“My name is Master Gavin. And yours?”
She dragged her gaze away from the St. Andrews Cross, swallowing a meatball before she answered, “Aislyn Lankford. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Sir, it’s nice to meet you, sir is the correct reply,” he stated, removing his hat and setting it on the table.
Flustered, she said, “Oh, yes, I forgot.”
“No problem, that’s what tonight is about, learning the ins and outs, and if they intrigue you enough to bring you back. Tell me about yourself. How old are you, do you work, go to school?”
“I’m twenty-six and, yes to both. I work full-time and go to school at night. I’ll finally graduate at the end of this semester.” Aislyn sighed. “Other than that, I lead a boring life.”
“And you think coming here will liven things up?”
“No, I mean that’s not what prompted me to come. It’s hard to explain. There’s something missing; I just don’t know what it is.”
Frustration colored her voice and he understood because it was the same for him. Only now, he had the answer to the dissatisfaction plaguing him, and it was one that would eventually bring him more grief than pleasure. From childhood, he and his siblings were given lessons on the history of their pack and the mistake two of their ancestors made in taking a human mate. No good had come of either relationship, and the importance of keeping their secret had been drilled into them over and over.
Gavin knew that and, as next in line to take over as Alpha when his father retired, had always accepted it. Until now.
“Then let’s see if we can find out what’s missing together.” As he clasped Aislyn’s hand and led her on a tour around the room, the interest reflected on her face coupled with the strong demand to keep her to himself for as long as possible told him there was no way he could turn her education over to someone else, thus sealing his decision. He would put his move to Brooksville on hold. His father was ten years away from retiring, which left him more than enough time to come up with a solution.
****
Aislyn shifted closer to the mountain of a man next to her, those tiny pinpricks of heat racing across her skin the moment he had approached her now taking up residence between her legs. Eying the padded bench she’d caught a glimpse of earlier, she pictured herself lying prone with straps holding her arms and legs immovable, Master Gavin standing behind her, slapping her bare butt. The fantasy caused her pussy to dampen and swell, her lust to soar to new heights for a man she’d just met.
The tall, rugged cowboy with ink-black hair curling around his nape below his black Stetson had snagged her attention as soon as she’d exited the small room where she and the other new guests had been getting instructions. She’d never experienced such a strong reaction to a man, not even the few she’d invited to her bed. When he’d zeroed in on her like a predator stalking prey, she didn’t know which compulsion had been strongest – to run away or lay down, spread her legs and beg him to fuck her. Both urges had skyrocketed when she’d looked up and had been snared by the feral gleam in his vivid green eyes. Scared and excited at the same time, that hint of untamed wildness stirred something inside her she couldn’t name, didn’t understand, and yet, was drawn to nonetheless.
And then he’d held out his hand, and she could no more refuse the silent invitation than she could fly to the moon.
“What’s running through your head, little one?”
The rich baritone of his deep voice washed through her, a soothing, balmy anecdote for her nervous tenseness. “I’m trying to grasp how I can be interested in trying this contraption out since I’ve never imagined yielding that much control to any man.”
“I like your honesty, and it’s normal for you to question the abnormal, or I should say, what society dictates as abnormal. But the world has always revolved around the unexplainable, has it not? Tonight, concentrate on what your body is saying, not your head. Your heart will eventually choose which path is best for you.”
Looking up at him, she got a better view of those intent, enigmatic eyes, and melted inside. No one had ever focused on her, just her, with such clear interest. Certainly no man had exhibited such attentiveness, not even during sex. Her nipples peaked and she squeezed her thighs together in a lame attempt to contain the spate of cream filling her sheath just from that look.
Aislyn was in over her head with this man. She should back away now, before sinking too deeply under his spell. Instead, she smiled, determined to embrace whatever he was willing to teach her.
“Right now, I’d like to hear more about the other things along this wall, and what you want from me.”
“That’s easy, as all I want is one thing.” Gavin replied, leading her toward the large wooden X.
“What?” she asked, holding her breath for his answer. When it came, surprise and elation erased the last of her reservations.
“You.”
Chapter One
Six months later
Gavin parked his truck and got out, taking a bracing, chest-rising deep inhale before making his way toward the front door of Spurs, the private club. His keen sense of smell picked up the earthy scents of Idaho’s forests filled with a variety of birch trees, pines and firs. He could hear the distant lonely wail of a coyote and the flutter of an owl’s wings, his muscles and bones aching with the need for a long, nighttime run among his fellow night creatures. Pushing back against his wolf’s clawing demands, he entered the rustic structure with the same sense of heart-pounding anticipation as every other time in the last six months, ever since he’d clapped eyes on his mate for the first time. The difference tonight was the tight clutch
