by Lib Starling
Part 2
.1.
I n the two days since her date with Chase, the little blue house had grown strangely uncomfortable for Roxy. She had realized right away that she should keep the story of what she and Chase had done to herself. Scarlett was good to Roxy, but her feelings might still be hurt over her across-the-board strikeout at the Alpha House party, and Roxy had no desire to rub her own inexplicable success in Scarlett’s face. So she’d resolved to stay quiet… even though her heart pounded every time she thought of Chase, even though his dark, serious face, his gorgeous body, and the low music of his voice constantly drifted through her mind.
She had told Brooke, though, begging her to keep it a secret so that Scarlett wouldn’t feel hurt.
“Your first time? Oh my God!” Brooke hugged her, then gave her a stern look. “Protection?”
Roxy blushed. “I’m already on the pill for… lady stuff.”
“Babies aren’t the only scary things you need to defend yourself against. You know how college boys are.”
“He said he hadn’t been with another girl for a year.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. And anyway, college boys lie.”
Roxy was stung. “I don’t think Chase would lie to me.”
“I know you don’t want to think that,” Brooke said, hugging her again, apologetically this time. “But it’s true, hon. God, it’s so easy to fall totally in love with your first. I know exactly how you feel right now. But you still have to be sensible – you have to make sure you’re doing the best you can for you, and not let your feelings for him trick you into making any stupid decisions.”
Dully, Roxy realized that Brooke was right. It was only sensible to guard her heart along with her body. Ever since her first few humiliating experiences with frat boys, she’d been forever on her guard around men. There was no reason to rush headlong into this Chase thing – and in fact, as her past experiences showed, there was every reason to proceed with caution.
Later that evening Scarlett came home from work, took one long, suspicious look at Roxy, and stalked silently off to her room. Feeling doubly foolish now, even though she knew that she had done nothing to Scarlett, Roxy resolved that in the morning she would find some way to clear her head.
And that was how Roxy found herself with a day-pack strapped to her back, stuffed with a sandwich and a few granola bars, two bottles of water, and a few spare layers of clothing, trekking up a trail into the heights of Grand Teton National Park.
The forest was serene, a wonderland of dancing light and shadow, scented with the delicate perfume of pine sap and damp earth. Birds called and flitted in the high, dark-green canopy, and ground squirrels, furred in golden-yellow, darted among the rocks that lined the path.
Roxy explored the trails in a leisurely way, feet and mind wandering. At first she tried to keep her thoughts away from Chase, focusing instead on the beauty of the forest, her newfound happiness in Jackson Hole – anything but him. She soon realized, however, that it was hopeless, and allowed her memories of his kiss and his skillful touch – of the animalistic desire that had possessed him – to crowd out all her more rational musings.
She sat on a felled log and gazed out over a lake that reflected the Teton peaks like a smooth, clean mirror. A few thin, gray clouds had begun to gather over the mountaintops. In their slowly transforming shapes, Roxy saw Chase’s eyes, Chase’s smile, the changes of his moods and emotions. She saw him as clearly as if he sat beside her, and her chest tightened with a sudden, piercing ache.
Why hasn’t he called?
It had only been three days, she reminded herself sensibly. But still, his silence pained and worried her.
Brooke is right – I can’t let myself fall for him. He’s still a frat boy, whatever he seemed on our date. I have to protect myself, in more ways than one. I can’t let myself be hurt by a stupid, careless guy.
She suspected, though, that it was too late to tell herself not to fall for Chase. Since they’d been apart, her body longed constantly for his touch with a primal force that frightened her. She could lecture herself all she pleased about sensibility, but already Roxy knew that there was no talking herself out of Chase.
She sighed and lifted her face to the peaks again. A cool wind blew down from the heights, whipping her red hair back from her forehead and chilling her skin. The clouds had thickened and now draped over the mountains like a heavy shroud. She watched a high, roiling tower of cloud rise like a pillar from among the rest. Thunder storm’s coming. She should get back to her Jeep. Roxy grabbed a fleece sweater from her pack, pulled it hurriedly over her head, and headed back down the trail.
