Wolf Bite (Wolf Cove #2)

by Nina West

  ~ ~ ~

  Lorraine’s hand flies through the air, making contact with Tillie’s cheek. The slap echoes through the staff lounge with an audience of at least twenty-five, most of us standing around the fireplace to watch the catfight unfold.

  Connor tsks. “That’s not good. She could get canned for that one.” Nudging me with a soft elbow, he whispers, “Did you squeal, little piglet?”

  “No! I haven’t said a word to anyone but you two!” I’m actually offended that he’d even suggest it.

  “Security cameras would have caught him going in,” Ronan murmurs, downing his beer. “I swear, Corbin has a pussy the way he gossips.”

  Tillie has the nerve to look appalled at Lorraine’s tear-filled violent reaction to finding out that her roommate slept with her boyfriend, while James has the decency to appear at least a little sheepish from his table.

  Thanks to the three beers and one shot I’ve already downed, I feel the sudden urge to walk over there and slap him for his cheating part in all this.

  “Come on.” Ronan grabs my arm and pulls me toward the exit.

  I’m not at all surprised that he wouldn’t be interested in watching the emotional fallout. I don’t want to watch it either, so I happily follow him. Not until we reach the side door do I realize that Connor’s in tow as well.

  “What? I want nothing to do with that either,” he murmurs.

  The three of us head down to the staff dock, our quiet gazes on the sun as it hangs in the sky, just beginning to set. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to these long summer days.”

  “I hear the winters here are even longer. Six hours of daylight, or something like that.” Ronan pulls out a cigarette.

  Ronan and I sit out here almost every night after dinner, so much that I’m used to his bad habit. I’m pretty sure that when my summer in Alaska is over and I want to transport myself back to these peaceful nights out on the dock, all I’ll need to do is light a Camel and close my eyes.

  A full can of beer appears in front of me. Connor pulls two more from his pocket. He must have poached them from the crew’s table on his way out.

  “I shouldn’t.” I say this even as I sit down and crack the top. I’m much too relaxed for my own good. This one might put me over the edge.

  “That a girl.” Connor throws an arm around my neck and pulls me backward against his chest, his legs stretched out on either side of me. “Why can’t every chick be as cool as you?”

  “I’m a cool chick?” I roll my eyes but smile, torn between elbowing him in the stomach so I can pull away, and staying exactly where I am. I end up staying put, sipping my beer and looking out over the water as I lean against his chest. “You know, this isn’t as bad as I thought.”

  “What. The beer?”

  Ronan chuckles. “Connor’s hard dick pressed against your back?”

  I stretch my leg to give him a playful kick. He’s quick, grabbing me by the foot and pulling my leg to dangle over his lap.

  “What’s not as bad as you thought?” Connor nuzzles his face against my neck.

  Again, I know I should stop this right now. But I close my eyes instead. “No. Alaska.”

  “Fuck. Alaska’s awesome! Why would you ever have thought it wouldn’t be?”

  “I don’t know. I just did,” I murmur, catching Ronan’s thoughtful gaze. He slides his hand over my calf with affection, but says nothing.

  He understands exactly why.

  But that’s our secret.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Abbi!”

  “Abbieeeeeeee!”

  “Oh my God, would you shut your two fuck boys up! Some of us have to be up soon,” Tillie snaps from behind her curtain.

  It’s three in the morning, and Ronan and Connor have been standing outside our cabin for the past five minutes, calling my name. Someone’s going to alert security soon if they don’t shut up.

  “They’re not my fuck boys.”

  “You sure about that? Because they sure seem to love you.” Bitterness seeps through her voice.

  “At least she waited to get with her roommates’ boyfriend, whore!” comes the equally vicious retort from the top bunk.

  I’m honestly not sure how we’re going to get through until the end of August without them killing each other.

  I ignore them both, sliding my shower flip-flops and a jacket on before I step out into the cold.

  “Abbi!”

