Animal Instincts (2 page)

9

“That’s the damn truth,” Hob Winston agreed. “Now I know all of you. Y’all are clients of the bank. You work hard to maintain the honour of Texas ranching. If someone
is
doing this, it will taint the entire area.”

Someone in the front raised a hand. “Have you contacted Texas Game and Wildlife?”

Mason nodded. “Absolutely. Talked to the local game warden. But he tells me they’re stretched as thin as everyone else. Asked us to see what we could check out and report back to them.”

“I’ve got my men out riding every night,” Bo Sheridan said, “checking area by area to see what they can sniff out.”

“Did they find anything?” someone else asked.

Sheridan shook his head. “Not yet, but we aren’t giving up. And we’re asking all of you to keep your eyes and ears open. If you see or hear anything, let Hob Winston know. He’s agreed to be the central clearing house for information.”

Drew listened as the meeting wound down, studying the men at the front of the room.

Something was off, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it. Maybe he’d do some of his own night riding.

The white wolf raced hard across the pasture, heading for the copse of trees at one end.

She’d been out again trying to find the illegal game preserve and searching for John, but she’d been spotted. Two men had chased her across acres of ranch land, firing twice at her, but she was too far away for them to hit. She knew they didn’t want to kill her. John had told her they liked to maim animals and torment and torture them before finally killing them.

She’d been very careful, but somehow she’d been spotted.

Her lungs were bursting as she increased her speed. Somewhere in this vast area she had to find someone to help her, but to do that she needed to avoid capture herself. She’d finally realised that she had to approach a human, hoping he wouldn’t throw her out or have her committed. Her destination was the ranch house just on the other side of these trees, drawn to it by some essence of safety, and she hoped she wasn’t wrong. The man who was the obvious owner of Hawk’s Run Ranch had an air about him that called to her wolf sense.

ANIMAL INSTINCTS

Desiree Holt

10

Last night, after finally making her way back to her hidden camp site, she’d drawn a crude map of the areas she’d scoped out, places that might be hiding the phantom game preserve. Hawk’s Run wasn’t large enough, so she could eliminate the owner, she hoped.

Maybe he was in on it, but she prayed he wasn’t.

He’d been gone most of the day and part of the evening, so she’d taken off again to do her searching. Now she’d been spotted and her chances of escape were narrowing. She had nearly reached the edge of the clearing again, where his house stood, when she heard the feared hoof beats thundering closer.

The crack of the rifle shot split the air an instant before she felt the bullet hit her shoulder. She stumbled but pushed herself forward. She couldn’t afford to be captured by these people. Just as the last of her strength ebbed from her, she heard footsteps running across the ground and a man’s voice shouting into the woods.

Then there was only blackness.

Drew had just pulled into the parking area next to the house when he heard the unmistakeable sound of the rifle shot. Grabbing his shotgun from the truck, he raced across the clearing in the direction of the sound, his heart pounding. His horses were all inside for the night and the cattle were in the north pasture. Still, this was private land and no one should be using any kind of weapon on it.

As he reached the small wooded area he stopped and fired one shot in the air.

“Whoever you are,” he called, “you’d better get the hell out of here before I shove the barrel of this gun up your ass.”

He was breathing heavily, anger coursing through him, as he heard the fading sound of hoof beats. What the hell? Sheridan’s land bordered his. Were the man’s ranch hands riding his land looking for the game preserve? If so, why? They knew him better than that. If these were some of the people involved with the rumoured illegal game preserve, what did they expect to find at Hawk’s Run?

He knew he was a target in the moonlight, but he didn’t think anyone would be crazy enough to shoot him on his own property. About to turn and head back for the house, a faint ANIMAL INSTINCTS

Desiree Holt

11

whimpering sound caught his attention. Walking slowly along the edge of the trees, his gun ready to use if necessary, he was stunned to find a white wolf lying at the edge of the clearing.

