What a Wolf Wants (Black Hills Wolves Book 2) (6 page)

None of those ever had a Ryker either.

When she continued to stand still, the man in question let out a slow breath. He leaned in to her, so close she could feel the stir of his breath. Practically taste him on her tongue. When he took a deeper inhale, her whole system went into hyperdrive. She really couldn’t help it. Darting around him as fast as she could, she fled.

Out the door and into the snow; the ice, cold against her bare feet, didn’t even slow her down.

Run
.

She had to run. She didn’t make the mistake of looking over her shoulder. She didn’t want to know if he pursued, only she hoped he would.

What the fuck?
For the second time in two days, her thoughts dipped down a weird and winding path.
Welcome to Wonderland, Alice
.

The burning sensation in her chest spread, making breathing more difficult. Her muscles pumped through the snow sucking at her legs. How the hell had so much fallen in one storm? It had been above her ankles at the cabin, but the farther she went she had to plow through the icy mess up to her knees. It leached away her warmth, but she was sweating, too. She had to keep running.

Every tree looked like the next. Where the hell was the road? He’d only run for a few minutes; they had to be close to the road. But there were no roads, no paths, nothing but trees and snow—and behind her somewhere, Ryker.

He was coming. She had no idea how she knew, but he was. She had to be…
where?
Whatever her brain tried to offer up stalled as she circled a tree and tripped over something in the snow. As she struggled to her feet, a low, feral growl ripped at the air around her. Everything in Saja stilled.

Survival instincts told her the sound wasn’t human. With agonizing slowness, she turned her head, praying every second what she thought she’d heard wasn’t reality.

Apparently, God wasn’t listening, however, because across the snowy expanse beneath another tree, a wolf—an honest-to-God, four-legged, dark gray wolf bared its teeth at her. Another low, throaty growl wet the frigid air, and all the panic she hadn’t experienced back in the cabin swam up to punch her in the gut.

Wolves
. What did one do with wolves?

Don’t stare at it
. She glanced down then felt around in the snow. If Ryker came after her, he’d run right into the animal. Her stupidity didn’t need to get two people killed. Her numb fingers encountered a rough object. She fumbled with it. A rock.

As weapons went, it was pathetic.

Another growl split the air, jerking her gaze up. The wolf stalked toward her, every step slow, deliberate. She could almost see the saliva dripping from its mouth.

Yeah, don’t focus on the very big teeth
.

Another sound—snow crunching behind her was her only warning—Ryker. The gray switched its attention, its snarl growing louder. Saja jerked the rock out of the snow and flung it for all she was worth. It struck the gray on the side of his head then the beast roared and charged.

Oh, shit
.

Throwing her arms over her head, she tried to make herself small, bracing for the horrendous feeling of teeth or claws or, God help her, both ripping into her flesh—only they didn’t come. The first growl was met by a second then a collision so fierce, she imagined she could hear bones clank.

She stole a look up. A second wolf slammed into the first, but unlike the gray, this one was the color of rusted leaves in autumn, deep brown with hints of gold. Red-flecked snow flew as the two wrestled, teeth, claws, and churning snow. Then the second wolf closed his teeth around the throat of the first. What followed was a horrible crunching noise before the gray went silent and limp.

The sight was the most terrible and awesome thing she’d ever seen. She was torn between cheering for the victor and throwing up. Before she could decide, the autumn-colored wolf flung the gray away from him then spun to face her. Sure, it had saved her, but that didn’t mean her ass was out of the fire.

A huff of noise. The second wolf headed straight for her. Scrabbling backward through the snow, she froze at the snap of his—definitely a he—teeth. Less than a foot away, the wolf paused. Saja squeezed eyes shut and held her breath; if it killed her, she could only hope he was quick about it. When it came no closer, she squinted her eyes open in time to see the air shimmer. Where the wolf had been, Ryker knelt.

Her mind refused to accept this sudden sharp curve in reality. She closed her eyes again, but when she re-opened them, her Native American god was still there. His intractable expression carried traces of anger and regret. After reaching her, he plucked her from the snow as if she weighed nothing. Then, for the second time in as many days, he took off running—only this time, he cradled her to his chest.

