by Dahlia West
Ten yards.
Thirty feet.
It had to be now.
Rowan held her breath, which was wrong, and she knew it, but panic had gripped her, and her resolve was fading with each second, and everything she knew about protection and predators seemed to fly out of her head in that one instant, replaced by one word.
Shoot.
Rowan squeezed the trigger.
The carbine exploded. The shot hit home. But the wolf had momentum. It stumbled but righted itself, determined to finish the kill. Behind him, Kinka launched himself at the enemy, latching on to the wolf’s hindquarters with powerful jaws.
Wolf and dog hurtled at Rowan, slamming into her and knocking her back. The carbine clattered to the ground, empty, useless. The wolf’s own jaws snapped over and over, just inches from Rowan’s face as she tried to push herself out of its reach, palms scraping over gravel and loose rock.
Kinka let go, and the wolf crouched. It sprang from the ground, directly at Rowan, but Kinka’s larger frame came down on him hard. The dog caught the wolf by the neck, and they collapsed to the ground.
The sickening snap and crunch of bone filled the air.
The wolf, trapped under the Pyrenees, heaved a final breath, then its eyes rolled back.
“Rowan!” Seth called again, and his heavy boots came into view. He grabbed at her arm, but she pushed him away.
“The dogs!” she cried, voice broken and raspy.
Seth turned into the direction of the warring packs. Rowan saw he had a rifle of his own at the ready. He fired off shot after shot into the air as he advanced on them. One wolf broke off and loped away. The third was sprawled in the dirt, bloodied, half-moving. Seth stood over him and finished him off then hurried back to Rowan with Jory and Kono yipping at his heels, still in a frenzy.
“Mama!” Willow shouted, and Rowan could hear her now. She whipped her head around to the porch, where the girl was standing half in the open doorway, barefoot and crying.
“You stay there!” Rowan cried. “Close the door!”
Willow reluctantly ducked back inside, watching them from the glass pane of the storm door.
Rowan pushed at Kinka’s shoulder, trying to help the dog to stand. When he had difficulty, she looked up at Seth. “Help me get him into the house.”
Seth passed her his rifle and lifted the huge dog to his feet. Kinka’s 160 pounds appeared to give the man no trouble as he coaxed the dog to the porch then gripped him around the middle and carried him up the wooden steps.
Rowan hurried to the door, both rifles in hand now, and opened it to let them inside. Kono and Jory followed, concerned now for their fallen leader.
Seth helped him onto the couch at Rowan’s direction, and he knelt before the guard dog to inspect his wounds.
“Is Kinka going to die?!” Willow cried between sobs.
Rowan secured the rifles then swept her daughter into her arms. “No, baby,” she said, holding Willow close. “It’s just his leg.” She held her breath, though, as Seth spread Kinka’s dirty, bloody fur, inch by inch, starting with the neck and working his way all across the body.
He finally nodded to them, and Rowan let out a sigh, feeling like all her energy had finally been sapped from her.
“Doc Chambers can look at him in the morning,” Seth declared. “I’ll drive him over first thing.”
“See,” Rowan whispered. “He’s going to be okay, baby. He’s going to be fine.”
Rowan herself wasn’t exactly fine, but she couldn’t let Willow worry any more than she already was.
“Can he stay, Mama? Can he sleep in my room?”
Rowan sighed. “Honey, we can’t get him up the stairs. But all the dogs are staying in the house tonight, okay? They can sleep on the couch.”
Willow’s lower lip jutted out. “Promise?”
What could Rowan say about the dog who’d saved her life? Except that he, and the others, always had a place in their home.
“Promise.”
Kinka let Willow cover him with a blanket, and though Rowan was certain it pained him to move, he licked her in the face appreciatively.
Rowan put her face next to his and hugged him gently. “Thank you,” she whispered in the Kinka’s ear. The dog responded with a slow thump of his tail. She lifted Willow again and carried her up the stairs, clutching the girl tighter than normal, but Willow didn’t seem to mind. Rowan lowered her gently into her bed and tucked her in tightly.
