Desert Blood (The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch Book 2) (3 page)

His inner wolf let out a low, continuous growl at the thought, throwing crazy messages at the human half of his mind. Like fighting for Heather. Claiming her. Taking her as his mate—

Cody winced at a burning sensation on his ear, and then looked up to see his brother hitting him with one of his piercing looks. A look that said,
Whatever you’re thinking about, it better not be her.

“Cody can do it,” Tina said, surprising him with the conviction in her words. “He can work with Kyle to stop the killer before another innocent victim dies, and before any reporters or investigators bring trouble.”

They all knew what kind of trouble Tina meant. The pack kept a low profile for a good reason—their own survival.

He pushed the image of Heather out of his mind and looked his father in the eye, willing the words to fall from those skeptical lips. A long, uncertain pause followed. Outside, a woodpecker hammered, then listened to its own echo, and a pick-up rattled past, kicking up a plume of dust. Seconds creaked by.

Finally, Tyrone nodded. “Cody, take care of it.”

Music to his ears.

Just watch you don’t fuck it up,
Ty grunted.

Ah, Ty—helpful as ever.

Their father flapped his hand, dismissing them. Cody forced himself to walk to his truck at a measured pace. He fired it up and pointed it for the ranch gate, ready to roll, then paused abruptly. This murder case was unlikely to be resolved quickly. He might be tied up for weeks, pulling long hours away from the ranch.

Away from Heather. His heart plummeted.

Though it was probably for the best. He couldn’t afford to let himself get distracted now. Not with just another fling—with a human, of all things.

Fling?
His wolf roared so fiercely, so offended, that the truck swerved.
Mine! Mate!

CHAPTER FOUR

Heather heard the clock tick but didn’t look up. It was late, too late, to still be at work, especially three weeks into the job when things should have tapered off. But teaching six grade levels a day meant a mountain of preparation. That and she’d sworn off Friday nights. Sworn off men, too, since the time when bad went to worse and worse became a nightmare.

The ghost of her reflection haunted her laptop screen, pale and unearthly. She’d changed so much, looking fragile, fearful, and hunched. An old spinster at age twenty-seven. The only place Heather felt like her old self was in school. Maybe that’s why she put in the extra hours. What happened to the confident woman who didn’t let herself get pushed around?

Simple, Heather reminded herself. That woman had nearly gotten herself killed. That woman’s judgment couldn’t be trusted. Never again.

Especially now that she was battling an inexplicable pull toward a man she barely knew. Cody. The man had hijacked her thoughts and refused to negotiate a release. Ever since he’d stopped by to deal with the bat, it was all she could do to draw a breath without it having something to do with him. Over the past week, he’d been turning up at the schoolhouse almost daily, just as she was wrapping things up. He’d been spending a lot of time off the ranch on some project, but even so, he’d magically appear, loping toward her like a joyous puppy who’d just slipped his leash.

“Hiya!”

It was getting so that Heather didn’t even need to look up to know who it would be.

“Hey,” she would call back, trying to keep the jitter out of her voice.

“Looks like you’re going my way.” He’d smile and fall in step with her.

“Looks like.” She would nod, trying not to show her delight. She could get drunk just from being this close.

They’d walk side by side, and Heather would slow her step to drag out the simple pleasure of his company.

“Can I carry something for you?” That had become part of the routine, too. And every single time, his smooth voice rose in hope.

All she had was an empty lunch bag and a work bag with her laptop and a notebook inside; not exactly a heavy load. But she’d swing the work bag off her shoulder and offer it to him all the same. On the first day, he’d goaded her all the way to the parking lot before she gave it up. Now she handed it over without argument, finding a strange kind of satisfaction in having a man want to do something for her, even if she didn’t need it. Just because.

They’d walk and chat, and that became the highlight of her day. Like yesterday, when his proximity made her warm, tingly, and safer than she’d felt in what seemed like a lifetime.

“So, what’s your next project in the schoolhouse?” he asked. The man was always so relaxed, so assured. She wished just a tiny bit of that could rub off on her. But then she’d get to wishing for a lot more than a fleeting touch, and that inner voice of warning would strike.