  Their shouts aren’t coming from the path. They’re coming from behind our cabin. I wander over, a little panicked that something’s wrong. Ronan and Connor stand with their backs against the wall, just under the window.

  “What the hell are you two doing out here?” I hiss.

  “There she is!” Connor reaches out to pull me into his chest with no effort. “We missed you.”

  “I was with you a few hours ago.” I’m hit with the smell of beer. “God, you two are really drunk!”

  “Nah. Well, maybe just a little bit.” I can’t see Ronan’s face in the dark, but I can hear the sly smile in his voice. “But we had to see our girl.”

  I roll my eyes, but I laugh. “You two are idiots.”

  Connor squeezes me tight. “Endearing idiots, though.”

  “Endearing. Dude. That’s a big word.”

  Connor lets go of me to punch Ronan in the chest.

  “Go to bed, you two. We have to start work in a few hours.”

  “You’re right. Okay. Let’s let our girl sleep.” But Connor doesn’t release me right away, instead pulling me flush against his firm body. He dips his head into the crook of my neck like he did on the dock earlier, his mouth against my ear. “Good night, sweet girl.” It’s not a kiss but it may as well be, the shivers his lips send down my spine, making my nipples tighter than they already were from the cold.

  Releasing me, he strolls away with ease, staggering only slightly.

  Ronan scoops me into his arms and settles a hand on the back of my head, weaving his fingers through my hair. He gently tugs until my head falls back.

  I know he’s staring down at me, searching the dark for my eyes. Even though we can’t actually see each other, I can feel that haunting gaze on me, boring into me. It’s intense.

  A soft gasp slips from my lips as he grows hard against my stomach. “Why did you two come here tonight?”

  He leans forward and smacks his forehead into mine.

  “Ow!”

  “Sorry.” He adjusts until our foreheads simply lean against each other. “Well, I can’t speak for Connor but I wanted a fresh memory of you so I can take it back and jerk off in my bed.”

  I should be shocked that he admitted to that, but I’m not. I should be utterly disgusted by that prospect. But instead I find myself giggling, and warmth blooming in my core.

  “God, it’s becoming impossible to resist you, red,” he whispers, leaning down to place the softest kiss on my jaw.

  I shouldn’t let him do this.

  I shouldn’t let either of them get away with anything they’ve been doing lately.

  And yet I don’t pull away, reveling in the closeness, in the smell of him, in the heat from his body, in the knowledge that he wants me.

  His lips find my ear. “Now, go be a good girl and touch yourself, thinking about us.” Peeling away from me, he heaves a sigh and wanders away.

  Us. He said us. Not simply him.

  I duck back into the cabin and crawl into bed as quietly as possible. I count the slow, heavy breathing of five people. The cabin’s full tonight, but at least they’re all asleep again.

  And I’m wide awake.

  And smiling at the bunk above me, thinking about those two.

  I’m sure Connor is already facedown and snoring by now. But Ronan, I’m not so sure. Could he actually be lying in bed, rubbing himself, thinking of me? I close my eyes and try to picture what that would be like. I have a pretty good idea, given I’ve already seen him naked and in the throes of passion.

  Heat stirs between my
legs. I haven’t come since the night with Michael.

  My phone, on silent, lights up on the shelf beside me with an incoming text.

  Oh my God.

  My cheeks flush as I take in the picture of Ronan, lying in bed, naked and smiling up at the camera. It cuts off at his pelvic bone where the tuft off dark hair begins, but the way his arm is stretching down leaves little to the imagination of what he’s doing.

  He really is beautiful.

  And he really is jerking off right now.

  I should have known. Ronan’s not one to exaggerate or outright lie.

  A second later, a second text comes in:

  Where’s yours?

  I stifle my laugh, afraid of waking others up.

  Not a chance.

  Come on...

  There’s no way in hell I’m sending a picture like that to him, or anyone, ever.

  Good night.

  At least let me see your face.

  Chewing my bottom lip with indecision for all of three seconds, I quickly hold my phone up in front of me and snap a picture of just my face. Deciding it’s flattering enough, I send it.

