Chapter One
The heat hit her first, embracing her like a lover in the dark. Being from the Midwest, Dakota Blair had little experience with the heat, but she wasn’t in the Midwest any longer. She was far from it, a stranger in the arid desert of West Texas, a stranger on the run.
* * *
Keeping her head low under the dim lights, Dakota stepped off the bus into a station that was abandoned in the late hour. Attacked by the heat, clumps of her chestnut hair stuck to the back of her neck as she waited for the driver to unload her duffle bag. She was surrounded by a mass of people, fellow travelers weary from the journey. The bus had been full. She was glad. It was easy to hide in a crowd, much more so than standing exposed on her own.
When she had her bag, Dakota followed the others into the lobby. It was narrow and unwelcoming, designed to keep people moving, deterring the homeless and the broken from sleeping on its benches. Dakota wasn’t broken, but she didn’t see herself going anywhere for the remainder of the night. She had money, and she had ID, but she didn’t want to use it. She didn’t want anyone knowing who she was or why she was here.
Unless I can find a cheap motel, she thought, moving to a board that listed accommodation in the area. I’m sure West Texas has its share of scandal. There’s got to be a place I can bribe my way into without showing them ID.
Setting her bag down, she skimmed the board. There were plenty of bad motels, but a notice caught her attention. Printed on bright yellow copy paper, a woman advertised a room for rent in her apartment.
No drinks. No dealers. No conmen.
It didn’t say anything about fugitives. Taking out her phone, a burner she had picked up in a remote town in Oklahoma, she dialed the number, but no one answered.
“No desk is going to pick up this late at night,” an elderly woman in a Hoover Dam T-shirt said. “Better to make your way to the hotel and see if they have a room.”
“Yes, of course,” Dakota said politely, returning her phone to her bag. Having traveled for so long, she’d forgotten what it was like to be ruled by a clock. On the bus, she’d been gripped with an anxiety that scattered her sleep. Her light brown eyes would shut and open within the same day, constantly searching to make sure she wasn’t followed. She felt safest at night, when the stops were few and the bus was quiet.
There were only a few hours until sunrise. She wouldn’t bother with a motel. Finding peace in her decision to run to West Texas, she made a bench her bed. It was uncomfortable, but she was free to stretch her long legs out, something she couldn’t do on the bus.
Dakota didn’t sleep. She stared at the stains on the ceiling, pretending they were stars, and she waited for the sun to bring in a new day, a new life.
***
“This is it,” the woman said, inviting Dakota into her apartment. “It’s li’l enough to make a pig claustrophobic, but the rent is cheap and the bills are low.”
The apartment wasn’t that small. There was room to move. Dakota liked the way the kitchen blended into the living room, both decorated with a country charm. The glasses looked like jars, the cabinets were painted a pale grey-blue, and the doors were made of refurbished wood. It was simple but alluring.
The same could be said about the woman, Brianna Jackson. With her sleek auburn hair and jade-green eyes, Brianna was stunning, but she was grounded, almost to the point that she seemed burdened. Likely in her late-twenties, only a few years older than Dakota, she was far too young to carry such heaviness around her, but she was friendly in spite of it.
Brianna smiled kindly. “What do ya think? Could you stand living here without feeling like a sardine?”
“Can I see the bedroom?” Dakota asked, much more guarded than Brianna. She didn’t want to be discourteous, but she hadn’t come to West Texas so she could make friends. She’d chosen it because the South was loud and rowdy, a place she could get lost in.
“Sure. It’s just in here.”
Brianna opened a barn door at the back of the apartment, next to the kitchen. It revealed a modest room with a double bed pushed under a tiny window. With little light allowed into the room, the walls were haunted by shadows. In the corner, sitting in the shadows, was a dresser.
“It’s exactly what I’m looking for,” Dakota said. “I’m interested. Is there an application I need to fill out?”
Brianna laughed, her amusement filled with compassion. “No need, chickling. I’m renting it out myself. No agencies. I don’t really need the money, just the company. I travel a lot, and this town ain’t exactly the safest. I’m looking for a built-in house sitter.”
“So you own the apartment?”
“It was handed down to me, but yeah. My name is on the deed.”
That was good. There would be no paperwork to sign, nothing she needed to falsify to protect herself.
Dakota returned to the living room and pulled an envelope from her bag. “I can give you cash up front,” she offered, hoping Brianna would accept. The place was perfect. There was nowhere better she could hide, not unless she was willing to risk bed bugs and drunken neighbors.
Contemplative, Brianna studied her. “That’s an awful big purse you carry around,” she said, meaning the duffle bag.
“It’s my belongings.”
“Your only belongings?”
Dakota looked away, unwilling to share the details of her past. Maybe the apartment wasn’t such a good idea after all. “All that I have on me.”
“Gotcha. I was going to show the room to a few others over the week then choose from there, but I like what I see. You have your secrets, no doubt about that, but we all have things we keep hidden. As long as you’re not planning to bring no trouble, the room is yours.”
“No trouble,” she said, uncertain if it was a promise she could keep.
Brianna took the envelope. “You didn’t steal this, did you?” she asked with clemency.
“It’s my savings.” That, at least, was the truth.
“Are you handing me all you have? Cuz I don’t want you wandering around with empty pockets.”
“No. There’s more.”
“Good.” Brianna tucked the envelope into the back of her jeans without counting the money inside. “Then hurry on up and change. We have a rodeo to get to, and you can’t go wearing a sweatshirt. You’ll wither away like a tulip without water.”
“A what?” Dakota asked, taken aback.
“A rodeo. Call it your roommate initiation. I’m a bull rider. The best in my class. I can’t live with somebody who’s never seen a bull buck. You wouldn’t understand anything I have to say.”
Dakota glanced at her room. All she wanted to do was sleep. “I think I’ll have to pass, but thank you.”
“You can thank me after all the fun you’ve had. You look like you’re in need of some fun, chickling. Go on now. Shower and get dressed. I’m about to change your life.”
***
I came to the South because it was loud and rowdy, Dakota mused as they entered the rodeo. Careful what you wish for.
When she thought of rodeos, beefed-up rednecks sporting cowboy hats and rugged smiles came to mind, mavericks who were rambunctious and fowl-mouthed, sons and daughters of the Wild West. She was right. In the stadium where the rodeo events took place, hundreds of country folk cheered on a rider in a pen, their shouts as deafening as a thunderstorm.
Beside her, wearing a white hat embroidered with a green that matched her eyes, Brianna whistled. “I love it when the party comes home! That’s Owen Hutch,” she explained, pointing to the man in the pen. “He’s the best bull rider in these parts. He’s a superstar.”
