Fox, Morgan - Craving Silence [Cowboys and Werewolves] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

CRAVING SILENCE

Cowboys and Werewolves

MORGAN FOX

Copyright © 2012

Chapter One

Sheriff Silence Foster sat at her desk with a pen in hand, riffling through stacks of incident reports. Her little town was turning into a haven for the wickedly daring and paranormally violent. The audacious occurrences were becoming more frequent and more brazen.

Silent Falls had been her family’s home for generations. Growing up in this small east Texas community had been all she had ever known. Well, as far as most people were concerned. Truth was, Silence understood a hell of a lot more about the disquieting world outside of Silent Falls than she wanted to admit, mainly because she had been protecting her family and keeping their secrets under lock and key—secrets, that if revealed, could destroy her family and all they had built.

The majestic little town was once serene and peaceful. People moved about their daily lives, business as usual, smiling and greeting one another like the neighborly folks they were. But recently, terror had struck and turned this tranquil piece of paradise into a hellish part of the world. Silence knew the dangers that lurked outside their quaint city limits were unthinkable and often horrifying. She spent her career in law enforcement, making sure those supernatural cretins stayed outside her jurisdiction—preternatural creatures that had left her community alone…
until now
.

Over the last several weeks, cars and office buildings had been vandalized, homes robbed, and people harassed and assaulted by a local gang of hooligans, except they weren’t exactly just punks running amuck. They were werewolves—a feisty bunch of young lycans looking to settle down and take over this small slice of Texas. This was something Silence was not about to let happen. Her family hadn’t sacrificed everything, including their lives, to lose their home to a bunch of supernatural shitheads.

“Sheriff?”

Startled out of her thoughts by the rumble of a deep, brusque voice, she almost jumped out of her seat, but being a woman in a man’s world, she fought to keep herself calm and collected at all times. Slowly raising her gaze off the page, she stared at Gavin curiously. The six-foot-six mammoth deputy was grinning at her like the devil.

“What’s up?” she said coolly, even though inside, her heartbeat raced and her breath came quick.

Gavin cocked his thumb up over his shoulder as if indicating something behind him. “There’s a guy here to see you. Says his name’s Walker Helmsley.” He arched a curious brow.

“Oh, shit,” she mumbled. “I forgot all about him.” She quickly began straightening her desk, piling papers on top of the already- existing piles. “Gavin, give me a second and then send him in.”

“Sure,” he said with a widening smile. He was used to how she operated. Getting lost in her work was just what she did.

A minute or so later, Walker Helmsley confidently strolled into her office. As she stood to shake his hand, she nearly tripped over her own chair, not to mention her tongue. The moment her eyes drifted over the dark-haired, sharply dressed, towering god, she found it hard to breathe. He was no mere businessman. Mr. Helmsley was a certified walking sex machine in a light-gray cowboy hat, decked out in a recently pressed, charcoal-colored Armani suit that smelled as expensive as it looked. She couldn’t help but feel the rush of blood rise to her cheeks and dip down between her legs.

Dear God, just the sight of him made her sex crazed. Suppressed desires ignited inside her that she’d never allowed herself to even ponder before. Losing control was not something she could afford to do in her position as a respectable sheriff, but damn if her body didn’t seem to care.

Forcing her tongue back into her mouth, she quickly licked her lips, her eyes still examining the man approaching her. She found her hands and fingers itching to squeeze a firm hold around his well- defined biceps to see if what was hiding underneath that expensive suit really was all man. His intense, dark-brown eyes spoke to her, and the scent of his masculinity told her he might be thinking naughty things about her. The wicked grin tugging at his lips confirmed it.

Finally shaking his hand, she cleared her throat. “I’m Sheriff Foster.”

The corner of his mouth quirked into a knowing smile as he said, “Nice to meet you, Sheriff Foster, and thank you for seeing me on such short notice.”

“Of course, Mr. Helmsley,” she said in a cordial tone and gestured for him to take the seat across from her desk. But as soon as she did, her mind set to work envisioning him sweeping his arm across her desk, knocking everything to the ground, and hauling her up to fuck her like a crazed wolf.

Oh, Lord in heaven, stop that, she scolded herself.
It’s just the itch of the full moon making me a horny idiot. Breathe. Just Breathe.

“As I mentioned briefly on the phone to you earlier this week, I’m interested in Silent Falls. I’m considering buying the land and helping to keep this community the way it is. I’ve got family here, and I’d like to see that things don’t get out of hand.”

She scowled. “What do you mean by that?” Her temper flared with the need to defend her home, her community. She wasn’t sure if she liked the idea of someone coming in and possibly changing everything about Silent Falls. Once a man like Helmsley got his hands on it, she could only imagine how not silent Silent Falls would be.

“Sheriff, as you already know, I’m a land developer—”

She flashed him a sardonic smile. “No, Mr. Helmsley, you’re a billionaire landowner who buys up small towns and builds giant monstrosity shopping centers, distribution centers, and God only knows what else.” She had done her homework on Helmsley Industries and could imagine just how powerful a man like him could be. She practically smelled his billions oozing out of his every pore.

