The Care and Feeding of an Alpha Male

  But Grant wasn’t out here in the middle of the night, in the rain and the mud. Colt was, and he found their lack of care annoying as shit.

  The Templar camp wasn’t anywhere in the neat half circle of campsites, and he knew it wouldn’t be. When Lucy had mentioned it, she’d made it sound like quite a hike away, and had noted a stream with a fallen log that he was familiar with. He finished his sweep of all of the other campsites first, just to be sure. He found each one full of debris, camping gear, and discarded foam weapons. The rain hadn’t let up, and the ground was turning into a muddy sludge. Whoever had purchased this land hadn’t bothered to do anything but clear away the trees for the parking lot. No wonder all the cars were stuck in the morass of mud.

  When he’d finished checking all the campsites, he doubled back and headed deeper into the woods, looking for the Templar campsite—or Beth Ann.

  The trail was mostly washed out at this point, but Colt didn’t need it. Even in the downpour, he knew which direction he was headed; an advantage, he suspected, that Beth Ann probably did not have. But he took his time, searching the area to make sure that there were no other stragglers, and watching his steps. It was dark, and wet, and cold, and those three things would be an unpleasant combination for anyone not used to the elements.

  He went farther into the woods, past the circle of campsites. He found the stream Lucy had mentioned, now swollen and overflowing, and crossed the log that served as a bridge to the other side. He’d been making his way slowly through the woods for some time, noticing that the ground sloped up ever so gently, when he heard a loud crash in the brush ahead.

  Colt clicked off his flashlight, listening. Despite the steady patter of raindrops, he could hear something moving in the dense trees ahead, so he stopped to listen. While there were a few wildcats in the area—not many—they wouldn’t be out in the storm. Wild boar might, though, or a coyote.

  He paused, waiting.

  Another crash. Then, a softly muttered, “Fiddlesticks.”

  He didn’t know whether to laugh or roll his eyes in annoyance. Of course she was out here. His suspicions were confirmed when a low call of “Lucy? Lucy, are you out here?” echoed through the woods.

  He stepped forward out of the brush, toward her.

  It took him a moment or two to find her—he was mostly following the thrashes—when he turned on his flashlight again, and the light caught on something glittering.

  “Who’s there?” she called at the same time, a bit of hope in her voice. “Lucy?”

  He stepped out toward her and caught his first good look at Beth Ann Williamson.

  She was soaked. Her long blonde hair was plastered to her skull, her bangs like daggers over her pale forehead. She wore some sort of blanket over her shoulders, and a peach-colored sparkly dress clung to her wet body like a second skin. Her breasts were outlined by the damp, clinging fabric, and the shadow of her nipples could be seen through the pale material. Not that he needed that to see them—her nipples were hard as rocks and standing at attention. Her dress was so thin he could even see the vee of her hips under the fabric, and his cock automatically hardened at the sight. Her legs were slick and damp and pale with cold. Below the knee, her calves and feet were covered in mud. She’d clearly been wearing a lot of makeup before coming out—it was smeared over her high cheekbones and dribbled down her face in black streams. She clutched a bag in her hand.

  She looked like an utter wreck.

  At the sight of him, Beth Ann stopped short. A look of surprise crossed her face, and then her eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?”

  He was kind of used to that sort of response from her. They’d formed a momentary truce when Miranda and Dane had gotten engaged, but it had quickly fizzled back into intense dislike on both sides. “I’m here saving your ass.”

  She huffed, an action that made her wet breasts heave and his cock jerk in response at the sight. “I don’t need saving, Colt. I need to find my sister.”

  She was so outraged at the sight of him. It was damn funny to watch. And, okay, a little arousing. “You look like something out of a horror movie,” he drawled, unable to quit looking at those magnificent, heaving wet breasts. She was something out of a horror movie all right. The hot, sexy starlet that took her top off and got fucked by someone for five minutes on screen. Damn. He shifted in the mud. Why the hell was he so turned on by the sight of her all wet and helpless? She had a fine body, but it came attached to that yapping mouth of hers.