“I was so scared,” Willow whispered.
Rowan bit her lip and forced her voice to remain steady. “Me, too,” was all she could manage to get out. She planted a kiss on her forehead and left the table light on this time, given all that had happened. Slowly, with a shaking hand, she reached for the doorknob and pulled the door closed.
She was barely aware of Seth following her to her room. The tears welled up, and her shoulders shook, and Rowan knew she was losing the fight. When they were inside the bedroom, she closed the door and rested her forehead against it, unable to turn around, unable to speak.
“Rowan.”
She couldn’t turn around, couldn’t let him see her breaking down—yet again. She’d let herself get too caught up in daydreaming, in hazy, happy memories of farm life while ignoring the harsh reality of living here.
And maybe she was doing the same thing with Seth. Maybe his kind eyes and gentle voice and searing kiss were blinding her to the truth, that things could never work between them—for so many reasons. And maybe he knew it, maybe that’s why he was here. To tell her that tomorrow wasn’t coming.
“Rowan,” he said again.
But she couldn’t move, couldn’t bear for it to be over, yet couldn’t see a way forward. She was lost in her own darkness. If she asked Seth to lead her out, would he? Or would he turn away and leave her standing alone?
Chapter Nineteen
‡
Seth moved in behind her and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair, trying to forget that he’d come so close to losing her moments ago. Or seeing her hurt, which would have been just as unbearable. She shook in his arms, crying quietly, probably worried that Willow would hear.
He was silent for a moment, just feeling her against him, reminding himself that she was here and she was safe. He was calmer now. If it hadn’t been for Willow, he might have dragged Rowan into the house, stripped her bare to assure himself that she was all right, and taken her on the couch, if they’d gotten that far. Probably they would’ve only made it to the floor. But Rowan was better than that, better than the couch or the floor, and Seth was glad that in the time it had taken to assure Willow that everything was okay, he’d calmed down a bit.
But just a bit.
He didn’t rip her clothes off or feel the need to anymore, but he still wanted to see her. In those few seconds when he’d come so close to losing her, everything in him had crystallized, sharpened to daggers inside him. Rowan was his. And Seth was going to take her. It was why he hadn’t been able to sleep and come in the first place.
She leaned against him, shuddering now only with every deep breath, tears ebbing.
“Shh,” he whispered into her ear as he slid his hands down her stomach. His fingers worked slowly, but with purpose, as he popped each button, revealing silky smooth skin underneath.
Rowan leaned into him, resting the back of her head in the hollow of his shoulder.
“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” he told her. “I’ve got you now.”
He pushed her away just enough to slip off the blouse. He brought his mouth down on her shoulder, savoring her. And he knew it was just the start. Rowan Archer wasn’t leaving this room until Seth had tasted every inch of her. He tugged down the straps of her bra, unfastened it with ease, and let it fall to the hardwood floor in front of them.
He could see the swell of her breasts, their swollen points, and he rasped his palm over one, making her gasp. Ravenous with a hunger he could no longer put off, he snaked an arm around her w
aist, drew her back to the bed, and pulled her between his knees as he lowered himself to sit on the edge of the mattress. He took her hard nipple into his mouth, sucking hard enough to leave a bruise. She whimpered a bit, but he didn’t care. Rowan was rough stock, wild at heart, just like the land around them, just like Seth himself was.
They only gave off the illusion of being tamed.
He bit her, just slightly, before stating his case. Reluctantly, he dragged his mouth away but still pressed his lips to her salty skin. “You’re mine, Rowan. I’ve marked you,” he growled. “Once, at least,” he amended and looked up at her.
The tears had stopped, and she was gazing down at him, cheeks flushed, eyes bright.
“Give me the other one,” he ordered as he gripped her waist. He could have yanked her forward, done it without asking, but as much as Seth wanted to take, he wanted Rowan to give.
