Mountain Wolf Page 6

  A strange ominous feeling hung over Cassie and she experienced a sharp pang of anxiety deep in the pit of her stomach.

  "I think the shifters should know about this. Maybe this was what I was meant to do all along. If someone higher up is covering something up about these murders, that's not good at all." She leaned in and grasped him by the forearm eagerly. "You know the Alpha of this pack, right? Can you convince him to speak with me?"

  Luke looked downward at something on the couch, avoiding her gaze. He almost looked remorseful and unsure.

  "If you can't do that because of this code or whatever then maybe you can get the message to him for me."

  "It's not that, Cassie," he said, finally looking up to meet her gaze. "The Alpha isn't the one concealing his true nature."

  His enchanting eyes nearly hypnotized her as peered into them. Now that she was so close to him with not even an inch to spare, his irises appeared more golden than brown. The shape of his eyes changed, widening and then narrowing as he stared at her with discord swirling in them. Something was different about him now. She sensed it, yet she was too distracted by the rising heat between them to further speculate.

  "Then what is it?" she asked.

  He wanted to tell her something. She had conducted far too many interviews to know when someone was holding back something.

  "It's nothing," he said. "I haven't talked to the Alpha in months, but I'll take you to him. I agree. He needs to hear this from the source itself."

  Chapter 15

  "So what did he say?" Cassie asked, flipping the grilled cheese over in the pan.

  "His voicemail said that he was currently out of town on business," Luke said.

  He bent his head under the door frame to enter the galley kitchen. He practically filled the small space with his thick shoulders and broad build.

  "He generally calls back within the hour. If push comes to shove, I can always give one of his brothers a ring. They usually know where he's at."

  "He sounds like a busy man," she said, scooping up the sandwiches with a spatula and putting them on plates.

  "Just like you said. Being the Alpha of the Pack is sort of like being the Mayor of the Town of Aspen Valley."

  When she tossed the spatula and pan inside the soapy dish water, he gently grabbed her forearm. "I want to thank you for wanting to do this. It means a lot to me and I'm sure it'll mean a lot to our Alpha as well."

  She swallowed, focusing on his eyes and on the statement he just made.

  "I want to do it because I feel this is the right thing to do. If the cops of Aspen Valley can't or won't, perhaps the shifters of Aspen Valley will…with the right information."

  Luke closed the distance between them. Virtually nothing was stopping them from coming together. Attraction sizzled in the air around them and the blinding heat between them seemed to draw them closer.

  "I always thought you had the most perfect set of lips," he whispered. "Even now, they're the most beautiful I've ever seen."

  She blushed. "I always wondered what happened to you after the graduation. I imagined that you were living the perfect life with the perfect wife. I was so sure of it. All I could do was hope that I could replicate a real life based on what I imagined for you. Too bad my happily ever after hasn't come true."

  "It will," he reassured her.

  "The chances seem slim. Most of the women I went to high school with are already engaged or married with kids. Maybe I'll be waiting forever. Maybe I'm only deserving of temporary happiness, " she said.

  "And maybe your perfect guy hasn't yet revealed himself," he added.

  Cassie didn't know what came over her. She only gave herself up to the moment. She pulled herself up on her toes, grabbed hold of both of his forearms with her hands, and kissed him. A hot surge of electricity shot up through her spine and fanned out across her body. Their lips parted slightly and she reveled in the gentle, but needy way that he kissed her back. She was swooning, for sure, until he wrapped his big arms around her and held her to him.

  It wasn't long before he took control, sliding his tongue against the seam of her lips and then further still until their tongue were entwined as they embraced. He was a great kisser. Very attentive and very thorough.

  She pressed her breasts to his chest and slipped a thigh between his strong legs. She heard a deep rumble--a mix between a growl and a moan--erupt from him. The sound of it caused her nipples to pebble instantly.

  When she parted a moment to catch her breath, he caught her by surprise by backing her up swiftly and pushing her back against the wall. When his moist lips connected with the delicate skin on her throat, she moaned wantonly. She pulled on the collar of his shirt and gripped the back of his neck, pulling him securely to her body.

  He sucked and licked at her neck until she was trembling and writhing against him, practically begging for more. His beard felt surprising soft as it rubbed against her skin. Almost like downy smooth fur. His lips here agile and cool against her as he worked to caress and please her. Something tingled along her collarbone--in the exact same spot where he focused most of his attention.

  "Oh God…Luke."

  He growled into her throat, lapping at the throbbing vein on her neck.

  "I was right," he moaned. "You taste like honeysuckles."

  "Mmmm," she moaned, closing her eyes and relishing in the way he made love to her lips, face, neck, and throat by showering kisses all over her and using his gentle tongue to stroke and taste.

  His cock was big and hard against her. She wanted to do nothing more than rip those pants down his hips and see all of him in the flesh. Her fingers slid under the seam of his belt and along his lower abdomen before swooping lower. His muscles were taut and hard as a rock against her roving hands.

  Suddenly, he broke the kiss and took a couple steps back. A chill swept in between them to fill the void, but her body still craved him like a raging hunger.

