by Marie Harte
“I’m thinking he didn’t use it yet.” Dean meant the condom, and just thinking about putting it on for Rachel made Burke want to howl with lust.
“Nope. This should be good.” Grady grinned.
Rachel frowned. “You know, Burke, you’re right. They’re just as irritating as you said they’d be.”
Grady and Dean laughed and stepped back, breaking some of the tension. “I like her,” Grady admitted. “Stubborn, hot as hell, and she doesn’t seem to like Burke much. Perfect.”
Rachel blushed, her features drawn in annoyance. Burke understood all too well how she felt. He loved his brothers, but they could be such a pain sometimes. He was only three years older than Grady and five more than Dean, but at times he felt almost ancient.
“I never said I didn’t like Burke. He’s been very…nice to me.” By her tone, he could tell she was remembering their encounter in the alley. And again his lust spiraled, his desire to mark her as feline growing almost impossible to resist.
His brothers stopped smiling as they caught the musk of intent wafting from him.
“Oh yeah,” Dean whispered, his eyes again blazing. “We haven’t marked a female in forever.”
Rachel blinked as if in a daze, staring from Dean to Grady and then to Burke with a familiar need. Her eyes narrowed and like before, her pupils elongated. Her skin shimmered with Shifter energy, and Burke felt the unspoken desire between them. Unfortunately, it encompassed more than just him, but his brothers as well. He didn’t want to, but knowing he could right now fully mark Rachel with their help spurred his intent.
“Do you want this, Rachel?” he asked, knowing she had no idea of what he really meant. But his hormones didn’t seem to care. He had to mark her in the worst way. And sexual scenting from three ready cat Shifters would certainly do the trick.
“Rachel?” Grady growled, his teeth sharp and bright under the sun.
“Rachel?” Dean repeated, licking his lips. “Just say yes.”
She stared at them all, her eyes wide, her full lips parted, readying to respond. Burke scented arousal, confusion, and the first stirrings of feminine fear, bringing him fast to the point of no return. He could fight against arousal, but the smell of fear stirred his need to hunt. And taking Rachel was something he wanted more than his next breath.
The sound of a vehicle approached, tearing Rachel’s attention. Like a switch that had been thrown, the smell of her arousal abruptly disappeared, leaving three highly aroused Shifters nowhere to go but frustrationville.
Chapter Four
Rachel swayed as she stared at the familiar blonde coming toward her with a bright smile. Dizzy, she could only breathe deeply and blink to clear her blurred vision. Dean and Grady spun and left without another word, and their departure made her upset for some reason. She’d been wanting something…
But it was Burke who drew and held her attention from the blonde. His hair blew around his face despite the calm, and his amber eyes looked overly bright in such a harsh, masculine face. His mouth was taut, as if Burke strained against hunger. Enthralled by the sharp sight of him, her gaze wandered from his eyes to his long throat to his broad chest and farther down, finally resting on the large bulge tense against the front of his jeans.
Confusion filled her. Burke wanted her, of that she had no doubt. And the others…they’d been, what? Aroused and wanting her too? A woman his brothers had just met? They couldn’t possibly have intimated they’d desired her. That nonsense about marking? She tore her gaze from his erection and stared into his needy eyes. The look on Burke’s face just now. None of it made any sense.
He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her.
“Burke?”
He deliberately tightened his hold, as if to show her who was in charge. But before she could protest, he kissed her. Hard, possessive lips ravaged her mouth. He speared her with his tongue, the flavor of him knocking her for a loop. Had Burke not held her, she would surely have fallen. Her tongue met his and slipped into his mouth, pulling a hoarse groan from him. She felt his erection burning against her belly, and that spiral of heat that seemed to come and go whenever he neared flared again. God, she wanted so much to feel him inside of her.
She pressed against him, nearly climbing him to get closer, but as she moved her lips over his something scratched her mouth.
Burke froze and tore his mouth from hers. His eyes were that eerie golden color, the shape of his pupils resembling that of a cat. He stared at the bottom of her lip, which stung, and leaned down to kiss her, gently this time. He shuddered and ran his tongue over her lower lip before thrusting her as far from him as he could.
