Wild: Hangman's Haunt Book 1 Read online

  Their clan ran over a thousand miles of land stretching from the coast inland in California. They had everything they needed: food, shelter, beaches, technology. They were a civilization of their own, just one the mortal world was blissfully unaware of.

  It had to stay that way.

  Dax dragged his gaze away from the distant figure of the woman, snarled under his breath. He would find his brother, and he would find the time to make the acquaintance of the dark-haired angel.

  With another snarl, he shifted back into his favored form and crept along with his nose to the ground and ears cocked for trouble.

  SUNDAY MORNING WENT as planned.

  Baylee slept till seven, showered and dressed in a long cream dress imprinted with blood-red poppies. The flowers complemented her dark hair and was a last-ditch attempt to bring some summer into the shop before winter took over completely.

  The cut of the dress accented her willowy figure, hugging her breasts without making them too much of an attraction for her customers, cupping her waist and hips before tumbling to cover her feet. She slipped on matching cream heels, high enough to lift the hem of the dress off the floor, and shrugged on the doe-brown calf-skin jacket she’d bought for wearing to work.

  She felt good. Upbeat, excited, ready to face the day and unpack the new shipment between serving customers and restocking shelves. Leaving her hair loose and her face free of makeup, Baylee headed out with a spring in her step.

  Her first stop was The Coffee Blot, a sweet little coffee shop that imported coffee beans from all over the world and made their own pastry delicacies. Run by Sam and Diana Turner, their place brought in business from miles around; there was even talk of expanding to include a small café or restaurant, depending on who did the talking.

  Baylee perused the selection of French pastries and ended up with a small box of chouquettes; small balls of Choux pastry sprinkled with pearl sugar. Some of them had been dipped in chocolate, and she picked a few filled with creamy mousse to balance out her choices.

  The cinnamon roast coffee called to her, so she ordered one and chatted amiably to Diana about the mundane things in life while she waited.

  Just before eight, she unlocked the back door to the store, stepped in and locked it behind her. Her heels clacked rhythmically across the concrete floor of the hallway and up three short steps into her stockroom. She breathed deep, closing her eyes at the new-book smell. It never got old, that scent. It spoke of secrets to learn and people to discover, journeys and adventures to take.

  Opening times on Sunday were nine until three, short and sweet but aside from Saturdays, were her busiest time.

  She carried her goodies through to the shop, nibbled on a chouquette, and eyed the shelves. A few spaces here and there in the romantic fiction section to be stocked, and little James Conroy had been in just before closing yesterday to spend his weekly pocket money on books from the children’s science fiction area.

  First things first, she decided. Restock what needed to be replenished, open up, and fetch a box in from storage to sort through, price and display.

  She hummed as she worked, her attention on the books she’d chosen herself, stroking her fingers along gleaming mahogany shelves as she passed. The shelves and display stands had been handmade for her by a very talented carpenter just outside the Haunt; they’d eaten the bulk of her resources but they were so damned worth it.

  On inspection, she found a patch of dust lurking on one of the tables, and a child’s greasy hand print smeared down the front window. She dealt with both, and at nine on the dot, unlocked her bright blue door with its brass bell.

  The stereo set beneath the counter had speakers wired around the room. A flick of a switch had pop music piping through the room, loud enough to hear if she was by herself, quiet enough not to impede conversation when she had company.

  She helped herself to another chouquette and a sip of coffee, then brought the first box of new stock onto the shop floor. The box lid opened with the help of a knife and she stared down at brand new copies of the Original Sinners: The White Years in glorious paperback. The first four novels she eagerly anticipated setting on display as part of her Erotica Feature.

  If they sold well, she’d be stocking more work by the same author and expanding her erotica section threefold. The new age of reading and sex sold well. Baylee hoped her new website would bring in more orders on that side.

  Carefully, she labelled each pristine book with a price tag, arranged them on a six-layer triangular unit, and smiled to herself as her creativity made itself known. Exhibiting wares took a careful eye and imagination.

