Wild Craving (3 page)

“All right. When
is the next one going out?”

“Not until
tomorrow evening.”

“So I’m stuck
here until then?”

“I’m afraid so.”
The woman didn’t at all appear sorry for Neha. “I suggest you book into a
hotel.”

“Since I don’t
have any choice, I guess I have to,” Neha said. “Can you get me a seat on the
flight leaving tomorrow evening, at least?”

The woman
nodded, then typed away on the computer in front of her on the lower counter.
Shortly after that a ticket printed out. She handed it to Neha. “That’s the
last seat for that flight. I suggest you check in two hours ahead of departure
this time.”

Neha took the
ticket, then walked away from the counter. She grumbled under her breath. She
might be angry about the circumstances, but Kiel wasn’t. He now had over
twenty-four hours to come up with a plan to keep her with him beyond that time.

Once they were
well away from others, Neha came to a stop and turned to face him. “I no longer
have my rental. Do you mind driving me to a hotel so I can find a room? If you
don’t want to, I can take a taxi.”

Kiel really
didn’t like the hotel idea either, so he said what jumped into his mind first.
“I have a cabin located in Canyon Creek. It’s about thirty miles from Helena.
You can have it all to yourself and it won’t cost you a cent.”

“I don’t know,”
Neha said with some reluctance.

“That way, I can
bring you here again for your flight tomorrow. You wouldn’t have to worry about
calling a cab.”

Even though it
wasn’t very fair of him, Kiel conjured up the image of him and Neha naked in
his bed as they made love. Of course that caused the now-familiar surge of
arousal to take hold of him and his scent to increase. Neha’s face took on a
dazed expression as she breathed it deep. The smell of her desire hit his nose
and he had to swallow back a wolf-like growl.

“Okay,” she said
huskily. “I’ll stay at your cabin for the night.”

That was all the
answer Kiel wanted. He took hold of Neha by her arm and hurried her out of the
terminal. He wanted her in his pickup truck and well on the way to Canyon Creek
as fast as he could before she decided to change her mind.

Chapter Three

Neha found
herself practically dragged along by Kiel as he walked them out of the terminal
and toward the short-term parking lot where he’d left his pickup. Though she
wasn’t short at five-foot-nine, he had a longer stride than her since he had to
be at least six-foot-six. And trying to keep up with him while wearing heels
was a feat in itself. He somehow managed to pull her wheeled suitcase, keep her
carry-on securely over his shoulder and hold on to her all at the same time.

Once they
reached his truck, Kiel opened the passenger door for her, then after she got
in went to the back and placed her luggage in the bed. He seemed in an awful
rush. In no time flat, he was behind the wheel and backing out of the parking
space. At the exit, he didn’t have to pay since they’d been there for less than
an hour.

Kiel kept his
gaze on the road as he drove. Neha was a little shocked at herself over how
quickly she’d agreed to spend the night at his cabin. A hotel would have made
better sense because it was in the city, unlike where they were headed.

The only thing
she could blame her rash decision on was the man himself. Neha wanted Kiel like
no other guy before him. Even now her pussy throbbed with unfulfilled desire. His
looks drew her, but the way he smelled turned her crank more. Back in the
airport, she’d wanted to plaster herself against him and find out if he tasted
just as good. It made it so she couldn’t think straight. She’d become so
aroused she’d been on the verge of kissing him right in the middle of the
terminal, and she had a feeling she wouldn’t have been able to stop just there
once she got started.

At least Neha
was going to have Kiel’s cabin to herself. She would have been an even bigger
fool if he’d said he’d be sleeping there as well and she still agreed to go.
The good thing was it wasn’t going to cost her a thing. She hadn’t brought much
money with her from New York since her modeling agency had taken care of the
cost of her time in Montana, but she wasn’t sure if they would extend that
since it’d been her mistake that kept her there. She had a credit card, but
she’d used it a little more than she should have that month and didn’t want to
push it any more than she already had.

The silence stretched
between her and Kiel. Neha turned her head and looked at him. “So how long is
it going to take to reach your cabin?” she asked.

He glanced at
her before his gaze returned to the road. “About thirty minutes or so.”

“That’s not too
bad I guess. If you’re allowing me to use it for the night by myself, where are
you going to sleep? Or do you have another place in Helena?”

He smiled. “My
family and I all live at Canyon Creek. I’m sure someone will put me up,
considering I have my parents and five brothers to choose from.”

Her eyes
widened. “Five brothers?”

Kiel chuckled.
“Yes, and I’m the oldest.”

“How many years
apart are you all?”

“There was five
minutes between each one of us.”

Neha’s gaze
landed on him. “Your mom had sextuplets? And all boys? Holy crap. The poor
woman.”

