by Ranae Rose
A Taste of Honey
Half Moon Shifters Book 3
Ranae Rose
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This book is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are products of the author’s imagination and are in no way real. Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A Taste of Honey
Copyright © 2012 Ranae Rose
Cover Design by Ranae Rose
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Chapter 1
Friday the thirteenth wasn’t always an unlucky day, was it? As Violet dusted rose-colored blush across her cheekbones, her heart fluttered, telling her it was the luckiest day she’d had in a long time. Or at least, it had the potential to be. Superstition be damned, she’d been looking forward to this ever since Ronnie had promised to drive her into town a few days ago.
She caught her own eye in the mirror and hastily laid down her blush-brush. She’d applied too much – the pink smudges streaking across her face made her look like she had a fever. So much for a delicate hint of color on the apples of her cheeks. Why did her cosmetic efforts never turn out like the results in the beauty tutorial videos she watched on the internet? Quickly, she rubbed some of the makeup off with a tissue.
The last thing she needed was to look like she’d spent half an hour choosing what she hoped was the perfect shade of blush at a drug store the day before – which she had – and then gone crazy with it, as if the right cosmetics could stop the butterflies in her stomach from fluttering. What a joke – they burst into flight at just the thought of what the day might hold.
Hope wasn’t the only reason for the aerials going on in her stomach – apprehension entwined with her more optimistic emotions, a constant reminder of her first days in the Smokies. It still made her want to cringe when she thought of how she’d made a fool of herself last time she’d thought a certain shifter might be her mate, though that had been a misunderstanding. An embarrassing one.
But this was different. Ronnie’s scent had been tormenting her for weeks and had even worked its way into her dreams. Which was exactly why she wasn’t going to mess this up. The considerable differences between her and Ronnie created a natural backdrop for confusion. She’d have to tread carefully in order to determine whether there really was a chance for the vivid dreams she’d been having ever since the first time she’d detected his scent to come true.
So far, she could count the number of times she and Ronnie had been alone together – outside of her fantasies – on one hand. Easily. It was enough to inspire hope that something real would unfold between them if they just got a little time to themselves, away from her pack and his tribe. If he was interested – and he had little ways of making it seem like he was, despite his natural stoicism – he’d make the first move.
With a sigh, she shoved her makeup kit back into a drawer below the bathroom sink. On one hand, she loved the bear-like things about him – his rugged size and strength, broad shoulders and fierce powers of protection. But if he were a wolf shifter, like her … then she’d have known instantly whether they were destined for each other or not.
The special scents wolf shifters detected from their mates were impossible to ignore and matings usually occurred within days, or even hours, of the lucky couple meeting. But bear shifters didn’t recognize their mates by smell, which meant that she had to suffer the maddening effects of his tempting scent, trying to play it cool while she waited for him to give some indication that he felt something serious for her too. Sometimes, it seemed damn near impossible.
* * * * *
Ronnie didn’t bother to go home after his shift ended. Instead, he steered his pick-up truck in the direction of Half Moon Pack territory, where Violet was waiting in the cabin she shared with her sister and a few other packmates. He drove his personal vehicle but was still in his park ranger’s uniform. Making a detour to his own cabin to change would’ve wasted valuable time and might have made Violet late for her job interview. He needed to give himself at least an extra half hour of driving time, in case of bad traffic. Tourists really had a way of clogging up Gatlinburg’s busy streets. Or at least, that was what he told himself.
And if traffic was good and he ended up with an extra half hour to while away with Violet, so much the better. As long as he could control himself, that was. Doing so was getting more and more difficult each time he saw her. He’d volunteered to drive her into town after he’d overheard her mention to her sister, April, that she had a job interview and no way to get there, since all the pack’s other vehicles would be in use at that time. He’d considered her predicament a stroke of lucky opportunity not to be missed, though perhaps the primal urges and accompanying thoughts that had rushed through his mind at the mere thought of spending several hours alone with her should’ve given him pause.
He glimpsed a gravel turn-around spot beside the road and pulled over into it on an impulse, his cock throbbing as he put one booted foot down on the brake and shifted the truck into park. Few vehicles traveled the remote road – the chances that one would even pass by were slim. The little pull-over area was an oasis of privacy high on the mountain, shrouded in fading autumn foliage. No one would ever know if he took a few moments to ease the tension thoughts of Violet had filled him with.
He lowered a hand into his lap, his palm conforming to the rigid rod that sprang up instantly every time he thought of her. It was impossible not to think that if she were in the truck with him, they’d be able to do just about anything without anyone ever knowing, impossible not to fantasize about laying her down on the seat and lowering himself on top of her, finally getting his hands on her perfect body and seeing if she tasted as sweet as she looked…
It was just a fantasy, of course. One that he couldn’t get out of his head. He’d had a lot of those lately, all of them starring her and featuring the many, many ways that a wolf shifter and a bear shifter might indulge their wild sides together. That was a lot more fun to think about than the problems their differences could possibly cause … like the fact that she might not want a bear for a mate, or even be able to feel attracted to him like she would be to the right wolf. What if they weren’t truly compatible that way? It was hard to think there wasn’t at least a chance – she drove him so crazy that there had to be something more than simple lust behind it.
