Helena had plans. Plans for her future, plans for the ranch, and plans for her family. But she also had plans for Ash, for tonight. She’d never hooked up with a random guy before and she would never do so again, which made it all the more freeing to act like an uninhibited, sexy girl who did things spontaneously, like one-night stands with puppy-dog-eyed guys with broken ankles. He had hair like a wheat field, eyes bluer than the Texas sky, and a body that literally made her mouth water.

This sexy stranger looked at her like he needed her in order to survive. It was nice to be wanted like this, even if it was only for the night.

Ash was the right guy. She’d known it from the second their eyes met in that bar. Something had drawn her to him, making her feel antsy until she was sitting across from him. The fact that he was a human didn’t matter, not when they wouldn’t see each other again after tonight. It only mattered that he made her body hum like a high-performance engine.

There was something about Ash that she just couldn’t pin down. Something right. He was better than disappearing down into a bottle for the next twenty-four hours.

Or the next forever, a foolish voice in her head whispered.

“Take this left,” he said, slipping a hand to her lower back and guiding her through the crowded parking lot. The gesture set her whole body on fire and turned everything to liquid.

She pressed up against him, just wanting to feel him, remembering his kiss. “Whatever you say, Ash.”

He laughed, looking down at her. “I like the sound of that.”

Helena stepped out onto the sidewalk, keeping her hand in his. “You sure you okay in that boot?”

“Yep, I’m good.” They got to the end of the block with the bar and he tugged at her. “This way.”

“Whatever you need.”

“I need you,” he said, his voice dark, and Helena’s knees just about gave out. She’d felt his erection, seen the look in his eyes when they were kissing. She knew that was the truth. He did need her.

“I could let you lead the way.”

“Nah,” he said, that same hot tone melting her. “I like the view from back here.”

Feeling invigorated, she wiggled her butt, and his groan urged her on. She wanted to get to his house. Stat. They turned right at Main Street and he kept his hand in hers. Her body burned, wanting him. The alcohol was definitely working. She felt warm everywhere.

But it wouldn’t last. By morning she wouldn’t even feel like she’d had one drink, let alone the seven she’d consumed in the last hour. Stupid wolf metabolism. It was so hard to keep a drunk on.

“Here’s the nickel tour, since you’re a tourist. You should eat there at least once while you’re in town,” he said, pointing to a café on the corner. The Allnighter, according to the sign. “Best waffles on the planet.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She brushed her shoulder against his, reveling in the closeness.

“And there’s the sheriff’s office,” he said, tugging at her hand. “Turn here.”

They made a quick turn, leaving downtown behind and entering a small residential neighborhood. White picket fences and everything. Not what she would’ve pegged him for.

“This is quaint.”

He chuckled. “My sister and I live in our parents’ old house. But she’ll be asleep by now. She works at the local bakery across town, so she has to get up unreasonably early. But she likes it here.”

“Nostalgia?”

“Yeah, something like that.” He stopped in front of an adorable cream-colored bungalow with a wrap-around porch. “My sister needs to be here.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. His shoulders slumped forward a bit.

“I’m sorry about your parents,” Helena said, reading between the lines. Something had happened to his parents. She slipped her arm through his again and leaned into his side. “You sound like a great big brother though.”

“When I’m here, maybe.”

“You travel a lot?”

“Yep.” He led her up the gravel driveway to a smoothly paved walk, then up to the wraparound porch. “Parasailing instructor in the Caribbean, smoke jumper during fire season in the Rockies, and if it weren’t for my bum leg I’d be headed up to Big Sky to work as a ski instructor for the winter. My friends are leaving on Sunday.”

Helena pulled him to a stop in a shadow near the porch. “So, you’re a risk-taker...”

His eyes registered instant desire, and she’d been holding in the heat for so long. Helena skimmed her hands up his arms, letting the warmth guide her.

“I like a little danger in my man,” she said, not knowing quite what she was doing, but feeling her way, just the same. Something about Ash made her bold. She liked the feeling.

