Heart of a Cowboy (11 page)

He stood before him in all his naked glory, not even attempting to hide his nudity. “This human belongs to me.”

“Whoa, I appreciate your help, but that’s my boyfriend you’re talking about.”

“Derek is mine.” He wouldn’t give on that point. Derek was meant for him. The call of his mate was impossible to resist; it was a call he had to answer.

“Let me help him.” The Indian glanced around Lucas’s body to Derek lying in the dirt behind him.

“You can’t get him to a hospital fast enough to help him.”

“I have to try,” Ishwar pleaded with him.

“If you want to help, then trust me.” Lucas held out his hand for the Indian man to take. As much as Lucas didn’t like binding his spirit to anyone else, he needed help to heal Derek and the only option was the man in front of him. “I can heal him, with your help.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Come here and hold onto my hands. I cannot heal him twice in one lunar cycle, but I can do the healing if I take part of your essence.”

“My soul? Is this dangerous?”

“I won’t lie, it can be. This act will bind the three of us together. Forever. Now make up your mind, human. If you want to save him you will follow my command.” Lucas had to give him the choice. Stealing a soul could be a curse forever burdening his heart and love, but if given freely it would also make the healing go easier.

The man took his hands tentatively and Lucas grasped them firmly in his hands, reaching into him with his spirit, touching the core of him. The life force within the man was powerful, but he could not take too much of it away or the Indian could die trying to save the other one. It was a balancing act. Lucas had to capture the life force and unravel it, sometimes by a single strand at a time, to wrap around Derek’s broken body.

Lucas began chanting a healing prayer in the old language, and he heard the Indian—no,
Ishwar
—say the words in his mind simultaneously. He knew Ishwar’s name from his thoughts. Their minds met and his thoughts were open to him, and at the same time he realized Ishwar knew everything about him now.

Everything about who and what he was. His past and his present.

He took that into himself. He gave something of himself.

Shit.

* * * *

Derek couldn’t believe his eyes. The most gorgeous naked man stood over him with his friend and lover, Ishwar. They were saying something softly over and over again. He would swear it was a dream if not for the pain. His entire body ached and a mind-numbing pain paralyzed him when he tried to move, but something seemed to be helping to ease it.

His mind cleared as the pain ebbed away from his body, and through the haze in his mind he recognized that beautiful face of the naked man. It was his one-night stand from the bar, Lucas. He thought he’d never see him again, but seeing him now was a welcome sight.

Lucas bent down close to his body, his long hair wisped around his face by the light breeze, and he spoke to him.

“Do you know the man who did this to you?”

Derek swallowed and nodded. Bo didn’t think he left him alive.

“Was it Bo? The man from the bar? I smell him all over you.” When Derek hesitated, Lucas’s eyes turned stormy and his voice dangerous. “Don’t lie to me to protect him. His scent cloaks you like you bathed in it.”

“Bo.” Derek’s throat was still raw from the freshly healed slash and the word exited his lips as a whisper, but it was the confirmation that Lucas had been waiting for.

His jaw clenched and a vein throbbed at the base of his neck. “I have to hunt down the man who did this.”

“But what about Derek?”

“He should be healthy enough for the ride home.” Lucas looked irritable. “I’ll be back.”

Lucas’s body seemed to shimmer, and then the miracle happened. His body contorted from an upright man into a wolf. Hair suddenly grew, his face lengthened, hands became paws with padded feet and claws meant for speed. Where there was naked flesh before, now there was suddenly fangs and fur, in the form of a beautiful black wolf. His stunning brown eyes flashed anger and human emotions. His lips curled to expose the sharp white points. As a human he was dangerous. As a wolf, he was powerful, and the energy that surrounded him was potentially lethal. He was very much a wild animal.

Something inside of Derek said he should find this fact disturbing. It wasn’t natural to shift forms, but it seemed natural to accept him in whatever form he appeared. A shape-shifting wolf was just as sexy as the man.

Besides, this was just a dream—albeit a very weird dream, but still just a dream.

In reality, Lucas had not just turned into a wolf and run off into the brush, and Ishwar was not trying to heave Derek over his shoulder to get him on the horse.

