Temptation: Reckless Desires (Blue Moon Saloon Book 2) (15 page)

Cole? The rogue? Who? She screamed inside. Who?

Then their eyes met, and she knew.

Cole?

Janna?
His eyes were dark, his face drawn and confused.

Two rogues were dead, and two others slinking away. She knew she ought to go after them — and most importantly, after Whyte — but she didn’t have the heart. Cole was all that mattered.

“We’ll have our way,” Whyte shouted as he backed away down the alley. “The pure shall overcome.”

The pure shall run like rabbits,
Janna wanted to taunt, but she was too busy rushing to Cole. She’d have to fight the rogues another day. Now, all that mattered was her mate.

She whined and circled him, again and again. He swayed on his feet and wagged his tail limply, then wobbled and crumpled to the ground.

Cole, Cole, Cole,
she murmured, licking him clean. But God, there was a lot of blood.
Cole…

Janna
, came the weak reply.

She circled around and faced him, nose-to-nose, and studied his eyes. Storm-cloud eyes lit with a thousand lightning sparks. Was that her Cole in there, or was he lost to her forever?

Mate,
he mumbled in that gritty wolf voice. He sniffed her closely, just like a wolf would, and her heart sank. Had the beast driven the man out entirely?

Are you…? Are you…?
she stammered.

Cole blinked a few times then cocked his head.
Holy shit, Janna.
He stared.
You’re a wolf.

She could have screamed in relief, because that voice was all Cole.

Yeah, well…
she managed a shaky reply.
You’re a wolf, too.

He shook his body meekly, as if to rid himself of the fur, then shoved his head closer.
Are you okay?

I’m good,
she sighed, settling around his body.
Real good.

The two of them huddled in the littered alley, but all she registered was his heat, his musky, wolf-plus-cowboy scent. A scent she could happily inhale for a long, long time…

Um, Janna…
Cole said, looking suddenly lost.

She nestled closer to him.
Let me explain…

Explain?
He shook his head and immediately flicked his eyes to his flopping ears, looking startled.
That might take a while.

How about a lifetime?
she whispered, right in his ear.
Would that do?

Um… In my regular body or like this?

Her lips curled in a wolf grin.
Your choice, cowboy. Your choice.

His taut frame seemed to loosen slightly at that, and he nuzzled her. She nuzzled back, and she just might have started humming with pleasure if it hadn’t been for the sound of rushing steps at the end of the alley. Janna jumped to her feet and Cole did, too, both of them growling at three looming shadows.

She exhaled a second later, though Cole went right on growling until she called out to her sister in her mind.

Jess!

Cole’s angry rumble broke off.
That’s Jess?
Then his hackles rose anew as he spotted the two giant grizzlies lumbering up behind Jess.

One step closer and you’ll regret it,
Cole’s snarl warned, though the bears were nearly twice his size.

Janna brushed against his side and stepped forward before anyone tore anyone’s throat out.
Simon! Soren!

Cole’s head snapped toward hers.
You’re kidding.

She shook her head.
Not kidding.

The lights of a squad car appeared behind them, and Janna called out in relief.
Kyle!
The shifter cop from Twin Moon pack would know just how to clean up any evidence of a shifter fight.

He’s a wolf, too,
she explained to the man at her side.

Cole stared at her, wild-eyed.
Don’t tell me the rest of the customers in the saloon can turn into animals.

Just a few…

A few?
Cole didn’t look convinced.

Janna, you okay?
Simon rumbled.

Yeah, you okay?
Soren echoed in his gritty, bear voice.

I’m fine.
She looked around the alley and gulped, thinking how close a call it had been.

Jesus, what happened?
Jess asked.

And who the hell is this?
Simon demanded.

Soren stood behind him, baring his teeth at Cole.

This,
she said, stepping between them,
is Cole.

Cole?
Jess peeped.

Simon pulled back.
Holy…

…Shit,
Soren finished.

Yeah, that about summed up her evening. But, hell, she’d gone this far; she wasn’t backing down now.

Cole.
She nodded fiercely.
My mate. My destined mate.

Cole growled at her side, echoing the sentiment.
Mate. My destined mate.

One month later…

Sunlight stretched in through the long, arched windows, and although Cole’s eyes were closed, he could feel the warmth on his bare skin. His chest rose and fell under the light weight of Janna’s arm, looped over him, and he sighed a little.

Another beautiful morning, another beautiful day. It was late — too late for any self-respecting cowboy to be waking up, but he and Janna had been out running for most of the previous night.

The door separating them from the rest of the apartment above the Blue Moon Saloon was closed, but the sound of footsteps and two voices carried from down the hall.

“Those two still catching up on sleep?” Simon chuckled.

Jessica shushed him. “As if you’re any better, bear.”

Cole rolled to face Janna, still asleep at his side, and ran a finger gently along her cheek. Truthfully, he was still catching up on a lot of things. Like the fact that he could shift back and forth between human and wolf forms, and that Janna could, too.

It had been a crazy couple of weeks. Janna hadn’t left his side the entire time, seeing him through what she called the Change. He’d survived a week of fever and wracking pain after the night of his first shift, and there’d been times when he’d felt one howl away from insanity. But her voice and touch always pulled him back, and he’d come out the other side of the tunnel to a place brighter and sunnier than he’d ever been before. That peaceful mountain meadow was part of his world now, all the time.

Without Janna, he never would have made it. She helped his two sides work together as partners instead of rivals. The wolf was his ally, and Janna’s, too. All those terrible images he’d seen weren’t his wolf hurting Janna, but a foreshadowing of the rogues. The rogues his wolf had saved her from.

