Excerpt: Calling the Bluff

Calling the Bluff (Down & Dirty #2)

Hazel Young is a rare commodity in town: a young, single female whose first mating is nearly upon her. She’s spent the last two years fending off suitors who grow more determined by the day — after all, there’s nothing flattering in the attention of werewolves more interested in what she is than who she is, especially not when she gave her heart away to Oliver Russell years ago. But Oliver seems to feel nothing for her but fond kindness, and the time has come to choose a mate before the wolf makes the choice for her.

When Oliver happens across Hazel being pressured by a local who wants to be her first, it awakens protective instincts he thought he’d set aside with the death of his wife five years ago. With Hazel in heat and no time to get her to safety, they wind up in a fishing shack on Lonely River, waiting for her mating fever to pass. The last thing he expects is to be tempted by her inexperienced attempts at seduction.

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Read an Adultish Excerpt from Calling the Bluff…

He ushered her inside and knelt by the hearth. “I’ll get a fire started, then I’ve got to check on my stock. Do you want to go back to sleep for a little while?”

She was more hungry than tired, and not just for food anymore. Which means if I want to stay sane long enough to eat, I need clothing. “Do you have something I can wear? Maybe just an old shirt or something?”

Instead of heading for the bedroom, he rose and stripped off his own shirt. “Here.”

Her gaze dropped to his chest. Warmth flooded her as she stared at his broad shoulders and the hard muscles of his arms that flexed as he held out the shirt. If she reached out she might touch him, and if she touched him she’d be begging him to fuck her before she could draw another breath.

Which was all rational and reasonable, and didn’t explain what made her release her hold on the blanket and let it slide to the floor at her feet. “Thank you.”

“On second thought…” His eyes darkened as he looked over at her. “If you can start the fire, I’ll head out to the barn.”

The fact that he wasn’t physically running didn’t help the urge to chase him. Hazel drew on the stubborn strength that had gotten her through the last few uncomfortable months and managed a short nod. “I can light the fire.”

“Good.” He turned and walked out the front door again, still bared to the waist.

When he was gone she let out the breath she’d been holding and picked up his discarded shirt. It smelled of him, which soothed the wolf as she pulled it over her head. The hem hung past her knees and the shoulders were impossibly wide, but at least she wasn’t naked anymore.

Of course, she wasn’t exactly in the mood to be playing with the fire, either. She built up her own fire every night during the winter, but it took four tries just to get a simple feeble flame to stay lit. Her mind kept skittering away from mundane details to linger on the curve of Oliver’s shoulder or his lean waist or the impressive girth of his cock, which had felt so damn good…

The piece of wood she’d been clutching slipped from her suddenly limp fingers and landed directly on top of her tiny fire, which promptly went out. Hazel swore and started over, struggling this time to fight the images that taunted her as the urge to mate grew inside her. You held out for months, she told herself sternly as she coaxed the fire back to life. Ten minutes won’t kill you.

But when he came back less than ten minutes later, the waiting had become almost unbearable. He took one look at her and cursed. “Is it rising again? The fever?”

Hazel closed her eyes and pressed her face against the side of the worn down couch she’d curled up against. “I tried to stop it.”

“You need to eat something.” Even as he spoke, he moved to the couch and knelt beside her. “Look at me, Hazel.”

His voice sent heat dancing up her spine, and she shivered as she turned to meet his gaze. “I tried.”

“Come on.” He gathered her into his arms, gentle and strong. “We can go to the bedroom, and eat later.”

“I’m sorry.” Even as she said the words she couldn’t keep herself from pressing her lips to his bare shoulder.

He shivered under her lips, and his hand stroked over her hair. “For what?”

“For not being able to control it like I should.”

“And who said you should be able to control it?”

It had never occurred to her that she shouldn’t be able to. “I’m supposed to be strong.”

His voice dropped to a husky whisper. “Sometimes, that makes it worse. The need.”

She couldn’t help herself. She bit his shoulder and groaned as that very need became too much to contain. The wolf wasn’t interested in control, unless it was a prelude to losing it. Oliver had a power and strength in him that matched her own, and that was all that mattered now.

He nudged open a door to reveal a sparely furnished bedroom dominated by a large bed covered with a dark quilt. “We might be here a while, Hazel.”

She barely heard him. She wanted to be on that bed, naked. She wanted him behind her or above her, whichever way would get him in her. Her breathing was too fast as she forced herself to look up at Oliver’s face. “I need you.”

There was something gentle in his eyes as he laid her down and started undressing. “I know. You will for a while. Then you’ll feel better.”

Then I’ll feel worse. But she didn’t say it out-loud. Admitting the truth now might make him stop, and her body felt too warm and too needy for that. She rose to her knees and tugged at his shirt. “Just tell me you want me for now.”

He moved her hands and freed the buttons. “I want you.” He kept his eyes lowered, almost as if ashamed of the words. “I want everything from you, and there’s not a damn bit of it I should be thinking about taking.”

Her heart pounded. The shirt fell open and she caught his hands. “Tell me what you want, then. And you won’t have to take it. I’ll give it to you.”