Right Wolf, Right Time (11 page)

“Oh hell. Another dopey dog fantasy? Did I come at a bad time?” Miles Bermin, a cat Monty had prayed he’d seen the last of, had apparently returned from Florida. He walked into Chastell Tours like he owned it and took a seat across from the desk Monty currently worked behind.

“Well, well. The Sunshine state’s big bad kitty’s come back. What’s wrong, Miles? They mean to you down South? Need to come back so we can save your ass
yet again
?” Monty put just enough sneer in the insult to be effective, and the annoyance in the other male’s face pleased the hell out of him.

“As a matter of fact, yes.” The admission came as a hiss.

Monty was floored. “Come again?” It hadn’t escaped him that he’d deliberately steered clear of Hunter talk while courting Sophie. This new together time with her had to be cherished, and he refused to consider death and killing while cementing his ties to his mate.

“Look, wolf. I’ve looked everywhere I possibly can. She’s got to be here.”

“What?” Monty glanced around. Dean and Grady had to be setting him up. No way Miles
there’s a permanent stick up my designer ass
Bermin was actually asking him for help. Voluntarily.

“It’s Joy. Ever since we left a month ago, she’s been here and gone. And by here, I mean in Miami, and by gone, I mean she checks in by phone, but that’s it. She says she’s finding herself, but after that mess with Stacey and not capturing all the Hunters involved in the kidnapping, I’m worried she’s in danger.”

“And Quince?” The Florida cat had purportedly been working with rogue Ac-taw and maybe Hunters. Yet evidence had proven he’d been trying to take down the rogues all along. Maybe.

Miles’s lips thinned. “He’s gone too. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, and you’re the best tracker I know. Hell, everyone I asked for help recommended you. When it comes to Hunters, you’re the expert.”

A fact he hated. “Yeah, well, I’m mated now. I’m hanging it up.” He didn’t like the look on Miles’s face. As much as the cat plain irritated him, Monty felt for the guy. “Shit. You sure Joy is in trouble and not fucking with you? This is Joy we’re talking about.” He paused. “You see Burke yet?”

“Yes and no. I know Joy can be a handful.”

Monty snorted. The she-devil caused trouble like Dean on a bad day. And she was pretty, so she got out of it as much as she was in it.

Miles continued, “Last she and I spoke, she told me she was coming back to Cougar Falls to sort things out. That was three days ago. I haven’t heard from her since. I haven’t been to town yet to see Burke, but I’ve kept in touch on the phone. He has no idea where she is either, and he mentioned I should talk to you. That you were looking into the Hunter problem.” Miles met his gaze, and the worry there touched a chord in Monty. “Look. I know you and I don’t exactly get along. I’m not asking you to involve yourself in this for me. But for Joy. She’s innocent beneath all that trickery. And Hunters—”

“You don’t have to tell me about Hunters,” he interrupted. He felt sick to his stomach, imagining her in the hands of someone like Norris. Letting someone else deal with the prick wouldn’t work anyway. Before long, Sophie would want to leave town for one reason or another, and Monty would freak out that she might be in danger, that Norris was still looking for him. Might as well face it head-on.

“Hell. I’ve put this off anyway. We’ve been looking for the Hunters that got away that day, after they grabbed Stacey and Dean. The order took out five of them since you left. The last one went down a few days ago. No word of their ringleader yet.” No Ted Norris. “But that doesn’t mean he’s involved in Joy’s disappearance.”

“And it doesn’t mean he’s not. Miami is in a shit sandwich, everyone jockeying to be pride leader. Joy’s better off up here in town. But I can’t find her, Quince is suddenly missing and there are stirrings in Tennessee that some big Hunter’s Folly is going down.”

Monty paled. Hunter’s Folly was what those murderous dickheads called their main fighting event. The ultimate challenge where Hunter owners pitted their enslaved Ac-taw against one another, a death match to end all death matches. He rubbed his wrist, fingering the silvery scar left by a cougar’s sharp teeth.

“Look. I’ll dig into it. Tennessee, you said?”

