Foxy Lady

Chapter Eight

Ty didn’t know what the hell he’d walked into, but Julia still smelled like Julia. Gerald hadn’t tried anything more serious than holding her hand. Ty would pummel his best friend tomorrow. Right now, he couldn’t get over how good his woman felt in his arms. The slender fox, so sleek and pretty, stirred his desire like no other. He had to force himself to slow down, to savor her.

“I want you so much,” he said thickly. “In a bed this time.”

She nodded shyly, her golden eyes shining with lust and a deeper emotion he wanted desperately to believe. He’d been rough and possessive, but now he wanted to be gentle. To show his vixen he could care for her, soothe her with—

“Fuck.”

With deft fingers she unfastened his pants, and her hand curled around his cock, hot flesh to hot flesh.

He groaned, aching. “I want to last.”

“Later,” she breathed.

To his shock, she sank to her knees before him and peeled down his clothing. His jeans sagged at his thighs, but his cock remained ramrod stiff, trembling under her hot breath.

“Julia,” he said on a groan, and watched as she slowly opened her mouth around the head of his shaft.

So erotic. Better than any fantasy he could imagine. His mate on her knees, pleasuring him. He threaded his fingers in her dark red hair and rubbed circles over her scalp, careful to be gentle when his body urged him to grip her tight and fuck that mouth with punishing thrusts.

“So good,” he rasped as she licked and sucked, laving the underside of his crown with a tongue that felt like silk. “Julia, I’m going to come if you keep this up.”

She answered by cupping his sac and taking more of him in her mouth. He wasn’t that far in, but she worked the most sensitive part of his cock. Her nimble hands rubbed his thighs, his balls, and teased his ass. The contrast of her soft hands and his hard body aroused him, increasing his urge to protect, to claim.

He wanted to spill inside her sex, to flood her womb with come. But he’d never last. Already the surge of ecstasy built at the base of his spine, traveled up his balls and spread through the rest of his body.

He tightened his hold on her head, keeping her still as he pushed short, firm jerks between her ripe lips.

“I’m coming. Baby, swallow me.”

She moaned and sucked harder, rubbing his balls with firm hands.

He glanced down to see her nipples pressing against her shirt. Dark red hair framed her face and his cock. Her scent intensified and her tongue whipped him into a frenzy he could no longer hold back.

He jetted down her throat with a hoarse shout of her name.

Ty finally ceased, weakened on trembling legs. She let him fall from her mouth and pulled up his pants. She fastened them and smoothed her hands down his front.

“Better now?” The sly look in her eyes warned him to tread warily.

“Almost.” Shit.

Her eyes creased with a smile.

“So, you think you can control me with sex,” he said softly.

“Think? I know I can control you with sex.” She placed her hands on her hips, her tone light. Flirty?

He grinned, loving this side of her. “Okay, so I’m easy. But, baby, I give as good as I get.” He took her in his arms before she could run and carried her into his bedroom.

“You’re a neat freak too.”

“What can I say? I have control issues. Like someone else I know.”

She smiled at him and twined her arms around his neck. Their lips pressed together as he lowered her to his bed. The kiss turned from exploratory to carnal. Much as he tried to slow things down, Julia wouldn’t let him. A real firecracker in bed. His woman.

He stripped her clothes off and removed his.

Looking down at her with just the setting sun over her body, Ty fell deeper under her spell. “I’ve never seen a more beautiful picture in all my life,” he whispered with reverence.

He traced a finger over her neck, down her throat to her delicate collarbone. The milky white mounds of her breasts ended in rosy tips tight with arousal. He lowered to take one nipple in his mouth, sucking before biting with a gentle sting.

She moaned and arched into him, stroking his hair with possession.

Ty turned to her other breast and laved her flesh while he plumped her sleek curves with large hands. He looked darker against her unblemished skin, so male against her feminine loveliness.

“Ty, take me.” Julia squirmed under him, caging his hips with her strong legs.

But he refused to be pushed. He lingered over her breasts, tasting and playing. He nipped her when she tried to pull him to her and laughed at her frustration.

“Oh no. I’m not stopping until I get a taste of that sweet cream you’re hiding.”

She writhed, rubbing against his swelling dick.

“You are so sexy. I bet you taste like honey.” He kissed down her belly, each hip, and bypassed her shaved mound to the inside of her thighs.

Moisture pooled between her legs, her need strong and growing stronger the more he played.

“You’re driving me crazy. Please,” she panted, petting his hair, his shoulders, any bit of him she could reach.

