STORY EXCERPT

“You must be a damn good hunter then,” added Zane.

She tilted her head at him. “I am. But I’m curious as to why you’d say so.”

Zane’s expression went unreadable. He knew he’d stepped in it. But he also knew he might as well go ahead and keep walking in the shit he’d made. “Um, because you’re a woman.”

“So women hunters can’t be bad hunters?” She hadn’t meant to toy with him, but what the hell? A woman had a right to a little fun now and then.

He swallowed, thinking hard. “Yeah. I guess.”

“And why would you say that, Zane?”

Riker shifted in his saddle, squirming for his friend.

“Um…” But Zane came up empty.

She decided to help him out. “Because to make it in a man’s field, a woman has to be twice as smart and work twice as hard. Is that what you’re thinking?”

“You sure as hell stepped in shit now, man.” Riker pulled his hat lower.

My thoughts exactly, she thought. The shit’s almost up to his knees now.

Zane shrugged. “Maybe.”

“No maybes about it. Trust me, boys, I’m very good at my job.” She drew in an exaggerated breath as though they were trying her patience. “Now, like I said, I need to get back at it.” Looking down at the tracks their horses had made, she added, “And try turning around and heading back the way you came. You’ve already torn up the ground and the coyotes’ tracks.”

“Do you think it’s only one coyote doing the killing?”

It seemed Riker wasn’t ready to mind his own business.

“That’s what I might have thought before.” Maybe they could help her, after all. “But there’s more than one coyote’s tracks here. Several, in fact.”

Zane narrowed his eyes and studied the ground. “Looks that way.”

She frowned, feeling as though he wasn’t saying as much as he could. “Yeah. Like they’re running in a pack.”

Neither man said anything.

“And they’re big. Real big.”

Riker met her gaze. “They’d have to be big to take down a cow.”

“And a bull.”

Surprise lit up their faces.

“Don’t tell me it was Thunderstorm, Matthews’ prize bull.” Sadness intoned Riker’s voice.

“Yeah, it was.”

He shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense. Coyotes don’t usually attack the herd. Not unless they’re starving or just plain stupid.”

Stupid?

“That was my way of thinking,” she said. Which, of course, led her to the next question. “Have you two ever seen any wolves around here?”

Neither man’s expression changed. They couldn’t have done a worse job of hiding the fact that they’d seen wolves if they’d pulled their hats down over their faces and turned their horses around to gallop away.

“So you have seen wolves.”

“We didn’t say that.” Zane glanced at Riker.

“You didn’t say you haven’t, either.” They knew something. She’d bet her last dollar on it. “What aren’t you guys telling me?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about. There haven’t been wolves in Oklahoma for years. Got hunted out of here.”

“That’s not what I heard.” The fact was that she hadn’t heard anything about wolves. But if they bought her bluff, then maybe they’d let more info spill.

Zane slumped in his saddle, relaxing a little. “Sugar…” He paused at her glare. “Stevie, you really shouldn’t listen to stories. Wayward and Granite Lake have a ton of silly shifter stories. It’s all for the tourists. Don’t go taking any of it seriously.”

“Shifter stories?” Now she was really curious.

Oh, shit could’ve been written across Zane’s forehead.

Riker cleared his throat, drawing her attention. “Like he said, they’re just stories for the tourists. Like the alien crap in Roswell. People want to believe what they want to believe.”

“But I saw them.”

The men exchanged another telling look.

“You saw shifters?” asked Zane.

Seriously? Did he really think she’d believe such nonsense?

“Of course not. But I ran into a couple of wolves the other night. Really big wolves.”

“Nah. I’m sure you were mistaken.”

She did her best not to sneer at Riker. “No. I’m not.”

“You probably saw some farmer’s dogs. They’re some around here that kind of look like wolves. And they’re big, too. Like they were bred with a—” He twisted toward Zane. “What was that big dog we saw on television? The one in the dog show?”

“Oh, yeah.” Zane snapped his fingers, searching for the right word. “Something Mastiff. The damn thing was the size of a pony.”

Irritation flared. They were out-and-out bullshitting her now. “I know what I saw. They weren’t dogs. Not by any stretch of the imagination.”

And then they really pissed her off. They laughed.

“Now, Stevie, I’m going to give you a break because you’re new around here, but there’s no damn way you saw a wolf.”

“Much less a fucking shifter.” Zane slapped Riker’s arm, his grin wide. “Did he change into a man?”

Fuck you. Both of you.

“Like I said before,” she said, determined to end the conversation, strange and wonderful feeling or not, “I need to get back to work.”

“Back to tracking down shifters?” joked Riker.

She turned her back on them as much to hide the heat flaming her cheeks as to keep from cussing him out. “I’m done.”

“Knock it off, man,” added Zane. “It really was good to meet you, Stevie. You take care now.”

“Yeah. And good luck.” Riker’s voice was still filled with humor.

