Awareness returned, and she stirred, the sheets she laid upon rustling. Bailey froze. Where am I? Please don't tell me I'm back in that house. A callused finger stroked down her cheek, and she fought back a whimper. Fear made her keep her eyes clamped shut as she thought furiously. The last thing she recalled, she ran through the woods, pursuit at her heels, and . . . wolves. She remembered the wolf that pounced on her, only to find itself jumped on in return. Then, she recalled running again until she hit a wall. It wasn't a wall, though, but a chest, a naked chest belonging to- Wrenching open her eyelids, she came face-to-face with Gavin's clear blue gaze. She couldn't help it. A piercing shriek escaped her. Rolling sideways, she scrambled off the bed, her feet hitting a carpeted floor. Peering about wildly, she searched for escape or, even better, a weapon. Nothing came immediately to view. "Calm down." His deep voice washed over her. Bailey

The next time she woke, Bailey feigned sleep and listened to . . . nothing. She let out her pent-up breath. It embarrassed her to know she'd fainted, but the shock over discovering she'd gone missing for five days still made her tremble. What happened to me? That question kept repeating itself over and over in her mind. A blank slate met her mental queries. Could Gavin and his friend have lied? Possibly, after all, what did she know of her blond cowboy and his friends? Up to this point, she'd assumed he told her the truth, but what if he deceived her? Perhaps he belonged to the plot to kidnap her and had simply lulled her into thinking he was her savior. If that were the case, then she was in big freaking trouble. Yet, her inner radar for danger remained silent. Should she trust her gut or her mental musings? Frustration made her grunt and roll over, forgetting for a moment her situation. Eyes still clamped tight, she froze, feigning sleep just in case she wasn'

Jaxon couldn't help stroking the smooth cheek of the female nestled on his lap. Sure, he could have dumped her onto the seat and joined Parker up front to ride shotgun, but he worried she'd roll onto the floor. Okay, he lied. He could have buckled her in to keep her safe. The truth was, he just didn't want to let her go. From the moment he'd first inhaled her scent in the motel room, he'd found himself intrigued-and harder than a teenage boy with his first issue of Playboy. She wasn't bimbo beautiful, like his usual conquests, but Jaxon couldn't say he'd ever seen a more appealing woman. She possessed lush curves covered in creamy skin that begged stroking. Her wild, curly hair tumbled about her face and shoulders, giving her the look of a woman just roused-or loved. Her bowed mouth, so full and tempting, was made to suck cock, and he could only imagine what a striking contrast she'd make, naked, against his own dark skin. Shifting her on his lap, and away from his wa

"We should stop in town and buy her some things, seeing as how everything else of hers was destroyed." Gavin's voice, after such a long period of introspective silence, jolted Wyatt. Especially since they'd spent the last few hours coasting along at a moderate speed, keeping an eye open for any vehicles that might be trailing after them. "You can emasculate yourself all you want browsing through the underwear section at the local Walmart, but count me out." "There's nothing wrong with buying a woman some underwear, especially when she's your mate," Gavin replied indignantly. "Yeah, but she's not mine. So no way am I prancing around holding up tops and pants, going, ÔDo you think she'd like this?'" Wyatt adopted a high-pitched tone that caused Gavin to let go of the steering wheel so he could launch a fist his way. Taking the blow with a grunt, Wyatt laughed. "You haven't even touched her pussy yet, and you're already whipped." "Look who's talking," snorted

When Wyatt left the tent, he didn't initially go far because, for some reason, he just couldn't tear his eyes from the gyrating couple. He wanted to join in so badly-wanted to touch Bailey's silky skin, taste her sweet lips again, and sink his teeth into her flesh and irrevocably mark her. With a grunt that sounded more animal than man, he ran from the campground, shifting into his wolf even before he hit the tree line. Run away. Run from the temptation. Run from the future I did not choose. He howled as he bolted through the trees on four feet, his inner turmoil of earlier nothing compared to his current state. Now, he'd gotten a glimpse of her responsive nature, heard her mewling cries of pleasure, tasted her, and seen the ecstasy on his pack brother's face, a pleasure he could have if he weren't so scared to take it. But was he ready for that kind of commitment? Ready to give himself over to a virtual stranger? To someone who knew nothing about his kind, his world?