***Lynette***
They’d been riding in comfortable silence for almost an hour when they came to the top of a ridge, and the Rocky Mountains were suddenly spread out before them. This was one of Lynette’s favorite places to sit and just absorb the beauty of the world around her, but she wasn’t sure that Derek would appreciate it until she heard him gasp.
“This is incredible. I thought I’d seen mountains back home, but these are so different,” he said. “You are lucky to live here.”
“I feel that way when I’m here. I just wish I felt that way all the time,” she said, then wished she hadn’t.
Derek looked over at her. “You don’t want to live in Serendipity?” he asked.
She sighed, knowing she should have kept her mouth shut. “It’s not that I don’t want to live here. I just want the chance to see other places. I’d like to travel, see the world.”
“What’s stopping you?” he asked, his eyes full of curiosity. “I’ve heard all kinds of things about you since I came here, but I’ve never really understood the full story.”
Lynette shrugged, then kicked her horse back into a walk and started up the trail. Derek fell in step next to her. “The witches of Serendipity are directly linked to the magic that fills the valley,” she said. “We can’t go far from the valley or our magic fades, and we become vulnerable to the forces from outside that want to destroy us.”
He was silent for a long time. “What exactly do you mean about outside forces?”
“I know it sounds so cloak and dagger, and to be honest with you, I don’t even know if there’s anyone out there anymore interested in Serendipity,” she explained. “But a long time ago, there was a coven of witches that wanted to take the valley from us. They wanted the valley’s magic for themselves, but it doesn’t work that way. Serendipity’s magic is tied to us, tied to the witches and shifters that live here; it can’t be taken away or used for evil.”
“So, you stay here to protect the valley? You never leave?” he asked, his face full of disbelief.
“Oh, I can go to Denver, but that’s about as far as my parents will travel,” Lynette shrugged her shoulders. “But it’s not enough. I want to see the ocean, the desert. I want to see a volcano. I want to see the world. I love Serendipity, but I’m not sure it’s enough for me. That’s why I couldn’t marry Tim.”
“It would be like being trapped twice,” Derek said, his voice full of wonder.
She nodded. “Exactly, but after the last few days I’m not so sure I made the right decision. Not only did I lose my best friend, but now my life is a mess.”
Derek shook his head. “If you don’t love him, then you made the right decision for both of you. I should know; I’ve lived what you just avoided,” he said. “Marriage isn’t something that should be arranged or used as a tool for someone to get what they want.”
The bitterness in his voice took her by surprise. “Is that what happened to you?”
It took him a minute to answer. “It’s a very long story, but I got married because my mother was convinced that a God-fearing woman would cure me of the curse I’m under,” he said.
“Curse?” she asked, opening up her magic to search his. “I don’t feel a curse on you.”
He shook his head. “I’m not cursed, but she was convinced that being a shifter was a curse and could be cured by God,” he said. “My marriage was just one of her many attempts to drive my magic out of me.”
“But it didn’t work,” Lynette said. “You aren’t the only one who’s come to us with a story like that. That’s why Serendipity is so important: it’s a place where shifters and witches can find some peace, if only temporarily, but most leave here strong enough to handle a world that doesn’t always understand them.”
Derek nodded. “I figured that out pretty fast,” he said. “And I guess I can see why it’s so important that you stay.”
“I wish I didn’t,” Lynette said. “I wish I could just walk away and never look back.”
“You don’t really mean that,” Derek said, looking around him at the mountains and then over at her.
They rode in silence for a long time, each lost in their thoughts. Lynette was sure that she meant what she said, but when she actually thought about leaving, a cold spot formed in her stomach, and she knew that she’d never be able to do it.
“No, I guess not, but sometimes it’s nice to think about,” she said, relieved when she saw the campsite come into view.
“Believe me, it’s not easy to leave the only place you’ve ever called home knowing that you might never be able to go back again,” Derek said. “You’re still young; things will seem better with time. Serendipity is a magic place, and I think you’d miss it if you ever left.”
“This is where we’ll make camp for the night,” she said, relieved to change the subject.
Derek looked around. “I thought we were going to the old mill,” he said, jumping down from his horse.
“The mill is up the trail a little way. We stopped camping there a while ago; it was too hard on the landscape,” she said. “But we’ll go on up there as soon as we make camp. You’ll understand better when you see it.”
“Well, then I guess we’d better get these horses unloaded so I can see this famous mill,” he said, grinning at her.
The smile lit up her eyes, made her heart beat faster, and a thrill of desire race through her. She wondered if Derek felt it as well but doubted it since he never showed any sign that he was attracted to her, which should have made her happy but didn’t. Sure that he saw her only as a friend, she pushed her desire away as just another thing she wasn’t allowed to have.
Chapter Eight
***Derek***
Derek’s body was simmering with desire as he helped Lynette unload the horses, and he wanted to curse whatever force was at work. It was no longer possible to delude himself into thinking that what he felt for her was nothing more than a simple attraction. It had turned into something deeper. Now, his protective instincts had been awoken, and all he could think about was pulling her into his arms and holding her until all her hurt and sadness disappeared.
