Dare the Wolf: A Bully Boys Novel of Paranormal Romance Read online

  Raynelle folded her arms. “And, what, he’s chosen you? Don’t you have a husband? How would he feel about you catting around with one of the Bullies?”

  Anita clicked the button on her ballpoint pen a little too hard. “Raynelle, you’ve just stepped over the line and into the Bitchville town limits. I’m going to take care of my tables while you get yourself back out again.”

  While the other two women sputtered, Anita hung her ticket in the carousel, hit the bell to signal an order in, and strode back out into the barroom. Gossipy girls with their panties wet over a werewolf they couldn’t have didn’t rate any of her time tonight. Not even when they’d inadvertently hit too close to the quick.

  The dinner rush arrived just in time. Thirsty patrons filled every seat in the place. Some even hung around the edges of the room when they couldn’t find a place to park their backsides, shooting pool or swapping out seats with people who wanted a round of darts. As Anita circulated, she heard too much for comfort about the recent encroachment of the Ferals in the deserts around town. Big cities didn’t have to worry much about the wild were-folk who’d lost their minds in the Great Beast Plague. They had professional extermination squads armed and trained to keep the monsters at bay, not to mention the funds to build barricades where necessary.

  Small towns like Coyote Trail didn’t. The vast desert wastelands gave the Ferals a perfect place to hunt and live. Nearby, the Cerbat Mountains provided convenient places for the creatures to hide. All the townspeople here had to protect them were the werewolf packs. The Bully Boys were the leather-wearing heroes of the town.

  “Are the Ferals that bad lately?” she asked Jake, as she dropped off another beer at his table. The Bullies didn’t have to pay for their drinks here. The Hungry Howler was all too glad to host them.

  Jake looked grim. “’Fraid so. We ran down a pack of them not far from Manuel’s place last night. Small pack, but…”

  “But they were still there,” she finished. “Fuck. That’s close. The rest of your pack out there tonight?”

  “Yep. Shane has everyone but me and Ethan out there, himself included. We’d hunted too many nights as it was, lately.”

  Now that he mentioned it, Anita could see the edgy exhaustion in him. Too many nights running too hard, wary of every noise as he stalked deadly threats to the town. “Good. You look like you need a few days to unwind.”

  A smile quirked at the corners of his lips. “You saying I look bad, Anita?”

  “No, ass, I’m saying you look like you need a break.” She nudged his boot with her foot. “You never look bad, Jake.”

  He tipped an imaginary hat. “My ego thanks you, ma’am.”

  Anita just laughed and took his empty glass away.

  When she’d promised to tell him about her day, she’d expected he’d leave before her shift ended. Not everyone had a mind to linger in a bar after they’d finished eating so a waitress could cry on their shoulder. Yet Jake remained. He talked to the locals who wanted a moment with one of their protectors. He accepted a piece of pie from Felicia, but declined an invitation to go over to her house one night to try her own personal recipe. After the server walked away, lower lip out, Jake caught Anita’s gaze so he could roll his eyes in an exaggerated fashion.

  Anita had to hold back snickers. So Jake wasn’t as oblivious as he made himself out to be.

  As the last boozy bricklayer headed out the door, so did Jake. She found him leaning on his bike, arms folded over his chest. It didn’t take him a moment to notice the backpack she’d brought inside to protect the valuables within. “Not going home tonight?”

  “No. I thought about getting a motel, but…” She glanced behind her toward the door to the bar. “I don’t want to stir up rumors.”

  “You weren’t thinking of sleeping in your truck, were you?” His tone said he knew she’d thought about doing just that.

  No matter how she tried, she couldn’t suppress the sheepish blush. “The night’s plenty warm for it. I’d given it some consideration.”

  “Fuck that.” He shook his head. “It’s not safe. And there’s no reason you should have to. Come back to my place. It’s quiet, no one goes out there, and the couch pulls out.”

  “I don’t want to put you out.”