“Maggie, help Rachel to a cup of coffee, would you?” She loved his voice, so deep and rough, and so sexy she wanted to melt. Then the name “Maggie” registered. Who was he talking to? “I’ll be right back.”
Burke left in a blur, and once again Rachel felt reality slipping from her. When she could focus again, she found herself sitting in a chair in a masculine but homey kitchen. A petite blonde, probably Maggie, was whistling and shuttling from cabinet to cabinet.
“Damn. Those guys never refill from the larder.”
“Larder?” Was that croak Rachel’s voice?
“Wait here, hon. I’ll be right back. Out of coffee, and of course nobody but me refills the damned jar.” She walked out of the kitchen before Rachel could say anything else, leaving Rachel alone with her thoughts since reading her aunt’s startling letter.
Impressions of Burke lingered, but she couldn’t make sense of the odd episode with him and his brothers. Since trying to recall details of that strange meeting gave her a headache, Rachel’s concentration shifted to the information her aunt had imparted in that letter, and Rachel wondered if she could even believe half of it.
According to Aunt Charlotte, Rachel was more needed in Cougar Falls than she knew. The task of watching over the precious totem all these people seemed so fixated on was a Penny tradition. For some odd reason, Charlotte believed only she, and people of her blood, could see and locate the totem as its true guardians. And if Rachel chose to believe that nonsense, then she had to also believe what her aunt said about her neighbors—that the Chastells were said protectors of this mystical totem.
Per Charlotte’s instructions, the best things for Rachel to do, in order of importance, were one: to be thankful for finally ridding herself of that leech Jesse Minton and celebrate with a good case of wild, passionate sex with a man like Burke Chastell; two: convince the same Burke Chastell to marry her, because a more perfect match couldn’t have been made in heaven; and three: find the totem with Burke, and quickly, so that the town didn’t fall apart in Charlotte’s absence. Follow your heart, Charlotte had written, emphasizing the “follow”.
As if that information weren’t startling enough, Charlotte also had several suggestions pertaining to the choosing of Rachel’s inner beast, whichever creature on the totem that appealed to her more than the others. Charlotte speculated that Rachel would probably choose the puma, but then again, the fox had always intrigued Charlotte, so who knew?
What the hell had her aunt been smoking up here? Had the letter been written in some kind of code? Rachel had wanted to better examine it, but good old Gerald hadn’t given her a chance. He’d torched the thing in seconds, leaving her with more questions than answers. Shifters, totems, and hot sex that wasn’t even sex, really, with a guy she’d just met and didn’t exactly like in an alleyway?
Okay, she could scratch the part about not liking Burke. Despite her mistrust, she couldn’t help her attraction to the man. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized their intimacy in the alley had been anything but staged. The passion that flared between them was too damned real, and she’d seen Burke’s confusion as well as his attraction on the three occasions the heat had risen between them.
Burke was actually kind of nice, in a sexy, totally masculine, tough-guy way. She liked the fact that he had responsibilities, that
his brothers annoyed him and that her aunt apparently thought enough of him to recommend him for marriage. Not to mention he’d given her a mother of an orgasm through her freaking clothes. She could only imagine what he’d feel like without anything between them…
Flushing and shaking free of those thoughts, she tried to make sense of her aunt’s allusions to inner beasts and that totem. Which had her reexamining Burke’s glimpses of weirdness. In that alley he’d been wild, both with those hairy guys and with her. And just now… In her mind’s eye, she saw him and his brothers again, the three of them staring at her with cat-like pupils and shimmery skin. Her breath caught. She really had seen that, hadn’t she? And if so, did that mean Charlotte was right about the rest of it? Could Rachel become one of them—whatever “them” meant?
“Found it.”
