by Jane Jamison
Then it hit her. She wasn’t the only one staring. Everyone in the diner was staring at her and talking amongst themselves. She swallowed, but her mouth had gone dry.
“Christy, what are you doing here?”
She managed to drag in a fresh breath when Milly pushed through the crowd and came to her side.
“I meant to bring you some dinner, but as you can see, the place is really busy right now.” Milly tugged her back to the front door. “You go on back up to the apartment and I’ll bring you anything you want. You just name it, okay?”
She’d never had anyone want to get rid of her as much as Milly seemed to. Acting braver than she felt, she plastered on a smile for the people gawking at her. “No, thanks. I’d like to eat here.”
Two men at a nearby table stood up. She could feel the heat from their eyes boring into her. Maybe she should’ve taken Milly’s advice.
“Yeah, Milly. Let her stay.” The tallest of the men couldn’t have been older than his early twenties. The lecherous look he gave her sent chills down her spine.
“Back off, Bailey. And you, too, Wilson. You know who she is and who she belongs to.”
The blatant stares of the others were forgotten as she faced Milly. “Who I belong to?”
Milly tried to backtrack as fast as she could. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. Just forget it, okay?”
“But, Milly—”
She turned her around and pushed her toward the double doors. “Now, please, Christy, do yourself and all of us a favor and get back to the apartment. The moon’s going to come up soon, and once it does, you can’t be outside. It’s just too damn dangerous.”
She thrust off Milly’s hold. “I’m so tired of hearing everyone tell me that. Now that those creeps are taken care of, what’s dangerous about this place? Especially inside your diner?”
“Damn it, girl.” Milly grabbed her arm and jerked her back toward the other patrons. “Don’t you have eyes? Can’t you see how they’re looking at you?”
Christy scanned the diner. Every set of eyes, especially the male ones, were locked on her. “They look like they want to…”
“To what? Say it so you’ll believe it.”
“Like they want to eat me.”
Milly turned her around again. She crooked her neck and strained to see the rest of the people. She was right. By varying degrees, the men in the place had their focus locked on her. Their gazes were fierce, hot with hunger, reminding her of the way Lance, Duncan, and Grant had looked at her. With one exception.
These men’s gazes had no love in them. Only an intense craving that had fear crawling up her spine.
“Now get out of here and back into the apartment. Hurry!”
She didn’t argue. Instead, she pushed out of the restaurant and started for the side of the building.
The next second she was off her feet and thrown over a man’s shoulder.
Chapter Eight
Christy let out a scream, but the people out in the street paid no attention to her. They carried on laughing, dancing, and having sex in the shadows.
“Let me go!” She pounded on the hard back, but she might as well have been trying to bring down Mount Rushmore. Pushing against him, she craned her head around to see who it was that had her, but at the rate he was moving, she only got jostled so hard that she couldn’t lift her head up far enough to do any good.
She beat at him, kicked as hard as she could, but it was no use. And then she noticed it. The rush of excitement, the thrill she always felt whenever she was around either Grant, Lance, or Duncan sung into her. It had to be one of them carrying her.
She stopped struggling, willing to let him take her away. Her hair bounced around her face, then all at once, she was thrown again, her body flying backward until she landed on her back. The force knocked the air out of her, but it didn’t really hurt. The mattress she’d landed on had softened the blow.
Lance jumped into the bed of the pickup and crouched over her. His blue eyes were filled with amber flecks and a day’s growth of stubble made his already hard jaw even manlier.
“Lance, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
She’d meant to admonish him, but the words came out sounding sexily breathless instead of angry. She couldn’t fight the way her body was reacting to his. He’d taken her like a caveman and she’d loved it. All that was left was for him to take her by the hair and drag her into his cave. Or in his case, into his ranch house.
“Babe, I can’t explain. Not right now.”
He licked his lips and she almost spread her legs to tempt him to lick her where it counted. “I don’t understand.”
“I know. But you will. After the night’s over, you will.”
From any other man, aside from Grant or Duncan, those words would’ve sounded like a threat. Coming from Lance, they were like a promise.
Still, she was stunned when he wrapped the rope around one wrist, then the other. “Lance, no. Don’t.”
“I have to, babe. Trust me. It’ll be okay.” Once he had her wrists bound, he looped the end of the rope around the railing running along the side of the truck.
“You don’t have to tie me up.” It was foolish, every part of her rational mind told her it was, but it was the truth. He didn’t have to tie her up. She’d go with him willingly and do anything he wanted.
He tested the cords, then took a rag lying in the back and tore it into two pieces. He wrapped each piece around a wrist, protecting her skin from the coarse material. “I have to do this.”
She didn’t pull at her bindings. Instead, she tilted her head to bring his gaze to hers. His eyes shone with even more amber now. “Lance, I’ll go with you. I won’t run away. Just untie me.”
“I know, but I don’t want to risk not having you. You like it, don’t you?”
She would’ve had to lie do deny it. “Yes.”
“And you know you’re ours. It’s just that plain and simple. You feel it, don’t you?” He went to his knee next to her. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel it.”