She hesitated for the barest of seconds before sliding her palm under her other breast and leaning in, offering it to him.
He swirled the tight bud first with his tongue before taking it into his mouth.
Rowan threaded her hands into his hair, arching her back while pulling him closer.
He tore his mouth away again and licked between her breasts, enjoying the nervous quiver of her belly as he took a long, slow swipe of her skin. The hunger inside him only grew, became unbearable. He finally pulled her down to the bed, onto her back, and tugged off her boots, one at a time, until he could slide off her jeans.
She lay naked, spread out like a feast laid out just for him. And she wanted him, he could tell, writhing as she was on the sheets, but she wouldn’t ask him for anything. He knew she wouldn’t.
Seth knew everything about this woman before him. How much she sacrificed for her family, how hard she worked. She was his mirror, his reflection—a woman who put everyone else before herself, and at that moment, Seth vowed to change that. As much as he wanted to take her right now, empty himself into her, he didn’t. He held back. He waited.
She deserved that much.
He peeled off his shirt, kicked off his own boots, and undid his belt. Seth watched her watching him as he revealed his cock. It bounced, thick and hard, off his belly as he stood up, stood over her, fighting his own selfish desires to bury himself in her heat and mark her in a more satisfying way.
“Spread your legs,” he demanded. “Let me see all of you.”
Slowly, Rowan set her feet on the bed and parted her knees.
Seth was pleased to see a glistening wetness there.
“I need you,” Rowan whispered.
Seth understood the sentiment, could return it tenfold, but he shook his head. “It’s not going to be like that.”
He moved down onto the bed slowly, lips grazing her belly, then lower. His heated breath between her legs seemed to ignite some nervousness in her. She grabbed at him, clutching his shoulders.
“Seth?!”
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he assured her. “Just open for me. Let me taste you.”
Rowan hesitated, and Seth thought he might need a bit more persuasion, but finally, gloriously, she spread her thighs for him, giving him another unparalleled view of her slit. He licked her slowly, dragging his tongue along the length of her damp seam.
Rowan’s hips lifted off the bed, and she cried out as Seth pushed his tongue inside. After a few minutes, he saw tears of frustration streaming out of the corners of her eyes.
Seth pushed in his fingers so she wouldn’t lose the rhythm as he spoke. “Don’t hold back, Rowan,” he growled angrily. “Let yourself go.”
Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared at him. “But—”
Seth flexed his fingers deep inside her tight channel, causing her to gasp. “There are so many ways I can pleasure you, Rowan. Don’t hold back with me. Come. Any way. Every way. Come for me.” He pressed his lips to her swollen ones again, and this time Rowan shuddered, belly clenching, hands tearing at the sheets. She flooded his mouth, and he lapped up every drop greedily.
Before she fully came down off her high, he drew himself over her.
He held his body above hers, arms steady, waiting. Since the day he’d first held her in his arms, he’d thought about this moment so many times. He’d never taken a woman bare before and didn’t much care if she got pregnant tonight, but given what she’d been through, he’d let her do the choosing.
“Rowan?” he asked. “Do we need protection?”
She shook her head. “It’s okay,” she panted. “It’s safe.”
Seth pushed into her heated core, skin against skin. It was electric, all-consuming, and somehow he knew he’d never be the same again.
Chapter Twenty
‡
Rowan nearly shattered from a second orgasm the very moment Seth buried himself deep inside her. It had been a while since she’d taken a man to bed, and it had never been like this. He crushed his mouth to hers, and she tasted herself on his lips. His mouth and his hands couldn’t seem to get enough of her. Their coupling was raw and frenzied, both of them, she realized, starving for each other.
Seth was over her, taking her hard, but somehow managed to retain the gentleness she’d come to love about him. The way he cradled her head with one arm and pressed his other hand to the mattress to keep his weight off her spoke to a tenderness that Rowan had never experienced with another man.
