Chapter 5

Minutes seemed to stretch into hours as they slowly drew nearer to each other. Just when Jeremy felt certain he couldn’t take the torture a second longer, that he would close the gap between their lips and kiss her, the rustling of the vampire drawing closer to them once again broke the silence. They both froze, the spell

between them instantly broken. He felt the terrified thrum of her heartbeat against his chest. So many creatures had prowled through the forest tonight, Jeremy hoped it was enough to mask their scents.

The bloodsucker lingered for a moment, then pivoted north. It must have decided to follow a different scent. After several minutes, when Jeremy felt certain the immediate threat had disappeared, he whispered, “It’s gone.”

He pushed into a plank position and lifted himself off her. Like a bat out of hell, she tore from the bushes, brushing the mixture of dirt and snow from her behind. He tried not to notice how her round, ample ass and hips swayed as she did so, but it was a lost cause.

Jeremy mimicked an owl’s hoot, ordering Silver to return. A minute later, the steed trotted through the trees toward them, having been trained to follow close by whenever Jeremy made chase. When the horse came to a halt, Jeremy opened his saddlebag, digging inside. He retrieved an extra pair of pants from his bag and slipped them on, eager to cover his massive cock-stand.

Locating an old T-shirt balled at the bottom of his saddlebag, he extended it toward her. He half expected her to refuse it, to shift again and run, but she didn’t. Instead, she accepted the shirt. Once his jeans were on and fully fastened and he’d given her sufficient time to cover herself, he turned around to find her standing, arms crossed. The shirt proved just long enough to cover her most intimate parts. Not that he wasn’t well acquainted with the feel of them by now.

“Did you just…?” She gestured to his lower half, struggling to find the words until finally she settled on glaring at him.

If Jeremy hadn’t been so apt at reading facial cues, he might have actually believed her outrage. She was obviously trying to save face and cover up her embarrassment. He’d smelled her desire clear as day, but his closeness had been a necessity to keep her safe, plain and simple. She had to know that. Engaging in a battle with the bloodsucker would have made her a target as well—and he couldn’t have that. It was his duty, his honor, to protect her and their packmates.

He would have said as much, but something about those narrowed eyes pleased him, and he found he didn’t need or want to explain himself. He knew exactly what she meant, but he wasn’t going to make this easy on her. Not by a

long shot.

“I’m not certain what you mean,” he said, feigning innocence.

A defiant spark lit in her eyes. When she looked at him like that, he wanted to bend her over his knee and make that gorgeous behind of hers as pink as the blush on her cheeks. She indicated the lower half of his body again, making some bizarre, ridiculous signals with her hand as she pantomimed. From the growing fire in her eyes, she had to know how amusing he found this.

“A banana? An eggplant?” he teased. “I’m not very good with charades.” Her hands clenched into fists. “You know exactly what I mean.”

A wicked grin crossed his lips. “My cock…” he finally offered, putting her out of her misery.

The blush that burned on her cheeks and spread down her neck caused the appendage in question to stiffen. She had looked downright delectable flushed pink and bare in his arms. At least this time, the evidence of his thoughts was safely tucked beneath the fly of his jeans.

“Yes… Yes, that,” she finally managed. “First, you accuse me of stealing your horse and watching you strip nude, and then you mount me with something that may as well have been attached to Biscuit over there.” She cast a quick wave toward Silver.

Jeremy didn’t know where to begin. He wasn’t certain which part of that sentence he was hung up on more. The fact that she had been trying to steal his horse and watching him nude, that she thought Silver’s name was something as ridiculous as Biscuit, or the fact that she’d announced he may as well have been part horse between the legs.

At least the last point was a fair assessment.

“You were trying to steal my horse,” he said, deciding to start there.

The horse in question gave a small, enthusiastic shake as he lifted his tail and batted his large, dark eyes. He puffed up like a damn peacock, eating up all the attention as if it were sugar cubes.

She released an impatient huff. “That’s beside the point.”

As far as Jeremy was concerned, that was entirely the point. But as amusing as this frustrated little she-wolf was, he didn’t have time for this. “Look. I don’t

know why you’re running around the woods during a vampire raid and stealing horses, but I won’t allow it. Not in my woods.”

“Your woods?” She looked at him as if he were the insane one. “Last I checked, I had every right to be standing on this mountainside, no less than you do, and I didn’t steal your—”

“That’s beside the point.” He turned her own words against her. Releasing a steady sigh, he raked his fingers through his hair. “Let’s start with something simple, then. What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“I’d prefer not to start there, Commander.” She uttered his title as if it were little more than a participation trophy. From the way she said it, she knew who he was. She just didn’t care.

Jeremy fought down a growl. Few would dare to defy him, but from her, there was something he almost liked about it. The woman was as frustrating as she was beautiful, and she had a saucy little tongue to match. In any case, he needed to get her to safety and fast. It was his duty to protect the pack, even viper-tongued she-wolves.

“Fine,” he said coolly. “But you’re still going to march that sweet little ass of yours over to Biscuit,” he said, highlighting the absurdity of the name, “and get on the godforsaken horse so I can take you to safety.”

At the very least, Silver had the presence of mind to look confused at the unfamiliar name. He stared at them while chewing on a blade of grass.

The she-wolf looked at Jeremy as if he’d grown two heads. “No one has ever called my ass little.”

That was what she gathered from this? He couldn’t help raking his gaze over her. She was fuller-figured than many women of their kind, but to him, she was perfect. All luscious feminine curves to his hard muscles.

“No, I’m certain they haven’t,” he said.

Judging from her frown, she hadn’t caught the appreciation in that statement. She nodded toward Silver. “What if I don’t get on the horse?”

His cock gave another eager pulse. Maybe he did like the defiance—at least from her. Judging by the growing ache in his jeans, his lower head had different opinions than his ego.

Jeremy was about to tell her that if she didn’t get on the horse, he would take one of each of her ample ass cheeks in his hands, bend her over, and give her a proper spanking for disobedience as any good cowboy would—a spanking that would leave her thinking of him with every bounce of the ride back to the camp —but as he opened his mouth, a familiar scent on the edge of the breeze alerted him, and Silver let out a warning whinny.

Instead, he only managed to breathe out one word to her before the vampire came crashing into the clearing.

“Run.”