Five for Friday.
Five for Friday is simple. The first five pages of one of my backlist. Enjoy.
Chapter One
Timber crashed against timber. Windows rattled in their frames and the hardwood floor vibrated beneath her bare feet.
Time to face the music.
Rowan turned toward the door. She knew what she would see but knowing and seeing were two different things. Silhouetted by the sun, the six-foot-four wall of solid muscle standing in the doorway was menacing in appearance and attitude. She should be terrified but she’d never been afraid of Quinn. She knew to the depth of her soul that he’d never hurt her no matter what she’d done.
“Hello, Quinn.”
“Get your things, you’re coming home.”
Rowan rolled her eyes. He hadn’t changed. Six years hadn’t tempered his demanding personality. Then again it had done little to curb her rebellious nature and need to provoke him. In fact, it had increased her need to make her own decisions. Her independence had come at a cost. Being separated from her family, her home—her mate. It had almost cost her sanity.
“No.” She wasn’t going to allow Quinn or her brother to tell her what to do anymore. She’d finally come home to face her destiny and her mate but she was here on her terms, best to get everyone used to the new Rowan from the start.
“No?” Quinn’s brow creased and the confusion swirling in his caramel brown eyes almost made her back down. Almost.
She sucked in a deep breath, stiffened her spine and straightened her shoulders.
“I’m not coming to Whispering Creek yet. I need time.”
“Time? For what? And why the hell didn’t you tell me you were on an earlier flight?” Anger and hurt simmered in his voice.
“I need to adjust to being home, Quinn.”
“You’re not home. Your home is Whispering Creek—by my side.”
“I am home. Whispering Mountains is home.”
“You’re not staying here. Get your things or I will.”
“No.”
“Rowan,” he growled.
“Quinn, please try to understand. I’ve been gone six years—”
“Exactly. You’ve spent too long away from me already. Get your stuff.”
“No. I’m not leaving the cabin until I’m ready.”
He took a step toward her, a growl rumbling deep in his bare chest and his eyes flared amber with the anger her disobedience raised. She put up a hand and stood her ground.
“Don’t you dare come any closer.” To her surprise, he stopped. She swallowed over the lump in her throat. “Please, Quinn. You have to understand. I’ve ignored my coyote for six years. I can’t even remember what she looks like. I need to reconnect, need to be comfortable in both my skins. I can’t do that if I have to deal with the pack.”
Commotion behind Quinn drew both their gazes. Brogan stood at the door stomping snow and mud from his boots. He stepped into the room and threw a bag at Quinn.
“Get dressed,” Brogan barked at Quinn but his eyes were on Rowan. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.
Great. Two alphas to deal with. On their own she knew she could handle them but together, batting for the same cause…
Rowan closed her eyes, tried to focus on what she knew she wanted. What she needed. Dragging in more oxygen, she steeled her determination to get them to see it from her side. The swish of cloth and the metallic hiss of a zipper closing snapped her eyes open.
She breathed easier. Now that Quinn had some clothes on she wouldn’t have to deal with the distraction of his naked body. And what a gorgeous body it was, all sculpted muscle and smooth male skin. Memories of exploring his hard male flesh with her hands sent a shiver down her spine. She curled her fingers, clenched them tight to stop her hands from reaching out to touch.
How she hadn’t jumped him the second he slammed through the door stark naked was beyond her. There was not one day, one night over the last six years where her body hadn’t craved his and all the pleasure tangling with him gave her. She licked her dry lips before speaking to her brother.
“Hello to you too, Brogan.”
He looked sheepish for all of two seconds before his face drew into an angry scowl. Rowan sighed. She really didn’t want their first meeting to be clouded with anger. But then what she wanted and what she got were rarely the same.
“When did you get in? And why didn’t you tell us you were coming early?”
The coffee machine dinged, signaling it was ready. A shot of caffeine was just what this occasion needed. At least she needed it. She turned, reached into the cupboard for two more cups and poured each of them full to the brim. None of them took milk and she’d given up sugar a few years ago.