Ty slid a finger between her folds, parting her so he could better see her beautiful response. Swollen and wet, her sex beckoned him closer. He closed his mouth over her clit and pushed his finger inside her.

She bucked against his mouth and he groaned, consumed by her essence. Everything about the woman resonated on his level. He thrust his tongue into her, lapping up her scent now ingrained into his brain. She grew wet for him. Not anyone else, but Ty.

He toyed with her pussy, eating her and fucking her with first one finger then two. Her nub grew taut, filling out as she neared her climax. Her breathy cries pierced the remaining, crumbling walls around his heart until he fell headlong into love. So deep, so fast, he wanted to sink inside her and never leave.

“Come for me, baby. Come hard,” he rasped.

She cried out and shook, clenching his fingers tight as she spasmed. Enthralled with her response, he ignored the pull on his cock and continued to caress and put pressure on the tight bud under his thumb, wringing out her pleasure until she was spent.

“No more,” she groaned and sagged beneath him.

“Just a little bit more,” he said thickly and climbed on top of her. Pushing past her swollen folds, he eased into her snug sheath, ready to blow. It didn’t take him but three thrusts until he came inside her, showering her with more of his come.

She wrapped her arms around him, kissing his chest as he spent. Content to remain inside her forever, he didn’t move until she nudged him.

“You’re getting heavy.”

He groaned and withdrew, leaving a mess all over her thighs. “You smell like me. I like it.”

“Alpha jerk.” She snuggled into his arms, and the moment felt surreal.

“Please don’t tell me I’m dreaming.”

“I could say the same.”

Thoughts swirled and danced, images of potential tomorrows if he didn’t muck up today. He had never taken as big a risk as he was about to. But he couldn’t hold it back any longer. Ty prided himself on truth and fairness. He couldn’t deny himself or her for one more minute. “Julia?”

“Hmm?” She sounded half asleep.

“I love you.”

She froze then leaped on top of him. Her cute little nose twitched. “Say that again.”

Ty sighed, lost to everything but the fiery woman of his dreams. “I love you. The hot redhead with a temper and the cool professional who works for my ex-best friend. I’ve been in lust with you forever. In love with you for minutes, days, hell, probably years. You’re loyal to your sisters, you love with all your heart, and I want to spend the rest of my life pissing you off.”

She blinked at him, her eyes so wide he could fall into her dark pupils. “Pissing me off?” she whispered.

“You get me hard when you’re mad. So damned aroused I can’t see straight. And you’re so pretty, so sleek and soft. And sly.” He rubbed his hands over her back and down her ass. “You wrapped me around your little finger, baby. I’m yours. No one’s ever mattered but you.”

A huge smile curved her lips. “You are so slick. No wonder you’re the best at what you do. No one can deliver a line like you, Tyler Roderick.”

He winced. “I hate being called Tyler.”

“I know.”

He chuckled then sobered and kissed her. “It’s no line, Julia. I love you.”

He waited for what felt like three forevers.

“I…”

The damned woman was stringing him along. He could see it in her eyes, but he let her play.

“I think… Maybe…”

“Dammit.”

“No, I know I love you too. But, Ty—”

He cut her off with a kiss that deepened into something more.

“I don’t want my past to hurt our future,” Julia murmured when he let her go.

“Then don’t give in to fear. I’m not your dad. You’re not your mom. There’s nothing in this world that could make me leave you. Hell, if I die, I’ll come back and haunt your sexy ass.”

She laughed. “How romantic.”

“Honey, you want romance? I’m your man. Candles, chocolates, flowers, you name it.”

She sighed. “How about you secure my family’s place in Cougar Falls? That’s as romantic as I need.”

“Consider it done.”

She blinked. “Really?”

“Really. I didn’t share your secrets with Gerald for the hell of it. As I see it, we have two choices if we want to stay in Cougar Falls. We join the cats, which, technically, makes sense since you’re part cat. Or, we tell the council to fuck themselves because we’re mating, we’re staying, and that’s that.”

“But, Ty, they could make trouble for you. Maybe strip you as sheriff. Run your family out of the clan.”

“Nah. My mom and dad are pretty much entrenched with the Silver Foxes. Hey, if they have someone who can do my job better than me, so be it. I’ll find something else to do. I’m good with my hands.” He stroked a finger between her buttocks.

“Stop.” She smacked his chest. “I’m serious. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Then don’t leave me. Stay with me. Love me. Have my kits, cats, whatever.”

“Oh, God. What if our kids are cats?”

“What if they are? Can you really tell me you’d love them any less?” He narrowed his eyes, understanding what he’d missed before. “Do you love Gabby any less?”

