“Dare!”
I gasp the word, whimpering this stranger’s name as if I’ve known him my whole life. As if I’ve called out his name like this hundreds of times before.
He pulls back from me a little, wrapping one arm around my lower back while the other catches my chin, tilting my face up toward his. My fingers have been in his hair, making the dark spiky locks even wilder than they were before, and his eyes look almost black in the shadowy light.
“Say it again,” he murmurs. “Say my name.”
He’s not even kissing me anymore, but the low rumble of his voice sends a tremor of pleasure through me. My breath catches, and I bite my bottom lip as my chest rises and falls fast.
“Dare.”
“Sable.”
Wolves don’t purr. I know they don’t. But that’s the only way to describe the way he says my name.
My core clenches, goose bumps breaking out on my skin. His lower half is still pressed right up against me, his arm around my back keeping our bodies pinned together. My panties are slick, the fabric absorbing the wetness that’s seeping from me, and I wonder dazedly if he can tell. Can he feel it? Can he feel it against his naked skin?
As if he can read my thoughts, Dare’s nostrils flare. He drags in a deep breath, then drops his head again, his fingers gripping my jaw tighter as he brings his lips to mine once more.
Before the kiss can go any deeper, three distinct growls erupt from the silence of the night around us.
21
Sable
I break away from Dare’s lips, shock flooding me.
What… what just happened?
Ridge, Trystan, and Archer in their wolf forms race over the ground from the cabin. I can feel their energies from here—their protective, animal instincts are turned on full blast, and they’re ready to rip Dare limb from limb.
I know what it probably looks like. Me, alone by the stream in just my short nightgown, and a naked wolf shifter with his hands on my body and his lips on mine, while the other three men have done their damnedest to get to know me, to ease me into a relationship without the benefit of persuading me with touch.
None of them have given in to their wolves. They’ve respected my boundaries and refused to let their beasts just take me like they own me.
Like Dare did.
Like I let him.
My three companions race toward us, snapping and growling in a show of aggression that sets my heart pumping and makes me want to flee into the woods. Panic rears up swiftly inside me, dousing my desire like a bucket of cold water on a flame.
Dare releases me, his own growl rumbling up from deep within his chest. He puts himself between me and the other men as if trying to protect me, and then the now-familiar mirage of magic shimmers over his body as he shifts to wolf form. Dare is massive, with midnight black fur that almost seems to camouflage into the night.
The four wolves come together in a violent clash of teeth and claws, their snarls breaking the peace of the night.
It’s three against one. For the first time since this all began, Ridge, Trystan, and Archer are completely united against something they see as a common enemy—Dare. The horrifying realization that he doesn’t have a chance against their ferocity sends my heart into palpitations.
Ridge’s pale brown wolf gets hold of Dare’s neck, and though he’s smaller than the latter wolf, Ridge takes Dare down to the dirt. The black wolf hits the ground hard on his side, Ridge’s teeth latched onto his neck, but manages to buck out of his grasp and roll away—back on his feet so fast, it’s almost like it never happened.
Trystan and Archer leap in, jaws snapping at Dare’s legs. Ridge bares his teeth before leaping onto Dare’s back again, and a pained yelp tears through the night.
Something snaps inside me.
This fight isn’t fair.
Whatever force is connecting me to Ridge, Trystan, and Archer, it’s identical to whatever connected me to Dare. He acted on that connection, and I allowed him to.
I race forward, barely cognizant of the rough ground beneath my bare feet. I don’t even think twice before I throw myself bodily between the wolves, putting Dare at my back. Trystan, who just lunged at the black wolf, has to redirect at the last minute so he doesn't hit me, and Archer immediately sits down on his haunches, his head cocked in surprise.