by Meg Ripley
Mari shook her head. “No. No, I’m not going to let that happen. You’re innocent and that’s what you’re going to tell the sheriff.”
“Mari—”
“Either you tell him the truth, or I will.”
“No, you won’t. You need to let me handle this.”
“So, because you saved my dad’s life, you get to lose your career and go to jail? No. Fuck that.”
“Well, what do you think you can do about it?” Waldo asked.
“I’ll tell the sheriff the truth! If they want to arrest somebody, they can arrest me.”
“No,” Dean said flatly. “You will not tell the sheriff anything.”
“I have to.”
“No, you don’t. It’s not your job to save me and you’re not going to trade your life for mine. Besides, you don’t even know if you’re the guilty party.”
“I know you’re not the guilty party.”
“Does anybody want to tell me what’s going on here?” Waldo asked.
“No. And you need to get moving anyway. Ralph probably has the trailer loaded and ready to roll.”
“Where are you going? Are you leaving him here?” Mari asked.
“They’re professional team ropers now,” Dean said with unmistakable pride. “And they need to be in Cheyenne by tomorrow night.”
“We can stay here another night and be there in plenty of time.”
“I taught you better than that. Stop wasting time. You know what you’ve got to do.”
Waldo didn’t look happy about it but he nodded, tipped his hat to Marisol, and slipped out the door.
“That’s it?” Mari asked. “That’s how you guys say goodbye?”
“We don’t talk much in our family. How’s your dad?”
“The doctor said he’ll make a full recovery, and he has you to thank for that. Maybe if I talked to the PRA rep, we can get this cleared up.”
“Cleared up? There’s nothing to clear up, Mari. There’s no mistaking what happened out there. I’m just glad that Ernie will be okay.” He patted the bed beside him. “There’s not much room here, but I think it’ll be enough.”
“Enough for what?”
“I just want to hold you.”
Marisol couldn’t resist an invitation like that. She didn’t want to, either. She crawled into the bed with him, careful to avoid the side where the bull gored him. She ended up mostly lying on top of him, but he didn’t seem to mind as he wrapped his arm around her soft waist and pulled her even closer.
He pressed his lips to the top of her head and asked, “Have you gotten any sleep since last night?”
“No.”
“Go ahead and rest your eyes.”
“I’ll fall asleep.”
“That’s fine with me. I might fall asleep, too.”
“Are you comfortable?”
“Never been more comfortable in my life.”
“I love you.” Marisol hadn’t planned to say that. She didn’t even know she could say it, until it slipped out all on its own. But once she did, she realized she could never take it back because it was only the God’s honest truth. She loved this man, this cowboy, this bear who saved her father’s life and who seemed bound and determined to sacrifice himself for Mari, too. She loved him completely, with no reservations, and she would continue to love him no matter what happened.
He didn’t answer. When she lifted her head, she saw his eyes were closed, his lips parted to allow his soft snores. She settled her head on his shoulder with a low sigh, glad she said it, and almost just as glad that he didn’t hear it.
****
The spectacle between Dean Longstrider and Red Bantam was the main topic of conversation for only one day before the story shifted. While Dean and Marisol slumbered, there had been another bear attack. As Dean had an airtight alibi and the Longstrider twins were well out of town before the attack, Sheriff Walker redirected his investigation. He still didn’t trust Dean, but he was more interested in bringing in the wild bear attacking tourists than harassing a man that most were calling a hero. They set traps and called in Fish and Game to handle the situation.
Despite Marisol’s relief that Dean’s theory was correct and that there was another bear in town guilty of the deaths, a black cloud hung overhead every time she came to visit Dean. He understood, but he didn’t know how to tell her that she didn’t need to feel guilty or upset on his behalf. He was a man who made his own decisions. He had no regrets, and that’s what he told Ernie when the man stopped by his hospital room a week after the rodeo.
“I hear they’re discharging you today,” Ernie said.
“Yeah, that’s what they tell me.”
“Where will you go?”
“The Cody Motel, most likely. Least until I get a car or figure something out.”
“Why don’t you come stay with us?” Ernie asked.
“I...I couldn’t impose.”
“It’s not an imposition. You saved my life. It’s the least I can do.”
“Thank you, sir, I appreciate the offer, but I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
He took a deep breath and paused. “Because I’m in love with your daughter, sir. I know that you and Mrs. Vargas don’t approve of me, and I respect that, but I don’t want to cause any tension or strife in your family.”
“Does she feel the same way about you?”
“Yes, sir, I believe she does.”
“Well my offer stands. Mari’s my little girl. She always has my approval and I trust her judgement.” Ernie held out his hand, offering a permanent truce between them. Dean gripped it with a smile.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Mari doesn’t know, but they’re discharging me this afternoon, too. We’ll surprise her together.”
And surprise her they did. She ran out of the house to meet them in the yard, first throwing her arms around her father’s neck, and then pulling Dean into an exuberant embrace. Her smile was as bright as the sun, her eyes twin flecks of glorious amber. Once Dean had her in his arms, it was difficult to let her go. He had a lot of time to think while he was laid up in the hospital, and he spent all that time thinking about her.
