Fierce (Wolf Ranch 5)

I laughed again. “You do not need any fair games to prove your prowess to me.”

He growled playfully, then nipped my neck.

I angled my head to the side, so he had more room. I had no idea my skin there was so sensitive. “Will there be food? I’m famished.” And not just for food.

He pulled back, looked down at me. His smile was affectionate. “Woman after my own heart. Yep. All kinds of food. Barbecue, funnel cakes, freshly churned ice cream—you name it.”

“I’m in,” I smiled. “Let me just grab a quick shower, and we’ll go.”

“Deal,” he said. “Last one to the showers is a rotten egg.”

I laughed and took off running, looking over my shoulder when it seemed he wasn’t following. Turned out he was giving me a head start. As soon as I looked, he sped into action, quickly catching up to me and smacking my ass.

“Oh yeah,” he rumbled as we kept running. “I’m definitely going to spank that ass some more.”

14

LEVI

“Pick one,” I told Charlie. We stood in front of the shoot ‘em up booth at the fair. I’d given over my money and shot all the ducks that had moved across the game’s backdrop. The toy gun had horrible aim, and there was something sticky on the trigger, but I had to prove to my woman that I could save her from anything. Stupid, caveman thoughts. I didn’t need to kill ducks to save her from anyone, and I had a real gun on my hip.

While Cooper Valley was small, the county was vast and people from all over came to enjoy the few days of the fair every summer. Besides the usual 4-H and other kids programs, there were contests for most attractive chickens and pigs, lambs and cows. Pie contests, cherry pit spitting competitions, even a small rodeo. Held over three days, it was always fun. I’d never been as sheriff before, so working the event all day had been different for me. But clocking out and taking it all in with a date… well, it made it a fuck ton more pleasant.

Especially when my date was the woman I’d gotten inside the night before. I knew what she looked like naked. What she looked like when she came all over me. Hell, I was the only one who knew what she looked like when she took a dick for the first time.

Mine.

I hadn’t seen Charlie this morning before I left, not since she walked out of my room the night before. She’d gone early to the stable for another round of breeding for Seraphina. I’d headed into town to work my shift as sheriff by the time she was finished. Although, knowing her as I did now, she hadn’t spent the rest of the day lazing about. That woman worked hard and had a lot on her shoulders. I couldn’t make her job any easier or help with anything going on with her grandfather, but I could help her take her mind off of all of it. Gladly. And often.

I’d done a pretty good job of it the night before, and no one had ever considered me to slack at my tasks.

“What should I pick?” An easy smile softened her face. She looked up at all the stuffed animals strung up around the edges of the booth.

I shrugged, enjoying her pleasure. It seemed I wanted to satisfy her in and out of the bedroom, which went beyond the whole two-week thing.

As she decided, the carnival guy took money from a dad with a little boy and handed him one of the game’s guns. Finally, Charlie pointed up over my head. “That one.”

I glanced up. Froze. A stuffed wolf. “That one?” I asked, stunned.

She nodded. The guy came back our way, and I pointed to the wolf. He used a long stick with a hook on the end and took it down then handed it to Charlie.

“Did you know the gray wolf was introduced back into the wild in Yellowstone twenty-five years ago?”

I raised a brow but said nothing, allowing her to continue.

“They were almost wiped out which meant the ecosystem was out of balance. Their reintroduction returned the balance. They’re amazing creatures. So misunderstood.”

She tucked the wolf under her arm and stroked the head as if she were a little kid.

I wanted to be stroked like that. My wolf, stuck inside, wanted that too. Real fucking bad. Her words soothed something in me, that she thought we were amazing. That there wasn’t tons of information about us. It was all true, but she was talking about the gray wolf, not me. Not anyone at Wolf Ranch.

She looked around. “Do you smell that?”

I frowned, lifted my head to sniff. “What?”

She gripped my arm as if suddenly overcome. “Funnel cakes. I’m dying for one.”

I couldn’t help but grin as she turned and followed the scent of fried dough. Like a fucking shifter following the scent of his mate.