A buzzer echoed across the stadium, causing everyone to explode. Used to the drone of the bus, it took all of Dakota’s willpower not to cover her ears. In the pen, sitting on a bull, Owen shook a gloved fist in the air, playing to the crowd, not a fear on him.
“We’re getting close!” Brianna shouted over the noise. “When they open the gates, his eight seconds will start. He has to stay on for eight seconds to receive a score. We’re just in time.”
“Is the score based on how long you’re on the bull?” she asked.
“Only partly. It’s how well you ride.”
They stood near the arena, inches from the barrier that divided them from the action. Tickets didn’t seem to be a requirement, not for Brianna. Everyone they passed had greeted Brianna warmly, full of admiration. No one had stopped them, not even security. It seemed Owen Hutch wasn’t the only superstar at the rodeo. Brianna Jackson had her own fans.
“Are you ready?” the announcer bellowed across the stadium. He was met with elaborate applause. “Keep your britches on. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”
Another buzzer sounded, and the gates to the pen swung open. The bull rushed out, carrying Owen on its back. He sat tall and confident, moving with the bull as if he and the animal were the same. Dakota watched him carefully, his ease and his talent. And the way he awkwardly shook his foot against the bull, the only flaw to his ride.
“Somethings wrong,” she said.
Brianna saw it too. She clenched the metal barrier in front of them, her face lined with worry. “His foot is stuck in the rope,” she said, indicating the rope tied around the bull that Owen held onto, his grip. “They didn’t put it on proper. He won’t be able to get off. When he falls, he’ll drag against the bull. Why don’t the officials see it?”
She called to an official, but it was too late. Owen fell, but instead of rolling away like Dakota had seen in the movies, he flopped against the bull like a ragdoll. A bull fighter jumped into the arena to help, but the bull couldn’t be controlled. It bucked relentlessly, jerking Owen around, and there wasn’t anything anyone could do.
Except for Owen. In a flash, the rider was no more. In his place was a bear, a brown grizzly who easily broke through the rope and rolled away.
“He’s a shifter,” Dakota stated.
“Thank goodness he is,” Brianna muttered, relaxing, the danger over. “Otherwise, he would have been killed.”
Shifters were no secret. Humans had known about them for almost a century, but they were few and far between. To meet a shifter was rare. Many people never did.
Dakota had. She knew one very well, back home.
“I’m surprised shifters are allowed to compete,” she said, knowing their abnormal strength and instinct gave them an advantage over other athletes.
“It’s a sore subject. A lot of folk don’t agree with it.” Brianna spoke tensely, her focus on the pen where Owen had disappeared. Dakota could tell she wanted to go to him to make sure he was okay.
“Go,” she told Brianna. “I’ll be fine. I’ll wander outside and get some fresh air.”
“Thanks. I won’t be long. Meet me in front of the photo booth in an hour.”
“Sure. Sounds good.”
As soon as Brianna was out of sight, Dakota left the stadium for the brightness of the day where the sun blazed down on numerous craft stalls, food stands, and beer tents. Crowds of people pushed past her, enjoying the festivities. Wearing jeans and a red tank top that complemented her chestnut hair, she almost fit in, if not for her fair skin. She would tan, eventually, but until then, her paleness marked her as an outsider. It was a bad thing. A very bad thing.
Folding her arms around her, she headed for the bathrooms, but as she passed a beer tent, she was knocked to the ground by an impossibly tall cowboy with broad shoulders and arms that could tackle a dinosaur. With his golden eyes and sandy blonde hair, she found him good-looking, if he weren’t a stumbling drunk.
“Don’t come back without my money,” a portly man with bad skin called from the tent. “You owe me, Edward Tyrell, and I always collect my debts. I don’t care who your family is or what you are.”
In reply, Eddie picked up an empty beer bottle lying on the ground and threw it at the man, but his aim was miles off. “Bastard,” he muttered, kicking the dirt.
Vexed, Dakota stood from the ground and dusted the dirt off her knees. Her side ached. It felt as if she’d been attacked by a boulder. “Maybe watch where you’re going next time, yeah?” she admonished.
“Hey, you’re pretty,” Eddie said, ignoring her reprimand. “Wanna take a ride with a real cowboy?”
“Sure, tell me when you see one,” she returned, rubbing her arm. “I don’t appreciate being knocked over.”
Eddie frowned, genuinely concerned. “I knocked you over?”
“Didn’t you notice?”
His frown disappeared, cavalier once more. “I noticed how gorgeous you are.”
Unwilling to entertain him, she turned to leave, but Eddie quickly moved in front of her. “Let me make it up to you. I’ll buy you a shot.”
“You can buy three shots, and you can drink them yourself. I’m going home.”
“I’ll go with you,” he said, flashing her a perfect smile, the smile of a playboy, someone who treated life like it was a game of marbles.
Dakota wasn’t impressed. “You can go to hell, that’s where you can go.”
It made him laugh. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
She stepped away. “Don’t worry about where I’m from.”
He tried to maneuver with her, but in his inebriation, he tripped over his own feet and fell into a water trough, soaking him through. “Thanks!” he called, splashing his arms. “I needed a cool down. A girl as pretty as you had me all riled up.”
“What you need are some manners, little brother,” a man said, joining them on horseback. He was tall, like Eddie, but he had dark hair, and he was much bulkier, thick around the shoulders, built to rule. “You okay?” he asked Dakota.
“I’m fine,” she told him, nervous with so much attention on her. She wanted to slip away, but she saw no easy way to do so, not with a man on horseback and a drunk in a trough staring at her.
He turned his attention to Eddie, full of authority. “I’m leaving now. You’ll be in charge. You know what that means.”
“I know,” Eddie grunted, displeased.
“Try to stay sober while I’m gone. The clan will be looking towards you for protection. They need a leader. Don’t be reckless.”
She could tell there was more the man wanted to say, but he wouldn’t in front of her. She wasn’t insulted. She had her secrets too.
“Safe journey, brother,” Eddie bid, half-sarcastic.
“Protect them,” the man said once more, and then he rode off.
The confrontation had sobered Eddie. She could tell he was humiliated. Feeling sorry for him, she offered him her hand and helped him out of the trough. “Who was that?” she asked.
“Holden, my saint of a brother,” he answered, wringing out his hat. “I hate the way he speaks to me.”
Surprised by his confession, she set her hand on his arm, comforting him. “It’s his way of looking out for you. That’s what siblings do. They take care of each other. Even shifters.”
