Page 14 of Destined Predator
“No tricks now,” he cautioned, loosening his hold. “Give your word.” Which, to a guy like this, was his bond.
Rhett hesitated, then nodded. Casey dropped his hold slowly and moved in front of Rhett. “I got an alibi,” he said, keeping his tone conversational.Nothin’ to see here. Just a short-tempered, stubborn,fuckablerancher and a horny coywolf shootin’ the breeze.“Wanna hear it? Or you prefer to stick to your prejudgment?”
“Tell me.”
“Then you’ll apologize?”
The jut of Rhett’s chin and the twist to his lips said as clear as wordswhat do you think? It had Casey grinning again. Oh, he was gonna have a fine old time with Mr. Rhett Tucker. “I wasin the bar until after closing time, when they kicked me out and called up my sister Anne to come get me ’cause I’d had a skinful of beer and too many chasers. I never left the main bar or the side room all night. Well, to go take a leak. You wanna call Bard or Cindy, or the guys I played pool with, one after the other all night? Or you want physical evidence, I can show you my tab. It’s got a boatload of drinks on it.”
Rhett stirred. “You were drunk? You look fine.”
“Why, thank you kindly, sir. I’m a shifter. Means I got a faster metabolism.” He sighed. “Rhett, I know you don’t know me from Adam, but I wouldn’t do what you accused me of. I want you, sure, but that ain’t the way to win you. What?” He narrowed his eyes at Rhett’s half-step back. “That’s no shock, right? Or is the thing that’s tough to deal with that you want me too?”
His tone stayed calm, but the honesty in it cost him. Want wasn’t supposed to sound like confession, yet there it was between them—raw and too damn real.
Rhett said nothing. Just stared, wide-eyed.
“Look, you’re new at this. I get that. I also get that you carry all the weight of the ranch, and then Jack coming home from New York City all beat-up from that shitty relationship he got into there.” Casey had heard all it from Ben, who still wanted to rip Jack’s ex’s throat out.
“And so?” Rhett asked, his voice quiet but steady.
“And so I want to woo you.”
That got a smile. “Woo me.”
“Hell yeah! Get to know you, have you get to know me— What?”
Rhett was laughing. “Sorry. Just, I’m imagining bowling at the Lanes. Picnics near the creek.”
Casey shook his head. That wasn’t what the rancher needed. Oh, he might think he wanted it, wanted wagon rides at the Old West Festival, the chili cookoff at the state fair, but whathis soul craved was to submit and be dominated. Which meant Casey had to show Rhett he was safe with him. That Casey was in control, like he always was. He wasn’t just proving a point. He was baring his truth—the mix of beast and man that lived under his skin. If Rhett couldn’t handle seeing that, he’d never survive feeling it.
He unlaced his boots and toed them off. His long-sleeved tee and undershirt were on the floor and his hands were on his jeans’ zipper before Rhett spoke.
“Is this supposed to tempt me?”
“Nope.” Naked, Rhett shifted into his coywolf form, watching Rhett blink in bewilderment.
“To scare me?”
Maybe it was, but he was showing Rhett that he could control himself, even during times of heightened emotion, like this and like sex. Even wild, dirty sex.Especiallywild, dirty sex.
I’m showing youme, he thought, wondering if Rhett could pick that up, could begin to understand. Rhett was practical, with no time for “woo-woo stuff” but, tough. He was ass-deep in the supernatural, whether he liked it or not.
Coywolf looked at man and man—Rhett—looked back. Not blinking, Casey stretched out his head, pushing into Rhett’s space. Rhett didn’t move for the longest time, but then, slowly, unblinking too, he lifted his hand and reached it out.
Toward Casey.
The space between them crackled, alive and waiting. One more inch and they’d stop pretending this was about suspicion or dominance. It would be about recognition—the moment the predator found his equal.
Chapter Seven
Rhett’s mind whirled from the speed of Casey’s transformation. Casey had done that before, shifted in front of Rhett, only that time he’d been a real jerk about things, mainly about Rhett not believing that seemingly normal people could change into animals, and so Casey had shown him undeniable physical proof that they could and did. Rhett had thought since that there must have been other ways to convince him—even if he hadn’t been able to come up with any—and that the coywolf had enjoyed shocking him.
There didn’t seem that energy or intention about this shift, though. Rhett gave a slow, tentative stroke to the thick yet soft fur that now met his hand. He’d never touched a…shifter—he had to get used to thinkingandsaying the word—before, but he wouldn’t flinch, and didn’t recoil.
The feel was different to when he patted or groomed his horse. Hurricane’s coat was sleek—when Rhett brushed the dust fromhim—and he felt warm, thrumming with life and energy under Rhett’s hands.
The coywolf—no, Casey. It’s still Casey—had much longer fur that felt plush and gave off heat. He was actually hot to the touch and vibrating with power. It should’ve scared him. It anchored him instead. The warmth under his palm saidalive, listening,and some part of Rhett that’d been locked up tight since last night let go a notch. “Okay,” he breathed, more to himself than Casey. “Okay.”
