Wild Wolf: Black Mesa Wolves #4 by J.K. Harper Read Free Book Online

was a much more primal response. One of a physical longing so sharp it almost hurt.
    She is here, his wolf said again. Mate. The words sounded so softly in Tate's mind, so carefully. Afraid of frightening her away. Of spooking her like a skittish horse. Right. Slow approach. Don't frighten her again.
    The voice, female, got slightly louder as he neared the back of the store. A small crowd of people filled chairs facing a small podium. The woman at the podium was reading into a microphone from a book. Her rich voice carried through the listeners, reaching Tate and doing something very strange to his whole system. He felt hot, then shaky, then electrified. His wolf danced in his head.
    Heart suddenly thudding out of whack, he pinpointed on the female wolf. Thick, long blonde hair so light it almost seemed silvery white, an instantly captivating face filled with deliberation, one graceful yet determined hand that gestured every now and then to punctuate her words. She commanded the area with a presence both assured and wary at the same time.
    Alert, his wolf softly rumbled. She watches all.
    In other words, she was a predator acutely aware of her surroundings, somewhat uncomfortable in large groups, and probably not really in favor of feeling trapped at the back of this store.
    Here. Finally, his wolf said. Satisfaction, awe, and deep knowing filled his tone.
    At that moment, she looked up at her audience, surveying everyone in a sweeping glance as she finished her sentence. Then her eyes snagged on Tate's. Mid-speech, she paused and stared back at him. As he kept looking at her, the world constricted. Nothing else existed except him, the unknown female wolf who smelled like the deep canyons and sage-tumbled deserts near his home, and his own breath sounding loud in his ears as his head filled with a distant roaring noise.
     

Chapter Three
     
    Claire felt jarred so sharply she thought she might fall onto the floor. He was here. The sexy, strange male wolf from the other day was right here, in this Denver bookstore. Listening to her. Looking at her with such intensity from beneath his cowboy hat brim she thought he might laser holes through her. And this time, she couldn't run away.
    Dark haired, compact yet easy in his skin, he stood staring with the same element of shock she felt whipping through her, although something else framed his countenance as well. Pure cowboy through and through, he looked completely at home in the jeans that hugged his legs and skimmed his thighs and waist, in the rich mahogany boots encasing his feet, in the dark brown cowboy hat that shadowed his face just enough to leave his wolf-enhanced eyes nearly glowing. Starting, she felt her own wolf staring back out her eyes, eager with the crazed desire to leap across the room to him.
    Here, here, he is here, her wolf chanted in her head. She twirled in ecstatic little whirls, almost panting with the desire to be loosed. It sent warmth straight to the suddenly heavy, full-feeling spot between Claire's legs that hadn't seen any action in months. She clenched there, just a little, and felt her breath hitch.
    But who is he? Claire wondered for the thousandth time since she'd first encountered him. And simmer down, she ordered her wolf. Can't be like the other day. Not with all these people staring at me. Burningly aware of the rows of people before her, sitting in polite silence while she had some sort of mini nervous breakdown right before their eyes, she forced her usual wary caution to drive her motions. Keep reading, she thought hard at herself.
    She forced her eyes back down to the page. With a quick, “Sorry,” she cleared her throat, took a sip of water from the full glass provided by the bookstore, and began the sentence again.
    Somehow, she made it through the next five minutes of reading her work without losing her composure despite the sweetly alluring scent of the male wolf who stood at the back of the space, watching her. Somehow, she