He stopped about ten feet from it. If this was a real wolf and it was injured it could turn on him. He might be better to put it out of its misery. On the other hand, what the hell was a white wolf doing in this area? He sniffed the air, seeking the scent of a shifter, but the mingled odours of grass, cattle, cow patties and maybe injuries worked to mask the scent.

The white head turned towards him, and the same whimpering sound drifted on the night air. Drew took one step closer, then two, finally reaching the animal’s side. Its amber eyes fixed him with a painful stare. Drew knelt down and stroked the head, waiting for jaws to snap at him, but instead he could have sworn a tear leaked from one golden eye.

Okay. No snapping jaws, no vicious growl. His gut told him this was definitely a shifter, and one that had been running hard. Running from the shooters.

He ran a hand lightly over the wound that was oozing blood. The bullet had ploughed a deep furrow in the wolf’s right shoulder, but fortunately had not lodged in the flesh. It would be painful but not permanently damaging. The problem now was how to get the wolf to his house and inside without causing too much pain. He had a choice between leaving the wolf and trying to find something to carry it in, or gritting his teeth for both of them, lifting it and cradling it in his arms.

Opting for door number two, he crouched and as carefully as possible slid his arms under the wounded animal and lifted it as gently as possible, the rifle clamped in the fingers of one hand. The trek to the house was slow and laborious, but he finally made it up the back steps and into the great room. Trying not to jostle the animal any more than necessary, he placed the wolf on the thick rug next to the couch. In the bathroom, he found antibiotic salve and some topical pain killer. With a deft touch he cleaned the wound and treated it with the medication. Finally, he got a bowl of water and placed it next to the wolf’s head, pleased when it made the effort to drink.

When he was sure he’d done everything he could, he covered the animal with a soft plaid blanket, found another one for himself, pulled off his boots and lay down on the couch.

He thought of setting the alarm on his watch to check on the wolf in two hours, but before he could get around to it he fell asleep.

ANIMAL INSTINCTS

Desiree Holt

12

The first thing Drew realised when he awoke was that he was stiff and sore and definitely not in his bed. The second thing, when he finally pried his eyes open, was that was a naked blonde was curled up on the rug beside the couch. A thick mass of lustrous curls tumbled over her shoulders and her skin, where the blanket had been dislodged, was as smooth and fine as alabaster. A thin red line across one shoulder was the only evidence of the bullet that had hit her.

A shifter. He’d known it in his gut, but here was his proof. How and why did a shifter end up in Texas and more importantly, here on his property? He sat up very quietly, staring at her. His original intuition had been right. She was a shifter, like him. But where had she come from and what was she doing here?

Trying to be as silent as possible he rolled off the couch and crouched beside her. A flash of heat went straight to his groin, his cock hardening and thickening. Unable to help himself, he drew back the blanket, exposing her entire body. Now the heat coalesced into a major hard-on that threatened to break the zipper of his jeans. He couldn’t remember the last time a female has aroused him so quickly.

Of course, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had sex with someone who really turned him on, either. He had become far more of a loner than he’d ever expected.

Tentatively he reached out a finger and traced the thin red line. The blonde trembled in her sleep but didn’t waken. Emboldened he drew a line across the swell of her breasts, then lightly touched each rosy nipple. They peaked immediately at the contact and a tiny moan echoed in her throat. Brushing the tousle of curls away from her face, Drew leant forward impulsively and placed a soft kiss on her full mouth, running the tip of his tongue along the closed seam. She had a clean taste, like the leaves in the forest after a rain or the water in a lake when a breeze had ruffled its surface.

He licked her lips again, wondering how long it would take for her to realise something was happening. He didn’t have long to wait. The moment he tried to slip his tongue inside, she awoke with a start and bolted upright, jamming her head against his nose.

“Jesus!” He reared back, pain shooting through his head and clamped one hand over his face.

ANIMAL INSTINCTS

Desiree Holt

13

The blonde yanked the blanket around her and scrambled away from him, a ferocious look in her eyes.

“What kind of pervert are you, anyway?” she demanded. “Do you always take women home, strip them naked and fondle them while they’re asleep?”

