Temptation's Hold [Temptation, Wyoming 4] Read online

  “Brad, what are you doing here?”

  He smirked at her. “I was under the impression that this was a public library, or have you gotten into the habit of kicking out studs?”

  She rolled her eyes when he winked at her, feeling the butterflies return to her tummy, this time colossal and rampant. “It’s snowing outside. Shouldn’t you be dressed warmer than that?”

  He gave her a lopsided grin. “Well, I thought about it, but I have a sneaking suspicion one of the librarians that works here has a weak spot for cowboys.”

  Her chest constricted and the nipples tightened to form firm, little beads she hoped wouldn’t show through her bra and white blouse. “Well, then why don’t you go off and pester her?”

  His dark eyes shimmered with humor and lust as his voice became sultry. “I already am.”

  Damn his cowboy charm and rugged good looks. Standing there in his leather boots, duster, and Stetson with his strong jaw and ultimately masculine features, he looked like a Marlboro Man. The sort of tough-as-nails man who other men would be afraid to mess with, but the beckoning depths in his narrow, saddle-brown eyes whispered untold promises to any woman daring enough to take his hand and follow his lead. He was forty and had the look of a cowboy that would ride off into the sunset with his lady once the dust of the gunfight had settled. A real modern-day John Wayne.

  Chanel took a deep breath, trying to mask the effect he had on her. “Why don’t you go look at some books? Knowledge would do your brain some good.”

  Brad grinned, eyes laughing at her. “I need help finding what I’m looking for.”

  “Of course you do,” she retorted, folding her arms. “What would you like me to do for you?”

  His pupils dilated with carnal interest. “A lot of things, Chanel.”

  Her cheeks burned and her pussy moistened at his innuendo. “Relating to books, you weirdo.”

  He chuckled. “I thought I’d give those classics you’re always talking about a try.”

  “What, you mean like Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte?”

  “No. I was thinking something a little less emasculating.”

  As if anyone or anything under heaven could possibly emasculate this idol of a man.

  “Well, Charles Dickens wrote some good ones.” Her nipples puckered almost painfully, as though they wanted to break free of her bra and blouse to appease his wandering eyes. “Hello, my eyes are up here, Brad.”

  “I was just admiring your outfit. You look like a sexy librarian.” His expression turned saucy and naughty. “What did you think I was admiring?”

  The warmth returned to her cheeks and her cunt gushed. She tried to disguise her discomfort over her sticky panties with annoyance, but her attempt proved weak.

  The way his eyes darkened with understanding and his countenance tensed with pent-up need told her he had a pretty good idea of what he was doing to her.

  “Never mind. Follow me and I’ll show you where Dickens is.” She brushed past him, hoping he didn’t smell her arousal.

  He followed, walking disturbingly close to her. “You smell so fucking good.”

  Her breath caught. “Thanks. It’s Chanel No. 5.”

  “I wasn’t talking about the perfume.”

  She grimaced inside, feeling her vagina pulse with hot, desperate yearning. Damn, he knew. She should have known. As a shape-shifter, his sense of smell would be keen enough to pick up the scent of her fluid.

  Chanel tried to refrain from smiling when she recalled how he liked her outfit. It was a white blouse with a khaki-green pencil skirt and beige stiletto pumps. She even wore her brown hair up in a tidy bun today. She probably did resemble a sexy librarian.

  “So what happened to that nerdy scientist you were seeing a while back?” Brad asked casually, barely concealing his jealousy.

  “Albert wasn’t a nerd. He was a genius. We just didn’t have any chemistry.” She led him down an aisle of books and around a shelf in the far corner. It was probably the most secluded spot in the entire library, but it was home to the great classics of literature.

  She caught Brad’s smug smile from the corner of her eye. “You didn’t find him appealing enough to sleep with, huh?”

  A small part of her felt a wicked sense of satisfaction over his former jealousy, and then she felt glee over the fact that she would dash his smugness to hell with the truth. “Oh, I slept with him. We just didn’t have any chemistry in the sack.”

