s been out of the ordinary. Unless you count ol’ Bessie getting stuck in a ditch again.”

  “Again?” Reno groaned. “That’s the fourth time this week.”

  Mel laughed and leaned forward conspiratorially. “I’ll be sure to include that in my report.”

  Clancy laughed at that, and Dallas hid a smile, watching Mel proudly. For some reason, it made him feel so happy to know that she was getting along with his family.

  Then Marian cleared her throat and stepped forward, nodding at Harrison. “Well,” she said, “Dallas said you’d be doing interviews, and we’ll go first.”

  Mel looked perplexed. “Really? As some people tell it, you’d think Dragonclaw was full of dragons and monsters, but you’re some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.”

  Marian laughed, linking an arm through Harrison’s. “You know how rumors are, and it’s a small town.”

  Harrison nodded at that, gesturing inside the house. “Come on in. We’ll answer your questions.”

  Dallas watched amusedly as Mel followed Harrison and Marian into the house, still looking pleased yet confused at the situation.

  When they were gone, Clancy and Billie followed after them. Dallas was about to follow when Reno grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side.

  “Dal,” he said as they walked out toward the barn. “That reporter, is she your mate?”

  “What? No.”

  Reno cocked an eyebrow, unfazed. “Don’t lie to me. We’ve known each other as long as I’ve been here, and I saw the way you were looking at her. It’s the same way Harrison looks at Marian or how Beck looks at Sierra.”

  “So?”

  “So,” Reno said. “I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you look at her, like she’s a treasure that you want to guard and keep to yourself for all time.”

  “That’s not it,” Dallas replied, frowning. But he wasn’t completely sure who he was trying to convince. Reno? Or himself? His tiger seemed to be fairly adamant that she was his mate.

  But then again, it wasn’t like he spent a lot of time around humans of the female, unmated variety. Maybe his tiger was just hungry for touch.

  His tiger growled, offended by the thought.

  Okay, that couldn’t be it. Maybe she really could be his mate.

  He hesitated, then nodded slowly. “I’m not sure.”

  “Well, that might be something you want to get sure about,” Reno replied, laughing, then looking back at the door. “Still, I like her.”

  Dallas growled instinctively at that, and Reno held up his hands.

  “Yeah, sorry, not your mate, but I’ll stay away from her, loud and clear,” he said with a grin. Then he sobered. “Still, glad she’s not my mate. I don’t know how we’re gonna handle this if she stays around for good.”

  Dallas nodded in agreement. This was all getting so complicated.

  If she was his mate, determined to expose shifters, what was he going to do?

  11

  Mel smiled in amazement as she set down her notebook and turned off her recorder after her last interview with Reno.

  To her surprise, nothing interesting at all seemed to be happening at Dragonclaw, unless one counted a few summer thunderstorms, cows getting stuck in weird spots, and tractors misfiring loud enough to startle the county as out of the ordinary.

  She just couldn’t make sense of it. According to everyone in town, this had been the center of all of the strange activity. Yet everyone here seemed perfectly normal.

  Just a few ranching families making an honest living out on their sprawling plot of land, nothing weird about that. In fact, she found it all rather charming, and a small part of her envied them.

  There was, however, something weird about all of the men at Dragonclaw.

  Why were they all so freaking huge? Harrison, the apparent boss of the ranch, looked like he could crush her underfoot, and Clancy and Reno weren’t far behind.

  Not only that, but they all had perfectly honed physiques, although that could have been from hard days of work out on the ranch.

  Still, when she’d seen Dallas, at well over six feet, she’d thought he was an anomaly, but here was a ranch full of men the same size as him.

  But they all acted normal, so she didn’t know what to say.

  Maybe all of the rumors had been just that, rumors. It was true that people in these small towns tended to be a bit superstitious, and a ranch with the name “Dragonclaw” was bound to get a bit of attention.

  Still, none of the men compared to Dallas, at least not in her eyes. Reno and Clancy were both charming, and Harrison seemed nice, if a little gruff, but nothing beat the quiet appeal of Dallas.

  Nor was any of them nearly as attractive as him, at least in her mind.

  Just at that moment, Dallas entered the room and raised his eyebrows at her as if to ask if everything had gone okay.

  “The interviews went fine,” Mel said, moving to stand next to him. “As far as I can tell, nothing weird is happening out here.” She sighed, and he gave her a knowing look.

  “All right,” she admitted, tapping her toe, “I really thought something was going on out here. I thought I would find something that would help me uncover the story, but nothing.”