She wanted to cry, all over again, but for an entirely different reason. A short cry did rip from her throat, and she was overcome by emotion, by this man on top of her, inside her. As he rocked into her, over and over, she was suddenly so aware of how alone she’d been all these years, even when she’d been with someone else.
“Come for me again, Rowan,” Seth demanded, dragging her thoughts out of that well of despair. “Can you do that, sweetheart?” he asked while pounding inside her. “Can you come? While I’m…right…here?”
Each thrust pushed Rowan higher and higher, closer to the edge of oblivion.
His lips found her ear, and he whispered, “I can go all night, if you need it.”
Somehow she sensed that was true, that Seth would hold off from his own pleasure for as long as it took for her to reach her own. She didn’t want that, though. She wanted to finish with him…begin with him. She drew up her legs and wrapped them around his hips, ready for the ride of her life.
Seth delivered. In ways she’d never dared to hope for. He slipped his hand underneath her, cupping her ass, and drove into her in a steady, unrelenting rhythm. That awe-inspiring cock she’d seen when he’d undressed was stretching and filling her, rubbing that spot that made her whole body ache with need. She struggled to stay quiet when every nerve ending was still singing.
“You’re so wet, Rowan,” he groaned. “So wet. Oh God. You want me this much? I want you more.”
It was heaven, being underneath this man. Rowan never wanted it to end, but it did, and with a rush of heat, a zapping of pent-up electricity, she came, harder than she ever knew was possible. Her pussy throbbed and clenched and tried to hold onto his shaft for as long as she could. Seth never lost the rhythm. He pounded her through her orgasm, nearly galloping toward his own. With a deep-throated cry, he finally came, pulsing inside her. Rowan gripped his ass, pulled him in close, as though they could somehow stay joined like this forever.
Seth seemed to feel the same way, because instead of rolling off her, he finally pinned her with his weight, crushing her breasts against his own bare chest, tickling her neck with his warm breath.
Rowan bit his shoulder gently, marking him the way he’d marked her.
Seth chuckled above her, and the rumbling in his chest was deep timbered and pleasant. “Don’t worry,” he told her. “I’m yours. And you’re mine.” He burrowed deeper into the hollow of her shoulder. “I almost lost you,” he whispered. A shudder passed through him, as though losing her was the worst thing he could imagine.
He finally moved off her, and Rowan protested the loss of him with a sigh. He pulled
her to him, though, and they huddled together under the blanket.
“Why’d you come tonight?” she asked, no longer afraid of the answer. Not after the intense claiming she’d just experienced.
“I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see you again,” he told her. “Now I might never be able to leave.” He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close.
Rowan watched his eyes close. She wished she could wipe away the heavy, dark circles underneath. He was exhausted, but he’d still taken care of her, twice, always.
They slept for a few hours, but not nearly enough, to Rowan’s way of thinking. In the dark, he lifted the sheet and blanket and slid away from her. Even semi-conscious, she reached for him to draw him back. When she realized he wasn’t coming, she opened her eyes and sat up. “You’re leaving?” she asked as she watched him pulling on his jeans.
He shook his head. “No, but I’m going to go on downstairs so that you don’t have to do any fast-talking to Willow about how I spent the night. We’ll put the dog in my truck and have Doc Chambers take a look at him. I just don’t want Willow to get confused about why I’m still here.”
“Well, we’re friends…” she said, testing the words out loud.
Seth looked up at her sharply. “We are not friends, Rowan,” he growled.
Heat pooled in her belly, ignited once again in spite of their recent coupling. Seth reached for her, and she trembled with excitement, but he simply leaned down, lifted her chin with a finger, and laid a soft, lingering kiss on her lips. “We have forever,” he said. “We can take it slow. I want to get this right. It’s complicated.”
Her heart sank a little because she knew he was right. Forever would take longer than just one incredible night.
She dressed and headed to Willow’s bedroom to wake the girl. “Honey, Seth’s here.”
Willow sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Seth?”