  A mouth that had just dropped open in shock. “A horror movie?” Beth Ann repeated, stunned. “How dare you!”

  “That’s not what I meant,” he began, and then scowled when she glared at him and turned her back. She was determined to find insult in whatever he said, it’d seem. Prickly woman. Madder than hell and still trying to be a lady about things. “You’re misunderstanding me. I’m here to rescue you.”

  “Rescue me? Oh, really.” Beth Ann turned as if the word made her furious. She put her hands on her hips, the wet bag bouncing against her side as she did. “Here to be the big hero?”

  Well, he didn’t like to think of it that way. “I guess.”

  “Is this some sort of macho joke?”

  He raised an eyebrow. Why would he joke about a rescue?

  She laughed, the sound bitter and harsh. “Oh, this is unreal. You really do think you’re here to rescue me, don’t you? How cute. I’m sure that’s what everyone told you—that poor little Beth Ann Williamson is desperate for a man to sweep her off her feet and rescue her from her situation. That I’m just waiting for Prince Charming to swoop in and save the day.” Her mouth pursed into a polite little smile, made all the more ridiculous by the makeup running down her face. “Look, Colt, I don’t know why you feel this need to show up here and try to play the hero, but the last thing I want is another man deciding that I can’t take care of myself and trying to take over my life. So you can just go away now. I don’t need saving, and I don’t need your help. Oh, and tell Miranda that I said nice try.”

  He didn’t see what Miranda had to do with anything. “You’re turning down a rescue?”

  She laughed and flicked her hand, as if shooing a fly. “Oh, I am turning down the entire kit and caboodle. The rescue and the person it came attached to.”

  All right, now he was getting annoyed. He leaned back, studied her. “Oh really?”

  “Yes, really,” she said viciously. “I don’t know if you were aware, but not every woman in the vicinity needs saving.”

  “I don’t know,” he drawled, knowing any response he made would irritate her. “You look pretty helpless to me.”

  That did it. Her entire body stiffened and she jerked upright. Her mouth clenched into a firm line. Beth Ann Williamson definitely had a stick up her ass tonight. “I am not helpless,” she seethed. “Just because I am female does not mean I need you to swoop in and be a hero. Sometimes we can save ourselves, you know.” She gestured at him with incensed, quick little motions. “I realize that’s difficult to get through that pile of meat on top of your shoulders that men like to call a brain, but it’s true. Not all women are helpless. Not this woman, for sure. And I certainly don’t need you stomping in and making my life miserable like you always do, so why don’t you just go away?”

  Go away? He was here, standing in the rain and waiting to save her ass, the ungrateful woman. But that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to rescue herself. As if the thought of a man helping her out of the woods was somehow insulting to her. Fine. “You expect me to just leave you flailing in this mud all night? In the dark?”

  “Yes,” she said firmly. “I don’t need your help and I sure don’t need you here right now, following me around. Go bother someone else.”

  He was beyond annoyance now. The woman was irrational. “And so you want me to leave?”

  She turned and looked off into the woods, as if in exasperation. As if he were keeping her from finding her sister. “Did I stutter?”

&nbsp
; Ah yes. This was the Beth Ann he knew. Colt put his hands up. “Fine then. I will leave you alone. Out here. Just like you want.”

  “Good,” she bit out, then glanced down at his pants. He thought she was going to comment on the wood he was sporting despite her nasty attitude. But she pointed at his pocket, where he’d tucked his flashlight, with a finger that was wrinkled and shaking with cold. “Can I buy that flashlight from you?”

  “I reckon not,” he said with a drawl.

  She scowled at him. “God, I hate you. Go find someone else to harass.”

  And with that, she stomped off into the woods again.

  Fuck you, too, he thought to himself. Here he was, trying to help her out and she bit his head off, treated him as if he were garbage for even daring to think she might need help. His spine stiffened anew as he watched her crash through the underbrush, and then her form disappeared back into the shadows. “Lucy?”

