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ADAIR

I ’m an idiot. I should’ve just waited until tomorrow and called the nature center. They must have a lost-and-found there. They might have even offered to have somebody — although hopefully not the ranger who caught me — go collect it for me so it wouldn’t get stolen or damaged.

I don’t know what I was thinking, deciding to hike back to the picnic table. A sharp breeze is blowing the remaining heat of the sun over the horizon along with the last thin scrap of light. I shiver, wishing I’d thought to tie my hoodie around my waist before I set out.

Stupid —I spend so much time in the woods, I ought to know better. Typical Addy flightiness strikes again. Ugh, I’m really on a roll tonight. The wind whips at the sleeves of my T-shirt. Way for the universe to remind me my biceps don’t exactly fill out the arms of a shirt like his do.

Stop that. Stop it, dammit. Why am I even thinking about that scary, snarling ranger? I’m not doing it. I’m not going to think about the way his arms looked as he crossed them over his barrel chest as he scowled at me. Or the way they felt when he trapped me between them as he pushed me into that tree, his body so close to mine that I could smell his beard.

I’m definitely not thinking about that. Or the hard length I inadvertently rubbed against while trying to dodge his entrapment. Nope, I’m not thinking about his cock.

Fuck. I’m so disgusted at my failure to keep his brooding, bearded presence out of my mind that I’m well into the clearing by the time I look up.

I stop short. Because the man I was just trying my damndest not to think about is sitting on top of the picnic table like he was expecting me. His imposing physique is lit by… what the hell? Is that my tablet he’s scrolling through? I recognize the case with its long strap leaning against the bulk of his thigh.

I’m just looking at the carrier. Not his thigh. Not at all.

“Hey!” I’m a lot bolder when I’m not doing anything embarrassing and illegal.

He looks up lazily, as if I’ve disturbed him. “You know, only criminals who secretly want to get caught return to the scene of the crime,” he says derisively.

“I’m not a criminal!” That came out louder than I expected. Good. Maybe it’ll intimidate him.

He lets out a guffaw. OK, maybe it won’t. I sweep the remaining scraps of my courage and dignity into a little pile and try to stand on top of it.

“Give me back my tablet.”

Aside from the evil smirk that curls his lips, he doesn’t respond.

“What’s your name?” I demand.

He snickers. “Smokey.”

“What… really?”

He rolls his eyes and snorts out a laugh. “Are you seriously that gullible? God, you’re more of a dumb bunny than I thought. No .” He shakes his head, still muttering a little. “I swear to God… dumb bunny.” He fixes a dark stare on me, eyes gleaming with malicious glee. “It’s Jack. As in. You. Don’t. Know.”

He continues, “I took the liberty of going through your reading list. You really should be using a higher security setting on this device, especially if you’re going to leave it laying around. I’m sure you don’t want anyone to stumble across it and see what kind of perverted shit you read. How does it feel knowing that I know you read goddamn werewolf porn?”

It’s not porn,“ I mumble. “It’s spicy romance. Smut, people call it.”

“Smut? Yeah, I don’t know anybody who calls it that — because I don’t know anybody who reads this fucked-up shit.” I squirm under his glare. “Is this what gets your rocks off? Thinking about getting fucked by a pack of werewolves?”

How does he know which side of the dynamic gets me off? “I don’t —”

“All of the parts you highlighted,” he says like he’s answering the question I just thought.

“But I have a password on it!”

He doesn’t hide the annoyance in his sigh. “It’s just the numbers one through four in a row. You call that a password?”

I swallow hard as he taps at the screen for a few seconds. “Here.” He walks up to me. When he gets close, he steps nearly toe-to-toe, deliberately crowding me.

I instinctively draw back, even as I reach for my tablet. “What did you do?”

He yanks it away from me, holding it out of my reach. “Ah-ah. Did I say you could have it back?”

“But it’s mine .” I hate the sullen tone that’s crept into my voice, but this whole situation is so weird, I’m not sure how I should be acting.

“I asked you a question,” he says testily. “And when I do that, I expect an answer.”

“What?” I blink at him, not sure what point he’s trying to make.

His lip curls. “God, you are dumb. Simple question. Do you want everybody knowing you read werewolf porn?”

“It’s not —” I start, but I cut myself off when he scowls. “No. I guess not.”

When he holds it back up, I can see he’s navigated to the settings. I open my mouth to ask what the fuck he thinks he’s doing, but I don’t get that far.

“Give me your hand.”

“What?”

