4
“You sure you’llbe okay with just one?” Cullen asked for the third time four hours later.
Sarah clutched the massive blanket to her chest, not sure how to handle this chatty man. “I’m fine, Cullen. I’m good.” She paused, not sure what to make of the shuttered look he directed her way. It was lusty, but also something more. “Thanks for everything. You’ve been nicer to me than anyone has in a long time, and I appreciate it.”
Instead of accepting her thanks, he scowled. “Yeah, sure. Good night.” He turned and left, slamming a door somewhere in the massive house.
She didn’t understand the man. After the kiss they’d recently shared, he should have been in a better mood. If he’d wanted sex from her, he could have had it. God knew she couldn’t have said no,didn’tsay no, as a matter of fact. As it was, he’d been the one to end their embrace before tearing out of the house like a shot.
She knew he wanted her, but he denied himself, unlike most of the men she’d grown up with. Cullen didn’t take what was offered, for some unknown reason. And his distance intrigued her even more, attracting her like a moth to flame.
Lord, but sex with Cullen was going to be spectacular. She’d stopped lying to herself sometime during her bath. As much as she might have wished differently, Sarah desired Cullen. In just a few days, she’d leave Cougar Falls and everything else behind her. Why not indulge in a harmless affair? Even if Cullen did spread the news to the rest of the town—and she didn’t think he would—she’d be long gone by then.
So why does the thought of leaving suddenly feel like the wrong thing to do?
Afraid her answer had to do with her baffling host, she closed the door to the spare bedroom he’d given her and looked past the finely crafted furnishings, lingering on a picture of his family on the dresser.
All of the Whitefeather men looked alike. Cullen was the spitting image of his father, so Sarah knew what his mother had seen in the man. In the photo, the family grinned like loons while they balanced precariously on top of a cliff.
“Must love danger,” she murmured, thinking of the danger he might face from the raptor clan after she left town. She wondered, not for the first time, what kind of repercussions Cullen might have to deal with for injuring Jenny Larsen.
She couldn’t let him get in trouble because of her. Though she hadn’t asked for his help, without it she would have been seriously injured, if not dead. The gruff man had a heart of gold in that ill-mannered chest. He was still curt to the point of rudeness, yet he touched her with nothing but gentleness.
He’d gone out of his way to cook her the best damned meals she’d ever had. His skill in the kitchen amazed her. So why would a man who could cook like that visit the Fox’s Henhouse so often? It couldn’t be for the company, not when he didn’t associate with anyone much. Sarah often ate at the diner, so as not to have to face her nights alone at a solemn kitchen table. She didn’t think that was the case with Cullen, not with three brothers and his mother here waiting for him.
She wasn’t sure when she’d begun to trust Cullen, but she knew deep down he’d never hurt her. Nor could she imagine him spreading rumors about her in town. Hell, the man was more isolated from the clan than Sarah. And attacking Mike and Jenny wasn’t the best way to influence new friendships. He hadn’t taken advantage of her stay, and he hadn’t forced himself on her at all. Unlike the men in town who promised forever, Cullen promised nothing, which made her want him all the more.
After her debacle with Will had died down, or so she’d thought, some of the raptor men had proven to be friendly, though she couldn’t find it in herself to trust them. A few of the women befriended her, while other clans didn’t spare her much attention, sensing the dissent toward her in her own clan. Still, life could have been worse. At least in Cougar Falls she had people who knew what she was, if not who she was. Being a Shifter out in the world of humans would be a scary place—but a necessary place,she reminded herself.
The one and only true friend Sarah had was up to her neck in trouble in the state of Washington. Julia, a fox and legal assistant, was working like mad to hide her sisters from a bunch of rogue hunters who knew about the Ac-taw.
With the threat of their existence a constant danger, most Shifters chose to remain in Cougar Falls. A magical totem protected the town from outsiders, and only those with a connection to the land and Shifter ancestry could even find the place.
But when Sarah considered the rest of her life, when she saw families playing, husbands and wives kissing, she ached deep inside. Leaving Cougar Falls was her only option. Mike Shaw and Rob Jenkins only represented what most of the raptor clan thought but didn’t say. Then again, she was staying with a man who didn’t say much, yet she knew he didn’t think of her as a woman of loose morals. Confusion filled her as she stared at Cullen’s handsome picture on the dresser.
He baffled her. Who was Cullen Whitefeather? As much of a predator as he was, he hadn’t made a move on her until tonight. And he’d given her a room with a lock, as well as the only two keys to the door.
Cullen did his best to show her she was safe here, until she’d catch him watching her with those eagle eyes, eyes that missed nothing. Had he seen her unwilling attraction to him? Did he know how many times she’d gazed at his mouth, wondering how he’d kiss? She wasn’t sure if her eager response to him was the result of chemistry or an awakened need for physical intimacy.
She wished she had more to go by when it came to sexual experience. If she was half the slut she’d been painted to be, she’d have thrown him to the ground and jumped his bones. Instead, pathetic nobody that she was, Sarah blushed every time she caught him looking at her.
God, even her subconscious was confused. She’d spent the past few days dwelling on the innuendos about her sexual promiscuity, yet she lusted after the man who’d saved her.
Disgruntled that she couldn’t seem to dwell on anything without Cullen’s face clouding her thoughts, Sarah changed into the flannel pajamas she’d packed, turned out the light, and curled up in bed under the heavy blanket Cullen had given her. She should have been tired, but she couldn’t sleep.
She’d spent the day alternately reading and watching television. Cullen’s media room held a number of recent movie titles she’d wanted to see, and she’d filled the afternoon immersed in fantasy worlds where the hero took down the villain and got the girl in the end. A happy ending, at least for someone.
Watching such fantasy, Sarah had imagined Cullen in the lead role. The mysterious hero, so silent, so strong. Curiously, his quiet freed her from worry. She liked being around him. She couldn’t deny she loved looking at him, though she hoped she’d been a bit less obvious in her gawking than he’d been while staring at her. Cullen had a body made for sin, streamlined muscles that could cradle a wounded bird to his chest or lash out at an enemy in a heartbeat. His shoulder-length black hair looked so silky and fine. She wanted to run her fingers through it, to stroke him as she would a feathered bird. His eyes captivated. So dark one minute, so bright gold the next. He was like a wild animal held in thrall by magical means.
Cullen,her bird sighed with longing.Mine.
Lost in another argument with her animal spirit, she started when he knocked on the door.
“Yes?” she called out.
The knob turned slowly. She hadn’t locked it tonight. Funny he chose this night to visit.
He stepped inside and flicked on the light, dressed in his jeans and nothing else.
