Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Then my brain–which was still too damn slow–caught up. Mr. McIntire was here because of what I saw earlier. How weird was it that he came, rather than Tyler? Was he going to bite me? Turn me into one of their kind?
“I… I think you should leave.” I slipped out of his grasp and darted past him, running for the living room. Nana kept a loaded shotgun behind the front door.
He didn’t chase. I heard the even pace of his cowboy boots as he called after me, “I heard about what happened in the canyon. Tyler said you didn’t answer his calls, so we were worried. I wanted to make sure you got home okay.”
I grabbed the shotgun and lifted the muzzle as I whirled. “Yep, I’m home.”
Too late.
Mr. McIntire was right there and caught the barrel. With his quick tug, I lost my grip and the shotgun flew out of my hands. He tossed it on the couch behind him and hooked my nape with his palm.
My eyes flew wide when I tried to move, and I found myself effectively immobilized.
He had superhuman strength! If I had any doubt, it was now confirmed–Mr. McIntire was definitely a wolf, too.
He leaned down like he was going to kiss me. “I’m real sorry about this, sugar,” he murmured.
About what? The alarm bells were going off, but it was too late. Something sharp jabbed my neck.
A needle? Oh fuck.
“The last thing I wanted to do was add to your trauma, but I promise, by tomorrow, it will be like nothing happened.” I barely heard his dark rumble before my mind went blank.
3
CODY
I scooped a limp Riley into my arms. Her robe parted, revealing one ripe nipple.
For a moment, I couldn’t move. All I could do was stare at the lovely girl. No, woman. At the dusky rose of her areola. The way the nipple peaked, as if despite her fear of me, she’d also been turned on. Fate knew I was.
The moment she opened that bathroom door, in a robe that clung to her damp skin…
It was wrong–so wrong. This girl was young enough to be my daughter. She was my son’s date, for fuck’s sake! Shit. If she went to school with Tyler, she was also nineteen.
All I could do was stare down at her. She was still dewy from her shower, her skin flushed. Drops of water ran from her reddish-brown hair down into the hollow of her throat. She had big brown doe eyes. Lush, kissable lips. Sure, I surprised her for being in her house unexpectedly–I now had the primal need to spank her ass for leaving the front door unlocked–and coming out of her bathroom to a stranger as she had. Naked. Ripe. Fuckable.
Humans didn’t do much for me normally, but I would never swipe left on this one.
I couldn’t believe Tyler said the kiss had been bad. It made no sense.
If I got my mouth on hers, it’d be potent. My dick was hard just thinking about it. And that nipple. Fuck me.
Those were the stupid thoughts running through my head since she came out in her bathrobe. I’d brought the tranquilizer and had planned to give her a quick jab before she could even understand what was happening. Instead, I’d stood there and stared.
Like I was doing now.
“What am I going to do with you, Riley Abbott?” I murmured, hugging her limp body closer to my chest. Damn, I made it sound like I had a choice.
I didn’t.
My alpha ordered me to bring this human to Missoula to get her memory of the mountain lion attack extracted. I wasn’t here to date her.
Not that she would date a guy as old as her dad, anyway.
Ugh, speaking of her dad… I couldn’t forget I was kidnapping a deputy sheriff’s daughter. If this wasn’t crucial pack business, I’d say it was stupid. But it had to get done. I had to do this right.
I glanced over at the rifle on the couch. It would be easier if I shifted Riley over my shoulder to free up my hands, but something wouldn’t let me do it. I stooped down to pick up the shotgun, juggling it and the soft, lush Riley until I placed it behind the door again.
Good girl for having that and running for it. Bad girl for doing it in a skimpy robe and nothing else with the unlocked door. Didn’t she know I had a chase instinct?
Walking to her bedroom, I laid her on the bed and looked around.
This was Riley’s grandmother’s place. Opal Abbott had been a fixture in Cooper Valley since long before I was born. The bedroom was a curious mix of youth and crone. The furniture was antique. Most of the artwork appeared to be the old woman’s, but Riley had propped framed photos of her and her friends on the dresser.