She had wandered in a distracted state on her way up the mountain, and when Roxy came to a fork in the trail she paused uncertainly. Left or right? Both trails led downhill, and both looked identical to her now. She started down the left fork, then stopped, looking around the forest, searching for a familiar landmark. Roxy turned around and walked back to the fork, then took the other trail. But before she’d gone far, she was just as unsure of her bearings.
You’re not lost, she told herself sternly. Stay calm and think this through.
She forced herself to remember the hike up the mountain. She knew she had passed a huge fallen tree on her left, its tangled root ball exposed to the trail. She checked her watch; she would walk for twenty minutes, and if she didn’t pass the same tree on her right, she would turn around and take the other fork in the trail.
Humming to herself to stave off panic, moving quickly as the wind picked up and the air grew dense with the promise of thunder, Roxy headed down the mountain. She heard a small crack in the forest to her left and turned toward the sound. A dark shadow slid among the trees, long and low. Roxy’s feet stumbled to a stop, even though she commanded herself to keep walking, and to go fast. The movement she’d seen was well back from the trail, too far to discern what exactly was slinking through the forest.
Roxy drew a deep breath and stumbled on. She pulled her phone from her pocket, even though she knew there was no chance she’d find a signal this far from the road. Still it was a comfort to her, and she squeezed it tightly in her hand as if it might turn into a weapon if she wished hard enough.
She checked her watch again. Ten minutes. She had to press on, had to verify whether this was the correct trail, even though a rising voice of fear chattered in her ear, telling her that a storm was rising behind her and some unknown creature lurked in the forest ahead – telling her to run, to crash through the woods until she’d found a place of safety.
You’ll only exhaust yourself if you run. She was shaking, and not from the wind, but Roxy forced herself to keep walking, to stick to the trail.
Another small sound in the forest caused her to whirl in her tracks. This time she definitely saw movement – a stretched form as dark as charcoal, slipping between the trees as the forest grew ever dimmer with the storm’s approach.
Roxy gasped, then told herself she was being silly. It was a dog – a big dog, like a German shepherd. It probably belonged to some other hikers who were also escaping the storm. For a moment, the thought cheered her. If there are other hikers on this trail, it means I’m going in the right direction, back toward the parking lot… or at least I won’t be alone if I am lost. She smiled tentatively, keeping still and listening for the jingling of the dog’s tags, the voices of its owners drifting down the mountainside.
But the only sound was the moan of wind through the trees and the rising crescendo of her own pounding heart.
If it’s not a dog, then it must be a…
Roxy spun on her heel and ran.
In the back of her mind, she was aware that running was probably the worst thing she could do. But a primal terror had seized her with sharp, brutal fangs, and she was as powerless to stop her flight as she was to stop the advancing storm. Her breath rasped in her lungs, burning her throat, and tears of desperation stung her eyes. The forest lit in a brief, incandescent flash, an
d the ground shook beneath the blow of thunder. Roxy choked back a sob and looked over her shoulder, fearing to see that lean, sly, gray shape pelting down the trail behind her.
She passed the overturned tree with its massive cluster of exposed roots. Roxy had no time to revel in the fact that she had picked the correct trail. She paused at the tree, panting hard, and stared wildly around the woods. She didn’t see the wolf, but her skin prickled with the eerie certainty that the wolf saw her.
Get back to the Jeep. It’s not far now. Keep moving – don’t stop!
Roxy turned downhill once more, and all at once there was a shape on the trail before her, a sudden looming presence, dark and intense.
She screamed, stumbling backward, and threw the only weapon she had, her phone, as hard as she could at the thing on the trail.
“Ow – Jeeze! Roxy, calm down!”