Maggie’s voice shocked Rachel into a sudden jerk that nearly threw her out of her chair.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I found the coffee.” The petite blonde prepared the pot and took two ceramic mugs from a cabinet, placing one in front of Rachel and the other in front of her seat across the table. “I’m Maggie Buchanan, Joel’s wife. We live here with Burke and his brothers, tending the ranch.”
“Yeah. Burke mentioned you.”
Maggie beamed. “He’s a wonderful man, isn’t he? A bit too high-handed at times, but the men around here tend to be real throw-backs, you know what I mean? It’s all that mountain air, I think.” She winked at Rachel. “But they sure do know how to kiss, don’t they?”
Rachel blushed, recalling the whopper Burke had planted on her right in front of Maggie. Rachel stared at the smaller woman, aware of the normalcy Maggie projected. She seemed extremely nice and accepting, harmless really. Maybe she could shed some light on what was truly going on around here.
“How long have you lived here?”
“All my life.” Maggie grinned. “I love Cougar Falls. I met Joel seven years ago when he moved back into town. He stayed and we fell in love. We’re coming up on our fifth anniversary next month.”
“Congratulations.” Rachel paused, trying to find a way to frame her next question. “So did you know my aunt too?”
“Sure did. Charlotte was a great friend, and a funny lady. She bossed your brothers something fierce.” Maggie chuckled. “I loved seeing them run ragged after a day with Charlotte. They’d bitch about it with Joel, but always with a grin. She treated them like family, and they’ve missed that. Their parents died years ago, back when Burke was just eighteen. He’s been raising his brothers and managing this place himself for a long time.” Maggie rose when the coffee machine beeped and brought to the table a carafe, a container of milk and one of sugar. She gave Rachel a speculative look. “What about you?”
“Me?” Rachel busied herself by fixing her coffee.
“Do you have family to get back to? A husband and some kids, maybe?” Maggie stared at Rachel’s fingers wrapped around her mug.
“No. No husband, not anymore.” Her relief in saying that made her smile.
“A real jerk, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re rid of him then. Had a boyfriend a while back who wasn’t so nice to me.” Maggie’s voice softened. “Took me a while to see the light. That and Joel.” Her face brightened. “I didn’t want to give Joel the time of day, but he wore me down. And I’m glad he did. I’d do anything for that man.”
Rachel wondered what it would be like to have a man she could love as much as Maggie seemed to love Joel. Even with Jesse she’d been somewhat remote, walling off that part of herself he’d never quite reached. Sex with him had been great, but now she had to wonder, had she ever talked about him the way Maggie talked about Joel? Had she ever had that glow in her eyes thinking about her ex?
“So what do you think of the town so far?”
Rachel zeroed in on the question, pleased to turn away uncomfortable thoughts about her ex, as well as to take the opportunity to question Maggie about Cougar Falls. “It’s cute, but a little odd.”
“You think?” Was that humor behind Maggie’s bland words?
“What do you know about this totem pole everyone celebrates? My aunt seemed to think it held magical properties. And that she was responsible for it.”
“She was.”
Rachel stared, pleased but cautious at Maggie’s honesty. “In what way?”
“Look, Rachel, if I hadn’t been born and raised here, I wouldn’t believe half the things I’ve heard, let alone seen. Believe what you feel. Charlotte did. Suffice it to say your aunt was a well-respected and very important woman in this town. Her blood—your blood—runs as far back as the Salish who used to live here hundreds of years ago. And that totem is a symbol of everything Cougar Falls represents. Now that it’s missing, a lot of people are hoping you’ll bring it back.”
Great. So whatever Aunt Charlotte had been smoking, Maggie had taken a few puffs of it too.
“Sounds nutty, I know. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
Rachel was about to ask her about the Ac-taw and inner beasts when Burke and a giant of a man joined them.
“Maggie, time to gather the veggies.” The giant nodded at Rachel, his dark brown eyes tender as they fell on his wife, and Rachel placed him as a man she’d seen in the diner.
“That’s my husband, Joel, my own grizzly bear.” Joel frowned at Maggie’s laugh and hauled her out of the kitchen. “See you later, Rachel,” she yelled over her shoulder, leaving Rachel alone with Burke.
