Foxy Lady

Chapter Five

Ned pushed back his chair and stood faster than she could blink. “Been waiting all night to talk to you.” He glanced in the direction Ty had gone and nodded to himself.

Julia sighed, handed Gabby the plate, then motioned to the back door. “How about on the porch?” In private. She looked pointedly at his brothers.

Itchy quickly said, “We’ll go with you.”

“Yeah. I don’t want to miss this,” Snitchy added with an evil grin.

Julia held back a growl. “Ned? I want to talk to you. Alone.”

He glanced from Itchy and Snitchy to her. “Good idea.” He shoved his brothers back and herded her toward the back door.

From the other room, Julia heard Ty and Ned’s father swearing over the muted sound of the television. What the hell was he doing with Ned Sr.?

The pair of them bemoaned Gonzaga and cheered Syracuse. Good Lord. He was bonding with that odious man over basketball?

Ned prodded her outside, past the surprised faces of his mother and her sister, and she shivered at the brisk wind slapping her face.

“Nice weather, huh?” He leaned against the porch rail and crossed his arms. “See, I can make small talk.”

“Ah, okay. Ned, I just wanted you to understand—”

“I cut my hair. Had Mama iron my jeans.”

She stared at him in bemusement. “Right. So I just thought we should clear the air. You don’t—”

“Don’t need fancy manners to impress a woman. I drive a big rig, did you know that? An International.”

“International?”

“Yeah. I drive a flatbed from the mill to lumber factories around the state. It’s my own rig.”

“Rig?”

“My own truck,” he said with pride. “I’m an independent contractor, Julia. Make a good living.”

“Er, okay.”

“So about Saturday—”

This time she interrupted him. “Ned, you won’t take no for an answer. You shot out the tires on my SUV!” Not to mention Ty’s tires, but she didn’t think it prudent to mention Ty just now.

He frowned. “I got angry. What the hell did you expect me to do when you’re parading around with that jackass? What do you see in a guy like that?”

Besides smarts, a sexy body and a wily fox? “I’ve known Ty since we were young. We grew up together. He’s the love of my life.” All so true, and so devastating to a young woman who had nothing to offer a prodigal son from one of the finest fox families in town.

“Love.” He snorted. “That’s not real. Hell, look around you. You really think Jason and Meghan are going to last?”

She didn’t, and the notion suddenly depressed her. She sighed. “Ned, I don’t love you. I don’t even like you half the time. The only things I know about you are that you’re a bully and you’re stubborn. You live here, right?”

He scowled. “You like me fine enough. Yeah, I live here. Nowhere is my home.”

“Well, mine is in Montana, and I don’t ever plan on leaving it.”

“You’re here now.”

Like talking to a brick wall. “I’m here for Meghan. She’s only here because of Jason. She’s leaving for Seattle in a few days.” The sooner the better. Julia preferred Seattle to this place. For all that Ned’s relatives seemed friendlier than she’d expected, there were still way too many Williamses in the area for comfort.

“Look, Julia, I know this is sudden for you. But I like you. I really like you.” He sounded so earnest.

She felt her first stirring of sympathy for the big guy. Though a bully with a temper, he had feelings. And then he finished his thought, and her empathy vanished.

“You’re fuckin’ hot. I’m the town catch. You and me together? Perfect. I’ll give it to you good, baby. And hell, things work out, maybe we’ll make a go of it. A kid would make Mama happy. I don’t see the problem.”

“You wouldn’t. Sorry to break it to you, Ned, but we—you and me—are not happening.”

The meanness returned to his gaze. Danger threatened. Flight or fight for Julia meant flight. On four feet, no one had ever managed to catch her. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the freedom to turn at random in Nowhere. She was really starting to hate this place.

“I’m sick of asking. So now I’m telling you. No one says no to Ned Williams. You’re mine.” The smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Think of it this way. I can take care of you and your sisters. Nothing bad can happen to Gabby and Meghan if I’m with you, you get me?”

His obstinacy she’d tolerated. Threats against her family ended it. Rage swelled, and the careful control she exercised at all times started to slip.

“You don’t like to be told no. I get it. But I don’t like to be told what to do either.” He’d hurt her family if she refused him? She gave her fury full reign. Stubborn men. A sister who wouldn’t listen. Relatives who hated her. Responsibilities for everything thanks to a foolish mother and an irresponsible father. No longer keeping her attitude in check, Julia railed at Ned, heaping her frustrations and indignities upon him.