  He just shrugged.

  It really was too bad. She’d thought that this would be the big break she needed to get through the wall she’d run into. No luck apparently.

  Oh well, there was always another lead if one looked hard enough, and Mel hadn’t gotten to where she was by g
iving up easily.

  There was a story buried somewhere in this small town, something big waiting to be uncovered, and she would find it.

  She looked up at him, enjoying his handsome face for a second, before she sighed again. “I guess we should probably head back.”

  “Why?” Marian asked, entering the room. “Stay, have dinner with us. We’ve made plenty of food.”

  “Oh, no, I couldn’t,” Mel said, holding up a hand. “I’ve already taken up enough of your time. You seem like really nice folk, so I’ll get out of your way.”

  She didn’t want to be an imposition, because to them, she was just some stranger who came into their home and asked a lot of questions.

  Still, she couldn’t help but think that she’d like to be more with Dallas, at least after their kiss yesterday. She’d spent most of the day wondering about what it would be like to kiss him again, to maybe even go further.

  She even wondered if he felt the same way.

  “Nonsense,” Harrison said, putting an arm around Marian. “We don’t get pleasant company often. Stay.”

  Mel gulped, feeling conflicted. She couldn’t deny that, secretly, she wanted to stay for dinner. She’d been so entranced by the small Texas town, and now she was on a real-life ranch with kind people.

  Plus, spending time in this wonderful, tranquil place wasn’t really an option she was likely to have in the future, not once she went back to the city.

  She looked up at Dallas, but he just stared down at her intently. Maybe dinner with them wouldn’t be too bad. After all, it wasn’t like she had any more interviews to do tonight.

  “Okay,” Mel said finally, smiling. “Thank you. We’ll stay.”

  Marian nodded happily. “Great, everything’s just about ready.”

  Dallas and Mel followed them into the kitchen dining room where Clancy and Billie were already sitting at the table, holding hands and chatting with Reno.

  Clancy’s eyes lit up when he caught sight of them. “You’re stayin’? That’s wonderful. Now I can tell some great stories about—” But he didn’t get to finish his sentence as Billie elbowed him in the side.

  To her surprise, Dallas snorted at that, then pulled a chair out for Mel to sit down.

  When they were all seated and a dinner of delicious fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and other southern delicacies was on the table, Mel could hold her curiosity no longer.

  “Okay, I’m curious. How do all of you know Dallas?” she asked. “All he would tell me is that you’re friends.”

  At that, nearly everyone at the table exchanged confused looks before Harrison spoke up.

  “Dallas… does work for us during the summers,” he said coolly. “We often need a ranch hand, and there’s no one better. He’s been coming around for a while. We even have a permanent place for him here.”

  Dallas’s eyes were slightly narrowed, but he nodded slowly.

  “That makes sense. Also explains why he has such a nice trailer. You go around working on farms?”

  He shrugged.

  “Okay, so tell me about him.” She continued, putting a hand on his leg. “I can’t get him to tell me anything about himself.”

  Clancy laughed. “No surprises there. Never been one for talking, but he always listens and is incredibly kind.”

  “Yes,” Marian said fondly. “And a great help around the house, whenever he’s around of course.”

  “That does sound like him,” Mel said, eyeing him affectionately. Right now, he seemed adorably confused and flustered by the compliments.

  “Still,” Reno said, “doesn’t change that he knows how to use a knife better than just about anyone in the world.”

  She nodded. “I’ve noticed he does have quite a few carvings.”

  “I’ll say,” Billie said, leaning forward and smiling. “A few weeks ago, we were all in town, and this little girl was skipping down the sidewalk, eating her ice cream. Then she tripped and dropped it.”

  Everyone was listening to the story now, the room silent as Billie recalled it.

  “What happened then?” Mel asked.

  Billie grinned and nodded at him. “Dallas jumped in. He’d been whittling a small horse figurine, and as soon as she started crying, he walked over and kneeled down and held it out to her.”

  “I remember this,” Clancy added, laughing. “He didn’t even say a word to her, just showed her the little wooden horse and showed her how it galloped on the sidewalk. Then he gave it to her, and she smiled. Dallas cheered her up quick, and down the sidewalk she went, completely oblivious to her fallen ice cream.”

  Mel looked up at Dallas, her heart nearly melting. He was looking away and blushing furiously.

  When he saw her staring at him adoringly, he cleared his throat and looked away again, seemingly determined not to meet her gaze.