  Guess he should have told her that the camp was evacuated. Nah. Let her stew in her own juices for a bit. Teach her a lesson.

  He rubbed the front of his wet trousers, willing his damn dick to stop standing at attention. She might have had a mighty fine pair of breasts—slick, heaving breasts with tight, hard nipples—but unless he had a piece of masking tape for her mouth, the reality of Beth Ann was going to ruin the fantasy every time.

  He crouched on his haunches and clicked his flashlight off, enjoying the sound of her stumbling through the woods. She’d call Lucy’s name, and then every so often, she’d break off and he’d hear her swear. Not “fuck” or “shit” or “damn,” but expressions like “fudge” or “fiddlesticks” or “drat.” It was ridiculous.

  It was also ridiculous that every muttered “fiddlesticks” made his cock stir again. Such a clean, pretty mouth. He wondered if she ever let herself go, even in bed. And then he imagined her clean, pretty mouth saying dirty things to him.

  Damn. He needed to get laid if he was having sexual fantasies about Beth Ann. She’d probably frown with genteel distaste if he even touched her. He rubbed his hand along the front of his jeans again, and then pulled out his sat phone, and dialed Rob.

  “Glad to hear from ya, Colt. Find anyone else?”

  He thought for a moment, and heard another polite utterance in the distance. “Nah,” he lied. “Nobody. I’m heading out myself.”

  “Good on ya,” Rob said. “See you ’round. Thanks again for volunteering, man.”

  “Anytime,” Colt said, and terminated the call.

  He wasn’t leaving. He was going to teach Miss Beth Ann Williamson some manners, though, and it’d start with a nice weekend out in the wild. Maybe she’d learn to be a lot nicer that way. Maybe she’d learn that being unpleasant to a Waggoner wasn’t the smartest idea. And maybe she’d learn that the next time he showed up to rescue her, she could be civil, at least.

  She could sure use a lesson in humility, and he had the time to do it. Even more than that, it’d give him an intense amount of pleasure to see her spend the weekend muddy and struggling.

  Dane would tell him he needed a hobby. But Dane was a good guy; everyone in town liked him. And Colt was a Waggoner. The family in town that was most reviled. Beth Ann was the daughter of the mayor, and had grown up pampered and privileged.

  The way he saw it, this was like a gift, and there was nothing he’d like more than to watch Beth Ann Williamson get a little dirty.

  After listening to her thrash her way through the bushes and the thick, clinging mud for another hour or so, Colt decided to take pity on her. Beth Ann was determined, he’d give her that.

  She was also going in the wrong direction. If she were looking for a specific camp, she was heading away from them and actually toward the parking lot. Of course, judging by her stumbling and continued calling, she didn’t know that.

  So he stepped out of the woods and clicked the flashlight back on. “Miss Beth Ann,” he drawled in way of greeting.

  She looked exhausted, a new swipe of mud over her cheek. She’d pulled that stupid blanket thing tight around her body and her blue lips trembled from cold. The night had gotten cool and crisp, and though the rain had let up for now, it hadn’t made it any warmer. Judging from the thick cloud cover overhead, he suspected there would be more rain.

  She gave him a weary look when he reappeared. “Not you again.”

  “Me again,” he drawled.

  “Look,” she said in a tight voice, “this has been a night from hell and I really don’t need you stalking me.”

  Stalking her? What the hell.

  “Now, unless you want to tell me where the Trojan camp is—”

  “Templar,” he corrected.

  Her head tilted and she cut off midstream. “Templar. That’s right. You know where it is?”

  He gave her a brief nod, enjoying the way she bared her teeth in frustration at his affirmation.

  “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I tried.”

  “No, you came here and told me I looked like a hideous beast and then said you were here to rescue me—”

  “That’s not what I said—”

  “So you’ll forgive me if I don’t take too kindly to being told I’m not only ugly, but I’m helpless and stupid because I’m female,” she bit out. “Now are you going to help me or not?”