“Of course not. Of course not,” she repeated softly, her face full of wonder. “You really don’t care, do you?”

“No, I don’t. And honestly, I don’t think many other people will either. You’ve spent your life apart from most people, honey, pushed away by your bitchy relatives. No more. My parents won’t care. Hell, my mother will hang a medal on you for finally tying me down.”

“You did play around a lot.”

He liked her jealousy, until she pinched him. “Ow. Dammit. I’m telling you, they were substitutes for you. And I didn’t sleep with half my rumored number of conquests.” He didn’t think. “I’m a one-woman man. You’re mine, I’m yours, end of story.”

“Yeah, end of story,” she reaffirmed with a steely-eyed glare.

He chuckled and pulled her closer. “Hot damn, I love you, Julia Easton. Will you marry me?”

She kissed him and squirmed, her taut breasts doing funny things to his libido once more. “I’m not sure. What will my fiancé think if I run away with you?”

“Who, Ned?” he teased. “I say we don’t invite him. One party crasher is one too many.”

“You got that right.”

“Good. Now that we have that out of the way, I want you to tell me exactly what Gerald said and did while I was gone.”

She laughed, but she made him work hard for his answers.

Julia spent the rest of the night with Ty. He dropped her off at her place on his way to work the next morning.

“Hmm, a kiss from my vixen. I like this.”

“You should. I’m worth it,” she drawled.

He chuckled and playfully pushed her out the truck door. “I’ll see you at lunch. And later tonight we’ll shop for a ring. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Julia wondered if she’d ever tire of hearing it. Seeing a big, strong man like Ty look at her with such tenderness made her melt inside. God, was he really hers?

She went through the house, not expecting to see Gabby since her sister rarely roused before ten unless she had to. After a nice, long shower, Julia changed into clean clothes and mentally prepared the rest of her day. She needed to talk to Gabby about the future as well. Deciding to tell everyone about their father affected them all. Though Meghan had pushed to tell the truth for years, Julia needed to know what Gabby truly thought. After all, Meghan intended to live away from Cougar Falls. Gabby would be here around Ac-taw who might or might not scorn her for her differences.

Julia flushed with shame, aware her worries about raising a mixed child echoed those of an ignorant, fear-based bigot. She was damned proud of Gabby, a smart and funny woman with a sunny attitude and the strength of a lioness. Ty and Gerald were right. She needed to think of her background as blessed and not a freakish happenstance.

She was finishing her bagel, deep in thought, when Gabby joined her at the counter.

“You look way too perky for the Julia I know and love,” Gabby grumbled, and pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes.

“Gabby, I love you.”

“I love you too.” Gabby hunted in the refrigerator for something.

“I’m proud of who you are. I think your cat is beautiful, and I don’t think we should hide it anymore.”

Gabby straightened and turned, clearly surprised. “What brought this on?”

“I’m in love and I’m getting married.”

“Say that again?”

“I’m in love with Ty. He asked me to marry him, and I said yes.”

Gabby rushed to Julia for a hug and babbled with joy. “Oh my gosh. I’m so incredibly happy for you. I guess this means I’m losing my roommate. But that’s okay. Now I can finally get rid of those hideous blue curtains.”

“Please. And replace them with what? Blinds?” Julia made a face. “Tacky.”

“Have you told Meghan yet?”

Julia shook her head. “I couldn’t get a hold of her.”

Gabby frowned. “Me neither. I called her twice yesterday. I thought we could meet up in Whitefish for breakfast this morning but she didn’t answer.”

Julia had a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Try her again.”

Gabby’s smile faded. She hurried to the phone and punched in Meghan’s number. “Her voicemail.”

Life didn’t seem so bright all of a sudden. “I have a bad feeling about this. Do you have Jason’s number?”

“Yeah. Hold on.” Gabby raced into her bedroom. She returned moments later, her face drawn. “I called him. Nothing.”

“Let me get a hold of Ty.”

“Don’t go anywhere without me. I’m getting dressed. Be right there.”

Two hours later, Julia, Gabby and Ty drove into Whitefish together. They parked at Chastell Tours, where Grady Chastell stood waiting for them off the deck of his office building. Dean and Grady ran the actual tours while their brother, Burke, handled the business from his office in Cougar Falls, a short half hour away.

Grady nodded to them, his whole mien predatory. “Dean’s running some errands, but Monty’s here. We’ll need him for this. Ty, I checked Meghan’s hotel room but found nothing. Not a scent at all. I don’t like this.”

