A Wolf's Bargain Read online

  She stood on the front porch of her home and stared at the door. The plain weathered white door was simple. Yet, all but a few of her memories were ingrained in those four walls behind an old, worn door. She entered. “Hello, anyone home?”

  She placed the bag on the kitchen table. Go figure. The one day I need to talk to someone, everyone is gone. “Fawn?”

  The soft rumbling of voices caught her attention, and she followed them down the hall to the office Fawn used for her business—which she also used to manage the ranch. Lily thought she’d be mad at the change. Instead, she felt the weight of the world being lifted from her shoulders. Between taking care of the house and managing the book side of the family farm, most days overwhelmed her.

  Whatever program Fawn used for her accounting business, she implemented it for their cattle. It took three-quarters of the work away from what Lily had been doing by hand.

  “So, if I add ice cream to the cafe, what will my profit margin be?” Ero’s, owner of Los Lobos Cafe, voice filled the hallway.

  “I’m not sure. As you know Dotties is open and we still have The Den, I would wait a bit before you decide to go this route. Remember, you not only have to buy the counter to hold the ice cream, but you also need the freezer to keep it,” Fawn answered.

  He grunted. “What are my profits now?”

  “You’re actually doing good….”

  Lily made her way back to the kitchen. She didn’t need to hear about Ero’s business, nor did she want to interfere. When the six foot four inch wolf with blue eyes and black hair emerged from Fawn’s office, she waved.

  “Hey, stranger.” He smiled. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “Likewise. How are you?”

  “Good.” He pointed back to where Fawn sat in the other room. “Business.”

  She nodded. “Everything going good for you and your brother?” Known as the light and dark twins. Where Ero had dark hair and light eyes, his brother had sandy-blond hair, hazel eyes, and he was a pack protector. Both were enigmas. Both were still single in a pack which seemed to be pairing up at a rather rapid pace.

  “We’re good. Busy as all get out.” He glanced at his phone. “I’ll see you around.”

  Taken aback by the sudden dismissal, she watched Ero’s retreating form as he stepped into the mudroom before exiting the house.

  “You’re home.” Fawn waddled out to the kitchen. “Did you ha— Holy shit!”

  Lily winced. “Surprise?”

  Fawn laughed and sat down across from her. “Not in the least.” She pointed to the bag. “Did you bring me a burger from Gee’s?”

  She nodded.

  “I love you. I’m famished.” Fawn grabbed the sack. “Did you know it would happen?”

  “It” being her mating Chris. “No. Well, I should have known. Everything is up in the air still.”

  Fawn arched a brow. “So you’re bribing me with a burger to help you?”

  “More like helping me figure out what the heck I’ve gotten myself into with him.” She blew out an exasperated breath. “I didn’t know being a mate came with subsections.”

  Her mated sister blinked. “What?”

  “Chris wants me to try things with him. Tie me up. Spank me.” Her cheeks grew increasingly warmer as she ticked off the things she and he talked about.

  “O-kay. Well, I guess you need to ask yourself if this is what you really want. You can’t take back the mating. It’s true and complete. However, everything else is both of your choices. He lets you know what he wants. The question becomes can you handle it? Is it what you want?”

  Lily nodded as Fawn took a bite of the burger and moaned. Did she really want what Chris offered? She couldn’t lie, the things he’d said he’d done added an extra bit of titillation to the mating. The things he expressed to her also intrigued her.

  “I believe I have something to think about.” She sighed. “Who’s cooking tonight?”

  Her mated sister shrugged. “Might end up going out again.”

  “Why?”

  “Have you ever eaten your brother’s cooking?”

  Lily laughed. “You’ve got a point there. How about I cook you guys a few meals for the next couple of days, and, as payment, you can tell me the names you’ve come up with for the baby.”

  “Deal.”

