Foxy Lady: A Cougar Falls Story Read online

  The gray wolves had a few Orders around the country. One in Texas, another in Wisconsin. Sure, Ac-taw could live outside of Cougar Falls, but the threat of publicity about their kind endangered not only individuals, but the entire Shifter species. Each and every Ac-taw in the States had gone through the clans in Cougar Falls at some point to establish their own territories. Which made Sophie’s case so unusual.

  Julia sighed. She loved her sisters, but she missed home. She missed sitting in her comfortable office typing up files and answering calls for Gerald. Her boss and friend, Gerald made her feel good about herself. Though many of the silver foxes had expressed interest in mating, she didn’t want to tie herself down. Not yet. Eventually she’d have to find someone special. She even wanted to have children. But deep down she worried about how they’d turn out.

  If anyone learned the truth… The silver foxes might very well kick her and her sisters out of the clan. Hell, they worried about social status more than the flighty raptors. If they decided to expel Julia and her sisters, they’d have to leave town. Julia couldn’t imagine life away from Cougar Falls, which was why she worried so for Meghan.

  The only good thing about her younger sister marrying Jason and living in Seattle was that as long as she kept her shifting private, no one would care what she turned into.

  Groaning at the reminder of that one major stress she’d been dealing with in her well-ordered world, Julia decided to sink into oblivion. Maybe a good sleep would clear her thoughts.

  She prayed not to dream of Ty.

  She did anyway.

  Ty raced through the woods, feeling free for the first time in days. He found evidence of nearby foxes and wolves, but no one minded his pass through their territory, mostly because he refrained from marking anywhere but the few places he needed to find his way home.

  On his way, he passed a group of kits protectively guarded by a pissed-off mother. Cute little red foxes. Their curious faces surprised him by stirring in him a need to look after his own family, which didn’t exist. Of course thoughts like those swayed his recollections to Julia.

  Again he remembered her that night weeks ago, when she’d asked him so nicely, with alcohol on her breath, to make love to him. The first night off he’d had in forever, no trouble on the horizon. He’d planned to spend it with his friends drinking himself silly. Instead, he’d helped Julia get home and into bed, ignored her plea to fuck, and spent his night alone, masturbating to thoughts of how good she’d actually be in bed.

  And now he was trying to run through the woods with a hard-on. He stopped, panting, and sniffed around for the stream he’d recently passed. He found it up ahead and drank to relieve his thirst.

  After sating himself, he entered a small, unoccupied enclosure near some boulders and curled up for a rest. He really had been up all day and night. Panicked to find her, he’d made sure, at least, that Gerald had things well in hand to help Sarah before he’d left. If the bears and wolves ate each other in the meantime, so be it. And as far as the silver foxes trying to pass that new mandate about mating…so long as they paired him with Julia, he didn’t care.

  Fuzzy with exhaustion, he didn’t consider marriage to the shifty fox a bad thing. He fell asleep dreaming about what should have been.

  “Please, Ty. Make love to me. I want you.” Julia sighed, her breath sweet with alcohol and something else.

  Ty parted his lips, allowing the scent of her to linger on his tongue. He hadn’t wanted anyone this badly, ever. Though that should have worried him, at the moment, he didn’t care. A better man than him would tell her no, wouldn’t take advantage of her soft plea. But Ty needed her.

  He stripped out of his clothing, incredibly aroused. He took his time removing Julia’s clothes. He’d seen her undressed before. Each and every time he’d had to hide his erection. Now he proudly showed her what she did to him as he slid her shirt to the floor and followed it with her skirt.

  To his shock, she wore no underclothes. Her small, perfect breasts fit in his hands as if made for him. Her nipples stabbed his palms as he cupped her, and she moaned his name like a prayer.

  “Suck them, Ty. Yes,” she whispered when he lowered his head. He took first one then the other nipple in his mouth. With gentle bites he sucked her closer to orgasm. Her need hit him hard, the scent of her heat one that would carry past her house to the other males around them.

