Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Sawyer sighed. “I didn’t tear your damn clothes.”
“I believe you. At first I thought it might have been you. But I can see now just how pissed you are about the idea of me and Riley. If you’d been outside last night while the back door was open and I was fucking her on the kitchen floor, you’d have done more than rip my clothes. Or at least you’d have tried.”
Sawyer growled, eyes briefly flashing raven as the avian rose to the fore for a moment. Apparently the avian was also a little possessive of Riley.
“Ooh, temper, temper.” Tao grinned. “I’ll bet if it hadn’t rained a little last night, those strips would have your girlfriend’s scent on them.” Of course, there was a chance it had been Shirley, but his gut screamed otherwise. “You need to deal with her.”
“Cynthia was with me last night.”
Tao raised a brow. “All night?” He didn’t answer, and Tao smirked. “I didn’t think so.”
Sawyer stepped forward. “You took Riley on the kitchen floor? Let me ask you something. Have you taken her in the shower? The bathtub? How about against the wall? Tell me you’ve at least bent her over the—”
Tao slammed his fist hard into the bastard’s face.
“What the fuck is going on?” Riley rushed to Tao’s side. She’d been so shocked when Tao punched Sawyer that she’d almost dropped her unopened can of Mountain Dew.
Licking his split lip, Sawyer smiled. “Got a bit of a temper, haven’t you, Lukas?” he taunted, sounding smug. That was when Tao realized the bastard had wanted him to lose his shit.
Glaring at Sawyer, she demanded, “What the hell did you say to him? He was perfectly fine when I left.”
Still smiling, Sawyer shrugged innocently. “You know, Riley, you want to make sure he never turns that temper on you.”
Tao advanced on him. “You son of a—”
Riley slipped in front of Tao and planted a hand on his chest just as she scowled at Sawyer and snapped, “Get the fuck out of here, asshole!”
Looking very pleased with himself, Sawyer began to back away. “You used to have such sweeter things to say to me.”
Growling, Tao snatched the can out of her hand and threw it at Sawyer, but the raven was jogging away, retreating into the woods.
Riley spun to face Tao. “What the hell was that about?”
“He took me on a trip down memory lane,” Tao said through his teeth. “Told me how he’d had you in the shower, the bathtub, against the wall—”
“No, he hasn’t,” she scoffed. “He sensed you had a short fuse, so he antagonized you. Unfortunately, it worked. He probably just wants me to feel unsafe with you.” Suddenly Tao was all up in her space.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” he rumbled. “I can be a mean motherfucker, I have a shitty temper, and I’m not tuned in to the feelings of the people around me. That means I’ll snap at you, piss you off, even yell at you, but I will never lay a finger on you in anger. Not ever.”
“I already know that,” she assured him. “Now can you calm down?”
“It’s a bit hard to be fucking calm when I’ve got images of you and him dancing around my head.”
Casting a sad look at the can spinning on the ground, squirting precious Mountain Dew everywhere, she sighed. “Did you really have to throw it?”
“Well, some people need to have cans slung at their head. Boat-size cans. Or maybe just boats. Cruise ships would be better.”
“It would be hard to pick up a cruise ship. Impossible, actually. Unless you’re Superman. You’re not Superman. You can’t fly and you don’t have a cape. You also don’t have x-ray vision or the ability to shoot red-hot beams out of your eyes—both of which would be cool.”
He looked at her in sheer exasperation, shouting, “Why are we talking about Superman?”
“Because it’s distracting you!”
He inhaled deeply. Very, very deeply. “I need coffee. Then food.”
“Max and Ethan just invited us over for blueberry pancakes. Their cabin’s only a few minutes’ walk away; I’m ready to go when you are.” Spotting something, she frowned. “What’s that in the tree?”
Under the glare of the sun, Tao followed her along the winding, uneven dirt path, taking in what he couldn’t deny were breathtaking views of red rocks, tall spires, canyons, and mountains. Predatory birds flew overhead while small animals scrambled in the underbrush. He could hear the trickle of a nearby creek and the white noise of a distant waterfall.
Like his wolf, Tao found the sights and smells of nature relaxing, but it was hard to relax when he had the sultry scent of Riley filling his nostrils, drowning out the other scents of wildflowers and dry earth.
Now that they were closing in on her uncles’ cabin, he could see the mated pair setting plates out on the patio table. Tao squeezed her hand. “Looks like we’re eating outside.”