Down & Dirty (Bundle) (19 page)

Hazel had a thousand things to think about,
but none of them seemed important as she listened to Oliver moving
about in the bathroom.  Even with her eyes closed there could
be no mistaking where she was -- not with Oliver’s scent covering
the blankets, the bed…

Me.

Sleepy contentment made it hard to open her
eyes even when she heard soft footsteps returning.  She smiled
and squinted up at Oliver, thinking he’d never looked more
gorgeous.  “Bath’s ready?”

”
Mmm, come on.”  He
gathered her into his arms and padded back across the scuffed
hardwood floor.  “Want me to climb in with you, after
all?”

It was the fantasy of her first afternoon,
floating in warm water with Oliver’s solid chest at her back and
his arms around her.  “Please.”

He slipped her into the tub and settled in
behind her, his hands moving over her arms and chest in long, wet
strokes.  “Where do you want to get married?”

”
I don’t know. 
Suppose a brothel’s not a nice place to have a wedding, but
Lottie’ll be heartbroken if she doesn’t get to have a say.” 
Hazel turned her head and rubbed her cheek against the warmth of
his chest.  “She didn’t have to take me in and take care of
me.  I owe her a lot.”

”
Maybe she’ll want to have
a party at her house.  Or maybe at Jack and
Ginny’s.”

Hazel doubted she’d care much at all, as
long as Oliver was there with her. ”Do you care either way?”

He grinned and nibbled her shoulder. 
“Let Lottie decide.  Just tell me where to show up.”

She wondered, suddenly, if he’d been like
this with his first wedding.  She tilted her head a little,
inviting him silently to let his soft caresses continue up her
neck.  But even the creeping warmth that followed his mouth
couldn’t completely ease her sudden nerves.  Instinct screamed
at her to stay silent, to accept his caresses and trust in him.
Trust in her mate.

But she wasn’t all instinct, and the human
fear rose up again.  The fear that instinct would fade and his
love would prove to be nothing more than fondness mixed up in the
urge to mate.

He whispered against her ear.  “What’s
wrong?”

”
I’m
--” 
Scared. 
Worried.
  “I’m just
thinking.”

”
About what?”

She’d never had a problem
speaking her mind before, but her need to know the truth fought
with the part of her that wanted to cling to anything she could
get, even if it turned out to be an illusion.  In the end, she
settled for a compromise.  “I guess I’m trying to figure out
how I changed.” 
Why I’m good enough
now.

”
How you changed?” 
His eyes were dark as he studied her.  “I don’t
follow.”

Hazel had to close her eyes to cling to the
courage to continue.  “At first I thought I was too
young.  And then I got older, and I thought… I probably just
wasn’t your type.  Because there aren’t a lot of women out
here, and if I’d been your type at all, I figured you would have at
least given me a chance. And -- and people told me I wasn’t your
type, that I wasn’t anything like your first wife.”

He remained silent for several
moments.  “You’re not anything like Marissa.  But you
weren’t the one who needed to do anything, Hazel.  It was
me.”

”
You?”

”
Me.”  He lifted one
shoulder in a tiny shrug.  “I wasn’t ready.”

He seemed so damn strong.  And so
quiet.  Hazel lived with her emotions on the surface, there
for everyone to see.  But Oliver…

She twisted around, splashing water
dangerously close to the rim of the tub as she wriggled until she
could stare up at him.  “I can never tell what’s going on in
your head.  And that means I’m never been sure of
anything.  How you felt about your wife, or about me, about
all the dirty sex I want to have --”

He pressed one finger to her lips. 
“I’m never going to be real chatty. That’s not going to
change.  But I can tell you that I love you, and I want you
like crazy.”

With her heart pounding, she nipped his
finger and released it quickly. ”Even though I’m loud and crass and
have a short temper and might throw things at you when I’m
mad?”

”
I’m fast.  And you
don’t scare me, little Hazel.”

And in the end, that was what she loved the
most, the one thing she’d never thought about before.  That
Oliver was a man who would never be afraid of her, not even at her
worst.  Not when the wolf fought to take over and she turned
feral.  Dangerous.

He was strong enough.

She lifted up until her lips brushed his,
and smiled at the way his warm hands slid around her back, large
and callused and every touch feeling of safety.  She bit his
lower lip and soothed the bite with her tongue. ”Mine.”

He curled one hand in her wet hair and
growled.  “Yes.”  The word rumbled out of him as his
teeth scraped her jaw.  “Mine.”

It felt so good she thought breathing might
be hard.  “Again.  Say it again.”

”
Mine.”  He kissed
her, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth for a gentle bite. 
“My wife.”

Two little words, but he said them with a
hoarse joy that thrilled her human half even as the scrape of his
teeth and the possessive grasp of his hands pleased the wolf. 
It had been years since human and wolf had both been content -- all
the years since the wolf had fixed on Oliver as the only male
strong enough to be worthy.

Cradled by that strength, she nuzzled her
face into his neck and said the only two words in the world that
sounded better.  “My husband.”

Ante Up

Thomas Crawford is Lonely River's Beta, and
it's high time he settled down. He's had his eye on Charlotte
Daniel, the owner of the Full Moon Saloon--and independent cuss of
a woman--for months, but she either hasn't noticed his gentle
courting… or she's ignoring him. But when some local wolves lodge a
complaint about her questionable business practices it's Thomas'
job to investigate, even if it means the woman he wants will hate
him forever.

Lottie has noticed Thomas' courting, all
right, but it's a little too polite for her tastes. She wants a man
with fire and sensuality, not daisies and poetry. Then he kisses
her. Once she gets a glimpse of the passion burning in him, Lottie
decides a slow, careful seduction isn't a bad idea at all. But
she'll do it her way.

