Wild Streak (Alaska Wild Nights Book 6)

by Tiffinie Helmer

  “And that problem requires whiskey?”

  “In a sense, yes.” She gave her empty glass a pout and then focused those soul-seeing blue eyes on him. “I need to lose my virginity, and I want you to be the one who takes it.”

  Chapter 2

  “Whoa!” Dare jumped out of his chair.

  Morgan knew this would be a shock. Maybe she should have insisted that he drink the whiskey rather than muddle her brain with it. She probably could have said it better without the numbing effects.

  “Don’t freak out,” she said, standing, too, and wobbling a bit. She wasn’t one to drink much, and two glasses of whiskey were much more than her usual limit. But actually asking him, and hoping he’d be willing to do the deed now, tonight, had her indulging. “It’s really not a big deal.”

  “Not a big deal,” Dare said, his voice squeaking.

  At twenty-two, she was the oldest virgin she knew. All of her friends had lost their virginities years ago, and she was bound and determined not to be a virgin when she turned twenty-three next month. And while she used to think it was a big deal, that had changed quick enough when she’d finally found a man she thought was worthy and wanting to sleep with her, and he’d rejected her because she was still a virgin. Who could have predicted that her current state would be a major turnoff for him? She’d hoped it wouldn’t be for Dare. “Come on, it’s just a hymen.”

  Dare cringed at the word. “The hell it is. You always remember your first.”

  “Which is why I wanted you to be the one to do it.” Since Bart Bruhn had rejected her, finding her too innocent and therefore too much of a liability, she’d decided to get rid of the roadblock, or what was apparently a cock block. But there was no way she’d share that bit of information with him. “I have friends who hated their first time, and I knew with you, it would be enjoyable,” she explained.

  He ran a hand through his dark mane of hair, hair that had been getting longer and unrulier as winter arrived, the length already brushing his shoulders. He always grew the beard and let his hair go during the winter months. Not only was it smart since he spent so much time running his dogs in the harsh elements, the extra growth made for much needed frostbite protection from the arctic winters. And it didn’t hurt that he rocked the wild man look. With his dark looks and muscular physique, he was the best thing going in the town of Heartbreak, Alaska, next to Bart. While there were others she could ask—Alaska was famous for the odds being good, but the goods being odd—she wanted someone with Dare’s reputation of pleasuring women. Especially after Bart had turned her down and made her feel like a sexual outcast.

  “Why me?” he croaked.

  “You are legendary. Women all over the state praise your prowess.”

  “Is that all?” he muttered through clenched teeth, as though he didn’t like her pointing out his reputation.

  “Well, no. You also have a love-and-leave-‘em attitude. I don’t want anything serious. I’m not ready to settle down, yet. Hell, I’m only twenty-two. I have a lot of living to do before that happens, which makes you perfect.” If there was anything that Bart had taught her, it was that she was too young, hadn’t lived enough. Well, she was going to pack in experience as fast as she could.

  “You should save it for someone you love.”

  “Did you?” she asked.

  He looked shell-shocked when she asked him that.

  “See, a double standard,” she said. “Women are supposed to hold out for love, yet men try to get rid of it with the first girl willing to spread her legs.”

  He cringed again at her choice of words. “That’s not true—”

  “Are you telling me you loved the woman you lost your virginity to?”

  “Uh…that’s not fair.”

  “Why isn’t it?”

  “Because it isn’t.”

  “That’s a piss poor argument. Don’t you find me attractive, or do you find the idea of having sex with me repulsive?” Oh God, what if she’d really stepped into it here? What if he didn’t find her attractive? But then, how did that explain the long looks she’d caught from him? Could she have been wrong?

  “Hell, no,” he gulped out. “You’re one of the most attractive women I’ve ever seen, and being with you…that way…would be, well, epic, but that’s not the point.”

  Epic?