“You don’t own me, Ned. No one does. I’m tired of being told what to do, how to act, what to say. I don’t like Nowhere. I don’t like my sister falling for an outsider. I don’t like arrogant assholes who think they know what’s best for me and everyone around me.” She poked him in the chest, startling him with her aggression. Take that Ned, Uncle Harry, Aunt Lynn and Ty. “I’m going home. Gabby and Meghan are coming with me. And if you so much as look at my family the wrong way, I’ll cut you off at the knees.”

The animal desire to defend herself came out of nowhere. A lifetime of hiding secrets, of fitting in despite her need to live her own life, and wishing for what could never be, bombarded her like sharp needles prickling at her flesh. Now, for the first time, she intended to fight. Pain pushed through her fingertips until the lethal edge of claws appeared. Her teeth pricked her gums, and the bones of her jaw tingled with the need to realign.

Ned stared in horror at her face, but she didn’t care. Before she could strike out at him, Ty wrapped his arms around her from behind. She hadn’t heard him approach.

“Easy, baby. It’s okay. No one’s forcing you to do anything you don’t want to do,” he crooned in her ear, his scent so alluring she inhaled deeply to take more of it in.

It took her a moment to calm down, and when she did, she noticed Ned’s shock.

Hell.

“Son of a bitch,” he whispered, turned on his heel without another word and slammed into the house.

Julia shook as the rage left her. Appalled to have lost control like that, she struggled in Ty’s arms.

“It’s okay,” he said softly. “It really is. You didn’t change more than your eyes and claws, a trick of the light. Everything else will keep. Don’t worry. You’re fine.” His soothing voice transitioned her discomfort into another form altogether. Her sex throbbed as he spoke, and then his words suddenly ceased into an intense silence.

He turned her in his arms and kissed her. A wild, earthy, sexual meeting of the mouths that promised a blissful outcome if they hurried out of their clothes.

Ty ended the kiss and nipped her lip. “Damn, Julia. I want you. But our timing sucks. I’m with you on not liking this place. We need to get home.” He lifted her hips and ground into her, his erection imposing and so very welcome.

Think, Julia. Sex with Ty is bad. Julia wished she could remember why, because her hormones screamed at her to finish what he teased with that kiss.

She licked the flesh of his throat then bit hard enough to leave a mark. He groaned and tightened his hold on her.

“Fuck, Julia. Stop before I come in my pants. I swear, you’re driving me crazy.”

“Hmm?” She continued to kiss him, trailing her lips down his throat to the parted V of his shirt.

“The last time I came on your shirt. I’m about to come in my pants. Stop,” he rasped when her hand slid under his jeans and wrapped around his cock. “God, you are so sexy. I’ve dreamed of taking you in so many ways.” He moaned and thrust against her palm. “If you don’t let me go, I’m going to fuck you in full view of anyone who comes out the back door.” His growly warning forced her to look up at him. The slit pupils staring back at her showed her how close he straddled the edge of reason.

With regret, she drew back. A drop of come clung to her finger and she licked it, daring him to protest.

His gaze brightened, like orbs of molten silver. “You’re really pushing it, baby. Flat on your back, my cock up that pussy. In about five seconds if you don’t turn away and walk back into the house,” he hissed.

His posture screamed dominance, and she wanted to show her belly and submit. Then turn over onto her hands and knees and present herself for a true mating, lifting her tail in the air and—

Hell, I’m really losing it. Julia jumped back as common sense returned. She blushed at the harsh look of lust on Ty’s face. “Oh, man. What was I thinking?”

“You weren’t. And neither was I.” Ty swore under his breath and shifted his arousal in his tight jeans. “Go into the house, Julia. Your scent is hell on my control. Tell Jason we need to leave. Pretend you’re sick or something. Then as soon as we get home, we’ll finish this.”

“No.” She took a deep breath for calm. “As soon as we get home, we’re leaving Nowhere. We can shift and run to the nearest town for transportation. You and I are a mistake waiting to happen.”

His eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just what I said. You don’t need another notch on your bedpost, Ty,” she said nastily but unable to help it. Oh God, I sound catty.

“Notch on my what? Don’t tell me you listen to rumors, Julia. You should know that half the stories floating in town are bullshit.” He scoffed.

“Oh? So Katie Heasting? Reggie Ross? Were they lying when they talked about how hot you are between the sheets?”

The dull flush on his cheeks answered for him. She slowly, deliberately walked away.

“Oh, come on, Julia. That was a while ago.”

“Three months is not a while.”

“You’re keeping track?”

She didn’t turn around to see the astonishment she could clearly hear in his voice. Time to find Jason and leave. And time to convince Meghan about the error of her ways.

