Maybe that was why this ranch made her uneasy. Maybe it wasn’t evil, but her anxiety being around so many Lupines in Skin, when her wolf side was easier to handle.
Then again, that crystal in Sam and Darius’ tree…
“Guess I wouldn’t be good with horses. I’d rather stay in wolf form.”
“Being in wolf form isn’t the answer, Jenny,” he said quietly. “You have to learn to accept who you are. You’re both.”
“I don’t want to be both. Being in Skin doesn’t give you any real advantages in life. Pure wolf is the way to go.”
Hadn’t she discovered that the day her family wanted to dump her?
“There are advantages to being in human form. Things you can do.” He leaned close and brushed a kiss against her mouth. “Like this.”
Troy smiled and grabbed Calypso’s bridle. “Other things as well. Like this. Try petting her nose.”
She reached up to stroke the horse, the skin smooth and velvety. Large, liquid brown eyes gazed at her. When Jenny stopped, the horse nudged her shoulder.
“She’s begging for a treat. Calypso’s gotten spoiled from me using her to train Fireball here.”
Troy reached out and patted Fireball’s neck. The colt did not shy away from him, but got closer, pushing his nose against Troy’s shoulder.
“Ah, you’re spoiled as well,” he said, laughing. “No more treats. That’s enough for this morning. We’ll get back to work tomorrow. I’ve got a special treat for Jenny and it ain’t an apple.”
“Better than an apple? Give it here.”
Jenny butted her nose against Troy’s shoulder and grinned. He laughed, but something smoldered in his dark gaze. Her hormones jumped into overdrive as she watched him walk toward the gate, the tight denim hugging every inch of his firm butt.
Imagination kicking in, she envisioned him riding her hard as she bucked beneath him, drawing him closer, clinging to his bottom as he drove in and out of her body…
Jenny licked her lips, her hunger turning into something deeper. Between her legs, moisture gathered and need pulsed. She wanted this Lupine, had wanted him for a long time. He waited for her patiently, letting her set the pace.
She was ready.
As he led the horses toward the gate, Jenny opened it, shut it behind him. She joined him walking toward the nearby barn. He put the horses into their stalls and they headed for the lodge.
“Skin form means you can ride a horse, go shopping, take a walk in the moonlight….” He gave her a meaningful glance. “Make love face to face.”
A flush ignited her from head to toe. “You have a point.”
“When you were a kid, wasn’t there something you liked doing in Skin?”
Jenny thought about what he said. A memory flickered.
“Once, when I was twelve, my parents took me to Florida for two weeks. Mom grew up there and was homesick for the beach.”
“I gather you visited in human skin,” he said dryly.
“Wolves sunbathing on the beach would have stood out. Just a little.” She smiled.
They’d stayed at a little hotel a short walk from the beach. Jenny had never seen a beach before, and the green/blue water fascinated her. Mama had bought her a two-piece pink bathing suit with yellow flowers and an orange bucket with a blue shovel. While her parents sunbathed, she sat at the water’s edge, making sandcastles. Warm water lapped at her feet, and a curious egret had strayed by, searching for fish in the shallows. The air smelled of salt and coconut oil, and the blue sky overhead seemed to stretch forever. She’d even made a friend, a playmate who helped her build the sandcastle.
Later they had walked, sun burning their bare shoulders as they searched for shells. The orange bucket and blue shovel went into the trash, along with the delicate seashells as they packed to leave for Wyoming because her mother warned their alpha abhorred such human activities such as collecting anything, even objects in nature. Lupines neglected their wild wolf side when they got soft and catered to their human half.
But those two weeks at the beach had been the best weeks of her young life at the time. She had her parents to herself, no pack responsibilities, no worries about trying to please the alpha or pressure to learn the ways of living as wolf.
I was free to be a child. Free to have fun. Build sand castles at the beach.
She studied the pasture in the distance, the horses cropping grass. So serene.
Did I ever truly have fun again?
Maybe not. Not with my pack. But Troy is different. He lets me be myself.
“Stay out here on the porch,” he told her as they reached the lodge. “I’ll be right out.”
“I thought we were having lunch.”
He winked. “We are. It’s part of my surprise.”
Troy went inside to fetch what he told her he needed for their surprise.
He emerged from the lodge bearing a heavy blanket and a picnic basket.
“I’ve got the rest of the afternoon off, so I wanted to picnic with you by the river. There’s a secluded spot I checked out the other day.”
Jenny clapped her hands. “I love picnics.”
When they were on the road, they seldom were able to let their guard down long enough because they were on someone else’s land. Now they had all the time they needed, and privacy as well.
He drove a four-wheeler, picnic basket and blanket stashed in the back, to a sand beach on the riverbank.
After setting up the blanket and basket, they dug into the food. Fried chicken, crisp and juicy, a carton of Nia’s homemade potato salad she’d made especially for them, a bottle of good wine, fruit. They ate and then Jenny took an apple out of the basket, bit into it with relish.
The sun burned overhead and the river roared, sparkling in the light. She shivered and sighed with contentment.
He slid an arm her shoulder. “Cold?”
“I’m all right.”
“You’re shivering.”
“Not from the weather.”
Troy kissed her temple. “What
