by Jane Jamison
The sound of an owl hooting startled her, making her suddenly aware that she was standing in the middle of nowhere, alone and vulnerable. She had to move, either to try and find Harry or to return to the RV. If Harry had gone back to the RV, he wouldn’t be able to get inside since she’d taken the key with her. She took off, pushing through the branches again, and jogged back to the vehicle.
Her body still hummed from Casey’s touch. Would it ever stop? She wasn’t sure she wanted it to.
What have I myself gotten into?
Chapter Four
“Stop beating around the bush and tell me. What’s she like?” Joe sat on top of his horse, his restlessness flowing into the animal, making it prance.
“She’s good.” Casey spoke as he chewed. “Real good.”
Casey shoved another piece of bacon that he’d grabbed off the kitchen counter and popped it into his mouth, then hopped into the saddle. His appetite was big to begin with, but he was always ravenous after a night of running. And especially after what he’d done with their future mate. She was good, all right. Good and tasty.
He still wasn’t sure if he should tell Joe everything or not. His brother might get jealous that he’d taken the opportunity to touch her and run with it.
Yeah, like he wouldn’t have done the same thing.
Joe leaned back in his saddle, trying to act like he was nonchalant, but Casey could tell that his brother was chomping at the bit. He decided to make Joe wait a little longer.
“Could you be a bit more descriptive?”
I sure could, but where’s the fun in that?
Casey spurred his mount toward the pasture, knowing Joe would follow. They were knee-deep in a herd of cattle before either one of them spoke again.
“You’re not going to tell me much, are you?”
Casey kept a straight face. “About what?”
“You can be a real shithead, you know that, bro?”
“Aw, now is that any way to talk about your flesh and blood? What can I say? She’s hot, but you already knew that.”
Joe’s expression darkened. “Why am I getting the feeling that you’re holding back on me? What did you do?”
Casey acted like he was deeply offended. “What are you talking about? Why so suspicious, dear brother o’ mine?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I know you like I do.”
He didn’t want to tell his brother that he’d tasted Bonnie’s juices. Not yet. It was a secret he wanted to keep close and cherish for a while longer. He decided the best defense was a change in subject. “Joe, which cow was it that you thought was ailing?”
He could tell Joe knew what he’d done, but he pointed back at the barn anyway. One cow stood in the center of an outside pen, segregated from the rest of the herd. It had its head down, its ears hanging, and mucus forming on its nostrils. “I’ve watched her the past day, and she’s not feeding like she should.”
“Time to call in Dr. Brown.” Dr. Brown was the large-animal veterinarian that covered a lot of the small towns that couldn’t support a full-time vet.
“Yeah. I already sent him an email this morning.”
“Good.” Casey hated to see any animal suffering, but his greatest fear was that whatever that cow had would get passed on to the others. He urged his horse forward, scanning the rest of the herd for any other animal that might have taken ill. It was no small bit of relief to find that the rest appeared well and were feeding.
“Now back to the subject of Bonnie Remington.”
Casey pretended to not know what his brother was talking about. “Huh?”
“Damn it, bro, if you don’t tell me what I need to know right now, I’m going to head over to her RV and find out for myself.”
“Okay, okay, hold your horses.” Casey remembered Bonnie as she’d looked last night with her eyes half-lidded in lust as he gazed up at her, then flashed his tongue over her clit. His cock twitched.
“You saw her, Joe. She’s beautiful. In fact, I don’t think the word beautiful does her justice. Her hair is so soft. And—”
“Wait a sec. So you touched her?”
Casey ignored the question since the answer was obvious. “And her eyes? Man, when she looks at you, you’d swear the whole world had disappeared and you’d got taken up by the Rapture and were standing in front of an angel.”
Joe tilted his head, using a gesture that came from his inner wolf. “Wow. Talk about poetic. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk that way about anything, much less a girl.”
Casey pushed back his hat and gave his brother a pointed look. “That’s because I’ve never met our mate before. And trust me, she’s no girl.”
“You’re thinking she’s the one?”
“And you don’t? Do you remember the feeling we got when we saw her in town?”
Joe nodded, his expression growing downright dreamy. “Yeah. That was amazing.”
“Yeah, it was. But try getting the same feeling close up. It magnifies by at least a hundred.”
“That good, huh?”
“Yeah. That good.” Casey could still feel the way his gut had flipped over, followed by his cock revving into high gear.
“I told her that she’s our mate.” He shrugged. Joe wouldn’t like it, which was part of the reason he had to tell him. “Er, at least I told her she was my mate.”
“What the hell, man? You didn’t say anything about me?”
He’d known that would set his brother off. He tried to appear confused, which, of course, Joe wouldn’t believe. “Oh, shit. Yeah. I guess I kind of forgot to mention you.”
“I swear, Casey. Sometimes you make it real hard to keep from tearing your head off.”
Casey pouted. “Aw, but you wouldn’t because you love-a-me, right, big brother?”
That got a laugh out of Joe. “I guess it doesn’t matter. She’ll find out the truth soon enough. Besides, I know she had to feel the bond we shared, too.”