Ty stared at the end of a fluffy black tail disappearing around a tree before him. Julia had to be one of the fastest silver foxes he’d ever raced. The minute they’d returned to the cabin, she’d excused herself to her room, where she’d loudly locked the door behind her.

Gabby retired as well, and Meghan left them to spend the night with Jason at their cabin a mile away.

Following Julia, Ty increased his speed, no longer caring if she heard him or not. Who the hell did she think she was to deny their connection? Even if his animal spirit hadn’t demanded he finish this dance between them, he refused to ignore the pull of Julia Easton. Everything about her resonated on his level. He loved her seriousness, the subtle twinkle in her eye that told him when she liked something or not.

The dichotomy of her passion with her family and her stoic professionalism at work further intrigued a man who lived to solve puzzles. Julia was one large riddle he couldn’t resist.

Racing after her, he jumped over tree roots, avoided a huge-ass owl after a field mouse and skirted several large rocks. The thrill of the chase added a dangerous element to his pursuit, as the animal in him began to seriously take over.

Running for nearly an hour, he lifted his head and followed her sweet scent. To his delight, he found a hint of musk that identified his little fox’s intense arousal.

Mindless to everything but capturing and mounting his prize, he let his animal lead the way.

He found her panting in a darkened cave illuminated by the haze of moonlight passing through a natural skylight overhead. Bright yellow eyes glowed in the shadows. She growled as he neared, her ears back, her hackles raised. Yet her scent called to him on another level entirely. She made him hunger in a way he never had for any other female.

With a loud bark he jumped her, accepting the bites and scratch marks of a worthy adversary. Never had the prize been so sweet, and he fought for all he was worth as he gradually subdued the smaller but no less fierce vixen.

Unable to stop himself, and finally assured she’d capitulated, he waited for her to ready herself. She nudged him, lifted her tail, and teased that very hungry part of him. With a soft woof and a purr of victory, he let his desire and his animal spirit take charge.

While mating in animal form, they remained tied as he poured himself into her. He’d swear a solid click locked into place between him and the stubborn woman who made him complete. As one, they both shifted back to their human forms and then they fell asleep, exhausted from their trek through the forest.

Sometime later under the glow of moonlight, Ty roused and turned to Julia, not surprised to find her awake.

He stared down into bright brown eyes glinting in the dark.

“You okay?” he asked gruffly, embarrassed he’d lost himself to his silver fox.

She nodded but didn’t speak. Her eyes searched his, the intensity in her gaze palpable.

“I’ve never done that before. I mean, the fox, he’s never… Normally I’m in control.” He was making a muck of it. To his relief, she nodded again.

“It’s okay. I was, ah, kind of lost too.”

Ty stroked her soft hair and watched the pleasure reflected in her smile. “You’re so beautiful.” He sighed and leaned down to kiss her, aware the ground had to be cold, rough and generally uncomfortable. Still, his dick hardened to the point of pain when he tasted the ripeness of her lips.

“Um, Ty?” She squirmed under him, bringing his hot shaft in better contact with her slick thighs.

Taking advantage, he grabbed his dick and pushed it between her legs, not penetrating, just caged by her limbs. Her hot moisture stirred him like nothing could.

He was beginning to understand Julia a lot better the more time he spent around her. The controlled front she presented at home was just that, a front. The reality of this precious vixen was that she had needs, wants and fears, like everyone else.

Personally, he’d never much liked her aunt and uncle. Too bent on outdoing everyone else in the clan, the older Eastons only cared about pedigree and clan standing. Funny that Julia and her sisters didn’t reflect that one bit.

He leaned down and sucked on her earlobe, gratified when she hissed and arched into him, grazing his chest with hard nipples.

“Remember my conditions? Meet them and I’ll help your sister with the council.”

“Oh, yes.” She moaned when he licked her ear and skimmed his lips over her soft throat toward her mouth.

He kissed her with a deep, driving need to possess.

She kissed him back with a dose of passion that drugged him with lust.

He nudged her thighs wider and angled his shaft so that his tip rested at the entrance of her sex. The warm wetness coated his slit, and he shook with the effort to hold back.

“Answer a few questions honestly and I’ll do everything in my power to help Meghan, Gabby and you,” he said thickly, wanting nothing more than to thrust home.

She shifted under him, and he slid farther inside her. She stopped and moaned his name. “You’re doing something to me. Stop it.”

“Stop what?” he whispered, and leaned down to take her nipple in his mouth. Though small, she was gently rounded. A perfect fit for Ty’s mouth and hands. He sucked and inched deeper into her slick pussy. Fuck me, my head’s going to explode if I don’t come inside her in the next two minutes. Though he’d taken her as a fox, sex while human beat animalistic mating any day of the week.

