The Mating Rite (Big, Beautiful Werewolf) (Werewolves of Montana) Read online

  He wanted her.

  Not as his solar power rep, either. But for something much darker, richer and sinful. Images flared in her mind—them tumbling together between silk sheets, Darius’ hot, hungry mouth upon hers, him caressing her skin.

  She was Skin, lived in Skin, breathed as Skin. Not wolf. She couldn’t risk returning to a Lupine life and the savagery of wolf packs. Especially after what she’d done to his father, and the dangers she faced if Maxim found her…

  No, she must remain hiding in Skin and embrace this lifestyle.

  Automatically she stood politely and shook his hand before he left. Automatically she returned to her seat and listened to Jenner and the others discuss, with great animation, how this account would be their golden opportunity to break into other western ranches. Automatically she picked up her glass of water and drank, only to realize it was empty again.

  Dinner tonight with Darius, she could handle. But three days with the Lupine who wanted to claim her as his mate?

  How could she survive this?

  Chapter 4

  At 7 p.m. Samantha entered the Heathman Hotel to find a chauffeur in a suit and black cap waiting in the lobby. He escorted her around the corner to where Darius sat in the back of a sleek Town Car.

  Samantha slid into the seat next to him, and the driver shut the door. “Good evening, Mr. Bryant.”

  His mouth quirked. “C’mon, Sam, no formalities. This is me, remember?”

  Keep it cool, professional. Don’t blow it.

  But the closeness of his body and the coolness of the air conditioning sending tendrils of Darius’ scent into her nostrils made her want to squirm and rub herself against the smooth leather seat. She resisted the urge to fan herself. Damn, her body temperature was soaring.

  “Mr. Darius Bryant, executive vice president of the Mitchell Corporation Cattle Company. Where would you care to dine tonight? Dinner is on my firm, of course. We want you to feel comfortable.”

  He tapped a finger on the armrest, looking thoughtful. “Comfortable? Huh. What are the best strip clubs in town?”

  She stared. Darius laughed, then tapped her chin with a single finger. “Close your mouth, Sam. I’m teasing. How about I take you to a place I think you’ll like. We can have privacy, talk…”

  “It’s your choice. If you wish to know more about Comairise Energy’s solar power incentives?”

  Darius spoke into the intercom. “Mark, the usual.”

  As the car pulled out into traffic and executed a smooth turn, she stole a peek at her escort. He looked good enough to eat. Dressed in a dark gray silk suit with a navy blue tie, he looked polished and urbane, but for the shoulder-length ebony curls brushing against his collar.

  She’d seen her share of sharp businessmen in the city, but Darius made them all look boring. In a suit, he was grace and refined elegance. The polka-dotted dress she wore rode too high in the leg, and she was suddenly very aware that her Coach purse was secondhand, bought at a consignment shop.

  “The usual. You’ve visited here before?”

  He nodded. “I’ve conducted business many times in the city. Enough of me. Tell me about your life here, Sam.”

  The sensual timbre of his voice stroked over her raw nerves. Darius could make the most innocent question sound suggestive. Samantha decided to keep the conversation impersonal.

  “I’ve been employed by Comairise Energy since—”

  “I wasn’t talking about your work life. I meant your personal life. Are you happy here? Have good friends? Lupines?”

  She glanced at the driver. “Keep your voice down when mentioning the L word.”

  “Mark can’t hear us. You don’t have a car. Do you go with other Lupines to the country to shift and run with the moon? Cities are restrictive when it comes to shifting.” His beautiful mouth pulled downward. “You’re more liable to be picked up by the dog catcher and tossed into a shelter.”

  Wondering at his bitter tone, she pressed on. “I’m living in Skin, Darius. Let’s leave it at that.”

  “Ah, finally, first names. We all live in Skin, Sam, but the moon—”

  “Is a large, dead rock orbiting the Earth and it has no influence on me. No more than it would any other human.”

