When she looked like this, her eyes flashing and the color in her freckled cheeks high, she wouldn’t even need to knock him down—he’d gladly throw himself at her feet. But he couldn’t let her know how much she affected him.
“I’m stronger,” he growled, his hands itching to grab her, to show her just how much stronger he really was.
She angled her head to the side as if reconsidering. “You’re right, actually. I would never make a fur rug out of you.”
“Thank you. That’s the first sensible thing you’ve said all day.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Because who wants to walk all over a mange mat?” she sneered.
Touché.
But his amusement at her sharp tongue was swamped by frustration. There was a child’s life at stake.
“What are you running from?” he prodded.
“The particulars don’t matter. That place is toxic. I got out. I am never going back.”
She’d lowered her voice, so he’d do the same, but he wasn’t backing down. “I am not asking you to move back there. A few days, max. Stop whining like a cub and put your big girl panties on, Krista.” Damn it. Why had he said the word panties? Now he had an image of lacy little underthings in his head. Was she wearing panties or was she commando? And since when had he turned into a big walking hard-on?
Her fangs descended in frustration, and her claws curved out of her fingertips again.
He wanted to advance, but his wolf cautioned against it. “Go home and pack. I’ll pick you up at your apartment. This isn’t up for debate.”
She left out a low growl of defeat, and her shoulders sagged. “How much time do I have?”
He should have felt a surge of joy at his victory. Instead, he felt unsettled and faintly queasy. “I’ll pick you up at your house in an hour and a half. Kid’s missing, clock’s ticking.”
She stared at him, holding his gaze for a moment, assessing him. He felt uncomfortably like she was looking deep down inside him and didn’t like what she saw. That hurt surprisingly badly.
“I’m doing this because I care about my patients and because you’re leaving me no choice,” she said. “But you have no idea what you’re walking into. You’re playing with fire, and you’re going to get your paws singed. And if that little boy burns up with you… I just hope your conscience is fireproof, that’s all.”
Chapter Five
Krista couldn’t believe it. What the hell had just happened? She’d been blackmailed, that’s what. And Blake had just moved himself into the category of “last wolf on Earth that Krista would consider howling for”.
She stormed off, intent on asking Susie if she could arrange cover for her—the perky assistant dealt with all their scheduling issues. She already knew that Dr. Sutherland, the owner of the clinic, would be fine with helping out. Everyone who worked at the clinic knew that she was the one bringing most of the business these days, although they didn’t know why she was so popular or how she got such good results with some of the more challenging cases.
It was a don’t ask, don’t tell kind of thing. She brought in business, she got results, they’d rather not know why.
Krista and her medicines, the one good thing she’d brought with her from the Zoo.
She found Susie at the nurse’s station in the hall. She looked up at Krista with a playful smile on her heart-shaped face, but it faded when she saw her expression. “Hey. What’s wrong?”
“I need you to arrange cover for me for a few days.”
“Okay.” Susie was nodding before Krista had a chance to finish her statement. “No problem. Is everything okay?”
Krista sighed. “Yeah, sure. Family stuff.”
Susie’s gaze wandered over to Blake, who’d followed her out of the office. Her eyes widened, and a dreamy expression slid onto her face.
Krista let out a low, rumbling growl before she could stop herself.
Susie held up her hands and backed off. “Yikes, I see how it is. Okay. Okay. Please do not chew my face off; I’ve grown quite attached to it. I’ll talk with Dr. Small and just make sure we don’t have any scheduling conflicts.” She turned and hurried off, shooting a genuinely nervous look at Krista over her shoulder before vanishing around the corner.
Krista felt a little bit bad about that, but only a little—she was too chock-full of rage at the way Blake was treating her for there to be any room for other emotions…
Until the door to one of the exam rooms swung open, and out strode her rat-bastard ex-boyfriend, Dr. Long, hand in hand with Angie, the nurse he’d cheated on Krista with. Angie’s lipstick was smeared—on purpose. She could easily have fixed it before she left the room, but then she wouldn’t have been able to rub her relationship in Krista’s face.
Dr. Long looked at Blake, and his eyes narrowed. He’d been mad as hell when Krista dumped him over his indiscretions, claiming that as a shifter, he was just acting on his animal nature. After Krista had ended things, he’d officially started dating Angie, his former side-ho.
Now, the way Blake was hovering over Krista apparently gave him pause.
A sudden, reckless impulse overwhelmed Krista, and before she could stop herself, she grabbed Blake’s collar and went up on tiptoes, leaning hard up against him. He was a giant wall of muscle, and he smelled good enough to lick. “You owe me,” she said in a low voice. “And this is your down-payment.”
Blake’s expression filled with surprise, and she saw his lips move to shape the word “what”…or possibly to shout for help that he was being molested by the crazy lady.
Whichever it was, he never got the chance, because she pressed her mouth to his, silencing him. “Make it believable,” she growled against his lips.
And after a moment’s hesitation, his lips touched hers again and she forgot all about her stupid ex-boyfriend.
Blake
Her fragrance filled his nostrils as she pulled him to her. He hadn’t missed the doctor she’d been looking at or the fact that she was obviously trying to get a response out of him.
