Secret Cravings (3 page)

Toto, we’re not in Manhattan anymore.

In West Texas, strangers could walk in to a store, ask to charge the account of an alleged relative, and the owner would have no qualms. Try doing that in any neighborhood in New York. Being back at the ranch was like stepping back in time. Kate couldn’t deny that she loved it here, but she’d fled her childhood home after high school graduation, being unable to bear the rejection of Troy and Rance day after day.

Now, the old sting burned fresh. “Gran, I’m going to dinner with Troy tonight.”

“Sweetheart, are you sure about that? You know I love those boys, but I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

Neither did she. “Don’t worry about me, Gran. I’ll be fine.”

“Sure you will. You’re a strong, independent woman. You take after me that way. You let those boys know if they do anything to upset you they will have to deal with me.”

She drew in a deep breath, trying to back down her jumpy nerves. Her old friends, Troy and Rance Keekoti, had once again gotten under her skin. The brothers had introduced her to beer, to fishing, to kissing. Had the accident not changed everything, she was pretty sure one of them would have introduced her to sex, too. But which brother? Rance or Troy? To choose would’ve torn her heart in half. Familiar feelings clawed at her insides, sending shivers up her spine. Maybe it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.

“Gran, I’m sure that there won’t be any trouble.” She’d be civil at dinner with Troy and keep herself in check.

“Okay. Yes, Esther. Oh, yes. Good idea. Kate, Esther got a local mobile phone for us while we’re in Peru. You’ve got the hotel number already. Let me give you this other number, so if you need to reach me, you can.”

A pen sat next to the address book. Kate loved Gran so much. “Trying to take care of me from four thousand miles away?”

“Of course. You have to dial zero-one-one-five-one…”

Kate jotted down the entire number in the front of the notebook. “Have fun, but be safe.”

“What trouble can a bunch of old women get into?” Then Gran started laughing. “See you in a few days. Love you, sweetie.”

“I love you, too.” Kate placed the receiver in the phone’s cradle.

She thought about calling Troy to cancel. That would be the sensible thing to do. But she did need food. Gran’s fridge was unusually bare. What harm could happen to have a meal with Troy?
Plenty, if I’m not careful.

Her mind drifted back to images of Troy and Rance. She hadn’t seen them in seven years, even though she came to the ranch several times every year to see Gran. They were now two very sexy looking men. Too sexy.

When they were younger, the three of them had been very close, and sharing the exact same birthday, Christmas Eve, seemed to enhance their bond. Two weeks after moving to Gran’s, Kate shared a joint birthday celebration with them. It was the first of many. Around the entire county, they’d been known as the Three Musketeers. Well, until that one summer night.

Kate sat down at Gran’s kitchen table. “Back in West Texas…and close to Troy and Rance.”
No ruby slippers to make everything better.
“I’m already home, but I’m no Dorothy. I need to stop being an idiot.”

Her brain whirled. As much as she loved Gran, she’d love to shake her right now. If her grandmother hadn’t been in Peru, Kate wouldn’t have to face dinner with Troy—and slice open the old wound. But she couldn’t deny that she still cared for the Keekoti twins, even after all she’d been through with them. Seeing them earlier had undone her. Even after all that had happened, she missed them.

“What am I thinking?” Nothing sane. Still, her body buzzed with naughty possibilities. Just being near Troy had caused her pussy to dampen. Then, when Rance had showed up, even more moisture pooled from her slit. Rance’s casual tone, as if she were someone he’d just been introduced to, drove her crazy. What was he thinking? Was he glad to see her? Would there be a chance to clear the air and get back to the friendship they’d all once had?

Kate needed to understand why Troy and Rance had iced her out so easily. She’d always wanted to know. Nodding to herself, she nailed down her resolve to see the night through to a sane and respectable conclusion.

She looked at the clock on the stove. Four-forty. Troy would be at the front door in an hour and twenty minutes to take her to dinner.

She considered asking her questions on their trip to and from the cafe but dismissed the idea. When he answered, Kate wanted him looking at her, not the road. The diner wouldn’t work either. Too public.

Finally, she thought of a plan. Get Troy back to Gran’s after their meal with an offer of dessert, then hit him with her pointed questions.

She stood and went to the wooden box on the kitchen counter that held Gran’s handwritten recipes. Kate fumbled through them, looking for one that could be made in under an hour. After a couple of minutes, she found the perfect dessert to make.

HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375.

Wet stir - combine sugar, butter, and vanilla until white. Beat eggs. Add to wet and stir well.

Mix dry ingredients together, then gradually add them into the mixture, blending thoroughly.

Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden.

Let stand for a few minutes before removing.

When Kate flipped the card over, she grinned at what her grandmother had written.

These cookies work beautifully for Magical inducements:

For all of the below, light a candle and set next to the oven. Fill a glass bowl with water and set it next to the candle.

For Confidence, add a pinch of limmary saying “Timeeka ortameeka” 3Xs

For Health, add a dash of succameg saying “Shommi dustan ortameeka”3Xs

For Memory, add…

Kate read on, thrilled that her grandmother had spent so much time on tiny details, knowing that one day her granddaughters would read her recipes and chuckle. But the last spell lines on the back of the card caused Kate to pause.

