Rachel's Totem

Chapter One

Cougar Falls, Montana

C-o-n-d-o-m. Worn in conjunction with sex. Take it into town, find a woman and use it, for God’s sake, or we’re not coming home.

Sincerely, Dean and Grady.

“Assholes.” Burke Chastell discreetly pocketed the small foil package in his pants and crumpled the note in his fist, dropping it on the table in front of him. Idiot brothers.

Grady must have written the note Burke had found folded and tucked into his shirt pocket. Dean could barely spell his own name, and “conjunction” was a three-syllable word.

So what if Burke had been a little testy lately? Since Charlotte Penny’s death, the entire town had been waiting on pins and needles for a reading of her will. But damned if her attorney would tell them anything. Gerald insisted they wait for Rachel Penny, Charlotte’s niece. A woman they’d never met, and who very likely wouldn’t be able to find Cougar Falls, in any case.

Glancing around at the small semi-crowded diner, Burke nodded at several of his neighbors, hoping Mac might choose today to leave the kitchen and wait on some tables.

Trying to focus on the menu he didn’t need, Burke groaned inwardly when he scented the cloyingly sweet smell of the woman who’d been harassing him for years.

“Burke, how nice to see you this morning.” Sarah Duncan interrupted his thoughts, and he quickly covered the ball of paper he’d crumpled on the table with a large hand.

God forbid Sarah get her hands on that nugget of gold. The woman was constantly in heat, and he had no urge to dip his wick where half the men in the county already had.

Sarah filled his cup with steaming coffee and waited for an acknowledgement, one hand resting on a curvy hip.

He grunted, and she shook her head. “Cat got your tongue?” She smirked, batting her eyes as if the cleverest girl in the world.

Why had he chosen the Fox’s Henhouse for breakfast today? He should have followed his instincts and driven the twenty miles into Whitefish instead of lingering in town.

“Funny, Sarah.” He sounded as if he’d just swallowed a bucket of gravel, but he had no inclination to play this morning. He needed to get a handle on Charlotte’s absent niece, on the Gray Wolves running amuck in Glacier, and to find that damned totem again before all hell broke loose.

Burke could feel the mystical totem’s loss as keenly as the others. In the air was a void where the totem’s strong spirit should have been protecting Cougar Falls. It was only a matter of time before the human populace took notice of the small town that

“didn’t exist”. Fuck. He had to find that totem.

“Come on, puma man. When you gonna give me a little lovin’?” Sarah did her best to engage him, bending down to show a generous cleavage as she stroked his forearm… without asking.

His hackles rose at the clear breach of etiquette. He might be a man, but he was a catamount as well, a feline Shifter protective of his space. Burke heard the chime of the door opening, but had his attention fixed on Sarah, in no mood for her games. “You couldn’t handle me even if you wanted to. Back off, and get me the damned special.

Now.” His growl alarmed the rest of the patrons in the diner, and he felt their stillness even as the rich aroma of fear wafted under his nose.

“Oh please. I guess even this far north the he-men are out in force.”

The belligerent voice had everyone in the room turning to stare at the newcomer in shock. A stranger. In the Fox’s Henhouse. In Cougar Falls.

“What? Is this a private restaurant, or can anyone order the ‘damned special’?” The stranger, a woman, glared down her nose at Burke, then turned a warm smile on Sarah.

“Is it okay if I sit anywhere?”

Sarah gaped dumbly until Burke nudged her. “Oh, um, yeah, sure. Have a seat wherever.” She beamed and fled behind the counter, her whispered exclamations audible to everyone but the stranger who sat as far away from Burke as possible, in a booth with a view of the mountains as well as the rest of the diner. He sniffed the air, trying to catch her scent, and found to his surprise…nothing.

Just like Charlotte Penny.

His blood heated at the thought that he might finally have found a lead on the missing totem, and he studied the woman, absorbing what he could. She looked nothing like Charlotte, but that didn’t rule her out as a relation. Charlotte had been a petite blonde, pretty in a soft, gentle way, and as wily as his grandfather.

This woman looked like an Amazon in comparison. Tall, stacked and ferocious as she glared his way before studying the menu. Her hair was a long blue-black, shiny and straight but curled at the ends over her shoulders. Thick black lashes framed light green eyes looking out from creamy, golden skin. Her nose was thin and turned up at the end, saved from being just short of cute by the sexy-as-hell mouth curled in contempt at the moment.

He couldn’t help lingering on her full breasts, their shape visible beneath the thin red T-shirt she wore. She obviously wasn’t from the area, judging by her clothing, inappropriate for Montana’s summer months. Even in July the sun refused to warm up beyond seventy degrees. Today’s sixty-five was no exception.

