Read Guardian (Wolf Shifter Romance): Reckless Desires (Alpha Protectors Book 1) for Free Online

shelter. All around us was forest, which I knew had to be an illusion because we had to be still be in the city.
    Unless I’d fallen asleep.
    I checked my watch. Nope, the drive had only taken ten minutes. This had to be a private estate then, one which happened to hold a mini forest. It had to have cost a pretty penny.
    He rolled the truck to a stop and clicked it into park.
    Seconds passed as I waited for him to make the first move, but he sat still, his back rigid, his hands on his lap, his eyes unblinking.
    Sick of waiting, I clicked open the door and jumped down, the height of the truck making a graceful exit impossible for a woman of my size.
    It was as if a switch had been flicked and Cole jolted into action, sliding out of his side.
    The front door swung open, revealing a large man framed in the filtered light. Tall, with blond hair, he was devilishly handsome. Upon seeing me he tensed, flexing the impressive set of muscles he had on display, a smirk tilting his lips, his thumbs hooked into the top of his jeans as though holding them up. They were the only item of clothing he happened to be wearing. What was it about shifters and their need to run around half-naked?
    Cole loped around the truck, his stride slow and easy, his six-pack rippling as he lifted my bags out of the back. Exactly my point! My fingers twitched with the need to touch. Not that I was complaining, nope, no way.
    “Angel,” Cole grunted, shouldering the other man out of the way on his way into the house.
    I trotted into the house after him. Angel? Sure, the man was all golden skin and hair, but he didn’t look angelic in the slightest. Not with the black ink that decorated his chest, which was Latin or Greek from the looks of it.
    Angel stopped me, taking my hand in his and bending over in a theatrical bow. Hot lips feathered over the back of my hand as baby blue eyes tilted to meet mine. “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Silk,” he murmured, the drawl pure Californian, bringing to mind hot beaches and fruity cocktails.
    “Call me Natasha,” I replied, my lips curving up in a smile to match his. I couldn’t help it; the man oozed charm as well as a good dose of mischief.
    A low growling sound filled the room and Angel released my hand, rising to his full height and putting me face-first with an alarmingly well-developed chest. Cole wasn’t doing a very good job at hiding the fact that he was a shifter. I cautiously glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, but he wasn’t there anymore. He had vanished.
    “I’ll show you to your room if you’d like,” Angel said, sweeping a hand toward a winding staircase, but I caught the look of concern he shot toward a still-swinging door. Where Cole must have gone.
    Pulling myself together, I shoved my shoulders back and tilted my chin. “That would be great, thank you.” I didn’t look back, didn’t check to see if Cole had returned. Instead I put one foot in front of the other. Two weeks… I chanted what was quickly becoming my mantra inside my head, ignoring the prick of tears that threatened. It had been a long night, that’s all. Once I got some sleep everything would look better. And if it didn’t, well, I was Natasha Silk. I was a master at hiding my feelings.
    I’d had enough practice.

Chapter Eight
    Cole
    “ W hat was all that about ?”
    I ignored Angel, instead taking another long drag of cold beer.
    “First, you ignore her like she’s a wayward puppy, then you growl like you’re marking your territory.” A hand slammed down on the countertop next to me, making the discarded bottle top jump. “Then, to top it all off, you disappear without a word, leaving her staring after you.”
    “She did?” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. Angry with myself, I grabbed the bottle cap, sending it soaring toward the garbage can. It pinged off the side, ricocheting off the wall and came to land on the floor by my feet. Figured.
    “She did. Big, brown, puppy dog eyes.