Not that he hadn’t been lusting after her anyway. His cock ached, stiff against his palm as he imagined her long brunette locks splayed across the truck seat and her blue eyes staring up into his dark ones, hazy with ecstasy. How was it so easy for him to picture exactly what she’d look like in the throes of passion when he’d never so much as held her hand? He needed to get a grip on himself. He did, in a very literal way, wrapping his fingers so tightly around his erection that it ached.
As he groaned, the dashboard clock caught his eye, announcing the time in glowing green numbers.
Slowly relinquishing his grip on his shaft, he told himself that time was of the essence, that he couldn’t risk making Violet late for her interview. As he put the truck back into drive and guided it onto the road again, he couldn’t help but acknowledge the truth, which was that it only would’ve taken him a few seconds to get off. Problem was, it wouldn’t have helped – it never did. At least, not when he was thinking of her.
* * * * *
Good lord, he was wearing his uniform.
Violet buried a tooth in her lower lip as she peeked around the cabin’s doorframe,
watching Ronnie descend from his truck, an irresistible vision in his khaki and green ranger’s uniform. The button-up shirt clung perfectly to his huge, muscular frame, spanning the broadest shoulders she’d ever seen and revealing hints of his bronze biceps. Had they had to order a special size to fit him? He was well over six feet tall and as sturdy as an oak tree. If they had, they’d gotten the measurements perfect.
“Hi, Violet.” He met her eyes through the flimsy barrier of the screen door and nodded in her direction as he strode forward, the gravel crunching under his boots.
“Hi,” she said, hating the way her voice came out so high-pitched as she pushed the door open and emerged onto the front porch.
“You look great,” he said, his eyes gleaming from under the brim of his ranger’s hat, darker than the shadow it cast across his face.
Heat blazed a trail across her cheeks and she clutched her own hands behind her back, her nails digging into her palms as he stood at the foot of the short flight of stairs. “Thanks. So do you.”
The words were out of her mouth before she could second-guess them.
Something flickered in his eyes, a spark of some unidentifiable emotion that was gone as soon as it had appeared.
Great. So much for not being obvious. She dropped her gaze to the ground, letting it settle on the toes of his boots.
“Ready to go?” he asked, his deep voice as calm and collected as ever.
She raised her gaze and was confronted by one of his outstretched hands, twice the size of hers but in perfect proportion to the rest of his body. Praying that her fingers wouldn’t tremble, she took his hand – what else could she have done without being completely rude? – and held it as she hurried down the steps, letting go when her feet touched solid earth.
His heat lingered on her fingertips as she followed him to the truck and he opened the passenger-side door for her. His gaze was so heavy on her back that she could feel it – or did she just have a serious case of wishful thinking? Either way, her entire body warmed up as she climbed into the cab and when she sat down on the seat and looked up, her eyes locked with his.
He was still for just a moment, then he closed the truck door and rounded the vehicle, climbing into the driver’s seat and turning the keys in the ignition.
The engine’s low rumble alleviated the silence but was the only sound as he guided the truck out of the driveway and down the mountain road. He drove wordlessly, his eyes trained on the pavement, and Violet didn’t dare look at him except for the occasional quick glance. Not while his scent was whirling around her, permeating every last square inch of the cab and her consciousness alike.
Some shifters compared the feeling of breathing in one’s destined mate’s scent to a high – it definitely made sense. The spicy honey aroma was affecting her common sense like a potent drug, forcing her to fight to hang on to her inhibitions as her nerves hummed with heat and expectation, her heart speeding as she sat so close to him, a scant two feet of space between their bodies.
“Where are we headed?” Ronnie asked as they approached Gatlinburg, his deep voice resonating throughout the cab and crushing Violet’s resolution not to look directly at him.
She pulled a scrap of paper from her pocket and read the name and address of the restaurant to him. When she looked up, their eyes met for a moment before he returned his gaze to the road.
“Maybe it’s none of my business,” he said, his voice a deep rumble that she could gladly have listened to all day, “but didn’t you say you wanted to try something different instead of waiting tables like you did in Alaska?”
“Yeah, but…” She cleared her throat and fiddled with the scrap of paper, smoothing out the crease marks that had formed when she’d folded it. “I’m the only one who hasn’t found work yet. Noah and Daniel are working for that cabin construction company, April is applying to college and volunteering for the national park and Clarissa just got the approval of the midwife she apprenticed to back in Alaska to practice on her own. I feel pretty useless just sitting around the cabin all day. I’ve been spending a lot of time looking for job openings, but to be honest, I have no idea what I want to do.”