  That word warmed her faster than the whiskey had. Everything inside her heated to sauna levels. She stood and swayed toward him, placing her hand on his chest. “Then what’s the problem?” she asked softly in what she hoped was a seductive tone.

  “You’re about to become my sister-in-law.”

  “No, I’m not. That’s Gabi.”

  “She warned me off you,” he blurted out, backing up.

  The statement had her retreating a step too. “She did what?”

  “Told me to keep my eyes off you.”

  She laughed at that, giddy with the whiskey and the fact that he did find her attractive. “Well, you can keep your eyes off me if you want, but your hands and…other parts, those I’m very much interested in.” She sidled up to him, pressing her body against his, rejoicing at his full body shudder and his eyes closing on a tortured groan. By the throbbing appendage pressing against her lower belly, she knew her suggestion turned him on.

  “Morgan,” he uttered her name as though in pain.

  “Yes. I love how you say my name,” she whispered, her mouth inches from his.

  “Your sister will kill me.”

  “She doesn’t need to know. No one does.”

  “But we will know.”

  “And what’s wrong with that?” Standing on her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and angled her lips a breath under his, knowing it was the whiskey flowing in her veins that gave her the nerve to do so. She hoped, prayed, he would take the bait and rid her of this nagging inconvenience tonight. “Kiss me. I dare you to.”

  He growled, and then seeming unable to resist, swooped down and took her mouth. And took was the right word.

  Everything inside her bloomed to life with just the touch of his lips, and then he breached past them, taking possession of her mouth, as though he was taking possession of her body. Giving her everything she needed to know that he was the one. Bart be damned. He’d never kissed her like this, like he’d die without a taste of her. It caused a delicious ache to form low in her belly.

  Suddenly, Dare pushed her away, breathing in pants like he’d run a five-minute mile. “We can’t do this.”

  “Yes, we can.” She pressed closer to him, wanting what his body promised, wanting this inconvenient barrier to be over with as soon as possible so she could be free of it and its limitations.

  “Your sister is marrying my brother, my twin.”

  “And that affects us how?”

  “We’ll be family,” his voice broke on the word.

  “In the vague sense of the word, which really has nothing to do with this.”

  “It has everything to do with it.” He bracketed her shoulders with his rough, working man’s hands—hands that turned her on more than they should—and set her away from him, shaking his head as if to clear it. “Morgan, we will be there together at the wedding, at the birth of babies, holidays, all the things. If I do what you are asking, it will be between us, and our family, always.”

  “Not if we don’t let it. Come on, I’m sure you come into contact all the time with women you’ve slept with and it isn’t awkward. It won’t be awkward between us either. Like I said, no strings, and no one needs to know.”

  “We will know.”

  “And we won’t care.”

  Chapter 3

  Damn it, I’ll care.

  He wanted to say it but couldn’t form the words. Morgan was so sexy, a siren dragging him down to a watery death. If her sister Gabi, or his brother Ryder, ever found out…

  What the hell was he thinking? If they didn’t do this there would be nothing to find out.

  But he really, really
wanted to take her up on her proposition.

  Really wanted to.

  He’d never met a woman sexier than her. The way she fit him from hip to shoulder. Christ, he should be struck dead with the thoughts running through his head over her suggestion.

  A deflowering with no strings? The chance to introduce Morgan to the pleasures of the flesh? What man could resist that? Somehow, he had to. His family depended on it. Ryder would kill him. And Gabi? Well, she would do worse. It could cause so many problems with his twin and his twin’s fiancé. All he could think about were the family Christmases and other holidays.

  But…

  Morgan.

  To have her. To know how she felt under him, what made her cry out in pleasure, to have her scream his name as she came. It was almost worth the risk.

  But he couldn’t…

  Could he?

  “Morgan…”

  “Don’t say anything now. Think about it. Sleep on it.”

  Sleep on it? How the hell could he sleep knowing she wanted him to take her virginity?

  She stumbled, and he caught her up in his arms.

