Page 9 of Ranger’s Justice (Lone Star Wolf Rangers #1)

CHAPTER 8

RUSH

S he gasps as I trail open-mouthed kisses down her throat, my stubble scraping against her soft skin. Her pulse flutters against my lips, fast and unsteady.

I need more.

Her shirt is gone in seconds, her bra hitting the floor before she can protest. My mouth finds her breast, tongue flicking over her nipple before I suck hard enough to pull a sharp moan from her lips. The edge of my teeth elicits a gasp.

Her fingers fumble with the buttons of my shirt, yanking them open with pure desperation. She drags her hands down my chest, over the ridges of muscle, following the line of hair that disappears into my jeans.

I groan as she palms me through the denim, her touch sending a pulse of heat straight to my cock. She unbuttons my jeans and reaches for me. I grab her wrist, stopping her, my control barely hanging by a thread.

“This is what you want?” My voice is rough, almost a growl.

Cassidy’s eyes meet mine, dark with need, lips parted as she gasps for breath. “Yes,” she whispers. “God, yes.”

I don’t waste another second. Her jeans hit the floor, her panties torn away in a heartbeat. I shove my own jeans down, not bothering with finesse, because I need to be inside her, need to possess every inch of her.

I drag her to the bed, spinning her around, bending her over the brass footboard.

She gasps as I slap her ass, watching the way her skin blooms a vivid pink under my palm. She pushes back against me, her breath coming in short, uneven bursts. I do it again, harder this time, dragging a desperate moan from her throat.

My grip tightens on her hips, positioning her just right. My cock presses against her entrance, teasing her, making her squirm. “Tell me, Cassidy,” I demand, my voice barely human. “Tell me what you need.”

She arches her back, pressing into me. “You,” she gasps. “Now.”

I thrust into her, hard and deep. Cassidy cries out, her body stretching to take me. I give her a second to adjust before I start to move, each thrust driving me deeper, pulling her closer to the edge.

Her fingers grip the antique quilt, her body rocking back to meet me. The room fills with the sound of our bodies colliding, with her moans, with the guttural sounds I can’t hold back.

I reach around, my fingers finding her clit, rubbing in tight, firm circles. She shudders, her body clenching around me, pulling me deeper.

“Rush,” she whimpers, her voice breaking as she climbs higher, closer to the edge.

“Not yet,” I growl. “This time you come with me. When we have more time I’ll fuck you so that you keep coming until you’re begging me to fill you with my cum.”

I thrust her harder, pounding into her and driving her right to the brink.

She shatters.

Her body locks up, a scream tearing from her lips as her orgasm rips through her. I follow, slamming into her one last time as I spill inside her, my entire body locking down, possessing her in every way possible.

For a long moment, neither of us moves. Our ragged breathing fills the air between us, heavy with the heat of what just happened. I pull her against me, holding her there, my fingers threading through her hair as I press my lips to her shoulder. She trembles, her body still coming down from the high, but I feel it—the subtle change in the air.

This wasn’t just sex. This was something deeper. A beginning I can’t take back.

Cassidy turns her head, her lips brushing against my jaw. “What now?” she murmurs.

I drag a hand down my face, trying to rein myself in, trying to ignore the way my wolf is howling inside me. I scoop her up in my arms and lay her down in the bed. The team is just going to have to wait.

Cassidy lies beneath me, her chest rising and falling with uneven breaths, her skin flushed from what we just did. I should move, should put distance between us, should get my head on straight before I forget myself completely, but I know I won’t.

I prop myself up on my forearm, brushing damp strands of hair away from her face, and my gut clenches at the way she looks at me—eyes wide, pupils blown, lips still parted like she’s trying to catch up to what just happened between us. It wasn’t just sex, and we both know it.

Her body is still trembling slightly, her fingers curled against my bicep as if she’s holding on for dear life. That should be my warning to back off, to let her put the pieces together before she realizes what this means. But I don’t move, because something about seeing her like this—open, unguarded, vulnerable in a way she doesn’t even realize—hits me somewhere I have no business feeling.

She swallows hard. “I can’t believe we just did that. I always know more about…”

I lean over and take her lips with mine. “My unique DNA means that there’s nothing I have that you can catch, and unless I claim you…”

“Like in the novels?”

I chuckle. “Yeah, at least they got that part right. But you can only get pregnant if I’ve claimed you completely.”

She is quiet and then nods. “That was…”

I wait. I shouldn’t care what she says next, but I do.

She shakes her head slightly, lips pressing together. I can see the battle raging inside her. She wants to brush this off, play it cool like she always does, pretend that what just happened between us was just another bad decision in a string of reckless choices.

