Passionate Craving by Marisa Chenery Page B

The
third surge of arousal that tore through him was more intense than the last,
and had his scent stronger as well.
    Talon looked at Memphis, then at the woman and back again. “No way.
She can’t be your mate.”
    “It would seem that she is. Something is ‘pointing’ right at her.”
    “What are the fucking chances that you get branded and then a few
seconds later find your mate? At least your human likes wolves since she’s here
hoping to protect our wild cousins.”
    Memphis didn’t reply to what Talon had said as he walked toward his
mate. Brad was entirely too close to her for his liking. It was his right to
protect her, and at this moment, Brad was a threat.
    He pushed his way between Brad and the woman, facing the other man.
“Back off, Brad.” It took a lot of his self-control not to curl his upper lip
in a snarl and growl as a warning.
    “Taking her side, Memphis?” Brad asked as he turned his gaze on him.
“As a trapper by trade, I’d think you’d be against her the same as I am.”
    “My family and I don’t trap wolves, and we’d never go out of our way
to hunt them.”
    Brad snorted. “Oh yeah, I forgot. You allow the wolves to live on
your land. That could be one reason we have a problem with them killing our
cattle.”
    Memphis had made the mistake of forming an acquaintance with Brad a
few years ago. It was after he’d learned that the other man was a loudmouth and
liked to throw his weight around did Memphis try to keep his distance whenever
they both were in town. Usually he and his family didn’t go out of their way to
be friends with the people of Canyon Creek. As wolf shifters, their lifespans
were a lot longer than a human’s, at around a hundred and fifty years. After a
while, it’d be noticeable that his family and he didn’t exactly age the way
everyone else did.
    “You can say whatever you want,” Memphis said as he reached behind
him and blindly took hold of the woman’s wrist. Just that small amount of
contact sent a surge of pleasure through him. “I think the two of you have said
everything you need to say on the subject of the wolves.”
    Without giving the woman a chance to agree or not, Memphis turned
from the group of townsfolk and walked away as he pulled her along with him.
Talon fell in to step on his other side as Memphis adjusted his grip on her
wrist. She had to walk at a fast pace to keep up with his longer strides.
    Once they were a short distance away from the others, she said,
“Thanks for diffusing the situation back there, but you can let go of me now.”
    “Not yet.”
    He kept her walking until they were half a block from the general
store. He stopped and turned to face her. Memphis ran his gaze over her face.
Blue eyes stared back at him. She had a pert little nose and lush lips he
craved to taste. Her long, auburn hair was shoulder length. He itched to touch
it to test its softness.
    His gaze still on hers, he asked, “What’s your name?”
     
    *
     
    “It’s Tori.”
    Tori met Memphis’ gaze and tried not to let what she felt show on
the outside. Her heart beat at a faster rate and she was a little breathless.
It had nothing to do with the fact she’d had to walk at a fast clip to keep up
with him.
    No, it had everything to do with the fact she found him utterly
gorgeous. First laying eyes on him, her body had stood up and yelled, Hell,
yes. Memphis’ straight, black hair was on the longish side, and his light green
eyes were enough to have her breath catching when they were focused on her. He
was also tall, somewhere close to six-foot-five, which at her height she liked.
Same with his very muscular body. She couldn’t forget about that.
    “Nice to meet you, Tori,” he said. “I’m Memphis.” He gestured toward
the man with them. “And this is my brother, Talon.”
    Talon had similar looks as Memphis, right down to the same hair, eye
color and build. There was no mistaking them as siblings. Talon gave her a
smile Tori was sure had