He didn’t have to tell her what it was. She knew as sure as she could see the sun starting to dip behind the horizon. “Yes. I feel it.”
Her insides churned as the sensation grew in intensity. Her blood boiled and the heat between her legs whipped outward to take charge of her entire body. She was on fire and the only thing that could extinguish the inferno were the men she lusted after.
Lusted, yes. But loved, too. If the truth were known, the love would outburn the lust. The two emotions together formed an unbreakable bond that would forge them together for the rest of their lives. One of them was more than any person could have handled, but together, she was powerless, a willing subject to its domination. She didn’t know how she knew, but she didn’t doubt it for a moment.
His smile was filled with relief. And desire. “Good.” His gaze dropped to her breasts. “I’m not strong enough to resist it or you. I know it’s taking a risk, but I can’t stop myself.”
“Bullshit!”
Grant towered over the kneeling Lance a moment before he grabbed his friend’s shirt, and in one swift motion, brought him to his feet, then slung him against the back of the cab.
She grabbed the ropes that bound her and pushed her way over to the corner of the truck, then brought her knees to her chest. Lance regrouped, snarled, then threw his body at Grant. The sound of their bodies hitting echoed and she cringed, thinking that one or both of them had to have broken a bone.
“Fuck off, Grant!”
Grant’s hand was around Lance’s throat. “You have to stop. You’re going to ruin everything.”
“No. I won’t believe that. I have to have her.” Bringing his arms up together, Lance broke Grant’s hold. The power of his blow sent them falling over the edge of the pickup.
She scooted over to the other side and leaned over as far as her rope would allow. Grant and Lance wrestled on the ground, each landing solid hits. They cursed and got
to their feet, ready to attack again.
“Stop it! Grant, stop. I want to go with you. Both of you!”
Grant glanced at her, amber flashing in his eyes, then froze and stared at her. She wasn’t sure he knew who she was or if he’d understood a word she’d said. He grunted, then roared a curse word, and threw his body at Lance.
“Hold up! Get these two apart.” A dark haired man and two other men who looked like they could be his brothers raced up to Grant and Lance. One of them had Duncan by the arm, leading him along as they strode toward the pickup. The dark haired man took Grant by the arms and hauled him away from Lance who was getting dragged back by the second man.
“Get your hands off me, Jackson.” Grant’s voice had deepened, dropping several pitches lower.
“Not a chance, man.” Jackson gave her a quick nod. “You must be Christy Smith. I’m Jackson Carr and these are my brothers, Jayden and Jacob.”
“What’s going on?”
“As soon as I get these three calmed down enough to turn them loose, we’ll get that rope off you. Once we do, you’d best hightail it back to Milly’s apartment.”
Her answer came without hesitation. Her heart didn’t need to think. “I’m not going anywhere except with them.”
“Miss, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,” added Jayden.
“I think I do.” She lifted her hands. “Untie me, but I’m still going with them.”
“Emma and Milly would skin me alive if I let you do that.” Jackson kept his hold on Grant although Grant wasn’t trying to get free any longer. The hunger on his face, however, hadn’t gone away.
“Emma and Milly can’t tell me what to do with my life. Now turn them loose and untie me. Now.”
Duncan broke free from Jacob. “You’d better listen to her.”
Jackson turned Grant loose then strode over and untied her hands. “All you have to do is wait until tomorrow. They’ll be back in their right minds by then.”
Would she be in her right mind then, too? The strange thing was that she liked the way she was feeling. The idea of not feeling the way she did at that moment made her sad. Even heartbroken.
“Let me ask you. Do you think they’d hurt me?”
“Of course we wouldn’t,” answered Lance, along with denials from Grant and Duncan.
“I’m asking Jackson. He seems to be the one who has a grip on the situation. So tell me. Do you?”
Jackson glanced at Grant and the others. “No. Not on any other day. They’d give their lives for you. As for right now? I can’t say.”
“Which means you don’t get to have a say. They won’t hurt me. I know it.” Wasn’t that the way of love? To put your heart out for the person you loved to take care of it? It was a huge risk, but one she had to take. “I know what I’m doing.”
Jackson studied her a little longer. “I’m sorry, but Grant and I already made a plan and I intend to hold up my end of it.”
“Or Milly and Emma will have your head, right?”
He smiled. “That’s the gist of it.”
“Grant, can you tell Jackson that I’ll be all right?”
Grant picked up his hat from the ground where Lance had knocked it. “She’ll be fine. I swear it.”
“Sorry, man. I can’t take your word for it. Not with the sun setting soon.”
She got up, a little shaky at first, then crossed her arms. Her vantage point from the back of the pickup made her feel powerful enough to handle all six men. “Here’s the deal. I’m going with them of my own free will.”
“I’m not sure that’s true,” argued Jackson.
“It is. What do you think will happen if you try to force me back to Milly’s place?”
The men, her men, didn’t move much. Yet the subtle changes in their body language were enough for Jackson and his brothers to realize that they’d fight them if she ordered it. “The way I see it, you don’t have much of a choice.”