Watch out! You can’t trust him! Can’t trust anyone!

She knew she should hold back, but it was impossible. The man could charm the gold out of Fort Knox just on the force of his grin. A grin that stirred up a warm, thick pulsing in her veins.

“Well, I’d set up a reading nook if I could.”

“A reading nook?” He arched an eyebrow. “I’m picturing leather straps. Hard chairs. Instruments of torture.”

That Cody hadn’t enjoyed his school days, she’d already guessed. He had probably been the type with too much energy to sit still, too much humor to harness.

“No, all a reading station needs is a couple of beanbags and a cozy rug.”

“Cozy, huh?” He gave an impish grin.

Heather decided not to acknowledge the flame that lit inside her. “And it has to have a theme,” she added, feeling hopelessly girlish as the words came out. The man exuded so much testosterone, instinct had her counterbalancing him.

“A theme,” he echoed, skepticism in his voice.

“I was thinking an underwater theme. A blue rug, like the sea…”
Like your eyes
, though she left that part out. “I’d put the books in a box made to look like a treasure chest, and paint the wall in an underwater scene.”

“Like what, an octopus holding eight books?” A smile played at the corners of his lips. Either he was making mental notes or kidding her. Hard to tell which.

She nodded, gulping away images of a bare-chested Cody entering the schoolhouse with four cans of paint in one hand—because hands as broad as his were capable of great feats—and a brush in the other. A little smudge of blue on his cheek, a line of yellow on his pecs.

Her heart beat just a little faster. “An octopus reading eight books at once. Great idea.”

He was delighted, she could tell, and her heart squished just a little more. Hadn’t anyone ever praised his ideas before?

Every day it went something like that, the two of them walking and grinning like fools. He’d drop her off at the car and wouldn’t turn away until she was around the bend. She knew because she watched him, too, and the rubber band tugging her toward him grew harder to resist on each successive day.

But she had to resist. Even if he meant her no harm, she was just passing through Arizona on her way to…somewhere. Some place to hide and survive.

So it was probably a good thing that some days, he didn’t turn up at all. Like today, when not even an hour of hopeful glances or anxious finger-tapping could conjure him out of thin air.

She sighed and looked out the window. Outside, the sun had just slipped below the western hills, bleeding red and orange across the sky. The colors scribbled a reminder of what she’d been told when she first took the job.
Avoid the dirt road after dark.
A polite hint, she figured, to get off ranch property by nightfall. She wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t want to step on any toes. The job meant too much to her.

Never mind that back in town, rumors flew. The ranch harbored some kind of cult, people said. The way the ranch folk sequestered themselves, the way they kept outsiders at arm’s length… It was a cult, for sure.

Heather had long since dismissed the rumors. She hadn’t seen any sign of a cult, only nice, hard-working people. If anything was unusual on the ranch, it was how neighborly everyone was, in an old-fashioned kind of way. She felt perfectly at ease in this haven from the outside world. In fact, it was an effort to drag herself away.

But day was tipping into night in that uncertain hour when the desert awoke from its siesta, and it was time to go. Heather hastened to collect her things then stood and turned off the lights. Outside, the first stars were twinkling, asking why she had to go. Every time she headed out, she got this melancholy feeling. As if home was here and not in town.

Soon, too soon, Heather was in the central courtyard where her car was parked. She sucked in a deep breath and took in the timeless atmosphere for the hundredth time. The ranch brand hung swinging over the entry gate: two circles, overlapping by one third. Century-old cottonwoods arched overhead, wise and aloof. False-fronted buildings with wooden boardwalks lined up like a Wild West film set, right down to the palomino swinging its tail beside a hitching post. In spring, they said, the trees bloomed with cottony fluff that blanketed the place like snow. It ached, knowing she couldn’t stay long enough to see the seasons change in this fascinating place.

