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  Everything felt new and oh-so-right with Jason. She was sure being with him would be very different from her past experiences with men. Not just because he wasn’t entirely human. Mostly it was because she sensed something in him that called out to a hidden part of her own soul that she hadn’t known existed—until she met Jason.

  When those two sparks met, she wondered if either one of them would survive the explosion. Wanting more than anything to know, she pushed at his clothing, trying to touch skin. She wanted to feel him, touch him, know him.

  Wordlessly, he ended their soul-shattering kiss and helped. His shirt and hers flew away somewhere. She didn’t care where. All that mattered was his warm skin, the slightly hairy chest, and the massive size of him that made her feel small and feminine for the first time in her life.

  His lips returned to her skin, skimming down her neck and into the curve where her shoulder began. His teeth nipped at one bra strap, sliding it down her arm while his hand slid the other away, pulling the triangles of stretchy fabric down as well, effectively imprisoning her inside the fastened garment, but baring the important bits.

  The bits that craved his touch, his tongue, his teasing. Jason obliged without being asked, lowering his mouth to her breasts, teasing the nipples with his hands and lips, making her writhe on the cool grass in heightened pleasure.

  “Jason,” she whispered, feeling things no other man had made her feel from such simple contact.

  He didn’t answer, but seemed to take her exclamation as permission to go farther. He rolled to her side, giving himself room to maneuver. One of his hands lowered to the waistband of her jeans and something inside her rejoiced. She wanted more. So much more.

  Sally toed off her shoes while Jason expertly unclasped and unzipped her jeans. She lifted her hips, helping as he stripped them down her legs, taking her panties with them. The grass tickled the backs of her knees, adding new sensations to the overload of pleasure. She’d never lain naked in the grass before. Only this man and this moment could have made her do so, and she momentarily regretted having never felt these delicious sensations before. The leaves sang a song of joy through the surrounding forest. The soft murmur of the waterfall added a counter harmony to the magical tune nature played in this secluded glen. Sunshine dripped through the leafy canopy to tickle her skin where it wasn’t covered by the deliciously warm and hard man above her. The scent of grass and leaves, flowing water and clean earth mixed with the heady aroma of aroused male.

  The combination made her head spin in the most delicious way. Lying naked in a patch of grass in the middle of a forest with a half naked man poised above her was something she’d never imagined. Yet it was perfect in every way.

  It only became more perfect when one of Jason’s large hands slid between her bare thighs, spreading them, making way for his possession. Thick fingers slid through the arousal she couldn’t hide, seeking entrance. She not only allowed it, she encouraged him, spreading her knees wide and pushing up into his hand.

  One thick finger found its way inside, making her gasp. He was a little rough, but she found she liked the way he handled her body. As if he owned it. As if he knew just how much she could take. He pushed her to her limits and a little beyond, until she was swimming in a sea of pleasure that only Jason could bring her.

  A second finger joined the first. This time she cried out his name, bucking her hips as he took control of her body, her pleasure…her soul. Or at least, that’s what it felt like.

  Surrounded by fragrant grass and covered by Jason’s hard body, her mind spun away as Jason’s skilled touch brought her to a quick, hard climax. She was panting when she cried out his name again, drinking in his answering satisfied chuckle. She opened her eyes to meet his gaze and found herself warmed all over again by the knowing look in his eyes.

  He’d just played her body like a virtuoso and she was ready for more. She stretched upward to entice him into a kiss, hoping to show him she was ready—and willing—for more.

  “Don’t let me interrupt.” The strange male voice came to her from a few feet away.

  Sally jumped but her arms were still pinned by her bra straps and her legs remained splayed, Jason’s fingers still inside her body, pulsing lightly. She was trapped.

  Chapter Four

  “Jason?” Sally knew her voice held fear. She was in a vulnerable position. The most vulnerable position a woman could be in. Jason remained calm, his eyes sparkling with a mix of irritation and excitement, if she was any judge.

  She was freaking out and he was excited? This could be bad. Really bad.