Ryker was a wolf?

Ryker didn’t slow once on the way back to the cabin, nor did he say anything. Once inside, he stripped her out of her clothes in front of the fire for the second time—apparently, they were going to repeat a number of actions. He tossed more wood into the fireplace before vanishing into the bathroom. When he returned, he had a heavy towel. He rubbed her from her feet up, gently drying and warming her icy skin as he went.

When he reached her shoulders, his dark gaze locked on hers. Her stomach bottomed out. “You’re a wolf.”

“Yes.” He nodded and then, with absolute gentleness, he dried her hair—it had been damp when she’d run from him….

“You killed the other wolf.” Again, there was a strange thrill of it spiraling up from her belly even as her stomach flip-flopped.

After pausing, he stroked the damp strands away from her face. The gentleness in his touch wrenched at her heart. “Yes.”

Swallowing hard, Saja tried to string the facts together in a more orderly equation than one plus five times pie equaled pancakes. Ryker was a wolf. “Was that…the man who came here this morning?”

The other had been angry. Hard to miss the tension spiking in the room when she’d entered. It had been thick.

“No.” Ryker tugged her closer to the fire. The warmth of the flames added another layer to the heat burning her up from the inside. He knelt down, running his fingers over one leg then the other. Time slowed under his careful caress. He gripped her hips, turning her slightly, then repeated the gentle exploration along the backs of her legs, her buttocks, and she forgot for a moment to breath.

This close, she could almost imagine his lips following the same path as his fingers. Belatedly, she realized he was looking for injuries. “But”—she tried to herd her scattering thoughts back to the present—“the other wolf was like you?”

Her nipples constricted painfully in the chill. He stood, pulling her back against him and wrapping his arms around her. So surrounded by him, the lingering cold vanished in a wash of pure flame. He rested a cheek against the side of her head, his lips on the shell of her ear. “Yes.”

“Okay.” She shivered, and he tightened his grip. It was surreal. Werewolves did not exist.

Except when they did.

The hard length of male pressed up against her back decried any possibility that he wasn’t real. But…. “That’s why you’re out here in the middle of nowhere? So no one else knows.”

“Yes.” He grazed her ear with his teeth this time. Another shudder would have had her falling if not for his support.

“Okay. Are you trying to make me forget I saw?” Because if so, he was doing a damn fine job of it.

“No.” Warm eddies of his breath teased her skin as he trailed his mouth down her throat. She tilted her head, allowing the touch—he bit the juncture where her neck met her shoulder. The tingling sensation exploded through her. She clamped her thighs together at the rush of dampness.

“What are you doing, then?” It took effort to squeeze each word out as he flattened a palm across one breast, as his teeth sharpened against her neck. It hurt but not in a rending way—the pain sharpened in the static jerkiness of her thoughts. Everything in her focused on him.

“Mine,” he whispered, then licked the spot he’d bitten. The burn in her chest blossomed brighter, fiercer this time, spreading like the petals of a flower. Saja reached back with a tentative hand to wrap around the nape of his neck. Hanging on seemed to make sense because he continued his lazy exploration of her chest, the roughness of his palms leaving tingling awareness in their wake, and each time he glided over a nipple, she let out a little whimper.

“Okay.” The word shook, and her sanity threatened to collapse. She had no idea what, if any, correct response to
mine
should be, but the tautness of Ryker’s muscles relaxed at her answer. “Um…not that I’m objecting to the hot-and-heavy, full-throttle petting here.” His stroking hands dipped deliciously lower, smoothing across her abdomen, and if he went much farther south…. She swallowed. “We should probably talk.”

“About?” He kissed her throat, grazing a pulse point with his teeth, not enough to hurt at all, but more than enough to tantalize. Her thoughts scattered.

“I don’t…I don’t have sex with a lot of people. I mean I haven’t…. I’m not that girl that sleeps around.”

“Good.” Then he bit her, again.

The hard draw of his mouth on her flesh sent a fresh wave of liquid heat to pool between her legs, torching her train of thought. She rubbed her ass against his denim, the fabric adding another layer of sensation. The length of his erection couldn’t be missed. He growled against her shoulder. The frantic beat of her heart doubled, yet she stilled.