  "I can't. We can't. You're Neil's little si--"

  "Don't say it." She held up her hand. "Don't use that as an excuse. I want this. I kissed you because I want this."

  He swallowed visibly and parted his lips. That's when she saw a flash of something long and sharp that couldn't have been regular teeth. Fangs? Canines? They looked oddly out of place.

  Cassie stepped forward, taking a closer look.

  She placed her hand on the side of his face and he pressed his cheek against her palm and then turn his face inside, breathing in and out deeply.

  "You want this too, don't you?"

  His only reply was a low, deep growl of confirmation. The feral reaction sent warm chills up her spine. She wanted to embrace him again. She wanted him to hold her tightly and kiss her all night long.

  He opened his eyes and caught her gaze. "Yes, I do. I think about you…I know I shouldn't."

  At that moment, she saw an image of them on his bed in the throes of passion. She wanted him badly. The sight of his canines slightly piercing the skin on his bottom lip made her think of his thick, hard cock plunging into her pussy.

  "Your teeth…Luke. Your teeth are different."

  His aroused expression faded, turning into one of shock and revelation. He covered his mouth with his palm and looked away.

  "I shouldn't have," he commented. "I'm going to leave now, Cassie. You're not here for me to ruin. I'm certain of that."

  "But--"

  "Please Cassie. Don't make me break my promise to your brother."

  Her shoulders slumped and frowned as she watched him rush off toward the door. He opened the door and before passing through it, he gave her one last lingering long look before shutting himself out and leaving her behind. Wanting. Needing.

  She had suspected something was different about him before. Now she knew the truth. She was her father daughter's, who had been one of the best detectives in the state of Tennessee before he and the love of his life perished in a plane crash. He'd taught her to pick up on subtle, hidden clues well. And the truth didn
't bother her. Didn't scare her. She already knew the man inside was more honorable than any other man she'd ever met. That's what mattered.

  Luke Lombardi was a shifter.

  She wanted him with the passion of a thousand burning suns.

  Cassie's fingers went to her bruised lips and then trailed down to the spot right over her collarbone where he had paid the most attention. She concluded that he had kissed her so firmly there that he'd left a lasting mark on her skin. There was no pain. Just a sweet sensation which would remind her that Luke had once touched her the way she'd wanted him to.

  Chapter 16

  Luke chugged down a glass of water, splashed ice cold water on his face, walked back and forth in his home, and started working on some sketches.

  He did almost any and everything to keep from following his instincts and running back to the cabin to claim…what was his.

  Cassie Neil was his. There was no doubt in his mind. Even his wolf rose up against his skin fighting against him to break free. The mating mark on his lower waist burned hot. That had never happened to him. He knew the legends. He'd talked to dozens of mated shifters, even his doctors. The mark that every shifter was born with flamed brightly every time one was in the presence of a true mate. There was no denying that this was the case. He'd suspected it before when the birthmark started bothering him the day Cassie and her brother showed up.

  The mark wasn't the only thing bothering him. He was so hard up for Cassie that he couldn't even contain himself or think rationally. If he went back over there now, he was afraid he'd hurt her, fuck her so hard that she'd probably run off and never return.

  So he did the only thing that could eliminate his raging hard-on if only for the night. He disrobed, jumped in the shower, turned the faucet on ice cold, and let the water cascade down over him as he stroked his cock over and over again. He gripped his shaft hard, pumping long and twisting upward until his nutsack tightened and filled with his seed. He would rather be pumping between Cassie's cream thighs with his cock driving balls deep into her.

  Luke couldn't get Cassie out of his mind. Her face. Her kissable lips. Her soft fingers as they slipped under his belt. He imagined that her pussy tasted just like the fresh honeysuckle flowers she smelled like. He'd give anything to bend her over the table and eat her pussy for breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner, and supper. She needed punishing for the way she'd teased him. He wanted to squeeze and slap her plump little ass and watch it shake and jiggle as he fucked her long and hard from behind.

  "Shit!"

  Luke's orgasm surged violently through him. The force of his release sent loads of cum shooting out in the shower. There was so much semen, he could have painted the walls with it. He pumped himself dry, fully expecting the images of sexy ass Cassie to disappear from him. He was a fool. He could never get Cassie out of his mind. Not now. Not after he knew what she meant to him. Not after she'd admitted to wanting him just as much as he wanted her.

  He leaned back against the shower walls and panted, trying to think of some type of solution to honor Neil's promise to keep his sister safe and untouched but at the same time making Cassie happy to. Could he do both? Would he have to choose? He couldn't fuckin' think. All he saw was pretty brown eyes staring at him and Cassie begging him to fuck her.

  Chapter 17

  Cassie closed her eyes and breathed inward, curled back into a child's pose stretch, and then exhaled long and deep. The tranquil music filled the small interior of the cabin as she pushed through the last fifteen minutes of a yoga workout. Her muscles were relaxed, and the negative tension was non-existent. The windows were propped open and crisp mountain breeze blew inward and against her bare skin.

  The yoga workout was only meant to aid as a distraction to what was really going on with her body. Last night had been rough for her. She couldn't believe how tempting it was to offer herself to Luke. Hell, she still craved his touch. She had tossed and turned all night in bed with nothing but arousal pulsing between her legs and the "love mark" heating up on her skin.

