A Taste of Honey

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This book is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are products of the author’s imagination and are in no way real. Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

A Taste of Honey

Copyright © 2012 Ranae Rose

Cover Design by Ranae Rose

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Chapter 1

Friday the thirteenth wasn’t always an unlucky day, was it? As Violet dusted rose-colored blush across her cheekbones, her heart fluttered, telling her it was the luckiest day she’d had in a long time. Or at least, it had the potential to be. Superstition be damned, she’d been looking forward to this ever since Ronnie had promised to drive her into town a few days ago.

She caught her own eye in the mirror and hastily laid down her blush-brush. She’d applied too much – the pink smudges streaking across her face made her look like she had a fever. So much for a delicate hint of color on the apples of her cheeks. Why did her cosmetic efforts never turn out like the results in the beauty tutorial videos she watched on the internet? Quickly, she rubbed some of the makeup off with a tissue.

The last thing she needed was to look like she’d spent half an hour choosing what she hoped was the perfect shade of blush at a drug store the day before – which she had – and then gone crazy with it, as if the right cosmetics could stop the butterflies in her stomach from fluttering. What a joke – they burst into flight at just the thought of what the day might hold.

Hope wasn’t the only reason for the aerials going on in her stomach – apprehension entwined with her more optimistic emotions, a constant reminder of her first days in the Smokies. It still made her want to cringe when she thought of how she’d made a fool of herself last time she’d thought a certain shifter might be her mate, though that had been a misunderstanding. An embarrassing one.

But this was different. Ronnie’s scent had been tormenting her for weeks and had even worked its way into her dreams. Which was exactly why she wasn’t going to mess this up. The considerable differences between her and Ronnie created a natural backdrop for confusion. She’d have to tread carefully in order to determine whether there really was a chance for the vivid dreams she’d been having ever since the first time she’d detected his scent to come true.

So far, she could count the number of times she and Ronnie had been alone together – outside of her fantasies – on one hand. Easily. It was enough to inspire hope that something real would unfold between them if they just got a little time to themselves, away from her pack and his tribe. If he was interested – and he had little ways of making it seem like he was, despite his natural stoicism – he’d make the first move.

With a sigh, she shoved her makeup kit back into a drawer below the bathroom sink. On one hand, she loved the bear-like things about him – his rugged size and strength, broad shoulders and fierce powers of protection. But if he were a wolf shifter, like her … then she’d have known instantly whether they were destined for each other or not.

The special scents wolf shifters detected from their mates were impossible to ignore and matings usually occurred within days, or even hours, of the lucky couple meeting. But bear shifters didn’t recognize their mates by smell, which meant that she had to suffer the maddening effects of his tempting scent, trying to play it cool while she waited for him to give some indication that he felt something serious for her too. Sometimes, it seemed damn near impossible.

* * * * *

Ronnie didn’t bother to go home after his shift ended. Instead, he steered his pick-up truck in the direction of Half Moon Pack territory, where Violet was waiting in the cabin she shared with her sister and a few other packmates. He drove his personal vehicle but was still in his park ranger’s uniform. Making a detour to his own cabin to change would’ve wasted valuable time and might have made Violet late for her job interview. He needed to give himself at least an extra half hour of driving time, in case of bad traffic. Tourists really had a way of clogging up Gatlinburg’s busy streets. Or at least, that was what he told himself.

And if traffic was good and he ended up with an extra half hour to while away with Violet, so much the better. As long as he could control himself, that was. Doing so was getting more and more difficult each time he saw her. He’d volunteered to drive her into town after he’d overheard her mention to her sister, April, that she had a job interview and no way to get there, since all the pack’s other vehicles would be in use at that time. He’d considered her predicament a stroke of lucky opportunity not to be missed, though perhaps the primal urges and accompanying thoughts that had rushed through his mind at the mere thought of spending several hours alone with her should’ve given him pause.

He glimpsed a gravel turn-around spot beside the road and pulled over into it on an impulse, his cock throbbing as he put one booted foot down on the brake and shifted the truck into park. Few vehicles traveled the remote road – the chances that one would even pass by were slim. The little pull-over area was an oasis of privacy high on the mountain, shrouded in fading autumn foliage. No one would ever know if he took a few moments to ease the tension thoughts of Violet had filled him with.

