Wild for You (Crave Book 2)

  Wild for You

  C.C. Wood

  To Chantell, my fellow vampire lover.

  Thanks for everything that you do.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek of Only for You (Crave, #3)!

  About the Author

  Also by C.C. Wood

  1

  I loved family meals.

  I just wished the people around the table were my real family. It sounds strange, I know.

  I never had dinner with my parents growing up. My nanny fed me dinner before she gave me a bath and got me ready for bed and my parents ate after they came in for the obligatory "tucking in" that never included them reading me a story. That was what they paid the nanny for.

  It wasn't until I met Cameron McClane that I learned how wonderful family mealtimes could be. Every Sunday, her parents had a big lunch after church that included Cam, her brother, J.J., and any other stragglers or misfits that they had taken under their collective wing. Colette McClane loved having people at her table and she often welcomed any of her children's friends and their families with them. And bless Cam's generous heart, she took pity on her socially awkward college roommate and brought me home with her over Thanksgiving our freshman year. I had no idea what she told her mother, but Colette took me aside before we left and told me that I was always welcome in her home, even if Cam and I weren't friends anymore.

  That was never an issue, thank God, but I never forgot.

  Today was the first day since then that I wished I hadn't come.

  And it wasn't until the moment Colette looked at me and asked, "So are you still seeing Brian?"

  As soon as I heard the casual but pointed question, I choked on the bite of chicken enchilada I'd just put in my mouth. Dr. McClane had just gotten out of his chair, probably to give me the Heimlich maneuver, when I managed to swallow the bite and wave him off.

  "I'm." Cough. "Okay." Cough.

  "Are you sure?" Dr. McClane asked.

  God, I wished my own father was as concerned with my welfare.

  "I'm fine, I promise." Cough, cough.

  He gave me one more thorough look and sat back down.

  I sipped some iced tea and cleared my throat one last time. I looked up and found Colette's knowing gaze on me.

  "When did you break up?" she asked.

  "Last month."

  I couldn't stand the sympathy and disappointment on her face for another second, so I glanced away. Unfortunately, I found another set of piercing eyes on me.

  J.J.'s best friend, Brody Murphy, and his daughter, Jacks, had joined us for lunch today. Brody's younger brother, Ben, had also arrived, though he was late. As Colette and Malcolm had done with me, they'd taken in the Murphy brothers as part of the family. I didn't know the entire story, but I had a feeling that the brothers' parents were a lot like mine—they preferred to love from a distance.

  As he'd arrived late, Ben Murphy had taken the open seat across from me and it had been difficult not to stare at him the entire time we were eating because he was gorgeous. And nothing like the men I usually dated.

  Everything about him screamed bad boy. From his black t-shirt with the faded AC/DC emblazoned across the front to the snug Levi's that hugged his thighs and ass like they were made specifically for him. He'd arrived straddling a huge, snarling motorcycle, which made Colette frown though she seemed satisfied to see him wearing a helmet.

  Now, he was staring at me as though he knew exactly why I'd choked when Colette asked me about Brian. Like he could read every thought in my head. I knew it wasn't possible but it was still unnerving to be watched like that. Studied as if I were truly interesting.

  He broke our gaze and turned to Colette before she could continue her line of questioning.

  "So when are you going to leave Malcolm for me, Colette? I'm younger and I won't make you work as my office manager. I'll treat you like a queen." He added a devilish smile to the words, which caused Colette's face to turn bright pink.

  "Stop flirting with my wife, Benjamin Murphy, or you won't be invited back," Cam's father deadpanned. Probably because he knew his wife would never leave him. They adored each other. My parents spent a lot of time together, but they weren't openly affectionate the way the McClane's were. Colette and Malcolm were very much a team. It was beautiful to see and something I hoped I could have someday, even though I doubted my ability to find it.

  I wanted to love my husband the way Colette loved Malcolm and in my last two relationships, I'd cared about them a great deal, but I couldn't see myself living with them for the rest of my life.

  I also appreciated the way Ben stepped in to distract Colette. I definitely wouldn't forget that either.

  "I didn't know you and Brian broke up. Why didn't you say anything?"

  I turned toward Cam but didn't answer right away. Mostly because I wasn't sure what I could say. I didn't want to admit the truth to her because I was afraid I'd get the same expression of sympathy and disappointment. Cam and Colette always encouraged me to give people a chance and to be a little more open-minded. And I agreed to an extent, but I wasn't about to compromise my honesty. Yes, I tried to temper it with kindness, but I wasn't going to tell someone I loved them when I didn't.

  "You okay, Sierra?" Cam asked.

  I nodded. "Yeah, sorry. Just trying to think of the best way to put it."

  "Put what?"

  "Why Brian and I broke up," I answered.

  "And what did you come up with?"

  "Complete truth—we wanted different things out of our relationship. He wanted to get serious and I wasn't ready. There was no way to compromise on that so..."