  “What?” Brad’s raised voice startled and amused her. “You let that motherfucker touch you?”

  Chanel wanted to laugh at him, but every trace of mockery went out the window when his large hand grasped her forearm possessively. “Yes, not that it’s any of your business.”

  “Of course it’s my business. You belong to me.”

  “Excuse me? I do not belong to you or anyone.” She jerked her arm free of his loosened grip.

  He stared at her with an iron determination. “So do you just fuck anybody?”

  His hypocrisy made her want to spit on him and slug him a couple of times. “Oh, that is so typical of men. It’s okay for you to run around like a horny animal in mating season, but if a woman lets loose a little bit she’s considered a slut. And by the way, I only have sex when I’m in a relationship with someone. I don’t hang out at sex clubs and screw random hos and whatever other twisted things you and Cory do with your women.”

  His lips quirked, seeming entertained. “Oh, and you don’t think Dawson joins in on the fun, too?”

  The possibility irked her and afflicted her soul with sorrow. “Dawson is a gentleman.”

  Brad snickered. “Not in the bedroom, he’s not. He’s tender with his women, but he knows how to get rough and rowdy when the need arises.”

  “Regardless, he’s still an angel compared to you and your dirty little brother.”

  “We’ve been more liberal in our liaisons, it’s true, but that’s mostly your fault.”

  “Excuse me?” It took every ounce of discipline in her to keep from breaching the required level of whispering and shout at him.

  “You heard me. If you’d just gotten back together with Dawson after we got it all worked out, you could’ve had all three of us. Instead you’ve kept us waiting for years.”

  “Oh, yes, I’m sure it broke your perverted little hearts to have to screw other women instead.”

  His face softened and his eyes glistened. “Believe it or not, it actually did. I would be lying if I said we didn’t enjoy fucking those other women, but it doesn’t mean a damn thing when you know in your heart you were meant for someone else. It hurts like hell to know that your soul mate doesn’t want you.”

  Her heart went out to him before indignation took over. “Nice try, Brad. I don’t buy into the whole shape-shifter hormones and biting crap. I don’t need the fates to tell me what I want.”

  His eyes sassed her. “No. Your body’s doing a nice job of that already.”

  Chanel blushed and pointed to one of the shelves. “Charles Dickens’s books are right there.”

  Brad tugged her arm to stop her when she turned to leave. “I didn’t come here for Dickens and you know it.”

  Before she even knew what was happening he pushed her up against the tall bookshelf, leaned down, and crushed his lips against hers. She squealed in surprise, but the sound melted into the humid depths of his opening mouth as he drew her tongue into him, possessing it with his own.

  Her heart raced and her hands shook fiercely as she brought them to his solid chest to shove him away. Damn, he was well built. The way he towered over her at six feet, three inches was a turn-on enough, but his thick cords of muscle made him that much harder to resist.

  Chanel heard a feeble moan escape her when his powerful hands went to her breasts and massaged them through her silky blouse. The thin material did little to shield the decadent feel of his heated palms where they worked their magic on her tits.

  The maddening kiss that sent her into a fever pitch su
ddenly slowed as his tongue cuddled with hers in a soft, romantic embrace that only heightened her senses. Dear god, he would be the death of her.

  Still, it was just a kiss. It wasn’t like he bit her. She could stop anytime she wanted to, but good lord, she never wanted to. She always wondered what kissing him would feel like. Now she knew it was a pleasing combination of sin, heaven, and candy all wrapped into one erotic package that made her head spin with delight.

  Chanel made a tiny noise of protest, or perhaps it was a sound of approval, when she felt him slowly raising the hem of her skirt so he could get his hand up it. She broke the kiss with a strangled gasp when she felt him cup her V, forcing the skimpy fabric into her soaked folds.

  “Jesus, you’re wet,” he breathed in a husky tone. “I knew you would be. You can’t even look at me without creaming, can you?”

  His arrogance bugged her even as it turned her on. “You arrogant pig, let go of me.”

