Wild Craving (2 page)

He wandered
around the market, pretending to be interested in what was displayed on the
tables at each stall, even though he discreetly checked out the scent of each
wolf shifter female there. He wasn’t the only outsider. There were a few humans
browsing as well, locals who lived close by. The pack didn’t keep their market
a secret.

Kiel had scented
every female there and not one of them brought his cock to life. He figured
this pack was a bust. He drove to the next, and much to his disappointment, met
with the same result. That left the one situated in the city.

Helena had a
population of approximately twenty-eight thousand, and was the capital city of
Montana. Humans first settled there when gold had been found in the mid-1800s
in a gulch off the Prickly Pear valley. The original camp had been called Last
Chance, which resulted in the city’s main street being named Last Chance Gulch.

To Kiel, it was
a place he would never feel comfortable living in. There were too many people
and the land too built up for his liking. He was a wolf who needed the forests
in Canyon Creek to run through and the wildlife to hunt. He couldn’t understand
how the Helena pack could have adapted to this very human way of life.

He hoped like
hell he wouldn’t find his mate there. If he didn’t, he’d have to travel to
other packs farther away, which Kiel was more than willing to make the trip. At
least they kept to their wolf heritage and he wouldn’t have to make the choice
of having to give up his way of life to keep his mate happy.

Kiel arrived in
Helena, but decided to go to a coffee shop to get something to eat before he
started the lengthy task of seeking out the pack who called the city home. For
one thing, he had to come up with some kind of excuse to go knocking door-to-door.
He couldn’t exactly blurt out what his real reason was. One of the pack members
would call their leader and Kiel would find himself in a situation he wanted to
avoid.

He pulled into
the parking lot of a coffee shop just off the main street and parked. Since it
was close to noon, the place was half full. Kiel took a seat at the counter and
looked over the menu. The place offered soups and sandwiches, along with a wide
range of doughnuts and muffins, as well as coffee and tea. Once a waitress came
to ask what he wanted, he ordered a sandwich and coffee.

After the woman
left to put his order in, the shop’s door opened, sending a gust of air through
the space in his direction. It carried a scent that had Kiel silently moaning
as his cock went from limp as a noodle to rock hard in a second flat. He turned
his head toward the entrance and his gaze landed on the human woman who was his
mate.

Chapter Two

Neha stepped
into the coffee shop, grateful to be out of her rental car. She’d been on the
road since eight that morning. The drive from Yellowstone National Park to
Helena had taken almost four hours. She’d been on a modeling shoot at the park
for the last two days, and she was more than ready to go home. A quick look at
her watch showed she had an hour and a half before her flight from Helena
Regional Airport to New York was to leave. She was supposed to have checked in
a half hour ago, but she had no intention of sitting for that long inside the
airport.

Her high-heeled
shoes clicked on the linoleum floor as she walked farther inside the shop. Neha
looked at the other people sitting at tables and booths and noticed she stood
out in her fashionable dress and heels. Everyone else had the causal-look going
on. Since becoming a fashion model two years before, she dressed the part
whenever she was going to be out in public. Helena was a hick town compared to
New York City, but she wasn’t about to change what she wore to fit in with the
locals.

Neha spotted an
empty table at the back of the room and headed in its direction. She walked
past the counter where other patrons sat eating. Her gaze landed on a man whose
looks almost took her breath away. He actually put the male models she’d left
in Yellowstone to shame. His black, straight hair was on the longish side and brushed
the tops of his shoulders. He had a square jaw, chiseled cheekbones and firm
lips, but it was his eyes that drew her attention the most. They were an
amazing light green, and the way they seemed to be eating her up, she couldn’t
help her body’s reaction. Her blood heated and an ache throbbed deep inside her
pussy.

Acting like the
cool, sophisticated woman she was, Neha forced her gaze off Mr. Delectable and
continued on to the table she’d chosen. As she walked by him, she dragged in a
deep breath and almost groaned out loud. Not only was he a gorgeous male
specimen, he smelled great. His scent was musky and all male, which made the
ache in her pussy increase. If a company was able to duplicate it and sell it
as a man’s cologne, they’d make millions.

She reached the
back table and sat. She made sure she took a spot that gave her a good view of
the counter and the hunk who was seated there. Neha looked over at him and
found him still staring at her as if she were something he wanted to sink his
teeth into. She didn’t think she’d try to stop him if he tried.

A waitress came
to Neha’s table and asked if she was ready to order. Neha quickly scanned the
menu. Most of the food was fattening and not allowed on the diet she maintained
to keep her present weight. She figured she could eat whatever she wanted once
her modeling career ended. She chose the vegetable chicken noodle soup and a
glass of water.