“I want you so much.” Julia grabbed his head and pulled him back to her lips with a vicious tug.

He lost his hold on his position and penetrated her while she took command of his mouth. With a low groan, he stilled inside her once fully seated and gave himself up to her touch. Warnings of commitment and her probable fertility paled against the desire riding him hard.

She licked and bit, teased with her tongue and stroked his with such skill he nearly came. Unable to help it, he rocked in and out of her. Light thrusts with his pelvis tilted to graze her plump clit while he rubbed his chest against her hard nipples.

“Yes, yes,” she hissed, and locked her ankles around his back. “Harder, Ty. More.”

“Fuck.” He grasped her ass in his palms and pushed into her, again and again. Pounding inside the delicate woman, he could no more stop himself than he could stop the flood of ecstasy rushing through him when she cried out and tightened around him.

He’d had sex before, but it had never been so complete. His body touched hers. His mind filled with thoughts of her and only her. But his animal spirit connected with hers in a way that astounded him. As if he’d finally found that part of him always missing, loving Julia was making him long for kits, for home and hearth. For forever.

An image of her round with his child intruded, and the spice of her need overwhelmed him.

“I’m coming,” he said on a breath as he exploded inside her. The orgasm left him lightheaded, awash in two very different sensations.

Pure pleasure: because sex with Julia was like dying and going to heaven.

Pure panic: because for the second time in his life, counting the first when he’d taken her in fox form, he hadn’t used protection. And despite the fact that foxes bred once a year, Julia was definitely in heat.

Julia could barely breathe. Sex with Ty had been both inevitable and incredible. At this point, what remained of her pitiful willpower could go to hell. He remained joined to her, his cock semi-hard and deliciously full.

Together, they smelled right. His scent covered hers yet didn’t overwhelm, rather, he smelled sweet, a combination of them both.

Running her hands over his strong arms, she kept her legs locked around his waist, not wanting him to pull out just yet.

“Hmm. You feel so good.” She kissed him again. He resisted for a moment, which surprised her. Then he groaned and deepened the kiss.

When he stopped, she was shocked he’d hardened again inside her.

“Ty?”

“I know. I just came and I’m hard again. I can’t help it. It’s you.” He groaned as if in pain, but didn’t withdraw. “Julia, I— When you look at me like that, it’s all I can do not to turn and take you hard. My fox wants to fuck you all over again,” he said in a husky voice.

“How am I looking at you?” she asked coyly, imagining herself on her knees, his cock in her mouth. She felt wicked and wild, and had no idea she could feel so free. Nothing seemed to matter right now but riding that pleasure train to climax all over again. “Move inside me.”

Ty’s eyes turned. “God, you’re making this hard.”

“I know.” She wiggled under him and grinned.

“Hell.” Ty grunted and began pistoning again. “Those questions, Julia?”

“Oh, you feel so good. Ask whatever you want, just don’t stop.” She shifted until he brushed her clit as he took her.

She hadn’t thought they’d fit. She was tiny, he…wasn’t. But he filled her right up.

Instinct demanded he spend inside her again. Her animal spirit whispered her longings, her needs and desires. “Take me, Ty, and I’ll give you whatever you want.”

“Julia,” he breathed and stared at her while he fucked her. Brutal, beautiful, wild. Her silver fox reveled in Ty’s conquest. He’d run her down, the only silver fox ever to do so. And he’d beaten her challenge without hurting her. She could see scratches and bite marks all over his arms and chest. They’d fade over time, but right now they marked him as hers.

“Come inside me,” she encouraged.

“Fuck yes,” he groaned. He inserted a hand between them and rubbed her clit, gliding over the slick nub with enough pressure to set her off again.

“Ty, please.” Julia begged him to end the painful hunger setting her on fire.

“Take it, Julia. All for you,” he growled and pinched her clit.

She screamed and came around him. He removed his hand and thrust fast and deep inside her before reaching the pinnacle of release again.

Ty shuddered, climaxing. When he pulled out, he milked the rest of his come over her belly and rubbed it in. “Yeah, that’s it. I want it all over you. So everyone knows where you belong,” he rasped.

His warm hands soothed her, and she basked in the waves of her climax until the cold air dragged her from her sex-induced stupor.

“That was incredible.”

“And something that’s going to be happening a lot in the near and far future,” Ty murmured with contentment. “You’re finally mine.”

