Valens inhaled as he considered his reply. There was a lot he could say to her at this moment that would be downright shocking. But he had a feeling his mate wasn’t so much into words as she was into action.
She was a professional daredevil, for fuck’s sake.
Without stopping to think too much about it, he stalked toward her, grabbed her by the waist, and swung her over his shoulder. She weighed very little, or maybe that was his shifter strength. It didn’t matter. His mate was in his arms. True, it was only to demonstrate a point and to shut her up, but he got what he wanted.
He shocked the hell out of her.
“What the hell are you doing? Put me down. Right now. I swear to fuck, if you don’t…” Isa continued to spew threats his way, and he tried very hard not to find it too entertaining.
“I told you. I am taking you home.”
“You’re being so damn ridiculous right now. I can walk.”
“Yup.”
“Put me down.”
“Nope.”
“Right this instant.”
“Not a chance, daredevil.”
“That’s Daredev-Isa to you!”
“Okay, Daredev-Isa. Still not putting you down.”
She grunted. “You’re hurting my arm.”
Valens stilled and gently set her down a few feet away from his car. He ran his hands down her shoulder until he got to her bandage. “Shit. I am so sorry. Did I rip something open? I should’ve…” He stopped immediately. The scent of her lie hung in the night air. “I didn’t hurt you at all, did I?”
She winced. “No. Sorry. That was a cheap shot. To be fair, you did take me in your arms without asking and refused to put me down.”
“I thought you were gonna make a run for it.”
Isa nodded. “I was thinking about it.”
“I figured.”
“I’m sorry I made you think you hurt me. That really wasn’t cool of me.”
It was his turn to shrug. “I guess I deserved that. Let me drive you home, Isa. This town is safe, and you could walk without seeing another soul, but I’ll be up all night wondering if you made it safely.”
“Careful, Valens. It almost sounded like you were worried about me there for a second.”
“So what if I am?”
She grinned at him. “Fine. Drive me home. But you should know, Luke, a guy on my crew, is going to give me the third-degree as soon as I walk through the door after being dropped off by a man.”
Valens stiffened as he opened the passenger car door for her. “Is he your boyfriend?”
She giggled. “Fuck, no. He is not the man for me.”
This is great. Ask her what kind of man she’s into. Then tell her she is our mate. Come on, you know you want to. Get a good whiff of that! That’s one hundred percent pure mate, and there’s nothing better in this world.
Valens got behind the wheel of his car, all the while trying to ignore his tiger’s incessant chatter. He gripped the wheel tightly, wishing it was a stress ball.
“Will you be in town long?”
“A few weeks. There are some things I wanna do on the mountain. Really, I just want peace and quiet. We’ve just gotten back from a stunt competition in Los Angeles, and it was a bit too intense for me. Too crowded and competitive. I needed a break, and this town is apparently topnotch.”
Valens nodded. “That’s the truth. The whole town works really hard to make this the perfect getaway for tourists. The entire economy is based on the tourist season going well. We’ve had a decade of good seasons, so that’s comforting.”
“I should write a piece about the town. Get it into one of the magazines I write for sometimes. I bet you the editor would love it.”
He was stunned. “You’d do that?”
“Of course. This place is really the best. And honestly? I’m looking to diversify what I write, anyway. This would be a good way to showcase my range.”
“Nice. You could run it by the Sheriff and Mayor, but I’m sure they’ll be thrilled too.”
“By which you mean your brothers next time I see them?”
“Yup. If my family has their way, it won’t be too long before you’re invited again.”
“I would love to say that I’ll decline the offer, but there’s no chance. Your mom is the best cook ever, and I really enjoyed myself tonight. Even the parts where you jumped down my throat every time I opened my mouth.”
Valens hissed out a breath. “I don’t mean to be an ass. It just sort of happens. Try to see it from my perspective. You’re a healthy young woman who puts herself in danger. As a doctor, I have a hard time accepting that. I live to heal. I can’t be okay with someone’s purpose when it’s all about taking needless risks.”
“I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on that one.”
“Fine.”
“So no more talking about stunts for me and no more judgment from you.”
“Oh, but there will definitely be judgment if you end up in my office needing more stitches.”
“I’ll make you a bet. I won’t need medical attention again for the rest of my stay in Thatcherton. If I do, I’ll…” She puckered her lips as she thought.
“A kiss,” he said without really knowing where the word had come from.
It was me. Sorry, so not sorry, his tiger snickered.
“A kiss,” she repeated.
“Yup.”
“That’s strange, but you’re on. There’s no chance of it anyway.” The saucy woman winked at him before leaping out of the car. She gave him a small wave before running up the steps of her cabin.
It was weird.
For the first time in his life, Valens wanted someone to be hurt — but only so he could kiss it better.
7
ISA
Isa couldn’t believe it. As soon as she rolled over in her bed, she sat as the memories of her dreams became clearer.
She had dreamed of Valens Thatcher all night long.
Some of those dreams were naughty. So dirty, in fact, that even in the privacy of her own bedroom, she felt her cheeks heat with a blush.
I really need to start packing my vibrator with me when I go on location.
She was sure that would put an end to her nighttime fantasies of Valens and that mouth of his. A man wasn’t allowed to look that good when he was that spiteful. Only, he wasn’t really all that grumpy, now that she thought about it.
He had been a gentleman to her, insisting that he drive her home. Isa couldn’t even hold it against him that he had manhandled her and thrown her over his shoulder to walk her to the car. If it was any other guy, she would have destroyed him.
But having Valens’s hands all over her body?
Mother, may I?
She didn’t know what kind of things doctors did in their spare time, but she was pretty sure Valens worked out. No man had a body that hard, that defined, naturally. That took work. Knowing what his body felt like had no doubt fueled her dreams.
Now she was horny without a thing to do about it but grin and bear it like a good adult.
She turned onto her back, looking up at the ceiling before grabbing her phone. She turned on the device and wasn’t too surprised when she saw she had a message from her stalker. Her finger hovered over the message, but she didn’t read it. It wouldn’t have anything nice to say, and she wasn’t in the mood to be creeped out. She wanted to bask in the glow of her good dreams and hope that the day would go well.