  She continued the workout routine until someone knocked on the door of the cabin. It didn't take long for Cassie to guess who was at the door. She hadn't been expecting Luke's presence this early. He had called earlier that morning, claiming he needed to run an errand up the road. She had wondered all afternoon if that had only been an excuse because he wanted to avoid another episode of what had happened last night. She didn't know if she should be mortified of him seeing her sweaty and overworked or if she should be thankful that she wouldn't miss his visit this time.

  "Luke, is that you?" she yelled out over the music and toward an open window.

  "Yeah, it's me."

  "Come on in," she instructed, and then raised her hands upward to give her forearms a good stretched.

  "It's locked," he yelled back.

  Cassie chuckled. "Don't act like you don't have a key."

  She heard him turning a key in the lock at the same time she grabbed a towel. After lifting herself up on her feet, she met him in the foyer. She dabbed at her damp skin and pushed some stray curls back from her forehead.

  His mouth was slightly opened as he assessed her from head to toe. "Wh-what have you been doing?"

  "What does it look like? I was exercising. Why else would I be sweating?"

  He closed the door and dropped his keys on a console table. "When I talked to you earlier you said were going to be working on an article today. By the way, people do sweat from doing other things besides exercising."

  "Well the place is virtually spotless thanks to the excellent cleaning company you have, so I wasn't cleaning. And I don't have a boyfriend and a certain someone ran off last night, so I wasn't exactly having sex—which is unfortunate. What else is there?"

  She threw him a teasing grin.

  The beginnings of a smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. "You have a whole lot of sass for being such an innocent, petite lady."

  "I'm not always innocent. Only when I want to be."

  "And how's that working out for you?" he asked.

  She shrugged. "I tend to get what I want most days…except for last night." She threw him another accusing look before saying, "Oh! I wanted to ask you something." She dashed over to the office desk where she was looking over some files earlier that morning. As she shuffled through a small box labeled lost and found items, she asked, "Any word on if your Alpha will meet with me?"

  "That's partyly why I stopped by. He wants to meet you," Luke said with a nervous expression settling over his face as he watched her shuffle through the box.

  "Good. I hope I won't be too much of an inconvenience."

  "No. Not at all." Luke shook his head. "Believe it or not, you could be the key to saving a whole lot of shifters."

  "I hope so." She scooped some items out of the box to move her search along faster. "What else did you stop by for?"

  "Oh yeah…I tried calling your brother but he must be stuck in meetings or something. I met the roofing construction guy at the cabin. I have the estimate, I just need Neil to look it over and approve."

  "I'm sure he'll call back soon. My brother and cell phones don't mix. He drops and loses them all the time. Oh, here it is!" She held up a credit card and pushed it across the desk. "Sorting through the lost and found box was one of the projects Nessa was working on before she left. It's strange. The credit card has the name Nessa Lombardi on it. There's an emblem in the right corner that clearly means she identified herself as a shifter. I've seen these before." She peered up at Luke who's expression had gone completely blank. "Was your niece a shifter?"

  Luke didn't speak and he kept his gaze on the credit card for the longest before stuffing it down into his front pocket.

  "She was looking for this. I think she lost it last year," Luke said.

  "Luke…" she said, interrupting the uncomfortable silence between them. "You didn't answer me. Was that intentional?"

  Luke sighed deeply and pulled an empty chair. He didn't move the
chair behind the desk, he positioned it so that nothing was between them. Their knees were almost touching. His attention was hers. His gaze held a high level of sincerity.

  "Cassie, some things are better left uncovered. You won't always like what you find."

  "Don't you think I know this by now?" she asked quietly. "I wouldn't risk my life to uncover things that don't matter to me. This case mattered to me. It still does. And I'm asking you this for a reason."

  "Of course…" He settled back in his chair.

  "You know who I am. You knew from day one that if I had any doubt or any questions that I wouldn't stop until I knew what every little clue meant. If you wanted this to be a secret from the world—"

  "Not from the world." He shook his head.

  "From me?" she asked.

  "Not intentionally."

  "Does my brother know?"

  "Know what?"

  Cassie swallowed. "That you're a shifter?"

  "He doesn't," Luke confirmed. "My bloodline hadn't been outed as shifters when Neil and I went to school together. I mostly lived as a human until the fire took my brother. I finished my last year without having to change my status at the Dean's office. After that, Nessa, Henry, and I made the decisions to come out as such. We anticipated it would affect the business in some way, but we were surprised to find that it didn't affect our profit margins by much. We're pretty established in the lounging business though."

  "Well, that's also because your kind has been accepted into our society by everyone with the exception of a few bad apples," Cassie offered. "I'd be wrong if I said I understood why you kept it a secret from everyone for so long. I haven't experienced what you have so I don't know what being a shifter in a predominantly human world is like. I just know that it doesn't change the way I look at you. I'm just mildly curious about your way of life."

  "Just mildly?"

  "That was an understatement," she replied. "You know, I was wondering why most of your storage sheds had a change of men's clothes in them."