  Cam studied me as I spoke then said, "That was an incredibly vague answer, even if it's the truth."

  "Well, it's not exactly something I'd like to unpack at the dinner table."

  "Fair enough."

  I knew that Cam wasn't going to let this go. She'd wait a few days, letting me be lulled into a false sense of complacency, then BAM, she'd ask me about it when we were hanging out on the couch watching some random show.

  She was a sneaky, sneaky woman. It was a quality I adored in her, but it was also damn inconvenient at this moment in time.

  "It's just a little raw right now," I said, hoping she'd cut me some slack.

  "Then, it might help to talk about it."

  I bit back a sigh. There was no way I was getting out of this conversation.

  "We'll see."

  Obviously, Cam knew me as well as I knew her because she gave me a hard side-eye.

  The rest of the dinner went off well with the exception of Ben Murphy. Every time I looked up, he was watching me. At any other time, that would freak me out because it was something a creeper would do.

  I couldn't complain because I couldn't keep my eyes off him either. When Cam introduced me to him, I'd thought he was good-looking. Especially his butt in those Levi's.

  After today, he was even more gorgeous. Not just because I'd gotten another look at his behind, but because he was intelligent. And charming.

  But he wasn't arrogant.r />
  In fact, he was funny. He'd made me laugh several times. I also enjoyed listening to him talk because, holy shit, even his voice was sexy. I could have listened to him read from the phone book and still been enthralled.

  I wasn't sure what was going on with me because I'd never felt such a strong pull to a man before. Attraction, yes. Lust, definitely. But this level of magnetism was out of my realm of experience. If he'd been sitting next to me, I wouldn't have been able to concentrate on eating. It was difficult enough when he was just across the table. Any closer and I wouldn't have been able to carry on a conversation with anyone.

  When the meal was over, I volunteered to clear the table. If I was moving and cleaning, Colette couldn't corner me about my break-up with Brian again. And Cam was definitely her daughter, so she would want in on the conversation, too. I couldn't deal with them double teaming me right now. Not with his pain and those sharp, stinging words still so fresh in my mind. No, not my words. His. Brian had somehow managed to hurt me just as much as I'd hurt him, even though I hadn't been in love with him.

  I hustled back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room while Malcolm and J.J. did the dishes. Colette followed them, saying she was going to make coffee and get dessert ready to serve, but I was pretty sure she just wanted to make sure the men weren't doing a half-assed job at dishwashing duty.

  Cam and Brody were nowhere to be seen, but I figured they were avoiding each other. Brody wasn't Cam's favorite person. I'd never met him because he wasn't living in town when Cam and I used to come back from college for visits, but he wasn't what I expected based on her descriptions of him. In fact, if she hadn't told me some of the things he'd said and done over the years, I would have thought he had the hots for her based on the way he watched her any time he didn't think anyone was looking. Then again, it could also be because of the Girls Gone Wild: Spring Break Edition outfit she had put on after his daughter had accidentally spilled tea on her upon our arrival.

  Bah. Why were men so damn complicated?

  Since I still wasn't quite ready to face Colette's gentle questioning, I stripped the dirty tablecloth and placemats from the table and carried them into the laundry room. After I moved Cam's wet and still tea-stained outfit from the washer to the dryer, I loaded everything into the washer, turned it on, and added soap.

  "Just get it over with, Sierra. Colette loves you. She doesn't know that you're a freak," I muttered to myself.

  With nothing else to do, I couldn't avoid my fate any longer.

  I took a deep breath and turned to leave the room. And found Ben Murphy standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.

  "Sweet baby Jesus!" I jumped backward and nearly landed on my ass when my foot slipped on the floor. "Why are you standing there like some creepy...creeper?"

  Ben grinned, looking way too pleased with himself. And hot. "I was waiting for you to finish whatever conversation you were having with yourself. I didn't want to interrupt."

  Crap. I'd been talking to myself like some weirdo. The best defense was to act like his teasing didn't bother me. And pretend that I wasn't dying to see the rest of the tattoo that peeked out from under his left sleeve, stopping just below the inside bend of his elbow.

  "Sometimes I answer the voices in my head. It keeps them on their toes."

  His grin widened and he laughed a little. "Good advice."

  "So why are you lurking in the doorway?" I asked, tucking my hands in the back pockets of my jeans.

  His grin faded but his eyes still twinkled with amusement. Instead of answering my question, he asked one of his own. "How long are you in town?"

  I shrugged. Fine, what did I care if he didn't want to answer my question? "A few weeks, maybe more. I have six weeks of vacation time saved up, so I'd love to stay here for at least that long. As long as there aren't any emergencies at the office, I won't have to head back to the city for meetings until then."

  Ben's eyes dropped and I realized he was looking at the small tattoo on my left forearm. "What's that?"

  I lifted it, turning so he could see it clearly. It was a series of ones and zeroes.

  "Binary?" he asked.