“Mmm,” Ronnie said, looking thoughtful as he passed through a green light. “No idea at all?”
Violet shook her head. Unfortunately, she didn’t have an obvious talent or passion like April and Clarissa did. And she had nothing in the way of a college education, unlike the pack’s alpha female, Mandy, who performed her accounting job from home.
“Well, what are your interests?” Ronnie asked. “What do you like to do when you’re not working?”
His questions were unexpected, and his concern for her personal affairs a pleasant surprise. Too bad her honest answer was something that couldn’t possibly be very interesting or impressive to an uber-rugged, shape-shifting park ranger.
“I like to sew.” In fact, she’d been doing copious amounts of it, stitching away to pass time when she wasn’t searching for a job. It helped her to feel more productive than simply sitting around doing nothing and she enjoyed creating décor for the cabin she shared with April, Clarissa, Noah and Daniel. The beauty of the surrounding mountains had supplied her with plenty of design inspiration. But really, it was just for fun.
“Maybe you could find a job related to that.”
“I don’t know. It’s really more of a hobby – I haven’t come across any jobs where that would be a very useful skill.”
Ronnie slowed the truck to a halt and put it into park.
Violet tore her gaze away from him for long enough to see that they’d arrived at the restaurant. She’d been so preoccupied with him that she hadn’t even noticed they’d been approaching it.
“Don’t give up yet,” he said. “This area has some pretty unique jobs – if you want to try something new, you should keep looking.”
“Thanks.” Her heart fluttered as she reached for the door handle, loath to exit the truck and his presence. “See you in a little bit.” The interview probably wouldn’t take long – at least, hopefully not. As she approached the restaurant that had been styled to look like an enormous log cabin, mixed scents of frying steaks and burgers drifted across the parking lot, along with a dozen other food smells, but they failed completely to entice her. The only craving she entertained was one for a certain park ranger who sat in the cab of his truck, waiting for her to return to him.
* * * * *
Ronnie exhaled as Violet strode across the blacktop, her purse tucked under her arm. The khaki pants she wore hugged her ass like a second skin, but somehow still looked classy. He stared, powerless to look away, and gripped the steering wheel as if he were guiding the truck around a gravity-defying hairpin turn instead of sitting in a parking lot with the engine shut off. His attraction to Violet wasn’t going to fade away. In fact, it grew stronger every time he saw her, ratcheting up the tension that simmered constantly beneath the surface of his skin. He couldn’t remember ever getting so worked up over anyone else before, not even when he’d been a teenager and had developed several embarrassing crushes.
Violet was special, which was exactly why he was holding out instead of wrapping her in his arms and sliding his tongue deep into her mouth in search of tell-tale sweetness. If she wasn’t the one … well, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know yet. The thought of such severe disappointment made his gut twist in hypothetical agony.
At thirty-two, he was far from ancient, but he wasn’t getting any younger, either. And as a shifter living deep in the mountains, the pool of potential mates was decidedly shallow. None of the Roaring Water Tribe females were meant for him and he’d probably be reduced to dust in the ground before another woman like Violet wandered into his corner of the mountains. Years of suppressed mating instincts had gripped him when he’d first laid eyes on her, bringing some neglected part of his consciousness to life and making him realize just how badly it was possible to want somebody. Each time they met, the feelings and urges seemed even more inescapable. Ei
ther she was the one, or celibacy was seriously impairing his judgment.
He cast a quick glance in the direction of the restaurant doors she’d disappeared through. His attraction to her felt like a lot more than the effects of deprivation. Breathing another sigh, he leaned back against the seat and pried his hands from the wheel, resigned to waiting for her to emerge from the restaurant again. All he had to do in the meanwhile was somehow get enough of a rein on his desire that he’d be able to resist the inevitable impulse to lay hands on her.
* * * * *
“How’d the interview go?” Ronnie held the passenger-side door open for Violet. As she climbed inside, he was rewarded for his chivalry by a spectacular view of her khaki-clad curves. He let his gaze linger until she settled onto the seat, then met her eyes.
“All right,” she said with a shrug. “Seemed pretty standard to me. They said they’d get back to me within the week.”
She sounded like she was talking about watching paint dry. “You don’t seem very excited about it.” And why should she be? Just a few weeks ago she’d charged through a spray of bullets and literally torn the throat out of a shifter hunter who’d kidnapped her pack’s alpha female. At the time, fear for her safety had nearly torn Ronnie’s heart out as well, but she’d come away unscathed and more irresistible than ever.
She was brave – so brave that if he hadn’t had a handful of shot-up shifters to keep alive that night, he probably wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from taking her right then and there, worries be damned. But he’d spent the night digging bullets out of bodies instead and she’d washed the blood from her skin before whipping up a huge meal for the entire pack plus him and his father. A woman who could send a shifter hunter straight to hell and then take care of an entire bandaged, hungry pack … well, she was capable of a lot more than waiting tables.
