COWBOY ROMANCE: Justin (Western Contemporary Alpha Male Bride Romance) (The Steele Brothers Book 1) (30 page)

Derek

                            Derek hated leaving Krista alone in the desert. It went against everything he believed. He admired her spirit of independence as much as he admired her healthy curves and stunning amber eyes, like flames against her dark skin. But men were meant to protect women. His instincts screamed at him to turn the truck around and bring Krista with him back to the ranch where he could keep her safe.

              But that would be counterproductive. The desert was where Krista was safest. The ranch was where the true danger lie.

              He knew Krista was hiding something, that she wasn’t being completely truthful. He had seen her drawing of the man with tiger bones.

              But he didn’t think less of her for it, not when he had a secret of his own.

***

Chapter Two

Krista

              She worried about leaving the bones behind, but Krista had somewhere important to be. Navigating her little smart car across the valley, Krista could almost imagine she was a driving a rover across Mars. Everything around her felt alien compared to the city, from the abstract rock formations to the oddly-shaped cacti. And the man-beast buried in the ground.

              The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced the man-beast had something to do with the missing settlers. Whether he was one of them or whether he was part of the reason they had disappeared was yet to be decided. That’s why she needed to talk to Lolli, who was of the Native American tribe that resided nearby, where she headed now.

              She had known Lolli and his family for years. When she was a sophomore in college, she had dated Eddie, Lolli’s son. Eddie had brought her back to the reservation one weekend, and his family had adopted her as if she was one of their own. The family lived amongst a cluster of trailers, but the way they took care of their land and homes, those trailers could be mistaken for palaces. They had such pride.

              Eddie graduated a year ahead of her. When he ran off to work the oil rigs, breaking away from his home in New Mexico, including their relationship, his family was sympathetic. Lolli continued to treat her like a daughter. In the three years that had passed since she graduated, Krista was around more than Eddie was. It was as if he was a ghost, and she was the living flesh that filled his place.

              Krista didn’t resent Eddie for leaving. She had too much to be thankful for. He had given her a second family. And he had told her the story of the lost settlers, igniting her interest in the mystery, enough that she let it consume her career.

              The sun beat down as harsh as it had the day before, causing the road to disfigure behind her as the heat rose off the land. She thought she saw a vehicle in the distance following her, but when she looked in her rearview mirror into the haze of heat, it was impossible to tell a rock from a bird.

              Sweltering in her car, Krista regretted her decision to wear a long white cashmere sweater over her cut-off shorts. The fabric was light and soft, but any fabric at all was too much.

It had to be done. Lolli was a respectable man. It simply wouldn’t due to arrive at the reservation in a sports bra. The thought was so ridiculous, Krista laughed out loud as she pulled in near the trailer Lolli called home and parked her car.

              That laughter stopped when a truck pulled up beside her.

              “Derek, what are you doing here?” she asked as closed her car door, watching with confusion and dismay as Derek and Bridget emerged from the truck.

              “We followed you,” Bridget said unapologetically, a disregard in her tone.

              I can’t really blame her for hating me, Krista thought. I keep plotting ways to steal her man.

              “Why were you following me?” she asked. She wasn’t suspicious. She was sure there was a good reason.

              There was.

              “We turned on the road behind you a few miles back and saw your fluid was leaking,” Derek explained, and he went to her car and popped the hood.

              Startled, Krista peered down the way she’d come. She couldn’t see any fluid trailing her car, but that was no surprise. Everything evaporated within minutes in the heat.

              “Thanks,” she said, standing beside Derek as he fiddled with parts under her hood. He tensed with her so close.

              “No thanks needed,” he said with an edge of regret, and he closed her hood and returned to the truck.

              “You brought friends,” Lolli noted, finding them outside. Lolli was far from old, but his hair was starting to grey and wrinkles formed around his eyes, which looked upon the truck with caution.

              “Krista!” a little boy shouted, running past Lolli to her. It was Todd, Lolli’s grandson and Eddie’s nephew.

              “Little Toad!” Krista exclaimed, picking Todd up into her arms. “You’re getting so big!”

              “Ribbit,” Todd said playfully, and he wrapped his arms around her neck, nestling into the soft padding of her arms.