Burke glanced around him to note everyone giving him the look that said, Take care of her. And once again he questioned the notion of having a catamount in charge of the totem’s protection. The silver foxes were much better equipped to handle civilian authority and change. Both charming and sly, they’d been known to speak out of both sides of their mouths. Too bad his buddy Sheriff Ty Roderick presently had his hands full of the snotty wolf clan. Now if Burke could just keep Dean and Grady out of that mess waiting to blow up in their faces…

Sarah reappeared, breaking his concentration, and slammed a plate filled with food in front of him. She quickened her step to the stranger and began chit-chatting, fishing for information.

“Sorry it took me so long. That one there…” Sarah paused, nodding toward Burke,

“…can be a bear before his eggs.”

In the table next to him, Joel Buchanan snorted under his breath. “Bear, my ass. Cat has no sense of decorum.”

Burke shot him a dark look that Joel ignored before turning back to his wife.

“I know all about his type,” the stranger said, her lips fixing his attention.

Damn, but her annoyance was starting to turn him on. Granted, she was hot. But normally, animosity didn’t have him half-hard. The woman didn’t seem as affected. He could sense she felt anything but arousal. Anger burned through her pores.

“Ah, sure. He’s okay, really.” Sarah glanced back at him anxiously and he rolled his eyes. She turned back to the woman. “How about I bring you the special, and you can see why our customers are just so irritated to have it?”

The woman grinned and handed Sarah her menu. “Sure thing.”

“So what brings you to our little town? Cougar Falls is kind of off the map.”

An understatement. Cougar Falls was not only not on the map, but thanks to the totem on Charlotte’s—what used to be Chastell—property, only Shifters and humans with the ability to turn could find the place unless brought along by one of the townsfolk.

“My aunt used to live here.” A collective sigh whispered throughout the room.

“Charlotte Penny? Maybe you knew her.”

Sarah clucked and patted the woman on the hand. To Burke’s perverse satisfaction, the woman tensed and slid her hand under the table once Sarah let her go, as averse to pawing as he’d been. He grinned and tucked into his food, his ears perked.

“Sure. Everyone knows—I mean, knew Charlotte. In a town this small, no one’s a stranger.” Sarah wiped her hands on her apron. “I’m Sarah Duncan.”

“Rachel Penny.” They shook hands.

Rachel. Burke stared at her. It fit. A strong name for a strong woman. Now how to change the bad impression he’d unintentionally given and get the woman to sell him Charlotte’s property?

Rachel did her best to ignore the hot stare running over her from head to mid-belly—

what was visible before the table cut her off. Why hadn’t she ignored the mountain view and sat with her back to the jerk? She couldn’t help glancing up, only to see his eyes locked on her with an intensity that had her fuming…and glaring back out at the mountains as she tried to ignore the answering race of her pulse.

Why did every good-looking son of a bitch have to be such a creep? Her ex-husband had been an Adonis, and he’d not only cheated on her, but systematically wiped through their savings with his legal bullshit and games. Thanks to him, she’d finally settled her divorce with a whopping one thousand dollars to her name—and three months later less five hundred more—no house, no car, and what clients she’d managed to tear from their previous joint Internet business.

Sitting several booths down from her, the guy oozing sex appeal and a bad temper seemed worse than Jesse. For one thing, he was better looking with a better body. And that voice… Much as she felt annoyed, that irritation struggled against desire rising sharply out of nowhere. Tamping it down was harder than it should have been, but Rachel managed.

Mr. Bad Ass had sandy blond hair long enough to need a cut, giving him a bad-boy appeal. His eyes were a bright, whiskey brown, and his chiseled jaw and firm chin hinted at more than stubbornness—an attribute that never failed to attract Rachel. I’m such an idiot. I shouldn’t look at this guy. He’s not what I need right now. I mean, come on. His attitude needs an overhaul…as does his seeming inability to look anywhere but at my breasts.

“Anytime you’re through undressing me with your eyes,” she snapped.

Several grumbles sounded around her, one louder than the others, and she glanced around the diner to see a bear of a man choking on his laughter sitting with a pretty blonde.

Bad Ass simply grinned, and her hormones shot into overdrive, making her warring lust and rage into a tangible thing.

His grin faded and he cocked his head, studying her with a deep scrutiny that had her feeling like prey. Muttering a curse under his breath, he pushed away his half-eaten plate, threw a few bills on the table and stormed out of the diner.