  Now leave me alone.

  Perfect. Thank you.

  You realize what he’s doing with that picture, Abbi. Right?

  Another wave of heat flushes between my legs. I flip to his picture again, admiring his chiseled body—it rivals Connor’s, in my opinion—and his handsome face. And his candor. There’s no confusion or head games with him.

  Another text comes through:

  Did that pic offend you?

  I frown at his question. Now he’s worried about offending me?

  No.

  Good.

  Another picture follows ten seconds later.

  I gasp at the hard dick that fills my phone screen, gripped in his palm and smeared in cum.

  All for you, babe. Night.

  Oh my God. I cover my mouth with my hand as I stare at it in shock, my heartbeat pounding in my throat. He really wasn’t kidding.

  And it’s turning me on.

  I shut my phone off and set it on the ledge, wondering if I should keep the image or delete it.

  An hour later, still lying in bed with an uncomfortable buildup between my thighs, I reach for my phone to study the two pictures. Settling on the one with Ronan’s face, I slide my hand into my pajama bottoms.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “How are you two feeling this morning?” Considering neither of them showed up for breakfast, I’m guessing not well.

  I hold out two black coffees. Connor texted me, asking me to grab them for them. At least they showered before they got here, so they don’t reek of stale beer.

  Connor grins up at me from beneath the San Diego baseball cap he’s donning today. “Fan-fucking-tastic. You?”

  “I’m tired.”

  Ronan shoots me a sly grin as he takes my cup, his fingers grazing mine in the process. The ones he likely used to stroke himself with last night, seeing as he’s right-handed. “Yeah. Sorry about that. Hope it didn’t take you too long to get back to sleep.” He watches me through a sip of his coffee as my face heats up.

  Like he knows what I did.

  “Okay. Listen up!” Darryl claps his hands, earning Connor’s wince. “With this wedding ceremony tomorrow, we’ve got to change things up a bit.”

  I hear someone murmur, “Don’t do it, man. Run while you can!” and a round of chuckles floats around the group.

  “Alright, alright. Connor, you’re with Pegs and Brody on tent set up.”

  Connor groans but Darryl ignores him. “Abbi and Ronan, you two do the weekly check on the Wolf Cabin, and then be back for landscaping around the site. Abbi, you lead on the planters. These morons couldn’t make a garden look good if their lives depended on it. The rest of you... the usual.”

  Ronan and I together, and alone, all morning. It’s not the first time, but after last night, after the tension that’s been brewing....

  My gut tells me this isn’t a good idea.

  The look on Ronan’s face says the exact same thing.

  ~ ~ ~

  The air within the cab of our maintenance truck hangs thick with unspoken words and undeclared intentions.

  “No one’s stayed in this place for three years and they still want us checking it week after week,” Ronan mutters, steering around the worst of the potholes along the narrow path.

  “It’s important to them.” To him. I keep a firm grip on the door handle, my eyes ahead, waiting for that bend where the cabin suddenly comes into view. I haven’t been back since the day we staged it, the weekend of the grand opening ceremony.

  The day Henry told me we were different. The last time I felt him inside me.

  “You’re doing it again.”

  I glance over to find Ronan switching his glances between the narrow road and me. “Doing what?”

  “Disappearing into some deep, dark place where your face turns all sad.”

  Ronan is way too observant. “You should watch where you’re driving. You know, in case of animals.”

  That buys me about ten seconds of silence. And then he asks so softly, “What did he do to you?”

  Familiar hollowness blooms inside me. It’s not even eight in the morning. I’m not sure I can face this. “He fooled me. He told me lies that I believed, because I was stupid and naive.” I’ve never actually talked about it with anyone. There’s no one to talk about it with.

  “Do you miss him?”

  I chuckle, though it’s not with humor. “I miss what I though we had.”

  He sighs. “Then maybe it’s time you move on.” He reaches across the seat to give my knee a friendly squeeze before pulling back.