He studied her with very normal, though very handsome, whiskey-brown eyes. Burke moved with grace, grabbing a mug and joining her at the table without taking his eyes off of her. His stare made her nervous…and made her hot.
“What?”
“You are the damnedest woman.”
She didn’t know how to take that.
“You’ve been hit with a street fight, a touchy-feely stranger in an alley,” he said, self-deprecatingly. “Then there’s your aunt’s will, and the crazy shit I’m sure she wrote about, and not the least my brothers. I thought by now you’d be running for the airport.”
“I would, but I need my car.” She relaxed, flattered truth be told, that he seemed to both like and respect her.
He chuckled. “I can see a lot of Charlotte in you. And that’s a good thing, in case you’re wondering.” He poured himself some coffee and drank it black, smiling at her over the brim.
“Burke,” Rachel started, not wanting to lose this easy discourse between them but needing to have it said. “My aunt said some strange things in her letter.”
“I can imagine.”
“You said you’d do your best to explain things to me. How about you start?”
“Ah, a tall order.” He took another swallow and his hair swung down into his eyes. Without thinking about it, she leaned forward and pushed it back, startling him and herself.
“Sorry.”
“I’m not. I like you touching me.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he didn’t look happy. “I’m going to tell you the truth. And you’re going to think I’m one hundred percent certifiable. But do me a favor and listen until I’m done, okay? I can prove what I’m going to tell you. Just hear me out.”
Rachel nodded, her pulse racing.
“Cougar Falls isn’t like any town you’ve ever been to, Rachel. The people who live here were either born here or married into one of the founding families. I was born here with my brothers, like my parents and their parents before them. We’re Ac-taw.”
She processed what he said, her eyes wide. “Animal souls? You’re a part of those people the Salish first found?” At his surprise, she explained, “Gerald filled me in on the Totem Festival on the drive over. That and a bit more.”
“Yeah. Truth is, most of the town is Ac-taw. And the totem is the real deal, passed down for generations. Charlotte preserved it for us, and we protected her.”
Rachel frowned. “From what?”
“From those Shifters who would take it from us.”
“Shifters?”
“Humans can’t find Cougar Falls. It’s not on any map, and doesn’t ‘exist’ to outsiders.”
For the moment ignoring “humans,” Rachel asked, “Then why could I find it? I’m not Ac-taw.”
“Actually, you are. Charlotte was too, at least distantly. That’s why she was so in tune with the totem and the world around her. To many, she was a nutcase,” he said bluntly. “But she was so much more than that. She was a spirit guide, a guardian of the magic in the totem. And when she died, she took the knowledge of the totem with her. The town needs it back. We need you, Rachel, to get it back for us.”
Rachel shook her head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I mean, I read my aunt’s letter. I know she believed what you do. But I don’t know anything about this totem or how to get it back. It wasn’t in the house or anywhere around the property that I could see. And there was nothing about it in the box Gerald showed me.”
“The knowledge is within you.” Burke touched his heart. “Once you open yourself to the beast within—”
“About this beast. My aunt seems to think I can choose my ‘inner beast,’ whatever the hell that is. Care to explain?”
Burke sighed. “Why don’t I show you instead?” He whistled and in moments, Dean and Grady appeared in the doorway. Though she hadn’t seen them pass the window, they must have been waiting nearby. “Grady? How about you do the honors? Show Rachel your animal soul.”
Grady’s eyes lit up with approval. “Don’t freak, Rachel. This is totally normal.” He began removing his clothes, much to her surprise and admitted appreciation. The Chastells were enough to make any woman’s heart race. A glance at Dean showed him leaning against the doorframe, his gaze glued to her. Burke sat beside her scowling, but said nothing more.
“Why would I freak, Grady?” She couldn’t believe he was actually stripping down to nothing but golden skin. God, Grady was just as big and almost as gorgeous as Burke. “There’s a handsome man getting naked in front of me and his brothers. I keep thinking I should be giving you money or something. How about some music to add to the mood?”