Jackson scowled, then checked over his shoulder to see a man trying to drag a woman into a car. He jerked his thumb at Jacob and Jayden. “Damn it. Take care of that.”
His brothers turned Duncan and Lance loose and dashed across the street. “All right. My hands are tied. If Grant vouches for your safety, I’ll let you go with them. But I’ll be out to the ranch as soon as I can to do what we planned. Do I have your word, Grant?” He narrowed his eyes, studying Grant. “Are you capable of giving me your word?”
Grant threw back his shoulders. “I am and I do.”
“Fine. Looks like I’m going to have to trust you. Normally, that’d be good enough, but today?” Jackson hesitated, gave her a look that told her he didn’t like the idea, then pushed his hat farther down on his head. “If anything goes wrong, you hang on, you hear? I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
* * * *
Grant had almost lost it when he’d seen Lance tying her up in the back of the truck. They’d talked about having to stay away from her for just one more night. He had, in fact, told them about the deal he’d struck with Jackson to come and chain them up in the cellar until morning. And yet, part of him wasn’t surprised when Lance lost control and came after her, probably hitching a ride into town. If he hadn’t hung around a while after retrieving the truck’s key, he wouldn’t have known. Lance knew how to hot-wire a vehicle. He should’ve remembered that and not let his guard down.
“Are we going, or what?”
She was even more beautiful than when he’d seen her by the pond. Her eyes flashed with the challenge all mates gave their werewolf men, and she held her chin high, daring him to take her up on it.
“Yeah. Let’s get going.” Lance lunged for the truck.
Grant’s hand landed in the middle of Lance’s chest. “Not so fast. I don’t trust you alone with her.” Although he could see that Lance had gotten his wolf under submission again, he realized how fast that control could leave. He’d lost some of his own control when he’d seen Lance over her.
“What do you expect me to do?”
“You and Duncan are riding in the cab. I’ll ride in back with Christy.”
“What the hell, man? You’re going to make her ride back there? In the wind and dirt?”
He grinned, one he knew held a wolfish edge to it. “It’s not that windy or dirty. And it’s a hell of a lot safer back there away from you two.”
“Then we’ll ride in back and she can have the cab.”
“Nope. I don’t trust you two with nothing to keep you occupied. Duncan, you’ll drive, and Lance, you’ll get on the phone and call a friend to handle the herd tonight. Tell them we’ll need them for tomorrow, too.” If things worked out the way they should, he’d want to have all day to bed his new mate.
“Are you three finished talking?” Christy sat down, bracing her back against the cab. “I’m fine riding back here. Besides, I’ve never ridden in the back of a pickup before.”
He hoped she had a lot of things she’d never done before. If so, he’d have a great time doing them with her. He jumped over the side and landed in front of her. Her eyes widened at how easily he’d done that.
“Let’s go, boys.” Once more the wash of lust rushed over him. The sun would set soon, but he could trust that Jackson would show up before it did. If not, then his wolf, along with and his friends’ inner animals, would break free and claim their mate. If they did, they’d have to pray that it wouldn’t destroy their future.
Duncan headed the truck out of town while Lance twisted around to check on them, then put his phone to his ear. Grant settled down beside her. To sit at the side of the truck would mean more dust and grit between his teeth. At least, that was the excuse he’d use if either of the other men questioned him.
“I don’t understand what’s going on.”
He suspected she’d say as much. The heat from her body seeped into his, giving new life to his inner wolf’s charge to the surface. He steeled his nerve and built an invisible wall against the possible shift.
�
��I’m not sure I understand it, either.” That wasn’t strictly true. He knew more than she did about the connection and about the amber moon. But that didn’t mean he could handle the riptide of feelings threatening to drag him under if he let his guard down.
“Lance asked me if I felt it. Do you know what he meant?”
Every time she glanced at him, his heart picked up speed. The wolf’s blood in him whipped into a frenzy, spinning and whirling, driving his animal to roar at its confinement. The world kept sliding between its usual colors to one colored with an amber hue. It would be so easy to give in.
“He’s talking about the connection.”
“And that is?”
Maybe if they kept talking, he could maintain his resistance against the rising tide of yearning.
“It’s hard to explain. It’s kind of like the love at first sight people talk about. But it’s so much more intense. Both physically and emotionally. Hell, even spiritually. It’s like a disease that your body has no protection from. A drug that you become addicted to in an instant. An itch that you can’t reach and just gets more painful with each second.”
“But it’s a good pain, right? Like a need you didn’t know existed, but one you can’t resist. Like one you don’t want to resist.”
He turned, seeking her eyes. “Then you do feel it.”
His cock, still half-erect, grew bigger when she skimmed her tongue from one corner of her mouth to the other. At once the world around them was gone. All that remained was her.
“This is crazy.”
“Is it?” He gave in, thinking he could dare to put just one finger on her and still remain sane. He brought his fingertip to her mouth and played with her lower lip. As he’d hoped, her tongue peeked out again and brushed over his flesh.
He let out a moan, then pulled her on top of him. She didn’t fight him, and instead, straddled him, pushing her hot spot against the bulge in his jeans.
