Mating Behavior (2 page)

“I don’t know. I guess it’s all this fresh
air. And I wouldn’t suggest trying to slip my pack on up here. If
you tumble, you may never stop.” He chuckled even though for one
brief second the threat of her doing just that hit him hard.
Overreacting seemed to be reserved for anything to do with Katie.
With anyone else in life, Alan could really give a shit. He had to
take a calming breath and remind himself that Katie was safe.

Katie purred as she stretched against him.
The very sound drove spikes of need through his system, leaving his
skin prickling with the urge to shift into wolf form and forever
claim her as his own. He tipped his head back, trying, and failing,
to block the scent of honeysuckle and roses—the scent of Katie. She
fit in the crook of his arm, her body molded to his, reaffirming
what the man in him believed, she was made for him.

If only that were true.

Alan steeled himself against her allure and
eased her to the ground, careful to pull her backpack close to act
as a pillow. “Rest for a bit while I finish checking the map and
repacking the gear.”

“No, I want to help,” she said, her voice
slurred with sleep.

The tiniest of laughs escaped him. “As fun
as watching you try to figure out what package of dried goods goes
where is, I’m going to pass. Take a quick nap. There’s nothing else
you can do to help, Katie, so rest.”

“Okay, I’ll just rest for a minute.”

“Is that all there is to it?” Katie Spencer
asked, as she stared at the geodesic dome tent in the small
clearing in the woods. For some reason, she’d thought the tent
would be bigger since it was to sleep two. It barely looked like it
would hold one person. While the idea of sleeping pressed closely
to the one man she’d spent years desiring got her blood pumping,
Katie didn’t think the idea was wise. There was only so much
temptation a girl could take before breaking, and begging like a
dog in heat wasn’t really what she had in mind. It was already bad
enough that she spent the majority of the day, hiking behind the
hottest ass put on this Earth. Sleeping next to it would no doubt
kill her.

Thankfully, the tent was a one-night deal on
their way to Alan’s family cabin. By ATV or snowmobile the trip
wasn’t too bad, or so she was told. On foot, it took the greater
part of two days. Since Katie wanted to observe nature as best she
could, walking was the option they went with. Alan had a truck and
a stocked cabin waiting for their arrival. He had a way of getting
things done that never ceased to amaze her. Efficient and thorough,
that was Alan.

Hottest ass on Earth was just a bonus.

As she took weight off her sore ankle, Katie
began to reconsider the choice to go by foot rather than vehicle.
Pain had a way of making her think twice. The smell of pine and
fresh mountain air surrounded her as she sat down on a hard portion
of ground. The grass was covered in frost and crunched beneath her
boots and butt. A rush of cold found its way onto her backside and
she shivered, too tired and sore to get up, but secretly wishing
for a heating pad. That or long underwear. She couldn’t decide
which appealed to her more.

Alan, her best friend, object of her desire
and neighbor, stood, wiping his hands on his jean-clad legs. Having
spent the greater portion of the hike admiring just how well those
jeans fit him, Katie bit her lower lip in hopes of stopping naughty
thoughts from conjuring once more. It didn’t work. She instantly
pictured Alan above her, his body wet with sweat as he worked his
cock in and out of her. The passion he put into all aspects of his
life was sure to filter over into the area of lovemaking. Too bad
he didn’t view her in that light. No. To Alan, she was just a
neighbor. A female to bounce questions off of, like “Does this
match?” and “How long do you wait to call a girl after you get her
number?”

She’d caught a glimpse of one of Alan’s
mystery women once and would never forget how toned the lady was.
Katie would also never forget the way his date’s eyes seemed to
shift to amber the second the woman wiped off Alan’s
lipstick-covered cheek. It had been Katie’s fault the lipstick was
there. She’d been so excited about making the dean’s list that
she’d burst into Alan’s apartment and practically tackled him
before planting a kiss on his cheek. The odd way in which Alan
behaved alerted Katie he wasn’t alone, so she took the hint and
went to leave. Alan’s perfectly shaped babe came out of the
bathroom just as Katie was closing the door. It had taken all Katie
had not to zap the bitch with a hefty dose of power for daring to
be with Alan.