  He stared at her, his gaze blue and intense. “Sam, you can’t reject your heritage…”

  She turned to the window. The day had grown colder and grayer and though the night remained clear, rain threatened. The kind of cold, listless rain that soaked through the skin and made you shiver as you walked home alone after a broken date.

  “Not to even leave the city for a weekend or two, to run in the woods…”

  “My personal life is mine. Let’s leave it at that. I’ve been happy here in the city and have no intentions of changing my routine.”

  The car pulled up before a restaurant. Sam’s tension ratcheted as she stared at the terrace with its steel railings.

  “Irving Street Kitchen. Love their food.” Darius opened the door and held out a hand. “Sam? What’s wrong? You’re pale.”

  The scene of her last, laughable “date.” She swallowed hard. “I’m fine.”

  He gave her a questioning look as he helped her out of the car. So courtly, so gentlemanly, this wolf. Much more polite than the men she’d dated over the years, trying to forget him.

  Darius placed a hand at the small of her back, his possessive touch burning through her dress. Inside, she saw the restaurant was crowded. “We’ll have to wait for a table. Maybe we can try someplace else.”

  She hoped.

  “I reserved a table.”

  A beaming maître d’ greeted them as Darius gave his name. “Your table is ready.”

  They walked past a bank of private booths with their curtains tied back. As they passed the bar, several women gazed at Darius as if he were sex on a stick. A big, long stick. After they slid into their booth, their server arrived. He looked young, lanky and had unremarkable features. But he grinned with such warmth, she felt herself smiling back. The male attention certainly was enjoyable. All these years, carrying Darius’ mark and thinking she was butt ugly…

  Darius saw the waiter’s reaction and went still. Then his gaze narrowed and his body tightened beneath the Italian silk suit. A dangerous tension rippled from him, along with a low growl.

  She’d seen this predatory stillness before in Maxim’s pack, right before Darius had attacked a male who’d insulted her. Sam felt a ripple of fear, though his fury wasn’t directed at her. She covered his hand with her palm and felt him relax.

  “Let’s order,” she told him.

  Darius asked what wine she preferred, and then ordered a bottle of her favorite Chardonnay. She wasn’t thirsty for alcohol. A sudden longing surfaced within her to drink from a cool mountain stream, then splash and play in the water, chasing Darius in wolf form…

  Shutting down her wolf, Samantha rattled off trivial information about the renovated downtown area, how the city had turned it around from seedy and crime-riddled to upscale and swanky. She remained determined to stay aloof and professional.

  Though it was extremely hard, looking at the handsome Lupine sitting across from her, his blue gaze mesmerizing as he studied her. The enticing smell of his spicy aftershave drifted into her nostrils. Her wolf senses sharpened around Darius. Hearing, sight and awareness were fully cranked up.

  Along with a vicious need to touch him, and run her hands over his yummy body…

  Stop. It.

  “Your nose is twitching. Do you smell something interesting?” he asked.

  “It’s your cologne. Very nice,” she admitted.

  An amused smile touched his full mouth. “I’m not wearing any.”

  That was his natural scent. She’d forgotten. Samantha turned her attention toward the waiter, who was returning to their table with the wine. The man ignored her and focused his attention on Darius. Darius inhaled the scent of the cork, sampled the vintage, letting it swirl on his tongue and then nodded. They
placed their orders.

  After the server left, it hit her. He hadn’t even glanced at the menu…

  “You still have trouble reading. That’s why you want to eat here, because you’ve eaten here before and know the menu by heart. That’s why you brought your own copy of my proposal to the breakfast meeting, so you could have time to read it.”

  Expression impassive, he shrugged. Samantha touched his hand. “It’s okay. I understand, remember. That’s why you hire a car. Street signs.”

  Red flushed his high cheekbones. Suddenly he looked more vulnerable and…human…than the charming and suave businessman who’d sampled the wine with expertise. “I can manage. It takes me a long time to read contracts and proposals. Street signs don’t give me a problem, but it’s easier to hire a car in the city and our business is doing well enough to afford the expense.”