The worst part was that deep down, he knew that he could do it, that holding her in his arms would calm them both. But he didn’t dare, wouldn’t take that step because deep down, he also knew that nothing good could come of it. He wasn’t going to stay in Serendipity forever, Lynette was destined to spend her life here, and he couldn’t forget how young she was.
He’d only break her heart, and that was something he didn’t want to do. Serendipity was the sanctuary he’d been looking for his entire life. Complicating it with a romance that was doomed from the start would be a mistake he’d never be able to forgive himself for. And there was Sam to think about; he’d just lost his mother, had his life turned upside down—the last thing he needed was more confusion.
Gus had been wrong to send him up here with Lynette, had been playing with fire, but he was a grown man and capable of controlling himself. It wasn’t going to be easy, he realized, when he saw Lynette bending over to set her saddle on the ground, and her shirt fell open to reveal a pair of plump breasts barely covered by a lacey bra.
Groaning, he turned his attention to one of the tents she’d packed, but soon found himself totally lost. It had been a long time since he’d set up a tent and clearly things had changed in the last ten years. Feeling a bit foolish, he stood staring at the parts of the tent spread out on the ground in front of him.
Lynette walked up and stood next to him and looked down on the ground. “Need some help or are you hoping it will put itself up?” she asked, a teasing grin on her face.
That grin was almost his undoing, but he clenched his teeth together and pushed the desire away. It was only physical, he kept repeating to himself over and over until he could speak again.
“It’s been a while since I set up a tent,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Ten minutes later, after way too many accidental touche
s, and couple more views of Lynette’s breasts, both tents were set up, and he was ready for a cold shower. He hoped that she didn’t sense the desire raging inside him, didn’t know that all he could think about was kissing her.
“Now we just need some firewood and a few fish from the stream and we’re all set,” Lynette said, interrupting his thoughts.
“I’m not much of a fisherman. How about I get the wood, and you get the fish?” he asked, desperate for a few minutes alone.
Lynette shrugged. “Sounds good to me. I’ll be back with our dinner in a little while then,” she said, gathering some fishing supplies from their packs.
When she’d disappeared into the forest, he leaned against a tree and took several deep breaths. He’d never felt the kind of pull he did with Lynette, and it was becoming physically difficult not to do something about it; no matter how hard he tried, his body wasn’t listening to his mind.
The desire finally fading, he grabbed an ax from the packs and headed for the forest. He’d find a fallen tree and use some of his pent-up energy to chop it into bits and pieces, and if that didn’t work, he’d find another one and do the same. Hopefully, by the time Lynette came back from the stream, he’d have his desire under control and could behave like the adult that he was.
As he worked, it occurred to him that he could shift and burn off his extra energy, but it had been so long since he shifted, he was scared to let his power lose. But soon, he’d take some time to himself and let that power free, let it burn itself out in the wilderness around him where he couldn’t hurt anyone but himself. Shivering when he thought of the last time he shifted, he pushed the idea from his mind, knowing that now was not the time to try to learn how to control his gift.
It took three logs and several trips with his arms full of wood before he began to feel like himself again. The desire had drained away, and his mind was finally in control, but then he saw Lynette coming out of the forest, a string of fish in her hand, and his world went sideways again. He could only stand there staring at her, his heart going wild, his body filling with a primal desire that took his breath away and put images in his head that shouldn’t have been there.
“Looks like you held up your part of the bargain,” Lynette said when she saw the giant pile of firewood. “But I don’t think we’ll be able to burn all of that tonight.”
Derek was hot and sweaty, throbbing with desire, and wishing he could kiss Lynette, so he stood right where he was until he finally managed to say, “That’s okay; I’m sure someone will be happy to use what we don’t.”
***Lynette***
Lynette looked up from the firewood at Derek, and suddenly the world around her seemed to melt away. There was a strange look in his green eyes that she couldn’t quite read, but then they filled with desire, and her heart began to beat furiously in her chest. He was hot and sweaty, his hair mussed from where he’d run his fingers through it. His shirt was unbuttoned halfway and her fingers itched to touch the wiry hair that covered his muscular chest.
Desperate to fill the silence between them, she said the first thing that came to her mind. “You look hot and tired.”
It wasn’t the most intelligent thing to say, but it broke the spell between them, and the world came rushing back. “And it looks like you caught our dinner,” he said, his voice husky.
Fighting the burst of pleasure that erupted deep inside her at the sound of his voice, she turned and hung the stringer of fish on a tree. “They should be fine there until we’re ready to eat,” she said, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. “I know the perfect place to cool off, and then we can go to the old mill and watch the sunset.”
When she turned around, Derek was drinking from his canteen, and she sighed with relief that his eyes weren’t on her. “That sounds like a good plan to me,” he said when he’d drunk his fill. “Lead the way.”
