Cook, Kris - Primal Desire [Texas Wolf Pack 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (8 page)

She stepped right in front of him. Her face turned dark. “Why?”

Luke didn’t answer, didn’t move. What the hell had come over him? Yes, she was his mate. There was no denying that fact. But he didn’t deserve her as a mate or anything else from her for that matter.

“Answer me, please.” Her delicious aroma filled his nostrils, calling to deep, ancient urges. But he resisted.

“Ask them.”

She deserved better, so much better than him. How selfish had he been? What kind of life could he give her? A cold, isolated life, that’s what.

“I’m asking you, Luke. Tell me.”

“He didn’t want you to be discovered so soon, Megan.” Troy touched Megan’s shoulder, and Luke went blistering hot.

“Don’t touch her,” he growled. “Mine.”

* * * *

Megan’s jaw dropped. “He’s my sister’s fiancé. Troy isn’t interested in me that way, Luke. Stop being a jealous prick, please. This is too much. I’d like to go to my Gran’s now.”

She felt Troy remove his hand. “Be careful, Megan. He’s not in his right mind.”

“He’s in mate lust,” the guy next to him stated.

“What the hell is that?” she asked.

“Shifter stuff, Megan.” Rance studied Luke and then spoke. “Probably true, but he’s got some control, or we’d all be sporting a lot more wounds than we are now, Sloan. So, everyone, just be calm.”

Megan couldn’t wrap her head around what all this meant. “Mate lust? Is that why he called me ‘mine’
earlier?”

“I think so.” Troy looked hard at Luke. “We’re not here to take your mate. Understand?”

Luke didn’t move a muscle but just kept glaring at him with a bloodlust that frightened her.

Sloan shook his head. “If he shifts back into wolf shape, someone is going to get killed.”

“I want everyone to chill.” Just as the last words left her lips, Megan felt an electrical surge shoot down her hands. Suddenly, a sheet of ice appeared under their feet. Had she done that? She
had
said everyone needed to chill. Had she invoked a spell that had created the ice under all their feet?
I’m a witch. Oh, my God.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s okay, Megan.” Troy looked at her with understanding eyes. “You are just learning how to use your powers.”

“Let me make it go away.” She concentrated on the ice, imagining it melting away. In a matter of seconds, it was gone. “Better?”

Troy nodded. “My feet are warmer, but Luke is still on the edge.”

“Megan, say something to him,” Rance suggested.

“What? I really don’t know what to say.”
I only just met him.

“Doesn’t matter. He has imprinted on you. We can talk until we are blue in the face and he still might not even be able to really hear us. You can get through to him.”

“I’ll try.” She tried to think of something that might reach him but came up blank.

Rance said in an even tone, “Better hurry, Megan.”

Luke looked like a man who had lost all sense of reason and civility.

“Luke, can you understand me?”

He didn’t respond.

“Did I do this to him somehow?” She thought about the sex she’d just experienced with him. Had that been the cause? Perhaps shifters needed something different for sex to keep them on a path free from homicide.

Troy whispered, “No. This is uncommon in our tribe but not unheard of. Try again.”

“Luke, please listen to me. Everything is going to be fine. I’m fine.”

Nothing. Not a single glimmer of humanity could be spotted in him. She watched the two shifters who were still in wolf form come up behind him. They were about to try to take him down, but she doubted they could. Someone would die tonight. It might even be Luke, if she failed to reach him.

Trembling, she stretched out her fingers and touched his naked chest. “Luke, I’m here. Everything is okay.”

His eyes remained fixed and his lips shaped into a horrific snarl.

“Please, hear me. Don’t do this. I can’t take much more.” She began to weep uncontrollably. “You’ve got to snap out of this.”

As the trees began to sway with the sudden breeze, Luke blinked several times.

“That’s it, cowboy.” Megan touched his chest. “You can do this for me, please.”

He reached out and cupped her chin. “Little trespasser?”

“Yes, I’m here. Are you okay?”

“You’re not leaving?” Luke’s face was a storm of pain and worry.

Of course, Luke had gone crazy when he found the cabin empty. He’d cared for her and made her comfortable. How had she repaid him? By running away. She was the cause of his suffering, and she hated herself for that. Why had she chosen to run without so much as a note? In her old life in Dallas, falling so quickly, so deeply wouldn’t have been possible. But here and now as he’d done with her, she was imprinting on him in her own way.

Though earlier she’d wanted nothing more than to get far from him, now Megan desired to stay with her whole heart. “I’m here. I won’t go.”

“But we promised Kate to bring you back,” Troy argued.

Luke’s eyes narrowed, and Megan knew he could slip back into the madness in a heartbeat so easily.

