Racing The Beast (Dirt Track Dogs #2) by P. Jameson

remembering that awful night.
    “Drake saved me. He dragged my ass down the mountain kicking and screaming. I was angry. So fucking angry. I didn’t want to leave my family. He did the same for Diz and on the way down, he found a half crazy Surge. We didn’t know him from Adam, but he’d been on his way into the fire screaming about needing to find someone. We knocked him the fuck out and brought him with us.”
    “Fucking hell,” she breathed. “What about Blister?”
    Beast turned into the practice area. It was flooded with lights preparing for the darkness, and the sunset in the background reminded him of a wave of lava. Or maybe it just reminded him of something burning because of the way he felt talking about all this.
    He parked and turned off the truck before answering her.
    “We knew there were people on the other side of the mountain like us. Ones that wouldn’t leave their homes.” He rested his forearm on the steering wheel, staring at the strip of fiery sky. “We went to check on them. They were all gone. Their side of the mountain was fucking decimated. At the bottom we found Blister. He was barely alive, covered in third degree burns.” Beast shook his head.
    Blister had shifted into his animal, trying to heal, trying to survive. But the poor wolf was barely more than a young and couldn’t salvage its own ravaged body. Had he been mated at the time, he would’ve made a full recovery. The power of the mating bond would’ve done what his wolf could not. Instead he was left with horrible scars to remind him of all he’d lost. And no doubt, all the things he thought he’d never have.
    “He barely survived,” Beast croaked. “We lost everything but we had each other.”
    Punk’s small hand landed on the fist he’d made on the seat between them. He jerked at her touch.
    Fuck.
    When she touched him like this, not because she had to but because she wanted to, it fractured his careful control. It threatened to eviscerate every single ounce of patience he’d been saving for her.
    He wanted her now . He wanted to sink himself deep inside her and soothe every heartache with her body. He wanted to make them both whole. To undo the shit he’d done at the track. He wanted to pleasure her so fully that it erased the shit that was done to her before.
    And mother fucker, the thought of what had been done to her lit him up. He didn’t know the details. Nothing more than when and where. Hadn’t wanted to know because he didn’t think he could handle that knowledge without losing his fucking mind over it.
    He needed to shift. It was so simple when you were an animal. You took what was yours. You protected and served those who needed you. Your emotions were there, but they were based on instinct. And you knew what you needed to do. No questioning. No waiting. No wondering if you were going to fuck up epically.
    He wanted her.
    Beast stared at her hand. He was shaking with the effort to control his emotions. He unclenched his fist, turning his palm up. She started to pull her hand back but he grabbed on.
    Not yet. Don’t pull away yet. I need you .
    She met his gaze but she didn’t flinch from his expression. “I’m sorry for what happened to you. I can’t imagine what you and the others went through.”
    He couldn’t speak. Couldn’t risk whatever might come out of his mouth. All he could do was stare into her eyes and breathe her scent and hope like hell he could calm himself.
    She squeezed his hand, leaning in closer. “It doesn’t make much sense but…” She shook her head as if she couldn’t believe what she was about to say. “I like you too. And there aren’t that many people in the world I like. But honestly, right now you look like you want to fuck something up.” Her voice got real quiet. “Are you okay?”
    He should tell her. Right now, before things got any more complicated. She needed to know what he’d spent so much of his life containing.
    “In the past…” he forced the