Miles shook his head. “That’s where I heard the rumor, but the Folly is supposedly going down outside of Kalispell real soon. Funny thing, them having the festivities in Montana so close, don’t you think?”

Ted Norris sat at the center of this Hunter’s Folly. Monty could feel it in his bones.

“You told anyone else about this?” He stood, already planning what to do and say to Sophie to explain his coming absence. He didn’t want to leave her, but if Norris was indeed up to his old tricks, he’d take down Sophie, the pride and anyone else Monty deemed important in his life. Monty needed to take the fight to him.

Miles stood with him. “Not yet. After meeting with you, I’m going to see Burke and the town council. They need to be informed about this possible threat.”

“Good.” Monty moved to the door then stopped. He turned and stared Miles in the eye. “I’m going to settle this. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of the Hunters for good this time.” Norris had to die. “I’m not sure they’re behind Joy being missing, but if they are, I’ll find her.”

“That’s all I can ask.” Miles stuck out his hand.

“Hell. Do I have to shake it?”

Miles cracked a smile. “Quit whining, wolf. And hey, look at it this way. I hear you’re planning to get married to that pretty she-wolf you mated. In lieu of owing you a favor—God forbid—I’m
hiring
you to look into this Folly thing. Ten grand to cover your time and expenses.”

Monty blinked. “Ten grand?”

“Yep.” Miles smirked. “Do I need to count out the zeroes for you?”

Monty snarled at Miles as he left, but he couldn’t stop thinking. Ten thousand dollars could buy Sophie a lot of shit she probably needed. They could put an addition on the cabin, though she seemed to think it was big enough. Or he could throw her a huge wedding. Not that he needed money to go after pricks like Norris, but if Miles was offering, he’d sure as shit take the money. And it wasn’t a handout, considering when Monty did catch Norris, he’d be in for the fight of his life.

He locked up the shop, left Whitefish behind and returned home, determined to make things right with Sophie before he sought out and destroyed his enemy. He only hoped that once he told her his story, she’d understand why he had to put their future in jeopardy.

Arriving home to the smell of a thick, hearty stew and his mate, Monty took in the scene and smiled. She stood behind the kitchen counter stirring something, her grin wide and welcoming when she saw him.

“There you are. I was getting worried.” Sophie looked pretty as a picture with her long brown hair down and her eyes crinkled in a smile. Her lips parted, and he hurried to take advantage with a kiss before he realized what little she wore underneath her oversized apron.

“Good Christ.” He blinked and stared down at the gaping fabric. Two perfect breasts with two tight little nipples poked the coarse material. He looked further down and noticed high heels accentuating her sexy legs.

“There’s a scene we haven’t played out yet,” she murmured and ran her hands over his chest. As usual, he didn’t need to work to get hard for his mate. Just scenting her aroused him. But this, an apron,
a thong
and heels?

“Hold on,” he said in a hoarse voice. He fumbled for his cell phone and called Burke. “I talked to Bermin. I’m on it tomorrow. I’ll see you then, and not before. Tonight is mine.”

Burke understood. Thank God. Because Monty had a hard time functioning when Sophie smiled shyly at him and grabbed him by the collar. Then she backed into the cabin, toward the bedroom, and pulled him in.

Lit candles gave the room a romantic glow. A fat dildo, tub of lube and towel on the nightstand had his heart racing. He’d been preparing her for a while. Would she let him take her ass tonight? He wanted to, but he questioned himself. Did he have the right to roll around in the sack without telling her he’d be leaving tomorrow, and why?

“No thinking, wolf of mine.” She yanked his shirt over his head and off him and tossed it to the side. Then she untied the apron she wore and let it fall to the floor.

The thong barely covered her sweet pussy, and Monty could smell her creaming for him. She moved to the bed and sat back, propped on her hands. Sophie spread her thighs and raised her knees, bringing attention to her shapely calves accented by those fuck-me heels.

“I want you to eat me up, my big bad wolf.” She batted her lashes, and Monty hurried to join her and dropped to his knees like a stone.

It always amazed him that his normally quiet little she-wolf could be so hedonistic and free with him. “You are the absolute best. Mate. Ever.”