  “You’re burning up inside, aren’t you?” he whispered with a cocky smile. “You need me to save your life, don’t you?”

  “You’re the most obnoxious—oh god!” The wild rush when his finger pierced into her vagina was unprecedented. She couldn’t remember a man’s hand feeling so good between her thighs. He fucked his digit into her slowly, face clearly mocking her struggle.

  “You have no idea what we want to do to you, do you?” he asked in a dark, silky tone.

  His virility drove her crazy, as did the thumb that dipped into her panties and played with her clit. “I don’t want to hear about your filthy fantasies.”

  He gave her a flirtatious wink. “I think you do. We’ll take you one on one, of course. We all need our time alone with you, but sometimes one of us will take you while the other two watch and masturbate.”

  Her jaw dropped at his crudeness and the feel of him sliding her thong slowly down her legs with his free hand. Equally shocking was her inaction over the whole matter. Not that she could move when he was standing this close to her, pinning her up against the bookshelf with his brawny body.

  “That’s right, baby,” he breathed against her skin, “your panties are coming off. Feels good, doesn’t it? To feel them sliding slowly down your legs and just let them drop to the floor like a naughty little slut. Mm, yes. Your sweet, fuckable cunt is oozing its approval all over my finger.”

  Her gasp froze in the stunned silence as the beige lace slipped quietly to her ankles.

  “A thong—very sexy. Step out of it and take your shoes off.”

  “No! Fuck you. We’re in public and you’re a lech. I’m not—” Chanel bit back a cry of outrage when a finger poked up her anus and wiggled around like a lewd little worm.

  “Do as I say or I’ll be sure to make you scream when you come.”

  She stepped out of her heels and thong, relieved when he removed his finger from her ass. Something about it just felt wrong and unnatural and strangely delicious, though she wasn’t sure why.

  She’d never let another man touch her there with his fingers. Only Master Lucius had ever gotten his fingers up her ass. Letting Brad do that now felt too much like the kind of dark surrender she’d sworn to flee from.

  “We’re going to take you at the same time, too, babe. You’ll be crammed so full of cocks you’re gonna love it. One of us in your fetching pussy, one in your tight little ass, and the other in your beautiful mouth. Can you picture it, sweetheart? We’ll make you come harder than you’ve ever come in your life. We’re going to fuck you until you can’t walk, fill your body with our cum, and pleasure you until you scream.”

  Chanel choked on a scream when his wayward thumb pushed her over the edge. Brad covered her lips with his free hand while his other hand continued to engage her privates. Her cunt rippled and clamped down on his finger while he pillaged her. Her womb shuddered with unmatched bliss as her release washed over his finger hot and wet. Nothing had ever felt as good as his hand having its way with her.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful, Chanel,” he whispered, tone sounding as awed as if he were witnessing a graceful deer for the first time. “I can’t wait to take you to bed with me and get you between my brothers. I’m going to bury myself so deep inside of you you’ll feel me in your soul. I’m going to give you that turning bite and make you mine forever. We all are.”

  His words seduced her and she lost her breath when he tugged her collar aside and bit her lightly with his teeth. The playful chomp riled her sexually, but the dark foreshadowing of what he would do to her—what they would do to her—scared her.

  She shoved him away from her, but the step he took backward was entirely voluntary. He was too strong to be pushed by her.

  “Don’t you touch me!” she said in a loud whisper. “I’m not sleeping with a rabbit.”

  Brad chuckled. “Dawson is the only one of us who’s a rabbit. I’m not a fucking bunny, sweetheart.”

  The pet name warmed her, made her feel cherished and desired. “Don’t call me that. I don’t care what you are. You’re still a shape-shifter. I’m not going to sleep with you.”

  “I was born a little human baby the same as you were. I can’t help my paranormal heritage. And you will sleep with me, Chanel. It’s only a matter of time now.” There was a hard, determined look in his eyes as he scanned her head to toe. He handed her some napkins from his pocket with arrogant satisfaction splashed all over his face.