For Truth, a tsp. of yiccitun saying “Omna ecco ortameeka” 3Xs.

Chapter 3

Troy sat in Gran’s kitchen, watching Kate pouring milk into two glasses and placing cookies on a plate. He noticed the burnt candle and bowl of water next to the stove, finding it a bit odd, but his attention quickly shifted back to Kate when she turned and sent him a wide smile.

She wore black jeans, boots, and a red top that plunged enough to reveal the top of her cleavage. When she laughed at something inane he said, his flesh blazed. She sounded so alive and vibrant. He loved hearing her sweet tones. He could just imagine pressing his mouth against her lush lips, swallowing her moans of delight.

Sure, Rance would disapprove of him taking Kate up on her offer of dessert, but he couldn’t refuse her anything?

Troy hated how his date with Kate had gone so far…if you could call burgers and fries at the diner a
date
. They’d talked all around the invisible elephant in the room during dinner and continued the small talk on the drive home. He’d kept waiting for the hard questions, but none came.

Worse, his hunger for her spiked higher and higher the more time he spent with her. Her pheromones permeated the room. She might not be mentally ready to have sex, but she sure was physically ready. With each tick of the clock on the stove, his expanding eagerness to fuck Kate into a dreamy oblivion of forgetfulness and submission clawed at his mind. It took all of his willpower to resist the urge.

“Do you always keep your pistol with you when you visit a woman’s home?” Her lips curved up sweetly.

“Only certain women.” He watched her cheeks turn pink, then he placed the holstered weapon and its belt on the table. “You have been away for too long. Rattlesnakes don’t usually come out much during the winter, but you should always be prepared for anything around here. This isn’t New York.”

“You can say that again.” She placed a plate with eight sugar cookies in the middle of the table and handed him one of the glasses of milk. “I used Gran’s recipe, but I’m sure they won’t be as good as hers.”

“I bet they will be great.” Troy grabbed one cookie and took a bite. It tasted sweet and tender, and the edges were wonderfully crisp.

“I wanted to put icing on them, but ran out of time.”

“Kate, it’s perfect.” His heartbeat sped up and his temperature rose. They’d sipped iced tea at the diner, so this sudden feeling of inebriation didn’t make sense.

“I had to change a couple of things since Gran was out of two of the ingredients.”

“Stop being so Southern. I love them.” He finished off the cookie and grabbed another. He tried to focus his thoughts, but something was…off.

“I’m glad you like them. I don’t get a chance to bake much.”

“Are you going to have one?” His primitive nature howled for release, and his cock lengthened.

“Yes.” Kate took a bite of one. Her face flushed beautifully red. “You told me you would answer some questions.”

“Yes, I did.” The room spun, and his body warmed. He inhaled Kate’s hot fragrance coming from her jeans, a silent call to be possessed and pleasured. Her scent saturated the air, driving him mad with desire.

Goddamn, he would have her tonight. Fuck the rules. No matter the tribe’s law that no outsiders could be joined to shifters, Kate was his and Rance’s mate. Troy had known it since the accident. Rance, too. Their teenage vow be damned. No other would have her.

She paused and sat down. He watched her tremble, clearly struggling with something.

Troy reached across the table and grasped her hand, hoping to calm her. From that single touch, electricity shot up his arm and down his chest, exploding in his groin. Cravings, deep and instinctual, broke free of his will and rose up in a rush. He would collect what had always been his by sliding his dick inside Kate’s wet pussy.

A single tear fell from her right eye. “What did I do that made you and Rance hate me?”

* * * *

Kate couldn’t bear looking at Troy, so she shut her eyes. He didn’t have to tell her anything. But he did.

Whispering in a serious tone, he said, “Kate, you didn’t do anything wrong, and we don’t hate you. Never have.”

Her mind churned with a million mental states. Loss. Regret. Desire. That latter emotion seemed to be growing inside her at a breakneck pace. It was as if her subconscious had been given free rein. Such a sudden response had never happened to her before. Strange. She finished her cookie. Then her heartbeat ramped up and her temperature rose. Moisture seeped from her pussy.

She wanted Troy to hold her…needed him to let her know he still cared for her. Sure, it was nuts but it was also true. She heard him stand, and she opened her eyes, as more tears streamed down her cheeks. Hadn’t this been her fantasy? A part of her mind, the sane part, begged her to get a grip and to think, but the thrilling dizziness she felt wouldn’t let her.

“I could never hate the girl of my dreams.” His yellow eyes burned with lust and the promise of pleasure. “You’re no longer a girl anymore. You’re a fucking hot woman, Kate. I’m going to sample your taut nipples.”

She loved his lusty talk, thirsted for it. What was happening to her? She felt drunk with need. When his thumb grazed her nubs through her shirt, a shiver rolled from where he touched down to her pussy.

“Troy, we shouldn’t.” But crazy or not, she didn’t really want him to stop. This wasn’t the reunion she’d expected, but it was the one she’d dreamed about.

“Sweetheart, I’m going to sample every inch of you .” He parted his lips and kissed her.