Nathan grabbed another beer from the cooler and popped the tab open, closing his eyes as he drank the ice cold liquid. Finally, some R and R. After a shitty week, he just needed to relax and have a couple of beers. He glanced at the three girls—Sherry, Jeannie, and Marjorie—who were sitting on their towels, tanning themselves. They worked in the accounting department at Lennox Corp., which is why he’d never seen them before. The moment he arrived, he started flirting with them as they were in line for the changing rooms. They were very friendly—especially Jeannie—but he couldn’t muster anything more than a passing interest.

They’re Lennox employees, he told himself. It would be unprofessional to hook up with any of them. And this was a family-oriented event. Surely Matthew and Jason would definitely not approve of him taking some chick out for some fun in the woods.

Yeah, that was it. That was the reason why he didn’t try anything else with them. Certainly not because of some uptight geologist who somehow buried herself in her brain so that no matter what he did his every thought seemed to come back to her.

Not at all.

As he took another swig of his beer, his ears perked up when he heard a familiar name.

“Yeah, that Kate Caldwell is fucking hot. I wish she’d come and work on my computer systems,” someone laughed.

“She does specialize in software, so she could help you with that.”

His temple began to throb. What the fuck. He turned around slowly.

“Oh man, that bikini she’s wearing—Oh shit.”

“That bikini she’s wearing is what?” Nathan asked through gritted teeth.

“Mr. Caldwell, sir, I didn’t see you there.”

Nathan crossed his arms over his chest. He recognized two of the three men as workers from Lennox. Pencil pushers of some sort. Humans, too. And obviously, they knew who he was.

The one he overheard talking about Kate's bikini took an audible swallow. “Hey, I was just, you know … kidding about what I said earlier.”

“Yeah,” the other one added. “We weren’t looking at your sister or anything.”

The last guy laughed. “Besides, that other chick with her is way hotter.”

“Other chick?” he asked. “What other chick?”

“Er, that one.”

Nathan’s eyes zeroed in on the figure coming out of the water and slowly heading to the shore.

“Motherfucker!” he roared, the beer can in his fist turning into a ball of tin. His wolf reared up and let out an angry growl, baring its teeth.

Violet was wearing the tiniest bikini he’d ever seen. The narrow triangles in front covered her nipples but bared a good amount of cleavage and side boob. The bottom was more modest, but the pale yellow fabric left very little to the imagination, at least for his shifter eyes. She reached up to squeeze the excess water from her hair, pushing her breasts up high, then making them bounce deliciously as she dropped her hands to her sides.

White hot rage shot through him, and he marched toward her with his hands balled into fists at his sides. She was adjusting the side of her bottoms when he stopped in front of her. Goddamn, that thing was even more scandalous up close. Her nipples were poking through the thin stretchy fabric, and he could make out the shadow of a landing strip over her mound. Fuck, he didn’t know if he was angry or aroused.

Sensing he was near, her head whipped up. Dark-ringed light eyes grew wide with surprise. “Nathan?”

“What are you doing?”

“I was swimming,” she said matter-of-factly.

“I mean, what are you doing here? And what are you wearing?”

She crossed her arms under her breasts, pushing them up farther. “I was invited, remember? And I’m wearing a bathing suit. That’s usually what people wear when they go swimming.”

Nathan looked around them and saw a discarded towel by his foot. He reached down, grabbed it, and threw it over her shoulders.

She shrieked as sand flew everywhere. “What the hell, Nathan!”

“There, that’s much better,” he said.

She tossed the towel at him. “That’s not mine! What if the owner needs it?”

“Who the fuck cares?” He put it over her again.

A snort from behind made him turn around. Kate was sitting on a beach mat laughing like a hyena and eating from a tub of popcorn by her feet. “Please, keep going,” she said with a grin.

“Nathan, what is the matter with you?” Violet asked, hands on her hips.

“What’s the matter with me?” he asked in an incredulous voice. “What’s the matter with me?” Goddamnit, he wished he knew. Without thinking, he grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her away. As they passed by Kate, he kicked sand at her popcorn tub and ignored her cry of “I was eating that, you jerk!”

It wasn’t easy as Violet was much stronger than she looked, and she struggled with all her might. He didn’t want to bruise her, so, he did the only thing he could think of, which was pick her up and put her over his shoulders.

“Nathan, everyone’s looking at us,” she hissed. “What will they say?”

“I don’t care.” He marched them off into the woods, away from everyone, because the entire picnic suddenly felt too crowded. Too loud with too many people, too many men looking at Violet. It was driving him and his wolf crazy.

“Put me down this instant!” she demanded, her fists beating on his back.

“In a minute,” he snapped. “We’re almost there.”

His Mustang was parked in a clearing just off the small path that led to the lake. He spent a lot of time up here with his dad, so they always used this “secret” parking spot. No one knew about it, and he didn’t even have to lock the doors when he parked here. When he got to his car, he dropped her to her feet.

Violet staggered back but regained her balance, then brushed her hair away from her face. “What’s the meaning of this? Why did you bring me here?”

“You put yourself out there on display and—”

“Excuse me! But how dare you! I’m free to do as I want, whenever I want. I was swimming in a public place, not putting myself out there on display for anyone.”