She faced Rance. “Tell my sister where I am. As long as she knows I’m okay, she’ll be fine. I can take care of myself.”

A long, uncomfortable, silent pause had her trembling. Rance looked unconvinced. Would he demand that Megan leave with him? She wondered.

Rance sighed. “Kate’s not going to like it if I don’t come back with you safe and sound.”

“I don’t like it. We all know Luke’s history.” Hawk’s hands were curled into fists.

“I know what I’m doing,” she lied. Actually, she had no clue what she was doing. Still, leaving Luke wasn’t even a possibility to her. Not now. Not with him in such a state. “Please. If you are worried, come back and check on me tomorrow morning.”

Rance’s mouth twisted into a crooked shape, showing his disapproval. “Okay, but I’m betting your sister will want to see that you are okay for herself, Megan.”

“Fine. Bring her back with you in the morning.” Megan looked back at Luke, realizing he was calming down just a bit.

“You bet I will.” Rance looked at the other men. “Let’s go.”

Though they seemed reluctant to leave her, each shifted back into wolf form and ran down the path. At the top of the nearest hill, all six looked back at her and Luke.

When the last of the six disappeared from view, she turned back to Luke. His angry stare remained intent on the hill where his tribesmen had just been. Her anxiety blasted higher inside her.
What now?

“Luke, are you okay?”

He didn’t acknowledge her.

“They’re all gone. It’s just you and me.”

Nothing.

Megan’s mouth dried up as she wondered if she’d made the right decision to stay.

Tentatively, she touched his cheek with both hands. He grabbed her wrists hard.

“Ouch!”

His eyes widened, and he released her, taking a step back. “I’m sorry, Megan.”

“I’m fine.” Looking in his eyes, Megan could clearly see his pain and guilt. “You just startled me.”

“You shouldn’t have stayed with me.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “They were right to want to rip me apart. I’m totally fucked up.”

“Open your eyes for me, Luke.” He did, and she held up her wrists and presented them to him to inspect. “See. No marks.”

“If you had been injured, I wouldn’t have been able to control myself.”

“But you did.”

“I barely am able to hold back my anger and lust now.”

“Anger?”

“You left me, Megan. No word. Just left.”

She shook from head to toe as her own guilt burned in her cheeks. “I shouldn’t have done that, Luke. I know that now.”

“Not good enough, little trespasser. You have to learn a lesson.”

Megan didn’t like the sound of that. “I really am sorry, Luke. Truly.”

The corners of his mouth curled up into the sexiest grin she’d ever seen on a man but only for an instant. “I know you are.”

He swept her up into his arms, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Leaning into his chest, Megan mewled. Sure, they’d only just met, but it still felt like home being in his arms.

Luke began walking them back up the path.

“Why don’t we take your truck back to your place?” she asked.

“You shouldn’t worry about how we get back to my cabin, sweetheart.”

“No? What should I worry about, cowboy?”

“You might want to think about what kind of punishment I will decide to give you for running away. Right now, I’m thinking your pretty little bottom needs to be introduced to a paddle I have. Or maybe I’ll just use my hand. Mmm.”

Her jaw dropped. “Put me down, please.”

“Not a chance.” He laughed.

Chapter Eight

Megan stood on Luke’s back porch alone. She trembled, not from being naked outdoors in the cool night air but from anxiously waiting for Luke to join her on the porch and deliver his promised punishment.

The door opened, and the sexy cowboy appeared, also naked from head to toe. She looked at his muscled torso and bit her lip. His chest was a powerhouse of strength that made her wet and wanton. Then he turned around and set down the items he’d brought with him from inside his house, giving her a sweet view of his perfect ass. She bit her lip.

Turning around, he held up a large black paddle. “See this?”

She nodded, looking directly at the scary thing.

“I call it Mr. Discipline, and you sure deserve to feel his bite.” He tucked the paddle under his arm and then held up some handcuffs. “These are for you, too. Extend your arms, little trespasser.”

“Can’t we talk about this, Luke? I really am sorry.”

“I know, but you have to be punished. If you are ever tempted to run away from me again, sweetheart, you will remember Mr. Discipline’s sting. Now, give me your hands.”

“I’m nervous.” Megan was also very turned on, though she wasn’t sure exactly why. She trusted Luke and knew he wouldn’t really hurt her.

“You should be. Hands. Now.”

As she complied with his command, her heart pounded in her chest.

Luke placed the steel around her wrists and locked her hands together in front of her, anchoring her to a post on his porch railing. He reached around and flicked her nipples with his fingers, causing the ache in her pussy to become unbearable.

She braved the question, “How many licks are you going to give me?”

“You were very naughty, little trespasser, but don’t worry. I will give your ass just what you need.” He attached something to both her ankles. “Step forward.”