  Ty needed to claim her, to mingle his semen within her ripe body. Except Julia didn’t want to wait. She pushed him away, all vixen now, and dropped to the floor. On her hands and knees, she crawled to him, her eyes like cinnamon beads, her rich, dark red hair shining under the dim light of a nearby lamp.

  So sleek and pretty. For a small woman, she moved like she owned the world. And she owned him, of that there was no doubt. Ty stood on shaky legs, watching with narrowed eyes as she approached. She didn’t stop, stalking him like a true predator.

  She kissed her way up his legs, from his calves to his knees to his thighs.

  Trembling with need, he let her spread his legs wider. Her hot breath excited his tight sac, and then she ran her tongue along his shaft, catching the falling drop of come from his slit. Her mouth closed over him, so slowly, like ecstatic torture he never wanted to end…

  Ty frowned, wanting Julia to take all of him, when a foreign voice that didn’t belong anywhere near her intruded. “I’m telling you, something’s not right about that bastard.”

  He blinked into darkness and wondered how long he’d been out.

  “So beat the shit out of him, take Julia and fuck her out of your system. Hell, if you’re really set on making Mama happy, marry her and give Mama that grandkid she’s wanting,” one of Ned’s brothers said.

  “Yeah, what Dave said. That way she’ll leave us alone,” the other added.

  Their footsteps approached, the crunching of branches giving way under large boots.

  “With Jason taking Meghan, that little shithead will finally be out of our hair.”

  “Kid’s not bad,” Dave said.

  “He doesn’t belong, and you know it,” Ned replied, his deep baritone impossible to mistake. “What the hell did he need to go to school for? Only thing he’s good for is giving Mama money when she needs it. Meghan’s a hot piece, I’ll give you that. Not as hot as Julia though.”

  Ty growled and the men froze.

  “You hear that?” the other Williams brother asked.

  “Sounded close.” Someone cocked a rifle.

  Ty stilled. He couldn’t see them, and he had no idea if they were all armed or not.

  “Point is, I need that fucker away from Julia. Woman’s being stubborn as all get-out, but I know she wants it. Maybe if I promise to put a ring on her, she’ll settle down. That’s all any of them want, anyway. Marriage.” Ned snorted. “But you know, Julia’s different from the women in town. I can’t explain it, but there’s something kind of wild about her.”

  She’ll rip your balls off and feed them to you, Ty wanted to snarl. Instead he lay still, listening.

  “I bet she’s hot as hell in the sack.”

  “But she’s so little.”

  “Perfect for me,” Ned boasted. “Wonder how much cock she can take?”

  “Man, I wonder if Gabby’d like to hang around?” Dave asked.

  “All the sisters are fine. Too bad Jason won’t share. Little idiot thinks he’s too smart for us. Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s good he’s moving away,” the other brother commented.

  “So what, you want to go back and deal with this Roderick guy or what?”

  Ned answered, “No. Not yet. I want him to meet Dad first. With all of us there together, he’ll shit a brick for sure. I’ll take him aside, talk to him nice-like.” His brothers snickered. “Then he’ll leave town and leave Julia behind. Once she sees the real me, she’ll be begging for it. Hell, if she’s as good as she looks, maybe I really will marry her, and she and I can get to work on making Mama those grandkids.”

  “A
nd if she doesn’t want to?”

  “She will.” Ned’s surety raised Ty’s hackles. “One way or another, that woman’s going to belong to me. No one says no to Ned Williams.”

  Long after they left, Ty followed their path back to their truck. He then trailed their tracks through the woods toward a rundown house full of people. At least a half dozen wandered in and out of a wood and brick house. Off to the left sat a barn full of tools and a still, complete with moonshine and the requisite old men reminiscing to fit the picture. A family reunion, Ned had said. Terrific.

  Quietly, Ty skirted the barn and trotted around the house, only to come nose to nose with a Husky sleeping downwind. The dog opened his eyes in a flash and let out a series of warning growls and barks. The only thing keeping him back was the chain around his throat.

  Ty slipped away from the attention drawing near and ran back into the woods.

