Honestly, how could Burke guide her to find the missing totem when he had no idea where to look? No passwords, no maps, just Charlotte’s frustrating letter telling Rachel to
“trust yourself, look deep into your heart and follow your beast, for he’ll show you the way.”
So did that mean she had to choose an animal soul to find the blasted totem? Because it sure was looking that way. She’d taken Grady’s demonstration as truth and had peppered Burke, his brothers and Gerald for information about the clans. Bear, cougar, eagle, raptor, wolf and fox Shifters all lived together in Cougar Falls. The majority of the town seemed to consist of the fox and eagle clans, followed closely by the bears and raptors. Not so many wolves, though the few that Burke had pointed out looked nothing like their hairy brethren from Glacier Park.
She thought perhaps that was why Burke and his brothers wanted her, seeing as how few catamount Shifters there were. Burke said that many of the cats had died during clan wars, when the totem went missing a long time ago. The rest had left in the years since, striking out to claim their own territories. But Burke insisted he and his brothers had no plans to leave. Catamounts were loners, but the Chastells definitely weren’t, nor were the members in their pride. Though the Ac-taw held animal souls, they also lived as humans.
And they loved and laughed with one another, needing the close companionship their kind brought. Which was what made Cougar Falls such a remarkable place. Shifters of all clans were welcome, and they lived together to form a solid unit. Though Burke was a catamount, he protected the totem. Sheriff Tyler Roderick was a silver fox, as was Gerald, but the two worked so that the law would function. Joel was a bear, Millie a raptor, and yet they both served the town in different ways.
Rachel nodded to herself and shoved the box of pictures to the side. She needed to serve a purpose in this town too, and not just to contribute to the local economy. Her Internet had been connected yesterday, and her business was ready to roll as soon as she fixed the totem problem. Money wouldn’t be a concern for quite a while thanks to Aunt Charlotte’s generosity, and anything else she might need Burke had already offered to give her. He, Grady and Dean had done a thorough inspection on the house the day she’d moved in, fixing the hot water heater and the leaky faucet in the upstairs bathroom.
Burke had also insisted on a state of the art security system that he’d paid for himself, to her chagrin. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate it, but she didn’t want to feel beholden to him. She wanted them on equal footing when they… When they what?
She groaned at the sudden image of them entwined, naked, on her bed. Rachel just couldn’t stop fantasizing about having real sex with Burke, and she didn’t know what to think. Ever since that walk by the stream she’d softened toward him, having found a kindred spirit of sorts. She loved how he’d shared his feelings, then been totally embarrassed by doing so. It made him so human, so down-to-earth approachable for a man who looked as handsome as he did. And it also showed how completely different he was from Jesse.
Jesse would have taken Sarah Duncan up on her offer for sex in a heartbeat. Jesse would never have offered to fix Millie’s car or taken Rachel into town whenever she needed something with no strings attached. Burke wanted to find the totem, yes, but more, he seemed to like spending time with Rachel. They’d caught a movie, played spades with his cheating brothers, and watched the sun set last night, sitting together on a picnic blanket behind his house holding hands. And Burke always made sure either he, Grady or Dean were around to chase off the encroaching wolves near her property.
No, Jesse would never have lifted a finger to help her with anything that didn’t get him something in return. He wasn’t even half the man, or cat, she thought with a grin, that Burke was. Jesse was…
“A man I no longer need to think about with anything but pity.” She grinned at the notion, realizing she was finally over the jerk. It had taken nine months of wrangling, and three more months of sour grapes, but she felt free. At last.
Nearly skipping out of the attic and down the stairs toward the bedroom, she didn’t see the tall figure waiting for her in the landing and shrieked when strong arms closed around her.
“Shh, it’s okay, Rachel. It’s me, Burke.”
She sagged in his hold for a moment, her heart racing out of her chest. And then she squirmed to push him away, punching him in the chest. “What the hell are you doing in here? You scared me half to death!”
“Sorry, but you didn’t answer when I knocked. And I got…worried.” His low voice grew lower, his eyelids shuttered as he stared at her.
Rachel was suddenly aware she’d left her clothes in the attic, and now stood before Burke in a lacy pink bra and panties.
“Fuck me,” he groaned, breathing heavily. His eyes flashed and his fingers curled.
“Rachel, you’re killing me, you know that?”
Need, sure and true, suddenly filled her. And she wanted nothing more than to feel him inside of her. I’m free, she reminded herself. Free to do what feels good. And Burke feels like heaven whenever I’m near.
“Have wild and passionate sex,” Aunt Charlotte had written. Yeah, that sounded just right. “Burke, are you doing this to me?”
“Doing what?” His voice was thick as he took a step to close the distance between them.
“Making me hot. I burn,” she said, nearly panting. “I want you so much I can’t see straight.” He licked his lips, and she saw one large canine before he closed his mouth again. The sight stirred her, making her want more.
“I don’t know why, but you’re flashing in and out of heat. I felt it that day in the alley, and later at my house. Baby, if you don’t want this, tell me now. Because I’m about to seriously lose it if I’m not inside you in like the next thirty seconds.”
“But I’m all dirty.”
“Good, I like dirty.” Burke ripped his shirt off, heedless of the scattering buttons. He reached for his pants but Rachel stopped him. Burke froze, completely still.
God, how she’d dreamed of this. “No. Let me.” Rachel slowly popped open his jeans and slid the zipper over his thick erection. Her hands brushed his fly and he trembled, his eyes glowing and locked on her. The zipper seemed to go on forever, but when it stopped she caught her breath. Beneath his jeans Burke wore nothing, and she could see his shaft hard and flushed in a bed of dark hair.
Reaching inside, she couldn’t quite close her fist around his cock, and she groaned with him at the feel of their flesh touching.
“I want to come inside you, not in your damn hand,” Burke growled, completely feral. “Take me out, baby, now.”
She pushed his jeans down and he kicked out of his boots and pants and stripped off his socks. Completely nude, he looked like sex incarnate. A broad chest and ropy biceps, a ripped abdomen, hard muscle over sun-darkened skin, and that potent erection straining toward her. God, his thighs, his ass… Rachel drenched her panties just looking at him.
And then that scent wafted over her, that sweet, sexy smell of need and cat and Burke.
Stripping out of her bra and panties, she trembled as Burke’s gaze traced every movement, his attention keen, like a predator intent on prey. He rumbled deep in his chest, his purring loud and enticing as he stalked closer.
“I’m going to make you scream. I’m going to take you the way I should have that first time, hard and rough, and I’m going to come inside you. My seed bathing your womb.”
Oh shit, he was really turning her on. A small sense of preservation had her mumbling about a condom, but Burke cut her off, his scent drenching her with need.