Page 12 of The Quiet Alpha and His Fox

I laughed and reached toward him without thinking. Before I knew it, I had one hand on his waist and was stroking his cheek with my other hand.

His eyes were serious, so I quickly pulled away. But he reached out and caught my wrist, then returned my hand to his face. I scooted closer and wrapped my other arm around his back.

I pulled him even closer, and then our lips met. The kiss passed between us like a burst of fire. My whole body lit up with need and a desire I'd never felt before. I pressed my mouth against Joe's as our tongues eagerly collided. Our breathing merged, hot and fast, and I was overpowered by my feelings for him.

I pulled back and took his hand in mine. "Come on."

We swam back to the large rock I liked to sunbathe on. The afternoon sun had warmed the smooth stone, and we lay next to each other, naked and shivering as we smiled at each other like excited children.

We didn’t stay chilly for long as Joe reached out and ran one finger along my arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps. "I have so many questions." He raised his eyebrows at me.

I propped myself up on one elbow. "What do you want to know?"

I didn't know a ton about foxes, but I was prepared to answer everything I could about shifters and shifting.

"Why are you out here all alone?"

That wasn't a question I was expecting as I stared into his blue eyes. He was so innocent. I wasn't prepared to tell him about The Quiet, even though I sensed he would understand. So I said something else that was equally true. "I'm really picky about the company I keep."

Joe laughed. "Me too."

He rolled onto his back toward me, and then onto his side so we were almost pressed against each other. A hunger that had been building in me all week as I worked beside Joe took over, and I pulled him toward me.

We kissed again, deeply and for a long time. Joe moaned, and I could scent his arousal in the air. I searched his mouth with my tongue, raking my hand through his shaggy hair as he grabbed my ass and pressed himself against me. His dick was hot and hard against my skin, and I wanted to devour him, to plunge myself into him and claim his as mine.

But I resisted.

I pulled away, my breath shaking, and pushed myself up. "Come with me." I held my hand out and helped him up.

As we walked back to the barn, holding hands, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I kept bringing Joe's hand up to my mouth and kissing it, and he kept pausing to nuzzle against my chest or neck, planting soft kisses on my skin.

My coyote was spinning circles inside my head, chanting, "Mate! Mate! Mate!"

I just kept silently responding, "DOWN, boy." I wasn't willing to corrupt sweet, innocent Joe with the darkness that followed me wherever I went. I couldn’t. Could I?

Chapter 8

Joe

To say I felt like I was dreaming as I walked through the field with Waylan, would have been the understatement of the decade.

I was pretty certain I was dreaming. If I wasn’t, that meant I'd actually woken up that morning as a farmhand with a massive crush on the boss he'd barely spoken to and ended up as a fox shifter making out with his coyote boss.

Adding to the dreamlike quality of the afternoon was the golden sunlight and the fact that we were both butt naked while we walked and held hands. Those things just didn't happen in my life. When good things did happen in my life, they happened around me and I was just lucky enough to witness them—a lunar eclipse or a double rainbow.

This was something entirely different.

I settled into the idea that I was probably dreaming and decided to just lean in and enjoy it. My brain couldn't handle the idea that I was a shifter, but it also couldn't handle the idea that Waylan liked me back. Put the two of them together, and I had some kind of neural short-circuitry going on.

As we neared the barn, Waylan squeezed my hand.

Our two piles of clothes were still there, and I wondered if we were just going to get dressed and pretend nothing happened. Even though I desperately wanted to stay naked with him. To my relief, he walked to the wooden chest inside the barn and pulled out more soft blankets. He carried them to the hay loft and laid several on top of each other, then came back and took my hand as he guided me to the little nest he’d made.

"Sometimes, when guys come to work on the farm, they just want to sleep here rather than go home. That’s why I keep bedding out here."

I paused as he laid down and patted the blanket next to him. "Is this like a thing for you then?" A sudden pang of jealousy shot through my chest, and I frowned.

Waylan cocked his head and chuckled. "What do you mean?"

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