  Not, he wanted to say, but he noticed her full lower lip was quivering with cold.

  “You want the Templar camp?” he asked, voice short.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Follow me,” he said, and turned around, walking past her back to the direction of the camp. He’d actually found it a half hour ago—she’d more or less wandered right past it—but he hadn’t felt the need to point it out to her. If she’d have looked up, she’d probably have seen the crude tree houses that made up the camp.

  But she hadn’t looked up. And she hadn’t had a flashlight, either. She’d been wandering the woods, cold and alone and not terrified in the slightest. Instead, she was determined to find her sister.

  He had to admire that, even if he didn’t like her much.

  Colt led the way through the brush. He hadn’t heard one complaint out of her mouth just yet, something he had respect for. People that got out in the wild and complained that it was wet and muddy were idiots in his book.

  After about ten minutes of pushing through the trees and mud, Colt spotted one of the shacklike tree houses above. He turned back to Beth Ann, who was close on his heels. “We’re here.”

  “Here?” She frowned and pushed past him, staring up at the trees and the tree houses, and then the scatter of discarded camping equipment at the base of the trunks. Folding camping chairs circled around the long-dead firepit, which was now nothing more than a dirty puddle on the ground. “It’s deserted.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where is everyone?”

  “Evacuated.”

  Her confused expression focused back on him. “Evacuated? From the camp? By who?”

  “Volunteer Emergency Services.” He pointed at the patch on his sleeve. “Like me.”

  She stared at him, astonished. Her mascara-rimmed eyes were wide. “They’re not here,” she repeated. “Is anyone here?”

  He pointed at her, then pointed at himself, enjoying her astonished expression a little too much, though he kept his poker face on.

  She thought for a minute, then stared back at the deserted, washed-out campsite. “And Lucy went with them? Where’d they go?”

  “Nearby motel,” Colt said. “It’s under construction but the owner’s letting them all stay the night until the cars can be towed.”

  One delicately arched eyebrow went up. “How long have you known that they’re gone?”

  He kept his face smooth. “’Bout two hours.”

  THREE

  He waited for the explosion. The show of nasty temper. For her to snap and berate him. Call him a piece of shit for keeping her out here.

  Instead, she stared thoughtfully at the campground,
then back at him. “I suppose you were going to leave me out here until I stopped raging about how I could save myself?”

  “The thought occurred to me,” he said dryly.

  She stared at the trees, then back at him. “Only two hours? My tirade didn’t make you madder than that?”

  He didn’t know what to think of her humor. “Are you aware of how pitiful you look?”

  Beth Ann’s hands flew to her face and she wiped at her cheek, smearing mud across it self-consciously. She stared into the woods, then back at him. “You’re really here to rescue me, aren’t you?”

  “I am.”

  “And I was pretty nasty to you, wasn’t I?”

  “You were.” Though he had said the thing about the horror movie. He just hadn’t meant it in the way she’d taken it.

  “Miranda and Dane didn’t send you?”

  “Nope.”

  She grimaced. “Fiddlesticks.” She glanced back over at him, wiped another wet lock of hair off of her brow. And sighed. “I’ve had a bad night. I thought you were…never mind.” Beth Ann sighed and tilted her face back, letting the rain splatter on her cheeks. After a long moment, she said, “My life seems to be full of men trying to save me from myself, and I took it out on you. Sorry about that.”

  An apology from Beth Ann Williamson was not exactly what he expected. “No worries.”

  “I guess I deserved this.” She gestured at the wet, sludgy forest. And she laughed. “Beth Ann Williamson, this really takes the cake.”

  That…had not been the reaction he’d been anticipating. He’d expected more anger. Now she was laughing at herself. She wasn’t furious, or crying. She was…amused. Chagrined at how she’d acted. And damn if that reaction hadn’t done things to his fantasies of her. At first he’d been daydreaming about angry sex with her—her furious lips mashing against his own as he fucked her against a tree. Now he was picturing those wet, slick breasts under his hands as she laughed and sweetly gave in to him.