Chapter One
BOYD
My thoughts were on fucking.
Most guys had their heads focused on their upcoming ride, the eight seconds they had to keep their ass on the back of a pissed off bull. Me? I wasn’t thinking with that head.
I was amped up, and I wanted to pump that excess energy into a hot, tight pussy. And there were tons of options around the arena.
“Hey, champ. Can’t wait to see you ride,” one of the buckle bunnies cooed as she strutted past me.
“Thanks, gorgeous.” All I had to do was wink at Sherry or Cindy… whatever her name was, and I could take her for a ride. With the jean skirt that was—thank you baby Jesus—nothing more than a denim Band-Aid around her waist and a white tank top that barely hid her perky tits, I knew what was on offer. The ride might take longer than eight seconds—I could go all night—but once I climbed off, like with a bull, I didn’t linger. The ladies knew the score. I got off—got them off a time or two since I was a gentleman—and they could brag they’d fucked the rodeo champ. Everyone left satisfied.
Satisfied, definitely. Happy? Not so much anymore. Sure, Sherry/Cindy was gorgeous, but a romp with the lollipop of the day didn’t do that much for me anymore.
Or for my wolf. A quick lay wasn’t what we wanted. Maybe it was the start of moon madness kicking in, but it was pissing me off. My dick had become… selective. That’s what happened to shifters who were ready to mate. Their inner wolf sought a true mate, and no other female would do. That was a big problem for a guy like me who had fucking on his mind… all the time.
The noise from the crowd in the stands was muted on the lower level of the arena. The scent of popcorn and spilled beer couldn’t cover the tang from the animals. The concrete floor had scattered bits of hay that clung to my sturdy boots, but I wasn’t heading toward the chutes. Not yet. With the steer roping event happening now, I had time to check on my friend, Abe, before my turn in the bull riding event. I turned down a narrow hall and ducked into the medical room.
“Fucker, you hurt your hand before you even got in the ring? What were you doing, jerking off?” I asked, pulling my hat off as I came in the door.
Then I stopped short. Froze. Holy fuck.
My wolf perked up. Sniffed.
Yeah, Abe was sitting on an exam table in his dusty jeans and snap shirt, but I wasn’t looking at him. Hell, he could have been wearing a hula outfit, and I wouldn’t have known. It was the woman who was holding his hand, putting some kind of metal brace around his finger, who I stared at.
Petite, curvy and with the most luscious ass, she could make a man weep… or jizz in his jeans like a fifteen-year-old. My wolf stood up and preened. She looked my way with wide eyes behind glasses. Fuck me, I had no idea I had a thing for glasses. My usual woman ran tall and willowy, with perky tits that overflowed in the palms of my hands. Maybe that was where my problem lay, where my selectiveness came from. None of them were her.
But that didn’t make sense. I didn’t need to breathe in to pick up her scent. In the small room, the sweet aroma of ripe peaches hit me like a stampeding bull.
Delicious. But not the scent of a she-wolf.
She was human. A gorgeous, curvy, human.
My wolf practically howled at the sight of her. Long hair cascaded down her back like a dark waterfall. She had a round face with skin as pale as cream. Her plump lips would look incredible wrapped around my dick. And those curves. Oh fuck, yes. Tits that would fit perfectly in my hands, wide hips that would be perfect to grab as I fucked her from behind. And that ass? Yeah, I couldn’t miss those delectable curves since she faced Abe but was glancing over her shoulder at me. That ass would cushion my hips as I pounded into her. It’d also look damned gorgeous with my pink handprints on it.
My dick punched against my jeans wanting to get to her. Get in her.
“What the hell, Boyd?” Abe muttered. “I broke my fucking—sorry, ma’am—finger helping Burt with his tow hitch.” He glanced up at the woman, chagrined for saying a bad word. And ma’am? What the hell? He was behaving like a blushing school boy with his first crush.
Oh, fuck no. Abe wasn’t getting his hands on her. He was human and a decent guy. Still, no fucking way.
“The doc here’s bracing it, so I can compete.”
Doc? She was a doctor? Maybe I expected a guy in a white lab coat and pressed khakis, not a hot little number like her. A hot smart number. She probably had more brains in her left pinky finger than I did in my whole head. All I knew was she was mine.
She deftly wound some white medical tape around the braced finger and the one beside it, securing them together, then tore off the strip. He’d lucked out it wasn’t the hand he used to grip the rope, so he could compete.
“What are you doing later? Think I can buy you a cup of coffee to thank you?” With Abe sitting on the exam table, they were the same height. All he had to do was lean, and he’d be able to kiss her. She eyed Abe, and I wanted to growl, then rip his head off.
“I won’t be able to concentrate without knowing your answer.”
“Focus less on me and more on that bull you have to ride.”
Abe grinned, that smile a known lethal weapon to women’s panties.
I launched myself forward, tugged off my cowboy hat and stuck my hand out. “Hey there, I’m Boyd.”
She glanced my way, then back to her work. Her gloved fingers wound one more strip around Abe’s fingers. “Hi, Boyd. Sorry—my hands are full.”