Ryker. Wolf. Wolf. Ryker. Don’t tease him
. Despite the rational advice, she wanted to move. More, she wanted him to keep touching her. She was so not into pain, except his bite turned her inside out.

“I’m not going to tell anyone.” It would be next to impossible at the moment, but she wasn’t an idiot. If the world knew there were werewolves, they’d hunt them.
If the world doesn’t know, what’s to stop them from hunting me?

“I know.” Deep in the guttural tone came another hint of gentleness. The warmth along her back abandoned her as Ryker easily broke her hold to turn her around. His hand came around her throat. She lifted her chin. Considering what he’d done in the woods, this was a violently vulnerable position to be in. “Look at me.”

Obeying him proved harder than she’d imagined, but she tried. His eyes had gone wolf. Dark gold with heavy black slits in the center, they were gorgeous—intoxicating. “Wow.”

He gave her neck a squeeze, the barest amount of pressure. It didn’t scare her, far from it. Like the bite, it turned her on. She licked her lips, and his gaze dropped to her mouth. Yeah, she didn’t wonder what direction his thoughts took, but she’d never been an aggressive lover. She had no idea where to start with him.

Bad boy didn’t even begin to cover it.

“Mine,” he began.

“You said that already,” she whispered, biting her lip when he growled. The rumble of it sent a thrill skittering up her spine. “And I’ll shut up now.”

A smile softened his mouth. “Mine to keep, mine to possess, mine to protect—if you agree.” But he didn’t let her answer, shifting his grip to put his thumb against her lips. “Mine for life. Mating is for life.”

Oh
.

The pad of his thumb was rough as he stroked it over her lower lip.

“If you say yes…you cannot say no later.” Something different echoed in his words. Saja frowned. “Humans cannot know about us.
Ever
. It’s the law.”

“But I know now….” Did her knowing mean he was in trouble? She gripped his forearm.

“You do.” Regret? Was he sad she knew? He was so hard to read. Beautiful, noble, intelligent, and impossibly hard to read—except he was worried.

“So, if I’m your mate, that’s okay for me to know?” Nothing says let’s make a lifelong commitment like breaking a law she didn’t know existed about creatures—no, Ryker wasn’t a creature. He was a man. Yes, he was a beautiful wolf, too, but he was also a man.

He didn’t answer immediately.

Her breath backed up in her lungs. “Will you be in trouble since I know?”

“Yes.” He sighed then leaned his forehead to rest against hers. The nearness comforted, and she let go of his arm to touch his cheek. “I will make sure you are safe before they know.”

“What does that mean?”

“It doesn’t matter.” He leaned into her touch. She wanted to pet him the way he’d caressed her. “You haven’t said yes.”

“What if I say no?”

The wolf eyes gazing at her unflinchingly darkened. “Then I will let you go.”

“No, I meant what would happen to you?” Could he release her? Was it like being asked to wed or something more? It sure the hell felt like something more. Her heart hurt when she even thought about saying no. Tears clogged her throat. She didn’t want to say no.

“It won’t matter, as long as you are safe.” He caressed her neck then slid his hand around to fist in her hair. The barest of tugs, yet she felt it all the way to her soul.

Not acceptable. She mirrored his stance and had to go up on her tiptoes to fist his hair, but he didn’t seem to mind because it pressed her to him chest-to-chest. “It matters to me. Because if I’m yours, then you’re mine, too.”

Didn’t wolves mate for life? Wasn’t that the whole tragedy of
Ladyhawke
? If she said no, would he ever find another mate? A fresh wave of violence opened the door in her soul—she didn’t want him with another woman.

Wolf.

Whatever.

“I’m not a wolf,” she told him.

“I know.” He smiled, and her heart did another one of those nasty little somersaults, leaving her weak. She’d give anything to make him smile all the time.

“I’ve known you for like twenty-four hours.” And that this wasn’t the craziest thing she’d ever decided on in a short space of time didn’t make it any less intense.

“Doesn’t matter.” He kissed her forehead. “You don’t have to say yes.”

The burn in her chest turned to a lancing agony when he released her, and she lurched forward to seize his shirt. “Wait a minute…. I didn’t say no.”