She’d known Eddie was a shifter from the moment she saw him. Only shifters had golden eyes as deep and compelling as his were. It was one of the traits that set them apart.
“It doesn’t scare you that, underneath this sinfully attractive body, I’m a bear?” he asked, resuming his charm.
“No,” she answered. “It doesn’t scare me. I’ve met shifters before.”
“Like who?” he asked, intrigued.
“A friend.”
He laughed. “You’re mysterious. I get it. Is there anything about yourself you are willing to tell me?”
She couldn’t walk around West Texas ignoring the natives. It would only draw suspicion, so she played along. “Tell me more about you first.”
“I’m a middle child. Not much responsibility on my shoulders. No one to prove myself to, except the bull I sit on when I ride. Got a lot to prove to him.”
“Until now.”
“Yeah, til now,” he said reluctantly.
“You don’t want to be the leader of your clan.”
“Would you? There are things happening in the shifter world, unsettling things. I can’t protect my brothers from it any more than I could protect myself.”
It worried her as much as it did him. “What things?”
“Nothing you have to worry about, darling,” he said, perking up, a fresh wave of his intoxication coursing through his blood. “Wanna dance?” Before she could stop him, he scooped her up into his arms and spun her around.
She protested, outwardly annoyed, but a secret side of her enjoyed it. Eddie was brazen, and he was sexy, especially when he wasn’t acting like a drunken fool. His robust charm took away some of the misery of being on the run. She demanded he set her down, but part of her wished he wouldn’t let go.
He set her back on her feet. “You’ve just made a new friend here today,” he said. “Feel free to call on me anytime, but when you do, I prefer you wear lacy–”
The intercom cut him off, crackling around them. “There has been a change in the schedule. The Tyrell Clan will no longer be competing in today’s events. All riders have been moved forward accordingly.”
“Who the hell decided that?” Eddie growled, outraged. “Sorry, darling, but I gotta go.” Moving fast, he planted a playful kiss on her cheek. “Until next time.”
“There won’t be a next time!” she hollered after him, confused.
A fugitive, Dakota wanted nothing to do with handsome cowboys or their pretty words. She wanted to stay hidden in the shadows, away from Eddie and his recklessness, but she also very much wanted to dance with him again. She was a fugitive, but she was also a woman.
“It’s the heat,” she decided, speaking out loud. “It’s consumed me.”
* * *
Chapter Two
The next day, Brianna rode. She was magnificent. She handled the bull like a queen. Sitting in the front row of the stadium, next to the press, Dakota was in awe of her new roommate. A lot of talent had been showcased in the arena, and most of it belonged to Brianna, who wore white chaps with jade beading to match her hat, her signature look.
“85.25,” the announcer cheered when Brianna was bucked off. “Not her best, but a good score nonetheless.”
“A damn good score,” the reporter next to Dakota said, tapping away at his tablet.
In the arena, Brianna modestly waved her hand to her fans and disappeared behind the pens. She wasn’t tawdry. She didn’t need gaudy showmanship to prove she had talent. People loved her as she was.
Dakota had no interest in the other bull riders, so she went outside to the craft stalls until it was Brianna’s turn to ride again. It had been difficult to persuade her to return to the rodeo. A fugitive didn’t play giddy-up for strangers, but she couldn’t tell Brianna that, especially when she was so adamant. With the women competing, she’d wanted Dakota there to watch. It’d be a long morning as each woman made her way through the rounds, leading up to the championship round after lunch. The women weren’t the main event, the men took over again in the evening, an injustice that irritated Brianna.
I’d be angry too, Dakota thought as she wandered through the stalls, admiring the quality of the handmade crafts. It’s brave to put yourself out there like that, to risk judgment and harassment to do what you know is right. I’m not brave, not like that. I never will be.
If she had a slice of the courage Brianna had, she wouldn’t be hiding in West Texas, far from her sins. She would have confronted her mistake.
A blanket in a stall caught her eye. Knitted with beige wool, the motif had apples on it, all lined up in a row. It reminded Dakota of her childhood. Every summer, she and her brother used to pick apples in the orchard outside their house. She’d climb to the tallest branches of the trees and shake the apples down to her brother, who would catch them in a blanket, using it as a net. The bitterness of apples made her sick to her stomach, but she loved picking them.
“Would you like to buy it?” the vendor asked, a short woman with a crooked nose. “I’ll wrap it up nicely for you.”
“No, it’s too painful,” she answered, but she wasn’t able to set the blanket down. After everything that had happened, she wasn’t sure she’d ever see her brother again. No one knew the number to her burner phone or where she had gone. She had simply disappeared, a shadow in the night.
A much larger shadow than her own crossed in front of her. “You planning a picnic?” Eddie probed, startling her. “I know a bakery that makes apple tarts so good your mama will cry.”
Dakota quickly folded up the blanket and set it back in its place. “No, no picnics,” she said hurriedly, hoping he would leave, fully aware of how desirable his tanned body was. The bulk of his arms alone sent pleasant shivers down her spine. She didn’t trust herself to make good decisions when Eddie was around. She had to protect herself. A hot night in the sack wasn’t worth her risking her freedom.
“So is Dakota your actual name, or is that where you’re from? Cuz I hear it snows a lot up there, and you’re as white as an artic bunny.”
“Where did you learn my name?” she asked, throwing her guard up as high as it would go with his golden eyes studying her, trying to drag her in. She was a reasonable woman, but reason couldn’t battle temptation, not in this heat.
“So Dakota is your name. I thought for sure Brianna was pulling my leg. I’m glad you found your way back to the rodeo. Now I can redeem myself.” He held his hand out to her. “Come with me. There’s something I want to show you, to make up for yesterday.”
It was a sincere request. Dakota like Eddie this way – sober and genuine. She never would have accepted his hand in his drunken arrogance, but she accepted it now, knowing it was a mistake. For so long, she had been scared. In Eddie’s presence, despite him being a stranger, she felt safe. He would protect her, even if he didn’t know what he was protecting her from.
They circled the stadium, away from the crowd, until they reached a barnyard that, according to the signs posted around the makeshift pens, was closed to the public. The animals belonged to the men and women of the rodeo.
As Eddie led her past a muddy pen filled with noisy pigs, some the size of a small pony, she asked, “We’re allowed to be here, aren’t we?”
“I am,” he teased, tightening his grip on her hand. “Don’t run off, darling. We’re almost there.”
Leaving the pigs behind, they entered a stable filled with rows of horses, the roof sheltering the animals from the blaze of the sun. Eddie stopped in front of an oatmeal Thoroughbred, its coat so light it was almost white.