  Sally lifted her head to look at the man standing near her feet, knowing he could see all of her there was to see and Jason wasn’t making the slightest move to prevent it. The guy was naked. And hard. And huge. All over.

  His cock was in his hand and he rubbed it as she watched, drawing her gaze. He was blond. A golden god from the sun-kissed thatch of hair on his head to the light bush around his heavy sac. His looks and size reminded her of the werewolves she’d met. He must be a shapeshifter too.

  One thing was clear in her jumbled mind. If he was part of Jason’s Pack, he would follow Jason’s orders to the letter. She wasn’t in any danger if she trusted Jason to keep her safe. Oddly enough, she discovered she did. Somewhere along the line, she’d decided to trust him—at least in this.

  Jason must’ve sensed the tension ease in her body because his fingers began stroking again and his lips lowered to hers, blocking her view of the stranger.

  “It’s okay, Sally. He’s a friend. Let him watch. I won’t let anything or anyone hurt you. Ever.” His words whispered against her lips, seducing her.

  It was a hell of a time to discover she had exhibitionist tendencies, but Sally found her hips moving almost involuntarily as Jason’s fingers increased their stroking pace in her pussy. The adrenaline rush faded into a sexual high increased by the knowledge that the strange man had a really good view of Jason’s fingers pushing in and out of her far too excited body.

  Clenched knees relaxed and opened, giving him an even better look at what Jason did to her. Sally heard a moan, belatedly realizing it came from her own mouth as Jason kissed and licked his way down her body, pausing at her breasts, biting lightly, playfully, enough to arouse but not enough to hurt.

  She could see the blond man when Jason’s head moved out of her line of sight, and what she saw made her breath catch. His gaze focused on her pussy and the fingers filling her wet hole.

  She came with a keening cry as she watched the stranger’s cock erupt, ropes of thick come spilling out onto the grass near her feet. Jason swallowed her cries with his lips, muffling her screams of pleasure, seeming to want to keep them all for himself.

  The thought amused her as much as it aroused. Poor Jason. She’d come more than once, and his golden friend had gotten off too. What about the author of the feast? She’d have to make sure he found some relief before much more time had passed.

  Unfortunately she was too wrung out to move at the moment. Jason slid his fingers from her body as her climax died down to magnificent aftershocks and left her side. He didn’t go far and the sun was warm enough to keep her comfortable for the moment.

  She watched idly as he walked up to the naked man and they spoke in hushed tones even she couldn’t hear. After a few minutes, and not a few heated glances in her direction, their conversation ended when she sat up and started looking for her clothes.

  The sex kitten was starting to shiver and it was time to cover up. Sally had discovered a hidden facet of her sexuality in the heat of the moment. Apparently she really got off on being watched. But in the cooler light of day, being naked in front of a perfect stranger made her feel a wee bit shy.

  “Don’t cover up on my account,” the golden man said as he and Jason approached. He had a killer smile to go along with his gorgeous body.

  “It’s a little chilly.”

  “We can tell.” A pointed look at her pointed nipples made her
cheeks heat in a blush. She didn’t know why she was blushing now. The man had seen things she never would have imagined letting anyone watch, much less someone she didn’t even know.

  “Knock it off, Redstone.” There wasn’t much fire behind Jason’s words and he seemed not to notice that the man he spoke to was completely naked.

  “You can’t blame a guy for noticing something so enticing.” He sniffed the air around her from a few feet away as she pulled up her bra and shrugged into her shirt. “You smell good, little girl. Sure you want to hang around with the dog? I have it on good authority that cats are more fun.” His wink was as outrageous as his words.

  It was all Sally could do not to stare. Michelangelo’s David had nothing on this guy.

  “Cat?” she repeated, her mind still in a fog from the intensity of her orgasm.