  Customers started trickling in about nine-thirty and Baylee’s time split between helping, serving and tagging. By eleven, she found she was ready for a quick break and finished off the pastries, dumped the coffee cup in the trash and switched to water.

  Two o’clock rolled around. Her new display had drawn a lot of attention and several sales, which pleased her immensely. She’d just dragged the last box into the corner where the geographical works were, when the bell jingled again.

  “Come on in!” Baylee called out cheerfully. “Give me a shout if you need any help.”

  Silence. She shrugged; she knew from experience that some people just weren’t talkers, no matter how effusive the conversation starter might be. That was okay. Not everyone could be a people person.

  She rubbed absently at the back of her neck. Her nape tingled vaguely, a ghost of the itch she’d felt the night before. But rubbing at it didn’t ease it, it just made the sensation worse until it crawled over her skin like pleasant pins and needles.

  She straightened but otherwise didn’t move. Something very warm stood behind her, so close she could feel the heat radiate off it into her. Uncomfortable with the feeling of being crowded, she turned, intending to shove the intruder away...but there was no one there.

  Well, there was, but he was standing by the door, a good twenty feet away from her. It couldn’t possibly have been him behind her. No one had the ability to cover twenty feet in a split second, and manage to look so damned...nonchalant.

  Assessing the other three people in the shop, she determined no one could have been close enough. Suspicious, she gave her neck one last rub and decided to ignore the tingling.

  Something niggling her, she thought. She’d get to the bottom of it. She switched her full attention onto the new customer, and several things happened at once.

  Her eyes widened, muscles went lax. Brain cells fizzed crazily and died. And between her legs, her pussy clenched and saturated her plain white panties.

  Never had she had such a visceral reaction, she thought numbly. Not to a man, a real-life man. Sure, she’d gotten damp a few times if she watched a movie with sex scenes. Her friends had bought her a Big D vibrator as a gag gift for her twenty-seventh birthday—well, she’d assumed they’d bought it as a joke seeing as she’d stashed it, unused, under her bed.

  The stranger perused the mythology section, one hip cocked, his hands tucked casually in the pockets of his black Wranglers. Black denim had never showcased a guy’s butt the way it did his. She had an insane urge to walk over and sink her teeth into the taut muscle.

  He had the longest legs, and some big feet—maybe a thirteen?—encased in some heavy black boots. As her eyes travelled up him, she took in the narrow swimmer’s waist and broad shoulders, wondered what kind of body he hid beneath the silk black shirt and matching leather jacket.

  Someone knew he looked damned edible in black.

  Baylee took an involuntary step toward him, speechless yet drawn to the darkness he exuded like cologne. Cologne carrying the scent of earth and...wildness. She sniffed deep, frowned as she realized she recognized its uniqueness.

  How weird. She’d caught that scent in the woods last night.

  That thought became lost when her movement drew his eyes to her. Time, thoughts, reality just faded away. Beautiful, impossibly beautiful eyes no human had any right to pos
sess locked onto Baylee with predatory focus.

  Her pussy was a goner. Panties were superfluous.

  Dark green with almost golden flecks, the kind of eyes you expected to see peering out of jungle ferns before the panther pounced, Baylee thought, mesmerized by them. There were so many secrets in them, the key to the universe.

  Short black hair, dark as night, caressed his head. Business-like, smart. Presentable. He had sleek eyebrows – one of which flicked up at the end as he stared at her. A nice nose, she supposed, seeing as she wasn’t really a nose kinda girl. But his mouth...aside from his eyes, his mouth was the most appealing of his facial features. Strong, firm lips, the lower of which plumped just a little more than the top.

  Completely kissable.

  Baylee sighed dreamily, completely forgetting herself, and in her dreaming thought she saw him raise his head a little and...sniff. Her inner muscles clenched hard when his eyes darkened almost to black.

  She blinked at him, unable to move as he turned fully to face her. He took several steps toward her, graceful as any feline, with something dangerous and intoxicating written over his masculine features.

