10
The next morning, Dallas woke up to find his head spinning. And it wasn’t from the beer.
It was from his kiss with Mel last night. He still couldn’t believe that it had happened, nor could he fathom the thoughts that had been going through his head when it had happened. When their lips had met, his tiger had been even more insistent.
Mate.
Dallas had wanted to take it further, enjoy the taste and feel of her lips against his, but he couldn’t. Not with what he was.
He was a tiger, and he had a mission to protect his family at Dragonclaw Ranch. She was a human who was actively trying to expose them.
It was a one-time thing. It wouldn’t lead to anything more, just one kiss. Or maybe two.
Her lips had fit his so perfectly that he hadn’t been able to resist the urge to take another bite.
Shaking away the thought, Dallas got up and got changed, and when he pulled back the drapes that hid his side of the trailer, he found Mel at the table, already hard at work.
“Ah, you’re up,” she said, sipping her coffee. “I was going to ask if you could help me with something.”
He nodded, jaw tensing nervously the way it always did whenever she asked him about anything that had to do with shifters.
She held up a small notebook with two words written on it.
“Dragonclaw Ranch.”
Shit.
Dallas fought back a scowl as she continued.
“I’ve heard about it from people in town, but I can’t for the life of me find it. It’s not on maps or anything.”
He stayed quiet for another minute, debating what action he should take. Lie and feign ignorance? There was no way he would take her back to Dragonclaw, not when she was so avidly searching for them.
He was saved by having to answer, however, by the sound of a ringtone emanating from Mel’s pocket.
“Oh, hold that thought,” she said, frowning as she pulled her phone out, opened the trailer door, and stepped outside to take it.
Dallas released the breath he hadn’t even known he’d been holding.
That was a close one.
Still unsure of what to do, he shot a text to Harrison.
D: She knows about Dragonclaw. She’s looking for it.
A minute later, Harrison texted back, Perfect.
D: What?
H: Bring her over. The best way to allay her suspicions is to bring her out and show her nothing is up.
Dallas cocked his head to the side, considering it. He supposed that made sense. Knowing Mel, she wasn’t going to stop searching, and with his background, he knew that sometimes the best place to hide something was in plain sight.
H: Plus, we’re all curious about this reporter. We want to see what you think about her.
Dallas blinked several times as he looked up from his phone. What did Harrison mean by that? Did they want a report on how dangerous she was? Was that it?
But Mel coming to Dragonclaw…
He couldn’t tell if he was more excited or nervous. What would his family, everyone, think of her? What would she think of them?
Even more nerve-racking, he was supposed to be protecting his family from her. How was he supposed to do that when his tiger was busy growling about her being his mate?
Still, Dallas trusted Harrison. He’d never led them wrong before.
D: Okay, I’ll bring her over.
H: Good, I’ll get busy making sure no one does anything stupid.
That was a good point. All it would take for her to discover them was one slipup. One careless word and they could be ousted to the whole world. Another set of shivers went down his back just as Mel walked back in.
“So,” she said, “as I was saying about Dragonclaw…”
Dallas leaned against the fridge, folding his arms. “I’ll take you.”
Her eyes went wide. “What? Really?”
He nodded.
“How? You know where it is?” Mel blurted out. “Not even the locals know how to get there or if it even exists.”
“They’re… friends.”
Best to give her as little information as possible. She could get suspicious if she knew he not only knew of the ranch but lived directly on it.
Mel grinned widely, squealing and throwing her arms around him for a second before she pulled back, blushing.
“That would be awesome,” she said. “I wasn’t sure where to go with the story, but now I do, thanks to you. You might just be the most wonderful person in this whole town.”
Dallas rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably, feeling a blush moving over his cheeks and a smile creeping its way over his lips.
He wanted to fight them, but he couldn’t. This woman was just too wonderful and delightful in every way.
Especially when kissing, his tiger asserted, further increasing Dallas’s blush.
Mel seemed to be thinking the same thing, as her cheeks had gone rosy and she looked away.
When she did look back at him, she cleared her throat. “When will we go?”
“This evening.”
She nodded happily. “That works. I can do a few interviews and then we can head over.”
The rest of the day leading up to their departure for Dragonclaw passed in a haze of enjoyment and nervousness. Enjoyment because spending time with her was always wonderful and nervousness because, if something went wrong tonight, it would be all his fault for bringing her there.
Soon enough, they found themselves on the dusty old backroad that led to the ranch.
Mel cast a sideways look at him. “Are you okay? You seem kinda nervous.”
He cocked an eyebrow.
“Because your hands,” she pointed out. “You’re gripping the wheel so hard that you’re leaving indents.”
Dallas looked down, relaxing his fist and loosening his grip on the wheel. Sure enough, there were handprints.
He needed to calm down.
“I’m fine.”
“You sure?” she asked. “You seem perturbed. We don’t have to go out here if you don’t want to.”
He shook his head.
She nodded, looking out the window at the now nearly endless expanse of Texas prairie on either side of them.
“So how do you know these people again?”
“They’re friends.”
Not true. They were family, but telling her that would only
