Hot Springs Werewolf Complete Series (BBW Werewolf Erotic Romance) (10 page)

"It said she sent a letter to you too. Haven't you got it yet?"

"Not yet."

As I said it, I realized that although the cabin must have an address, I didn't know it. I'd been going by "wood cabin down the hill from the house ten miles from town" when I'd arrived. I hadn't seen a letterbox either. I'd have to go to the Post Office tomorrow.

"So have you been kidnapped by a cowboy yet?"

I paused. I know I shouldn't have and in that instant Jem squealed like an air-raid siren. "OMG you have! Who is he? What is his name?"

"It's not... I haven't."

"Liar. You are lying lying lying. Tell me his name or I'm gonna tell Mom and she'll get it out of you. Spill."

"Red."

"His name is Red? What does he look like? What does he do?"

A swirl of images went through my mind. Oh, you know, he has golden eyes. Gray fur. Jumps out of second-storey windows. Is the alpha of his pack.

"He's in construction."

I heard noises in the background and silently thanked any supernatural beings floating around for Jem's noisy kids. Love 'em to death but they were like heat-seeking phone conversation destruction bombs.

"No Lukas! Don't do that. Stop it."

I listened as she tried to sort out a child-based problem. Someone needed to put something back right now or they'd be in trouble.

"Urgh, I gotta go. I want more detail though next time. Bye!"

I didn't get a chance to answer before the line dropped out. Classic Jem. Still, it went better than it could have and twenty-thousand dollars would keep her happy for a long time. I wonder what was in the letter Millie sent me?

While I had a signal in town I decided to do a bit of internet research. I'd just hit the search button on Finch Toulouse Guile Hot Springs when there was a tap on my driver side window. I glanced up to find a cop looking at me with a hard stare. He was young, maybe just under thirty and had a faint scar running from the corner of his mouth down to his chin.

"Lower your window please ma'am."

Boris was from the era of non-electric. He squeaked and squealed as I cranked the window down.

"Do you know why I've stopped you today?"

"What?"

I was sitting in Boris using the internet. Stopped me?

"I stopped you today because using an electronic device while driving a vehicle is illegal. Were you aware of that?"

"I'm sitting in a parked truck with the keys in my hand. I'm not driving."

It was like I hadn't spoken. I looked for a name tag but couldn't find one.

"License and registration."

I found my registration and handed over my out-of-state license. He took out a book and started writing down details.

"I'm not driving. I'm just sitting here."

"Please be quiet ma'am."

I felt a rush of anger. What the hell was this bullshit? I touched my phone, looking to turn the camera on to record all this and then jumped when the cop hit his hand on the door.

"I wouldn't think about filming me. It wouldn't be good for your health." He leaned down and then took a gratuitous look at my cleavage before handing back my license and registration.

I looked around to see if there was anyone nearby. Although I was on a main street, it was Sunday and still quiet. I saw an old man down the block hobbling towards his car. He wouldn't be any help if I screamed out.

"What is your name?"

He didn't answer and then flicked a ticket at me through the window.

"Don't text and drive. That's how people have accidents."

He walked off, heading towards a police car parked on the other side of the street. I looked down at the ticket, fury bubbling inside me and then nearly exploded when I saw the amount.

Three hundred dollars! For "operating a motor vehicle while using an electronic device".

I watch the cop get into his car and drive off, all the while wishing a lump of rock from outer space to crash down on top of him or for his dick to suddenly drop off.

"Fucking asshole," I muttered under my breath as I started Boris and headed back to the cabin.

*

I
was plenty mad by the time I got back to the cabin and none of my usual tricks to calm myself were working. Sit out in the gazebo looking at the beautiful forest? Glare at the trees for existing. Read a book? Drop said book on the table and give it some dirty looks. It briefly crossed my mind to bust out the red vibrator but then I decided to be an adult and deal with the situation like an adult.

I opened a bottle of wine.

