Page 5 of Savaged By the Beast

My bear grunts inside me and I can’t stop the grin on my face. Damn, I want her.

She pulls onto the private road that leads to the ranch.

I nod to the left. “You can take that track to the left.”

She shoots me a startled look. “I thought you lived on the ranch?”

“I do. We each have our own parcel. Mine’s out the furthest. I like my privacy.”

She rolls her eyes and I can’t help but chuckle.

“Yeah, I’ll just bet you do,” she grumbles. “Probably run round naked here too.”

A snort escapes me. “No. That was a one-time thing.” Not true. Shifters are naked a lot but she doesn’t need to know that right now. I have a feeling that she wouldn’t take that very well.

She puts the car in park in front of my small cabin. Her eyes study me. “This is your place? I thought you’d live someplace bigger.”

“It’s just me. I don’t need anything bigger.” I pause. “Well, now I do. But I can build on and my brothers will help me.”

She sighs and shakes her head, her blond hair sticking to her cheek and making me want to push it back, sliding my hand through the soft, silky strands and tugging her to me until I can touch her lips. Until I can taste her.

“I feel like I should ask why you need to build on but…” Her hand lifts and she forestalls me when I try to answer her. “Nope. I don’t need that answer. But what I do need to know is who that man is?”

For just a minute I play like I don’t know exactly who she’s talking about. “That guy with you? He’s the Sheriff. I don’t know him real well but he’s your boss. You know more than me.”

She rolls her warm, dark eyes to the ceiling and I see a quick flash of irritation in the deep brown orbs. “I know you’re not that stupid, Austin. You know exactly who I’m talking about. The body.”

I sigh and run my hands through my hair which dislodges the blanket across my lap. I feel a breeze across my dick and her eyes widen right before her glance darts away and she clears her throat.

My lips quirk. She can pretend she doesn’t care but I see that heat in her eyes. I see the way her pulse speeds up in her tan throat. The way she swallows and it’s rough and ragged. Her breaths match that quick pulse. Pride and satisfaction burn in my heart. She’s mine. It will be tricky but I’ll win her over.

“He’s our foreman. Was our foreman.”

“Does he have any family that we should contact?” she asks, pulling out a notebook, all business.

I want to wrench it out of her hands and push her up against the door, sealing her squawk of protest when I take her lips. My eyebrow lifts and I feel lust tear through me, my dick pushing against the blanket where I’ve pulled it back across my lap.

I ignore it. Surely I can control myself for five minutes with my mate. I’m not an animal. I chuckle roughly.

Well, actually that’s not quite true. But then again aren’t we all just animals in clothes? Mine’s just a little closer to the surface than a normal man’s.

She shoots me a strange look. “Ummm. No, his wife and children died years ago. I don’t think he has any other family.”

She nods and her eyes drift down, widening when she sees the tent I’m pitching in the blanket.

Red dusts her freckled cheeks and she clears her throat, staring up at the ceiling. “You seem to have a problem.”

“Only around you.”

Those wide eyes surrounded by a thicket of dark lashes flutter and stare at me. “Why?”

“Aren’t you married?”

She shakes her head. “No. Why?”

Confusion swirls in me. I’m not touching her until I know she’s totally free. That kid has me worried.

“A boyfriend?Fiance?”