The minute he left, her libido subsided, and Rachel waited for her breakfast in relative peace. The rest of the locals left her alone, though she could feel the weight of their curiosity in the stares that refused to leave her. Natural enough in a small town, she supposed.

Sarah brought her the special, a cup of coffee and her ticket, and apologized profusely for taking so long. Thankfully, the touchy woman left without another word, allowing Rachel to finally satisfy her hunger…and dwell on the circumstances surrounding her newfound fate.

A year ago she’d thought she’d finalized the divorce with Jesse, only to have him drag her through court as he tried to swindle what he could out of their holdings. They’d never been rich, but they’d been comfortable, and happy, or at least, she’d thought so.

Finding him screwing their accountant had proven her seriously wrong. And Linda wasn’t younger or prettier than Rachel, which made it worse. Apparently, the backstabber was better in bed, because her breathy cries had alerted Rachel that something was definitely “wrong” with their accounts.

The quickie divorce she’d expected turned brutal as Jesse became the ex from hell.

As if cheating on her weren’t bad enough, he tried stealing from her as well. Six months of negotiating and he’d still managed to rip the company name away and nearly ruin her in the process. For God’s sake, she’d brought him into their Internet web design company. Her baby from the get-go. Yet his fancy lawyer handed him the company’s name, more than half their assets he hadn’t already buried under false accounts, and her hard-earned reputation.

Rachel fervently hoped Linda gave him a disease, or better yet, an audit from the IRS.

Smiling into her eggs, which really were delicious, Rachel couldn’t help remembering her Aunt Charlotte’s raves over the diner’s full, sit-down breakfasts, which brought back the sad predicament landing Rachel in Cougar Falls again. The last time she’d visited she’d been all of six years old, and she could still remember crazy old Aunt Charlotte whispering of the magic underlying the town.

As Rachel looked around her, she saw nothing supernatural or mystical. Only a small town with a surprisingly handsome populace, but nothing more out of place than a packet of sugar mixed in with the Sweet’N Low.

Aunt Charlotte had been a hoot, in all of the dozen times Rachel had seen her throughout the years. Charlotte loved her life and had never seemed to care what others thought of her odd notions of what might exist beyond that which people might see. The only times her aunt had left Cougar Falls were to visit Rachel, her favorite and only niece.

First college, then her business had kept Rachel away. But despite their distance, the two managed to keep in touch via emails and phone calls, and Rachel had always felt a special affinity for the warm-hearted, open-minded woman.

Too bad I’ve finally come to see you, and you’re no longer here.

Rachel finished off her breakfast and slowly sipped her coffee. According to Gerald Winter, her aunt’s attorney, Charlotte had died peacefully in her sleep. She’d left her house and some property to Rachel, and a few other odds and ends that Gerald would read today in the will. Rachel, unfortunately or fortunately, depending upon her mood, had to be present to hear the legalities. She winced, recalling her last debacle with lawyers, the wounds still fresh.

Yet, it wasn’t as if she had any other place to go. Her parents were dead. She had no siblings and few friends outside the ones Jesse had managed to steal after the divorce.

Hell. The greater the distance between herself and her pitiful old life, the better. She’d spent the past nine months fighting, and the past three months licking her wounds.

Wasn’t it time to start over again? And with a clean slate this time.

Brooding over the optimistic idiot inside of her brewing with good tidings, Rachel gulped the last of her overly sweet coffee and glared at the packets in the center of the booth. Who ever heard of pink packets of sugar?

Grabbing her wallet out of her purse, she paid for her meal and left a tip for Sarah, then left the diner and its curious patrons behind. As she walked down the street toward her rental car, however, an altercation nearby forced her to stop.

Twenty feet down the alley to her right, Rachel saw the rude guy from the diner ducking punches from three overgrown bullies. Why she thought of the fight in those precise terms she didn’t know, but she had a definite sense that Bad Ass was the innocent party. The fact that the huge thugs crowding him looked like walking wolf-men made it easier to portray the rude guy as the good guy.

Good lord, but how hairy and huge did they grow them up here? Bad Ass was at least six-four, and the men trying to pin him to the wall between them were as big if not bigger. All three looked like linebackers for a pro team, and they sported long, thick hair, beards and mustaches like mountain men from hell. One of them turned to study her, and even in the daylight his eyes seemed to gleam with a preternatural shine.

Shit. That is too weird. And this is way beyond my ability to make right.