Derek just had his throat ripped out by a shape-shifting wolf, and then he was miraculously healed. Lucas, one of the guys he least expected to ever see again, just ran off after Bo. How could this possibly be real?

It couldn’t be real, just some fucking nightmare.

Chapter Twelve

Lucas had killed Bo in cold blood.

Ishwar was horrified. He watched the entire thing as if it were through his own eyes. Lucas hunted Bo down and killed him, ripping him to shreds in the fight. Fur flew in the wind, blood drained into the ground, and barely anything was left from Bo in his wolf form.

Something had happened when Ishwar helped Lucas to heal Derek. He could connect with animals before this, but now it was as if he were linked with Lucas’s mind on a deeper level. He couldn’t block the other man’s thoughts and he sensed it was the same for Lucas.

This was not a good thing and he didn’t like it one bit. The man he was connected with was a Wendigo, a shape-shifting wolf and capable of extreme violence. He was the enemy and he was now bound to him, mind, body, and soul.

This compromised his loyalties. What would his tribe do when they found out what he had done? That he had made a personal pact with one of the Wendigo? The same creatures he had sworn to help his people hunt down, he was now a part of, and this connection was irreversible.

Derek sat in front of the stone fireplace at the bunkhouse, warming himself with the heat of the crackling fire. Physically he was healthy. It was an amazing transformation that took place and Ishwar wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it for himself. However, his mental state was another matter altogether and not so easily fixed.

“You okay? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

“I am just thinking.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I am not sure. I thought it was a dream, but I am not so sure anymore. Did I almost die?” Derek asked.

“Yes. Lucas saved you though.”

“So, I did see him?”

“I didn’t think you were awake for that. What did you see?”

“It was weird. He was naked, standing over me—and then—and then…he changed.”

“Into a wolf?” Ishwar asked.

“Yes.” Derek blinked, shocked Ishwar already knew what he was about to say.

“That wasn’t a dream.”

“I don’t understand. How is that even possible?”

“I think I should let him explain what he is.”

“But he’s not here.”

“He is on his way now.” Ishwar forced himself to relax his clenched jaw, hoping Derek didn’t notice his annoyance. He disagreed with Lucas’s actions even if he understood why Lucas felt it was necessary. If it were a choice between Derek and Bo, he would have chosen Derek too, but Lucas had not chosen to turn him over to the cops for questioning or to be charged for assault or attempted murder. No, it had happened to be one of his people, so he considered himself law above all else. He was judge, jury, and executioner. “He had to take care of some…business first.”

“There’s something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”

“Yes, but Lucas will make everything clear when he comes back.”

* * * *

Derek opened the front door to see Lucas fully clothed, wet with rain and blood. Dirt caked his hair and he was soaked clear to the bone. The rain explained the wet, dripping hair and clothes, but what explained the blood? Was it his blood from earlier tonight? God, it was intensely shocking seeing him this way. He felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over him, and yet he felt that magnetic attraction as strong as the first day he met the man in the bar.

“What happened to you?”

“I’d rather not talk about it here, but once we get back to my house I will be happy to explain everything,” Lucas gritted out.

“He’s not going anywhere without me.” Ishwar stepped forward, arms crossed defensively.

“Then you can come too. I need a shower, but I’m not making the same mistake and leaving Derek alone again.”

“I am not going anywhere until someone explains what is going on here.” Derek looked from one man to the other, searching both their faces for answers.

“Then do you mind if I take a shower before we talk? I really need to get cleaned up.” Lucas ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“Sure,” Ishwar said.

Lucas walked by him into the bunkhouse and Derek followed him into the group bathroom. Being in his presence was intense. The man seemed larger than an ordinary man, taking up much of the room. His six-foot frame dominated those around him, dwarfing the other two men. Luckily, it was late enough that all the workers were in bed and asleep.

Ishwar was sexy in a guy-next-door kind of way, but Lucas took sexy to the next level. His flawless skin and dark hair were model quality. All it took was a look from him to get Derek aroused, and he seemed so cocksure of himself. Lucas could have him naked and panting in his bed without asking.