  “You wouldn’t be. Make breakfast in the morning if you feel bad about it. I hate making food in the morning.” He pushed off to stand upright. “I like my eggs scrambled, and my friends in one piece. You get a place to stay, and I don’t have to spend my night off worrying about Ferals attacking you. Win for both of us, right?”

  Put like that, she could hardly turn him down. A tiny voice in her head wanted to know why she’d protested at all. “Fine. I’ll stay with you. But I’m sleeping on the couch. Don’t think about trying any of that chivalrous shit about giving me the bed.”

  He slung a leg over his motorcycle. “Do I look like a man who’s big on chivalry?”

  No. You look like a man who likes being bad. A little shiver ran up her spine at the thought. “Truck’s over there. I’ll follow you back.”

  “Try to keep up.” He winked.

  She wondered if she could keep up with him. And if, like all the women at the bar, she didn’t want very much to try.

  3

  Wolf’s Den

  Jake’s trailer sat on a secluded piece of property at the edge of town. Near enough to civilization that the Ferals would think twice about bothering him, but far enough away to discourage unannounced visits, Anita couldn’t have picked a better place to hide out for the night if she’d tried. An old mesquite tree with a crown of green leaves shaded half the metallic trailer’s length, while a twiggy palo verde did a half-assed job with the cover on the other half. Whoever owned the place had put up a wall of oleander bushes to offer some privacy on the back side of the home. Thick patches of cactus grew wild everywhere else, cholla and prickly pear and the occasional saguaro.

  Anita parked her truck out of the way and locked it up for the night. Out this far, she wouldn’t have to worry about thieves. However, if an adventurous Feral got around the cactus to the front side of the trailer, it might decide to go for a joyride. The insane, formerly human creatures had done stranger, including a notorious incident with a bulldozer through a fringe suburb of Phoenix. News stations had reported later that the Feral in question had once worked construction in that area. His family wondered if he’d been trying to finish a job he half remembered.

  Jake strolled up to her truck while she locked it. He tried to look casual, but Anita could see the watchful way he scanned the nearby area. Not once did he let her out of his sight. “It’s not much, but it’s home,” he said, when she closed the driver’s door.

  “It looks fine to me. Quiet and away from the gossips in town.” She walked alongside him as they approached the trailer. “Thanks again for letting me crash here tonight.”

  “Not a problem. It’s the least I could do.” He unlocked the front door and gestured her in.

  She watched him do a final scan of the area before he closed the door. “You have Feral problems out here often?”

  “Nah. Not yet. No reason to drop my guard, though. Just a matter of time.” He pointed out a cubby near the door. “Shotgun in there. You know how to use it?”

  “I do.”

  “Good. There’s another one next to the couch. They’re all loaded with shells that will stop a Feral in its tracks. They’ve got a nasty kick, though, so be ready for it. In the bathroom, there’s a bat with metal spikes. Ugly as shit but it gets the job done.” Jake pulled off his vest and tossed it through the open divider into the bedroom area. “Make yourself at home. You want a drink?”

  “Whatever you have on hand is fine.” She looked around the trailer. Wood paneling gave it a homey feel, even if it also dated the place. He kept it neat, no dirty socks or empty cans anywhere in sight. One plate and a lonely fork kept each other company in the sink.

  He had to scoot by her in the narrow center path
down the middle of the trailer. Warmth radiated through his shirt as their chests brushed. Her skin tingled. Good God, girl, get yourself together. He couldn’t help but touch you on the way by. Yet she savored the contact all the same.

  “Afraid it’s not the most spacious in here,” he said, as he glanced over his shoulder at her. A tiny smile quirked up the corner of his lips. “Hope you don’t mind being cozy.”

  Her cheeks flushed. Despite the blush, she met his eyes and traded him a smile of her own. “Not at all. I’m not afraid of close quarters.”

  “Good to know,” he said. His gaze lingered for a moment longer, then broke so he could fill her a glass. “You know what I’m going to ask next, right?”

  “What happened with Lou.”

  “I reckon he has to have fucked up pretty damn bad for you to pack a bag and take off for a night.”