His deep laugh
filled the cab of the truck. “Yeah, we were a bit of a handful growing up. We
definitely gave our mom a run for her money.”

“I bet. Is she
still sane?”

“Yes.” He
laughed again.

“Wow. She must
be pretty tough. I doubt I’d be able to handle having that many babies all at
the same time. I suppose she didn’t want any more kids after all you guys.”

“Knowing my mom,
she would have if she’d been able to. After mine and my brothers’ birth, she
didn’t get pregnant again.”

“Well, with six
kids, that makes a large family.”

“Do you have any
brothers or sisters?” Kiel asked.

“I have an older
brother. He’s twenty-six and two years older than I am.”

“Are you close?”

“Pretty much. Since
my parents and brother live in New York too, my mom has us over for dinner
every Sunday when we can make it.”

“With my family,
we tend to just drop by each other’s cabins whenever we want. Sometimes my
brothers do it too frequently.”

Neha chuckled.
“I guess that’s the risk you have to face with having so many siblings.”

“You could say
that.”

The silence grew
between her and Kiel once more. Neha looked out the window and watched the
scenery go by. They were probably twenty minutes into the trip when she noticed
the area they traveled through was mountainous and wooded. It became even more
so as he turned the pickup off the paved road and onto a graveled one.

“How much longer
until we arrive at your cabin?” Neha asked.

“I’d say in
about ten minutes,” Kiel replied.

Neha questioned
if she’d made the right decision. She hadn’t known Kiel’s place would be so
remote. By “cabin” she’d thought it would be a house that was cabin-like in
style, but on farmland instead of in the bush. From what she saw through the
window, it looked as if they drove through landscape that appeared more untamed
than it’d been at Yellowstone.

As Kiel turned
off the graveled road and onto what could only be described as a dirt path,
Neha was glad it would only be one night she spent there. Plus, she really
didn’t want to back out now that they were almost at their destination. If she
demanded he take her to Helena and a hotel, she doubted she’d see him again. It
would be really rude of her to renege on his generous offer.

Kiel turned
right as the path forked, then it was only half a minute before they came to a
stop in front of an outbuilding that sat near an honest to goodness log cabin.
Neha looked at where she’d be spending the night and told herself it wouldn’t
be that bad. She hoped.

*

Kiel turned off
the truck’s engine, then looked at Neha. She stared out the window at his home.
She wore no expression, so he wasn’t sure what her reaction was to seeing it.
From knowing where she lived, and how she was dressed, he had a feeling his
cabin would be well out of the scope of what she was used to.

“Come on. I’ll
show you around,” Kiel said as he opened his door, then got out of the pickup.

Neha did the
same as he walked to the back of the bed and then took out her luggage. He came
to stand at her side and started them toward his cabin. The dirt under their
feet was hard-packed with some small rocks. It wasn’t really ideal for high
heels. To prove him correct, she stumbled and had to grab his arm to prevent
herself from falling.

Neha gave him a
sheepish smile. “Sorry.”

“That’s okay.
While you’re here, I suggest you wear something other than those heels.”

“That’s the only
kind of shoes I have with me. I’m really not into wearing sneakers unless I’m
going to the gym to work out.”

“Then you won’t
be going on any hikes,” Kiel said jokingly.

“No,” Neha
agreed with a smile. “I’m not into the whole nature thing, anyway.”

This didn’t bode
well for Kiel, in his attempt to claim Neha as his mate. Being a wolf shifter,
he was a part of nature, and he would expect her to live at Canyon Creek with
him.

As they reached
the cabin’s porch, Neha asked as she looked around, “Am I going to have to be
worried about any wild animals coming around?”

“There are bears,
but you won’t have to worry about them. They don’t tend to come close very
often. I guess I should warn you about the wolves.”

Neha’s eyes widened.
“Wolves?”

“Yes. There’s a
small pack of them who call this area home. They’re very friendly and would
never harm you. One might come by and stay. He considers my cabin his second
home, and I let him inside. So if he comes, you can feel safe letting him in.”

The wolf Kiel
told Neha about would be him in his animal form. He wouldn’t be spending the
night with any of his family. He hoped she’d let him inside with her, but if
she didn’t, it wasn’t a hardship for him to sleep outside on the porch.

“You want me to
allow a wild wolf to come into the cabin while I’m there?”

“As I said, it’s
perfectly safe.”

“If he does come
around, I can’t guarantee I’ll let him in. I’d be afraid he’d attack me while I
slept.”

Kiel pushed open
the cabin door, then stepped aside for Neha to walk in first. Her gaze swept
the space that consisted of his kitchen and living room combined. He set her
luggage on the floor and waited for her to say something.