              “This is Derek and Bridget,” she said to Lolli. “They own a ranch nearby.”

              “I know who they are,” Lolli revealed flatly.

              “Sir,” Derek greeted, tipping his hat.

              Bridget remained stubbornly quiet.

              An awkward silence passed between them. Krista felt like she stood in the middle of a battlefield, but there was no weapons, just disdain.

              “I have questions about my research,” she said, breaking the silence as she held Todd close.

              This caught Bridget’s attention. “I’d like to know more about your research.” It sounded like a demand.

              “No,” Lolli answered for Krista. “Not you. I don’t like your heart.” He turned to Derek. “You may stay.”

              Simultaneously, Krista and Bridget spoke in protest.

              “My research is private,” Krista objected.

              Louder and more overbearing than her, Bridget argued, “This is my home. I have a right to know if some city girl is trying to destroy it.”

              Lolli held up his hand, silencing them. “Right now you are on my land. I am in charge. What I saw goes.”

              “Go back to the ranch,” Derek ordered Bridget. “I can handle it.”

              Bridget wanted to object. Everything about her body language was an objection. But knowing she was defeated, she marched to the truck and started the ignition. “Whatever you say, boss,” she seethed, and she sped away, leaving a trail of dust behind her.

              “She’s bad,” Todd whispered in Krista’s ear. “I’m glad she’s gone.”

              “It’s okay, Little Toad,” Krista reassured him. “She won’t hurt us.”

              “Yes, she will,” Todd insisted.

              “You should have left with your girlfriend,” Krista said to Derek, trying to remind herself they had just met, that their occasional chats in the shade meant they were friends, but nothing more.

              To her surprise, Derek laughed. “She’s not my girlfriend,” he said, radiating with charm. “She’s my employee. Nothing more.”

              It was hard for Krista to believe. “Does she know that?”

              Derek shrugged. “She should. We have no history together, not unless you count fixing tractors and breeding cattle.”

              Bridget had done nothing to earn Krista’s sympathy, but she suddenly felt bad for the woman. “You’d be surprised how fixing tractors and breeding cattle can make a woman feel,” she said, bouncing Todd on her hip. “Maybe you should go to her.”

              It took all of Krista’s will to suggest it. She didn’t want Derek to go to Bridget. She wanted him to stay, but she couldn’t allow it, not when she was about to tell Lolli about the man-beast.

              “It’s okay,” Lolli told her. “I have a feeling he can answer your questions better than anyone.”

              Giving in, knowing she’d be fighting a losing battle between the two men, Krista set Todd free and followed Lolli into his trailer with Derek beside her. Though she looked ahead, she was very much aware of Derek – of his height, of his strength, of his intoxicating earthy scent and the way he let her walk a little ahead of him, standing guard slightly behind her, as protective as always.

              Stepping inside Lolli’s trailer, Krista was met with the familiar sight of his library of old books. Lolli was a historian. He collected yellowed maps and leather-bound books as if they were furniture. And in his mind, away from the books, he stored knowledge passed down from his ancestors. The history books, Krista had already read. It was the ancient knowledge she sought now. Taking a seat on a plush green sofa, she tried to figure out how she would ask about the man-beast without revealing all to Derek.

              “Tell me about the legends of beasts,” she bade when Lolli sat in his leather recliner across from her.

              “Put that down,” Lolli said to Derek, though he was blind to Derek’s movements.

              Behind Lolli, Derek set down and old smoking pipe and took a seat next to Krista on the sofa.

              “You’ll have to be more specific,” Lolli said, relaxing. “We have many legends of beasts.”

              Sighing inwardly, Krista knew she had no choice but to speak directly, whatever the outcome may be. “Man-beasts,” she said. “Shifters. What do your legends tell of shifters?”

              “All the nations have their own stories,” Lolli told. “From gods that turn into bears, to bears that turn into humans, and humans that turn into gods. Nature is forever shifting, flowing. It is the nature of creation.”

              “Only bears?” Krista pressed.

              Beside her, Derek huffed.

              “No, my child. Bears. Eagles. Mountain lions. Wolves. Nature knows only life. She does not distinguish between the species.”

              “So to you, shifters are more than legends. They’re a part of history.”

              “They are a part of reality,” Lolli confirmed. “Perhaps your friend has more to contribute than just his judgmental grunts.”