  And, after all this time, it dawns on me. I can’t believe I haven’t seen it before. Not in all these weeks, in the countless mundane, pointless conversations. “What did she do to you?”

  Ronan’s Adam’s apple bobs with a swallow. He doesn’t answer right away, but I already know there is a she. “She decided she needed time and space.”

  “How long were you together for?”

  “Four years. We broke up about three months before I came here.” A little softer, he adds, “Her name is Tasha.”

  I reach over to squeeze his knee, just as he did to me moments ago, because it feels like the right thing to do. He’s still hurting over her, that much is obvious. “So, now what?”

  He sighs, then shrugs. “I give her what she asked for.”

  “But you’re messing around with other girls.”

  “She wanted the space, not me.”

  “And what if she tells you she wants you back?”

  “Then she gets this version of me.” His smile is weak and unconvincing. “But I’m guessing we’re done.”

  “But what if you’re not?”

  “What am I going to do, not have sex with anyone until I know for sure? Because I know she is.”

  I swallow my pain. Just like I know Henry is sleeping with other women. He basically promised as much.

  “What do you want, Abbi?”

  “I don’t know.” Some miraculous turn of events that makes Henry not an asshole? That gives me a reason to forgive him for how he’s treated me?

  If that’s the case, then I haven’t really learned anything at all from this experience.

  I stare out the window, seeing the steep roof through the trees. “To figure out how to let go, I guess.”

  ~ ~ ~

  “All good down here. How about up there?” Ronan hollers from the bottom of the steps.

  “Just a sec!” A lightbulb in the back bedroom blew when I flipped the switch and, according to Darryl, we’re supposed to make sure everything is in working order. I’ve had to take my boots off and climb onto the bed to reach it. At least the beds have long since been stripped of their sheets from the grand opening ceremony weekend.

  I turn around to find Ronan leaning against the doorframe, watching me intently.

  “Okay. I think I
’ve got it in.” I move to jump off the bed but Ronan’s voice stops me. “Don’t.”

  “What?”

  He strolls in slowly, his gaze drifting over my body. “What do you want, Abbi?”

  He’s yanked us right back to the conversation in the car.

  That’s the second time he’s asked me that. I wish I had a good answer. “I don’t know. To feel good. To not hurt. To move on.” Those are pretty basic things.

  Strong hands grip my outer thighs as he stops just in front of me, his head at waist level. “I can help you with that.”

  “We need to get back to the hotel, Ronan. We can’t.” Suddenly, this is exactly what I want. Ronan, making me feel good. Making me experience life again.

  “There was a squirrel.”

  I frown, a laugh threatening. “A squirrel?”

  “Yes.” His hands begin sliding up and over my hips, his fingers curling tight around my body, until they come to rest on the button at my waist. “It was loose in the house, and we had to catch it.” His green eyes lift to lock on mine.

  And he pops the button to my pants.

  I say nothing to stop him.

  With a single finger, he pushes the zipper down, the tip of it running along my panties, down, to stop just above my clit. “It took a while to catch that fucking squirrel.”

  Why am I not stopping him? This is about to go way too far.

  He tugs on my pants until they’re sliding all the way down to my ankles.

  “We can’t do this in here,” I whisper. This is Henry’s grandparents’ cabin.

  He leans forward, his mouth landing between my legs. I feel the heat, the slip of his tongue, even through the cotton of my panties. “Why not? Do you think he cares?”

  Henry doesn’t give a fuck about me.

  Ronan looks up again and he must see the answer in my eyes. His fingers coil around the sides of my panties and he pulls them down. My t-shirt is long but it doesn’t cover me completely, and his mouth is so close.

  My body begins reacting to him, a heavy pulse growing between my legs, even though this is wrong and stupid on so many levels. “This is going to make things weird between us.”

  His rough, callused hands slide up the backs of my thighs to land on my ass, squeezing almost to the point of pain, but not quite. “It won’t. I promise it won’t. I won’t let it.”