“It’s…nice,”
Neha said as she turned in a slow circle once she was in the middle of the
room. “I can’t help noticing there aren’t any light fixtures or lamps
anywhere.”

“That’s because
there isn’t any electricity, but there are plenty of candles and a couple
kerosene lamps.”

A look of unease
passed over Neha’s face. “Please tell me there’s running water? I really don’t
think I can bring myself to use an outhouse.”

Kiel bit back a
smile. The way Neha had said that last part he would have sworn she thought
that would be pure torture if that was how she had to go to the toilet. “I do
have plumbing in the cabin with a gas hot water heater.”

“That’s a
relief.” Her gaze strayed to his kitchen. “There’s no fridge. And you don’t
have a stove, even though you have gas.”

“I only had the
gas hooked up a few years ago. I got sick and tired of having to heat water to
take a bath. I’m so used to cooking on the wood stove I couldn’t be bothered to
switch to a gas one. There’s a root cellar outside, underground. Plus, I have a
fair-sized garden where I grow all my own vegetables.”

“I hate to say
this, but you’re going to have to either cook for me or bring me some food.
There’s no way I’m going to attempt to make any meals on a wood stove. I’d end
up burning myself. I have a hard enough time cooking on a regular one.”

Kiel smiled.
“That’s no problem. I can come and make us meals. You don’t have to worry about
starving.”

“Well, that’s a
relief.”

He pointed to
the two doors behind Neha. “The bedroom and bathroom are over there.” She
turned in that direction and nodded before she focused back on him. “I’ll let
you get settled in. I’ll come back to make dinner.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Kiel nodded,
then walked out of the cabin, shutting the door behind him. He definitely had a
lot of work on his hands to get Neha to accept what he was to her, and persuade
her to give up the life she now had. He had a feeling it might be beyond what
he was capable of accomplishing.

* * * *

After Kiel left,
Neha stood in the middle of the cabin, not sure what to do next. This, she
hadn’t expected. If she’d known before accepting his offer what she’d be
staying in, she would have politely turned him down. Even if that meant she
didn’t get to see him again. She was a New York City girl and hadn’t been
camping in her life. She’d thought Yellowstone Park had been roughing it, but
it was a four-star hotel compared to this.

Neha looked
around what constituted as the living room and noted there wasn’t a television
in sight. Of course there wouldn’t be
,
since there was
no freaking electricity. And there was no land line, which made sense. She’d
never been without so many modern conveniences in all of her twenty-four years.

At least she had
her cell phone. Neha opened her purse and took it out. Thank goodness she’d
charged it before she’d left Yellowstone. She’d also turned it off on the
drive, knowing she wouldn’t be able to use it while on the plane and wanting to
conserve the battery.

She turned it on
and waited for the cell to boot up. Once it did, she was relieved to see she
had service in this remote place. She also saw she had three missed calls and a
couple text messages. Neha recognized the number. It belonged to the owner of
the modeling agency she was signed with. Constance had texted for Neha not to
get on her flight and to contact her as soon as Neha saw the texts.

Neha quickly
brought up her contacts list and brought up Constance’s number. She then hit “send”
to call. The other end was picked up after two rings. “Hi, Constance. It’s Neha.”

“Please tell me
you’re not on the plane.”

Neha chuckled.
“If I were, I wouldn’t be calling you, now would I?”

“True. Sorry.
I’m in a bit of a flutter.”

“Why didn’t you
want me to get on the plane?”

“Apparently, the
client for the photo shoot decided Yellowstone wasn’t exactly what he wanted.
He wants something even more remote in the same area, like in the mountains.
The photographer is scrambling to find a new location. The other models are
still at the first one with him. You were the only one who was in a hurry to
get home.”

“Then I guess
you’re lucky I didn’t check in on time to be rebooked on another flight when
the original one was cancelled. I’m stuck here until tomorrow evening, but I
guess it will be longer than that now.”

“I’m afraid so,”
Constance said. “I’m trying to help the photographer find this new location,
but I don’t have much in the way of contacts out in Montana. If it was New
York, that’s another story.”

Thinking to make
a joke, Neha said, “Talking about remote mountain areas, you should see where I
am right now. I’m in a freaking log cabin that has no electricity, television
or landline. Luckily, there is plumbing. This place is up in the mountains and
surrounded by trees. I swear the road leading up to it was a dirt path.”

“You didn’t book
into a hotel?”

“No. I kind of
met someone while I stopped in Helena to have lunch. We sort of hit it off and
he decided to keep me company at the airport while I waited for my flight to
leave. Once we found out I wouldn’t be going anywhere today, he offered me the
use of his cabin for free.”