Allister, J. Rose - Disowned Cowboys [Lone Wolves of Shay Falls] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (5 page)

She folded her arms. “Not that it’s any of your business, but a proposal was the last thing I was expecting when David brought me up here today. We were supposed to be going for a hike.”

“But you are seein’ him.”

She shook her head. “Not like that. He’s my boss.”

“Wouldn’t that be considered sexual harassment?”

“Look, I owe him. He’s done a lot for me financially that I can’t ever repay.”

Kyle regarded her. “‘Marry me or lose your job’ sounds like harassment to me.”

“It wasn’t like that!”

The wolf Dillon began yanking on his bonds, snarling and circling on all fours. He stretched his head back to try and nip at the chains around his chest.

“This ain’t the most soothin’ conversation right now,” Kyle said. “Hang on while I try and tame the savage beast.”

He strode over and snatched up a brown, furry bundle Aimee hadn’t noticed when she’d come in. Perhaps he’d dropped it when he’d snuck up behind her.

“What is that?” she asked.

“Raccoon. Might not want to watch this part,” he said, tossing the bulk toward Dillon. The raccoon body landed in the dirt with a dull thud. “Here you go, partner. Dinner’s served.”

The wolf snarled loudly, curling its lip back to show fangs. Saliva dripped off the long, pointed teeth as it leapt on the dead animal and began tearing into the carcass.

She buried her head against Kyle’s bare chest and tried to ignore the ripping, growling, and gurgling sounds of the wolf feasting. “You’re right,” she said, muffled against his skin. “I can’t watch. Wish I couldn’t hear, either.”

Kyle folded her into his arms, his body infusing hers with a warmth that sank down deep inside of her. One thing was for sure, Dillon hadn’t lied when he’d said they didn’t get cold easily. She pressed herself closer to his chest, letting that heat seep into her. God, it felt good to be warm again.

“Your nose is frozen,” he said, his voice taut.

“Sorry.” She made to pull back, but he tightened his arms to hold her against him.

“Stay there. You’ll be warm in no time.”

“No kidding. It’s like you’ve been standing in front of a hot oven.”

She closed her eyes, letting the feel of him invade her senses and drown out the wolf sounds behind her. What flowed through her when she opened herself to him was far more than just a necessary temperature rise. A surge of emotion swelled in her chest, one that rose so high and fast that it threatened to overtake her. David had never sent chills along her spine or lit a fire inside of her wherever he touched. Not that he’d ever held her like this before.

Kyle let out a slow breath, and she felt him begin to quiver. “Oh, man.”

“I’m making you cold,” she said.

He shook his head. “I didn’t think it would be this hard to control.”

“What would?” She pulled back and gasped when she looked up at him. The golden speckles were spreading outward to engulf his pale blue irises. “You said you wouldn’t change.”

“I won’t.” He closed his eyes, and she saw his Adam’s apple bob. “This is just more intense than a normal full moon.”

“Why?” she whispered.

“Kiss me,” he said, his eyes still shut.

She yanked back several steps. “What? No!”

The eyes reopened into a golden flame that frightened and mesmerized her at the same time. “Yes.”

She shook her head, watching gold and blue wage a battle for dominance in his eyes, creating a kaleidoscope effect she feared might hypnotize her if she stared at it too long. “I’m not kissing you, and not only because you’ll probably sprout fur and fangs if I do.”

His move forward was slow and subtle, but she jerked back. “It’ll help ground me, actually. I know why you probably find the idea revoltin’. I’ve seen myself in a mirror.”

Her eyes traced the line of his scar. “It’s not that at all.”

“Just close your eyes and trust me.”

“Trust you? I don’t even
know
you, Wolf Boy.”

The slight dig actually brought a tiny smile to the corner of his full, sensual lips. “Well enough to know I’m tellin’ the truth.”

She traced the contour of those lips with her gaze, unconsciously licking her own. “Actually, ‘Kiss me or I’ll turn into a hairy beast’ sounds like the worst pickup line I’ve ever heard.”

Despite the protest, her feet were inching closer to him. Her eyes were still fastened to the seductive call of his mouth and the sexy smile turning up one corner. The hair on her arms rose when she leaned close to him, and since Kyle was about a head taller, she had to lift her chin to reach his lips.

The first graze of her mouth on his caught her breath in her throat, and she understood there and then that she’d made a fatal mistake. Not because of what Kyle might become, but what she might become. His lips unhinged a primal need in her stomach, like an animal clawing to get loose and run wild with the men-wolves who were completely focused on her.

Kyle let out a tiny groan and deepened the kiss, opening his mouth to sweep his tongue just barely across her lower lip. An electric thrill coursed through her, and she raised a hand to his face. Unable to stop herself, she brushed her fingertips along the valley dug into his skin by the scar. He broke off the kiss all too soon, grabbing her by the wrist to pull her hand away. Her breath had gone ragged, and as he moved back she saw his breathing was rough, too.

His eyes still glimmered with gold highlights, but they no longer ran into one another to blot out the blue. “That might have been a mistake,” he said.

“How’d you know that was what I was thinking?”

He shivered again. “I’m bettin’ it don’t feel like that when you kiss David.” His voice had gone husky.