I yelp in surprise when he seizes my hand. I try to jerk it away but he’s got a vise grip on it. My heart leaps into my throat, but before I can get words out, he brings my hand to the center of the screen, shifting his grip slightly so he can aim my index finger at the sensor.

This bossy asshole just… set up a biometric lock on my tablet for me? I’m too confused to process this, so I just let him roll my fingertip over the icon until the screen flashes with a notification that my fingerprint is saved.

He lets go of me and steps back, slipping my tablet into its case and zipping it up before setting it on the picnic table next to him.

“How did you think it was going to go this afternoon?” His voice is deep and deceptively smooth. It would be nice to listen to if I wasn’t dreading whatever he’s about to say.

“Did you think you were going to wander into this clearing and whack off in broad daylight? I don’t appreciate people who disrespect things that don’t belong to them. And this park doesn’t belong to you. But I let you off scot-free anyway.”

I’m not quite sure chasing me and pinning me against a tree counts as scot-free. Still, I keep my mouth shut, moving my weight between my feet as I try to think. But there’s nothing in my head except for my rapid heartbeat and a dangerous, inexplicable craving to be close enough to this brawny bully again to smell his woodsy sweat and feel the hair on his arms brush against my skin when he holds me down.

Shit. My cock, improbably and insanely, has picked this exact moment to come to life. I shift my hips, hoping to hide it. “Why are you being mean?” I demand.

“You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve.” The mocking tone has vanished from his voice, leaving only anger. “You came into my house, you stupid punk, and disrespected it. I decided to be the bigger person and let you just leave anyway. So now, take your deviant dog-dick stories and get the hell out of my park.”

I realize that rubbing one out on a picnic table doesn’t leave me much moral high ground, but I’m annoyed. This big jerk can’t order me around. And I don’t think he’s allowed to kick me out of the park, even if he is a ranger.

“They’re shifters!” I burst out. “It’s not like that! It’s supernatural — fantasy stuff! I’m not into any of — any of —” I can’t say it. “Any of that sick shit like you’re thinking.”

His shirt is tight over the expanse of his chest. When he crosses his arms and glares at me, his biceps strain the cuffs. “If you don’t get real smart, real quick about what comes out of your mouth, I’m not going to be responsible for what gets shoved into it when I get sick of listening to your shit,” he says in a warning tone.

Anger flares in me at his words, although part of me realizes he’s probably trying to push my buttons and provoke me into fighting him or… something.

He points at my tablet. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to take this, walk back to the parking lot and drive home. If I see so much as a footprint again, you’re going to be fucking sorry. Don’t try me, and don’t even think about running from me again,” he snarls. “Because I will chase you. I will catch you. And when I do, I’m going to teach your pathetic ass a lesson you’re going to wish you never learned.”

Sure, sure — easy enough for my dick to make the call on this one. It doesn’t have to do any of the running. Which I guess is why it hijacks my mouth. “Oh really?” It comes out in a snottier tone than I knew I even had in me.

I’m not thinking about my tablet anymore, or my laughably unsuitable canvas sneakers. All I can think about is the fact that this pissed-off Paul Bunyan might be the biggest asshole I’ve ever met in my life. And that he’s about to goad me into doing something incredibly, idiotically stupid.

“Just. Walk. Away.” He grits the words out. I feel like I’ve gotten my final warning when he mutters, “You fucking dumb bunny.”

And in that instant, I feel like both of us know it’s a warning I’m going to ignore. My pulse thrums in my ears.

“Maple,” he says abruptly, breaking the silence.

“What?”

“Your safeword, dipshit,” he snaps. “I’m not assaulting you.”

I blink in shock at him as he huffs out a sigh that turns into a guttural growl. Fuck, he sounds like a bear right now. The rational part of me thinks I’d rather be dealing with a bear than… whatever kind of bizarre game this situation is becoming. But I’m rooted to the ground by a force that seems to come from outside myself.

“You do know what a safeword is, or am I assuming too much?” he sneers.

“No, I mean, yes. I know what it is,” I mumble. I’m practically vibrating with tension. In the moonlight, the darkness of his eyes looks bottomless.

“Maple.” The word is barely a breath rolling off my lips. “Right?”

Almost imperceptibly, his chin dips into a nod. When one of his shoulders jerks forward ever so slightly, I flinch before I can stop myself. He responds with a sinister chuckle.

Just walk away , my brain pleads. He literally told you just to walk the fuck away.

My brain is right. I should get the hell out of here, just like this growling jerk is telling me to. I don’t know why I would even think of doing anything else.

The problem, I realize — too late — is that I’m not thinking about the alternative.

I’m just fucking doing it.

My foot spins on the leaves as I bolt for the tree line.