“I like a girl who knows what she likes,” he countered, slipping a hand around her waist and pulling her flush to his chest.

You. Something tugged at her insides. I like you.

They stood in the dark shadow of the wraparound porch, and his eyes glinted with something, almost like magick. Warmth spread from her center all the way out to the tips of her fingers and toes, like a hot drink on a cold day.

Ash leaned down and her eyes fluttered closed and then…his lips touched the side of her neck instead. He feathered kisses along the curve, down to her somewhat exposed collarbone. A shiver slid across her skin and she sighed, his touch exactly what she needed. Exactly what she wanted.

Helena slid her hands around his waist, pulling herself even closer to his hard-muscled body. All those wild jobs certainly kept him in great physical shape. She slipped her hands beneath the hem of his shirt and let her finger trace the ripped lines of his back. She wanted more. Wanted to taste him like he was tasting her. Wanted to dig her fingers into his flesh while he took her hard. Wanted to drown in his warm, spicy scent.

His teeth scraped across a taut tendon in her neck and her knees wobbled just a bit. He tightened his arms, at once supporting her and pulling her against his growing erection. She rocked her hips forward and smiled at the groan it elicited from him.

Then his mouth was on hers, crushing her lips, claiming them. She tugged at the hem of his T-shirt, but he was too caught up in their kiss.

“God, you taste so good,” he murmured against her lips. The compliment warmed her further and she soaked it in, unable to remember the last time a man had said anything nice to her.

Damn, she really needed to get out more.

“I need to taste all of you,” Ash said, nibbling first her top lip and then the bottom one.

One of his hands traveled down her back to her ass and gripped it hard, grinding her over his hard-on. She was now whimpering from the need aching in her belly. Her thighs quivered, threatening to abandon supporting her altogether.

“More,” she whispered into his mouth. “Please.”

Without breaking the kiss, he pulled her across the porch, to the front door and then through it. Once they were inside the foyer, he yanked his shirt over his head, baring a body any Hollywood action star would drool over. Holy mother of muscles. Helena reached out and ran her fingertips along the lines on his chest, down the rippling washboard abs, following the slight dusting of light hair to where it disappeared down the waistband of his jeans.

Ash pushed her arms up over her head and relieved her of the black tank she was wearing. It joined his shirt on the floor. The hungry look in his eyes made Helena stand a little taller. Feel a little bolder. The men she’d been with previously had both commented that her breasts weren’t very big. They hadn’t flat-out complained, but the comments had hurt.

Ash stepped closer, sliding an arm around her waist and up her back to the clasp of her strapless bra. One twist of his fingers unhooked it and sent it to the floor. She waited for the disappointment or an offhanded comment about their size.

But Ash liked what he saw. She could see it in his eyes.

“Damn, girl.” He bent, taking first one pebbled nipple and then the other into his mouth, cupping and squeezing as he went. He opened his mouth wider, taking nearly half her breast. The sensation of bliss washed over Helena, and she gripped his shoulders tighter, trying to focus through the pleasure and not melt into a puddle of goo on the floor at this man’s feet. “You know, I’m pretty sure these are the most perfect breasts on the planet.”

Helena giggled. “You’re just saying that beca—” Her breath hitched as his teeth scraped across her super-sensitive, hard-as-a-rock nipple. He bit down just enough to silence her, then rose to his feet. His mouth wasn’t on her breast any longer, but his fingers had latched on and were pinching the nipples hard enough to make her heart speed up and her lungs pant for breath.

“Oh, no. You don’t get to say anything bad about these breasts. They are perfect. Just the right size for my hand and my mouth,” he said, proving his point by bending again and sucking nearly an entire breast into his mouth. Then he did it to the other one, releasing it with a loud pop of satisfaction. “I wouldn’t want them to get jealous of each other, you know.”

Helena gasped. The fire in her belly spread through the rest of her body like a raging blaze in a piney forest. She couldn’t speak. She slowly shook her head. Maybe her breasts weren’t too small. Maybe she’d just been going after the wrong guys.

Maybe Ash was the right guy after all.