Feeling on more solid ground, she headed back towards the stream and the little pool not far from the mill. It was a hot day and letting her feet soak in the ice-cold water sounded good right then, and hopefully it would calm the crazy feelings that seemed to be haunting her.
When they emerged from the trees right next to the little bubbling stream, Derek let out a sigh of appreciation. “It must be at least ten degrees cooler here,” he said, taking deep breaths of the fragrant air. “And it smells good too, like things growing.”
“It gets better,” she said, leading him up the stream, around trees and willows until they came to a little pool. “I found it years ago, and I’ve never told anyone about it but you,” she said.
Derek sat down next to her and looked into the water. “It must be three feet deep,” he said, then leaned over and dipped his fingers in the water. “But it’s freezing.”
“It’s not that cold,” Lynette said, stripping off her socks and dipping her feet in.
She sighed with relief at the feel of the ice-cold water on her hot feet, and closed her eyes, letting the sounds of the forest wash over her. When she opened them and looked over at Derek, he was watching her, his eyes full of desire again, and she quickly looked away, her heart pounding in her chest.
When she looked back over at him a few seconds later, he was taking off his boots, and she wondered if she’d imagined the look in his eyes. She wanted to just ask him, to simply demand that he tell her how he felt but knew that she might end up embarrassing herself. But she was tired of playing this game, tired of seeing something in his eyes and not knowing if it was real or just her imagination.
Maybe if she’d been more experienced, she might have known what those looks meant, might have known how to decode the messages he was sending her. Looking over at him again, she decided there was only one way to find out.
Getting to her feet, she stretched her arms over her head. “I think I’ll slip into the water for a few minutes.”
Derek looked alarmed. “That water is freezing, and you’ll get your clothes all wet,” he said, stumbling over his words.
“Oh, I wasn’t planning on wearing my clothes,” she said, grinning at him. “Haven’t you ever been skinny dipping?”
She wanted to burst out laughing when his face turned a deep shade of scarlet. “You’re going to take your clothes off?” he asked, his mouth hanging open.
“That was the plan,” she said. “I figured you wouldn’t mind. I mean, it’s not like we’re attracted to each other or anything.”
Derek jumped to his feet, grimacing when he stepped on a rock. His mouth opened, then closed again. “I’m still a man, Lynette. You can’t just go stripping off your clothes in front of me.”
She waved her hand in the air. “Fine, then I’ll leave my shirt on,” she said, reaching for the button on her jeans.
Derek closed the space between them in two huge steps, and put his hands over hers, making a thrill rush through her and desire burst to life. “Don’t you dare,” he said, looking into her eyes. “It’s hard enough to resist you with all your clothes on.”
“Who says you have to resist me?” she said, then slid her hands up his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Her breasts were pressed up against his chest, and when his arms snaked around her waist, pleasure raced through her. She tipped up her head, stood on her tip-toes, and kissed him, not a peck on the cheek, but a real kiss. His lips were warm and firm, and when she ran her tongue over them, he gasped, letting her tongue slip inside. Instantly, his arms tightened around her, and he began to kiss her back with a groan of pleasure that echoed deep inside her.
The world around them faded, and for those few minutes, there was only the two of them as the passion between them flared to life for the first time. When Derek finally managed to push her away, they stood staring at each other, their chests heaving, passion still in the air between them. He staggered back a few steps, and she felt him pulling away from her, but she’d learned what she needed to, so she let him go.
Chapter Nine
***Derek***
Derek s
tumbled back a few steps, needing to put some distance between them, then took several deep breaths, trying to get control of himself. Lynette was staring at him, her lips slightly puffy from the kiss, her eyes full of passion, and he nearly gave in and kissed her again. But then he remembered who she was and who he was and knew that nothing good could come of kissing her again, no matter how much he wanted to.
“We can’t...you shouldn’t have...” He couldn’t quite get the words out to tell her how bad an idea that kiss was. “Don’t do that again.”
She grinned at him and asked, “Why not?”
He squared his shoulders, steeling himself for an uncomfortable conversation. “Well, for one thing, I’m too old for you. Have you forgotten that I have an eight-year-old son?”
“I didn’t ask you to marry me, Derek,” she said. “I just kissed you.”
There was no way he could tell her what that kiss had just done to him, no way to explain that he’d felt it to the depth of his soul, that he was already half in love with her. She wouldn’t believe him, wouldn’t understand that she’d opened a door inside him that had been closed for a long time, a door he thought would never be opened. If he didn’t close it soon, it would never be closed again, and that would break both their hearts when he had to leave.
“Just don’t do it again,” he said, picking up his boots and taking them as far away from her as he could to put them on.
The sound of her laughter rang out in the quiet of the forest, and a wave of desire washed over him. “Let’s go to your old mill before it gets dark,” he growled, getting to his feet.
Daddy Wolves of the Wild Prequel Page 5