  “I’m a werecougar, to be precise. Steve Redstone’s my name.” He nodded his head with a jaunty grin. “Thanks for the show, by the way. I needed that more than you’ll ever know. If you really want to take a walk on the wild side, I’d love to get inside that tight pussy of yours. It looked awfully fine to me. I bet it felt even better, eh Jason?”

  “Better watch your step, cat. This is Sally. She’s got powerful friends.” Sally heard the repressed rumble of a growl in his voice, though the cougar seemed to ignore the implied threat.

  “Do tell? Since when have we been letting humans—even part-blooded humans—into our little club?” Steve stood casually. Apparently he was completely comfortable in the nude.

  “Smelled that, did you? She’s got a wolf somewhere back in her bloodlines, I think. But to answer your question, she’s the new Mistress’s friend. Seems every woman in their old college study group married a bloodletter. I bet there’s a bunch of vamp historians trying to figure out why they would cluster together like that, even now. Sally here is the odd one out. Shifter blood, but way back, and so far, not attached to any bloodsuckers.”

  “I don’t think she was meant for them.” The cat sobered, straightening his posture. “She smells like one of us. And something more.” His eyes narrowed. He gazed at her as if measuring her against some scale in his mind.

  “I’m a cop. A detective,” she clarified, more than a little uncomfortable with the way they had been discussing her, as if she weren’t sitting right in front of them—albeit half naked. “Maybe that’s what you smell.” She tried for sarcasm and felt a little thrill when his eyes widened and he looked at her, not through her.

  “She has teeth,” Steve admitted. “Forgive me, Detective. I didn’t mean to talk over your head. It’s kind of a rarity to meet someone like you—one foot in our world, but living and working among non-magic folk.”

  “She only learned about all this yesterday,” Jason supplied. “You’re the first non-wolf shifter she’s met.” He casually scooped up her jeans and panties, handing them back to her as she stood.

  Her T-shirt covered the most important bits as she bent to dress. It looked like their interlude was over for the moment, even though the bulge in Jason’s jeans was still hard as a rock. Her mouth watered just glancing at it, but Jason seemed to be able to ignore his rather blatant need.

  “I’m doubly honored.” Steve nodded toward her, then his expression grew more serious. “I’m glad I ran across you, Alpha. Not only for the obvious reasons.” He gave her an almost comical leer as she finished dressing. “But also because I saw more sign of hunters up on Yellowtail Ridge. You might want to warn your Pack to steer clear. Something is going on up there and my instincts tell me it’s nothing good.”

  Jason was instantly alert, his gaze narrowed in concern. “This isn’t the first I’ve heard about hunters up there. The bear clan saw something a few weeks ago, but since then, nothing. I’d hoped whoever it was had given up and left for the season. But if you saw them recently, they might’ve been in the area all along, gathering intelligence. Not good.”

  “What did the bears see?” Steve asked, both men all business now.

  “One of their cubs got out on his own and knew enough to hide up a tree when he smelled men approaching. He was too young to really know what he was looking at but from what he described, it sounded like a high tech operation. Night vision, laser scopes and darts. Regular ammo too, but it’s the darts that really concern me.”

  “You think these hunters know what you are?” Sally asked, joining the conversation now that she was fully dressed, except for her jacket and firearm, which lay at her feet. Her cop instincts were taking over as she listened to their conversation. There was a mystery here and though she didn’t quite have the lay of the land yet, she might be able to help in some way.

  “If they’ve got darts they’re either collecting for the private trade or a zoo—illegally, of course—or they want specifically to bag a werewolf or some other kind of shifter. We’re the best known in the media, of course, so we get the occasional nutcase who wants to catch a werewolf or even be bitten by one. Occasionally, some of the other shifter clans will be targeted.” Jason was revealing a whole new level of danger to being in his world that she hadn’t even considered.

  “There’s an ancient organization called the Altor Custodis that supposedly watches us and keeps records of our kind. I’m still not clear on why.” He went on, shaking his head. “There’s also a truly dangerous bunch called the Venifucus who want to kill us all and impose their own kind of rule over humanity. I’ve had reports of run-ins with both groups in the past few months among other groups of shifters and bloodletters. So far, we’ve been on the winning side but there’s a sense the bad guys are gearing up for an all-out assault. The recent skirmishes may have only been a test of our strength.”