  Shit. Libido overload. Now she’d seen how he moved, how could she not imagine what he’d move like in bed? No. No, she was not going down that road. The path he offered meant nothing but trouble. And she wasn’t a one-night-stand woman. When she fell, she wanted to fall hard for the one man who could love her. Not just for a quick round of sex.

  Instincts warned her, loudly, that a quick round of sex would be all she’d get from him. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am. The romantic part of her sighed in disappointment. The frustrated, horny side just panted and pined.

  Be strong, she told herself with conviction. Be true to what you want.

  Chapter Two

  Daxon approached the woman who’d captured his interest with care. Her body language screamed at him, awakening his beast. It stretched, grumbled and when it focused on her, began to pace agitatedly. Her arousal permeated the air, testing his patience and his self-control.

  Up close, he discovered she was more beautiful than expected; pale skin touched now by highlights of rosy lust across her cheeks, incredibly deep blue eyes, hair as dark as his own tumbling to her shoulders. He dropped his gaze briefly to her breasts; more than adequate, high and firm and, he estimated, just right to fit his palms.

  It pleased him to see she came nowhere near his lofty six-four; his protective instincts kicked in harder when the female didn’t top, oh, five-six. And even with her heels, she looked to be only around five-eight, maybe five-nine at a push.

  “You have quite the selection of mythology analogues,” Dax said quietly, figuring one of them best break the ice. “Several volumes on Therianthropy.”

  The woman’s eyes widened another fraction at his words and he cursed when he saw her brace on the fine line of flight. Spooking her was not his intention. “I-I-I-I...”

  “Are you the owner?” He gentled his voice, choked back the panther growl building in his chest. One wrong move and his woman would spirit away like a gazelle with a lion on her ass.

  She swallowed hard. “I...yes?”

  He had to bite back a grin. “And you are?”

  Her brow creased as she processed the question. He could all but smell the smoke of her fried brain circuits. “Hmm. Baylee? Baylee Anderson.”

  Baylee. He liked that. In fact, he thought darkly, her name would roll deliciously off his tongue when he fucked her. And he wanted to fuck her. Here, now, with that dress shoved over her hips, her hands clawing at the table top and his cock breaching her furiously.

  Unable to resist, Dax stepped forward and reached out to run his thumb over her cheekbone. She froze, rigid, then relaxed on a sigh as he simply stroked her smooth skin. He had all the luck in the world at his disposal; he’d need it to tame this little mouse. “What time do you finish?”

  “Um...three. I close at three on a Sunday.”

  Perfect. He tucked a strand of silky black hair behind her ear and barely resisted the temptation of tasting her mouth. Before the night’s out, he promised himself. Before the moon set, he would have her beneath him, his name a scream from that gorgeous mouth. “I’ll pick you up at three then.”

  Without another word, he stalked out of the bookstore with Baylee’s eyes boring stunned holes into him. A laugh rumbled from him as he walked. Sometimes being a predator was just too damned easy.

  SOMETHING TERRIBLE had just happened. Baylee frowned, trying to remember what she’d just agreed to—or not as the case may be. She blinked a couple times, managed to get her head out of whatever funk she’d dropped into.

  “Miss?”

  One of her customers flagged her, snapped her attention back into reality. What the actual fuck had just happened? The question circled wildly in her frazzled brain as she rang up totals, bagged purchases, thanked customers new and old.

  She checked the time and saw it was only twenty minutes until closing. Twenty minutes until the mysterious stranger came back for her. Shit, what had she agreed to?

  The last company she had walked out with a cheery wave. Baylee lifted a hand in response and didn’t know if the twist in her belly was nerves or nausea.

  With a shaking hand, she snatched the phone up and dialed Allix’s cell. Every peal of the tone sent nerves ratcheting tighter until she could barely stand still.

  “Hey bitch, you closing up shop early?”

  “Allix,” Baylee hissed, keeping her eyes on the door for the man she didn’t know if she could resist. “I got myself into a whole heap of shit. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Baylee?” Playful Allix vanished instantly. “Are you hurt?”