Her laugh turned into a groan when Monty ran his thumbs up and down the inside of her thighs. “You’re slick, baby. That pretty pussy is making your thighs so wet.” He leaned close and inhaled, surprised his tongue wasn’t hanging out as he panted. Shit, he was harder than steel.

“I want your mouth on me.”

He swore and spread her thighs wider. Then he leaned close and shoved his face into her pussy. He licked her through the silky thong, loving her response. She gripped his hair tight and wrapped her legs around his torso, her heels digging into his back. So fucking sexy.

Then Monty shoved aside her thong and licked her, and he lost himself in the love of his mate.

Chapter Seven

Sophie was in heaven. She and Monty had been playing kinkier and sexier games for days, and she’d finally decided to finish what he’d started. She knew he wanted the same, and all the teasing he’d done had whetted her appetite for more. Since first making love to Monty, she’d developed a healthy drive for sex with her mate. It didn’t matter that she already knew where he liked to be touched or kissed. She constantly sought more ways to fulfill her naughty fantasies.

For so many years, she’d been pent up and repressed. But not now, not with the perfect man kneeling between her legs and bringing her to bliss with his godly mouth.

“Monty, yes,” she moaned and clutched his hair, loving how he alternated nips and licks over her clit.

He growled as he ate her up, and she couldn’t help herself from falling over the edge as she came over his lips.

“That’s it, baby. You’re beautiful.” He continued to kiss her, over her thighs and mound. And then he turned her over, onto her belly, and slid her thong off. “The heels stay on. Fuck, Soph. That’s sexy.”

“Mmm.” She floated on a cloud of bliss, her wolf lolling in contentment as Monty’s scent and touch filtered through her mind and spirit. Her mate protected while offering pleasure, and that seductive gift she’d never take for granted. “Now what, Monty?” She glanced over her shoulder and watched him strip to nothing.

Every scar and line on his muscular body told a story. He’d been through a lot, but he hadn’t turned into a monster. Strength and integrity couldn’t be beaten out of a man like Monty GrayClaw, but she didn’t know how far his loyalty would extend. Monty loved Sophie Tanner, the reserved yet kinky she-wolf he knew in Cougar Falls. From what she knew about his hostility toward Hunters, he’d never be able to love a woman raised alongside them.

“I hate that, Sophie.” He leaned over her, his stomach touching her back, so that he covered her like a blanket. “I don’t like that fear. I won’t hurt you. I’d never hurt you.”

She turned and kissed his cheek. “I know. I want this. I want
you
.”

His breathing was uneven, and she wriggled against him, feeling his erection like a steel bar against her ass. “You have no idea how much I want to fuck you here.” He teased her, sliding between her butt cheeks. “I want to watch myself take you, to slide inside you. That’s so fucking hot.”

Sophie let him prod her up onto the bed and onto her hands and knees. Then he circled to the bedstand.

“Pay attention, mate.” He used the lube to grease his growing cock, oiling himself all over. “See how thick I am? I’m going to shove this deep inside your ass.” He smiled, the wolf very close to the surface. “I can smell your readiness. When you’re aroused, you smell muskier, sweeter. It’s not just your cum, but that need spiking the air.”

She flushed. She knew he could smell her, but that he could read her so easily embarrassed her. “I want you.”

“Good. Because I want you too.” He finally released his grip on himself and wiped his hands on the towel she’d laid on the bedstand. “I’m going to go slow. You tell me if it hurts, and I’ll ease up. But not forever. I’m fucking that ass tonight, baby.”

She loved his dirty talk, and he knew it. “Yes.”

He joined her on the bed and moved behind her. But instead of putting himself inside her, he spread her knees and planted a kiss on the small of her back. “So sexy.” His kisses moved over her ass and down the backs of her thighs, ratcheting her tension. “You have a terrific ass. I dream about it.”

“Just my ass?” she teased, surprised to feel breathless and needy, wanting him to touch her again. She’d just come, but his caresses made her ache for more.

“And your pussy. Those tits. That hot little mouth,” he said between kisses back up to her ass. He spread her cheeks and did something he hadn’t done before. He licked her hole, teasing the sensitive rim with his tongue.