By the time I started my second glass, I'd forgotten all about the idiot cop and my other problems weren't looking so bad. So what if the guy I was seeing is a werewolf? So what if he has some slightly crazy girl following him around saying she's his wife? So what if I still have virtually no information about my family in Hot Springs.

My phone!

I'd forgotten I'd started searching for information when the cop came to bother me. I pulled out my phone and saw my search had brought up a page of results. I couldn't open any of them now (no signal at the cabin) but there were small extracts of information written under each result.

One result was from a newspaper archive: Finch claims election fraud! Another down the page appeared to be a list of births and deaths - and there were a lot of deaths clustered around certain years.

The final result on the page was a list of missing persons from the Hot Springs area. People go missing all the time and given enough years, every city will have a few. But as I looked at the page I felt a shiver come across me. Werewolves and missing people. Werewolves
cause
missing people.

I put down my phone and stared into space for a while as I sipped my wine. The idea that I was in danger whispered past but I almost immediately dismissed it. I was protected by Red. At the thought of him I looked out the window and up at his home. His truck wasn't back. He probably still was at Finch Mansion. How protected are you Harper when the werewolf doing the protecting was drinking coffee and renovating on the other side of the town?

So many questions! What was he doing over there anyway? Once again I'd seen Red and failed to get any answers out of him. Tomorrow I would go to lunch in the forest with him but not a damn thing was going to happen until I had some answers.

I gave mirror Harper a salute with my wine glass and then turned to my laptop. While I was tipsy I might as well get some writing done.

*

T
he next day I got severely cross with myself as I tried on yet another outfit and dismissed it. I should have been writing. If not that, I could have washed the dishes or driven into town to visit the library or the Historical Society.

Instead I'd spent the morning acting like a teenage girl about to go on a first date. Was this cute enough? Was it sexy enough? Not too sexy. Sexy but classy. Or should I go with sexy to stir Red up and get more answers out of him?

I took my dress off and wriggled into a red swing-dancing style number. Around the hem was a line of vibrant blue stitched in a zigzag pattern. As soon as I put it on I knew it was the one. It smoothed where I needed a little smoothing (ahem) and supported where I needed a little support (ahem again). I was going for a walk in the forest too so maybe the Red Riding Hood theme was appropriate. After all, there was a wolf...

I slipped my feet into some comfortable shoes, took the bottle of champagne from the fridge and then stopped at the kitchen table. Next to Red's pile of clothes I had yet to return I'd left a sheet of paper with my questions on it.

What happened to the Finch pack? Were they all killed? Who did it?

What is Freyr's deal? Why do they call me the new Finch?

Why were you renovating the Finch mansion?

The list of questions went on for a bit and didn't include the one that I'd only asked myself in the dark of the night: why do you like me?

I put the questions in my dress pocket and headed out, locking the door of the cabin behind me.

As Red had told me, there was a path leading from the cabin into the forest and I couldn't miss it. It was more worn-down grass than an actual path. I set off, walking up the gentle slope until I reached the edge of the forest. Although I'd been here for a week already I hadn't come up here until now. Some timid part of me tried to suggest that was because of there being werewolves and then was told to stop being such a chicken. I paused, just a moment, telling myself I was taking in the scenery and then forced myself to walk into the cool shade before I really did scare myself.

It was mid-morning and the day was warm enough that stepping under the trees was a nice change. I followed the path and listened to the sounds of the forest. Leaves moved and whispered with the wind. I heard (but didn't see) bees slowly moving from wildflower to wildflower. I smiled to myself as I immersed myself and let my senses expand. The coolness on my skin, the slight breeze rustling the bottom of my dress, the dry leaves crackling under my shoes. I could smell earth and leaves and flowers. The air here wasn't pure but rich with scents, infused with life and I drank it in as I walked.

It wasn't long before I heard a crackling of dry leaves and turned to see a gray tail disappear behind a tree. Red, in wolf form. I kept moving, feeling him following me but never seeing him fully. I saw a long face from the corner of my eye but when I looked it had vanished into the undergrowth. I heard the padding of feet but only glimpsed the tip of a tail vanishing behind a bush.