Once Anna commandeered Ernie’s time and attention in the house, Mari took Dean’s hand and tugged him away from the front porch. “Come on. I have something I want to show you.”
“Right now?”
“Yes. I’ve been dying to tell you about it for the past two days.”
“Lead the way.”
They walked hand in hand until they reached the far corner of the park and were suitably shaded from sight by the trees. She released his hand and began to undress.
“Hold up, now. What are you doing?”
“I’m showing you what I can do,” Marisol answered with a grin. She tossed her shirt aside and kicked her shorts off, giving Dean a totally unobstructed view of her naked body. He’d always known that she was luscious, but the sight of her made his knees weak and his heart rate triple. He barely had a chance to take in her full radiance before her delectable form disappeared, replaced by the far more intimidating body of a grizzly bear.
Dean gaped at her, stunned and still, strangely enough, turned on. Her lips pulled back, exposing a row of long, deadly teeth, and when she stood up on her hind legs, she was well over six feet tall. She dropped to all fours and closed the distance between them, pushing her muzzle against his chest. He smiled and stroked her head, running his fingers through her long, lustrous fur. She nuzzled closer to him, deep growls of contentment vibrating from her chest.
“Can you shift at will?” he asked.
The question was barely out of his mouth before the bear disappeared and the girl was in his arms once again. “I’ve been practicing for the past week. Every day and every night. What do you think?”
“You’re amazing—that’s what I think. You’re amazing and I have to kiss you.”
“Oh, please do.”
Dean didn’t need to be asked a second time. While he was
in the hospital, he didn’t let himself linger over the memory of her soft, inviting lips, but he couldn’t do anything about his dreams. The few kisses they had exchanged fueled a thousand dreams—but the fantasy was nothing like the reality. The taste of her, the feel of her, the heat and pressure and solid reality of her made him ache and rejoice at the same time. The way she held the back of his neck, her nails pressing into his skin with the force of her hunger, only made him want her more. Within seconds, his hunger was whipped into a passionate frenzy.
His hands roamed freely over her naked body, learning every inch of her sweet curves. Her skin was flushed, her body warmed with passion and by the sun. She smelled so good. Dean’s nose was always sensitive, but her scent was overwhelming as it imprinted on him. When he couldn’t take it anymore, he broke away from her mouth and continued his exploration with his lips, kissing her jaw, her throat, her neck, her ear. She dropped her head back, fingers clutching at his shoulders as he continued traveling down her body. When he reached the twin globes of her ample breasts, he dropped to his knees and buried his face between the mounds, pausing for a moment to truly enjoy the beautiful bounty at his fingertips.
“Please don’t stop,” Mari whispered, running her fingers through his hair.
There was no chance of stopping. He was all out of willpower and all out of excuses. There was nothing in the world he wanted the way he wanted her, and it seemed like that had been true for his entire life. He couldn’t get enough of her taste, of the silky texture of her skin, or the way she moaned his name. He cupped one breast while he licked and kissed and suckled and nibbled the other, his dick getting harder with each second that passed.
“Please, Dean...I need…” She wasn’t able to finish the sentence, but her hips thrust forward and that was all the direction he needed. He pulled away from her breasts to move over the swell of her belly and bury his face in the fragrant heat between her thighs. He lapped at her flesh, gathering up the sweet nectar of her arousal, pushing his tongue between her thick lips to find her clit. It trembled beneath his tongue, and even the lightest pressure had her gasping and jerking her hips. Her fingers twisted in his hair, and he welcomed the tingling in his scalp—it served as a minor distraction for the intense throbbing between his legs.
In the back of his mind, he recognized that this was probably Mari’s first time. He wanted her first time to be on a big, comfortable bed, unhurried and perfect, not out in the open where anybody could see them, fueled by raw passion and desperate need. He wanted her to have the best of everything and he wanted to be the one to give it to her. He lifted his head to try to tell her as much, but she sank to her knees and pressed herself against him, kissing him with the same fervent passion he had for her.
“Please...I’m going crazy here,” Mari said against his mouth. “I need you.”
She reached between their bodies, fumbling with his fly, and pulled his cock free. Dean tried to say something, but only a low, whimpering moan escaped him as her hand wrapped around his shaft. She gave him a slow, almost languid stroke, and his balls pulled tight almost immediately.
“Oh God,” he gasped. “Wait...let me…” Somehow, he managed to fumble his wallet from his back pocket and locate the condom he kept tucked away there. It was almost a relief to slide it on—at least it provided a small barrier between his burning flesh and her silky skin. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, yes. Very sure.”
He gently lowered her to the grass, and she hooked her legs around his waist. He paused, staring down at her, almost incredulous that she was there like that, with him. She was so open, vulnerable, and giving, and soon she would be his completely. He took a deep, steadying breath and aligned himself with her body, the tip of his cock nudging her opening. Dean eased himself into her, taking his time. She was so slick, wet and ready for him, but she was so, so tight. His fear of hurting her intensified and made him hesitant.
Marisol didn’t have the patience or the time for his fear, though. Instead of letting him set the pace and keep it slow, she thrust her hips up to meet his, sheathing him completely. They both gasped as she took in every inch of him, and before Dean could even choke out her name, their bodies were doing what they were built to do, following a rhythm older than time itself.