  ***

  Sitting in the office, Lily opened her laptop and pulled up her favorite search engine. Her fingers hovered over the keys, anticipating her next move. Four simple letters and a word. So, why couldn’t she type it in? Nervous energy wiggled through her stomach. She licked her bottom lip and closed her eyes. What the hell are you waiting for?

  She typed it in then hit enter. Several sites along with videos popped up in front of her. She chose the easy stuff first—a beginner’s site, a guide of sorts. She clicked on the link and waited as the page opened. Inch by inch more of the page appeared. Welcome to Kink 101….

  Black-and-white piping framed a letter introducing the owners of the blog. The woman, named Scarlet Kitty, wrote about her life as a service submissive. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Pictures accompanied her testimony. In most she was naked, others she wore skimpy, barely there clothing. She wore a thick, black dog collar with a ring jutting out from the front of it.

  Another picture had a man, balding, in his mid-forties, standing behind her. He wore a white button-down shirt, leather pants, and leather gloves. She looked up adoringly into his eyes, and he had the softest smile Lily had ever seen. The caption stated she called him Sir, and they’d been partners for twenty-six years. Strange titles humans gave their mates. Partners, spouses. Lovers, friends with benefits. Lily rolled her eyes at that one. The newest one, before she returned to the hills, had been called Netflix and Chill. Why couldn’t humans be more like wolves? Find their mates, claim them, and be happy?

  She pushed the wayward thoughts away, knowing she’d only distract herself from the task of learning all she could. The letter concluded a few sentences later with Thank you for stopping by. If you have any questions, email us at…. No, she’d definitely not be emailing anyone. Instead, she hovered the arrow over the sections of the site. Bondage. Impact. Fetishes. One even said, Puppy Play. Humans are so curious.

  Although she’d spent several years with them and learned some human customs, they’d stayed to themselves when they could. Her mom and dad worked themselves to the bone to support all three—not as if her brothers slacked off. Kal and Graham had done their best then took over when her parents died.

  Lily shook off the memories of her parents’ death. They were gone. Her mom and dad wouldn’t want her to dwell on the loss or the achingly huge hole it left in her heart when they died. They wanted her to be happy and for the most part she had been.

  “Lily?” Kal opened the door to the office. “Fawn said you’d come home. Is everything okay?”

  She closed the lid of her laptop and brushed the stray tears from her eyes. She didn’t need some damn Web site to tell her how to act or what to do or even what was expected of her. Her mate would guide her, teach her anything she desired to know, as long as she opened up to him and gave him the same respect in return.

  “I’m fine. I brought Fawn some lunch and I promised to cook dinner, too.” She stood from where she sat then came around the desk and hugged her brother.

  “He treating you okay?”

  “Chris is fine. He didn’t hurt me or anything. He was…is really good to me. He’s giving me time to reconcile our lives together.”

  “So you went and did it, huh?” Kal whispered, pushing her hair behind her ear.

  “I did.” She grinned. “I’m spreading my wings and leaving the nest.”

  He sighed. The hair on the top of her head fluttered. “This will always be your home. Don’t you forget it.”

  “I won’t.”

  Chapter Eleven

  At seven p.m., a knock came at Chris’s door. The idea
of Lily never coming back, though the mating bond tied them together, had sprung to his mind a couple of times.

  In fact, he’d decided to tell her never mind. Then reneged. She deserved all of her mate as he demanded all of her. He strode to the door, no expectations for what would come. He pulled it open, and the breath he’d been holding left him with a whoosh. “Lily.” He gathered her in his arms and held her tight.

  Giving her time to think, he realized, had been a horrible, horrible idea.

  “Wow, is this going to be how you greet me every time I come home?” She nuzzled his neck and drew in a breath.

  “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was a little worried.” He ushered her inside and closed them in.

  “Wait.” She placed her hand against his chest. “The rest of my stuff is on the porch.” She stepped outside to grab her things. “Do you have someplace I can put these?”

  “Yes,” he answered, almost too quickly for his taste.