  “Let me drive you home.”

  “I guess I did drink too much, trying to get the courage to ask you to help me out. Sorry.”

  “No apologies needed.”

  “Could I wait out the buzz here? It’s still early yet, maybe we could watch a movie or something until I have my faculties about me to drive home.”

  A movie sounded innocent enough.

  “Sure. What do you want to watch?”

  “An action flick?”

  “Are you sure? Don’t women usually like romantic comedies?”

  “Yeah, with other women but not with men. I enjoy a good action flick just like any other man. Give me some Ryan Reynolds in Dead Pool, or Robert Downey Jr. in the Avengers and I’m a happy girl.”

  And one after his own heart.

  Shit.

  She couldn’t get any cooler. Her body was enough for him to drop all his defenses, which he didn’t have many to be honest.

  But a Marvel fan? Hell.

  Thank goodness she hadn’t mentioned that she was a Star Trek fan or he would have been a goner.

  A few months ago, he’d be game for whatever she wanted—more than game—but now?

  Now, he wanted more.

  One night with Morgan wouldn’t be enough.

  Chapter 4

  Dare ordered a pizza from Flatliners hoping the food would help soak up some of the alcohol Morgan had consumed.

  He put in a movie, and Morgan kicked off her shoes and curled up on the couch, seemingly riveted with the film. Yet for the life of him, he couldn’t remember which Marvel movie he’d put in the DVD player. He couldn’t follow it as his mind was consumed with Morgan and her proposal. No, not proposal. Well, kind of a proposal, just not the kind that most people think of. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get the idea out of his head.

  A no strings attached one-night stand.

  It titillated yet left a bad taste in his mouth.

  Hadn’t he just been considering that his string of casual affairs wasn’t making him happy?

  And one night with Morgan Waterman?

  How the hell would that fulfill the dark hole that had suddenly appeared in his gut?

  Maybe he wanted to be tied down for the first time in his life. But did he want the woman he spent the rest of his life with to be Morgan Waterman?

  Well, that wasn’t really an option as she apparently didn’t want anything serious. Besides, he’d dated her sister in high school. They’d even been an item for a time. So how could he and Morgan make a solid connection, especially when she obviously didn’t want one?

  When Gabi had returned to Heartbreak, Alaska, from her stint in the Hawaiian Islands, he had hoped that maybe the two of them could make a go of it again, but that hadn’t been in the cards. Not when Gabi had taken one look at his twin brother, Ryder, and fallen hook, line, and sinker.

  He should have seen it sooner—the way Ryder had always acted around Gabi. Even in high school, Ryder had been standoffish, always silently watching Gabi from the shadows. And then there had been the time when Dare had asked him for a twin favor. They traded places, and Ryder ended up kissing Gabi.

  Dare should have wised up then. But no, it had taken him many more years and another twin favor for that to happen.

  None of that mattered now. Ryder and Gabi were engaged and madly in love. While he was alone and brooding. Well, not really brooding—he was alone with Morgan, Gabi’s sister, thinking all sorts of decadent thoughts. He really should put a stop to this and would, probably, as soon as the movie was over.

  He turned to look at Morgan and found her fast asleep on his couch.

  Should he wake her?

  Take off her clothes so she was more comfortable?

  No, definitely not that.

  A blanket?

  Yes, cover her up. Hide that centerfold body. That was his best bet. Maybe he should wake her and kick her out of his place so there was no temptation. But how could he do that with her sleeping so soundly? That would be mean, and he’d never treated women in such a manner.

  He cherished women. Always had. They were creatures of legend, of creation, individuals to be revered on a pedestal. Women were so much more than mere men. Women were a godsend and, in his opinion, they were what made the world go around. They’d encouraged, bullied, and forced men to move out of caves to create homes, industry, technology, to make things more comfortable for their families.

  Without women demanding change, he believed men would still be content living a Neanderthal existence.

