by Wolf, Terra
Table of Contents
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
About the Author - Terra Wolf
About the Author - Meredith Clarke
COPYRIGHT
©2018 Terra Wolf & Meredith Clarke
Lincoln (Canyon Hollow Shifters #1)
All Rights Reserved worldwide.
No part of this book may be reproduced, uploaded to the Internet, or copied without permission from the author. The author respectfully asks that you please support artistic expression and help promote anti-piracy efforts by purchasing a copy of this book at the authorized online outlets.
This is a work of fiction intended for mature audiences only. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Some may be used for parody purposes. Any resemblance to events, locales, business establishments, or actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is purely coincidental.
All sexual activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related.
Chapter 1
Charlotte
These days I was falling asleep easily, I was just exhausted all the time. I was supposed to be working on dad’s accounts, and I had them all scattered around my desk, but I nodded off without noticing. Within moments, in the middle of the day, I was fast asleep.
I was having the same dream again…it wasn’t really a dream. Rather a re-living of that week from five months ago. The best week of my life, the days I’d never get back.
His velvety brown hair, which I weaved my fingers through. The feel of his biceps bulging as he lifted me up in the air. The rock-hard toughness of his abs that I touched as he stripped his shirt off. The heat coming off my body every time I was near him.
They were flashes of the same images over and over again. They were so real that I thought I could feel my lips swollen and throbbing when I woke up from these dreams. He kissed me ferociously, like a wild animal. Like no man had kissed me before. He didn’t ‘handle me with care’, as I’d been handled all my life.
I was a woman, and that was how he made me feel. He treated me roughly, but so gently at the same time. He took me in the woods…right there, in the middle of the campsite. I could hear the roaring of the fire behind us as he undid his pants. He grunted with every thrust and I had never been so dripping wet before.
I’d just finished college at Vanderbilt, and what I was supposed to do was go to Law School. My parents were determined, especially dad. He needed a lawyer to help his business, an in-house family lawyer he could trust—and who better to do it than his own daughter?
It was like ever since the day I was born, he had my whole life mapped out. I started getting piano lessons when I was seven, I tried my hand at ballet when I was eight—but I’d always been curvy, even as a child. I sang in a choir until I was fifteen, when dad decided that I needed to focus on my grades because that was what would ultimately help his business.
Mom’s responsibility was to teach me my manners. I was taught how to sit with my ankles crossed, and act as the perfect hostess when my parents entertained. Dad wanted to make sure that I was always his friends’ biggest envy at the country club. The daughter they all wished they had. Only dad never noticed the way his friends looked at me when he wasn’t looking.
By now I’d outgrown the sweet polite little girl image, and had turned into the kind of girl these men wished they could flaunt on their arms. The girl they fantasized about in bed with their wives. It made my skin crawl. Knowing that my father’s friends drooled over me and stared at my cleavage when I walked past them.
But that was my life and I accepted it. I did as I was told, until I graduated college. That was when I put my foot down. I was determined to experience life, enjoy a bit of freedom. I argued and fought with dad, something I had never done before—until finally we came to a compromise.
He was going to let me take a year off before Law School, and I believed that was all the time I needed to get a taste of everything I’d missed growing up.
So, the first thing I did was get in a car and drive myself, along with my best friends; Macy and Laura, to Radnor Lake. We’d been talking about going on a camping trip for years, but we never actually planned it. We all wanted something different.
And oh how different it was! It was nothing like we’d experienced before.
The wilderness was freeing. Our cell phones had no service. It was like we were cut off from the outside world. We moved around the lake to different campsites as we hiked, and we met up with different people as we passed through. We had cookouts and partied around bonfires. The sense of pure freedom was exhilarating and turned out to be the most amazing week of my life. Over there, I wasn’t Andrew Williams’ proper polite daughter. I could be me. I could drink as much as I wanted, I could party as hard as I could…and then I saw Lincoln and everything came to a standstill.
Despite being surrounded by tough men just like him—in tattoos and flannel shirts, Lincoln stood out in the crowd. Maybe it was just the way he looked at me, like he could see right through me. I hadn’t been more terrified of and attracted to a man before like this in my life.
The moment I saw him, I knew I wanted his hands on me. His mouth everywhere.
He was thinking the same thing. He came over to our campsite, a can of beer in his hand which he crushed and threw away. When he came up to me, my body was already reacting to his presence. It was like he was expecting to see me there, like we’d always known each other.
I knew I was acting irresponsibly. I was doing everything against my good breeding and my best manners, but nobody knew me there. Nobody was watching me.
When he led me out to his tent on the campgrounds, I wasn’t even afraid. He made me feel safe with him. I just had that feeling in my gut that he’d look after me. Even though I knew I would never see him again. From the moment our eyes met, we both knew what was going to happen.