He lowered a hand into his lap, his palm conforming to the rigid rod that sprang up instantly every time he thought of her. It was impossible not to think that if she were in the truck with him, they’d be able to do just about anything without anyone ever knowing, impossible not to fantasize about laying her down on the seat and lowering himself on top of her, finally getting his hands on her perfect body and seeing if she tasted as sweet as she looked…

It was just a fantasy, of course. One that he couldn’t get out of his head. He’d had a lot of those lately, all of them starring her and featuring the many, many ways that a wolf shifter and a bear shifter might indulge their wild sides together. That was a lot more fun to think about than the problems their differences could possibly cause … like the fact that she might not want a bear for a mate, or even be able to feel attracted to him like she would be to the right wolf. What if they weren’t truly compatible that way? It was hard to think there wasn’t at least a chance – she drove him so crazy that there had to be something more than simple lust behind it.

Not that he hadn’t been lusting after her anyway. His cock ached, stiff against his palm as he imagined her long brunette locks splayed across the truck seat and her blue eyes staring up into his dark ones, hazy with ecstasy. How was it so easy for him to picture exactly what she’d look like in the throes of passion when he’d never so much as held her hand? He needed to get a grip on himself. He did, in a very literal way, wrapping his fingers so tightly around his erection that it ached.

As he groaned, the dashboard clock caught his eye, announcing the time in glowing green numbers.

Slowly relinquishing his grip on his shaft, he told himself that time was of the essence, that he couldn’t risk making Violet late for her interview. As he put the truck back into drive and guided it onto the road again, he couldn’t help but acknowledge the truth, which was that it only would’ve taken him a few seconds to get off. Problem was, it wouldn’t have helped – it never did. At least, not when he was thinking of her.

* * * * *

Good lord, he was wearing his uniform.

Violet buried a tooth in her lower lip as she peeked around the cabin’s doorframe, watching Ronnie descend from his truck, an irresistible vision in his khaki and green ranger’s uniform. The button-up shirt clung perfectly to his huge, muscular frame, spanning the broadest shoulders she’d ever seen and revealing hints of his bronze biceps. Had they had to order a special size to fit him? He was well over six feet tall and as sturdy as an oak tree. If they had, they’d gotten the measurements perfect.

“Hi, Violet.” He met her eyes through the flimsy barrier of the screen door and nodded in her direction as he strode forward, the gravel crunching under his boots.

“Hi,” she said, hating the way her voice came out so high-pitched as she pushed the door open and emerged onto the front porch.

“You look great,” he said, his eyes gleaming from under the brim of his ranger’s hat, darker than the shadow it cast across his face.

Heat blazed a trail across her cheeks and she clutched her own hands behind her back, her nails digging into her palms as he stood at the foot of the short flight of stairs. “Thanks. So do you.”

The words were out of her mouth before she could second-guess them.

Something flickered in his eyes, a spark of some unidentifiable emotion that was gone as soon as it had appeared.

Great
. So much for not being obvious. She dropped her gaze to the ground, letting it settle on the toes of his boots.

“Ready to go?” he asked, his deep voice as calm and collected as ever.

She raised her gaze and was confronted by one of his outstretched hands, twice the size of hers but in perfect proportion to the rest of his body. Praying that her fingers wouldn’t tremble, she took his hand – what else could she have done without being completely rude? – and held it as she hurried down the steps, letting go when her feet touched solid earth.

His heat lingered on her fingertips as she followed him to the truck and he opened the passenger-side door for her. His gaze was so heavy on her back that she could feel it – or did she just have a serious case of wishful thinking? Either way, her entire body warmed up as she climbed into the cab and when she sat down on the seat and looked up, her eyes locked with his.

He was still for just a moment, then he closed the truck door and rounded the vehicle, climbing into the driver’s seat and turning the keys in the ignition.

The engine’s low rumble alleviated the silence but was the only sound as he guided the truck out of the driveway and down the mountain road. He drove wordlessly, his eyes trained on the pavement, and Violet didn’t dare look at him except for the occasional quick glance. Not while his scent was whirling around her, permeating every last square inch of the cab and her consciousness alike.