Roxy blinked the tears from her eyes, clutching at her burning chest with both hands. As the panicked blur cleared from her sight, she recognized Chase with a sharp stab of relief. He stooped to retrieve her phone from the trail, then pressed a hand to his forehead and stepped cautiously toward her, holding out the phone like a peace offering.
“Oh my God – Chase! What are you doing here?”
“Hiking. I thought I saw you coming down this trail, so I headed up to say hello. What a greeting.” He pulled his hand away from his forehead, revealing a red splotch where the phone had connected.
“We have to get out of here,” she babbled. “There’s some weird animal in the woods… big… I think it’s a wolf.”
Chase gave her an amused half-smile. “I don’t think it’ll hurt you.”
“Well, I’d rather not take the chance!” Roxy stormed past him, her arms folded tight across her middle. She felt nauseated from her panicked flight and the surprise of Chase’s sudden appearance, and she wanted to be home, warm and safe in her bed.
He caught up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. But although she had longed for his touch for three days, now Roxy jerked away from him. “Why haven’t you called me?”
He chuckled low in his throat. “I’ve been a little busy.”
“Oh, I’m sure.”
“Roxy.” He reached for her hand, tugged her to a gentle stop. “I’ve been thinking about you ever since we were together. Nonstop. I wanted to call – believe me, I’ve wanted nothing more than to see you again. But I had to… take care of something first. Something important.”
His hand was warm and strong, and he she remembered the way he’d thrown his arm across her at the party, defending her from his own pledge brothers. He felt safe – safe and trustworthy, no matter what Brooke might say about college boys. Her anger melted, and her eyes filled with tears again.
“I’m so glad you’re here. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t shown up. That thing in the woods…”
“You probably could have knocked it out with your head-seeking phone missile.”
“It’s not funny!” she said, but she laughed until her tears vanished. “Are you okay? I think you’re going to have a goose egg.”
“I’ll wear it with pride. And the next time somebody tells me I throw like a girl, I’ll wear that with pride, too.” He rubbed at the mark again. “Were you a world-class pitcher in a past life?”
Another roll of thunder shuddered through the forest, and they walked faster downhill. Though she felt safe now in Chase’s company, Roxy couldn’t help looking over her shoulder every few paces, searching for another chilling sight of the wolf.
“It’s gone,” Chase told her casually.
“How do you know?”
He peered at her from the corner of his eye, and there was the faintest spark of amusement in his dark look. His crooked grin had something conspiratorial in it, as if they shared a secret – but Roxy only shook her head in confusion.
Finally Chase shrugged. “Call it a hunch.”
At last the parking lot appeared around a bend in the trail just as rain began to fall. The drops soaked through Roxy’s hair and pattered on her cheeks, huge and warm. Her Jeep was the only car in the lot.
“Where’s your Mustang?”
“At another trail head. I took an especially long hike. Scenic route.”
“Do you want a lift back to your car?”
He stepped closer. A drop of rain slid down his temple, losing itself in the black scruff of his face. Roxy swallowed hard, struck wordless by his beauty, by the natural, confident power that flowed from him like an unseen aura.
“I just want to look at you,” he said.
He lifted her chin with one hand, while the other trailed up her arm to her shoulder, sending heat rippling beneath his fingertips. The chill of the day’s terror melted in the face of that sweet fire.
“Both my roommates are at work now,” Roxy whispered. “Maybe before I take you back to your car…”
“I think that sounds like a good plan,” Chase said, his voice thick with intensity as he bent to kiss her.
.2.
T he rain was sheeting down by the time they made it to the highway. The weather was like a silver veil, drawing the world close about them and concentrating Chase’s senses on Roxy’s nearness. The Jeep was filled with her scent, floral and sweet with undertones of her body’s warmth, and the faintest hint of wildness that had nothing to do with her panicked flight down the trail. The smell of the rain came through the air vents, mingling with Roxy’s fragrance in a taunting, intoxicating manner, until Chase had to press himself back into his seat and squeeze his eyes shut to maintain composure. But even then he was still aware of her, his awakened nerves tingling with the echo of her close heat. He could have sworn that over the drumming of the rain on the windshield and the hum of the tires on the road, he could hear her rapid, eager heartbeat.