“He’s a bronco,” he informed her. “Never been trained. Never been ridden. Never seen a saddle in his life.” He petted the horse along its forehead. “You’re my best friend, aren’t you boy?”
In reply, the bronco bucked.
Dakota had not thought such adoration possible from the reckless playboy. Unwillingly, her guard began to drop. “If he’s never been ridden, why is he at the rodeo?” she asked, curious.
“I entered him in the beauty pageant. He’s a show horse. Wins first prize every time. But even to put him in here kills me. I don’t like him to be cooped up. When we aren’t traveling around from one rodeo to the next, we have a ranch in New Mexico. He runs free there. I understand his need to run. All animals want to roam.”
“You understand because you’re an animal too. A bear.”
“We’re all bears in the Tyrell Clan.”
“Are there many of you in the clan?”
“Just a pocketful. My brothers, our cousin Colby, and Owen.”
“Owen Hutch, the rodeo superstar?”
Eddie laughed. “Don’t tell him that. He hates being a star. He just does his thing, and he’s happy enough with that. I’ve been friends with him for a long time.”
She leaned against the wooden divide between the stables, not caring how dirty it was. “You always been a bull rider?”
“Since I was a cub.” Eddie moved in closer to her, taking her easy posture as an invite, and he brushed away a loose strand of her hair. “You always been this haunted?”
“I’m not haunted,” she claimed, her body pulsing with him so near. She could feel his breath against her neck, tantalizing her like a soft kiss. I’m hunted.
Eddie put an arm over her head. He could devour her, and she wouldn’t care. “I think you are haunted. Hopefully, this can scare all the ghosts away.”
He leaned forward to kiss her, but a young man burst into the stables. Lanky and clumsy, he knocked a bucket over on his way to them.
“That’s Jacob, my younger brother.” Eddie sighed as he moved away. “He has a knack for good timing.”
“Hi.” Jacob blushed as he waved his hand. Like Eddie, he had sandy blonde hair, but he was leaner, and he had freckles sprinkled across his even nose. “Owen’s waiting,” he said.
“Waiting for what?” I questioned.
“Retaliation for kicking us out of the competition.”
“You were kicked out?”
“Disqualified, technically, for this rodeo only, after what happened to Owen yesterday.” Eddie scowled. “There are no rules saying shifters can’t compete. It’s not right.”
“No, it ain’t,” Jacob echoed, looking down.
“Gotta go, darling,” Eddie said, holding his arm out, a mischievous grin replacing his scowl. “Let me escort you back before the boys and I round ourselves up a big ole dose of trouble.”
“No need,” Dakota said, staying put. She didn’t want to be anywhere near trouble. “I’ll find my own way back.”
***
The arena was empty, but the stadium was full, the crowd drawn for Brianna’s ride. Dakota wasn’t sure how many rounds there were, or if they were even called rounds, but based on what she’d overheard others say, the average of the scores determined a bull rider’s place in the championship.
Thirsty, Dakota took a sip of her lemonade, which she’d picked up on her way back to the stadium. The drink was cool against her throat, with a sweetness that almost made her smile, if she was capable of smiling in her situation. It’d been a long time since she could taste food. The fear of running turned everything to ash, but she indulged on the lemonade now. It made her tongue tingle.
Maybe it’s because I’ve finally found a place to settle, a new home, she thought. Or maybe it’s because of Eddie. He heightens my senses.
As she enjoyed her lemonade, her attention was drawn to the barrel sitting in the middle of the arena. It moved on its own, as if shaken by a small quake. From watching Brianna earlier, she knew the barrel was used as a centerpiece for entertainment, and it gave the bull riders a place to jump if nowhere else was safe, but there was no one in the arena. The round had yet to start. Brianna stood casually by the pens with her competitors, waiting to be called.
The barrel wobbled again. This time, everyone noticed. The crowd began pointing, and a bewildered murmur spread across the aisles. When the barrel moved a third time, it shook so hard it toppled over, and a little piglet ran out, squealing loudly, causing the crowd to laugh and cheer.
A knot formed in Dakota’s stomach as she noticed Jacob standing at the emergency exit near the back, fumbling nervously with his hat. Something on the other side caught his attention, and he opened the door, allowing a stampede of pigs to run into the arena, herded by Eddie and Owen. The three of them took off the moment the last pig was in.
Immediately, officials jumped into the arena to usher the pigs out, but it was uncontrollable chaos. Some of the audience continued to laugh. Others became hostile, objecting to the prank.
Brianna was one of them. The woman was red with fury. The Tyrell Clan may have released the pigs, but they’d also unleashed a dragon.
***
A bonfire lit up the night, a rival to the sun, which had just set. It was the end of the rodeo. There would be no more bull rides, no more pranks. There was only the fire, built a short walk from the stadium, close to the desert.
Brianna was off at a corporate tent talking business with a potential sponsor. It was supposed to be an easy contract. The sponsor would watch her ride, preferably to victory, and then they would make her a deal. According to Brianna, sponsorships for women were hard to come by. No one had faith in the sport, not where female bull riders were concerned. She’d been really excited about the deal, but after the pig incident, it was no longer guaranteed. By the time the pigs and the mess they made had been cleared out of the arena, there was no time to finish the women’s competition. They moved on to the men’s, cutting the women out.
Feeling angry on behalf of all the women bull riders, Dakota orbited the bonfire in search of Eddie, waving off the smoke and cinders. She found him doing card tricks for a group of fans, most of them as drunk as a pub filled with Scotsmen.
“What the hell did you do!” she yelled, forgetting to be small, forgetting to hide. She grabbed the deck of cards from his hand and threw it into the fire, much to the protest of the group. “Not everything is a game.”
Eddie didn’t flinch. If anything, he enjoyed her anger. “Why don’t we go somewhere more private?” he suggested, and he led her into the abyss of the desert, away from the cat calls that followed them.
“It was funny,” he defended, stopping beside a cactus. “It was just a windup.”
“It wasn’t funny for Brianna. She could lose a huge sponsorship deal because of your stupid windup. Why did you have to pull the prank while the women were competing? They have it hard enough as it is.”
“Wouldn’t it be sexist not to pull the prank while the women were competing?” he joked.
She wanted to shove him. “There are consequences to your actions, Eddie. You of all people should understand. You face scrutiny for being a shifter. One day, they may not let you ride, not professionally. Put yourself in Brianna’s shoes.”