  Anita debated what to say next. If she minimized the situation, she could save Lou some face. Herself, too, so she didn’t sound like a shrewish wife harping on her long-time husband. Yet Jake had taken her in for the night, and he’d already guessed at some of the situation. He didn’t have the same history with Lou as mechanic and garage buddy. So she opted for the truth as she sat down on the couch.

  “Honestly, I think our marriage has been done for years.” She kicked off her sneakers and tucked them out of the way. “Not in the way where you’re arguing all the time, ready to storm out at the next offense, you know? The sort where you look up one day and realize you’ve already mourned it. But walking away would take energy. That relationship’s what you’ve known for years. It’s familiar. Something has to kick you in the ass to get you out of it.”

  A soda can hissed as he opened it. “Today was a real ass kicker, then.”

  “I caught him cheating.” The words came more easily than she’d expected them to. “He bought himself a second phone. I didn’t know about it. Guess the affair’s been going on for about six months.”

  Jake’s eyes narrowed. She could see his lip curl, even with Jake in profile. “He’s been fucking around on you for six months? Who with?”

  “Not sure.” She leaned back into the couch cushions. “I didn’t recognize the number. She’s just listed as ‘Bae’ in the contacts. Does it matter who it’s with?”

  “Only if she’s fucking around on someone, too.” He pitched the can into a separate garbage bin. It surprised her to realize he recycled, though it shouldn’t have. “In another town, I’d say it’d matter if she didn’t know he’s a married man, and he’s leading her on, but…”

  “But in this town, everyone knows Lou’s married.” Bitterness dripped off her tone, thick enough even she could hear it. No chance an innocent woman had found herself ensnared by Lou’s charm and a promise of cock. She sighed. “I hadn’t thought about that until now. She had to know, and she did it anyway.”

  Jake crossed the intervening distance with drinks in hand to sit next to her. “Here. Whoever she is, she’s a bitch, and it’ll come out in time. Folks like that can’t help but fuck themselves over. Call it karma, or stupidity, but either way? This’ll bite her in the ass.”

  She raised her glass for a toast. “To karma.”

  He clinked his glass against hers. “To karma. For both of them. You’re not looking to save the marriage, then.”

  “Nope.” A drink of the soda helped to wash the bad taste of the conversation out of her mouth. She set the glass aside after her sip. “I already gave him the best years of my life. When we got married, I was young. Eighteen. He was a big man with big dreams, and I was dumb enough to eat it up. Time to make it about me.”

  “I agree. With the last bit. Not the first.” He set his glass down, then reached out to touch under her chin with gentle fingers. “You didn’t give him the best years of your life. He gave you the best years of his. Your best, those are still to come.”

  Her breath caught. Tingles of warmth chased down her nerves, ignited by his touch on her chin. She tried to tell herself that werewolves communicated through touch. Or that he wanted to emphasize his point. Jake Ballard could have any woman in town, any woman he wanted, and why would he want her? With a used-up marriage trailing behind her like toilet paper stuck to her shoe, with her soon-to-be-former husband in charge of his bike maintenance, with her years as the prettiest girl at the prom long behind her…

  His green eyes narrowed. “Is that doubt I see in your eyes, Anita?”

  She had to lick her lips before she spoke. “Maybe a little. I feel like I’ve wasted so much time.”

  With his thumb, he stroked her jaw, fingers still beneath her chin. “No time is wasted. You loved. You learned. You’re stronger now. All you gotta do is take life by the balls.”

  As he spoke, she forgot about the horrible day she’d had, all the doubts that had clamored through her as she contemplated a new life. The low growl of his voice turned the words fierce, seductive. Her heart raced, and her mind whirled with words she tried to keep behind her teeth. “And do you suppose I could find someone who’d want me, despite my past?”

  The couch creaked as he leaned toward her. “I don’t think you’d have to look very far.”

  She quivered. He was so close. Everything about him aroused her, from the earthy smell that belonged to him alone to the intense gaze that held her pinned to her seat. The heat of his skin against her face. When she wetted her lips again with the tip of her tongue, she felt him tremble with the effort to control his desires.