When at last they made it to the curb outside Roxy’s house, Chase felt full to bursting, his chest quivering with desire for her and his thoughts overwhelmed. They clutched at one another on the walkway, not even waiting to get inside, kissing as the warm rain soaked them to their tingling skins, never noticing the claps of thunder overhead.
Finally Roxy broke away, smiling, her lips bright pink from the force of his mouth. A copper curl dripped in the center of her forehead. Chase tucked the curl back, but it sprang forward again.
“Let’s get inside,” she said.
The house was quiet and unlit. Chase held tight to Roxy’s hand as she led him through the living room. In the dim, stormy light seeping through the window, he noticed with a wry smile that the girls’ main room was far neater and more prettily arranged than any room in Alpha House. Roxy towed him into a short hallway, then through the door to her bedroom, which she shut firmly behind.
Chase took in the room with a single, impatient glance – a dresser, scuffed and marked, obviously second-hand but tidily set with a jewelry box, a vase of wilting flowers, and a framed photo of a red-haired woman who must have been Roxy’s mother. The half-open closet door showed clothing arranged by color. The bed looked inviting, its white, ruffled duvet practically glowing against the shadowy half-twilight of the storm. The bed was just wide enough for two.
Roxy leaned her back against the door, as if she wanted to shut out the rest of the world and create a new reality where only the two of them could exist. Her delicate complexion was flushed, and droplets of rain beaded on her hair and sweater, gleaming like well-worn pearls.
“God, you’re beautiful,” Chase said, taking her in his arms.
She shivered, whether from cold or from eagerness Chase couldn’t tell. It didn’t matter. He kissed the soft skin of her throat, and the faint vibration of her suppressed moan tensed his body with need, with the excitement of closing on delicate and delicious prey.
Don’t be too rough, he reminded himself, sternly reining in his totem, the inner wolf that threatened to overtake his more rational, human side. He had been embarrassed and ashamed of the way he’d leapt on her during their first encount
er, turning what should have been a gentle initiation into base rutting – at least until Roxy had slowed him down and brought him back to his human senses. You can’t get carried away.
He led her slowly to the bed, still trailing kisses along her neck and collarbone. Her hands slid up his back and over his shoulders, and wherever her touch traveled, Chase’s soul and totem both seemed to concentrate themselves, reveling in her hands, following them like a dog begging for a scratch.
He slipped his own hands beneath her sweater. Her skin was slightly chilled from the damp; Chase pressed as he stroked her, pulling her body against his own, massaging her back and the lush curves of her sides. He kept massaging until he’d driven out the cold, and her movements in his arms became fluid and languorous. Her head tilted back with pleasure.
Then he lifted her sweater and the shirt beneath it, and stood back to admire her. Her skin was as pale as rich cream, dusted along the tops of her shoulders with the red-gold hue of faint freckles. She had foregone the lacy bra she’d worn on their first date, opting instead for something that looked sturdy and rather plain – but Chase could see the barest hint of her nipples through the fabric, and the subtle enticement excited him as much as the finest lingerie could have done. He took her greedily in his arms again, and his kisses fell on the tops of her breasts hard and fast, like the rain outside.
Roxy worked her arms behind her back, and the bra loosened, slid down her arms, dropped to the floor. Chase cupped both her breasts, squeezing the firm, rounded flesh, feeling her nipples grow harder still beneath his palms. His wild totem demanded to taste her, and against his better judgment, Chase gave in. When he took the pink bud of one nipple into his mouth, Roxy’s cry of pleasure filled him with a fierce current, an energy of desire that ran so hard and fast, it threatened to scour his human side away. Slowly, hardly daring, he moved to the other side, and his teeth wanted to close around her. His jaw chattered with the effort of restraint, and Roxy’s voice broke in a long moan of pleasure.