  “Great. How about you show me where then I’ll make us some dinner.” She shimmied past him.

  He snatched her arm and twirled her back around. “What?”

  She grinned up at him, her slate-blue eyes twinkling with mirth. The pulse at her throat throbbed to the beat of her heart. His wolf pushed forward at her soft inhalation. “Dinner. I’ll make it.”

  The subtle fragrance of her arousal wafted around him, teasing him. Tempting the beast within him. “Just like that?”

  “Were you expecting me to put up a fight?”

  Yes. When he’d dropped his proclamation of having her spend a couple of nights away from him, he’d thought she’d pitch a fit and make him pay for even suggesting so. “Kind of.”

  She nodded. “Fair enough. I thought about it. I even did a little research. I think subconsciously I searched for something bad.”

  The idea of her looking up the terms, finding out what turned her on, or what repulsed her, had his cock thickening in his jeans. “What did you find?”

  “A couple in love.” She strode down the hall, a sway to her hips while her curly brown hair brushed across her shoulders with each step.

  “What?” He followed behind her, curious as to what she’d found.

  “Yes.” She pointed to the dresser he’d placed near his. “Mine?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Great. I’ll put this stuff away. Why don’t you take something out for me to make dinner?”

  His cheeks heated. The only food he’d bought came in a to-go box from one of the local establishments. “Yeah we might have a problem there.”

  “Why?” She opened her bag before carrying some shirts and things to the dresser. On the way back, she pushed her hair behind her ear.

  “Well, I don’t usually keep food on hand. People, for the most part, feed me.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I usually eat on my ‘late in the day calls.’ It’s something the wives of my clients insist on.”

  “Well, we can grab something, then.” She carried another armful of clothes to the dresser.

  “Stop,” he barked. The harshness of his tone had been harder than he’d intended.

  “Did I do something wrong?” She sat on the bed next to her bags.

  “No. You’ve come in here like a tornado, stamping your place in our home while also saying you read about a couple.” He had questions to ask. Things to say.

  “Then I’ll finish up here, and we’ll be ready to go. Or you could order us something from the pizza place in Hill City. Gabby and I go there when we see Alicia.”

  “Pizza?”

  “Fully loaded. Meat, extra cheese, veggies. So good. You’ll love it. We can kick up our feet, chat about everything.”

  He stared at her for a minute. “You’ll tell me what you found in your research?”

  “Yes.”

  “Fine, go call and I’ll get the rest of this settled for us.” He moved toward her bag as she stood. “We’ll discuss what happens later while we eat.”

  She gave him a curt nod before exiting the room. Chris moved to the closet and grabbed the items, including something he’d picked up for her while in Rapid City for a call. The lacy outfit would fit her like a glove and make her eye color pop.

  He placed the things on the bed, her side then finished putting everything away, while adding her toiletries to the bathroom. Already the house felt like a home. Not just some place he’d lay his head. In a moment’s time, every ill feeling he had, every worry seemed to melt away. Old wounds healed.

  “Pizza’s ordered,” Lily called from down the hall.

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Placing the last of her belongings in the drawers, he closed them then stored her bags in the closet. He went to the living room and found Lily by the door waiting for him. She stared out at the starry night, her arms crossed. Her bottom lip between her teeth.

  Her features were soft. A few freckles dappled her delicate jaw. Her button nose and full lips were showcased by beautiful eyes, and he swore her eyelashes were a mile long. They fluttered shut seconds before she gifted him a brilliant smile.

  Mate.

  “Ready to go?” He grabbed his keys off the cork board while strolling toward her.

  “Ready,” she answered, holding out her hand.

  ***

  Two pieces of pizza in, she couldn’t stand it any longer. The almost-silent treatment they’d been giving each other grated on her nerves. How the hell were they supposed to go forward when he wouldn’t tell her a damn thing?