He swallowed a grin. “Only when they start out as a wolf and then shift,” he told her.

“S-Shift?” She clutched the blanket to her, her amber eyes as wide as the sun, her skin, if possible even paler. “W-What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. I brought a wounded white wolf into my house last night and this morning woke up with a gorgeous blonde. You’re not going to try and tell me you slipped in here in the middle of the night, are you?”

She still had a terrified look about her, and Drew couldn’t exactly blame her. “I want my clothes right away.”

Now the grin slipped free. “That would be a little difficult, since you didn’t arrive with any.” He stood up, keeping a safe distance from her. “Look. Maybe this will help.”

He stripped off his clothes, ignoring the startled look on her face. Closing his eyes, he focused on his inner self and forced himself to shift. He felt his bones stretching, his hands turning into paws, his face elongating, the hair on his body thickening. In seconds he had turned himself into the wolf, his rich brown pelt reflecting the light. He looked over at the blonde, who was staring at him as if she was seeing things.

“Y-You shifted,” she stammered.

He let his tongue loll as he gave her a wolfish version of a smile. He licked his lips, then in seconds reversed the process.

“That makes two of us, right?” he said.

Her eyes were glued to his naked body, and she made an obvious effort to bring back her concentration. “I didn’t know there were any shifters around here.”

“As far as I know, there’s just me in this particular area,” he told her, not yet willing to tell her about The Sentinels. “I’m Drew Noland.” He waited and when she still stared at him, said, “It’s customary when someone tells you their name to tell them yours.”

She swallowed, her pink tongue wetting her lips. “Ann Marie Knight.”

Drew let the grin slide over his mouth and hoped he wasn’t drooling. “I’m very happy to meet you, Ann Marie Knight. Happier than you can imagine.”

ANIMAL INSTINCTS

Desiree Holt

14

She stood up, the blanket falling away from her. “You don’t know how glad I am to meet
you
.”

He frowned. Was there something going on here he didn’t know about? “And why is that?”

“I-I need your help.” She swallowed again, eyes wide as saucers. “Especially now that I know you’re a shifter.”

His eyes swept over her body, noting the firm breasts with plum-coloured nipples, the slightly rounded belly, the thatch of natural blonde curls covering her sex, her slender legs.

He was also aware that his cock was swollen and erect and pointing almost straight at her.

He took one step towards her, and when she didn’t back away he took another, and another, until he was so close to her they were touching.

“What do you have in mind?” He forced himself to focus, but his brain was being pushed aside by his cock.

“I-I have a problem I really need help with.”

A problem? He’d listen to what she had to say, but not until his cock was satisfied and his brain could function again. This woman turned him into a seething mass of testosterone, heavy desire surging through every part of his body.

“I think the biggest problem right now,” he told her in a voice thick with lust, “is the heat between us. Don’t tell me you don’t feel it, too. I want you. Right now.” His hands slid up her arms and tightened just below her shoulders. “If you don’t want what we both know is going to happen, better grab that blanket.”

What the hell am I doing here?

But he couldn’t remember the last time a woman had set his blood to boiling so quickly, made his cock so hard and swell so fast it drove the need in him higher than he could remember.

He moved his hands again, this time to cup her face, and when she didn’t back away he lowered his mouth to hers in a possessive kiss. His tongue stroked the soft flesh, licking before pressing against the closed seam until she opened for him. Her mouth was a hot, wet cavern that set him on fire, streaks of flame shooting straight to his cock and balls.

Her small hands gripped his hard biceps as if she were clinging onto him for life, while her tongue duelled with his and mimicked its strokes. The first slide of her tongue against his ANIMAL INSTINCTS

Desiree Holt

15

lit up his body like a firecracker, setting all his senses on fire. He probed deeper, as if he’d never get enough of her flavour.

She tasted earthy, just like she smelled, like a clean spring morning, and he wondered if he’d ever be able to stop kissing her. The taste of her was intoxicating, firing his senses and making his already hard cock swell even more.