“Tell me...if I’m hurting you.”
“Doesn’t...hurt. You’re perfect.” She dropped her head back and arched her spine, meeting him stroke for stroke. “Oh God...perfect. It’s perfect. Feels...feels…” As she spoke, she moved, quickening the pace. He didn’t want to go any faster, but he couldn’t help himself from getting caught up in her tempo. The friction, the heat, the glorious reality of her body was too much to withstand. “Oh...Dean.”
He felt her shake apart the moment his world exploded. They clutched at each other, entwined and frozen as they rode out the force of their mutual pleasure together. It felt like an eternity before he had the strength to lift his head and gaze down at her. She smiled back at him, shy and alluring—and satisfied.
“Mari...God, I love you.”
Her smile widened. “You do?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“I love you, too.” She pulled him into a slow kiss. He lost himself in the caress, caught up not in raw passion but in the pure, sweet pleasure of her mouth. During his stay in the hospital, he felt like a man without a purpose, but now he understood how foolish that was. He had the money from all the purses he’d won over the past several years, he had his life and his health, and most importantly, he had Marisol. The brightest light in his world. The axis on which his entire universe rotated. The heart on which he could place his faith, his hopes, and his fondest dreams.
THE END
Alpha's Howling Desire
Story Description
Fiction crashes into reality when a smart and sexy student finally meets her favorite PARANORMAL writer who turns out to be a real-life SHIFTER with an insatiable appetite for carnal pleasures.
Ariel lives the life of a typical twenty-something. Her world consists of school, an aspiring career, and a best friend who always seems to be teetering just on the edge of yet another crisis. In her fantasies, however, she disappears into her beloved books and dives into a world where a man shifts into an Alpha wolf to fight to protect his pack from vicious rivals who threaten their very existence.
Even more entrancing than the descriptions of this powerful Alpha shifter, however, is the sexy author who stares up at her from the glossy photo on the back of the book. She is drawn to him in an intense way that she can’t fully grasp, and when the opportunity arises to meet him at a convention book signing, she can’t keep her mind, or body, off of him.
In an instant, fantasy and reality crash together and she finds herself in the thrown into a world she has dreamed about a thousand times, but never in a lifetime thought she would actually experience. Her future dangles before her: she must decide whether she should reach forward to grasp the gorgeous man and wolf who claims to be her mate, or to play it safe and remain on the other side of the book cover.
"Son of a bitch!”
Forgetting that she was in public, Ariel quickly sank down in her seat, pulling the large book she held in front of her face, cringing. She heard giggling beside her and reached out to smack Daniel on the leg to stop him from laughing at her. She could feel the eyes of everyone in the library staring at her and she had the sudden fear that a skeletal librarian would come in and toss her out by the back of her shirt for defiling the sanctity of the public library reading room.
"Tell me again why I'm sitting here with you," she hissed toward Daniel, still holding the book up in front of her even though she had just finished reading it.
"I need moral support," Daniel replied.
"Moral support to get through your history final?"
"Yes."
"Do you know how much longer I'm going to need to be supportive because all of these people are still staring at me and I'm fairly certain that those ones over there in the
corner are planning to kill me."
"We can go as long as you bring me back to your place and give me some of the good stuff."
Daniel lifted his eyebrows at her and Ariel smiled back, nodding as she helped him gather up his papers and books and carry them toward the circulation desk.
Twenty minutes later, Ariel walked into her living room carrying two bowls of ice cream. Daniel was sitting on the floor with his back against the couch and she placed one of the bowls in his lap. She settled onto the couch behind him and grabbed a jar she had tucked under her arm. Twisting off the metal top, she dipped a spoon down inside and reached around Daniel to drizzle a long golden stream of homemade caramel sauce over his ice cream.
"Oh, yeah. That's the stuff," he murmured.
"I know how you like it," she said, digging the spoon down into his ice cream so that his first bite would be mostly rich, buttery caramel.
"I'd totally marry you if we didn't have sex, I could see other people on the side, and you made me caramel every day."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Ariel curled into the corner of the couch and spooned some of the caramel over her own ice cream.
"So, do you want to tell me why you decided to shout obscenities in the presence of old ladies and innocent library books?"
Ariel dropped her head back against the couch with grunt of frustration. She swallowed her mouthful of ice cream as she reached for the book on the edge of the coffee table.
"The stupid cliffhanger at the end of this book," she said, holding the book so close in front of Daniel's face he had to lean back away from it.
"Don't all of those books end with a cliffhanger? I thought that was the whole point of having a series. You hang, then they scoop you back up, then you hang, then they scoop you back up," he turned his attention back to the bowl in his hands and took another bite of ice cream, "It's all really exhausting, honestly."
"You don't understand. This was like…" she groaned with exasperation, unable to come up with exactly the right words to explain why she was so angry at the book, "The books have been leading up to a war between the two rival tribes of wolves. There was a standoff with the Alphas of each of the packs and this book ended right as Lazar leapt into the air and shifted while the other was shooting a crossbow at him."
