Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Hating the way he’d changed things between them, he picked up the saddlebags and tossed the food supplies in the refrigerator. “You’re safe enough here. You can sit outside on the deck, but don’t go further than that.”
She sniffed. “I should’ve brought the Chromebook up here.”
“There’s no Wi-Fi or cell phone signal. We’re out of range.”
“So exactly what do you think I’m going to do while you’re off on your run?”
“You could make yourself useful and get dinner ready for the pack.” He didn’t mean it, but he knew it would annoy her.
Her eyes narrowed. “Great, so the wolves go on a run and the lowly human stays home to cook their meal? This patriarchal wolf dominance thing is starting to get old.”
“You love the way I dominate you.” He stalked closer to her, backing her into a wall.
Her breath hitched, eyes dilated.
He sank his fingers into her hair and massaged her scalp before he tugged her head back.
“Ow. What are you doing?”
The scent of her arousal made him insinuate his knee between her legs before the thought even entered his brain. “Princess, the moon is full. Leaving you here and going for a run isn’t a pleasure, it’s a necessity. You want to know why?”
Her plump lips parted. “Yeah.”
“Because, baby.” He grazed her ear with his teeth. “If I spend one more second in here with you, I’m going to tear your clothes off and fuck you so long and hard you won’t be able to ride that motorcycle back tomorrow.”
She licked her lips and his eyes tracked the movement with hunger.
“Don’t tempt me like that, princess. You know I’d love to shove my cock in that hot little mouth of yours.”
He’d finally gone too far. Melissa shoved him back. “Jesus, Cody.”
He pulled his shirt off and her eyes widened, dipping to his chest and abs, following his happy trail to the place it descended into his jeans. He laughed darkly as he walked to the bedroom, unbuttoning his jeans. He kicked them off and shifted, running for the dog door at the rear before his paws hit the wooden floor.
Melissa’s heart pounded for long moments after Cody disappeared. Her panties were soaked, a constant every time she was around that dominant, dirty-talking wolf. Just once, she’d like to put him in his place, or send him off-kilter the way he always made her feel.
She looked around the place, wavering between self-pity over Cody dumping her there without much explanation about what was happening with the pack and their run, and pleasure at the incredible surroundings. The cabin—if you called it that—blew her mind. It was odd Cody didn’t realize how impressive it was, but then, he worked on CJ Steele projects all the time. Still, he owned this property—or his pack did. And she would put its value at close to a half million if it included as much land as she suspected it did. This property combined with the one he owned in the Old North End neighborhood put him at a net worth far higher than she’d originally estimated. Cody wasn’t just some construction worker living paycheck to paycheck. Or if he was, he’d invested wisely. She’d definitely misjudged him.
She thrust the pang of guilt away. He may have financial resources, but that still didn’t make him dependable. Or nice.
But nice didn’t go as far as she wished it did for her where it came to men. Never had.
Cody’s brand of ‘not nice’ was about as sexy as it came. And while he may lack manners and have a degrading treatment of women, he wasn’t doing anything illegal, like Jeremy. He earned an honest living. Had a decent amount of honor, actually.
She gave the property another thorough inspection, admiring the beautiful craftsmanship. There wasn’t one thing she would change if she bought the place. Not one request she would have made differently had the house been built for her.
She sighed. Soon, hopefully a CJ Steele house would come on the market and Ben would help her buy it.
An hour passed and Cody hadn’t returned. She went through a pair of French doors outside to the porch. The back of the cabin faced an expanse of woods. To the right, the mountain climbed upward, lichen-covered boulders dotting the wooded slope. A path led around the base of the incline, beckoning to her. No other building or property appeared in any direction from the cabin.
She drew in a deep breath of the crisp mountain air, rich with the scent of pine. The forest looked so welcoming. If Rabago and his cronies hadn’t found her at Cody’s place in Colorado Springs, they sure as hell wouldn’t find her here. Pulling on her jacket, she jogged down the porch steps. She wanted to know where the path led.
She followed it a half mile until it stopped at what appeared to be a natural spring bubbling up from the earth. Someone had fashioned a pebble-bottomed pool and fit a copper pipe at the mouth. A tin cup lay nearby. She picked it up and filled it with water, then drank. Cold as ice and incredibly refreshing. She closed her eyes, savoring the treat.