Doe and the Wolf (Furry United Coalition, #5) (13 page)

She snorted. “Sure it hasn’t. I’ve stolen your bedroom, your best friend is sleeping on the couch, and you had a giant lizard in here today wrecking the joint.”

“Hazards of the job.”

“One that will disappear once we catch Joey and I leave.”

“Where will you go?”

He could almost hear her shrug. “I don’t know. I might go back to the woods for a bit and stay at the cabin until I find a job.”

That ramshackle hut in the middle of nowhere? “Winter is coming. That place isn’t going to provide much shelter once the cold starts.”

“It’s not like I have much of a choice. Once I get some money aside, I’ll find a place in town.”

“What did you used to do before?”

“I was a receptionist for a dentist.”

He saw an opening and dove on it. “You know, I could use someone to answer phones and stuff.”

“I didn’t realize you were that busy.”

“I’m not,” he admitted. “But that wouldn’t be all. You could take care of paperwork and keeping the office running.”

“You mean your garage?”

“Hey, it has a desk and a filing cabinet.”

Her soft chuckled warmed him. “You are something else, wolf.”

“So is that a yes?”

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea. Actually, I know it isn’t.”

“Why?”

“It just isn’t.”

He said aloud what she couldn’t. “Because we’re attracted to each other.”

“That’s part of it.”

At least she didn’t deny it. “Is that such a bad thing?”

“Depends. What happens if we can’t keep it professional?”

“I’m hoping we don’t. I want you, little doe.”

“That’s all well and good, but what about when you don’t? Then what happens to me?”

“I won’t let you down.”

Silence.

“Dawn?”

“You make it sound so tempting,” she replied softly.

“Would it help if I said I’ve never felt about another woman like I do with you?”

“Oh please.”

“I’m serious. I won’t deny I’m usually a make ’em howl and leave ’em kind of guy, but with you, it’s different. I don’t just want to have sex with you.”

“Says the guy who hasn’t stopped trying since we met.”

“Hey, you’re hot, what else do you expect? But seriously. You make me want things, Dawn. I like having you here in my house.”

“Because you have clean clothes and hot meals.”

“It’s more than that, and you know it. I have fun with you.”

“So do I.”

The admission made his heart swell. “Do you know you’re the first woman I’ve ever really talked to? Connected with? Getting to know you and spending time with you has been awesome. I want more. Don’t you?”

Silence again.

Way to stab his ego. He wondered if by being honest he’d scared her off. Good news was he didn’t hear the window opening, which meant she hadn’t escaped. Bad news though, she didn’t reply.

Furniture scraped as it was pulled to the side. The door swung open, and Everett, who leaned against it, flopped onto his back and grinned up at her.

“Hey, little doe. You’ll be glad to know from this angle I don’t spot any hairs on your chinny chin chin.”

D
awn couldn’t help but laugh and shake her head at him. How could she not? Despite the fact he was a wolf, a known womanizer and a bad boy, she couldn’t resist him, not when he said all the right things. Not when she feared what tomorrow might bring.

Who knew what the future held? Would she survive the Joey fiasco? Would FUC. let her remain free? Did Everett care for her as he claimed, or was this another ploy to get in her pants?

She didn’t have any answers, but she did know one thing.
Time to stop running.
Not just from the danger Mastermind had created before her death, but also from her own feelings. She wanted Everett. Wanted him as a lover. Wanted the future he proposed. She just plain wanted to live, love, and not worry about tomorrow.

Regret was something she could deal with later, but she’d rather regret letting him into her heart than always wondering if she’d let slip free the chance for something great.

She crouched over him. “You know for a guy who doesn’t want to be compared to the wolf in stories, you use an awful lot of quotes. And, for future reference, telling a woman she doesn’t have hair on her chin is not a great way to convince her to become your lover.”

“Maybe not. Let me try again then.” His hand cupped her head and pulled her down. She flattened her palms on either side of his head to steady herself but didn’t stop the descent of her mouth toward his. Their lips touched. Awareness sizzled. Her breath rushed out in a soft exhalation, which he took in before he took her mouth and claimed it for his own.