They’d talked about the sensation, the instinctual gut-kick that all werewolves got when they met their future mate. They’d listened to other werewolves describe it often enough. But secondhand knowledge wasn’t much good. No one could describe it well enough. It was an intangible, almost magical urge that all werewolves hoped they’d get one day.
“There you go, Joe. Keep up the good attitude.”
“So you’re telling me that she didn’t run screaming when you told her that you were her mate? Or when she saw you butt naked?”
“Course not.” Casey grinned, knowing his brother was trying for a little payback. But he was so much better at playing that game. “The problem we’re going to have is when she gets a gander at your pitiful body. I’m not sure even my incredible physique can make up for your lack of one.”
Joe let out a snort. “Don’t you worry about me. Once she gets a load of what I’ve got to offer, she’ll be calling you my little brother. And she won’t be talking about our ages, either.”
“You keep telling yourself that, bro. Delusions are helpful to boost your ego.”
Joe gave a snort again. “Did she say why she’s camping out in an RV on our land?”
“Nope. I didn’t want to push her into talking. I figured seeing me in my all my glorious wolfiness was enough for her to handle.” Not to mention the other part of it. “She was already skittish because of what Milly told her.”
“Leave it to Milly to scare her for the fun of it.”
Casey tugged on his gloves and settled deeper into the saddle. “I doubt Milly meant to. Bonnie seemed more flustered about her son shifting and going for a run.”
“So Miss Clara was right. Bonnie’s not a werewolf, but her son’s half werewolf.”
“Yeah. The boy’s one all right, because I ran straight into the kid.” Casey’s body moved with the motion of his horse in a soothing kind of way. “I shouldn’t judge the kid since I didn’t talk to him, but I think Miss Clara called that one, too. Seems the kid’s got a chip on his shoulder. He sure didn�
�t listen to his mom much.”
“Hell, do most teenage boys? Especially werewolf ones? Anything and everything can set them off.”
“You’re right about that. Of course, that’s going to make it that much harder to get her as our mate.”
“We’ve found our mate and a stepson all at once.” Joe let out a low whistle. “Damn, we’re going to go from easygoing bachelors to old mated men and taking a teen wolf under our wings.”
“More like under our thumb. The boy has an attitude. I’m not sure I’m up to the task.”
“Is that so? Well, then, you just let me know. I’ll be happy to mate Bonnie on my own.”
“Like hell you will.” Bonnie and Harry were a package deal, and he was ready to take delivery.
Joe thrust out his chin in a direction past Casey. “There’s Rod with the hay.”
Casey twisted around to see the rusty old pickup heading their way. He lifted his hand in a wave to Rod Kaeh who was their on-again, off-again hired hand. Rod helped out with things like getting the herd fed.
“Hey, hold up.” Joe narrowed his eyes, his intensity growing stronger. “Just how much did you touch her? And where?”
“Bro, let it go. We’ve got cattle to feed.”
Joe grumbled a few choice words under his breath, but he let the subject drop.
As the pickup slowed down, Casey and Joe dismounted and strode over. After exchanging greetings with Rod, they jumped into the truck bed and started tossing bales of hay over the sides. The cattle moved closer to get their feed.
“I think we should pay a visit to Bonnie and invite her to breakfast at Milly’s.”
Casey tossed another bale out, then knocked on the top of the pickup, signaling Rod to drive a few yards farther where they would dump the rest of the bales. “You do, huh? And what about her kid? Are we inviting him on our first date with her?”
“It’s not our first date. Besides, what else can we do? Tell him, ‘Tough shit, kid, you’re stuck at the RV eating cereal’? Yeah, that’ll go over big.”
Joe hauled the last bale over the side, then jumped down to walk back to his horse. Casey fell into step beside him.
“Having the kid around isn’t going to make things easy, but who knows? We might actually like him.”
Joe snorted yet again. “Stranger things have happened.”
“Bro, you really need to stop the snorting. I don’t think Bonnie or any woman is going to like it.”
Joe came to a stop, his brow furrowing. “I snort?”
“Yeah, you do. And you snore like a horse with bad allergies, too.” Casey kept walking, keeping his smile hidden.
* * * *
The golden-furred wolf shifted, his body changing, until at last, the handsome man that he really was stood before her. She shivered, for the first time noticing that her clothes had disappeared. But she wasn’t cold. How could she be with the warmth of Casey’s smile heating her body?
Her breathing grew more labored, raising and lowering her chest in her effort to draw in each breath. Sweat covered her palms, and a tingle zipped into her body. His closeness had given her an unseen parasite, a bug of lust that traveled the length of her. She was snared in his disease, but it was a sickness from which she wanted no cure.
“Come to me.”
She shook her head, amazed that she could do that much.
His amber eyes narrowed. “I said…come to me.”
The first had been a suggestion. The second was an order she couldn’t refuse.
Bonnie walked toward him, her legs jerking forward. She stopped a foot from him and ached for him to touch her.
When he didn’t, she wanted to die.
Instead, he circled her, and she could sense his hot gaze skimming her, studying every ounce of cellulite. She wanted to cross her arms over her breasts, but she kept them to her sides. If he found her wanting, she’d beg him to take her despite her flaws.