“Yours,” she repeated softly, thinking how wonderful that sounded. Fox to fox, woman to man… “Holy crap!”

“And there you are. I was wondering where the real Julia had gone.” Ty chuckled.

She glanced at him and saw his canines flash sharp and white in the dark. “I, ah, that is, I didn’t mean to—”

“To wave that pretty tail at me? To get me so worked up I couldn’t think past the need to fuck that sweet pussy?” His crude words aroused her, and he seemed to know it. “So many secrets. Prim and proper Julia likes it rough, and she likes it dirty. If you hadn’t already wrung me dry, I’d do you all over again.”

Her face felt hot enough to melt the sun. “Ty.”

“It’s true. And I came hard inside you, baby. Too late to stop that now, but next time we’ll use protection. Maybe.”

She couldn’t miss the odd look on his face, nor could she mistake his intention when he rubbed her belly.

“Wh— I didn’t— I can’t—” She couldn’t breathe. What if she had kits? What if her babes came out…different? Oh my God. What a mess.

“Julia?” Ty frowned and withdrew. “It’ll be all right. No matter what, I’ll take care of you.”

She started hyperventilating, and he shushed her and rocked her in his arms.

“I know neither of us planned this, but you have to admit it’s been building for a while. How about we let this relationship run its course? You and me, what’s not to like? Even your aunt can’t say I’m not good enough for you.”

“True,” she agreed, still blindsided from her stupidity. How could she have let him come inside her?

“We could get married to seal the deal,” he teased. “Want to hang around until Saturday and let Ned walk you down the aisle to me?” The sudden passion in his bright eyes blinded her. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t marry you.” Her sisters would be disowned and cast out. Ty would hate her as soon as he learned what she really was. The good girl she’d strived to be her whole life would no longer matter once she lost what meant so much to her. Acceptance, a place in society. Her home. Ty’s love.

He paused and glanced away. “I was just teasing, Julia. Relax.”

Her face flamed. Of course Ty wasn’t asking her to marry him. The most eligible bachelor in town didn’t want Julia. Though an Easton, she was little more than an orphaned fox with little standing in the community.

“Question number one, why wouldn’t you marry me, if I was asking, that is?”

“Are you kidding me? You want to play twenty questions now?” She couldn’t believe she’d acted so uninhibited with him. God, I actually begged him to come in me. I am seriously losing it. Because thoughts of having Ty’s baby pleased the hell out of her.

“You want me to smooth things over with the council, answer my questions. Honestly. I can smell a lie.”

Foxes couldn’t do that, could they? She never had been able to smell with that degree of precision, but Ty was the sheriff. Perhaps his sense of smell accounted for what she’d always attributed to a cunning mind.

“But, Ty—”

“If I have to ask again, I’m going to go back and tell the council Meghan not only left Cougar Falls for a man, but that his family is a bunch of hunters who kill for sport.”

“That’s a lie.”

“It’s true. They hunt for sport. They’re just not Hunters.”

She fumed. “Blackmail?” Before he could open his mouth to retort, she stopped him. “Fine. I wouldn’t marry you because I don’t—” Love you? That would be a lie. She loved him. And that was a big part of the problem.

“You don’t what?”

“I don’t want to get hurt.” There. That was the truth.

He frowned. “I’d never harm you, Julia. I admit, I was a bit rough before, but I’m the one carrying bite marks.” He glanced down at his arms, looking pleased.

“Not physically harmed. Emotionally. You have a lot of girlfriends. I couldn’t marry a man who wouldn’t be loyal.”

“Had a lot of girlfriends, and there weren’t actually that many. Does it bother you I dated women who weren’t fox?”

“Not at all. I think the clan’s too narrow-minded for their own good.” The one thing she’d always respected about Ty, he didn’t seem to care for outward trappings. Though the women he’d dated were pretty, each had substance. To Julia’s annoyance, she actually liked the women he’d been linked with, silver fox and otherwise. “I think we should be able to date whoever we want, provided they’re Ac-taw.” Visions of her mother dying outside of town never quite left her thoughts, and worry for Meghan returned full force.

“If I was mated, there would never be another for me, or for my wife,” he added in a hard voice.

She thrilled at the possession in his tone and had to push past silly dreams of forever with Ty. “On that I’d agree.”

“Good.”

“Fine. But you’re not looking for a mate, right?”

He didn’t say anything, and his silence bothered her. Granted, she wasn’t offering, but plenty of men in town had thought her pretty enough to at least want to date. Apparently to Ty she was nothing more than an easy lay.

She frowned. “I’m not looking for a man.”

“Too bad you found one.”