Ever felt like something was missing in life? That a puzzle piece needed to complete the picture had gone astray? Kissing Everett was that “Aha!” moment, where the thing she’d been looking for fell into place. Suddenly, she couldn’t remember why this was a bad idea, or why she’d wanted to fight their attraction in the first place.

Kissing him was the most natural, wonderful, and right thing in the world. And she couldn’t get enough. How they made it to the bed, she couldn’t have said. One moment they necked on the floor, the next they lay on the mattress, their clothing having been discarded along the way, leaving them skin to skin. And what skin he had.

The flesh on his back might prove smooth, but his chest... Furry curls tickled her bare breasts, the friction making her giggle.

“I’m almost afraid to ask why you’re laughing,” he said in between nibbles of her ear lobe.

“I was just thinking about how you compared your chest to a rug. It is.”

“Don’t tell me you’re surprised. You saw it enough times.”

“Seeing it and feeling it are two different things. Before I was still clothed, but now—” She wiggled atop him, the springy hair dragging across her feverish, sensitized skin. “Now I get to enjoy it.”

He groaned as she went on her own exploration of his body, her teeth nipping at his neck, her body slowly gliding down the length of his, not far, because the hardness of his shaft projected between her thighs and pressed against her core. The feel of him, so close, sent a shudder through her, and moisture pooled in her sex.

She wasn’t ready to stop yet, though, and give in, no matter how her body clamored for her to climb atop. She kissed his flat nipples, licking them as he writhed.

“Damn it, Dawn,” he growled. “I’m supposed to be the one seducing you.”

She laughed. “Keep protesting and I won’t tell you what a big cock you have, all the better to—”

He dragged her up so his lips could mash against hers, a fiery kiss that stole her breath, and all thoughts of teasing fled her mind. All thought left except one.
I need him.

Raising her hips, she positioned herself over him, the head of his shaft bobbing and searching for the warm haven of her pussy. It didn’t take much maneuvering to get him where she wanted him, his fat head sliding between her moist lips. She sat down on him, sheathing him in a fell swoop that drew a hoarse cry as his fingers dug into her buttocks.

Aah. How right he felt inside her, his thickness stretching the pulsing walls of her channel. She rocked, driving him deeper, grinding her clit against him. A shudder went through his body, and she couldn’t help a spasm in her sex, one that clenched him tight.

He groaned aloud then panted. “You’re going to drive me wild, little doe.”

“Seems only right given we’re both animals at heart,” she murmured back, rocking again. Her breath caught as he swelled even thicker within her. Mmm, the pressure felt good. She raked her fingernails down his chest as she sat up on him, a wiggle driving him even deeper inside. Head thrown back, she rode him, bouncing and grinding while his hands on her waist guided her into a rhythm.

Blissful pleasure built, coiled, tightened all her muscles until she thought she’d burst.

She came in a glorious wave of ecstasy, her sex shuddering and gripping and undulating while he thrust and yelled and pushed.

For a moment, she drifted, glowing with the aftermath. Breathing heavily, she collapsed on his chest and listened to his frantically beating heart.

“Damn, Dawn.”

“Is that a good damn?”

“What do you think?” he whispered, kissing her forehead, cheeks, and then her lips. “If I had the strength to howl, I would.”

“Does this mean you’re done for the night?”

He stiffened underneath her, and she didn’t mean just his dignity.

Thankfully, he found the stamina to go again, and this time they both howled—which set the neighborhood dogs barking, but curled in his arms, a smile on her lips, Dawn didn’t care.

Her wolf would protect her from the predators.

But who will save me from the wolf?

W
aking up snuggled with the woman he loved made Everett smile, a grin he couldn’t wipe from his face as he let Dawn sleep and left her—lest he maul her delectable body again—and made himself a coffee. A tousled-haired Tom, who stumbled into the kitchen with one eye open, couldn’t help but notice.

“I see you finally tickled the doe. Looks like you enjoyed it.”

“A gentleman never tells.”

“I wasn’t aware you knew any.”

Even Tom’s cranky mood couldn’t bring Everett down from his high. “Maybe it just took the right woman to show me the light.”

“Or she infected you with her madness.”

“If this is how it feels to be insane, then you don’t know what you’re missing.”