After the
waitress left, Neha turned her gaze back to the hunk at the counter. She sucked
in a quick breath when she saw he walked toward her, carrying a plate with a
sandwich and a steaming cup of coffee. She sat straighter once he reached her
table.

“I noticed you
came in alone,” he said in his toe-curling deep voice. “Do you mind if I join
you? I thought maybe you’d like the company.”

Normally Neha
would have shot down a guy who tried something like that. She wasn’t naive when
it came to her looks. She hadn’t become a successful model because she was
average-looking. She’d had more than her share of men who panted over her, only
interested in getting her into their beds. But with Mr. Gorgeous, she nodded,
allowing him to join her. With his incredible scent filling her lungs, she
didn’t have the will power to resist.

He placed what
he carried on the table and then pulled out the chair across from her. Neha
followed his movements with her gaze. His black t-shirt was stretched tight
across his muscular shoulders and well-defined chest. His wide back ended in a
tapered waist that was hugged by snug-fitting jeans. She also couldn’t miss the
fact he sported an erection, which caused her breath to catch in her lungs. For
some reason, she wasn’t put off by it, even though they’d barely spoken. She
was drawn to him unlike any man before.

Once he sat, he
smiled, which had butterflies fluttering in Neha’s stomach and wetness pooling
between her legs. She hadn’t thought he could be any better looking, but that
smile proved he could. She found herself unable to drag her gaze off his lips.

“I’m Kiel,” he
said.

Neha sucked in a
shaky breath and met his gaze. “I’m Neha.”

“Thanks for
agreeing to allow me to join you.”

At that point,
the waitress came to the table with Neha’s soup and water. Once the items were
placed in front of Neha, the woman left her and Kiel alone again.

Neha picked up
the conversation where it’d let off. “I don’t normally make it a practice to
eat with every random man who asks.”

Kiel grinned.
“Then I guess I should count myself privileged.” He paused, then said, “By the
way you’re dressed, I’d say you aren’t from around here.”

“You guessed
right. I live in New York City. I was at Yellowstone on a photo shoot for the
last two days.”

Neha didn’t miss
the look of disappointment that passed for a split second over Kiel’s face. “So
you’re a model?”

“Yes. I’ve been
featured in quite a few popular women’s magazines since I had my start a couple
years ago. Maybe you’ve seen them?”

Kiel chuckled.
“No, sorry I haven’t. Those wouldn’t be the type of magazines I’d be buying.”

Neha smiled. “I
guess not.”

“Are you staying
in Helena for a while?”

“Actually, no. I
have to catch a flight to New York City in less an hour and a half. I just got
back from Yellowstone. I’m going to finish my lunch, return my rental car, then
check in at the airport.”

Kiel appeared
uneasy as he picked up half his sandwich and took a bite. Neha ate some of her
soup. She decided to see how their short time together turned out. If it looked
as if they would hit it off, she’d ask for his email address and cell phone
number so she could keep in contact with him once she was home.

“Would you like
some company while you wait for your flight?” Kiel asked as his gaze met hers.

That was an
excellent idea. She’d have a better chance of getting to know him, and to see
if he was worth considering as boyfriend potential. To be honest, if she
managed to get him to come to New York City, with her connections, she’d have
no problem helping Kiel get into modeling. But that was getting a little ahead
of herself.

She nodded.
“Okay. Sure. Why not?”

So far he hadn’t
turned out to be a jerk, and the airport was about as a public place as she
could get with the number of passengers milling around, and airport security as
well. Not that she expected Kiel to attack her or anything. He didn’t give off
the icky vibe some men did when all they were interested in her was as a sex
object.

They finished
eating, their conversation about everyday things. Neha checked her watch and
saw she had an hour before her flight was scheduled to leave. She should have
plenty of time to return her rental car and then make it to the terminal.

The waitress
brought their bills. Neha reached for her purse that she’d set on the table
close to her, but Kiel shook his head. He slid her bill over to his side, then
took out his wallet from his jeans back pocket. He took out enough money to
cover their food and a tip.

“Ready to go?”
he asked.

“Yeah. I’ll meet
you at the terminal entrance. My modeling agency already took care of the cost
of my rental car so I don’t have to do anything but drop it and the keys off.”

“All right.”

They walked out
of the coffee shop and headed for the parking lot. Once inside her rental, Neha
watched as Kiel went to an older-model pickup truck and climbed inside. After
he started the engine, she backed out of her space and then drove toward the
street. He pulled up behind her. Even though she’d hated her time at Yellowstone—a
nature girl she was not—this modeling job had turned out not bad, after all.
She’d met a hunk who might make returning to Helena at some point worthwhile.

