Primal Calling by Jillian Burns Read Free Book Online Page A

“Are you this desperate for a story?”
    Her hungry mouth dropped open. “I…this isn’t for a story.”
    His expression hardened. “Right.” He rose off of her and jumped out of the plane into the dark.
    Heart hammering, Serena stared after him. He didn’t believe her. Ironically, she’d been telling the truth. She hadn’t thought about the story at all. How could she have let herself get so carried away? How could she investigate him if she slept with him? Very professional, there, Sandstone. Her first real chance to make the grade as an investigative reporter and she’d almost blown it for a quick romp in the back of a plane with a coarse mountain man.
    So why did she wish he hadn’t stopped?

4
    M AX STALKED away from the plane, slipping on the ice, and then trudged through the knee-deep snow into the blackness. Mickey barked and he yelled at the dog to stay. He had to get away from that woman before he lost whatever shred of pride he had left.
    If he didn’t know how dangerous it was, he’d yank off his sweatshirt and let the frigid air cool his heated body. He wanted to accuse her of being a tease, but she was doing them both a favor. Now that he could think straight again, he could admit what a mistake he’d almost made. To make it with someone like her in the fuselage of his plane? He didn’t even carry a condom in his wallet.
    But he still wanted her.
    How the hell was he going to spend the whole night with her in that plane? Alone. With Ms. Long-silky-legs.
    Long silky legs wrapped around his waist, her ankles locked at his back. He groaned. Stop it, Taggert.
    If only she weren’t so damn sexy, or if it hadn’t been longer than he could remember since he’d felt a woman’s body beneath him, he could ignore the hunger.
    The farther he clomped through the snow, the cooler his lust got and the saner his thoughts became. What he should be worried about was the curse. He still had to get her safely to Nome. He avoided being responsible for anyone but himself nowadays. And that meant no passengers on his plane whenever possible.
    But tomorrow he’d have no choice.
    He came up on the edge of the tree line. Without a moon, he could barely see a few feet in front of him. He should go back. A low growl and a bark came from the forest. Snapping on his flashlight, he scanned the brush and then went completely still as his gaze landed on two round eyes glowing intently at him.
    He’d been half kidding about wolves being in the area, mostly trying to scare his annoying stowaway. But he’d heard the howl and, sure enough, those were a wolf’s eyes getting closer. The big animal moved toward him, silently padding his way out of the dense thicket of trees.
    Max remained still, the weight of the knife in his boot a reassurance. The wolf was huge, bigger than Mickey. And completely white.
    An owl hooted in the darkness. Max jumped and looked up at the sound of flapping wings as a large white bird flew out of the woods. The hairs on his neck stood up. It was a snowy owl.
    As a boy, his grandmother had told him stories of awhite wolf lost in the wilderness and the snowy owl that would someday come to lead it home. She’d called the white owl his spirit guide. As Max stared at the gleaming eyes, now only a yard away, the wolf suddenly sat. His tongue lolled out in a shallow pant.
    Frowning, Max dropped to his haunches, his forearms balanced on his knees. Where was this wolf’s pack? Were they waiting for him in the forest just beyond Max’s sight? Or was this guy a loner, like him? Separated from his pack for some reason. As he stared at the animal, all sense of time faded and something washed over him, filling him with unease. Change was coming. He didn’t like change.
    The wolf stood, turned and trotted off, back into the woods.
    Max realized he was shivering violently and would have to return to the plane before he became