  Her heart twisted as she remembered his shame, how he’d confessed his disability to her. And how he’d struggled to learn, how proud she’d been when he managed to read an entire passage without faltering. Darius was stubborn and strong-willed and he’d succeeded. “You’ve done well for yourself, Darius. I always knew you could.”

  He looked startled for a moment and then smiled. “You had faith in me when everyone else called me stupid.”

  “You’re not stupid,” she reminded him, and the words were an echo from the past, when he’d slunk through the forest, feeling defeated after his father had berated him.

  “How did you survive after Maxim…” She caught herself, not wishing to remind him of how his father had viciously thrown him out. “After you left?”

  He shrugged again, those broad shoulders rising in sleek silk. “I managed. Enough about me. Tell me about your life. How did you find a job at Comairise Energy and end up out here in Oregon?”

  “I like the west coast and after Mom died, I had no reason to remain in Idaho. Working for an environmentally conscious firm had been a dream of mine, and Oregon is a green state. But the best jobs are always in the city, so I came to Portland.”

  And cities offered more cover and protection from Maxim’s fury. Darius’ father would never suspect she’d moved here.

  “I’m surprised my father let you go so easily. He was possessive of all the Lupines in his pack.”

  Samantha toyed with her wine glass. “We didn’t exactly part on good terms.”

  Good terms? I left in the middle of the night before he could find out my plans. Before he found out what I had done…

  “I didn’t either.” Darius looked bitter.

  “What he did to you was unpardonable.” Fresh anger surged through her. “His own son. How could he do it? Your father, pardon me for saying this, is a complete and total asshole.”

  “More than his youngest son? Or do you put us both in the same category?”

  A flush heated her face. “I’m sorry for calling you that.”

  “I’ve been called much worse, and by him.” Darius sipped his wine. “Did he mistreat you or your family after I left?”

  The question held a note of contained fury. Instinctively she knew if she said yes, he’d return to his father’s pack and beat the alpha to a pulp. She hastened to assure him. “He was nothing but polite and respectful. He continued to make sure Mom and Marcia received excellent medical attention. We really never wanted for anything.”

  Except a gravestone for my poor sister…

  Darius’ expression turned cold. “In return, you worked very hard for him. My father never gave free rides.”

  Tension knotted her stomach as she remembered those days when she’d been so exhausted she’d collapsed in the nearest chair to sleep. “I worked hard for him, at the lodge, doing chores and cooking. Marcia was too frail to do much so I did her share as well. And I got a job in town waitressing at night to contribute money to the pack.”

  “You always were a hard worker, Sam.” Darius leaned forward, his gaze intent. “I wished I could have done more for you.”

  A memory clicked. “You did. The dishes you washed, the housekeeping you did because you always said “Let’s race!” and ended up losing on purpose. You did that to help me out. I knew, Darius. You always were one of the fastest in the pack. I never could have beaten you.”

  A rueful smile touched his mouth. “I should have tried harder.”

  Emotion clogged her throat. “It was so sweet and thoughtful.”

  They fell silent a moment as the waiter brought an appetizer. She picked up a rye cracker and spread fruit compote on it. “What did you do after you left, Darius? How did you end up in Montana?”

  He tossed back more wine. “Long, boring story. I wandered, worked at a Skin restaurant for a while as a bus boy, did odd jobs here and there. Eventually met Aiden, my alpha. He’d started a new pack and needed help with the ranch. We have a successful business now and about 100 pack members. You know the rest—we sell quality beef to restaurants around the country.”

  Suddenly she wanted to know how he’d managed on his own. Darius was clever and resourceful, but being thrown out of the pack, ejected from the family who’d raised you…

  “You were on your own for a while,” she guessed.

  Another shrug. “Tell me about the man who hurt you. What happened?”

  Two could play the evasive game. “We had a date. Todd saw me and changed his mind. End of story.”

  “He hurt you. I can see it in your eyes. I’d like to smash his nose for insulting my woman,” Darius muttered.

