Page 82 of Taken by Moonlight
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Sunday afternoon,Gabriel took me for ride on his Harley to clear the cobwebs in my head, and to have a quiet picnic. Dante needed alone time with his sister totalk.
This was a weekend of many firsts. Losing my virginity, nearly getting attacked by an insane shifter at the club, visiting a real werewolf pack and now, taming a feral werewolf, and now riding on the back of a big, badHog.
With a big, badwolf.
Wind rippled the leather jacket Gabriel had loaned me. Hair tied back in a long braid, I wore a black helmet with a sun visor. He’d tied his hair back with a leatherthong..
We roared through the countryside. The pack lived in a wooded area, but like much of eastern Wyoming, it was windy. Yet Gabriel had no trouble balancing the big bike as we turned down a country road, speeding up a hill. At a shady spot near the forest’s edge in a sweep of green meadow, he stopped, parked the bike and helped meoff.
Twin leather saddlebags held our feast – fried chicken, with potato salad, fresh fruit and an ice chest containing cold water. No beer. I wondered about that. Gabriel drank, as did the other shifters in the pack, but since arriving at the ranch, I’d never seen him with spirits in hand. Only at theclub.
We carried the food and the small cooler, along with all the utensils and napkins, over the grass. Gabriel spread out a soft blanket and we sat onit.
I was really hungry. Being around the pack, seeing them with such healthy appetites, had released my own shyness about eating in public. I dug into a chicken leg, helped myself to potato salad while Gabriel downed twobreasts.
“I can see you’re a breast man,” I teased as he wiped his mouth with a papernapkin.
“Wolf,” he corrected. “But I adore legs as well, especiallyyours.”
He bent down and nipped my bare calf. I hit him with the chicken leg. “Hey, watch it, blue eyes. I’m notdessert.”
Gabriel grinned. “But you taste sodelicious.”
Flushing at the memory of the sex we’d had in the club, I chewed on the chicken leg. The food at the pack lodge was excellent. Dante had three former chefs in his pack who had taught their cooking secrets to othermembers.
I asked Gabriel about his favorite food and we began chatting about recipes we’d tried to make. He admitted he wasn’t great in the kitchen, but he’d learned to throw together ameal.
“Every male should know how to take care of himself, and his family,” he toldme.
I told him about my grandmother’s secret recipe for cheesecake and he told me how he made the sauce for the ranch’s famous annualbarbecue.
Gabriel chugged a bottle of water. Curiosity filledme.
“How come you didn’t bring any beer? In fact, since we got to the ranch Saturday morning, I haven’t seen you drink anyalcohol.”
“I don’t let down my guard.” He stroked a finger along the water bottle, tracing a line of condensation. “Things are too tense and I have to be ready to fight if Dante needs me. At the club, there’s Guy as bouncer, and it’s safeguarded against bastards like theBrowns.”
Tough life, always having to look over his shoulder. “What about sleep? Surely you three have to rest at somepoint.”
“Of course. But with the rising tensions amongst the Browns and our people, I don’t want to get my sorry ass in a bind and be unable to help Dante. Pack comes before my need for abeer.”
It took a lot to get a shifter drunk. Especially a big guy like Gabriel. I’d seen him belt back two six-packs and never slur his speech. Something else botheredhim.
“Dante has safeguards at the ranch. We’re out here, no one around for miles. What’s wrong with onebeer?”
His fist squeezed the water bottle tight. “If you’re that desperate for a beer, Peyton, I’ll stop at the damn conveniencestore.”
Whoa. “Not me. I don’t drink beer.” I put a hand on his arm. “What’s wrong? I thought a picnic out there, away from everyone, would relax you. You’re more wound up than a cheap alarmclock.”
A brief smile at the tepid joke. Then he looked grim. “I made a promise to Dante to keep you safe and I intend to keep it. No one, especially not Earl Brown, will get to you,Peyton.”
“Why does Earl want me, other thanmoney?”
Those incredible blue eyes searched mine. “You have a special gift. You’repsi.”
Yet I sensed there was more tothis.