Blue. Her eyes were blue behind those nerdy, fuck-me glasses.
“Oh, ah. Right.” I dropped my hand and settled instead for my own panty-dropping smile. The one that usually guaranteed me a woman’s phone number without having to ask for it. I stepped closer, close enough that Abe frowned.
Mine, buddy. Back the fuck off.
“I’m Doctor Ames—Audrey. Excuse me.” She needed me to step back because I nearly had her pinned against the table with my body. Not touching, but definitely crowding.
“Audrey Ames,” I repeated. “Guess you always got the first desk in school.”
“Yep, you know it.” She didn’t look at me twice. Didn’t blush or bat her eyelashes. Didn’t stick out her chest, so I could see what was on offer. Hell, she hardly did more than glance my way once more as she moved to the counter where she made notes in a file.
“Doc here works at a hospital but is moonlighting the event in case someone gets hurt,” Abe explained, holding up his injured hand.
I frowned. “You know her shoe size and what she had for breakfast this morning, too?”
Audrey spun about and gave me a look that would have withered the balls on a lesser man. Still, it was far from the fuck me now expression I was used to. “I’m standing right here.”
I winked and looked her up and down. “You sure are.”
After a quick purse of her lips, she tugged off her gloves and tossed them in the trash can.
Goddamn. The first time a female had truly interested me in years—maybe ever—and she barely saw me. Didn’t give a shit that the big buckle on my belt meant I was a rodeo champion. Didn’t give a shit that the dick pressed uncomfortably right behind it was rock hard just for her.
How was that even possible?
I ignored the hairy eyeball Abe threw my way.
“Why haven’t I seen you around before?” I tried again.
“Me?” She looked over, surprised. Like I came in here to flirt with Abe or something.
“As Abe said, I work at Community General in Cooper Valley, and unless you were going to have a baby, we’d never meet. Your regular rodeo doc had something come up, so they called our hospital begging for a fill-in to cover tonight. The pay was decent, and I have med school loans, so I figured, why not?” She shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to see a rodeo.”
Of course, I never got hurt, or if I did, not enough to ever need a hospital since shifters healed so fast.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Abe said, his eyes going up to the ceiling as if he could see through to the stands above us. “I’ve messed up your spectator plans.”
She gave him a small smile. Him. Why the fuck didn’t she offer me one of those soft turn of her lips?
“I’ll get up there after this and see you ride.”
Abe’s chest puffed up, and I wanted to break the rest of his fingers. Better yet, his leg, so he couldn’t compete. If she was going to see someone ride a bull, it was going to be me.
“You live in Cooper Valley.” I hardly believed the coincidence. “You gotta be kidding me.”
She finally gave me her full attention, turning and leaning that gorgeous ass against the cabinet to look at me with curiosity. “Yes. I moved here a little while ago. Why?”
I pointed at my chest. “I’m from Cooper Valley—Wolf Ranch. You know it?”
She shook her head, her dark hair sliding over her shoulders. “No, I’m fairly new to town and work tons of hours. I know the inside of the hospital really well.” She gave me a wry smile.
There. A fucking smile. I was like a beggar seeking the smallest of crumbs from her.
I sidled in her direction. “I could take a day or two off and show you around. Love to, in fact.”
Abe cleared his throat, making Audrey look his way. “You’re all set,” she told him. “Don’t break anything else out there. I have no idea how you guys do it.”
He hopped down off the table, picked up his hat and settled it on his head. He didn’t make a move to leave. Hell no. He was trying to make a move.
The asshole had the nerve to grin, then slap my back with his good hand, much harder than necessary. “Well, we’d better get into the chutes. Almost time for the bull rides. You gonna watch me, Doc?”
I gave him a look that screamed fuck off, she’s mine. I might’ve even growled a little, too.
We had a short stare down, and he finally relented. He sighed, flicked the rim of his hat. “Ma’am.”
I knew Abe was a smart guy because he finally left, and I was alone with the hottest female in all of Montana.
“About that tour,” I said, taking a step closer and giving her my easygoing smile. I tucked my thumbs into my front pockets.
I wasn’t the kinda guy who believed in signs or gave much credence to fate, but after my wolf’s reaction to her presence, to discover such a gorgeous creature was living in my hometown felt significant. After all the wandering the fucking country riding angry bulls, and she’d been right fucking here. It was fate the rodeo was in my hometown, and she was working it.
“Oh, no,” she dismissed me immediately, turning away to clean up from tending to Abe. “I’ll watch the bull riding and see you and Abe ride but have to go right back to work when I go home. Thanks, though.”
Shot down. It was just a tour. Sure, it meant I wanted to show her around… my dick, but I’d show her a few sights first. Maybe she needed to see me in action. First on the back of a bull, then maybe in bed. Who didn’t want to fuck the champion? It wasn’t like I had anything to worry about. No human could out-ride me. Especially not when I wanted to win.
I definitely wanted to win now. I stuffed my hat back on my head.
Doctor Audrey wanted to see some riding? I would show her exactly how it was done.