Ty frowned and herded them all inside the building. “Did anyone see you?”

“Not that I could tell. I waited for the maid to clean up then pretended I was the next tenant. I could barely smell a thing. Only the barest trace of Meghan and a male with her. And that’s damn odd.”

The four of them glanced at one another. Julia’s heart broke at the sudden worry on Ty’s face. “Ty?”

He sighed. “I’m sorry, baby. But that’s a common Hunter ploy. They mask scent. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d followed Grady back here. I’m sure someone out there is locked onto us by now.”

Monty entered through the back door to Chastell Tours and closed it behind him. “You mean the pair of assholes wearing flannel in that pickup a block away? You can’t see them, but one of the guys is standing by a flagpole using binoculars.”

“How the hell did you get here so fast?” Ty asked.

Julia didn’t care. She wanted as many people as she could to help find her sister. Hunters? How could Meghan have been captured by Hunters?

Grady slapped Monty on the back. “He’s helping me out today. And a good thing. He’s spent the last few years dealing with Hunters. We need to handle this the right way and Monty’s our man.”

“See, Ty? I’m good for something besides trouble.” Monty grinned, but his smile softened into concern as he looked at Julia and Gabby. “It’s okay, ladies. Between Ty, Grady and myself, we’ll fetch your pretty little sister back.”

Grady nodded.

Tears filled Julia’s eyes. If anything happened to her sister, she didn’t know what she’d do. Despite her troubles with Meghan, family meant everything to Julia. Meghan had to be all right.

“We’ll find her,” Ty said with quiet assurance. “Grady, do me a favor and call Cullen Whitefeather. Explain the situation but keep it brief. I don’t want anyone else to know about this. Cullen can help us. We need eyes in the sky.”

“Not necessary. I called for help an hour ago when Grady mentioned you were after Hunters, and Cullen volunteered his brother Sean. He knows what to do, and he’ll keep it quiet.”

“Good thinking.” Ty nodded.

“Sean Whitefeather?” Julia tried to process everything.

Ty answered her. “While you were in Washington, your buddy Sarah fought a clan duel, got a corrupt raptor leader and his family kicked out of town, and mated Cullen, Sean’s brother.”

“Cullen’s not comfortable leaving Sarah alone right now, with all the clan unrest, so Sean’s helping instead,” Monty said.

“I had no idea.” Lost in worries about Meghan, Julia had missed her best friend’s major life changes. “Oh my God. I hope Sarah’s all right.”

Monty chuckled. “Honey, Sarah is more than all right. She mated with a fierce raptor. The idiot’s so in love with her it’s not funny.” Monty glanced from Ty to Julia. “A lot like someone else I know.”

Ty glared but said nothing.

Grady shook his head at Ty. “And another one bites the dust. Wait until I tell Burke.” He opened his mouth to speak again and closed it. He sniffed the air and eyed Gabby with a confused expression she studiously ignored.

“Now what?” Julia ran her hands through her hair and sought calm. But try as she might, she couldn’t think past her anxiety for her baby sister.

“Now we let Sean tail our new friends and see where they’ve stashed your sister,” Monty answered. “We’ll see how many Hunters there are and what we’re up against. I suggest we settle down and wait.”

“I don’t want to wait. I want to find my sister.” Her eyes changed, and she could feel her fangs and claws pushing for freedom. “Let’s drag the information out of the ones spying on us. Hell, it’s two of them against the five of us.”

“Six counting Sean. Good idea, Julia. I’ll help,” Gabby offered.

A chorus of male noes resounded.

Ty took the sting out of his rejection by explaining. “Julia, Monty saw two men, but we don’t know how many there are. I know you want action, but the smart thing is to study them and see where this leads. Trust me, this could get ugly quick.”

“I do trust you. But that’s Meghan out there. My little sister with the biggest mouth.” Julia threw herself down into a comfortable leather couch and stared into a warm fire. “Find her soon, Ty, or I’m going to get her with or without your help.”

Gabby nodded, supporting her sister. Ty clenched his jaw, breathed deep, and joined the men gathered across the room. They spoke in low voices, occasionally glancing at her and Gabby.

She ignored their chatter for the most part, worried sick about what Hunters might have done to Meghan.

“We’ll get her back, Julia. We will.” Gabby looked so earnest, so young.

Julia trusted Ty, she loved him, but she was responsible for her sister. Meghan had been Julia’s responsibility for twenty years. Her problems were Julia’s, not Ty’s.

“Yeah, we will.” Julia leaned closer to her sister. “While they’re making their plans, I think you and I need to make ours.”