  “I don’t need a knight in shining armor. And I’m not your woman.”

  “How about a wolf in shining armor?”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “You’ve taken care of yourself for years. Now I want to take care of you for a change.”

  “Darius, the time for taking care of me is long gone.”

  His mouth tightened. “Then tell me what I must do to go back and change everything.”

  Change yourself. Change how you act, who you are, assure me I’m the only one for you and you’ll never set eyes on another woman again. The words lingered on her tongue. Then she remembered the women in the hot tub photos and her heart sank to her stomach.

  “It’s too late. There’s too much of a lifestyle difference between us, Darius. You have your preferences and I have mine. But we could be friends.”

  “Friends,” he repeated, looking dismayed. “I have friends. I want my mate.”

  “I’m not your mate.”

  With the tip of a forefinger, he stroked his neck, the exact spot where he’d placed the mating mark on her. Sam shivered as if he’d touched her.

  “You were marked to be mine, and I never forgot that,” he said softly.

  “Listen to me, Darius. I have a new life among the Skins. I don’t do wolves…”

  “Good, because the only one you will be doing is me, darling.”

  Samantha ignored that comment. “I’m in Skin now for good. I don’t hold to Lupine traditions and they don’t hold me. I’m here on business with you, and we will behave professionally for the next few days, just as you’d deal with any other Skin.”

  “Those Skins usually get drunk and then they sign the contract. I don’t want you drunk, Sam.” He leaned forward and encased her palm with his large, warm one. Callouses rubbed against her skin. Despite the silk suit, he was a working man, and it was proven by these marks of labor. For a moment she relished the feel of his hand protectively covering hers. Darius was real, someone not afraid of hard work, a man who would keep his woman safe and protected and…

  Stop. It. He was Lupine. Not a man, and a Lupine who only thought of taking her back to a life she no longer wanted.

  “I want you alert and aware. I want you fully knowing what’s going to happen to you.” His smile, oh, so sexy and slow, made all her female parts sit up and pay attention.

  “Happen?”

  “When I undress you, very slowly, and then take you to my bed. I want you awake and aware, feeling every inch of my
naked body against yours, my hands stroking you, down your hips, between your legs…but no, I can’t wait for the hotel. I’d tear off your clothing and bend you over this table right now…”

  Yes, yes, yes, her wolf whined. Now!

  “Stop it. We’re in public,” she whispered.

  So? This booth has curtains.

  He withdrew his hand. “Sorry, darling. Around you, I forget to be a gentleman. You drive me wild, make me think about only one thing.”

  She gave a nervous laugh. “I gather it’s not water pumps.”

  “No, but a cold shower might help.”

  All these years, she’d tried to get Skins interested in her, saying the words Darius had just uttered so softly, seductively. And the one male she needed interested only in business?

  He wanted to remove all her clothing and take her on the table, here and now. Heat flared between her legs. She squirmed in her seat at the image of Darius bending her over the table, spreading her thighs wide, his big, muscled body standing between them, his hard cock touching her wet center…

  She picked up her water glass and drank deeply. Funny how she tried to sell him a water project and all he did was make her hot and thirsty.

  He watched her. “But a cold shower wouldn’t help. Not with you. Unless you joined me.”

  The graphic promise in his smoky voice evoked an image of them tangling together, water cascading down his chest as he soaped her body, so vivid it felt like he’d slid a hand between her legs. Samantha clenched her thighs and watched him smile, as if he knew.

  Of course he did. He was a wolf, and could smell her arousal.

  But sex wasn’t enough. Having spent ten lonely years pining for his touch, wishing he were there to hold the coldness at bay, she needed more. Maybe other Lupine females would be satisfied with orgasms. She wanted a shining vision of her reflected in his eyes when he looked down at her as they made love.

  Remembering the grunts and moans of pleasure on the tapes the detective had made for her, Samantha stifled a regretful sigh. How could he be exclusive? Not with that earthy, driving sensuality that sent women into ecstasy in his bed.