She kept her back to them until they’d turned their horses around and she could hear them moving away. When she did turn back around, they were several yards away.

Think.

They’d made fun of her, but she couldn’t let it get to her. Even though they’d denied seeing wolves, she was certain they had. She was just as certain that they had more to tell her but wouldn’t. At least, not yet.

But they will. One way or another, I’ll get them to tell me what they know.

ADULT EXCERPT

I’m the prey now. And they’re the predators.

A flash of memory from last night hit her, bringing the black wolf and the brown wolf back to her. They’d seemed familiar, yet unlike anything she knew.

The heat that had started when she’d first seen them in the pasture whipped into higher gear. She wouldn’t have thought it possible to feel so hot and not spontaneously combust into flames. Her orgasm spun inside her, starting in the core of her to spiral outward, taking command of her limbs. She trembled and whimpered when the feeling threatened to consume her.

Zane took hold of her hair and forced her to look at him. “Connected. That’s the three of us. Remember that.”

She couldn’t nod, couldn’t speak. All she could do was answer with her eyes.

Yes.

He thrust into her, immediately forcing her pussy walls to obey his cock’s command. She inhaled then let out a whine of surprise. He paused, searching her for any sign of pain, and when she didn’t answer, he plunged into her again.

Riker eased his cock to her ringed opening then bit at her shoulder. “Easy.”

Yet there was nothing easy about the way his cock invaded her anus. She gasped at the sudden pain, but the pain quickly transformed into pleasure.

Caught.

Yet she didn’t want to escape. She was exactly where she wanted to be. Caught in a trap of her own making. She cried out as the men rammed their cocks inside her at the same time.

Their panted breaths became their new language. A caress here. A nibble there spoke to each other. The men’s bodies were steel covered with flesh. Primal and animalistic in a way only they could be.

Animals.

They were as close to beasts as she would ever fuck. She, too, felt her basic instincts rise, taking on a whole new personality. Wasn’t she part animal, too? Wasn’t everyone?

She rode Zane as his muscles flexed with each movement. Planting her hands against his pecs, she shoved against him, driving his cock as far inside her as it could go.

Riker’s fingers dug into her butt cheeks as he thrust forward time and again. Grunts exploded with each thrust, each expelled breath. His cock stretched her, driving closer to her core with each plunge.

The air was filled with them. The scent of dirt, grime, sweat, and the pungent odor of horses mixed with hay surrounded her. But there was something more to the heady combination. Something she couldn’t have named if her life had depended on it.

Wild.

Aggressive.

Animal-like.

Those words came close, but not close enough.

Her mind went blank as her orgasm erupted. The blackness lying on the edge of her climax took her then, yet she stayed upright, riding through the rush of emotion burning inside her.

A shout from Zane heralded his climax. A growl, tinged with a hard edge, rolled out of Riker as his fingers dug even deeper into her butt cheeks.

Her body convulsed along with theirs as they orgasmed together, sweat oozing from one to the other, their juices flowing down her legs and between her folds. She cried out as the final blast of her climax hit her, daring her to stop it.

Slowly, gently, Riker lifted her off Zane and placed her on top of a work table. “Easy, baby, let me get a towel to clean you.”

She leaned against the wall, her body slack on top of the hard table. Would she ever move again? Still, if she never left, if all three of them stayed exactly where they are, would it be so bad?

Hell, it would great. Damn great.

Zane eased against the wall next to the table, his breathing still heavy. “You were terrific.”

“Thanks. You weren’t so bad yourself.”

“And what about me?” asked Riker when he handed her a towel. “I’m probably a hell of a lot better than Zane. At least, that’s what other women have told me.”

She chuckled, yet at the same time, a sting of jealousy hit her. How many other women had they had sex with? How many in the barn? She didn’t dare speculate.

Zane pushed off the table, putting his body in front of hers, his hands planted on either side of her. “So? Was it close?” He glanced toward the ceiling of the barn. “We didn’t have any chandelier to swing by, but I think it came close to wild animal sex.”

Yes it did.

Yet she couldn’t tell him so. “It was good, yes. But wild?”

He jerked forward, putting his face mere inches from hers. “Don’t lie to me, sugar.” He smiled and leaned back. “And be careful out there. Some animals are a hell of a lot smarter than the people who hunt them.”

Pushing away, he pulled up his jeans, snatched up his shirt, then strode toward the horses still tied to railings, a cockiness in his step. “Better get back to the cattle, man.”

Riker gave her a wink before grabbing his clothes and following Zane. “See you soon, baby.”

She gaped at them. “What the hell? You’re going to leave me here? With torn clothes?”

They were dressed and walking their mounts out the barn’s entrance. Neither one of them glanced back.

Anger seared through her. Had she ever been more disrespected? She dressed hurriedly, mumbling cuss words under her breath.

Then again, had she ever been fucked as thoroughly?