  Chanel snatched them from him in irritation, slid them under skirt, and mopped up the slick streaks on her thighs and the swampy mess in her heated slit. “You’re despicable.”

  He grinned and winked at her as he used his boot to kick her thong up into his waiting hand. “Thanks for the souvenir, baby doll.”

  She gaped at him as he sniffed her panties with a lusty groan and sauntered off, stuffing her skimpy thong into his pocket.

  “You presumptuous prick! You give me back my panties!”

  He turned to face her with a mocking look of enticement in his eyes. “If you want them you know where to find them. They’ll be proudly displayed on a satin pillow on my bed, waiting for you.”

  Her cheeks heated as he threw her a libidinous wink and blew her a kiss before walking off.

  That hot bastard stole her panties. She would kill him for this. Never had she lost control around him or his brothers since moving to Temptation. She was careful and guarded, but somehow Brad managed to break through her defenses this time.

  Well, he might be gloating now, but she’d never permit him a rerun of this scandalous episode. He would never get any further with her. He couldn’t. She couldn’t even bring herself to stop him from kissing her and bringing her to orgasm. God help her if he ever got her into bed with him.

  * * * *

  Brad Taylor removed his snow-laden duster when he got home, hung his hat, and kicked off his boots. He’d kissed Chanel, touched her. His libido was soaring and oddly, his heart had hope.

  She was still too much of a firecracker to accept any affection from him, but she’d let him put his hands on her today and that was definitely making progress. At this rate, she would be their lover in several years and their bride a decade or so later. He wished there was a way to speed up the wooing process, but by god, he got her off in the library and that was damn near good enough for him for now. The rest would come in time.

  He locked himself in his room, pleased he had the house to himself. He pulled Chanel’s thong from his pocket, closed his eyes, and inhaled her sweet, feminine musk. The scent intoxicated him. The sensual lace of the skimpy garment probably looked great against her soft, delicate privates.

  She had pubic hair. He’d relished the soft, erotic feel of her delicate, little bush earlier when he ran his fingers through it. He could only imagine how hot and womanly she looked with it. If he ever saw it he knew he’d become torn between letting her keep it and shaving it off her. There was beauty in the natural pussy and in the naked cunt, but after he enjoyed her native look for a while, it might be nice to share
in the simple decadence of shaving her mons while she looked up into his eyes and watched him as he bared her private flesh to his hungry eyes.

  Brad slowly unfastened his belt buckle, thrilling over the slight clink sound it made. The same sound it would make when he undressed for Chanel for the first time. Would the subtle sensuality of hearing an unencumbered belt excite her as it did him? Would she be strong enough and brave enough to be still for him and take her punishment like a good girl if he ever needed to spank her with it for insubordination?

  He chuckled to himself at this. Probably not. True, her rampant tongue and willful obstinacy would land her a good deal of penalties in and out of the bedroom, but he could hardly see her submitting to him and accepting it all.

  He undid his fly and shoved her undies into his boxers, fondling his needy cock with them. Then again, he could see her surrender quite vividly in his head.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, he shed his clothes and lay on his side on the bed with his elbow propping him up. The comforter felt good against his naked flesh, but it couldn’t hold a candle to the sensation of Chanel’s lacy, beige panties gliding along his skin. They were slightly sticky from her arousal earlier and the light, fleshly fragrance of hot, aroused woman nearly drove him mad.

  He could hear her sassy, sultry voice in his head, only she wasn’t snapping at him and defying him. Rather she was caving to her secret yearnings and giving him complete control over her.

  “You’re so strong and powerful,” imaginary Chanel praised him as she ran her palms up his chest.

  Brad closed his eyes and gently dragged her thong up his torso, pretending she touched him. He could imagine his fingers gliding through her soft, brown strands of hair as she admired his body.

  “I want you,” she breathed in awe of him.

  “I know you do.”

  “Let me have you, Brad.”

  He moved her underwear so it stroked his belly and descended to his legs. “Be patient, sweetheart. I’m well hung. Before you take the plunge, be sure you can handle me. Once we get started there’s no stopping this.”