“Boots, not shoes,” he corrected, but he frowned, her words clearly sinking in, troubling him. “I’ll apologize to her. I wasn’t thinking.”
“No, you weren’t.”
“I’ll fix it. Just don’t look at me like that,” he pleaded. “Don’t look at me the way my brother does. I’m better than this, I promise you. I can give a rat’s ass what everyone else thinks of me, but not you. I care what you think.”
“Why?” she demanded. “You barely know me.”
“Well, you’re beautiful, for starters,” he said, gently placing a hand on her cheek.
She needed to push his hand away. This was not what she’d come to West Texas for. She was meant to go unnoticed, not encourage a cowboy to chase after her.
“And?” she pressed, full of anticipation, ignoring her logic.
“And I feel drawn to you. Connected, like you’re the rope I can hold onto and steady myself with.”
She felt the same, even if it was a fleeting fantasy inspired by the wildness of the West, its heat a lust that burned beneath the skin. “And?”
“And in about two minutes, there’s gonna be fireworks to mark the end of the rodeo. That’s when I’m gonna kiss you.”
“You can’t kiss me then,” she said, moving his hand to her waist, pushing aside the fabric of her T-shirt so that he touched her bare skin.
“Fine. I’ll kiss you now.”
His lips claimed hers, fierce and hungry. She gave into the kiss like a starved beggar, deprived of joy for too long. The weight of his muscle against her was enormous, both pushing her down and holding her up. She wanted to tear off his clothes so she could see his muscle for herself, feel it against her as he took her in the desert sand, their moans of pleasure heard beneath the moonlight.
The fireworks began, a warning in the sky above, summoning her back into reality. “I can’t,” she said, pushing his kiss away. It was almost impossible to do.
“Why?” he asked patiently, trying to understand. Knowing she couldn’t resist him a second time, she marched away, back towards the bonfire. He followed. “Don’t walk away from this.”
“From what? A quick screw before you head on to the next rodeo?”
He threw his arms up. “A quick screw can be fun. Dakota, why are you running away?”
She stopped, but she refused to look at him. “It’s complicated.”
Eddie was an outlaw. She understood his need to escape, to be free to roam, live life by his own terms. She understood because she was an outlaw too, but he could never know. No one could ever know, and not just for her own sake. For the sake of her brother too.
* * *
Chapter Three
Her room was dim, absent of light. It was how Dakota felt. A life in hiding wasn’t whole. It had no joy. It was freedom, but it wasn’t sanctuary. It wasn’t happiness. There was no light, no matter how bright the sun shone.
“Maybe I should go back home,” she mused to herself, refusing to get out of bed, to face another day on the run. “If I go home, then the next time I meet a man like Eddie, I can kiss him all I want. We can have our fireworks.”
Except she didn’t want a man like Eddie. She wanted Eddie, the real him, not the imitation. She wanted the bear.
“Miss Dakota!” Brianna hollered from the living room, summoning her, too perky for the morning. Miss Dakota was her nickname. She hated it, but she was getting along well with Brianna, so she endured it.
Reluctantly, Dakota managed to roll out of bed and pull a pair of denim shorts on under her red tank top, the same she’d worn the first day at the rodeo, her possessions few.
“I’m awake,” she said, dragging herself out of the room. “Is this a fire drill?”
“You have a package,” Brianna told her, shaking a box excitedly. “It’s from Eddie.”
“Let’s hope it’s not porcelain,” she mumbled. “How early do they deliver here?”
“It’s almost noon,” Brianna revealed, pointing to the clock.
“Noon?” She’d finally gotten her sleep. She felt better, a lot more refreshed than she had sleeping on the bus, but she could have easily gone back to bed for a few hours.
“Chickling, a handsome cowboy has left you a package, and I’m pretty sure it ain’t dynamite. Aren’t ya going to open it?” Brianna asked.
Obliging her, Dakota sat on the couch and pulled open the top of the box. Inside was the blanket with the apples woven into it. Delighted, she lifted the fabric to her cheek. Made of wool, it scratched her, but it smelled wonderful, like summers on the orchard.
“Awe, wasn’t that just sweet of him,” Brianna sang. “You’ve got him hooked like a fish.”
Dakota dropped the blanket, eyeing Brianna carefully. “Why are you being so supportive?” she asked. “Yesterday, you wanted push the entire Tyrell Clan off a mountainside.”
Brianna waved her hand dismissively. “All is forgiven. I got the sponsorship. They called this morning. I sign the papers today.”
“That’s great,” Dakota said. “Congratulations.” She wasn’t the type to throw hugs around, but she was genuinely happy for Brianna.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. Now I can travel more, really get my name out there.” She patted Dakota’s knee. “Let’s go celebrate. There’s a bucket of beers waiting with our name on it.”
“Why does that sound literal?”
“Because it is. There’s a barbeque down at the gorge where a lot of the rodeo folk are camping out. No fans, just the crew.”
Dakota thought of how she’d left things with Eddie, and she curled into a ball on the couch. “Do I have to go?”
“No,” Brianna said. “But I know you want to.”
She smoothed down the corners of the blanket, unable to refuse. “Yeah. I do.”
***
The gorge was an area near the stadium not far from where the bonfire had been the night before. Rocky inclines stood in the distance, past a river that ran through the valley. There was a good distance between the campsite and the river, land covered in tumbleweed and sand, where cacti sprouted in jagged intervals.
Full of trailers, the campsite could be mistaken for a Western movie set, the actors sprawled around with cans of beer in their hand while smoke rose from a number of barbeques. While Brianna went to sign the papers for her sponsorship, Dakota walked around, hoping Eddie hadn’t left yet for the next stop on his rodeo tour.
He hadn’t. Near their trailers, the Tyrell Clan played a game of horseshoes. Eddie sat on a log, talking with Jacob as Owen took a shot. A fourth man stood beside them. He resembled Holden, with his dark hair and noble stature.
Colby, she thought. That must be Eddie’s cousin.
Eddie spotted her and called her over. “Come play, darling. We don’t bite, not unless you want us to.”
“I’ve never played before,” she said, joining them.
“Better late than never. I’ll show you.” Jumping up from the log, he grabbed the horseshoes out of Owen’s hand.
“I wasn’t finished,” Owen objected, but he winked at Dakota, not a bother on him. “Ladies first,” he said as he moved aside.
Eddie handed her a horseshoe, and he stood behind her, brushing her back as he guided her body how to move. “It’s like a Frisbee,” he instructed. “Just aim for the pole. The pole goes through the hole.”