He kissed me and I sank into him and there was no going back from there.
I’d never had a one-night stand before. In fact, I’d never even kissed a stranger. So, having sex with Lincoln, a man I’d just met—whom I’d barely spoken to; was a milestone. But it was more than just that. He made me feel beautiful when he touched me.
I felt adventurous, high on adrenaline as he fucked me under the stars. It was dangerous and sexy, and something I knew I’d never experience again. But he wasn’t just a random stranger, he also held my hand when we walked back to to my campsite. Every time I looked at him, I wished my life was different. That I could actually be with a man like him. But I knew it could never happen. We came from two different worlds, and no matter how attracted I was to him, our lives could never collide.
Instead, I tried to enjoy the week. We spent all of it together. Partying and drinking and having sex by the bonfires.
Over the course of just one week, I was beginning to feel like I’d known him all my life. He was more than just a sexy stranger, he was a guy I could get used to. He wasn’t like any of
the other proper rich guys I knew, the ones my parents eventually wanted me to settle down with. Lincoln was spontaneous and protective. I was his woman for the week, and he made me feel special.
As I sat on my chair, in my father’s study, with my eyes closed and dreaming, I was thinking of him. I was fantasizing about him constantly since I returned home. I couldn’t get him out of my head. I couldn’t stop imagining a life with him. Waking up beside him, our legs intertwined, his mouth on my neck, on my breasts. My hand on his cock.
Despite how big and strong he was, I felt powerful with him. I knew the effect my body had on him. He never once spoke about his feelings; he just wasn’t that kind of guy and obviously, one week was too short. But I’d seen it in his eyes too. He wished we’d met under different circumstances.
I could feel Lincoln’s hands on my body, and I sighed, thinking about that moment when I first saw his clothes coming off. His jeans rolling down and that magnificent cock.
But then I felt a sharp jolt all over my body. I was snapped out of my thoughts with a jerk. My eyes flew open and my hands rose up to my mouth. I was going to be sick.
I jumped out of the chair and rushed to the bathroom adjoining the study.
Kneeling down in front of the toilet, I threw up. I clutched my stomach. I was beginning to show now. There was no hiding it from the world anymore that I was pregnant. As much as dad wanted to keep it a secret. His perfect precious daughter was going to be a single mother.
Chapter 2
Lincoln
I called for a meeting of our clan, the Canyon Hollow Clan, and everyone had just arrived. Our Alpha, Ford, was standing in front of the fireplace, with all of us gathered around him. We had a big job in hand, and just like with other jobs, we needed to put it through a vote. Just a few years ago, our bear shifter clan was the underdogs in Nashville. Since shifters had come out in public, humans had been a bit wary of us. Understandably so. But once the found out what we can do, a lot of them wanted to work with us. As the Beta of the clan, I was responsible with making sure we were headed in the right direction.
“What do you have for us today?” Ford asked and the buzz in the lodge died down. The others were all looking at me.
“Last night, I got a call from a guy who works for Andrew Williams,” I began.
“Andrew Williams? You mean the real estate developer?” Jackson asked. Jackson and I had been friends a long time. We both experienced our first shift at the same time. We’d grown up near the Canyon Hollow Clan and knew once we experienced our shift, we would officially be a part of the clan.
“Yeah, him. As you can guess, the guy is loaded,” I said and some of them sniggered.
“What does Andrew Williams want with us?” Ford asked.
“Protection,” I replied and I could see the smile spreading on Ford’s face. This was going to mean big money for us.
“What kind of protection? Give us the details, brother,” Jackson said. I knew he was already counting money in his head, trying to figure out the accounts.
“He’s hosting some charity auction. Two days from now, and he wants us to cover him,” I told them.
“Cover him at a charity auction? Why? What did he steal?” Jackson spoke up with a laugh in his voice.
“Apparently, he’s been receiving death threats. Something to do with the business. He’s shitting himself, basically,” I told them and Ford smiled even wider.
“And he can’t go to the cops?” Jackson asked and I shrugged.
“He said he wanted stronger protection that just the cops. But my guess is he has something to hide too. But do we care about that?” I said and Ford drew in a deep breath.
“Lincoln’s right. Why he’s not going to the cops isn’t our concern. It just means more business for us.”
“He’s not told his family either, apparently. He has a wife and a daughter and he’s afraid for their lives too. He just wants us to cover him at the event and make sure everyone is safe. Eliminate any threats,” I explained and another buzz broke out in the bar.
“So, it’s going to be a one-time thing?” Grant clarified and I shrugged again.
“That’s what it is for now, but if we manage to get him out of there alive, I could work out a more permanent situation with him. Maybe he’s testing us out,” I said and the others nodded.
“How much money are we talking about?” Jackson asked and I turned to him with a smile.