              “No sir,” Derek said firmly, sitting tall. “I have nothing to say. But I do have something to ask. Why are you so interested, Krista? You’re an academic. If you go around shouting shifter, you’ll never be taken seriously.”

              “I take myself seriously,” Krista said. “That’s enough for me. I don’t care what everyone else thinks. Anyway, I have evidence to prove that shifters exist.”

              It surprised her how easily the words fell out of her mouth, decongesting her fears. It felt natural to acknowledge the existence of shifters, as if she were talking about the changing seasons.

              For the first time since she met him, Derek took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair – his sandy blonde hair, streaked with hints of red. Matched with his tan and blue eyes, it made him more than a sexy cowboy. It made him irresistible.

              “Evidence?” he muttered. “That’s troubling to hear. What kind of evidence?”

              “I’ve uncovered the bones of a man-beast. His bone structure tells me he’s male, but he’s only a human on top. He’s what appears to be a tiger on the bottom, based on remaining patches of fur that were preserved. But I don’t understand why he’s caught between his two worlds.”

              “He must have died while he was shifting,” Lolli speculated.

              “Probably,” Krista agreed. “His pose is irregular. His arms stretch out, as if he was reaching for someone.”

              “Have you surveyed the land for more bodies?”

              “Yes, but his is the only one around. It’s a great mystery, so much so that I can’t help but feel his death is related to the lost settlers. It’s too much of a coincidence to have two great mysteries within the same area. When I began to peel the earth away from his bones, I believed I was uncovering the first of the settlers. That this one skeleton would lead me to the others. But now there are more questions than answers.”

              As she spoke, Krista tried to ignore the fact that Derek sat beside her, that she was destroying reality as he knew it, but Lolli turned his attention to Derek, confronting him. “And how do you feel about Krista’s discovery?” It sounded like a challenge. “Do you plan to do anything about it?”

              It was an odd thing for Lolli to ask, but Krista waited patiently for Derek to answer. He seemed torn, suppressed by an unknown confliction.

              He’s just processing, Krista told herself. It takes time.

              “No,” Derek finally answered. “I don’t plan to do anything about what Krista discovered. I’ll protect her.”

***

Derek

              He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her everything, but he couldn’t. It would be selfish to do so. If Krista knew what he wanted to say, what the native man had almost pushed out of him, then she would be in more danger than she already was.

              Right now, the situation was under control. That’s all his people wanted – for things to be in order. For their secret to be kept.

              The rest of the world wasn’t ready to live amongst shifters. It wasn’t ready for his people, his family of tigers.

              Family was a stretch. Tigers weren’t like the wolves or the mountain lions the native man had spoken of. Derek envied those shifters for their sense of family and community. Tigers were a lot more solitary. They mostly lived alone or in small groups. Children were usually born of flings or short-term relationships. Many of the ranches around these parts resembled convents, maintained by females choosing to raise their young together.

              Some males preferred it that way. It left them free to live out their solitary lives. Others, like Derek, did not. He was a tiger, but he was also a man. He wanted a mate – someone to stay by his side.

              He wanted Krista.

              Now, standing beneath a night sky, watching as Krista pulled the tarp away from the grave, trusting him without restraint, he was mesmerized by her. She was so beautiful, her white sweater shining like starlight against her flawless black skin. He wanted to claim her, to take her as his own, but he couldn’t.

              There was no law denying him a non-shifter mate, but he was obligated to protect his people. The protection of their kind was one of few times the tigers banded together. Their history was bitter. They had been hunted, driven to the verge of extinction. Half man. Full tiger. It didn’t matter. They could not live in the open, not like the bears and wolves could in the forests. Tigers stood out. Tigers had to hide. When they shifted, it was usually within the shelter of the night and within terrain few men would venture – like a desert valley.

              His people had made New Mexico their home long ago. Here, they were safe.

              Unfortunately for Krista, her curiosity threatened their safety. The tigers would find out about her discovery. Something this big wouldn’t go unnoticed, not when there were eyes watching in the dark. They would come for her. He would do everything he could to protect her, but it wouldn’t be enough. The echoes of the past cried too loud.

              Krista trusted him without restraint, but he did not deserve her trust.

***