Quinn moved up beside her, close but not touching. Heat radiated off him and his scent flowed around her, through her. Breathing deeply she pulled him in, filled her lungs with the smell she’d gone so long without.
“Here.” He held the sugar bowl out to her.
Raising her gaze to his, she said, “I don’t take sugar anymore.”
Shock bloomed in his eyes, then confusion.
“It’s just one of many things that have changed, Quinn.” She tried not to squirm when he leaned in close, sniffed at her neck, her breasts. She knew he was scenting for another male. He wouldn’t find one. “That hasn’t.”
A low rumble was Rowan’s only warning. He turned quickly, slanting his mouth over hers. Crushing pressure and his probing tongue had her opening to him. Need slammed into her. Quinn wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off the floor and against his body. His hard length trapped between them. Her hands gripped his shoulder, slid into the hair at his nape and over his scalp. She tugged his head closer. Their teeth bumped and scraped and the kiss turned volcanic.
Heat blazed through her blood, pumping into her breasts and pussy, throbbing to a tribal beat only Quinn could drum up. She bent her legs, curled them around his hips and ground her pounding clit on his cock. A snarl vibrated in her chest, her coyote snapped at her control and threatened to break free. Twisting her head, she ripped her mouth from his. It was too much. She felt her grip weaken, knew the beast would spring forward at any second.
“Stop,” she panted.
He didn’t hear her. His mouth traveled along her jaw and down her neck. Rowan’s muscles stretched, her teeth lengthened and her claws popped out and dug into Quinn’s scalp.
“Quinn!” Brogan’s shout penetrated the hammering in her ears.
Her legs dropped to the floor as Quinn pushed her away to look at her. It was too little too late.
“Fuck!” The word exploded from his mouth.
The animal she’d denied for so long broke free and she shifted before he let her go.
Quinn stared at Rowan.
What the hell just happened?
One minute she was in his arms the next she was shifting. He let go, allowed her to slide to the floor as she changed to coyote. If he wasn’t so freaked out he’d laugh at the sight of her in T-shirt and shorts. Brogan made it across the room as Quinn dropped to his knees beside her.
“What the hell happened?” Brogan’s words echoed his own thoughts.
“I don’t know.”
Quinn stroked the fur along her neck. Rowan’s eyes drifted closed and she lowered to her belly on a sigh. Her movements were lethargic—listless, as she settled into a comfortable position. A shudder rippled down her canine body and her breathing evened out, slowed, deepened. He knew she’d taken a run earlier, that’s how he knew she was here. Brogan had asked him to check on the group of naturals living up on Whispering Ridge—make sure they had a food source. He’d been heading back when he smelled her. Rowan’s scent was imprinted on his soul, he’d know it anywhere.
He had run the rest of the way back to the house as fast as his human legs would take him, only to discover she wasn’t there. His nose never failed him, he had known she was close. He’d yelled for Brogan to follow, stripped out of his clothes and taken to the forest in coyote form. Excitement and fear in equal measures had swamped him. What was she doing up the mountain? Why hadn’t she told him she was arriving today?
Rowan’s warmth and scent soaked into him. His fingers tangled in her coat, trailed down her neck and over her side. She whined softly, snuffled and settled back down when he petted her head and murmured soothing words. It didn’t matter how she’d gotten here or why she’d come without telling him or Brogan. What mattered was the years of waiting were over.
Rowan was finally home.
“Is she asleep?” Brogan’s whispered words were laced with concern.
“Yeah, I think so.” Quinn scooped her up in his arms, bundled her against his chest as best he could. Brogan steadied him as he got to his feet. “I’ll put her on the sofa, closer to the fire.”
“Is she sick?”
Coyote Home is available from Ellora’s Cave, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, iBooks and All Romance eBooks.
Coyote Home is also available in the Coyote Hunger print anthology along with Coyote Wild and Coyote Run from Ellora’s Cave, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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