The longer the game went and the more he evaded me, the more I wanted to see him. I wanted to see a full wolf that was a man too. I wanted to run my fingers through his fur and push my face into it. To wrap my arms around him and feel his strength.

I was so focused on the game that I didn't see the picnic basket until I nearly stepped on it. It was sitting next to an old stump, incongruous with the forest around it. Dark wicker with a red-check cloth over the top of it. Next to it sat a pile of clothing and a pair of boots. I put my champagne bottle down next to the basket and turned to face the clearing. It was perfect plush grass rippled with sunlight and shadows. It looked so soft I wanted to dive into it. Other thoughts rose up commenting on how soft it would be when I was on my back.

I tried to push that idea away but something about the game in the forest wouldn't let me. Red hadn't just been following me. He'd been
pursuing
.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself and then I saw the gray wolf step out of the forest on the other side of the clearing.

His eyes were golden and I could feel the man behind them. Not a tame man. Not a tame wolf. He padded towards me on giant paws. His body was broad and strong and he easily came up to my waist. Although I knew it was Red, I still felt the apprehension of being near a wild animal. He walked to the middle of the clearing and then sat down.

With my heart thudding in my chest, I slipped off my shoes and then I slowly walked towards him. I felt the nervous buzzing of a first date and a carnival ride all wrapped up together. I could feel the thick grass under my feet, every blade a soft spring. It seemed quieter in the clearing as though in the presence of a wolf the thousand living things around us had slipped into silence.

The wolf opened its mouth briefly and I saw white teeth, a red tongue. Jaws that could bite through a man's arm like it was a stick of celery. I continued walking towards him and then his scent enveloped me.

Warm and spice and Red Red Red.

I reached out my trembling hand and then the wolf nuzzled my palm. His nose was damp and I giggled at the touch of it. I stroked my hand up and around his ear, scratching behind it. He turned his head and wriggled closer to me. I knelt down as he pushed his head again me and ran my fingers through his thick fur. Warmth and spice in every moment and breath. I wrapped my arms around him, feeling the strong muscles under his fur. I felt like I was back in Red's kitchen, my eyelids growing heavy, my mind losing control of my body. I dipped my head forward and pushed my face into his fur, delighting in the feel of it on my skin. It was thick and strong but had a softness to it and the scent of him flooded me completely.

I felt the thud of Red's heart in time with mine and then there he was in front of me. My fingers were touching skin, not fur. Between one blink of my leaden eyes and the next he'd changed from wolf to man. His hazel eyes were still glowing golden and in the instant before he kissed me, I saw his teeth were still slightly pointed.

"Harper," he whispered and kissed me again. It was a magnetic pull I was helpless to resist. His lips against mine wiped away all thought and then he kissed my neck and gently bit it and I groaned in pleasure. A wolf changes into a naked man and what a naked man he was. Lines of hard muscle, rough spots on his hands and the enveloping scent of warm and spice. I felt myself moving back, pulling Red with me and then I was on the soft grass, fully dressed with a naked Red on top of me. He'd settled between my legs and I could feel his hard cock pressing against me through my underwear.

He kept kissing me. My lips, my neck. His teeth closing on my lip and then away. He ran his fingers through my hair and briefly closed them and pulled. I tilted my neck back and he kissed me again under my jaw.

"Harper," he said.

I opened my eyes to find Red above me, his glowing eyes looking into mine.

"Stay," he commanded.

Before I could respond, he slid down my body, pushed my skirt up and then his hot mouth was over my pussy, through my underwear. I gasped and dug my fingers into the grass as I felt his tongue move against me. I was already wet and with the touch of his lips against me, my clit started to throb.

Red pulled my underwear to the side and I felt his tongue slip over me. A shock ran through me and my eyes rolled in my head. A moment later he let go of my underwear and resumed little kisses and movements of his lips against me through a layer of fabric. I squirmed and moaned and wanted to pull my underwear off, to haul Red up on top of me but I felt his command directing me. Stay Harper.