  “No, no. But he’s coming back at three.”

  “He who? What the fuck, Bay?”

  “I don’t know! He was just here and I was...I was aroused, Allix, just from looking at him. Talking like an idiot, staring at him like he was something tall and lickable!”

  Allix laughed. “Babe, don’t tell me you actually got your vagina into working order? That’s a miracle right there.”

  Baylee grabbed a handful of hair and yanked in frustration. “You need to get over here now and pretend you’re a stubborn customer; you’re good at that.”

  “I’m not chaperoning you, babe. This is the best thing that’s happened to you like, ever. Go for a drink, pick a public place. Don’t screw it up, because your vagina will never forgive you.” Allix sighed deeply. “Are you getting any bad vibes off him?”

  “Well no. Just the one-night-stand vibes. And maybe he’s dominant? Alpha male?”

  “Good looking?”

  Baylee whimpered.

  “Oh shit. Maybe I should come check him out myself, now you mention it. Tall?”

  “Six-three, six-four?”

  Allix moaned in delighted longing. “Hair and eyes?”

  “Black hair, short cut. His eyes should be the poster eyes for a jungle cat. Hey, kids, don’t need to go to Brazil to see a damn jaguar, just look at this guy!” Baylee dropped her head in her hands. “I’m so screwed.”

  “By the sound of it, yes, you will be. What’s his name?”

  Baylee paused. His name? What did he say it was? Had he even give it to her? No, he hadn’t. He’d asked her what her name was but never divulged his own. “I, ah...”

  “Do not tell me you didn’t get his fucking name!” Allix shouted.

  “I got steamrollered!”

  “Fuck me sideways, can’t let you out by your damn self. Stay in the shop, Baylee. I’m on my way to check this shifty bastard out. Do not leave with him.”

  The doorbell jingled; Baylee’s eyes checked the clock automatically before she flicked them over to the door. The front door, which her mystery guy was shutting behind him and...oh, God, flicking the locks. A strangled whimper escaped her. “Hurry up.”

  “Am I interrupting something?” The mysterious stranger spoke softly and still ignited a fire inside her.

 
; Baylee shook her head slowly. The phone was still to her ear, but Allix’s voice shouted from far away.

  “Someone still on the line?”

  She nodded.

  “Friend of yours?”

  Another nod.

  He took the phone from her hand. “Who might I be talking to?” He listened intently, frowned. “Perfectly understandable. Daxon Gillies. My cell number is...” He reeled it off easily. His head cocked and those eyes gleamed. “Really? I’ll be sure to take extra special care then.”

  Oh God, Baylee thought, what had Allix said now? Surely she hadn’t...not the virginity thing? As much as Baylee loved her friend, Allix couldn’t keep a secret worth a damn. Telling a guy Baylee liked that Baylee was a virgin...not the first time it had happened. And the guy Allix had told hadn’t even been a guy she’d been really interested in; nevertheless, he’d run a mile and hadn’t looked back.

  If that could happen at nineteen, what hope did she have at thirty?

  “Your friend wants to know you’re okay.” Daxon handed her the phone back. His lips twitched as he stared down at her. “Tell her I’ll have you home before nightfall.”

  Baylee gaped at him. Nightfall would come in about six hours; there couldn’t be a first date in history to last six hours. She put the phone to her ear. “Allix. What the hell did you say?”

  “Babe, don’t you trust me?”

  “No. Did you tell him I’m a—” Baylee broke off, mortified. If Allix had actually kept her mouth shut for once, it wouldn’t matter if Baylee spilled her humiliation in front of him herself. He’d be gone with the first swift breeze.

  “Of course not, Bay. Being a virgin isn’t something to be ashamed about. You have your reasons for not having sex; if anyone judges you for that shit, it’s their shame to bear.”

  Something flickered over Daxon’s face; surprise, horror, interest. Then just that open expression, as though he would wait patiently all day for her to finish the conversation. More than that, she caught a glimpse of the hunger inside him, and it was a beast.