Gavin (Cowboy Wolf Series Book 1)

around his heart, that spasm of grief he had been experiencing in the four days since he received the phone call he had not been expecting for another ten years. His father’s untimely accident meant putting family and duty before Aislyn much sooner than he had hoped or prepared for.
He was late tonight, having spent way too much time contemplating taking the coward’s way out and walking out of Aislyn’s life without an explanation or a gut-wrenching good-bye. If only she weren’t too young, too city-bred, too human. The connection between them had been instantaneous, that rare occurrence of finding the one person you were meant to make yours in every way that worked to settle the restlessness inside him. He would never forget her unguarded expression of their first encounter, the way her eyes had widened, drinking him in as he approached her, still assimilating the discovery of his mate in a BDSM club. The moment he had held out his hand without a word and she had placed her trembling fingers in his grip would be forever ingrained in his memory
They had been together every weekend since, six months of him teaching her the heightened pleasures she could attain through light pain, bondage and submission. In the last three months he had caved to the desire to see her more often, taking her out to dinner during the week and inviting her to his softball games.
His parents didn’t know about Aislyn; how could he tell them his mate, the woman he was meant to spend his life with, wasn’t a shifter? Coming from a long line of wolf shifters there had been only two human mates of distant relatives, and neither spouse had stuck around after learning the truth about who they had married. Those failed marriages had led to rumors that brought unwanted attention on the families back then, though nothing could ever be proven, and eventually the nosy interlopers were forced to back off. The mistake his relatives made in trusting the wrong person accounted for the few numbers in their pack as those uncles never remarried or sired offspring.
The foyer was empty as Gavin stepped inside, the low hum of voices, sharp snap of leather hitting bare skin and the soft, sultry tunes of a ballad reaching his acute hearing through the closed door of the large social room. He left his Stetson on, hoping the lowered brim hid the turmoil his grief was causing from showing on his face. His girl had gotten adept at reading his looks, and he couldn’t bear for their last night to be marred by the pain of their split before he enjoyed one more scene with her. As much as he was looking forward to returning to the ranch and taking over running their fifty-thousand-acre spread, he had prayed that time would come later rather than sooner. His father’s call put an end to that hope and his chance to bind Aislyn’s trust so securely, she would accept his heritage without fear. His mother had finally laid down the law and insisted they retire to their cabin in the mountains as soon as his father recovered from the broken hip he had sustained bronco riding.
Gavin entered the gathering space, his eyes automatically shifting to the center sofas where he knew Aislyn waited. His pulse jumped as their gazes met and clung, his cock stirring as she slid to her knees upon his approach and clasped her hands behind her. She wore her long, wavy hair down, the ends falling over her shoulders to curl around her soft breasts hidden from his view and touch by a thin cream camisole that hung loose around her waist. The matching thong already clung with damp appeal to her denuded folds, molding the satin to her plump labia with mouthwatering enticement. He locked his jaw against the sadness tugging at him and held out his hand.
“You please me, like always, little one. Come with me.”
****
Aislyn’s heart tripped, her palm turning clammy as she took Master Gavin’s hand. Her eyes traveled from his booted feet, up his long, jean-clad legs and over the bulge pressing against his zipper that caused her pussy to flutter. The thick, wide black belt made her buttocks clench, his tight abs and hair-sprinkled broad chest revealed by the open leather vest turned her pouty nipples into stiff pinpoints. She swallowed hard as she took in his thick, corded neck and sun-kissed shadows of his lower face. She couldn’t make out his eyes but shivered as he tugged her up, picturing the bright green gleam as he yanked her against his hard frame.
“Sir,” she breathed, a surge of excitement rushing through her veins. “You’re late.” The strange heated tingles that had ghosted across her skin the moment she’d set eyes on him the first time six months ago, and had erupted each time they’d met since, were now making their way between her legs.
“I’m sorry. Something came up. I’ll make it up to you.”
His clipped tone alerted her to something bothering him, but as he led her to the back of the cavernous room, ignoring the greetings from friends, she relished his urgency to get started and take-charge attitude. It had been that way from their first meeting. Something about his calm but strict demeanor had soothed her nerves, made it easier to get through her initiation into the lifestyle that had drawn her interest after her college roommate confessed about her membership here.
He stopped at the new fuck bench, the apparatus she had shown interest in last weekend only to be denied the experience because he couldn’t watch her face. She loved that about him, the way he kept his eyes on her during a scene, his gaze focused on her and her responses regardless of what was going on around them. Flicking her eyes up, she couldn’t help asking, “You’ve changed your mind about letting me try this bench?” While she was all for new experiences as