“It’s nothing like a Frisbee,” Owen uttered nearby. “Eddie is the worst player in the clan. And the worst teacher. Don’t listen to anything he says. Just do what instinct tells you to do.”
With Eddie’s hands on her waist and his musk filling her senses, her instincts told her to turn around and lure him into his trailer for their own game of horseshoe.
“Thank you for the blanket,” she said as she aimed. “And for fixing things with Brianna. I figure you had something to do with the sponsorship.”
“I had nothing to do with it. Brianna earned it on her own. I just made sure it went ahead despite the pigs running amuck.”
“See, you can be gallant. Your brother was right to leave you in charge. You’ve got this.”
“Actually, I’ve got you,” he said, tightening his hold on her waist.
She threw three horseshoes and missed each time, but it was fun. When the last horseshoe flew out of her hand and nearly hit Jacob in the head, a giddiness took hold of her, and she laughed so hard her stomach hurt.
“Arrest her, Colby,” Jacob joked. “She ain’t playing fair.”
She instantly lost her humor. “Arrest me?”
“Colby’s a cop,” Eddie explained.
She swallowed, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. “A real one?” she asked, causing the group to burst out laughing.
“I’m a part-time officer, only on duty when we’re back at the ranch in New Mexico,” Colby said. “Don’t worry, I have no jurisdiction here. Jacob will have to take it up with the local police.”
Dakota forced a smile, her heart pounding, realizing just how dangerous a game she was playing. To take the focus off of her, she quickly changed the subject. “Where did Holden go?” she asked.
The group looked around uncomfortably. Running a hand through his hair, Eddie told her. “Shifters around these parts are disappearing. He went to figure out why.”
“What do you mean disappearing?”
“One day they’re throwing horseshoes. Then they’re gone.”
Worried, she thought of her friend back home. “Only these parts?”
“That we know of. You thinking of your shifter friends?”
“I only know one. She’s my best friend. Lillian. She’s a wolf.”
Eddie put his arm around her. “I wouldn’t worry. She’s probably safe.”
“She may be safe, but you aren’t,” a man bellowed behind them. It was the fat bookie who had thrown Eddie out of the beer tent the day they met. A gang of thugs accompanied him, brutes carrying chains. “I hope you have a ride to the hospital, because that’s where I’m going to put you.”
He was speaking to Eddie.
Their arrival caused a scene. Others in the campsite stopped what they were doing to watch, statues in the desert sun.
“You know you don’t want to mess with the Tyrell Clan,” Colby said, stepping forward, speaking with the authority of a cop and the audacity of a cowboy. “Be on your way, Girey. We don’t want no trouble.”
Girey sneered. “Trouble is what you’re gonna get. You don’t scare me. I know what you are, and I don’t care. Men rule over the wild. Bears like you should be locked up, especially after your little stunt yesterday. I had money riding on that competition. You cost me, and I expect you to pay up.”
A pair of strong hands pulled her away. It was Brianna. “We gotta go, chickling,” she said. “It’s about to get ugly.”
Dakota didn’t protest. There was nothing she could do to help Eddie. He had his clan for that. She would only be in the way, a liability.
They hurried to Brianna’s truck. As they pulled away, Dakota opened the window and looked back, seeing Girey and his men, and four angry bears.
* * *
Chapter Four
A full week had passed since the barbeque. Brianna was gone, out fulfilling the duties of her sponsorship, including numerous press calls, leaving Dakota alone in the apartment. When she had first arrived in West Texas, she would have been delighted to have the space to herself, but Dakota no longer wanted the shadows. She wanted the sun. She wanted Eddie.
She hadn’t heard from him. It worried her. There were too many people in her life she cared about who fell off the radar. First her brother. Now Eddie.
Dakota picked up her burner phone, hoping it would ring though no one knew her number. The one person who understood what she was going through was her brother. He was on the run too, a needle falling through a very large haystack. They’d parted at the bus station back home, deciding it better not to say where they were going, not even to each other.
There was a knock on the door. Thinking of her brother, she stood frozen, afraid the police had found her.
“It’s me, Dakota,” Eddie called, knocking once more. “Open up.”
Sighing with relief, she let him in. “You’re okay.”
“I’m okay,” he confirmed, flashing her his sexy smile. “We were arrested, locked away for days, but when witnesses came forward to say the Tyrell Clan was just defending itself, we were released.”
“What about the bookie?”
Eddie shrugged. “Don’t know. Colby is at the station seeing what he can learn. He has friends down there. They’re part of the reason we were allowed to go.”
She wanted to kiss him, but before she got the chance, he swept her towards the door. “Come on, darling. I’ve had enough blues. I need some fun. I’m gonna teach you how to ride a bull.”
“I’m not getting on a bull,” she asserted.
“Relax. It’s a mechanical bull down at the bar. We’ll start there.”
It still sounded horrifying, but she followed him to his black pick-up truck. Twilight masked the town, drawing out the night owls, those who drank and those danced. Dakota was glad she’d gone to a nearby outlet and picked up some new tank tops. She wore a navy blue one, the color dark against the light brown of her eyes.
“Where are we going?” she asked when he took a road that led out of town.
“We have to get you a proper hat. I’ve got a few good ones in my trailer.”
“I don’t wear hats.”
Eddie laughed as he turned towards the campsite. “That’s the problem. It’s not proper.”
“If you think you can turn me into a cowgirl, you’re mistaken. In Nebraska, the only hats we wear are snow hats. Or baseball caps.”
Her eyes went wide as she realized her mistake, but Eddie didn’t call her out on it. Afraid she would reveal too much, she stayed quiet, watching the scenery change as they entered the gorge.
That silence was interrupted when the radio on the dashboard crackled to life. “Eddie, you on the road?” Colby inquired. “I need to talk to you.”
Eddie picked the radio up and pressed a button on the side. “I’m pulling into the campsite now. You there?”
“No. I’m at the police station. I’ll call you later on your phone.”
“Spill the beans,” Eddie urged. “I’m hitting the road again soon. Have some bull riding to do.” He winked at her.
“It’s about Dakota.”
Her throat went dry, and she started to tremble. She wanted to jump out of the truck, but there was nowhere she could go.
Glancing at her with concern, Eddie pulled up to the trailers, and he parked the truck, but he didn’t move. “Go on.”
“I’ve just seen a bulletin with her name and photo on it. She’s a fugitive. She’s wanted for her part in an armed robbery up north.”
“I see,” Eddie said stiffly. “I’ve gotta go. We’ll talk later.” He set the radio back down.
