partner.”
Cora gave Lexie’s hips a pointed look. “Maybe Jackson likes to select females who are thoroughbreds and look less like… cows.”
Her temper fractured. “Better a sweet cow than a farming instrument.” At Cora’s puzzled look, she added, “Hoe.”
Cora hissed and started forward. Lupine instincts surged as Lexie prepared to fight. But Jackson finally turned and approached, the woman stepped back and gave him a syrupy smile, placing a proprietary hand on his arm. “I do hope you’ll be overseeing the breeding. Daddy trusts you implicitly, after all my recommendations. It’s why he lowered the stud fee. You have magic hands.”
Magic hands? Suddenly weary of all this, Lexie climbed over the fence and jumped into the corral. Horses were the only animals she trusted, the only ones who didn’t hurt. Hell of a life, being a werewolf who liked horses better than her own people.
The stallion stopped kicking up his heels and approached with a loud snort. From behind her, she heard Cora scream, “Leave him alone!”
“Lexie’s good with horses,” Jackson snapped. “She knows what she’s doing.”
His faith in her ability filled her with confidence. Big Boy’s nostrils flared, as if he tried to catch her scent as she walked up to him, not looking him in the eye, just ambling up to him like two strangers getting to know each other. She placed her head near his shoulder, inhaling his scent, letting him sniff her. Then, when he lowered his head, she rubbed his velvety muzzle.
“I know it’s tough, being carried from place to place,” she told the stallion. “But you’ll like it here, I promise. They’re real nice, and the food is decent, and so is the lodging. It’s not a five-star hotel, but the scenery is nice. There’s some real pretty fillies to look at.”
Big Boy snorted in agreement. Lexie scratched his ears. “You’re special. I can tell.”
With a final pat to his withers, she turned, marched over to the fence and climbed up, then jumped down. Folding her arms across her chest, she looked at Cora – daring the woman to say a thing.
Cora ignored her and jiggled the keys in her hand, addressing Jackson. “I have to get back to the ranch.” Then she gave her widest smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Big Boy.”
A low growl rumbled from her throat as Cora sped away in her truck. Lexie decided she was tired of playing games. If Jackson and Cora were an item, she needed to know.
“Are you sleeping with her?”
Jackson gave her an incredulous look. “Hell no. Give me credit, Lex. I have taste.”
She relaxed a little. “If Cora knew you were a wolf, she’d probably mount your head over her fireplace.”
“It wouldn’t be my head she mounted,” he deadpanned.
Her mouth twitched, but she couldn’t laugh because women like Cora, natural seducers, made Lexie feel clumsy and awkward and chubby. Jackson leaned closer and thumbed her wrist.
“I want only one female and it’s not a rich, blonde Skin who will fuck anything with a penis.”
Lexie’s eyes widened. “Anything? So that’s where those horse rumors came from.”
He threw back his head and laughed. Then Jackson stopped, his gaze hot and hungry. He clasped her chin and stroked a finger over her mouth, his scent swimming in her nostrils and making her intoxicated and wanting. “It’s time. You’ve been riding solo for too long.”
Without warning, he kissed her.
Her pride insisted she attempt to resist him, but he kept her imprisoned, her body cinched tight. Jackson slowly stroked his tongue over her lips, his touch teasing and light, creating waves of hot pleasure through her tensed body. Gradually she relaxed, her breathing ragged as his kiss deepened. Her fingers itched to touch him and she leaned closer.
As if sensing surrender, he suckled on her lower lip, then darted his tongue along the seam of her closed lips. Jackson flicked his tongue until she parted her mouth and then he slipped inside, slow