David’s kiss. She barely remembered it now. Then again, it had barely registered with her at the time. “I was just doing what you asked.” Why did she have to sound so out of breath?

“Then maybe I should have asked more of you.”

His mouth collided with hers again, this time sending a tiny gasp free from her throat. His hands slid into her damp hair, pulling her against him. Something pressed against her pelvis when he pushed his hips forward—a long, hard ridge that sent her pulse racing.

A voice behind them pushed her back from the edge of losing control.

“You do
not
have my permission to breach her.”

Breach
her? She whipped around to find Dillon’s human form had returned, though his eyes were a good deal harder. Smears of blood from his feed covered parts of his jaw and upper chest. More shocking was the bulk between his legs. His cock was now longer, thicker, and sticking almost straight out from his body. Her eyes flew wide.

Kyle stepped around her and faced the other man. “I see that kiss brought you back around, too. Looks like there’s hope for you yet, cowboy.”

Dillon’s jaw tensed. “Did you hear what I said?”

“Who submits to whom here?” Kyle’s voice boomed in the space loud enough for Aimee to flinch. “Which of us here is alpha?”

A flurry of motion beside her prompted her to glance at Kyle, and she jumped. A black wolf stood beside her, staring Dillon down with its hackles raised and tail lifted in the air.

“Shit,” she said, moving back, but the animal took no interest in her. It stalked toward Dillon and stopped a foot away, leaning in to stick its bared teeth close to the man’s face.

Aimee backed up until she hit the dirt wall near the tunnel, gaping at the exchange. Dillon’s flesh seemed to vibrate again, and in moments his face began to distort and elongate. Fur shot out along his body, and he shrank into the gray wolf again.

“My God,” she whispered, clutching at her chest.
Run
, she thought.
Get out before it’s too late
.

Kyle’s snarl froze her in place. Dillon lowered his head and flattened back his ears, dropping to the ground and rolling over to expose his pale belly. Kyle moved around to straddle the other wolf, and she gasped when he bent down to grasp Dillon’s furry throat in his jaws.

“Don’t!” she cried out. Jesus, would he kill Dillon for having spoken out? What would he do to her then?

The thought prompted her to slide her body along the cave wall, seeking the mouth to the short tunnel that would let her escape this bizarre nightmare. Then her eyes fell to the two wolves’ pricks, which were very close together as Kyle stood over Dillon. Their shafts were bright red and shiny, popping well out of fur-covered sheaths. Whatever was going on here, both of them were quite aroused about it.

Aimee paused as ripples of fur crested along both animals’ bodies. Hair shortened and disappeared until the men were back, leaving Kyle also naked and straddling Dillon with his arms planted on either side of the man’s head.

“As alpha I have every right to request first matin’ if I so choose,” he told Dillon, leaning close to his face. “But it ain’t gonna be now.”

“I want her,” Dillon said, and when his eyes unexpectedly connected with hers, a jolt shot through her at their intensity. The gold was still there, yes, undulating in a rhythm not dissimilar from the pounding of her pulse. “I’ve waited so long for her to be mine, and now she’s so close I can taste her.”

“She can’t be part of this,” Kyle said. The words fell on her with a strange pang of disappointment. “Not tonight.”

“Why?”

At first, she thought the question had left Dillon’s throat but realized it hadn’t only sounded out in her mind.

“We can’t properly claim her under a full moon with you still out of control,” he went on, as though it was indeed Dillon who had asked. “And you can’t take her virginity without us marking her, or every male she encounters will amp into sexual high gear.”

“
Marking
her’?” Aimee took a step forward. “What the hell does that mean?”

Kyle raked a smoldering glance over Dillon before glancing up at her. “Ain’t nothin’ you have to worry about tonight, darlin’.”

She let out an indignant snort. “Oh, I don’t plan on worrying about it
any
night. There will be no marking or claiming of any kind, got it?” The rest of his words flashed through her mind, and she frowned. “And why are you making the assumption that I’m still a virgin? I do have an engagement ring on, you know.” She flashed the diamond at the men for effect.

“That your boss gave you,” Kyle said. “Or is spreadin’ those shapely legs part of your job description?”

She curled her lip. “Don’t be disgusting.”

“Don’t
you
play games,” Dillon said, shifting his weight so he could look at her. “Kyle and I know damn good and well you ain’t never been with a man. Or are you just tryin’ to piss me off?”

“How can you know something like that?”

Dillon inhaled deeply, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment. “That’s how.”

“Your scent is damn intoxicatin’, it’s true,” Kyle added. “Our kind can tell a lot of things about a woman by her scent.”

She lifted her chin. “Then maybe it should tell you there’s zero chance of getting this virgin all hot and sweaty in a cave.” If only the words could sound convincing and she wasn’t already feeling damn steamy. “You think I’m going to fall over the two of you when I’ve gone twenty-five years without needing a man? Please.”

“Because you’ve been waitin’ for the right man.” Dillon’s gaze penetrated the thin veneer of composure she was desperately trying to keep in place. “That’s the truth, ain’t it? You’ve always known deep down that someone was waitin’ for you. Someone who could make you feel like no other man could. Someone like me.”