For that matter, what did she really know about herself? Burke might be married.
The fact that she hadn’t even asked spoke volumes, and she suddenly paled, realizing she’d just acted no better than Lisa, her ex-accountant. Except at least Lisa had had the foresight to screw Jesse in her own office, behind a closed door, and not in an alley in a weird little town.
At Rachel’s distress, Burke’s smile faded. “It’s okay, Rachel. We’re two consenting adults. Both single.” He stared at her ringless finger with his brow raised in question.
Something within her released. At least she hadn’t climaxed with someone else’s husband. Burke was staring at her, waiting, and she nodded.
“Definitely single.”
“Good.” He exhaled heavily, running his hand through his hair in agitation. “Look, you don’t know me, yet, but I don’t fu—ah, I don’t normally fight and have sex in the alleyway before lunch.”
The absurdity of his statement surprised her into a dry laugh. “What, you wait until the afternoon to have sex? Or you don’t do it in an alley? Behind the restaurant more your style?”
That killer grin of his reappeared, a charming dimple winking at her from his left cheek. “We didn’t exactly get off on the right foot this morning, and I’m sorry about that.
But I’m not sorry about this.”
The worry she’d been feeling faded at his warm smile, and she took a moment to revel in her relaxed body. She felt wonderfully sated after being deprived for a year and a half, and she couldn’t help noticing the new and improved Burke… Burke who? Hell, she’d actually had sex with a guy without knowing his last name. Desperation at its finest.
She felt her cheeks flame. “Who exactly are you?”
Burke stared into her eyes for so long she thought he wouldn’t answer. But when he did, he sounded distracted. “Burke Chastell. My brothers and I own the Catamount Ranch a few miles outside of town.” He ran a finger over her cheek, making her traitorous body tremble. Leaning close, he shut his eyes and inhaled. “You smell like heaven. Hot and wet and addicting. And you have a body made for loving.” He rubbed his cheek against hers before pulling back, his smooth face incredibly erotic against her skin.
She blinked, stunned at the man waxing poetic. When he opened his eyes, however, her throat went dry. The pupils staring out at her were slitted— inhuman—and he shocked her anew when his body began to rumble.
“Dear God, your eyes… Are you purring?”
Chapter Two
Burke shook his head, alarmed that he’d lessened his guards to such a degree. He’d almost fucking turned in front of Rachel, in front of a stranger who had no idea of what he was.
But her scent… In the diner she’d smelled like nothing, which in and of itself was enough to draw a second look. But now he didn’t know what to think. He’d never taken a woman in public, and in a damned alley where anyone could have walked by and seen them. Burke wanted to blame his lack of control on the fight with the gray wolves, or even on his recent dry spell with the ladies. But the truth was, from the moment he’d seen Rachel Penny he’d wanted her. Her prickly exterior hid a well of untapped sensuality, and a spirit ready to know its inner beast.
And if she was anything like her aunt, then Rachel could assume any shape she wanted to if she found that damned totem before a Shifter could mark her. The thought of Rachel becoming wolf was unthinkable, especially now that he’d had a taste of her. She would make an incredible feline. But did he want to go so far as to mark her? To seal her fate as a cat Shifter and tie her to his family, if not as his mate, then as a member of his pride? And more, would she want him to?
But the real burning question…did Rachel know the truth about Cougar Falls and its special inhabitants? From the shock and fear in her eyes, he thought not. Had Charlotte confided anything about the town to her niece, Rachel wouldn’t be staring at him as if he had three heads. Which brought him back to the matter at hand.
Blinking rapidly and forcing his breathing to even, he stopped his change. Focusing, he took a step back, mentally grimacing at the unwanted inches between them.
“What’s wrong with my eyes?”
She stared at him. “They were…you looked…”
“Rachel? Are you all right?” he asked gently.
“I must be seriously losing it,” she mumbled, shaking her head. “I could have sworn you—ah, never mind. It’s been a long trip to Cougar Falls. And that fight earlier, and what followed after, shook me up.” She glanced behind him, refusing to meet his gaze.
“I’m sorry you had to see that, Rachel.” But he really wasn’t. What could he say?
I’m glad you went into heat around me. I had to fuck you or go insane, and I can’t wait to do it again, to feel that pussy squeezing my cock. I want you so much I’m hard again. Or maybe , Come on baby, say yes. Let’s go fuck like rabbits until I mark you, and then we can live out our days together as cats on the prowl. His eyes widened at the desirable, thoroughly unwise thought of mating with her, a woman he barely knew.
Even if she was the best fuck he’d ever had, Burke didn’t do strangers. And, his conscience added, you’ve never before experienced such urgent need. So why now? And why Rachel?
Something about her called to him on a primitive level. He wanted to claim her, to possess that untamable quality within her. To soothe the hurt and anger that even now thundered in her expressive gaze, needing an outlet.
“Rachel, you might not believe it, but I don’t normally do this.” He waved a hand between them.
“You just did ‘this’.”
“So did you,” he said quietly, trying not to sound accusing. “And though I don’t know you well, I can sense you’re not the type of woman who takes so quickly to a male.”
“No, I’m not.” Her cheeks turned a pretty rose-pink again. An Amazon who blushed.
Burke’s heart hammered, his instinct to hold onto Rachel and never let go almost frightening. “I can’t explain this.”
“Don’t try. Let’s just accept it for what it was.” If only he knew how to define their meeting of minds and, well, almost-bodies.
“Ah, sure.” She cleared her throat and hugged his shirt tighter around her body. “Oh, and thanks for the loan of your shirt.”
The angry woman from the diner had all but vanished, leaving a charmingly vulnerable woman in her wake. Talk about fan-fucking-tastic sex with benefits. Burke wanted her again, right now, skin to skin. But seeing the defensive way she stood, the shields in her moss-green eyes resurrecting, he sighed and stepped back a few paces.
He grimaced at the feel of wetness sticking to his cock and underwear. Good lord, he hadn’t come in his pants since high school with Missy Morgan behind the bleachers.
Immediately he had a vision of Rachel and those bleachers, and as his cock stirred, he quickly readjusted his thoughts, blurting the first thing that came to mind. “Ty told me to take you to Gerald, Charlotte’s lawyer.”
“Right.” Some of the pleasure leached from Rachel’s face. “Aunt Charlotte.”
Burke wanted to smack himself for being insensitive, but he was still tingling from coming so damned hard, and his new arousal was becoming painful. “I’m sorry for your loss, Rachel. I knew Charlotte as well as anyone around here, and I know she doted on you.”
Rachel blinked. “She talked about me?”
“Only all the time.” Burke took Rachel by the elbow and stiffly walked her toward Gerald’s office. “Said you were the spitting image of her brother. Got all the looks in the family.” He winked, and Rachel smiled prettily. “Also said you were stubborn as a mule.”