  God, she’d forgotten how it felt to want someone. How logic turned to ash in the fires of a need so primal, it flew past rational thought. When had Jake Ballard become so intoxicating? Since they’d met, or since her subconscious no longer relegated him to “harmless friend” in the name of marital loyalty? She tried to steady herself with a breath, but it hitched and trembled to give her desire away. Her years before tonight became a purgatory in which she’d learned from her mistakes.

  And now? Now, she felt all too alive.

  Then his lips were on hers, and she forgot everything but the heat of their mouths together. A low growl escaped him, an animal sound that pulled a shudder from her. She’d never kissed a werewolf before. Two steps away from their inner beasts, one step forward from their Feral cousins, dangerous to rile and ardent to rouse. She’d heard about the passions of the wolves, but she hadn’t experienced them until now.

  Powerful arms pulled her close in a rough, heated embrace. He trembled beneath her hands as she slid them around his sides, so she could flatten them against the rippling muscles of his shoulders. His need threatened to consume her, and as the kiss deepened into a smoldering, tangled affair, hers threatened to engulf her along with his. She didn’t realize she ran her hands over his back until she touched bare skin where the hem of his shirt had ridden up.

  Another growl. Violent shudders shook through his body at her touch. One hand tugged her shirt out of her waistband, in search of skin. When it touched home, she whimpered against his lips. His hand scorched like a beautiful flame, and she wanted more.

  She wanted him. All of him. Let him burn away all thoughts, all doubts, everything until only he and she remained.

  And yet… The kiss broke. It left them panting, blinking against the power of their need. His eyes had turned a lupine gold, and her resolve almost weakened. Knowing she could drive a man to his beast intoxicated her. She wanted desperately to know what else she could tease out of him.

  Emboldened, she leaned into him to steal a second kiss. His hand clutched her waist and trembled against a passion he fought to keep in check. She nipped at his lower lip, a dare to throw the fight and give in. Strong hands clutched her hips to haul her onto his lap with barely enough notice for her to swing one leg over to straddle his legs.

  His thighs pressed the insides of hers apart. A firm bulge nudged at the place where her legs met, brushed against her clit as she leaned down to lose herself in the kiss again. She whimpered into his lips. An almost painful need lit her nerves aflame, a
nd she had to move to ease it. Only grinding against the hard cock she felt beneath his jeans could appease the pleasant, desperate ache deep in her belly.

  Hands on her hips, he pulled her against him in a too-slow rhythm. Rough breaths begged her to move faster, to give him more, and she had so much more to give. Her skin longed for the touch of his. Clothing felt too tight, too binding, when all she wanted was to glory in their bodies pressed against each other. She reached down to guide his hand from her hip to her breast, then arched her back as his palm covered the curve and teased at her nipple. A ragged moan escaped him.

  A long night in a lonely desert home awaited them. No one but them had to know. In a week, it wouldn’t matter what they did tonight, since she’d throw paperwork at the first attorney she found and start the process of separation and divorce.

  And yet.

  “Shitfire,” she said between heavy breaths as she drew back from the man she wanted to disappear into instead. “Holy shit, Jake.”

  After several deep inhalations, his eyes shifted back to their usual green. “Anita. Fucking hell, woman. What you do to me.”

  A tense chuckle escaped her. “You do the same damn thing to me. God, Jake. I want you so fucking bad.”

  “But it’s not the time.” The words sounded almost painful, as if it cost him plenty to say them.

  As much as it cost her to agree with them. “I left Lou today. We’ve only talked the once. I want you, fuck, I want you so much. But it wouldn’t be fair to any of us if I didn’t at least have one more conversation about this with Lou. Make sure he knows I’m really serious. Tell him I’ll be filing papers as soon as I can. Hell, make sure my head’s on straight.”

  “I understand.” He dredged up a smile, and she believed him. “Trust me, I know. Loyalty. Honor. They’re important. You’d feel wrong if you didn’t go about this the right way. He stepped out of bounds. You want to be better than that. So do I. It’d be a crying shame if we messed up what could be a good thing because we moved too fast.”