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Jasmine
I DON’T KNOW what possessed me to invite Tom for cocktails. This isn’t his crowd. Definitely isn’t his scene. But I guess I’m not willing to say goodbye yet. Not when being near him lights my whole body up like a Christmas pole. I mean tree.
I take his hand and lead him into the restaurant. I don’t know why I grabbed his hand—maybe to send a message to Chas, whose attention is getting way too annoying. Maybe it’s to send a message to Tom that I’m still interested.
Either way, it’s too intimate of a gesture. The air between us charges. He chokes on a breath. My nipples go taut.
Chas looks back and takes it in, expression falling.
Tom growls like a wild beast.
It’s Animal Kingdom weird and hot as hell.
I slide into the giant circular booth seat where Adele, Charlie, Sadie, Chas and a few other random yogis are gathered and scoot over to make room for Tom.
He frown
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Burning in your Love Tom
WHAT AM I DOING?What in the fuck am I doing?I find myself circling Jasmine’s VW bus in the parking lot across the street from the plaza. I meant to march out here, get on my bike and drive off.It was a solid plan.Okay, fuck that. It was a cowardly plan. Jasmine had taken off for the bathroom, and I had a boner as big as the Sears building, and I couldn’t get my wolf under control.So I bailed.But now I can’t bring myself to actually leave. Which seriously pisses me off.Damn that ridiculous and beautiful human.The thought of hurting Jasmine’s feelings shouldn’t be such a big factor here, but it is.Well, she is my daughter-in-law’s mother. She’s like family. I wouldn’t want to give offense and piss off Tank or Foxfire.Or Jasmine.Yeah, it’s totally about Jasmine.There’s something magical and mystical, and fuck, ye
Burning in your Love Tom
I NEARLY SHIFT RIGHT THERE in the street.Somehow, I know the crash involved Jasmine. I sprint at top speed to the intersection as a wrecked silver Volvo tears off down a side street.And there, in the middle of the intersection, is Jasmine’s bus, smashed on the side like she got T-boned, and spun around facing the sidewalk.“Jasmine!” I shout, leaping over the wall separating me from the road and nearly tearing her door off its hinges.There’s no airbag, nothing soft for her delicate human face to hit. Jasmine’s forehead rests on the steering wheel and the smell of her blood makes my vision dome. I’m ready to shift to defend her, but there’s no one left to fight. The assholes took off after smashing into my lovely human.“Jasmine. Fuck, Jasmine.” I want to tear the bus apart to make space for her crumpled body. I draw in a deep breath to calm the fuck down.Chri
Burning in your Love Jasmine
I’M TRAPPED in a room with a giant wolf-man and no hope of escape.Seriously, it’s that bad.Tom insisted on bringing me to the little cottage he airbnb’ed. My car is parked out front, but I haven’t been allowed to see the damage. It was too dark when we got here last night, and Tom won’t let me out of bed today.He’s standing in the bedroom doorway now, doing his best to intimidate me into climbing back under the covers.Unfortunately, I find his form of intimidation lethally attractive.“The doctor said I’m fine,” I insist. Just some lacerations and bruising. A stiff neck from whiplash. And the broken arm. Which still throbs, even inside the cast.“I’m gonna call bullshit on that one. Get back in bed before I put you there.”Despite my aches and pains, my pulse picks up at the threat. I don’t mind the idea of Tom manhandling me a little. He m
Burning in your Love Tom
I DISCONNECT one of the wires to Jasmine’s alternator, just in case she’s serious about leaving. I don’t think she will, but the woman is pretty stubbornly independent.And it wouldn’t be the first time she’s run off on me.I rub my forehead as the testier part of me grumbles that I should let her leave if she wants to leave. I’m not looking to get tangled up with her again anyway. But there’s no way I can let her fend for herself like this.A few days until she’s out of pain and I can get her bus repaired. Then we can part ways before things get intense again.It’s the only decent thing I can do.I walk over to the diner and pick up three orders of the huevos rancheros (two for me, because I have a wolf’s appetite), and I get a couple giant bear claw pastries too.My wolf gets cheerful on the walk back, like the idea of providing for a fema
Burning in your Love Jasmine
I’M UP, showered, and sitting on the couch reading on my Kindle app when Tom returns. “I found the guy who hit you.”A car pulls into the drive and a scrawny guy with a t-shirt stained with blood tumbles out of the passenger side.“Tom… what did you do to him?”“I busted his nose,” Tom answers like it was the only logical action he could’ve taken. “And I told him he’d better fucking fix your bus. So he’s here to take it. Toss me the keys.”My mouth drops open. I’m not sure what I think. Whether Tom is a hero or someone I really should distance myself from. Violence isn’t something I condone.I do appreciate him arranging to have my VW fixed, though.I pull out my keys and then hesitate. “What if he steals it?” I mean the guy looks totally sketchy. Definitely a tweaker. That’s probably why he left the scene of the acciden
Burning in your Love Tom
FATES. I can’t believe I just tried to mark Jasmine.A human.That doesn’t happen. That shouldn’t happen. Something’s seriously off with my wolf if he’s picking a human to try to mate with. After all these years, after him never choosing to mark Barbara, the mate I chose.It’s insanity.The worst of it is Jasmine somehow knew. I don’t know what she sensed, but she screamed right when I was about to sink my serum-coated teeth into her flesh to forever mark her with my scent.A bite that could be fatal on a human.Fuck.And now she’s scared.And possibly hurt.“You’re not strange,” I lie. My rational mind tells me not to get within ten feet of her, but the scent of confusion and pain fills the room, and there’s no way I can heed my own warning system.She touches the goose egg on her forehead. “You know, I think I&rs
Burning in your Love Jasmine
TAOS IS one of those small towns where you always know someone anywhere you go. The diner is no different.I know Rebecca, our server, from yoga and authentic movement classes. Her eyes widen when she sees me come in with Tom. Well, nearly everyone has to look at him when we come in. He is pretty attention-grabbing. The huge, truck-like frame, the leather jacket. The silver beard and rugged good looks. He’s beautiful, and they know he must be new in town because they would’ve remembered seeing him before.She bustles over to our table. Only then does she peel her eyes off Tom and sees the bump on my head. “What happened to you?”“Hit and run.” I grimace and hold up my casted arm.She gasps. “Oh no! That’s horrible.” Her eyes dart to Tom again with a question in them.“This is Tom, my son-in-law’s father. Thank goddess he was here when it happened. He’s taking good
Burning in your Love Tom
I OUGHT to be glad Jasmine’s through with me. I called her on her shit and she walked, same as last time.But there’s something itchy and unsettled in my center. Like I fucked up and I need to fix it.So my compromise is making sure Jasmine gets safely to her RV instead of wandering around the plaza like a vagabond.The drive to her RV is beautiful and the place she chose to park exquisite. She’s nestled right on the edge of the Rio Grande gorge, but still among pine trees.She has a couple solar panels on the roof, a solar shower set up in a tree and a little flower pot with wilted columbines by the front door.“Oh, you’re thirsty, aren’t you, sweet flowers? Let me give you a drink.” The looney woman is talking to her flowers. She opens the RV and comes back out with a jug of water, which she pours on the wilted flowers. “The pot is too small,” she says to me, as if I was wonderin
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