Before she could call for help, Bad Ass slugged two of the men with fists so fast they looked a blur, putting his assailants down for the count. The remaining thug lunged at him, only to find himself suddenly plastered against the brick wall. Somehow, Bad Ass had used the thug’s momentum against him, to his advantage. Throughout the fight, Rachel stood still, frozen by the animal-like grunts, brutal hits and sheer wildness frothing between the men. But when Bad Ass and then the other one started growling and… hissing…at each other, she took several steps back, thoroughly freaked out.

Had she not known better, she’d swear that thug was looking more and more wolf-like. And the cries coming from Bad Ass sounded feline, like a big cat howling a warning as his eyes narrowed, the color of his pupils reflecting an odd shine in the shadows of the alley.

A warm hand on her shoulder scared a mortifying squeak out of her, and Rachel spun around in a heartbeat. Seeing a badge, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Easy, miss. I’ll take care of this.” The lawman tipped his hat at her and quietly spoke into his walkie-talkie, radioing for help. He walked toward the brawlers with an easy gait. Like the men in the alley, the sheriff had a feral quality about him. Something in the slant of his brows, the sharpness of his gaze and the readiness in his face. He sported denims and a work shirt, his hat worn from wear, but no gun belt that she could see.

Shorter than the men fighting by a few inches but no less muscular, the sheriff stopped a few feet in front of them. He said nothing, merely tapped his foot. When they continued to ignore him, spitting and knocking into one another, he crossed his arms and murmured something under his breath, and the two opponents sprang apart as if dashed with cold water.

“Burke, take Ms. Penny to see Gerald. He’s waiting on you two. And Hart, you come with me.”

The hairy brute grumbled but followed the sheriff without question, glaring over his shoulder at Bad Ass—at Burke. Four more men appeared at the mouth of the alley and dragged the two unconscious thugs from the scene. Deputies, maybe, though the four looked more like locals than lawmen. They spent an inordinate amount of time studying her, to her discomfort. And the strange, almost hungry looks on their faces had her taking a step back, only to bump into Burke.

Burke ignored her, however, and glared at the men moving the bodies. They hurried out of the alley, leaving Rachel and Burke alone. Together.

Not sure how she felt about being summarily dismissed by the sheriff, Rachel stared at Burke, her expression guarded as she wondered why she’d been left with such a dangerous man.

Burke scowled at her as he straightened his appearance. For a fight in which he’d been outnumbered three to one, he looked surprisingly none the worse for wear. Running his hands through his hair, he tugged the loose strands out of his eyes and tucked the denim shirt he wore back into his jeans.

Unable to stop herself, Rachel watched his long fingers inching under the waistband of his pants and couldn’t help wondering if his skin felt warm even through a layer of clothes. A burst of longing, of animal need, rippled through her body and left as suddenly as it had come. She shivered, confused, praying Burke assumed it was from the cooling temperature.

Seeing her distress, he shook his head and grumbled under his breath. But to her astonishment, he shrugged out of his shirt, leaving him clad in a thin white tee and denims.

“Before you shatter all your pretty white teeth from chattering, put this on.” He didn’t give her a chance to refuse and enfolded her in the large garment. Oh crap, it smelled like him. And her libido, which had gone dormant in the diner except for one brief flare just moments ago, rose again with a vicious slap.

Having helped her into his shirt, Burke began to take his arms from around her when he suddenly froze, then stepped even closer. This near to him, Rachel couldn’t miss the rising bulge pressing against her belly, or fail to note the quickening in his breath as she stared at his broad chest.

“Shit. I just knew you were going to be trouble,” he rumbled before swooping down on her.

“What—”

He interrupted her with a soul-shattering kiss. Not gentle or tepid, Burke kissed like a man used to taking what he wanted. He devoured her, plain and simple. An explosion of scents and tastes, Burke was like a drug that stole through her body with the intent to possess. What started as hot grew to inferno proportions. His hard lips commanded, his tongue invaded and his body pressed her closer, until she was nearly riding the erection straining between them.

Without realizing she’d moved, she felt her back against a brick wall, Burke shoving his tongue down her throat at her garbled insistence. Lust took control of everything as the protestations and denials she should have spouted vanished under his onslaught.

A large hand palmed her breast, kneading the taut flesh before pinching her nipple.

She arched into his mouth and cried out, her moans muffled by his kiss. Groaning, Burke lifted her in his hands, his strength a thing of beauty. Positioning her legs around his waist, he settled himself at the junction between her thighs and began thrusting against her, fully clothed.

Rachel shouldn’t have felt much with panties and two pairs of jeans between them.

But her strangely over-sensitized body didn’t know the difference. The ridge of Burke’s cock through his pants might as well have been touching her clit, since the nub spasmed with his every pressing graze.