“You are way too happy for a guy who’s about to put his ladyfriend in the path of a psychotic killer.”

Tom finally hit the mark, and Everett’s good humor sank faster than his favorite lure when his brother had tossed it in the pond when they were kids. He grumbled, “Way to remind me.”

“Someone has to keep you grounded. You seem to be getting way too attached to this girl.”

“And? What’s the problem with that?”

“The fact that when we catch this lizard she’s going to jail.”

“Maybe. From what I gleaned, the bigheads on the shifter council only wanted to capture her if she proved a menace because of the experimentation. I think it’s pretty obvious by now that Dawn’s not dangerous.” Apparently, a few other shifters had been granted clemency, Viktor’s foxy girlfriend, Renee being one of them.

“Not dangerous? Really? How do you know that for sure? Have you seen her animal?”

Everett’s one hazy recollection wasn’t quite clear and couldn’t be accurate. He shook his head.

“Then, for all we know, she turns into a rampaging psycho, murdering deer.”

“You forgot the part where I drool acid and my eyes turn red and shoot out laser beams,” Dawn mocked as she strode into the kitchen, barefoot and wearing one of Everett’s shirts, which hung to her knees. She looked good enough to
eat
. Awooo!

“Hardy-har-har, Bambi. If you’re so damned harmless, why won’t you show us your animal?”

Dawn took a sip of her coffee before answering. “Because I don’t want to.”

“Because you’re a mutant, just like Joey.”

“Different than I used to be, yes, but nothing like that crazy lizard.”

“And we’re supposed to take your word for it?” Tom fired back.

“I don’t care what you do. I haven’t seen your sloth, and you don’t see me accusing you of being some monster.”

“Because I’m normal.”

“Are you sure? Because the way you snore, I’d say there is something definitely wrong with you.”

Tom’s red face and the bulging vein in his forehead didn’t bode well. Everett jumped in to calm matters. “Stop it, you two. We have more important things to do today than bicker.”

“He started it,” she muttered.

“One phone call from me and I can finish it,” Tom threatened.

“Enough!” Everett snapped. “Tom, stop threatening Dawn.” She stuck her tongue out at the sloth. “Dawn, stop baiting Tom.” Tom smirked back.

As for Everett? He closed his eyes and wished he was dealing with pigs again.

He couldn’t understand Tom’s hostility. Why was he so determined to hate Dawn? She’d done nothing to deserve the level of animosity aimed her way. Teasing aside, she’d done Tom no injury and proven an asset to have around.

Given his attitude, how am I going to tell him I hired her and asked her to stay once the case is over?
Paint his belly yellow, but Everett didn’t want to cross that bridge anytime soon. He was used to being the cause of trouble, not the referee breaking it up.

How could he make Tom see Dawn wasn’t a danger? It would help if Dawn would show them her deer. Even Everett couldn’t deny that her adamant refusal to change shapes was odd. He wished he could remember with more clarity his time at the river when she’d saved him. His fuzzy recollection implied there was something off about her shape, but he just couldn’t pinpoint what.

But, so long as he didn’t wake to her gnawing on him, with less than erotic intent, he’d have to trust his instinct, which said Dawn wouldn’t hurt a mouse.

An uneasy truce called, he and Dawn headed for a shower—and he hoped a quickie—before they started their day and took their first stab at coaxing Joey out of hiding and into custody.

Last night’s lovemaking had proved glorious. Dawn, while seeming prim and proper when it came to sex outside the bedroom, became a veritable wild woman behind closed doors. She gave entirely of herself when it came to passion.

When she’d spoken dirty to him the night before, damn, he’d just about shot his load in surprise. She more than surpassed his needs and expectations in a lover, making his discovery of his feelings for her even more intense now that he knew how compatible they were, not just outside the bedroom but in it.

It made him eager for another taste, although she initially tried to forestall him. When she entered the bathroom, he was right on her heels. She whirled and stopped him in his tracks with a hand on his chest.

“What are doing?”

“Taking a shower.”

“Not right now you aren’t. I’m going first,” she declared. “It takes me longer to dry my hair than you.”

“Who says we’re taking turns? I say we conserve time and water and shower together.”