The minute Katie watched the woman’s eyes
shift colors, she knew something wasn’t right. Thoughts of casting
a spell of protection over Alan had consumed her until he finally
returned home in the wee hours of the morning, alone. She wasn’t
sure what happened between them, but Alan never saw the woman
again. At least not that Katie knew.

Katie set her mind on the present. Alan had
just spent the last fifteen minutes getting the campsite set up
while she’d gathered pieces of wood or what he referred to as
nothing more than kindling. In her defense, Alan had banned her
from going too far, only letting her gather wood from the edges of
the campsite. Pickings were slim at best. He acted as if some wild
beast was lurking at the ready to pluck her from his overprotective
grasp. It was cute, albeit annoying. And forget about him letting
her use the small ax he'd packed. Like she'd chop her hand off or
something.

Men.

“What do you mean, is that all there is to
it? Were you expecting something with room service maybe?” Alan
asked, licking his lower lip. Tempting her.

He always managed to have a smartass
comeback at the most appropriate time. He also had one hell of a
temper with everyone but her, it seemed. She’d pulled Alan off many
fools who thought to test his patience. Living in New York City
meant there was someone stupid enough to try and take him on at
just about every turn.

“Ring a bell and I’m at your service,” he
said, a boyish grin lurking just below a devilish one.

Katie smiled and shook her head as she
watched Alan walk toward his backpack. He was seriously ripped and
even through his layered clothing, she could easily make out his
muscular frame. If she didn’t know better, she’d have assumed he
was a supernatural. She’d grown up around men who possessed
immortality, superhuman strength, prowess, looks that seemed too
perfect to be true and the ability to do amazing things. Alan was
just like every other human out there, oblivious to the fact
supernaturals really existed. It didn’t matter that he was prone to
odd behavior that left Katie questioning how much, if anything,
Alan might be open to knowing about her. In the end, he wouldn’t
understand what she truly was. Those who weren’t supernatural
weren’t permitted to know they existed. That reason alone had kept
Katie from acting on her impulses where Alan was concerned. Telling
him she was a witch would never happen.

The idea of full disclosure was as absurd as
admitting to him how she truly felt. The constant worry when he was
gone on business trips. The overwhelming need to be near him as
much as possible. It was craziness. So was the fact that every man
she attempted to bring into her life with the idea of something
romantic happening, sickened her, making her stomach twist in a
knot before they could get much further than first base.

I only want Alan. Too bad he doesn’t want
me.

Many a night she’d lay in bed, imagining his
hands running over her body, pleasing her before she concentrated
on his needs. It was bad enough Katie was best friends with a
human, but to have sex with one, knowing how hard it was to control
her gifts during orgasms, was plain old insane. Granted, there was
something about Alan that set him apart from other humans, but
she’d met many over the years who possessed slight gifts. Nothing
that would qualify them to be labeled a supernatural. Most were
psychics and other sixth-sense people. Some even had the ability to
channel energy for the sake of healing. Alan was one of them.

Katie never really took to the side of her
that wasn’t “normal”. The side she was ashamed of. Coming from a
long line of black magik wasn’t something she was proud of. In
fact, she spent most of her childhood not only afraid of the dark,
but of just about everything in her family home. Her family pet was
suspected of eating a neighborhood vandal, and yet it was one of
the cuddliest things she knew as a child. Sure it was a hellhound,
but its base form was that of a poodle so it had the element of
surprise on its side.

Yep, my family freaked the best of ‘em
out.

Once Katie moved away and learned household
pets didn’t make a habit of eating people, she thought about
getting a cat. The minute she mentioned the idea to Alan, his eyes
widened and he launched into a rather dramatic argument as to why
she wouldn’t want a cat. In the end, he wore her down before she
ever really got a clear picture of why he disliked cats so
much.

She knew all about the craft—spell casting,
glamours, controlling the elements, where to buy eye of newt in
bulk—the works. She even knew how to draw upon one's worst fears
and use them as a weapon. Her mother and sisters wouldn’t have had
it any other way, but she didn’t pride herself on the knowledge.
The times she’d watched that power in particular be used had left
her sick to her stomach and begging forgiveness from a higher
power. Katie doubted any such reprieve would be granted.

