While strolling toward the house, he noticed the sun evaporating every drop of water from the canopy of leaves. The flowers around the porch were limp, their leaves yellow from too much water. Butterflies circled blooming lantanas, yet all Archer could think about was the unshakable connection he’d felt with Cecilia when they locked eyes last night. How everything shifted from sex into a deeper emotion—something so untapped that even he didn’t know what the hell it was.
It freaked him out.
Archer had never felt tethered to anyone in that way. When he first met Cecilia, the connection was sexual and intensified by her heat cycle. With his being intoxicated, it had been difficult to process everything in the aftermath. But now that he’d gotten to know her, now that they had been intimate again, that pull he felt was even stronger.
Sweet. My wolf has fallen in love with a horse. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?
It was bad enough theLword had entered his mind, but Archer had never been in a real relationship. Ever since moving to Austin, he’d felt a pull toward settling down. Not just with his life but also with his heart. Maybe seeing those around him fall in love had made him envious of that bond.
But he figured if any girl was willing to settle with him, she’d have to be crazy. Cecilia was too fragile—too perfect. He wouldburn down the world for that woman, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to ask her out. It hadn’t occurred to him why until that morning.
His thoughts fused into one crystalline realization: to pursue her meant to tell her the truth.
When women asked about his arm, he would either blow them off or fabricate a story. But he didn’t want to lie to Cecilia, which meant exposing himself for the deplorable man he once was.
So he spent his time that morning trying to decide if it would be easier to back off or pursue a woman who would never return his love. Either way, it was a lose-lose situation.
Dammit. There I go, thinking about thatLword again.
Once inside the house, he ducked into the kitchen and guzzled a glass of water. Tak’s laughter from out back penetrated the walls. Striding out of the kitchen, Archer spotted Hope poking her head out of the bathroom in the back hall, her long hair swinging as she looked around with uncertainty.
He chuckled. “Out of toilet paper?”
Hope was a stunning woman with full lips, dark eyes, straight hair, and a smile that could warm the blackest of hearts. But she wasn’t smiling now, and that frown line between her eyes was deeper than usual.
He approached, concerned that something was wrong. “Everything okay?”
“Melody talked me into testing out her new swimwear samples for next season.” Hope emerged from the bathroom in a purple bikini.
Not what he expected.
Archer had barely ever seen her in anything less than a cropped shirt, and she always covered up from the waist down. He’d gotten used to not looking at his female packmates after a shift.
The halter top was dark purple and went around the back of her neck and then crisscrossed over her ample chest. He glimpsed the back, which faded from purple to pink.
“I’m not sure how I feel about this,” she confessed.
Archer laughed and stared out the back door at Krys branching away from Tak. “I don’t know howyoufeel, but I can sure bet I know how your mate will feel.”
“How do I look?”
“You look great, Hope. And that’s all I’m gonna say.” He pushed through the center seam of the magnetic screen and crossed the deck.
Virgil was sitting in a lawn chair, his teal robe untied, round purple sunglasses on his face, and otherwise naked except for a pair of black bikini briefs. He sipped on an orange juice. “What are you grinning about?”
Archer walked to the railing and turned around, facing the house. “I think the next five minutes of my life might be the most entertaining yet.”
After gulping down the rest of his juice, Virgil said, “If I had a nickel for every time someone said that to me, I’d be sitting on the deck of my mansion in Hawaii.” He followed Archer’s expectant gaze to the back door.
Melody flew out in a tie-dye bikini, her pink hair pulled up in a ponytail, pink mirrored shades on her eyes. “Come on, Hope!”
Tak chuckled and put a stick of beef jerky into his mouth. The sun had glazed his brown skin a deeper shade of gold, his braid tightly woven as he crossed the deck to where Archer was standing.
“The stream is flooded,” he informed her. “You shouldn’t swim today.”
Melody jogged down the steps with towels under her arm. “We’re not going to the stream. It’s too wet, and I’m not ruining my shoes. We’re just going to enjoy the sun and test out the material.After that, turn the hose on and see how they wear in the water. I have to make sure they don’t expand and fall off or turn see-through.” She did a twirl in the yard. “My new bikini line is coming out next year. Well… maybe. Come on, Hope!”
Tak gnawed on his stick. “Those two are always up to something. I thought Mel was sewing a new line of baby clothes. Nowthatwould be a good venture for her. Babies grow fast. They’re always needing a new outfit and?—”