  I nodded.

  "What does it say?"

  I didn't answer him, so he came closer, reaching out as though he wanted to touch my arm. Instead, he hesitated and looked at me. "May I?"

  I liked that. That he didn't just assume he could touch me. "Sure."

  His fingers were warm and rough as he took my wrist and bent over my forearm. There were calluses on his fingertips and they were rough against my skin, but not in an unpleasant way. I nearly closed my eyes when I inhaled and realized he smelled really good, like a mixture of soap, a hint of leather, and engine grease. This was a man who worked with his hands for a living and I was suddenly dying to know if he was as good with them when it came to a woman's body instead of cars.

  His eyes flicked to mine after he studied the tattoo for a few moments. "Sure you won't tell me what it says?"

  I shook my head, unable to form words now that his face was so close to mine. I wasn't a tall woman, but I had curves. I had a small waist with big boobs and a butt so I definitely wasn't delicate by any means. But somehow, that's exactly how I felt. His long fingers wrapped all the way around my forearm, overlapping just a bit. And his body seemed so much larger than mine, but I didn't feel threatened.

  I couldn't pull my gaze away from his because his eyes were hypnotic. Such an unexpected mixture of amber, deeper brown, and green. With his face so close, I could see each tiny striation in his irises.

  And that's when I did what I always do—I said exactly what I was thinking.

  "You have really pretty eyes."

  Yep. I blurted that right out there like a preteen talking to her first crush. Considering the attraction singing in my veins, that wasn't very far from the truth.

  The corner of Ben's mouth lifted. "Thank you. I was just thinking the same thing about you."

  Ah, shit. I could feel the heat rising in my neck toward my face. Yep, I was just about to blush. It wouldn't be a pretty pink flush like Colette's. Oh no, it would look more as though I'd just been boiled like a lobster and my skin would be just as hot. I could practically feel the rush of heated blood as it crept up from my chest all the way to my forehead.

  "Um, thanks."

  Before I could make things worse by telling him how great he smelled or how much I liked his short, messy brown hair, Cameron, my most favorite bestest friend in the entire world, saved my bacon by calling my name.

  "Hey, Sierra! I have to get a move on. I need to drop by the house before we go to the shop."

  Ben released me when I stepped back but asked, "Will you have dinner with me this week?"

  I froze. "Uh—" I wanted to say yes in the worst way but a little voice that sounded suspiciously like my ex whispered You get off on hurting men. You're distant and cold.

  "Sierra?" Ben prompted.

  "I don't think it would be a good idea," I blurted. And there I went, shooting off my mouth again. I inhaled sharply. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so blunt. I think I would enjoy spending time with you but I'm only here for a month and a half. I don't think it would be wise to get involved."

  Ben nodded. "I appreciate your honesty."

  Crazily enough, it sounded as though he was sincere.

  "But it doesn't have to be that complicated," he continued. "We could have some fun, keep it casual."

  I blinked. That was actually a...tempting offer. If he was talking about what I thought he was. I liked sex and I was definitely beginning to miss it. And maybe this would help me get out of this funk I'd been in ever since Brian and I broke up.

  "Sierra!" Cam called, her voice getting closer.

  I opened my mouth to tell him I'd think about it and ask for his number but all that came out was a squeak.

  I cleared my throat but before I could try to speak again, Ben said, "Just think about it. Cam's got my number. Just let
me know what you decide."

  He stepped out of the room, heading down the hall toward the back of the house. A few seconds later, Cam appeared from the opposite direction and stopped in the doorway.

  "Hey, didn't you hear me calling you?" she asked.

  I shook my head. "Sorry, I was getting the washer started and it must have drowned out the sound of your voice."

  "Oh. Look, I'm sorry but I have to go home and change before I head to Crave. My clothes aren't going to be dry in time so we need to head out."

  "No problem," I said.

  And boy, was I sincere. This way I could avoid Colette's interrogation. For now.

  I was also pretty sure I'd be thinking about Ben's offer until the wee hours of the morning.

  I hate it when I'm right.

  2

  Sometimes a girl needs to drink by herself.

  Unfortunately, I didn't want to be completely alone. Yes, I know that's a conflicting statement, but it's true.

  Cam was working and I'd promised her dinner, so I compromised by picking up something from the diner and leaving it in the fridge at her house. I'd also written a note in huge block letters on the dry erase board hanging on the kitchen wall. She would see it as soon as she walked in. Was it a chickenshit way to go about it? Definitely, but I needed to stew, not talk, which was exactly what I would wind up doing if I was there when Cam got home from work.

  That was how I ended up at The Red Boot on a Sunday night, just a few hours after the late lunch with Cam's family. Despite the name, it wasn't so much a honkytonk as a town watering hole. Which explained why they were open on a Sunday.

  There was a stage, but tonight it was empty and the jukebox was playing an eclectic mix of country music and rock from the '70s and '80s.