Read Accidentally Yours (Coyote Bluff Series Book 1) Online
Authors: Lea Barrymire
Accidentally Yours (Coyote Bluff Series Book 1) (22 page)
“Where the hell is Conner? Should I call him?”
“He’s here but as pack.”
Cammie looked around her yard and wondered which animal was the police officer. Did that mean Ron wasn’t going to be arrested? Her questions must have been all over her face because Ian crinkled his nose a little and sighed. “Ron has attacked my intended mate numerous times. It doesn’t matter that he’s not a shifter
. According to our laws I could have killed him the moment he arrived. I’m trying to give him a way out, but I will take him out if he continues.”
Cammie waited for the flash of guilt or something for the blatant threat to Ron’s life but nothing but firm resolution burned in her heart. She nodded and felt her lips quirk slightly as surprise flashed in Ian’s eyes. She needed to show him the normal Cammie.
“If he won’t back down then just make it quick. I hate watching animals, or assholes, suffer.”
A flash of gold showed how much Titan liked her idea. She sank into those eyes taking comfort in the steady gaze. A noise broke the connection and both Ian and Cammie turned at the same moment to watch Ron reach into his right boot.
A sense of danger or foreboding ghosted over Cammie’s skin and goose bumps rippled along her arms. “He’s got a—“
She tried to warn them when she remembered Ron never went anywhere without his boot knife, but she wasn’t fast enough. Ian wasn’t either as he launched toward the bent man. The weapon left Ron’s hand with a quick flick of his hand. The blade flew through the air, reflecting the morning sunshine and whistling toward Cammie. She flinched subconsciously clenching her muscles against the pain. Ian couldn’t save her this time.
Fur tickled across her arm at the same moment that she heard a sickening thud and yelp. Her eyes flew open and settled first on a big wolf standing over an unmoving Ron. Her brain quickly caught up. Ian had shifted and either knocked out or killed her ex. The wolf now stood over the man like he was guarding a kill. Her stomach twisted for a moment but she let it go. Ron had brought it on himself.
A faint whimper at her feet drew her attention. In an instant she forgot about Ron, about the fight, about everything. Laying in the gravel at the bottom step was Zeke in coyote form. Jutting from his chest was Ron’s knife. It shook and shuddered with the ragged breathing of her friend. Blood gushed in pulses from the wound
, coating his fur and dripping onto the ground.
Cammie rushed down the stairs and dropped to her knees next to Zeke. She went to touch him but hesitated with her hands shaking above his furred hide. He opened an eye and tried to lift his head but cried out instead.
“Shit, Zeke. Stop moving. I don’t know what to do.” Gingerly she placed one hand on his face and pushed lightly down. “Stay still you stupid idiot. What were you thinking?”
“We’ll call Margie.” Conner’s deep voice sounded too loud in the silence. Cammie whipped around and found a shirtless Conner stalking across the driveway barefooted and ruffled looking. Before he reached the downed coyote the policeman had his phone to his ear and he was speaking quickly into it.
“Good. Good. Margie can fix you up. I don’t know if I should pull the knife out or leave it in. I’m sorry Zeke.” She started stammering over her words and babbled. “I should get you blankets or something but then again if I bump the knife it might sever something important. You can’t bleed out on my front lawn, you just can’t. Who will I take my stupid car to? Don’t die on me, Zeke. You’re one of my favorite people.”
A weak chuff whispered over her hand and his attempt to laugh brought tears to her eyes. A set of heavy hands landed on her shoulders and she knew without looking that Ian had returned to his human form.
“Thank you, Zeke, for placing yourself in the line of fire for my mate. I owe you a great debt.” Cammie watched as a perfectly naked Ian knelt next to her and placed a gentle hand on Zeke’s haunches. “Let me know what I can do for you and it’s yours.”
A small nod was all the answer the coyote gave before closing his eyes. Cammie watched his chest move softly to ensure her friend still breathed. She turned to Ian and found him watching her with an emotion she wasn’t sure she could figure out. “I’m going to sit with him until Margie gets here.”