Jealousy flared inside him, hot and sharp, and twisted into fierce arousal.
She wanted a response. He could give her one.
Her lips weren’t enough. He grabbed her, bringing her unresisting body closer to him, crushing her to him. His tongue teased her lips.
She tasted like peaches.
Her mouth opened, but before his tongue could invade, hers danced forward, teasing his. She pressed herself to him, wrapping her arms behind his neck, pulling him closer.
Electricity shot through him like he’d never felt before, and something clicked into place, latching itself onto his soul, filling a hole he’d never known had existed before.
She pulled away, gripping his head, those slitted amber eyes staring intently into his.
Every cell in his body demanded that he claim her in every way he could. His inner wolf paced and snarled inside him, anxious to get out, to bend her over her desk and to take her savagely, completely.
But her hands and her gaze stopped him, stilled his wolf.
He could see her vixen snapping at her, demanding to be let free, but that beautiful and delicate human face demanded calm and control.
His breath was ragged where hers was refined, as if reining in her beast was somehow easier. How was she able to contain her fox? Did she not feel the connection the way he did? The bond?
He had to make her feel.
He grabbed her and crushed his lips to hers.
She fought at first this time, but he could feel her fox sneaking forward, entering the dance.
He ran his hand along her back and brought her closer to him, letting her body slide along his pelvis so she could feel just how hard he was. He needed her so badly it hurt.
She moaned, completely oblivious to the fact they were still in the hallway, where anyone could see them. He knew from the way her body responded to him that this had nothing to do with putting on a show for somebody else. Not anymore. She shoved
her fingers through his hair. Her tongue slid over his, fighting for control, challenging him further.
He heard the door bang as the doctor and his little blonde cling-on fled the room.
He pulled away for a moment to catch his breath before darting back to take her lips again.
But this time she pulled away. She wrenched herself from his embrace and stepped back, and his wolf howled with frustrated longing, his body still magnetized by her closeness.
They were alone in the hallway now, and all he wanted to do was push her up against the wall and show her exactly how she made him feel.
But when he swayed towards her, gaze fixed on her lips, she took another step back. “And now,” she said in a low voice, “you never touch me again.”
“After that kiss? Are you insane?”
“Given that I’m about to let you drag me to Flowering Dogwood where I’ll probably end up as an accent rug, clearly, yes. That’s not the point. I did that to show up my ex, and also to prove that you were wrong and you’re not my fated mate because we have no chemistry whatsoever. Obviously.” She glared at him narrow-eyed, daring him to challenge her.
He dared.
“Then why did you keep kissing me?”
“He was still standing there!”
He snorted. “Keep telling yourself that. The door slammed halfway through and we both heard him stalking off down the hallway.”
A thick strand of red hair slid into Krista’s face, and she tossed her head, quickly brushing it behind her ear. “Don’t flatter yourself. Fate may be a cruel bitch, but she’s not so cruel that she’d hitch my wagon to a manipulative, blackmailing son of a bitch who doesn’t even know how to kiss.”
Didn’t know how to kiss? She’d just devoured his tongue like it was candy.“What’s that?” he said, annoyed. “Excuse me, I was a little distracted because your nipples were staring at me.” It was a dick thing to say, but she’d stung him right in the ego.
Her nipples were indeed stiff little peaks, pressing against the fabric of her dress. “Rude!” she squawked, quickly crossing her arms over them.
Then she glanced over at Susie, who was staring at them from down the hall, starry-eyed.
“You’re a receptionist!” she yelled at her. “Quit staring at us and go recept!”
Susie danced off, singing, “He plighted your trooooth!”
Blake watched her go, brow wrinkling in confusion. “Do you have to be straight-up nuts to work here?”
“Yes, it’s an actual job requirement. But seriously. I need you to understand,” she said, staring up at him, “when we get there, you have got to follow my lead.”
He groped for the shreds of his self-control. “I’m highly trained, Krista. I know what to do in dangerous situations.”
She shook her head, eyes sparking with anger. “You don’t know anything,” she said heatedly. “You won’t even see the danger until it swallows you whole and spits out your bones.”
Chapter Six
Krista was still fuming as she headed downstairs with her suitcase to meet Blake two hours later.
When she’d told Blake that her presence might make things worse, she hadn’t been trying to weasel out of helping him. She’d been telling the truth. There were people there who’d go out of their way to trip her up if she so much as went to buy a quart of milk in Flowering Dogwood. She was genuinely afraid that if anyone knew she was searching for Ethan, it would make things worse for him.
But here she was, headed right into the lion’s den, so to speak. She and Blake were going to tell everyone that he was her fated mate, and they were going to sniff around and ask questions.
They were going to camp out on public land because they didn’t have any other options—Hattie lived in a tiny one-bedroom trailer, Krista would rather chew her own tail off than stay with her mother, and since she’d burned her bridges with the Reed family, that was a no-go.
There were some distant relations, all of whom would show up at the Ellis shindig, but it wouldn’t be fair to ask to stay with them after her bust-up with Dawnie. Dawnie might hold it against whoever put her up.