No matter what he did or said, Derek knew he’d end up in bed with him. He couldn’t say no and he didn’t want to. But that didn’t stop him from wanting to understand just what the hell was going on here.

Lucas led the way to the bathroom without a question as to where it was. He proceeded to disrobe and left a pile of his clothes on the bathroom tile floor, totally at ease with his nudity in front of Derek and Ishwar.

“I am sorry, but did I miss something? Have you been here before?” Derek thought this was his first time here, but he walked around like he owned the place and as if he knew where everything was already.

“No.” Lucas’s tone was patient, but his brooding steel-blue eyes shared his compassion. “Just save your questions,
Chayak
.”

“The name’s Derek.” Derek walked very close to him. He wasn’t afraid of Lucas and he couldn’t allow him to intimidate him.

He could feel the steam of the shower as he watched the droplets of water roll off Lucas’s chest. It was hypnotic, but he wouldn’t give in. He needed to know what the fuck was going on and he was tired of everyone around him treating him like some kind of child. Ishwar stood off to the side, but he seemed unaffected by the other man. They weren’t protecting him by keeping him in the dark, and from the looks of things and the blood washing down the drain, being in the dark was a dangerous thing.

His heartbeat raced in his chest and his legs threatened to bolt, but he stood his ground.

“I know your name.” Lucas ran his hand through his hair, pushing it back away from his face. His eyes went up, looking toward the heavens. “Chayak is a term my people use for…an endearment.”

“The closest thing it can come close to in English is something like ‘love of my life,’” Ishwar intervened, arms folded across his chest, watching the two of them intently.

“Ch-ay-ak?” Derek rolled it over his tongue slowly, trying to understand the deeper meaning of what Ishwar said. Whoa. That only made thirty more questions come to mind. Why would he call him that? Sure, they had one night of mind-blowing sex together, but certainly it wasn’t that great for Lucas? He had to get it all the time with his good looks and the women throwing themselves at him all the time. Men envied him and those who didn’t want to be him wanted to be with him. He wasn’t lacking for possible lovers. “That just seems totally wrong for what I am to you. Didn’t you say it would only be one time?”

“Chayak, I haven’t been honest with you.” Lucas walked to Derek and touched Derek’s face, cradling his jaw in his hand, his thumb caressing his jawline. “You have to know that this carnal attraction between us is something much more than lust. It’s stronger—much more powerful.”

Derek backed up against the tile, Lucas’s strong arms caging him. His air came in ragged, short breaths and he felt the other man’s hardness through his wet clothes. His desire rode high on his thigh. He was inches from the other man’s lips, aching to be kissed, to be fucked. God, he wanted to taste him right now, to have him inside of him again. The desire was impossible to fight, even knowing Ishwar was to his right watching him cave to his desires.

“You need me as much as I need you, Chayak, because you and I were meant to be together. You belong to me.”

It felt so good to hear those words, but he should be fighting this attraction, shouldn’t he? There was some reason, but he couldn’t fucking think straight staring into those adoring eyes. Damn, there was Ishwar right behind him. Oh yeah. “I have a boyfriend.”

“Ishwar doesn’t mind, do you?” Lucas gave a half grin and turned to Ishwar, grinding against Derek. “In fact when I do this, he feels every bit as much pleasure as I do. Don’t you, Ishwar?”

Ishwar didn’t answer, but Derek saw his body tremble.

“How is that possible?” Derek asked.

“I had no choice.” Ishwar said. “You were very near death last night and Lucas bound our spirits together in order to heal you. I can hear his thoughts and he can hear mine. Some things that are especially strong, like when he is with his mate, I can feel.”

“You, Derek, are his mate.” Ishwar’s voice was raw, and an octave deeper than normal.

“The Wendigo don’t choose who we are bound to, except in Ishwar’s case. We live our lives just waiting to find our soul mate. I came here to find you, Chayak, and now that I’ve found you I can’t let you go. I’d lay down my life for you.” His lips crashed down on Derek’s, transferring his need and hunger. Derek’s gut tightened and his cock hardened. “I’d do anything for your pleasure.”