Desert Fate (The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch Book 3) by Anna Lowe Read Free Book Online

him. She stood there hopelessly, watching the gold sparks in his eyes.
    They both started an inhale at the exact same moment, and before she even got to the exhale, Kyle pulled her into a hug that fit like a second skin. She buried her face in his shoulder and let herself pretend it was he who needed the holding, not her.
    He smelled so good: of dry, open spaces with a hint of pine. No—oak, the kind you’d make a shield of, solid and stubborn and pure of heart. There was even a perfect grip where the muscles of his shoulders met the tight cords of his waist. The knots of her own body started to unwind, one after another, as if they hadn’t been tied at all, just bundled up and waiting for his magic touch.
    “Stef,” he whispered. “It’ll be all right.”
    When he said it, she could believe it.
    A hum started up in her ears, just as it had when he’d first caught her on the mesa and pinned her down. A hum that called for closer and more, so insistent that she had to obey. Kyle must have heard it, too, because his hands ran along her sides, then traced some secret message on her spine. She nestled closer, her nose followed the line of his neck.
    “Kyle…”
    When she turned her face, his was already there, as if they were playing out a scene they’d lived in a previous life. She caught a glimpse of gold flickering in his eyes before she closed her own, because the cushion of his lips against hers was already enough to push her dangerously close to the edge. Soft and dry, they set off a melting sensation deep inside. His fingers in her hair were a safety net closing softly around her, promising everything would be all right.
    A backlog of grateful words built in her throat, but all that came out was a muffled whimper as she worked her lips against his. An open O, a mumble of an M, then a long lick of an L. She leaned back until she had the wall of the barn on one side and the wall of Kyle on the other. Heaven was the slot between those walls. Heaven was the heat of his body, the twitch in his jaw that begged for more.
    Heaven was Arizona, with Kyle.
    All the times they’d never kissed—never even thought of kissing—ran through her mind, starting with the shed in the back of the school grounds when she was twelve, all the way up to the drive to the ranch in his truck. How could she have missed those chances? Everything she’d been searching for in her life was in that kiss. Her heart was pounding half out of her chest, her hands tight on his shirt. That kiss was the only good thing that had happened to her in the past week. The best thing that had happened to her in a long, long time.
    If her lips hadn’t been busy with his, she’d have cooed in delight.
    Her hands were just sliding toward the curve of his ass, his fingers just finding the swell of her breasts, when the hum crackled. Kyle broke away with a faint gasp half a second before a shadow stepped around the corner.
    “Lunchtime!”
    It was Cody, cheery as a schoolboy on a Friday afternoon.
    She whirled, letting go of Kyle’s hand in a motion akin to ripping a bandage from a raw wound. A wail went through her body even as her hands hurried to straighten her shirt.
    Stef blinked. Where did the hum go?
    “Cody…” Kyle growled.
    Where was the certainty she’d felt only seconds before? Jesus, what had she done?
    “Hungry?” Cody beckoned with a hand.
    She ran a hand over her cheek, already feeling it flush, and wished she could melt right into the wall. Maybe if she became another shadow in that weathered surface, everyone would leave her alone. Everyone but Kyle.
    “Everything all right?”
    That was Tina, pushing past Cody. Her earth-black eyes tracked over Stefanie’s face, then over to Kyle, and finally narrowed on Cody.
    “Men can be such idiots,” she sniffed, addressing no one in particular before pointing an accusing finger at Cody and Kyle in turn. “The last thing she needs is a dining room full of shifters.”
    Stef’s mouth moved,