But this wasn’t just sex. And we both damn well know it.

I run my fingers down her arm, watching the way her breath hitches. “Say it,” I murmur, voice rougher than I intend.

Cassidy exhales sharply, turning her head toward the ceiling. “That was a mistake.”

Something dark rolls through me. Not anger, not frustration—something deeper. Something territorial. My wolf doesn’t like that answer. Hell, neither do I.

I grip her chin, forcing her to look at me. “Try again.”

She stiffens, but she doesn’t pull away. That’s the thing about Cassidy—it seems like she never backs down. Even when she’s standing at the edge of something she doesn’t understand.

“I don’t do this,” she mutters, more to herself than to me. “I don’t… connect.”

That word makes my gut tighten.

Neither do I.

I should tell her that, should lay it out clear and simple. This was nothing. Just bodies colliding, instincts taking over. But that would be a lie, and Cassidy seems to be a human lie detector.

Instead, I let my fingers slide down her throat, over her pulse point, lingering there just long enough for her to know that I feel it. That I know what this is, even if she doesn’t want to admit it.

“You’re not running from this,” I say, my voice quiet but firm.

Her eyes snap to mine, sharp and dangerous. “I’m not running from anything.”

I let out a low, humorless chuckle. “Then why do you look like you just saw a ghost?”

Cassidy’s jaw tightens, but she doesn’t answer. She doesn’t have to. I know what she’s thinking, what she’s feeling, because it’s the same thing clawing at me.

This shouldn’t feel like more. But it does.

I roll onto my back, dragging a hand over my face, trying to keep a leash on the wolf that’s still pacing inside me. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not like this. Not with her.

“You’re overthinking,” I say, my voice gruff.

Cassidy lets out a laugh, short and sharp. “Overthinking? I just had sex with a man who turns into a goddamn wolf. I think I’m allowed to overthink a little.”

I glance at her, taking in the way she’s staring at the ceiling like she’s waiting for it to cave in. “You’re handling that part better than I expected.”

Her fingers tighten around the sheet. “Am I?”

I watch her for a long moment, letting the silence stretch between us. There’s something about her in this moment, something fragile beneath all that fire. I shouldn’t want to protect her. Shouldn’t want to claim her the way every instinct inside me is demanding.

But I do, and that’s a problem.

I push up onto my elbow, brushing my fingers along her jaw. She turns to look at me, and for a second, I see it—something softer, something unguarded.

“You don’t get to play this off,” I tell her. “Not with me.”

She swallows. “I don’t play games.”

I drag my thumb over her bottom lip. “Good. Because this isn’t one.”

Cassidy’s breath catches, her pulse kicking up beneath my fingertips. She’s fighting this, fighting what’s between us, but I can see the cracks forming.

Her voice is softer when she speaks. “This is… too much.”

I nod, because she’s right.

“This is dangerous.”

Another nod.

She licks her lips, her eyes searching mine. “Then why does it feel like I already lost?”

My gut twists. Because she has. Because I’ve won—she just doesn’t know it yet.

I press a kiss to her forehead, lingering there, inhaling her scent, letting it brand itself into my bones.

“You should sleep,” I murmur.

She lets out a shaky breath, but for once, she doesn’t argue. I lie back down, pulling her against me. She stiffens for a second, then relaxes, tucking herself into my side like she belongs there. And that’s when I know—she does.

I stroke my hand down her back, feeling the soft, steady rhythm of her breathing. She thinks this is temporary. She thinks this was just a mistake, a moment of weakness, something we can walk away from.

She’s wrong. She doesn’t know it yet, but I’ve already decided to make her mine—utterly and completely.

A while later, there’s a gentle knock on the door. I call for whoever it is to come in. The door swings open behind us, and I cover up what’s mine. The team may share a lot of things, but she isn’t one of them.

Gideon strides in, his gaze flicking between us before settling on me. “Truck’s ready. If we’re doing this, we need to move now.”

Cassidy glances at me, something unreadable in her expression, before nodding at Gideon. “Then let’s go.”

I nod.

“I’ll tell the others,” says Gideon.

As soon as the door is closed, Cassidy tries to get out of bed. I reach out, grabbing her arm before she can take another step. She looks at me, defiant as ever, and I keep my voice even, controlled. “Stay close. No heroic shit.”

Her lips quirk. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Liar.

I release her, watching as she dresses and then joins the others. I drag a hand down my face, willing my damn body to cool down as I get dressed and head into the other room.

Dalton claps a hand on my shoulder, grinning like the asshole he is. “You gonna survive this, boss?”

I glare at him. “Shut up.”

He just chuckles, shaking his head as he follows the others outside. I take a breath, steadying myself before stepping out after them.