  Lily glanced at Chris who grabbed another slice of pizza from the box. Unlike her, he appeared relaxed, almost copacetic with their arrangement. She wanted to scream. Tell him to hurry up and eat the damn pizza and move on. Rather, she sat there, staring off into space, trying to calm the erratic emotions coursing through her.

  “You’re awful quiet over there.” He took another bite.

  “What do you want me to say?”

  “Why don’t you tell me about the couple you read about?”

  “I went looking for more information after I left here this afternoon.”

  “I’m glad you did your research.” The hint of approval in his voice warmed her.

  “I thought if I was going to walk into this with both eyes open, I should know what BDSM is and if it’ll work for me. Let me tell you, there are some crazy sites out there.”

  Chris laughed. “Yes, there are. What did you find?”

  “A site called Kink 101 and a woman named Scarlet Kitty. Anyway, her opening letter caught my attention. There were pictures of her and a man by the name of Sir.” She recounted the whole site, from each drop-down menu to the stories added in by other couples.

  “How did it make you feel?”

  “Intrigued. I liked the idea of being tied up. I liked the idea, I guess, of being spanked. But, I don’t like the extreme side of it. All those…torture devices. All the…misery. I know they enjoy it. Not me. I’d hate it.”

  He nodded. “Then we’ll keep it light. Doesn’t have to go to the extreme side of play. Besides, it’s not the kind of Dom I am.”

  “I need a safe word. Right?”

  “Yes. Something not in your normal vocabulary. Something you wouldn’t scream out during sex.”

  “Magnum.” Even annunciating his name left a sour taste in her mouth.

  “A little severe, don’t you think?”

  She shrugged. “It works. We both know I won’t ever use his name.”

  “I don’t like it.” Chris curled his lip. “Yes, it’s not a word you’d say, ever. Still, I won’t have the bastard’s name uttered if we got to a point of needing it. We’ll go with red.”

  She learned the color scale while researching, never thinking she could choose the word as her own. I still have so much to learn. “Fine. Red. I’ll use it.” She knew if she ever uttered it, he’d immediately stop what they were doing. Which, she liked. The other colors were just as simple. Yellow to pause, if thin
gs got too intense, and green meant she was enjoying herself—didn’t want what they were doing to stop.

  “Good,” he stated. “In our room are some items. I want you to examine them, and, if you’re willing to accept this new dynamic of our relationship, I want you to change into the outfit I picked up for you. Then I’d like you to join me back in here in fifteen minutes.”

  She sat there for a moment and considered him and his offer. How had she missed this? Missed the outfit and the objects he bought. Everything seemed like one big secret. The answers came with each step she took. She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips then stood. The final test in her mind, if their mating would be a true, full mating, where each of them could accept each other for their quirks. Or if they were going to have half a mating, where Chris hid this part of himself because she couldn’t approve of him.

  On the pillow on the left side of his bed sat a bundle of rope, some kind of clamps with chain, a lacy nightie, and a calico-print bandanna. She studied each item. Her fingers brushed over the soft, almost parachute-type cord, and the powder-blue handkerchief. She studied the lacy details of the blush-colored nightie. Simple yet elegant. Is this how he sees me? Simple and elegant? Testing the strength of the clamps, a niggle of pleasure bloomed in her belly. From the pictures she’d seen, she knew the devices would be attached to her nipples, and after their night in the woods, she enjoyed the bit of pain Chris administrated.

  After placing the clamps on the bed, her decision made, she took off her clothes to prepare for the evening, resolute in her choice. Her hands didn’t tremble like she thought they would. Determination filled her while she slipped the skimpy piece of material over her body. With the rest of the stuff Chris left for her in her hands, she made her way out to the living room. What she saw when she arrived, took her breath away.

  Chris stood by the fireplace. Naked from the waist up, the muscles of his broad back bunched when he turned toward her. The pure unadulterated lust in his gaze took her breath away. “Let’s begin.”