Ian cocked his head and gazed at her for a moment before answering. “Are you staying with him because he’s a friend or because you’re scared of me?”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ian stood and watched Cammie for a moment, mystified by the confusion and questioning look that crossed her face before a watery smile washed away all other feelings.
“I’m not afraid of you at all, Ian. I need to sit with him because we’re friends, he was harmed saving me and because I don’t like seeing anyone hurting.” She stood slowly and closed the two steps between them. Her hand came to rest on his chest and he shivered with the electrical charge that passed between them. “I will never fear you again, you big oaf.” She leaned a little closer and whispered, “But if you don’t put some clothes on soon you’ll be afraid of me. I don’t want others seeing you naked, and I have no idea how many of these coyotes are women.”
Once again she’d surprised him and he burst out laughing. Putting his hands up in surrender he answered. “Fine. Fine. I’ll go put pants on. Conner will be right here with you.”
She smiled back but it lost its clear happiness when she glanced back down to the wounded coyote. He pulled her into a quick embrace and kissed the top of her hair. “He’ll be fine, you know. Shifters heal extremely fast. He’ll be absolutely fine in a couple of days.”
She burrowed deeper into his arms and mumbled against his chest. “Promise?”
He smiled. “Promise. Now unless you want all these people to see how much I like holding you against my naked body you need to let me go.”
She gasped and then leaned back, scowling. “No one sees you excited but me. Get. Clothes. On.”
He grinned and gave her pouting lips a quick kiss before turning and bounding into her house. He still heard her breathy sigh and whispered “God, he’s sexy.”
Ian grabbed a pair of cut
-off shorts from his bag just inside the kitchen door. As he yanked them up his legs he heard the first rumbles of Margie’s truck. Good. That meant they could get Zeke fixed up and everyone else on their way. He had a need to check every single inch of Cammie’s body to ensure she hadn’t been injured. And the fact he wanted to accomplish that goal with his tongue meant everyone needed to vacate her property, and quickly.
Plans coalesced in his mind as he tried to tuck his plumping cock into the shorts. He’d draw her a bath and then she’d ask him to help her wash. They’d make passionate love in the tub and then he’d carry her into her bedroom where he’d mark her while taking her hard and fast from behind.
He was jolted from his thoughts by the slamming of Margie’s door. With a groan Ian got himself zipped up and briskly walked outside. In the few moments he was gone it looked like most of the coyotes had come out of their hiding places and ranged around Zeke in a loose circle. Only a couple had changed back to their human forms, and those had slipped pants on.
Ian focused on Margie, who’d jumped from her truck and then stood, open-mouthed, staring. She gave her head a shake and showed true courage by grabbing her vet bag and walking between five or six milling coyotes. She glared at Connor the entire way and only looked away from him when she’d reached Cammie.
Ian once again wondered what the history was between the human vet and yipper cop. From the venom she was throwing with her eyes he was fairly sure there was a sizeable story between them. He made a note to ask Cammie, after he’d marked her and sated his raging need for her.
As soon as the vet knelt next to Zeke everyone started moving. Connor barked out orders for people to leave, to call the Alpha and report in, to move Ron’s body and take care of the evidence. Everyone was jostling around, hopping to his instructions and readying to disband. Now that Ron was gone and the debts had been equalized the coyotes would return to their homes and enjoy the rest of their day.
Ian pulled Cammie against his chest and stood with her in the eye of the storm as Margie stabilized Zeke and removed the knife. Ian was impressed with the coyote’s ability to keep quiet even though the pain had to be tremendous. Perhaps they’d be able to form a friendship now that Ian had approached the pack and been accepted. His wolf yipped in his head at the idea of running with others and belonging again.
Cammie remained quiet in the compass of his arms. She’d laid her head back against his chest and just stood, staring at the people and animals running around in her front yard. He worried she was going into shock or starting to shut down after all that’d happened.
“Will this all change things for me?”
Ian barely caught the whispered question. “What do you mean?”