“It’s a lot of money,” I replied. I knew Jackson could tell from the smile on my face that I wasn’t fucking about. This job was probably going to make more money for us than we made in several months. Andrew Williams was stinking rich and he was willing to do anything for him and his family’s safety.
“Vote?” Grant asked.
“All those in favor of taking up this job?” Ford spoke up. I raised my hand and looked around to find everyone’s arms raised as well.
“We’re going to a charity auction!” Ford declared with a laugh.
I was pleased. This was another step up for us from the smaller protection jobs we were involved with. If a guy like Andrew Williams hired us and we managed to do a good job of keeping him and his family safe—it would mean more jobs like this in the future.
I was determined to keep our clan on good terms with the humans around us. The more benefit we had to them, the less men we’d lose. This way, both us and the humans could live together in peace.
Ford and I shook hands, and then I gave Jackson the details on how much money would be coming in from this job. After a quick chat with my brothers, I left the lodge so I could go for a run and clear my head.
This was a pattern I’d developed. Before any big job, I liked to shift and run out alone so I could plan a strategy in my head. I didn’t know much about Andrew Williams and nothing about his family. All I knew was that I needed to keep him, his wife and his daughter out of harm’s way.
My second step would be to go and check out the venue for the event. That way, I’d know where to position my men and the spots to keep a lookout for, and cover all the blind spots. I was determined to do a good job with this, and hopefully bag a bigger contract with Andrew Williams. Full time protection of a guy like him would get us in the big league of the protection game.
I stepped outside of our secluded cabin. And took a long breath of fresh air. Our clan had set up in a group of cabins in the woods surrounding Canyon Hollow. While shifters were known to humans, and they used us a lot for protection services, that didn’t mean they trusted us. Over the years we found that living separate from them allowed us to be ourselves. We could shift when we wanted to, without having humans panic around us.
As I took another deep breath, I felt my bear shifting underneath my skin. Once my paws hit the ground, it was as if a huge weight left my shoulders. My mind cleared and instead of worrying, I was able to focus at the job at hand.
As I ran through the wood, I knew I should have been thinking about the task in hand; but ever since I met Charlotte, she was literally all I could think about when I had a moment to myself.
Charlotte…with her strawberry blond curls and her big blue eyes. I saw her at the campgrounds, standing with her friends, trying to figure out how to set up their tent. Even from a distance, I’d picked her out instantly and knew that I had to have her.
She was wearing the shortest of denim shorts; revealing her long curvy legs. Her thighs were fleshy and sweet, just like her big bouncy breasts that made her blouse stretch. She had an angelic sweet face and a pouty red mouth and I was drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
The truth was that I’d gone to the campsite for work, and not looking for a fuck. It was easy for me to fulfill my base desires. There were always girls hanging around our lodge, just waiting for the moment when one us looked in their direction. Shifters were the new “thing” and it seemed like every woman wanted to try one. I got to fuck as many women, as much as I wanted—and that was the way I wanted to keep it. I wasn’t looking for anything more th
an that.
But with Charlotte, from the first moment I saw her; I knew I was a gonner. She was going to be more than just a quick fuck in the woods. I knew that already.
And now, I couldn’t get her out of my head. Her beautiful voluptuous body stretched out on my bike, her legs wide open so I could reach the throbbing wet mound between her thighs. The soft moans she made when I sunk my cock in her tight warm pussy. She was a good fuck, but I’d had great sex before, so it wasn’t just that. I knew it because I wanted to hold her hand.
I wanted to protect her. It made my blood boil when I caught other guys looking at her. I wanted to claim her and make sure nobody else ever got to touch her. And what’s more, so did my bear.
But that wasn’t going to happen. From the beginning, Charlotte told me very little about herself. Other than her first name, I literally knew nothing else about her. She could have come to the campsite from anywhere in the country. It was a pretty popular spot for tourists. In fact, I had no idea what she was even doing there.
Even though I could sense she was trying to fit in, I knew she was not used to this sort of scene. She was out of place, in a good way. She was smart and well-spoken and rich. Not something she could hide, and definitely not something I could see in the other people at that place.
I wanted to know why she was here, but I didn’t ask her. Everyone was entitled to their secrets.
But now, it had been over five months since that week and I still couldn’t get her out of my head. I regretted not knowing who she was, not asking her questions about herself.
I tried to focus on the job coming up, as I ran, but I was filled with regret instead. I would have given anything to see Charlotte again, to have her on my lap and feel her legs around me. My bear growled at the thought of her. She was the sexiest thing I’d ever fucked and one week was not going to be enough.
But I had no way of finding her. I had no clue who she was. Now, the only thing I could do was hope that this feeling eventually went away. Charlotte, the mystery woman, was never going to be mine.