  “I had no idea.” Sally was really surprised by his words. She hadn’t considered that shifter society might have villains all its own. And he seemed to indicate that her friends could be in danger, even with their powerful and experienced mates to protect them. This was something she needed to know more about.

  “It’s not something we advertise, but there are certain dangers in our world,” Jason admitted.

  She liked that he was leveling with her. He wasn’t trying to shield her from the truth or hide the nastiness of life from her. He treated her as an equal—in this, at least—and her respect for him went up another notch. She’d had to fight long and hard for that kind of respect from her fellow detectives. It meant a lot to her that Jason had treated her fairly from the moment they’d met.

  “Can the sightseeing wait a bit? Or can we incorporate a look around Yellowtail Ridge into the tour?” she asked. “I have a feeling you probably want to check things out and I might be able to help. I am a detective, after all. Finding things out is my job.”

  Jason’s visible relief was answer enough. “I won’t put you at risk, Sally, but I do really need to take a look around up there. I dare not go in my fur if someone’s hunting in the area. In fact, having a police escort might be just the thing. If you don’t mind, of course.”

  “Not a bit. In fact, it’ll be fun. Usually, I track suspects in a concrete jungle. I’m sure I could learn a thing or two from you about tracking in the woods. And if we run into trouble, I am armed.”

  “You are?” Steve’s eyebrows rose as he regarded her.

  Sally reached down and deliberately pulled her service revolver out from under her jacket, shrugging into the holster and checking its security before shrugging into her jacket. Her gaze rose to meet Steve’s in challenge.

  “Do you have a pair of handcuffs too, detective?” the cat purred.

  Sally laughed at the question. Oh, yeah, she had cuffs. They were in her jacket pocket. But it wouldn’t be the cat she’d be using them on. No, if she wasn’t using the cuffs on bad guys, her first choice for fun would be the wolf. Woof.

  “I never leave home without restraints of some kind, Steve. You never know who you might run into on a dark night.”

  That she felt comfortable enough to joke around with these guys in such a bla
tant way was kind of fascinating. Too often in the past she’d been accused of being cold until she got to know someone. She barely knew either one of them but they’d both been witness to some incredibly intimate moments and she didn’t feel the least bit threatened.

  “A woman after my own heart.” The cat shifter clutched his hard-muscled chest.

  “Keep dreaming, Redstone.” Jason cut short the cougar’s teasing. “Get your own girl. This one’s mine.” Jason put one arm around her waist and hauled her close to his side.

  Sally didn’t resist. She’d already decided on a fling with Jason and had gotten a taste of his incredible passion. It was just a matter of getting him in the right place at the right time so they could seal the deal. Given half a chance, she’d jump his bones and leave his head spinning. Her mouth watered at the idea. But it was clear now was not the time. Jason’s Pack might be in danger and even on such short acquaintance, she knew his Pack’s safety came first before his own desires. He was that kind of Alpha. That kind of leader. And she respected him even more for it.

  “Are you sure I can’t tempt you, sweet Sally?” Steve raised one eyebrow looking from her to Jason and back again.

  “Sorry, Steve.” Sally felt rather than heard the growl of triumph coming from deep in Jason’s chest. He liked her answer.

  That hearty sound set off some answering ripples of pleasure in her mid-section. Oh, yeah. There was no shortage of attraction between them and now she knew what he could give her, she wanted to fuck him for real—his cock inside her straining body—all that much more.

  “Thanks for the warning, Redstone.” Jason offered his hand and the other man took it, being a good sport about her rejection. She liked the cat. She just liked the wolf more.

  “No problem, Alpha.” He turned his gaze to her. “Thanks for…everything, Sally.” Steve paused long enough between the words to make his point. “I won’t soon forget this lovely afternoon interlude.”