So, they’d be sleeping together. In side-by-side sleeping bags. Under the same canvas roof.
As she trudged through the doorway of her condo, she saw a gleaming black SUV idling in the parking circle out front.
Her stomach felt as if an entire conga team was kicking it from the inside, but she’d be damned if she’d let Blake see her feeling worried and vulnerable. She rearranged her features into her pissed-off look, stalked over to the SUV, and put her bag in the back seat. “You’re really going to blend in with this vehicle,” she sniped as she slid in. Flowering Dogwood was all about old beaters and pickup trucks that were held together by bailing twine and rust.
“That’s what you’re there for.” He flashed her a grin.
“Is that you trying to be ingratiating?”
“Yes. How am I doing?”
She stared at him, expression stony. He stared back, and the stare went on and on for a good thirty seconds until her mouth twitched in a grin, despite her best efforts.
“You’re doing terribly. Epic fail,” she said loftily, trying to remember how to look angry and somehow forgetting.
“But I made you smile for a micro-second there, so I count it as a win.”
He handed her a folder, then turned his attention to the road as they pulled away from the curb. “That’s the case file.” He cleared his throat and moved in his seat as if he was trying to find a comfortable position and just couldn’t do it.
She sneaked a quick peek. He had a raging erection that his pants couldn’t conceal. That made her feel at least a little better.
Okay. Focus. Missing kid. Jeez, how selfish was she, perving out on Blake when she should be wracking her brains for answers here?
She flipped through the file, studying it closely. Familiar names jumped out at her, familiar aches throbbing through her heart. “So, the cabin that he disappeared from was owned by this Michael Coffman guy, but it was on land near the Reed property.”
Blake shook his head. “No, that’s government property.”
“Right, on paper, but Dawnie Reed and her kids have a cabin there. Gummi, Percy, and Eva-Jo. And whatever foundlings she’s taken in.” She’d been one of them once, until she’d bitten the hand that fed her. “Where I come from, that makes it their land.” Oh, the joys of going back home with an outsider who didn’t understand their ways and never would. “We’ll talk to the Reeds first. That’s the way things are done—you roll into town without going and paying your respects to Dawnie, you’re going to find yourself running into a whole lot of bad luck in Flowering Dogwood. She’s the mama bear, and what she says goes.”
Otherwise, Krista would have done everything in her power to avoid the matriarch while she was back in town. She’d just have to hope that enough time had gone by that Dawnie wouldn’t kill first and ask questions later. Which she’d been known to do.
Blake nodded. “And after that?”
“By the time we get there and finish talking to them, we’ll be done for the night. Running around banging on doors late at night isn’t going to get us answers, it’s going to get us skinned and eaten.”
He looked at her skeptically. “Cannibals?”
She shrugged. “If a bear eats a wolf, is it cannibalism?”
“Yes. Now, if a wolf eats a fox, on the other hand…” His lips curled up in a slow lazy smile as he said it.
“I’m calling the Shifter Enforcement Council and reporting sexual harassment!” she said huffily, struggling desperately not to smile.
“Sexual harassment? Miss Krista Ellis, did I specify that the eating would be sexual? Where did your mind go when I said that? I’m shocked, I’m offended, but most importantly, I’m intrigued.”
“You are none of those things. You’re a blackmailing bastard.”
Before he could try to flirt with her any further, Krista grabbed her phone and called Ha
ttie to let her know that she’d be coming to the reunion after all, and she’d be bringing Blake with her. And that Blake was her fated mate, and that’s why he’d been following her. She thanked her lucky stars that the call went to voicemail because Hattie would have grilled her like a cheese sandwich.
Hattie was probably home already. She had headed straight back to Flowering Dogwood as soon she’d finished lunch, no doubt driving like her tail was on fire and there was no water in between Crystal Bay and home. Hattie hated visiting the big city. Krista winced in sympathy as she thought about the other drivers scattering out of the way. Hattie should have had her license taken back years ago, but nobody was brave enough to tell her that to her face.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Blake said.
“You can keep your penny,” she sniffed, and added, “cheap bastard.”
“Dollar?”
“Please.” She injected a note of wounded pride into her one-word dismissal.
“Million dollars?”
She swiveled her head to look at him scornfully. “You don’t have a million dollars.”
“I have been told that I have a million-dollar smile.”
“Well, your mother lied.”
As soon as she said that, she actually felt an odd pulse of pain, even before she glanced at him. Was his mother dead, maybe? And was it possible that she was somehow picking up his emotions?
No. No, no, no, because that would have to mean that he was her… no, just no.
She squirmed uncomfortably, looking out the window as they drove. The silence stretched on and on.
Memories of their kiss kept drifting through her head, and she moved uncomfortably in her seat. This trip was going to be hell. It would be so much easier to hate him if there wasn’t this weird thing between them. And if he didn’t have such a talented tongue.
Her cheeks colored as soon as the idea flashed through her mind. Her fox was laughing at her. She silently chided it. That wasn’t what I meant! Oh, for the love of God, I’m arguing with my own subconscious.
Blackmailed By The Wolf (Shifters, Inc. Book 6) Page 4