“You’re wonderful.”
She blinked, and for a moment thought that he had to be talking to someone else. Her body wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what he deserved.
“Did you hear me, Bonnie? You’re beautiful.”
He was talking to her. She was both amazed and thrilled. “No. I’m not.”
She gasped when he put his hand on her shoulder and settled his chest against her back. He leaned over and whispered in her ear.
“Are you saying I’m wrong?”
“No.”
“Then you believe me?”
She didn’t know how to answer. She wanted to believe him.
“Bonnie, baby, I’m not wrong about this. You are.”
She was wrong? That she could believe.
He got even closer, his lips grazing the rounded portion of her ear. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone.”
Her knees threatened to buckle, but she didn’t dare respond. If she did, he might change his mind. Or worse, he might leave.
“Do you remember what we did when we met?”
His breath tickled her ear and started turmoil between her legs. Her pussy flooded, letting her yearning slide down her inner thighs. She’d never gotten that turned on before. She hadn’t even thought it possible.
Her mouth dried up. She nodded, again afraid of speaking her thoughts, much less her need, out loud.
Putting both of his hands on her shoulders, he kissed the nape of her neck. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”
He kissed her back, feathering them from one shoulder to the other. She trembled and kept her gaze on the bushes on the other side of the small clearing where they’d first met. How had she gotten back here? Yet who cared how it had happened?
He played his fingers along her arms, bringing goose bumps along the way. She could feel his body lowering behind her and she tensed, anticipating the delight he’d give her.
Yet when he flattened his hands against her butt cheek, she jerked, startled to find him there.
“Easy, baby. Relax. You’re in my hands now.”
He kissed her again, a light press of his lips against her skin. She moaned, thanking him for his caress and begging him for more.
He gave her what she’d silently wanted, using his tongue to track a trail downward, sliding between her butt cheeks. She fisted her hands and wished she could hold onto him.
His fingers pulled her apart as he thrust his tongue into her butt hole. It found the tight rings and massaged them, before he used his teeth to nibble on her sensitive flesh.
She closed her eyes, not only to drink in all the sensations he gave her, but to concentrate on keeping her legs stiff and her body upright.
He ran a hand between her legs and found her pussy waiting for him. Licking her butt, he rubbed his finger over her hardened bud.
The turmoil of before spun into a whirlwind that rotated outward from her pussy. Her mouth parted as her breathing turned more into panting.
“Put your hand on mine.”
She did as he told her and let her finger ride on top of his. Together, they massaged her clit, harder, then softer, until she started taking control and quickening his finger under hers. She brought her other hand to her breast and fondled it.
“Good, baby. That’s it. Rub harder.”
The storm inside her grew in intensity. She raked her finger over his, forcing him to push against her clit harder.
“I need…” What did she need? His hand? His mouth? His cock?
All of them.
When he took his hand from under hers, her eyes flew open and a protest caught on the tip of her tongue. She started to turn around, but he stood then pushed her forward, making her bend at her waist.
“That’s it. Put your hands on your knees. I want to see your round butt.”
Her hair fell forward and her legs wobbled, but she did what he wanted.
“Spread ’em, baby.”
Again, she did so even though she was sure her legs would finally give out.
The slap on her butt cheek k
nocked her forward with its force, but he caught hold of her hips and kept her on her feet.
“Do you like getting spanked, woman?”
She’d never liked any man calling her woman, but from him it sounded like lyrics to her favorite song. “Yes.”
“Good. I like it, too. And my brother likes it even more.”
She shivered. Could she dare hope to have both of them?
He spanked her again, but on the other cheek. She bent lower, offering herself to him. Another flat-handed strike brought a yelp from her lips and a chuckle from his.
“That’s it. Tell me how much you like it.”
“I like it.”
He spanked her again and skimmed his palm along her spine until he could grab a bunch of her hair. He jerked her up, keeping her bent so he could land another flat-handed strike on her butt cheek.
“That’s not good enough, baby. I want you to sound like you mean it.” His hard thighs pushed against the back of her legs. His erect cock pressed against the crease between her butt cheeks.
“I do. But I’d like something else instead.” She’d held her breath and worried that her dare to ask for more would make him stop.
She sighed when he chuckled.
“Is that right?” He eased to the side of her, letting his cock rub against her waist. Another thwack to her butt elicited yet another moan from her.
“Y–yes.”
“What do you want, baby?” He turned her hair loose.
She craned her neck around and gave him a look that she hoped was sultry. “I want to suck on your cock.”
His surprise lit up his face. “Then do it.”
She stood and turned to face him. Her gaze met his, and for a brief second, that was enough to sustain her. But then the storm whirling within urged her to get more, to do more. She dropped her gaze then, as he’d done, slid her hands along his body and sank to her knees. He channeled his fingers into her hair and drew her face to his cock.
He was long, thick, and curved at the end. She had no doubt that he could find her sweet spot and hit it hard and sure. Licking her lips, she then swept her tongue over his length and felt him jerk. She smiled, loving that she’d given him the same reaction he’d given her.
