Page 16

16

WES

My blood ran cold.

Joy reached for me. I’d had my hands on her hips before she told me about Soraya, and now she mimicked the gesture, touching my waist, looking up at me with a worried gaze.

She was the only reason I didn’t pick up a piece of furniture and hurl it at the wall.

“Fuck,” I repeated. My wolf was pacing and snarling, really unhappy that she-wolf came around.

“Her mom? Remy didn’t even know her.” Shock laced Joy’s tone.

I stared into her big blue eyes, one part of me wanting to rampage, the other part soothed by the presence of this female.

Which made sense.

She was my mate.

Unlike Soraya, who’d been nothing more than a quick screw on a full moon run–the shifter equivalent of a drunken one-night stand.

I brought the backs of my fingers to brush across her cheek, wanting to soak in the well-being that emanated from her. Or that she produced in me.

It was as if being near her was somehow healing.

The simmering rage I’d had in me ever since the day Soraya abandoned her pup at only a few weeks old was calmed by this gentle female’s touch. By her compassion.

I wasn’t the type to talk about myself. I kept things bottled up. Didn’t share much with anyone, but Joy was my mate. She deserved the truth about my past. “She walked out just weeks after Remy was born. She couldn’t hack being a mom.”

“Oh, shit.” Joy stared up at me. “Poor Remy. Poor you. That’s awful.”

“It was the worst. Not because she broke my heart, hell no, but because she gave up.” I ran a hand down my face, knowing I was sweaty and grimy from moving a shit ton of cattle. My rough time at work was nothing compared to those early months with Remy. “I didn’t know a goddamn thing about tending a newborn. I was a rodeo rider. I’d stupidly thought my job would be to provide for Soraya and the pup.”

“The pup?” Joy’s lips quirked up as she gave me a quizzical look.

Shit. Shit. “I mean baby. Did I say pup?” I shook my head. “Fuck, it’s been a long day.”

“It has.” She took my hand and led me to the couch. She threw me for another full loop when she tugged my cowboy boots off.

It was somehow more intimate than the sex we’d had. More intimate than the hot spanking I gave her this afternoon. More intimate than anything we’d already done. It was simple. Quiet. I liked the idea of coming home to her. To her taking care of me. It was sexy and kind at the same time.

It was something a real partner might do. Someone you’d been with for years and had a level of comfort and mutual care with.

I blinked hard at the sudden rush of emotion that hit me–a mixture of longing and gratitude.

All I could do was stare at her with hunger and admiration. Desire and the need for deep connection. I took a deep breath, reveled in her familiar scent. I’d know it–and her–anywhere now.

I reached for her waist and tugged her onto my lap. “That was so fucking sweet,” I growled into her neck, so she wouldn’t see how much it had meant to me.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and ran her fingers through my hair, fluffing it where my hat had flattened it.

“Careful, honey, I’m pretty rank,” I warned.

She laughed. “The way Soraya sniffed me, I smell pretty bad, too.”

I stilled. Fuck. She knew Joy was human. Did that matter? I had no idea why she’d dropped by, but I had a feeling I’d find out. Her visit wasn’t a one time thing. She was coming back, I was sure of it.

“So she hasn’t been a part of Remy’s life?” Joy asked. “You have full custody?”

“Custody…shit. I don’t have any paperwork. I mean, she left, and I did my best.”

“And she never came back?”

Here was the dark truth. One Joy might judge me for. Humans believed in things like shared custody and shit like that.

“I, uh, I quit the circuit, but I’d heard she’d moved back to our hometown, so I took the job here at Wolf Ranch instead.”

“I don’t blame you for setting boundaries like that,” Joy said immediately. “I mean, the last thing you’d want is Remy getting attached to her and having her ghost Remy again. A newborn’s one thing; they don’t remember. But a four-year-old won’t forget.”

Relief swept through me. “Exactly. I’m so glad you understand.”

“So she hadn’t seen Remy since she left?”

I shook my head. “No. Like I said, we traveled from one rodeo event to the next. We came through Montana and Boyd Wolf–an old buddy from the circuit–came to see us. When he saw I was raising a kid on the road like that, he offered me a job on Wolf Ranch. At that time, I was grateful for the opportunity to steer clear of our hometown and her. Also, I’d hoped being here meant she couldn’t easily find me. Us. She walked away. She made her choice.”

“What does she want, do you think?” Joy asked.

My jaw clenched, and I tightened my hold on her. I wanted to rip off my clothes, shift, and run–track down Soraya and get her to talk. But I wasn’t leaving my girls alone. Not now. No fucking way. “Remy, of course. She’s here for Remy. The question is why?”

“Could she be back for you?” From the way Joy tensed as she asked the question, I realized I should have made that part clear from the start.

“We were never together. There was no love involved. We weren’t a couple.” I tried to say it as many ways as I could so she would understand there was no competition. “It was a one-night thing before I went back to the rodeo circuit. I didn’t even know she was pregnant until I came back to town six months later. She never told me. Hell, we didn’t exchange numbers. When I found out, I tried to do the right thing by renting a decent house and moving her in with me. I bought all the baby supplies, childproofed and everything. Then she bailed as soon as she could.” I cupped the side of Joy’s face. “We weren’t a couple. Never, honey. I’ve only known you for two days, and I feel more for you than I ever felt for that she–” I stopped myself from saying she-wolf .

“–devil.”

Joy raised her brows in laughter. “She-devil?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t want to call her a bitch in front of you.”

She laughed and some more of the rage Soraya’s unexpected visit brought on left me.

“I like your laugh.”

She quieted, but her wide smile lingered as she touched my lips. “I want to hear yours.”

The corners of my lips quirked. “It might break my face,” I said, repeating the taunts the guys at the ranch always threw my way. They repeatedly said I had “resting bitch face.”

She laughed again. “I’m willing to risk that.”

Damn. She pulled an actual smile from me. And it didn’t even hurt.

No, it felt good. Weird, but good.

She lowered her face and kissed my lips. I lifted her waist to adjust her legs to straddle my lap, facing me, and kissed her back.

“Joy, I do want to get to know you. I want to date you. Meet your family. And fuck you six ways until Sunday.”

She grinned and untied her halter top at the neck, so it fell down.

My wolf roared to life so fast at the sight of her perfect tits, I was afraid my eyes were glowing.

“How about we get started on that part tonight?” she asked in a husky voice.

I yanked her hips over mine, my dick already thick. “I’m your man.”