Nathan opened his mouth but shut it quickly. She was right, of course. He was being a jerk. But still, he couldn’t help it. It was driving him and his wolf crazy, all those men looking at her, knowing what they were thinking. Because he was thinking the same thing.

He huffed out a breath. “I have some towels in the trunk.” He turned away. “You should dry off and we can go—” He stopped when he felt a hand on his bicep. Slowly, he looked back at her.

Violet was staring at him, the pupils of her eyes dilated. As her pink lips parted and her nostrils flared, he smelled the unmistakable scent of golden honey, fur, and arousal.

“Vi—”

She was definitely much stronger than she looked as he nearly tumbled into her when she pulled him close. He put his hands on the hood of his car, trapping her. Violet’s damp soft skin and curves felt amazing against him. God, this was so wrong.

“Nathan,” she whispered in that sultry voice of hers. And he lost it.

He covered her mouth with his hungrily, and the moment their lips touched it was like fireworks exploded around him. She moaned, pushing her body up against him. Goddamn, she was as sweet as she smelled, and he could scent how wet she was which made his cock stand at attention. Her arms wound around his neck and pulled him closer, her mouth eagerly moving against his.

He pushed her down, laying on top of her as she splayed out on the hood of his car and planted her heels on the front bumper. She spread her legs, accommodating him between her thighs, brushing up against him and creating a sweet friction that would have had him creaming his pants if he’d been some inexperienced teenager.

He dipped his tongue between her lips, tasting more of her and never getting enough. His mouth wanted her, his hands and his cock wanted her. Fingers moved up her ribcage, pulling the scrap of Lycra over one tit so he could tease her nipple. She moaned into his mouth, which only made him want to pleasure her more just to hear his name in her sexy voice.

Moving away from her lips, he bent his head down to her luscious breasts. Perfect; not too big and not too small with light pink nipples. He took one into his mouth, and she cried his name and dug her fingers into his hair.

Her scent was driving him crazy, and he wanted more of it. He moved his hand down, over her flat stomach and lower still, waiting for her protests. When he heard none, he delved under her bikini bottom. Christ, she was soaking wet. Her pussy lips were slick with her juices, and it was easy to slip a finger inside her.

She bucked her hips up, meeting his finger eagerly. When he drew her nipple harder into his mouth, her body shuddered and he heard her let out a muffled moan. Her honey scent exploded around him, and it was like everything else disappeared and his entire world only consisted of Violet.

The rise and fall of her chest slowed down, and he looked up at her. Violet’s eyes were closed, but her plump lips were parted. He withdrew his hand from her bottoms and put it up to his mouth, licking it clean. Fuck, she was delicious, and he wanted to have more of her. But that could wait. He had to have her now.

Nathan moved above her, covering her body with his. She looked up at him and blinked, her pupils still blown out with desire. He lowered his head again and she kissed him back eagerly, her hands moving down to his shorts to pull them low over his hips.

“Wow. Classy you two. Just classy,” came Kate’s droll voice, followed by a short gasp.

Nathan cursed and rolled off the car, taking Violet with him. They got to their feet, and he pulled up his shorts as Violet straightened herself out. “What the fuck, Kate? What are you guys doing here?”

“Excuse me,” she said. “This is a family event. And,” she pointed to Sybil, who was standing next to her with her hands over her eyes, "you’ve scarred poor Sybil for life.”

“Shut up, Kate!” Sybil put her hands down. “I’m sorry! We saw you take her away, and I thought—”

“You thought what?” Nathan asked.

“You were angry, and then you dragged her off like a caveman!” Sybil exclaimed. “What were we supposed to think?”

“I think Violet was enjoying herself in the cave just fine,” Kate said with a raised brow.

Nathan sent his sister a death glare. “Just get out, will you?”

“All right, all right. But let me remind you again this is a family affair, and there are shifter kids with sensitive hearing everywhere. Matthew and Jason’ll have your head if they even hear of anything inappropriate,” Sybil warned.

“So go get a room you horn dogs!” Kate added. With a wave of her hand, she turned and disappeared back into the woods, taking Sybil with her.

“I’m sorry,” Violet began. “I—”

“You’re sorry?” he asked. “Sorry?”

She bit her lip. “I was the one who … who …”

“Kissed me?” he said with a smirk.

That cold mask slipped over her face. “Yes. So all of this was my fault.”

“It’s no one’s fault.”

She picked up the discarded towel and wrapped it around herself. “Look, we both agreed we don’t want to be mates. And that’s fine.”

“Just wait a minute! I never said that,” he protested. “Violet—”

“Really, Nathan.” She sighed. “Don’t think just because we … did what we did that you have to spare my feelings. I’m not some inexperienced virgin or one of your conquests that you have to give the gentle let-down to the next morning. I happen to be a grown woman.”

She stood there like nothing happened between them. Like it wasn’t just moments ago he was kissing her and touching her before she came apart in his arms. Cold-hearted and calculated. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Fine. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Nathan? Are you angry at—”

“I said it’s fine.”

He opened the door to his Mustang, and grabbed the keys from the hidden compartment under the seat. Slipping the key into the ignition, he turned the engine and put the gear in reverse, gunning it out of there and leaving Violet standing in the clearing by herself. He knew it was immature, but he didn’t know what else to do. His wolf was howling in anger and pain, and he didn’t want to feel that anymore.