Savage (Wolf Ranch 4)

I had enough of those. My, hopefully, soon-to-be-ex husband had just been outside my bedroom window. I was obviously in no position to get involved with someone new, even if that someone was the father of my unborn child.

Especially because that someone was the father of my child.

I was being cruel, I knew, but God, I couldn’t be stuck with Clint out of pity or because we’d had an epic contraceptive fail. Thanks to my parents, I knew what being stuck with a guy was like, and while Clint was nothing like Todd, I refused to be trapped to any guy for the next eighteen years… hell, the rest of my life, without love.

“Okay,” he said mildly. “No sex. I just need to know you’re safe.”

Damn.

Why did I just say no sex? I was nuts. I knew pregnancy brain was real, but what woman, pregnant or otherwise, would skip any kind of sexy shenanigans with a hottie like Clint? His protective streak alone made me wet. My tender breasts practically throbbed for him under my jacket, and my panties had been damp since the moment he threw me over his shoulder and carried me to the bedroom. Take into account his cowboy swagger, his dark intensity or his ability to deal with Todd with only one hand, and I was a horny mess. I didn’t dare remember how his big dick had felt when he’d taken me hard against the storage room wall at Cody’s.

Or how swoony I found it that he demanded I spend the night under his protection. He was truly concerned about me, and that was worst of all because it made my heart melt just a tad.

He helped me up into the cab of the truck and walked around to the driver’s side. The air was frigid, sharp and crisp, but I barely noticed. I looked over at his rugged profile as he started the truck.

“So… what happened tonight?” I asked. “I mean, how did you happen by my street at ten at night?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I just had a bad feeling,” he said, stealing a look at me as he drove. “I pay attention to my gut when it tells me something’s wrong.”

As if I hadn’t already thought he was a badass. Now I found out he has a sixth sense thing, too.

“I swear I’m not stalking you.” The corner of his mouth quirked. “Although I guess it looks that way.”

It did seem it, but nothing about Clint made me nervous. I felt… safe. With Todd, I was always on edge, even when he was charming. I always felt off-balance and wrong-footed, as if I could never say or do the right thing. With Clint, it was the opposite. I felt totally at ease. There was even the looming issue of my pregnancy standing between us, and I was going off with him into the cold night. The cab of his truck was warm with the heat blasting.

He pulled up in front of a cute cottage not far from Audrey’s house in town. “This is a place that my parents own. It’s not rented right now, so you can stay here as long as you need.”

The porch light was on, and the sidewalk shoveled. A large tree was in the front yard, and I guessed it was leafy and shady in the summer. It was… cute.

“Thank you for this,” I reached over and touched his arm. “I’ve been alone in this mess with Todd for so long… it feels nice to have someone in my corner for a change. After what he did today, I admit it felt good watching you try to strangle him.”

He frowned. “You’re talking about more than the tire, aren’t you?”

I looked away, nodded.

Fingers beneath my chin had me looking back at him. “What else did he do?” The question was low and deadly.

I took a deep breath, told him about the credit card and the bank account.

“Fuck… shit, sorry.”

I laughed at the way he tried not to swear. The feeling, the… lightness of being with Clint was almost foreign to me.

Easy.

He took off his hat, ran a hand through his hair. I realized I’d never seen him without his cowboy hat before. His dark hair was longer on the top than the sides. It had been groomed until his frustration messed it up. It still looked good.

“Sugar, I’m definitely in your corner,” Clint declared. “Even without sex.” He threw open his door.

“Yeah, about that…” I slid out my side of the truck and dropped to the ground.

“Oh?” There was no denying the obvious interest in his voice. He pulled my suitcase out of the back seat and walked around to meet me.

“I might have been a little hasty,” I admitted. God, I’d made it five whole minutes after telling him no sex to yes sex. I was a little slut where he was concerned.