Arielle and the Three Wolves (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Dani April Page B

smiled. Again she looked away. He knew he was playing with her, but after what they had done in bed this morning before the sun came up, he felt she was already his. He could increase the intensity on her at any time, but because of her frightened nature, kept things calm for the moment.
    “Why doesn’t anyone know about you?”
    He laughed. She was full of questions, but he liked the way she overcame her fear with each new question she posed. “We don’t advertise ourselves, but we don’t hide either. Quite a few of the regular people who live in Wolf Creek know about us. They respect our privacy and don’t speak about us much.”
    “That’s probably because no one would believe them if they did. I still can’t believe it even though I’ve seen it with my own eyes.” He was pleased how she responded to him. Her fear had started to evaporate, replaced by curiosity.
    “So where around Wolf Creek do you live, Jason?” she asked him.
    “I own a ranch back in the mountains. There’s a valley up the Tetons known as Shifter Valley. That’s where I live. It’s about an hour west of here.”
    “You’re a rancher?”
    “That’s right. Does that surprise you, Arielle?”
    “I guess it does. I never thought of a werewolf cowboy before.”
    “Shape-shifter,” he corrected her.
    “Sorry.”
    He listened to the sound of a tractor trailer pass by on the county route that ran in front of her house. It made him think of the outside world and that he needed to get back home soon. When he looked across the table and saw the shy smile on her face, he decided he didn’t want to get home too soon.
    “I haven’t thanked you yet for saving my life,” he told her.
    He knew she felt awkward in her answer. “You’re welcome, Jason. I guess now that you’re a man you should go see a regular doctor. I’m only a vet. I was only good for the wolf, not for you.”
    “No, that isn’t true.” He raised his voice and let her know that was the end of the discussion. “The splint you put on my leg fell off when I shifted. I’m going to need you to splint up my leg again.”
    “I can’t do that, Jason,” she protested.
    “You can and you will.” Again he left her no room for discussion. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to shift back to the wolf. When you put the splint on it will stay this time.”
    “That’s too bad. I liked the wolf.”
    He finished off his orange juice and held his sore leg out in front of him on the linoleum of the kitchen floor. It was painful, but pain was something he had learned to deal with over the years. “You sound disappointed,” he told her.
    “I’m just still in shock. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.”
    He reached for her across the table. Out of reflex she tried to pull away from him, but he caught her hand and made her look at him. “Don’t worry,” he told her. “I’m not ready to leave this house just yet. You’re too good of a vet, and the two of us have had too good of a time together these last few weeks. But at this point in our relationship there’s an advantage to my being a man and not a wolf. This morning in bed proved that.”
    She blushed the crimson color of the plastic table cloth. “About that…” she stammered. “I know we…” She couldn’t finish. “We shouldn’t have. I wasn’t prepared.”
    “Yeah, I had the advantage on you,” he admitted, but wouldn’t let go the grip on her hand.
    “That’s right, you did. You shouldn’t have done that, Jason.”
    “No, I should have become a man and taken you sooner.” She tried to pull back from him. He still would not let her go.
    “What do you really want from me?” she pleaded with him.
    “I want you,” he told her simply.
    “You don’t know me, Jason.”
    “We’ve lived together for the past month. I know you very well. I know you well enough to know that I can have you. I also know that you need me to have you.”
    “But you’re not normal.”
    “Humans and shifters