He nodded. “Very true, but my plans are different for Silent Falls. They’re personal.”

What personal reasons could he have for wanting to own Silent Falls? Why would he want it now, especially when everything was going to hell in a handbasket? Surely, his “family” had reported to him what was occurring in town. A man like Walker Helmsley didn’t become a billionaire by not doing his own bit of research.

Scowling deeper, she said, “I see. And what exactly do you want from me?”

He removed his cowboy hat and placed it on his bent knee. With a stiff hand, he combed his fingers through his sandy-brown hair. “I’m interested in learning more about Silent Falls. I’d like to know that things truly are the way I remember them.”

“Remember them?” she asked with surprise in her voice.

He gave a subtle nod. “I didn’t always go by the name Helmsley. In fact, I took my mother’s maiden name when I discovered what a lying, cheating bastard my father was. You might remember me as Walker Reed.”

Gasping, she covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh my God!”

His brows pinched tight at the bridge of his nose. “Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for. Should I be worried, Silence?”

He said her name as if he’d known her all her life. Suddenly, she felt as if the earth and everything around her stopped moving. “Walker Reed? No way. You don’t look anything like I remember, and your smell—” She swallowed hard, wondering how she was going to backtrack out of that little slip.
Yep, I can smell you because I’m a wolf.
She wished she could close her eyes and rewind her words, but all she envisioned was calming him down, saying
, Please don’t scream. I swear I’m potty trained. Ugh. Damn that full moon is turning my brains into scrambled eggs.

“I smell?” he asked with a close-to-repulsive stare.

Heat flooded her cheeks. “I meant you look so different.”

Walker’s shoulders relaxed a little. “Growing up can do that to a person. It’s been more than twenty years since I was here last,” he reminded her.

She blushed and teasingly admitted, “You mean twenty years since my first kiss.”
Where the hell had that come from?

A wide smile spread across his face, the bright whites of his teeth gleaming at her. “I was your first kiss?” he asked.

She cocked her head at him and glared. “You know you were.”

Smiling, he confirmed what she already knew. “You were mine as well.”

Shrugging like it was no big deal, she said, “I know.” No longer rigid with tension, she slid back in her chair and got momentarily lost in the memories of her childhood. “Wow, it really has been twenty years.”

His gaze drifted over her, and everywhere he looked, her body tingled and warmed. “I must say, you look amazing.”

Doing the exact same thing to him, her lingering glances finally settled back on his alluring brown eyes. “You don’t look too bad yourself, billionaire boy.”

He chuckled, folding his arms over his chest in a mock pout. “I’ve worked very hard over the years, Silence. My mother made sure I had the best education, and once I graduated from Harvard—”

“Harvard?” she said in a snobbish tone, folding her hands properly in front of her.

He nodded, glancing down for a second as if a little embarrassed. “I started working beside my mother and learning the business. I was a natural, and soon the business was growing by leaps and bounds.”

“And now you own it?”

His lips pressed together tight, and lines of loss and worry etched around his eyes. “Yes, unfortunately my mother died a few years ago.”

Her heart dropped into her stomach. “Oh, Walker, I’m so sorry to hear that. Your mother was always so kind to me.” She had the strange urge to hug him, but that wouldn’t be proper. Besides, she didn’t trust herself. She’d likely jump him the moment she got close enough. Something about him was driving her a little off the edge of reason. She wished she could say she didn’t like it, wanted to fight against it, but she didn’t.

“Thank you. It was difficult. My mother was everything to me. Now, I simply submerge myself into my business endeavors.”

“So you’re not married?”
Smooth, Silence, really smooth.

He smiled. “No, I’m not married.”

“Engaged? Dating anyone?” she asked, sounding more eager than she had truly intended, almost appearing as if she were desperate to know as much as she could about him. And that wouldn’t be a lie.

What’s going on with me?

He laughed. “Wow, you really are a cop. You would’ve done well as a detective, I’m sure. Maybe even a sexy interrogator.” With an arched brow, he inclined his head, and his eyes slowly scanned over her. “I’d let you interrogate me anytime.”

She hid her smile. “That might be a good profession for the big cities, but then we don’t really need a lot of detectives and interrogators around here.”

Neither spoke for a moment as they seemed to assess each other, their gazes locked. “No, not engaged and certainly not dating anyone. If I was, I’d end it immediately.”

She frowned. “Why is that?”

He held her gaze, his eyes fixed on her like a hunter tracking its prey. His voice was deep and dripped like warm honey as he said, “Because after all these years, I’ve finally found you.”

* * * *

Lance Hickman traveled down Interstate 20 with one thought on his mind.
When the hell do I get to eat?
He was starving. He hadn’t had a real meal since he left his south Texas ranch several hours ago. The cattle he hauled had to be at auction before morning, and he was clearly running behind schedule.

His foot pressed heavier on the gas pedal, and he quickly glanced over at the map resting in the passenger seat, hoping he’d gotten the directions correct. Sure, a GPS might be more reliable to some, but technology was not his thing. He preferred a good old map, and as long as land developers hadn’t come in and changed everything, erecting new interstates and building cities that became desolate during hard economic times, this map was perfect.