Told you so,
the voice yawned inside.

It still took some getting used to, even now that the worst had passed. Sometimes, being a wolf came naturally, as it had that night of the rogue attack, when he needed it most. All he’d had to do was turn his brain off and trust the wolf to coordinate four feet, a hell of a lot of sharp claws, and a really, really startling set of teeth.

It was like Janna said all the times they’d gone out in the forest since then to practice
wolf stuff
, as she so casually called shifting and howling and shagging on four feet.
Just follow your instincts.

The first time she’d said that, she’d been standing in the light of the pale, waning moon, lit up like a goddess of the night. Janna the wolf, as sleek and sweet and spunky as she was in human form.

Instinct, huh?
he couldn’t resist shooting back.
You know what instinct is telling me to do right now?

Instinct had led him right through their first round of sex, wolf-style. The feverish, satisfied sounds Janna made told him he’d done that pretty well, too. And a couple of nights later, when they’d been two human lovers going at it in bed, instinct had told him just how and when to deliver the mating bite. The high that came with it still made him tingle, even want to roar.

Mine! My mate!

When he overthought things, though, he still made for a clumsy canine. Scratching an ear with his back foot was a trick he hadn’t quite mastered yet, and Janna collapsed into laughter every time he fell trying it. Which was okay because she said it was cute, and she always made it up to him with a long, wolf lick or a nuzzling session that could go on and on and on.

“Mmm,” she sighed dreamily beside him. “Cole…”

Oops. He’d only meant to touch her, but it had turned into another nuzzle.

“Can’t help it,” he murmured. “Not with my mate.”

That was another thing that gave him a ridiculous sense of pride. Saying those two words.
My mate.
When Janna had said it that night in the alley, he’d understood the true meaning in his bones, in his soul. Mate.

His, forever. He leaned closer and whispered it in her ear.

Her naked body arched, stretched, and settled down again under his touch.

“Mmm,” she mumbled. “Nice way to wake up.”

It was a nice way to wake up. Slowly. Sober. A little sore from shifting, but just enough to feel settled and peaceful inside.

The place was part of it, too. After a couple of weeks going back and forth between his place and hers, they’d settled into hers, which meant the three rooms in their own little wing at the back of the apartment over the saloon. Soren had the first room at the top of the stairs. Jessica and Simon had the suite of rooms above the café. All of it was interconnected by a hallway with just enough sharp turns in it to give everyone their own space. The apartment really needed a second bathroom and a lot of fixing up, but overall, it was good. Really good.

The first week had been a little awkward, dealing with housemates who could shift into deadly grizzlies or wolves at will, but once they’d all staked out their respective territories, he’d been accepted as if he’d been there from the very start. The bear brothers called their funny little rooming situation a clan, while Janna and Jessica insisted on calling it a pack. Either way, Cole liked it. A lot. In a way, he’d been part of a pack all his life: growing up with a lot of siblings, then working the bull-riding circuit, when he’d traveled and roomed with his brothers or buddies. It was only during those lost, empty couple of months before he met Janna that he’d been alone, and that hadn’t suited him at all.

Janna slid a hand up and down his belly, making him hum.

“Watch it, lady.”

“Not up for a little fun?” she teased. Just her voice was a temptation, never mind the warm curves begging to be touched.

He snorted and scooped her into his arms. “Fun is riding. Dancing. Having a tail.” He grinned, then pressed his lips to hers. “This is more than fun.”

He wasn’t sure what the right word was, but it had to be made up of more than three little letters and one short syllable. What he had with Janna… Yeah, a hell of a lot more than fun.

He kissed his way over to her ear, then started down her chest, relishing the way she sighed and rose under his touch. The way her skin heated made him go hard, and the scent of her arousal filled the room, driving him wild.

“Yes…” she murmured, guiding his head lower.

He was an inch south of her belly button and headed for heaven when a knock came at the door.

“Janna! Cole!”

“Nuh-uh,” Janna muttered. “Not answering that. So not answering that.” She threaded her fingers into his hair, coaxing him along.

The scar of the mating bite she’d left on his neck tingled, making his whole body hot.

“Janna!” Soren called in his deep, authoritative voice.

Cole broke away. Soren was the alpha of the pack. Even if Janna treated him as more of an older brother than almighty ruler, Cole knew all about hierarchy and order. He might be top dog when it came to things like bulls, but under this roof, Soren was boss, and Cole sure as hell wasn’t going to get on the bear’s bad side. Being the only unmated shifter in the clan could make a guy grouchy — especially given that Soren had lost his destined mate in a fire. Cole didn’t even want to think about how bad that would be, so, yeah, he always cut the guy some slack.

“Later,” Cole whispered into her belly button. “I promise this will be twice as good later.”

“Not possible,” Janna grumbled.

“Come on!” Soren called. “Jess wants everyone downstairs, now.”

“Is it eleven o’clock already?” Janna glared at the clock.

Cole slid along her body, slowly sitting up. “Come on, it’s her big day.” He turned his head and called to Soren, “Be right there.”

“Opening day is tomorrow,” Janna sighed. “Couldn’t we toast the café opening then?”

“She’s already pushed it back two weeks for us.”

“Get moving, already,” Soren called from the other side of the door.

Janna grumbled a little longer, but she brightened with each layer of clothing she slipped on and each step she bounced down on her way to the ground floor.

“Quarter Moon Café,” he chuckled. “I love the name of the new place.”

They stepped out the back door of the saloon and circled around into the café next door.