Grunts and need poured from him as he catered to her every unspoken desire. He dominated, accepting nothing less than her complete submission as he pounded into her against the wall, his skilled fingers gripping her ass as he tried to get closer.

Common sense tried to reassert itself. Her ex-husband. Burke’s like-minded arrogance. The fight she still didn’t understand… All of it refused to surface as a ripping climax tore through her like a tsunami.

Obliterating everything, her orgasm took her into another state altogether. Colors and scents seemed sharper, sounds louder, and the feel of Burke against her like perfection made real. Rachel stiffened, twisting her ankles around his back, her thighs like a vise.

Burke rasped and rained kisses down her neck, sucking hard at her throat as she panted, trying to catch her breath. His thrusts increased and he bit her neck hard enough to draw blood. The pleasure in the start of pain shot her into another orgasm, this one peculiarly forced, and oddly like an out-of-body experience.

“Fuck.” Burke snarled, shuddering against her as he came, jerking while his gasps of pleasure warmed her all over again. His scent drifted to her from his shirt, and hell, from Burke himself. Surprisingly sweet and definitely sexy, he made her think of caramel corn and hot, naked sex on a stick. A circus of delights brought to her by a man she’d only minutes ago wanted to slap in the face.

As she gradually returned to reality, Rachel blushed with embarrassment. What the hell had she been thinking to have sex with a stranger? A man who seemed very much like her ex-husband, at least at first glance. A familiar anger returned at thoughts of Jesse.

But as much as Rachel wanted to blast Burke for taking advantage of her, the blissful look on his face held her tongue. That and the truth—that they’d both been helplessly ruled by lust. A first in Rachel’s life, to be sure.

Burke finally released her hips and allowed her to slide down his body. His eyes flamed at the short contact between them, and Rachel gasped when her desire spiked again. This is so not normal.

“I, ah…” Burke trailed, seeming at a loss for words. But he didn’t step back to give her any room. His gaze roamed her face, coming to rest on her mouth. The awkwardness she anticipated disappeared, and he grinned and nipped at her lips. “You are the sexiest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

Flushed at the compliment, she couldn’t help wondering if she’d just made the next notch on his bedpost. Would he rush around to tell his buddies that he’d just dry humped Charlotte’s niece in the middle of an alley? He was a man, after all. She’d been married to one who’d turned into Mr. Hyde. What did she really know about Burke?

For that matter, what did she really know about herself? Burke might be married.

The fact that she hadn’t even asked spoke volumes, and she suddenly paled, realizing she’d just acted no better than Lisa, her ex-accountant. Except at least Lisa had had the foresight to screw Jesse in her own office, behind a closed door, and not in an alley in a weird little town.

At Rachel’s distress, Burke’s smile faded. “It’s okay, Rachel. We’re two consenting adults. Both single.” He stared at her ringless finger with his brow raised in question.

Something within her released. At least she hadn’t climaxed with someone else’s husband. Burke was staring at her, waiting, and she nodded.

“Definitely single.”

“Good.” He exhaled heavily, running his hand through his hair in agitation. “Look, you don’t know me, yet, but I don’t fu—ah, I don’t normally fight and have sex in the alleyway before lunch.”

The absurdity of his statement surprised her into a dry laugh. “What, you wait until the afternoon to have sex? Or you don’t do it in an alley? Behind the restaurant more your style?”

That killer grin of his reappeared, a charming dimple winking at her from his left cheek. “We didn’t exactly get off on the right foot this morning, and I’m sorry about that.

But I’m not sorry about this.”

The worry she’d been feeling faded at his warm smile, and she took a moment to revel in her relaxed body. She felt wonderfully sated after being deprived for a year and a half, and she couldn’t help noticing the new and improved Burke… Burke who? Hell, she’d actually had sex with a guy without knowing his last name. Desperation at its finest.

She felt her cheeks flame. “Who exactly are you?”

Burke stared into her eyes for so long she thought he wouldn’t answer. But when he did, he sounded distracted. “Burke Chastell. My brothers and I own the Catamount Ranch a few miles outside of town.” He ran a finger over her cheek, making her traitorous body tremble. Leaning close, he shut his eyes and inhaled. “You smell like heaven. Hot and wet and addicting. And you have a body made for loving.” He rubbed his cheek against hers before pulling back, his smooth face incredibly erotic against her skin.

She blinked, stunned at the man waxing poetic. When he opened his eyes, however, her throat went dry. The pupils staring out at her were slitted— inhuman—and he shocked her anew when his body began to rumble.

“Dear God, your eyes… Are you purring?”