  “Modest as always,” Reno said, grinning. Then he held up the water pitcher. “More water, Mel?”

  “Yes, please,” she replied, holding up her cup.

  But Reno never got to fill it as Dallas growled and grabbed the pitcher from his hands, topping off her glass himself.

  “I’ll do it,” he said.

  Mel just laughed in surprise. Had he been jealous of Reno for going to refill her water glass? It was an odd reason to be jealous, but she had to admit that it was kind of hot.

  Possessive, sexy, quiet, and adorable with kids? Could he be any more perfect? She wanted to kiss him right now, at the table, but that wouldn’t be appropriate, not in front of his friends.

  Just like a lot of other things that she had thought about doing with him over the last few days.

  Silence ensued for a minute or two until Clancy picked up the slack to tell another story, but Mel wasn’t really listening. She was too busy checking out the gorgeous man next to her.

  When dinner was over and everything had been cleaned up, Dallas took her by the hand and nodded toward the back door.

  “You want to go outside?” she asked.

  He just nodded, pulling the door open and gesturing for her to follow him out into the crisp evening air. The sun had just gone down, and its last rays were reaching across the sky.

  “What did you want me to—” She gasped when he moved out of her way, giving her a full view of the yard behind the main ranch house.

  Well, it wasn’t really a yard. It was a full, lush garden, beautiful and in full bloom. Fireflies floated around, mingling among the flowers, giving them a magical glow.

  She blinked up at him, mouth agape. “Did you do all this?”

  Dallas just nodded, taking her hand and leading her down into the garden.

  Mel still couldn’t believe it. This huge, sexy man could lay a searing beatdown, then turn around and be kind to children and tend a garden.

  Perhaps this place was more his home than he wanted to admit.

  And it was a full garden with all kinds of vegetables and beautiful flowers. Roses, tulips, daffodils, hyacinths—you name it; it was there.

  She leaned in, breathing deeply through her nose and enjoying the floral cascade of a thousand wonderful blooms.

  This was something she would never experience in the city, that was for sure.

  Without saying a word, he knelt down and tenderly picked a few flowers, gathering them into a bouquet. When he was done, he stood back up and held them out to her, his eyes warm and expectant.

  Her heart nearly overflowing, Mel reached out and took the flowers and held them close. She didn’t think she could go any longer without telling him how she felt, just how wonderful he was.

  “So,” she said, clearing her throat nervously, “about last night…”

  He watched her, silent.

  Mel gulped, feeling everything reaching a boiling point. She had to tell him now. If she didn’t, she was afraid she’d never have the chance to again.

  “I can’t stop thinking about you,” she blurted out. “Ever since that kiss, I’ve been wanting you, needing you. I know I came here for work, but
I feel something for you that I’ve never felt before. I want to be around you all the time. I want to be close to you. I want to spend every moment in your arms, and I want to tell you all my secrets.”

  Dallas listened, taking it in silently.

  Before her nerve could fail her, she continued. “Ever since that first day when you pulled me out of the road, I’ve felt something deep down for you, and I’m tired of holding it back, Dallas. I can’t fight it anymore. Please tell me if you feel the same.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again and paused.

  And paused.

  The longer the silence prevailed, the more her heart began to waver. Had she misunderstood things? Was he not interested? He probably wasn’t. She was just some reporter from the city, chasing a story. She wasn’t here permanently, although she’d been wondering more and more if she might want to be.

  His expression seemed to change in a million nearly imperceptible ways over the course of a minute, as if he didn’t know what to say. But as the seconds passed and her heart started to feel like it was going to drop off a cliff, she decided it was best for both of them if she didn’t complicate things more than they already were.

  Maybe she had just been imagining things.

  She made for the door leading back into the house, her fingers quaking as embarrassment flooded her insides while she grabbed the door handle.

  But before she could even open it a centimeter, a huge hand stopped the door from opening, and she whirled around to see Dallas looming over her.

  His eyes were wide, staring down at her fiercely, as if Mel even making to leave had flipped a switch. In the darkness of the evening light, his face was shaded by his Stetson, making it look like his irises were glowing with interest.

  No longer did she see interest warring with caution in those amber depths.

  It was pure molten want in the way he looked at her. Lust that she felt too, so strong it was like a windstorm about to knock over all her inhibitions.

  Then he surprised her even further by leaning down to kiss her with all the intensity of an apex predator chasing its prey. The second their mouths connected, zings of pleasure shot through Mel, and she parted her lips so he could explore deeper.