“I can explain,” Dakota said desperately, but Eddie didn’t want to hear it. He jumped out of the truck and slammed the door shut, leaving the keys inside. Dakota followed him. “Please, let me explain.”
“I thought you were one of the good ones!” he shouted.
His words cut her deep, but she spoke through the pain they caused. “Listen to me. A while ago, I saw that my brother was mixing himself up with the wrong people, so one day I followed him. He went into a store with a group of guys, but then he ran out scared. I didn’t know what was going on, so I told him to get in my car, and I drove away. I had nothing to do with the robbery. I didn’t even know that was what he was running from.”
“You didn’t see the bags of money in his hands?” Eddie asked, sarcastic.
“There were no bags. The robbery was a bust. Everyone was caught except my brother.”
“And you.”
She shook her head. “I told you. I had nothing to do with it, but the police think I was his getaway car.”
Eddie wasn’t listening. “You lectured me on responsibility, teaching me there were consequences to my actions, but you’re no better. You’re a fraud.”
His accusations turned her to ice. Unable to stand it, she hopped into the truck and drove away, on the run once more.
***
Dakota was lost. Speeding down the road in the truck, she knew how to get back to her apartment, but she didn’t know if she should go back. Eddie knew her secret. He knew why she had fled Nebraska. Worse, Colby knew too. Soon, the cops would be on to her. She had been wrong about Eddie. He wasn’t her protector. He was the one who would destroy her. Disappointed and angry, she pressed harder on the pedal, accelerating, but then she hit the brake, causing the truck to swerve off the side of the road before it stopped.
This is Eddie’s truck, she remembered. I’m not a thief. I have to take it back.
It wasn’t negotiable. Dakota wouldn’t become the criminal the cops in Nebraska made her out to be. She wouldn’t justify their warrant. She turned the truck around. If she saw flashing lights, she’d leave it outside the campsite, close enough for it to be found but not so close that she would get caught.
Thankfully, there were no flashing lights. There were no cops. But men had arrived at the camp, parked just outside Eddie’s trailer. She could see their silhouettes from down the road. Turning off her headlights, she glided the truck slowly towards the trailer, stopping a few yards down. She ducked her head, viewing the men from her dashboard.
It was Girey and his thugs. Wearing an expensive cowboy hat on his chunky head, he directed his men into the trailer, waving a pistol in the air. Minutes later, to her horror, they came out, carrying Eddie, who was unconscious.
“No,” she breathed, tormented.
She didn’t know what to do. She had to run. She couldn’t risk getting caught. But Eddie…
Devastated, knowing her fate was sealed, Dakota restarted the engine, hoping it didn’t draw attention, and she picked up the radio. “Colby,” she said, pushing the button on the side like she had seen Eddie do. “Colby, can you hear me? It’s Dakota.”
The line crackled, and he came on. “You probably shouldn’t be talking to me, Dakota, not without a lawyer. I’m on my way to see Eddie. Is he there with you?”
“That’s the problem.” She quickly told him everything she saw. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Leave. Get the hell out of there. I’ll be there soon.”
“Okay,” she said, setting the radio down. Except she couldn’t leave. If she did, Eddie would be gone. The men were trying to load him into a van, struggling against his weight. They’d clearly never abducted a bear before, but they would soon succeed. Who knew what they had planned.
Closing her eyes, Dakota took a deep breath, and then she sped towards the men, ramming the truck into their van. Her head hit the steering wheel, disorientating her. Through blurred vision, she saw the outrage in the men’s faces. Dropping Eddie, they hurried to the truck and pulled her out. She barely noticed, a black haze forming around her, yet she remained conscious. The men pushed her to the ground, at the feet of Girey.
“That was a dumb move, sweetheart,” he said, snarling. “Looks like you’re going to be joining your boyfriend at the river.” He turned to his men. “Tie her up. Take her with us. We’ll drown them both.”
Two men lifted her up, but they immediately dropped her back down, hearing the roar of a bear. Eddie was awake, standing on all fours, a massive grizzly. Pulling rope from the back of their busted van, some of the men tried to lasso him down, but his might was too strong. He ripped through the rope and brushed the men away with his paw.
Girey had been watching with amusement, until he saw his men go flying. He pointed his pistol at Eddie. “I was going to take you in alive so I could watch you suffer, but this will have to do.”
“No!” Dakota tried to shout, but her voice was weak, inaudible.
Girey steadied his arm, but he didn’t get a chance to shoot. Another grizzly knocked him over and tore his gun away. It was Colby.
Returning to his human form, Colby stood over Girey. “This ain’t my town, but you better get the hell out. Your days at the rodeo are over. If I ever see you and your men again, the next time I take your gun away, I’ll take your hand with it.”
“You can’t get rid of me that easy, boy,” Girey sputtered. “I always collect on my debts.”
Colby roared in reply, returning to his bear form. Girey quickly got up and jumped into the van, followed by his men. They raced away, as fast as the wreckage of their vehicle would allow, shouting curses from the broken windows.
Ignoring the bastards, Eddie came to her, a bear no more. “You came back?” he asked, taking her into his arms. “Why’d you go and do a stupid thing like that?”
Her head pounded, and there was a ringing in her ears, but she tried not to let it show. If Colby was going to take her into custody, she wanted to go with her dignity.
“I didn’t steal your truck. I brought it back,” she answered, feeling it important to say.
“She needs a hospital,” Colby said, standing behind him.
“No, no hospitals, not if we can help it,” Eddie argued. “I’ll have the rodeo medic check on her. If we take her to the hospital, they’ll know where she is.”
Don’t they already know? she thought, but she didn’t protest when Eddie carried her into the trailer and set her down on a couch. Colby didn’t follow. He left to summon the medic, giving them their space.
“What happens now?” she asked, rubbing a hand across her head. “Is Colby going to arrest me?”
“No,” Eddie said firmly. “He has no jurisdiction here, darling.”
“What about his friends at the station? Are they on their way too?”
“Dakota, no one knows you’re here. We haven’t told anyone. We were never going to. Colby is family. He would never do that to the woman I love.”
“You love me?”
He laughed and sat next to her. “Of course I do. I was an ass earlier. You are noble, Dakota. More noble than I’ve ever been. What you did for your brother was brave. And what you did for me tonight… well, that meant something. Big. You risked your freedom to save me. Colby understands that. He’s seen who you truly are. Now, you’re under his protection as much as you’re under mine.”
“But what am I going to do? If the station here has my picture, nowhere is safe. I might as well turn myself in.”
“Don’t do that,” Eddie pleaded. “I know somewhere you can go. Come with me. We rodeo folk, we’re always on the run. We’re all outlaws. You’ll fit right in. No one will ask any questions.”