  “Damn, that’s the second fox I’ve seen this week. Not as red as the other one that keeps hanging around, though. Get your gun, son. Time to go huntin’.”

  A glance over his shoulder showed an older version of Ned—same large frame, same dirty brown hair but threaded with gray, same mean, squinty brown gaze.

  Then what he’d said dawned on Ty, and he raced back the way he’d come. Not as red as the other one.

  Ty was going to paddle Julia silly for putting herself in danger. Because he knew, without a doubt, that Julia had been staking out the perceived threat to protect her sisters.

  He’d put an end to that. The vixen wouldn’t put herself in danger anymore, not now that she had Ty to protect her.

  The return trip through the woods took a long time. His run no longer freeing, Ty felt every mile between himself and Julia like one great distance he had to breach. When he saw the light of her cabin glowing in the distance, he sighed with relief. Not only tired, but hungry and annoyed as well, Ty had a few choice words to share with Julia, Gabby and Meghan.

  He froze outside the back door, catching Jason’s scent. Dammit, I forgot about dinner with him.

  Making up his mind, he scratched at the back door and let out a yip.

  “Did you hear that? I’ll be right back,” Julia said loud enough to be heard back in Cougar Falls. Obviously his woman hadn’t mastered the art of subtlety.

  His woman?

  The minute she opened the door and looked at him, everything clicked.

  Hell yes, his woman. For now, just for now, the independent male inside him reminded.

  “Open a back window. And hurry the hell up,” he shared with a snarl, eager to yell at her for daring to skirt the Williams homestead.

  Ac-taw in their animal forms spoke using body language and a shared telepathy with others of their kind. Communication was generally not a problem. Unless the stubborn woman you were trying to talk to slammed the door in your face.

  With a wry grin at the gauntlet she’d thrown, Ty mentally picked it up. That’s right, baby. Game on. Nobody outmaneuvers Ty Roderick, not even one very delectable, sexy female. And I’m really going to enjoy making you pay.

  Chapter Four

  Julia contained her shout and pasted a smile on her face. “Must have been an animal scratching at the door. No one’s there,” she said in a loud voice. Meghan’s and Gabby’s relief mirrored her own. What the hell did Ty think by worrying them all? He’d been gone for nearly nine hours!

  Jason, Gabby and Meghan had brought back Chinese takeout they’d lugged all the way from Kettle Falls, nearly twenty miles away. The food tasted like dust in Julia’s mouth, worry for Ty making it hard to think about anything else.

  She made an excuse about needing to use the restroom and left the kitchen. Hurrying to her bedroom, she opened the window and waited. She’d been using it to come and go while visiting. A fat tree stump under the window facilitated her entry into the house.

  Ty jumped through with effortless grace. Greedily drinking in the sight of him, she forced herself to focus on her mad.

  She seethed. “Would it have killed you to let us know where you were for so long?”

  Anger—much better than nervous concern.

  He shook out his thick fur patterned with silver and black that darkened at the tips of his ears and his tail. He had less red on his belly, ears and throat than she did, most likely due to his dark hair when a man. He was also rather large for a silver fox, closer to fifteen pounds, as opposed to her nine when turned. Still, she couldn’t deny how handsome he looked.

  Unable to stop herself, she knelt and ran her hand over his head. Scratching his ears, she scolded in a low voice, “You stay out that long again and I’ll go out and drag you back by the tail.”

  He shifted into a man so fast he knocked her on her butt then laid her flat against the floor. He blanketed her with male heat, his face inches from hers as he stared into her eyes.

  A pure show of dominance that, dammit all, worked.

  “You ever go near the Williams place again and I’ll spank you until you can’t sit. Those bastards are armed to the teeth with guns, bows and rifles. There are over a dozen people at that house right now. Don’t even think about leaving again without me with you.”

  She opened her mouth to reply and found it covered with his own.

  Julia couldn’t help but respond. What else could she do when a hot naked man kissed the breath out of her?

  She moaned and ran her hands over his back and up to his neck. His hair felt so soft under her fingers as she caressed his scalp and submitted to his ravenous mouth.