The second she was able to move out, she
did, spending her first four years of college in a dorm room. The
college she’d selected was across the country from her family. They
didn’t question her leaving or try to stop her. Just because they
practiced black magik didn’t make them evil to the core. It simply
made their morals questionable and their motives something one
quirked an eyebrow at. Through it all, Katie somehow managed to
come out “normal” or as close to it as one in her situation could.
Still, Katie wanted nothing of the life they offered. She wanted a
clean slate and that’s what she’d found in New York—with Alan. He
never looked at her with fear in his blue eyes and he never accused
her of hexing him—a regular assumption at the Spencer
household.

Sure, the minute the front door takes on
a life of its own and begins telling people to wipe their feet
before entering, I get blamed for it.
She smiled as she
reflected on her childhood, and the look on her mother’s face when
the door informed her that the day had been deemed a happy day and
only those with a smile could pass its threshold.
Hmm, maybe I
should have pulled back on the love and happiness. Bet that was a
dead giveaway I was behind it all.

Katie watched as Alan pulled a piece of
flint from his backpack. The man was prepared for just about
anything. Shamefully, she’d always assumed he was a born-and-bred
city boy, regardless of the number of times he told her he grew up
near these very mountains. The slightest tinge of a drawl surfaced
at the oddest times with Alan. Still, it was hard to picture the
man who always smelled like temptation and had better fashion sense
than she did as a mountain man. He always seemed so “Wall Street”
to her and she knew he lived below his means. That being said, Alan
was certainly more adept in the wilderness than Katie. She was a
city girl through and through.

The closest she ever came to roughing it was
when she’d been reading a book and accidentally sent herself into
the storyline. Unfortunately for Katie, the book revolved around a
jungle and crazed tiger stalking the lead character. On a good
note, her father had been annoyed with her tardiness at the dinner
table, so he cast a retrieval spell and ripped her from the story
and straight into her chair. He then proceeded to complain about
her smelling like a group of monkeys in the wild. She never did
confess to what had really happened. She’d been twelve at the
time.

She cast a sexy smile in Alan's direction.
“You’re so quick to pick on me, but I’ll have you know that I hiked
the entire way up here and never once complained.”

“The fact you’re complaining now negates
that, you know?” Alan winked, laughing softly. He tossed a hand in
the air and gave her a Gallic shrug. “I give. What
didn’t
you complain about?”

Pulling her foot up, Katie undid the laces
to her boot a bit and tugged on her sock. Her thick jeans got in
the way and she had to pull them up too. The unnaturally mild air
of March was still cold enough to bite at her exposed skin. A red,
angry bruise had the start of purple in it and it was easy to see
that her ankle was swollen. Daylight was fading fast, but enough
remained to see clearly.

Alan’s laughter died instantly. “Katie, what
the hell happened?”

“Twisted it shortly after we stopped for
that break. I’m only showing you so you’ll stop teasing me about
being such a spoiled princess and give me some tough chick points.
I’ve earned them.” She beamed. “And thank you for doing this for
me. Not many men would volunteer to drag a woman who knows nothing
about the outdoors camping to try to observe the mating rituals of
wolves.”

Alan pushed a hand through his chin-length
dark brown hair and let out a growl. It was a move he made often
when he was worried or upset. From the look in his blue eyes, he
was both. He had an uncanny ability to mimic the sounds of a real
wolf. It both excited and frightened Katie. Currently, it sent
shivers of anticipation through her body. “Dammit, I told you I
could have shown you how they mate in the comfort of our home,
Katie. I didn’t need to drag you out here to break your leg.”

“
Right
,” she rolled her eyes,
“because you can re-enact their mating rituals for me. Planning on
stealing wolves from the zoo?” She wiggled her foot and sensed a
wild streak in him a mile wide. “It’s not broken. I’m fine.
Besides, I told you I want tough chick points here, Alan, not a
lecture. Even though, you’re oh so good at droning on and on when
you’re mad.”