* * * *

Kiel followed
Neha’s rental car at a short distance as they drove toward the airport. Even
though on the outside he didn’t show it, on the inside he was more than shocked
over the fact his mate was human. It never happened.
Ever.
Not once in
wolf shifter history had he heard of one of their kind becoming mated to
someone outside of their species. And that being the case, he had no idea how
to proceed with Neha.

He really didn’t
have a problem with her being what she was. For one thing, she was downright
gorgeous. He itched to run his fingers through her long, brown hair. Her eyes
were so dark brown they almost appeared black. Kiel had never slept with a
human before, but he was more than willing to take Neha to his bed. And it
wasn’t only her looks that did it for him. She seemed like a nice person. She
might dress upscale, but she hadn’t looked down her nose at the locals at the
coffee shop or him.

Thinking of the
figure-hugging dress Neha wore had Kiel’s hard-on twitching. There was no
mistaking what she did to him. She most definitely was his mate. And that being
the case, he had less than an hour to think up some kind of excuse to keep her
there in Helena. There was no way he could let her get on that plane to New
York City and leave him behind. He needed to claim her, make her his. He didn’t
want to lose his humanity. Even though he’d been born a wolf, he liked this
other part of himself. He couldn’t lose it, and he couldn’t lose Neha.

It wasn’t long
before they turned onto Skyway Drive where the airport was located. Kiel racked
his brain, trying his damnedest to think of a way to keep Neha from going home.
He couldn’t come up with anything other than two options. One, he’d buy a
ticket and go with her to New York City, which he doubted he had enough money
to do in the first place. Plus, she’d think he was some kind of weirdo to
expect her to take him home with her. They didn’t really know each other to be
going that far. The second choice was he’d kidnap her, take her to his cabin
and keep her there until he explained what he was, what she meant to him and
then claim her. If it went horribly wrong and she managed to get to the city on
her own, he’d have the cops after him. She’d also want nothing to do with him
ever again and he’d become one hundred percent wolf.

At the airport,
Kiel drove to the short-term parking lot while Neha continued on to the rental
car place. He quickly found an empty space for his pickup, then headed for the
terminal to wait for her.

It wasn’t very
long before Neha came into view. She walked toward him, pulling a large wheeled
suitcase behind her. She had a carry-on bag slung over her shoulder. To him, it
looked like an awful lot of luggage for a two-day trip. If he hadn’t known, he
would have guessed she’d been prepared for a week.

Neha smiled once
she reached Kiel, and he took her luggage from her. “Thanks.”

He looked down
at the high heels she wore. “No problem. With those shoes, you’re liable to
turn an ankle.”

She chuckled. “I
doubt it. I wear heels every day. I can do a lot in them.”

Kiel ran his
gaze up her shapely legs. He could think of one particular thing they could do
together while she wore those shoes. And it involved them being naked and her
thighs around his hips.

He pushed away
his wayward thoughts and cleared his throat as a surge of arousal pushed through
him. “Still, I’ll take care of your bags for you just in case.”

Neha leaned
slightly in his direction and dragged in a big breath. “God, you smell good. I
noticed back at the coffee shop, but now it’s stronger. I could bury my nose
against your chest and breathe you in all day long.”

Kiel bit back a
moan at the thought of Neha actually doing that. It caused another surge of
arousal to spike through him and his cock to ache with pounding need. She
seemed to sway toward as she stared at his mouth with heavy-lidded eyes. He
took a step back. If they continued this way, they’d be finding a secluded
corner somewhere and he’d be claiming her in a very public area. That wasn’t
going happen.

“I guess we
should hurry and get you checked in before you miss your flight,” he said.

Neha gave a
small shake of her head and seemed to come out of the almost trance she’d been
in. “Yeah. Right.”

She walked
toward the terminal’s entrance, and Kiel fell into step with her. He went where
she did, not having a clue where the check-in would be. He’d driven by the
airport, but had never been inside it. Plus, he’d never been on an airplane
before. He’d also never been anywhere outside of Montana. Helena was the
farthest he’d ever gone from Canyon Creek, which was only thirty miles
northwest of the city.

Once they
reached a long counter with three different stations, they stood in the short
line to get to one. After they moved up and waited for someone to finish so
they’d be next, Neha took out her plane ticket from her purse. Kiel frantically
thought of different scenarios to keep her with him, but each one was dumber
than the next.

His mind whirled
as he followed Neha to the available station. He had to do
something
.
Kiel opened his mouth to blurt out anything, but snapped it closed once the
woman who was behind the counter spoke.

“I’m sorry,
miss. Your flight was cancelled. Passengers were rebooked to other flights.”

“Okay, then
rebook me.”

The woman shook
her head. “There are no seats available.” The woman gave Neha a hard stare. “If
you’d checked in two hours before your original flight was to depart as you
were supposed to, you would have gotten one.”