The first notes of a guitar drifted from the barn, along with a babble of voices. Light glowed from within the flung-back doors, and before she knew it, Heather’s feet carried her closer. From the looks of it, a dance was just getting underway. Colored lights were strung overhead, and a three-man band made up of a couple of ranch hands launched into a sweet country ballad. It was an old-time, open-air dance where kids ducked between the trees and giggled at dancing couples, young and old. The music was soft, the laughter hearty. Heather found herself lingering, watching. Wishing.

To belong. Somewhere.

Well, she might not belong here, but if she walked very slowly, she could at least watch. Her eyes scanned the faces and immediately picked out Cody, standing with two gray-haired women, his eyes fixed on the dance floor. His brother, the thundercloud, was dancing with Lana, the woman who had interviewed Heather for the job. The two of them were cheek to cheek, hip to hip, swaying slowly to their own beat. A molasses beat, Heather thought. Lana whispered something that made Ty smile then nuzzle her ear. A toddler ran over; Ty scooped his daughter up, snuggled her close, and went right on dancing, the three of them tight as a knot.

A few steps away, another tall man spun his lithe partner into a turn, and then pulled her back in tight, as if even that had been too far apart for his liking. Something inside Heather ached just watching them. It must be Zack and his partner Rae. The school kids were full of crazy stories about those two, none of which Heather believed. Hunts? Bows and arrows? Tracking by smell? The only part she believed was the part about Zack’s cool Harley.

Her focus slow-zoomed back to Cody. A wistful look flashed across his face before he went back to easygoing Cody—the one who looked like he’d just sauntered over from some great waves at the beach. Heather held her breath when a pretty brunette stepped up to him. She exhaled when the woman retreated, looking miffed. Another wasn’t far behind. The bleached blond with big hair and big boobs. Heather prepared to turn away so she wouldn’t have to watch Cody dance with her. Because the man who met her at the schoolhouse door and carried her school bag wasn’t supposed to dance with anyone else.

But he didn’t. He turned each and every one of them away. Who was he waiting for, wishing for?

Then Heather saw who. The dark-haired beauty he was smiling at now, the one crooking a finger to draw him out on the dance floor. Cody went without hesitation and swept her into his arms. Every turn, every contact they exchanged made Heather wince.

She turned away quickly and brushed a hand across her cheek, pretending that wasn’t a tear she caught. Not like she wanted a man, anyway. Especially one who could break so many hearts—or one heart, over and over. Anyway, hadn’t it been a beautiful Friday night like this that had started so well and ended so badly, not too long ago?

She slammed a door on those memories. She was here now, thousands of miles from the East Coast. Safe. For now, anyway.

Her car wasn’t far now, a timid dwarf between two dusty trucks. She walked slowly, face to the stars—so many more than she’d ever seen back East. Behind her, the music was winding down as one song gave way to another. She opened the creaky back door of her hatchback and threw in her bag, then made for the front, determined to quit this place and thoughts of a man who kindled impossible desires.

A spark beyond the front bumper captivated her attention, though, and she lingered just a minute longer. A tiny flash, then another. Fireflies were dancing, lighting up the night. Another few minutes passed as she watched them play peekaboo.

“Hiya.”

If it had been any other voice, Heather would have jumped out of her skin. But it was that honeydew tenor that lubricated her soul. Cody.

She turned to find him standing by the neighboring truck, and her heart started up that pathetic pitter-patter pattern it did every time he came near.

“I was kind of hoping…” he started, looking suddenly wistful. “You’re not leaving already, are you?”

The voice of the spinster croaked inside.
Don’t trust him! Don’t trust anyone!

Her tight shoulders, though, immediately relaxed. Cody felt like a long-lost friend. One she had missed terribly, all these years.

CHAPTER FIVE

Cody’s gaze flicked to the fireflies in the bush, and she swore his eyes danced in the same way. “We used to count them when we were little,” he chuckled. “Well, we tried.”

Heather tried it, just to silence the voice inside. One, two. Three. Four? Hard to tell, the way they disappeared from one place and reappeared in another. She noticed Cody slipping closer then noticed something else. That Cody was the only man who could do that without setting off a galloping fear. Ever since she’d been attacked, a man stepping into line at the grocery store behind her was enough to make her flinch. But Cody…the closer, the better.