She smiled, despite the pain in her head. “You want me to come with you?”
“More than I’ve ever wanted anything before. I’ll keep you safe.”
It would be hard to tell Brianna. She didn’t want to disappoint her friend, but it made sense. She could hide in the rodeo. She could be free and have her happiness.
“Okay,” she said, accepting his offer. “I’ll join you.”
***
The medic was gone, and so was Eddie. He’d left her alone to sleep, giving her his bed. When she’d woken, it was to an empty trailer, but she knew where he’d gone. Under the moonlight, she walked the half hour to the stadium, following Eddie’s footsteps to the stables. She wasn’t afraid to do so, not even with Girey out there, plotting his revenge. Knowing Eddie loved her, she wasn’t scared of anything. She felt truly safe for the first time since leaving home.
“You never did tell me his name,” she said to Eddie when she entered the stables. He stood before his bronco, feeding him oats from a bucket.
“Dakota, you’re supposed to be resting,” he protested, setting the bucket down. “Let me take you back.”
“I don’t want to go back,” she said. “I only want you.”
With all the strength she had, she pushed him into an empty stall, the horse and its owner already gone. Loose straw crackled beneath her feet as she met him there, full of desire and intention. Standing on her tip toes, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, the heat of her anticipation fueling her lips. There was nothing tender about the kiss. Eddie took control, commanding her tongue with his, showing her the full force of his love.
When she was at his mercy, he broke away. “I’ve wanted you since the day I met you,” he growled, craving her.
“Then take me,” she permitted. “I’m yours.”
Delighted, he lifted her up so that she straddled him with her legs, and he pinned her against the wall of the stall, running his hand over her toned thigh, now tanned by the sun. He kissed her neck, his lips hot but tender against her pulse, sending shivers down her spine. As he kissed her, his hand traveled up her thigh and beneath her tank top, caressing her bare skin, magnifying the joy already coursing through her body.
“Keep going,” she pleaded, immersed in his kisses. “Feel all of me.”
With his strength, he ripped off her bra and threw it onto the ground, keeping her steady against the wall, and then he cupped her breasts, circling her nipples with the roughness of his palm, awakening her body as his lips continued to slide across her neck. She squeezed her legs around his waist, letting him know just how much pleasure he brought her, aroused further by the foresight that next time she squeezed her legs, his cock would be inside of her.
He knew it too, causing his cock to grow through his jeans and press against the gap where her thigh met her ass. Suddenly impatient, he massaged her breasts harder, pushing against them as he kissed her with the vigor of a bear but the lips of a man. She wrapped her arms around the bulk of his neck, matching the intensity of his kiss, charged by the power of his body, a power she wanted to feel within.
He lost control. Consumed by his desire for her, he dropped her to her feet, and then he spun her around so that she faced the wall. He lifted her tank top over her head, and he pulled down her denim shorts, exposing the lace of her panties. Her core was wet. He could smell it. Bending down to his knees, he inhaled her, the scent of her desire an ambrosia. Moving her panties aside, he tasted the ambrosia, his tongue hard and warm against her core.
Moaning, she arched her back, giving him full access to her as he licked her pink flesh, sliding his tongue into her core, lapping the ambrosia, ripening her, preparing her for the magnitude of his cock. As he drank her in, he gripped the cheeks of her ass, rubbing them like he had her breasts. It opened her up wider to him, gave him more room to taste her.
“I want you,” she panted, her breath hot against the wall. Her body was aflame, ready to burst apart. “Ride me and never let go.”
He stood. “I’ll give you what you want,” he murmured in her ear. “I’ll show you what the love of a cowboy feels like.” He took her hand and put it over his cock. “It feels like this.”
“It feels good,” she praised, gripping the tip of his stiffness, unable to wrap her hand fully around it. “But I’d like it better if it were free.”
“So would I,” he said with yearning, his own wetness seeping through his jeans. “While I set it free, I want you to touch yourself. Show me what you want me to do to you.”
As she listened to him unzip his jeans, she obeyed him, keeping one hand against the wall while she massaged herself with the other. His tongue had left her clit moist and ready. She rubbed it, imagining it was still his face between her legs. Her breathing grew harder, luring him back in.
He grabbed the strands of her chestnut hair and pulled her head back, causing her backside to protrude further so that he could fuck her. Teasing her, he kissed her back, starting at the base of her neck and slowly working his way down, his lips as soft as the snowflakes back home. Already charged, it rocked her body over the edge.
“I’m going to cum,” she warned, gasping between his kisses, his head nuzzled against the curves of her back.
“I want you to,” he said. “I want you to cum all night.”
To prove it, he ran his tongue down her spine, causing her to cry out as she came. Pleasure ripped through her, but it was only an appetizer. She was still hot, ready for more.
He gave her more. Seizing her hips, he drove his cock into her plump wetness, filling her with his girth, which pulsed gloriously against her inner flesh. As he began to thrust, he rubbed her clit, heightening her bliss, building her back up. Her body shook with each drive. The whole stall did, causing a rake to fall to the ground.
Needing to feel more of him, she reached between her legs and took his balls into her hand, enjoying their size and masculinity. As he plunged inside of her, she rubbed her thumb against the base of his shaft, where their wetness joined, spilling down his cock.
“Oh darling.” His voice was low and powerful, saturated with lust. “I knew you were something special.”
To show him just how special fucking her could be, she clenched, squeezing her core around his cock. In return, he thrust hard, pushing deeper into her, and he began to swivel his hips, rubbing his cock within every inch of her pussy. It sent currents through her body, causing her to moan with ecstasy. Moving her hips with him, like a slow dance, she trembled with pleasure, her breath wild. He pushed her hair aside and pulled her closer so that her back rested against his chiseled abs, and he kissed her neck once more, working his cock within her while he tasted the sweat that dripped down her back.
In his arms, she exploded, her ambrosia drenching his cock. “Eddie,” she whimpered as she came, overwhelmed by a powerful bliss that made her float in a golden light, her soul reaching out to his.
Swelling when she said his name, he returned to pumping her, growing with his own pleasure until he also came. He shuddered as he released himself into her, continuing to hold her, the muscle of his arm resting against her breasts.
“I really do love you,” he declared into the night. “I won’t let anything happen to you. You’ll be safe with me, Dakota. No more running.”
“No more running,” she promised, knowing she was safe, that his promises were real. “Not from you.”
From now on, they would run together, outlaws in the southern deserts, animals who roamed free.
FIN