“Can I still go to town and interact with everyone as if they’re humans? Do I have to nod to some and not others? I’m terrified I’ll make a mistake and hurt you.”
He thought about her question for a moment before answering. “The best way to know is to talk to the alpha, but he seems to run everything with a steady hand. You don’t need to worry about ever shaming me or hurting me. You’re my mate and human. That gives you a lot of leniency within our world.”
She turned in his embrace and stared deep into his eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
She smiled, softly, sweetly before pressing her lips to his chest. “Thank you.”
He snickered. “Thank you. You’re the one that took in an injured wolf.”
She grinned and flicked her tongue against his skin. “Well, I do have a soft spot for furry mutts.”
He laughed but before he could respond Connor stepped closer to them and cleared his throat. Ian was surprised to see only a few people left.
“I’m helping Margie get Zeke to her place. She’s insisting on nursing him back to health at her house, even though I’ve argued against it. We’ll clear out of here so you have your privacy back. Alpha said don’t forget about the meeting on Friday and that you should bring Cammie with you.”
Bring Cammie… She was going to have to attend a meeting with all the shifters and their Alpha? A thrill of excitement burned through the nervousness. Margie caught her eye and mouthed ‘call me’ before turning back to her patient and smoothing a hand down Zeke’s side. They’d moved the coyote to the back of her truck on some sort of stretcher. A rumbling growl echoed around Cam and it took her a moment to realize that it came from Connor.
With a smirk Cammie looked between him and her friend
, watching the play of irritation on the shifter’s usually stoic face and the slight flush of embarrassment up Margie’s cheeks. Well, well, well. It seemed someone else might end up a mate shortly.
Ian nudged her ribs and grinned when she squeaked. He nodded slightly toward the last two human-shaped people in her yard. Cammie smiled back and winked. Snuggling back into the arms of her wolf gave her warmth and comfort as they waited the last few minutes for Connor to
clamber into his car and speed off and for Margie to leave at a much more sedate pace.
When the last sounds of car tires faded on the breeze
, Cam turned and blew out a deep breath. “Does it feel to you like days since we started our conversation about us?”
Ian nodded. “Come on. Let’s get cleaned up and we can continue where we left off.”
For a moment she was going to argue but then a wash of anxiety and exhaustion poured like lead through her veins. “Yeah, a shower and a nap sound great.”
A quick flash of need burned in Ian’s eyes and then he grinned, picked her up and trotted into the house. “Good idea. Let me clean you and then we’ll snuggle. I love snuggling. Did I tell you that already? Especially nekkid snuggling.”
Cammie laughed as she was carried into the house. They had so much to discuss, but it could wait. They had time to delve into the deep conversations ahead. For the moment they could take a few hours to relax, decompress and have some fun together.
“I’m so glad you ran into my car.”
Ian stopped mid-stride in the kitchen and slowly looked down into Cam’s face. His features conveyed utter disbelief. “What? Why?”
She snickered. “Well, if you’d been looking where you were going we wouldn’t have met, Titan wouldn’t have fallen in love with me, and I wouldn’t have gotten used to having a furball around all the time.”
The wicked grin that replaced his grimace promised retribution. He launched toward the stairs and took them two at a time. Cammie threw her head back and laughed, joy filled the empty places in her heart.
The end…for now
About the Author:
Lea lives in Western New York with her hubby, three children, and miscellaneous critters. Before the rugrats, she lived a life of adventure following her husband all over Europe with the US military. She’s slept in a car outside Paris, drove six hours just to see tulips in the Netherlands, and knocked ash from her shoes at Pompeii. Now she spends her time in life’s adventures at soccer games, PTA meetings and school plays.
Lea
has loved reading from a very young age, spending many sleepless nights devouring books. Science fiction and paranormal were her favorite genres to read as a teenager, and that love bled into her adult life. She started writing during a bout of insomnia to fill time and found it filled a creative void. Now she communes regularly with the characters in her head and tries not to laugh out loud when they say something funny.
When Lea isn’t reading, writing or corralling kids, she enjoys watching movies and sciencey shows, or just kicking back and listening to some music.