Chapter One

“
Here we go.”  Lottie
set the silver tea service on the table with a
clink
and beamed at her guests. 
“Oh, I forgot to ask if you’d prefer coffee, Jack.”

The alpha smiled and rubbed a hand through
his tousled hair.  “Coffee would be great, Lottie.”

Ginny eyed the tray with a delicately arched
brow.  “Booze is perfectly appropriate to serve after dinner
too, you know.”

Lottie tried not to snort as she
straightened and headed back for the kitchen.  “Coffee and
whiskey, coming up.”

She rattled the percolator on the stove,
deliberately making more noise than necessary.  The house was
too quiet, had been since Hazel had moved out, and Lottie found
herself trying to fill the silence.  She called out into the
parlor,  “Have either of you seen Hazel and Oliver yet?”

The sound of Jack’s snort drifted into the
kitchen.  “I stopped by for about five minutes.  Longest
five minutes of my life.”

Ginny just laughed. 
“Turns out, my fiancé only likes overt displays of affection when
they involve
his
hands and
my
ass.”

Lottie drifted back to the open doorway as
the coffee began to brew.  “She’s young and in love.”

“
Mm-hmm.  Oliver’s got
the love part down, but he’s no spring chicken.” Ginny
grinned.  “If Hazel’s not careful, she’s going to kill
him.”

“
He seems in fine shape to
me.”  Lottie wove her hands together and watched as Ginny
reached for Jack’s hand and twined their fingers together. 
She didn’t even seem to be aware she’d done it.  “I’ll wait a
week or so longer before I go calling, though.  Just to be on
the safe side.”

Her friend flashed her a pointed look. 
“And what about you?  I noticed Thomas has been stopping by a
lot lately, and he asks me about you all the time.”

“
Ginny.”  Jack sounded
exasperated.  “I told you to keep your nose out of
it.”

She wrinkled her nose at him.  “I just
want to know when she’s going to put the poor man out of his
misery, that’s all.  It isn’t right.”

Lottie’s back stiffened, and her easy smile
almost faltered.  She knew from experience that neither of
them would notice her small slip of control. “Thomas Crawford is a
very nice man,” she said carefully.

“
Nice.”  Ginny blew
out a breath.  “Most people consider that a plus,
Lottie.”

“
It is, I’m
sure.”

“
So how come, when you say
it, you make it sound like he has the plague?”

Lottie stifled a disgusted noise and turned
back to the kitchen.  The image of Thomas’ face, smiling and
thoughtful, rose in her mind.  She pushed it away as she
checked the coffee.  Thomas might have been carefully,
persistently courting her, but he had yet to indicate anything
beyond a polite interest.  And she’d rather be alone than
married to a man only politely interested in her.

Ginny had followed her and was standing in
the doorway, so Lottie lied. “I’m not looking to marry right now,
that’s all.”  She’d never planned on coming to Greenbriar to
open a business, much less a brothel, but there’d been a need and
it had seemed smart to fill it… and make a bundle of money in the
process.  So what if that had left her no time to fulfill her
original goal -- to find someone to love?

Ginny wore a dark look on her face. 
“You’re lying.  You’d be happier than a frog in a puddle, and
you know it.”

Lottie accidentally brushed her hand against
the hot metal of the percolator and drew it back with a hiss. 
She watched as the reddened patch of skin slowly disappeared. 
“Doesn’t mean I’m going to marry the first man to ask me. 
Which Thomas hasn’t done, by the way.”

“
He’s far from the first
man to ask,” Ginny countered.  “And he’d probably get around
to asking if you seemed the slightest bit inclined to
accept.”

“
Virginia
.”  She paused and took
a deep breath.  “I don’t want to talk about this
anymore.”

“
You’re
lonely
.”

“
I’m --” Lottie’s voice
broke, and she cleared her throat.  “I’m fine, Ginny, but
thank you for your concern.”  She pulled another china pot
from a cabinet and filled it with the fragrant, steaming
coffee.  “You know where the whiskey decanter is.  Help
yourself, and let’s visit and talk about something
else.”

The scuff of boots across
the floor was the only warning before Jack appeared at Ginny’s
shoulder.  “I wasn’t trying to listen, Lottie, but you know I
could hear everything.  Can I just say one thing?  And
then we’ll
both
keep out of it.”

As if he could make that promise for
stubborn-ass Ginny Howard.  She kept her voice steady as she
replied.  “Of course, Jack.  You’re always welcome to be
frank with me, you know that.”

Jack smiled.  “Thomas has to act nice
and restrained, because the humans have to feel safe dealing with
him.  That’s his job as my second.  But there’s a lot
more to him than most people see, and he’s got it bad for you. You
don’t have to give him a chance, but at least let him know he
doesn’t have one.”

His words kindled a thread
of hope in Lottie.  She and Thomas got on well enough, and
she’d enjoyed the scant amount of time she’d spent alone with
him.  The only thing that had been missing between them was
the
fire
. 
The passion.  “I’ll bear that in mind, Jack.”

“
Good.”  Jack’s hand
curled around the back of Ginny’s shoulder in a possessive
gesture.  “And we’re going to stay out of it, aren’t we,
sweetheart?”

Ginny’s mouth twisted into a dissatisfied
pout, but she nodded.  “You’re right, Lottie.  Let’s talk
about something else.”

Lottie used a quilted potholder to lift the
coffee pot.  “Thank you, Ginny. I’m dying to know if you’ve
made any of your own wedding arrangements yet.”

The taller woman blushed,
and Lottie knew Ginny had been adequately distracted from meddling
in affairs between herself and Thomas.  She stifled a sigh of
relief and followed the couple back into the parlor.  The less
she had to think about what she’d do or say when Thomas
did
get around to
proposing, the better.