  He could be content for a long length of the time with just a simple existence. Just him and his dogs, hunting for his food, living in a simple shelter, a woman to warm his furs. Furs that he’d skinned to provide a soft place for his mate to land.

  Morgan, possibly?

  He been with more than his fair share of women. What could he say? He loved them. All women. Every shape and size and age. All of them had inspired him in more ways than one.

  Morgan had asked him if he’d loved the woman he’d lost his virginity to.

  He thought he had at the time. He’d been infatuated, if not in love with his first, and it hadn’t matter that she’d been years older than him. Maybe as much as a decade. He’d never asked. A gentleman shouldn’t ask such things, and he’d always thought of himself as a gentleman.

  Her name was Rea, he thought back fondly, and she was currently pregnant with Quinn Bleu’s baby, and the new stepmom to his soon-to-be brother-in-law, Ash Bleu, who was marrying his older sister Sorene. God, he hoped their former relationship never came out.

  Damn small towns.

  If it did, the Heart to Heart Network would have a field day.

  He’d met Rea over the summer, when she first moved to town. And regardless of what everyone believed, Dare hadn’t lost his virginity in high school but the summer after he graduated. Though if Gabi had been willing, he would have given it up for her. Looking back, he thanked God that hadn’t happened now that Ryder was marrying her.

  At that time, Rea had been working as a nurse when he’d gotten hurt sledding. It happened to the best of dog sledders. At least his dogs hadn’t been injured in the fall. She’d been his nurse and they’d hit it off. They’d continued to see each other, her new to town, and him knowing everything there was to know about Heartbreak and the surrounding areas. And well, nature took its course. It had ended amicably, and no one was the wiser, at least he hoped not. Certainly not his future brother-in-law, Ash, or his father, Quinn.

  Thank God. Which showed he could keep a secret…

  Which also meant he could help out Morgan and no one would be the wiser…

  No, stop thinking like that.

  He couldn’t do it, no matter how much he wanted to take Morgan up on her offer.

  Standing, he grabbed a blanket and covered her with it, and then stepped back, watching her sleep.<
br />
  She looked so young, so innocent. Well, she was, by her own admission.

  Christ Almighty, get those thoughts out of your head. You cannot do this.

  But what if he did, and rocked her world, enough so that she was willing to give a relationship with him a try?

  He knew her family and liked them. Well, her dad was a piece of work, but not so brazen that he couldn’t work with that.

  He already liked her sister, Gabi, enough to date her on and off throughout high school. And her brother Derek was his baby sister’s best friend. While Derek had recently come out of the closet, that didn’t bother Dare in the slightest. If anything, it answered a lot of questions.

  Besides, Derek had already left for New York with a bunch of Zoe’s and his fashion creations. He knew the two of them were going to make it big. Which meant there was another connection between Morgan’s family and his.

  Well, shit.

  Why did they have to live in such a small town?

  For now, there was nothing that could be done about any of it. Morgan was passed out on his couch. The best thing for him to do was head to bed himself—alone—and not gather her up in his arms and take her with him.

  A cold shower had to happen first.

  He had a big day tomorrow and he needed to finish the sled he was currently making for Noah Puckett, three-time Iditarod winner—one he was hoping to unseat. But if Puckett won with his sled, that would make losing to him worthwhile. Everyone knew that the kind of sled you had mattered, but the sled didn’t come close to the dogs you trained.

  They were the true athletes.

  For now, the best thing he could do was make a call to Lynx Maiski for Morgan. At least that would give them more time together.

  Maybe if she spent time with him, she’d want more too.

  Chapter 5

  Morgan woke to the tantalizing smells of frying bacon. She rubbed her eyes and glanced around, disoriented.

  Oh crap, she was on Dare’s couch. She must have fallen asleep during the Marvel movie. How embarrassing. Nothing said immature more than someone who couldn’t hold her liquor and passed out on the couch of the man she’d asked to take her virginity.