  He stroked her lips and tongue with his, fanning the desire she could never quite shake in his presence. His touch grew more urgent. He caged her, sharing his arousal with every thrust and push against her. His hand cupped her breast, then slid under her shirt to pinch her nipple through her bra.

  She gasped at the contact, and he invaded her mouth, deepening the kiss.

  The muted sound of a door opening and then closing after Gabby’s “Oh, Lord,” barely registered.

  Suddenly Ty’s hand angled down her pants and his fingers sought the wet heat of her.

  He groaned her name and shoved his fingers inside, stroking her wet channel. His thumb found her clit and he brought her closer and closer to climax while he rocked against her.

  Stealing her breath, her resistance, her every thought, he gave her nothing but pleasure and worked her sensitive flesh. Her entire body and mind cried out for him as she convulsed against him, her orgasm spiraling out of control. Thankfully he swallowed her shout of relief, or she would have shared it with the rest of the house.

  He shuddered and groaned, nipping along her throat. Helpless, Julia trembled in the aftermath of such an explosive, sudden rapture.

  Breathing heavily, they stared at one another for what seemed like forever. She didn’t know what Ty thought or felt, but Julia wanted to burst into tears. Sex with Ty, and sex that wasn’t even real sex, had been better than anything she’d ever experienced or had hoped to experience. Because it was Ty, the physical connection meant so much more than a mere fuck.

  The love she tried to squelch threatened to break free, until he said, “Oh hell. I didn’t mean to make such a mess. Sorry, honey. At least your sister didn’t get that much of an eyeful.”

  Julia’s eyes widened. “What was I thinking?” she squeaked, horrified to be caught having sex by her younger sister. So much for making an example of herself with dignity and control.

  “If you were like me, you weren’t thinking at all.” Ty grinned down at her. “You’re amazing, baby. Next time, I’m coming inside you. So damned warm.” He kissed her and leapt to his feet. He grabbed his clothes off her dresser and disappeared into the adjoining bathroom.

  Julia looked down at her stained shirt and shuddered. She wanted to say in horror, but she knew it was much worse than that. She liked wearing Ty’s scent. She wanted everyone to smell him on her, to know that she’d brought him to such bliss.

  “I’m such an animal,” she muttered and stalke
d to the closet. She tore off her shirt, forced herself to ball it up and throw it into the hamper, and grabbed a sweatshirt she hurriedly donned. Then realizing her underwear stuck to her thanks to her explosive orgasm, she changed out of the pair, put on a new set and zipped up her jeans. She needed to use the bathroom before she returned to her sisters, fearing they’d smell his seed all over her and know what she’d been doing.

  But they already know that. Gabby saw.

  She cringed, hearing them and Jason in the kitchen.

  Ty opened the door, fully dressed, and kissed her as he passed. “I’ll go out the window and knock on the front door. Later, beautiful.”

  His good mood soured her already increasing temper. Perfect. Now on top of everything else, Ty was going to think he’d one-upped her in their war of wills. Typical alpha male, she thought with a grimace as she cleaned herself in the bathroom. Give him an orgasm and he thinks he owns you.

  Come on, after that orgasm he does.

  Annoyed by her lack of willpower, she counseled herself to remain strong. Tonight had never happened, and it wouldn’t happen again. Sex with Ty would lead to loving Ty. And with his pedigree, he’d never mate someone like her. God forbid he learn about the skeletons in her closet. Mr. Rules would drum Julia and her family out of the clan in a heartbeat.

  Taking a deep breath, she warned herself to handle Ty carefully. Now she just had to ignore Gabby’s smarmy attitude. Her younger sister always had to be right. She’d been saying for years how perfect Ty and Julia would be as a couple. Then to learn Julia had an unrequited longing for the man… And of course it had to be Gabby who’d walked in on them moments ago.

  Talk about rotten luck. Julia joined the rest of the group eating dinner just as Ty knocked on the front door.

  “I’ll get it,” Jason offered and moved to the door.

  Gabby gave her a thumbs-up, whispered in Meghan’s ear, and the pair grinned at her like twin idiots.