Racing Hard (Dirt Track Dogs Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

set the pot on a burner. As he used the salt and pepper shakers, she realized just how hot it was that he liked to cook. He could command a stove as well as she commanded a table saw.
    Some of the liquid bubbled over the top of the pan, causing the gas flame to flare, and Surge jerked back.
    Laughter bubbled from his throat, and he shook his head. “Gets me every time.”
    “Does the fire bother you?”
    “Aw, yeah. You’ve heard all about our history then.”
    Tana nodded. “The gist of it.”
    Surge stirred the soup before adding cream to the pot. “It doesn’t bother me really. Not much anyway. Just surprises me sometimes.” He glanced at the bowl holding the kitten. “What do you think they call her?”
    Tana sighed, letting her fingers trail through the baby’s soft fur. “I don’t know. But isn’t she sweet?”
    “You want young someday?” he asked while he buttered a loaf of French bread in preparation for the oven.
    But his question paralyzed her. She couldn’t even swallow. Because there was no good answer for it.
    Did she want young?
    Yes.
    Would she ever get what she wanted?
    No.
    She managed to clear her throat. “That… that’s a personal question.”
    He glanced at her, one eyebrow raised. “Yeah. So?”
    “So. Do you want young?”
    He bent to push the bread into the oven and then straightened to face her. “I’ve thought about it. I’m not sure I have an answer yet.”
    “What’s that mean?”
    One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “I guess it depends on the female I decide to spend my life with.”
    His answer intrigued her. “Decide? As if you have a choice?”
    Surge’s lips curled up slightly, but once again, it didn’t reach his eyes. In fact, his eyes had grown dark. Sad. “I do. We all do really, if we want to fight our instincts for the sake of love. But in my case, I wouldn’t even have to do that. I have complete freedom to choose my mate.”
    Tana frowned, waiting for what she already knew was coming. And then he said it, his words skimming over her skin and leaving chills in their wake.
    “My intended is dead.”

Chapter Five
     
    My intended is dead .
    There were any number of better ways he could’ve said that. My mate doesn’t exist. My mate is no longer of this world. My intended has passed on and there’s no longer a bond for my wolf to hold on to.
    But why sugarcoat it. Why dress it up to look pretty when it wasn’t?
    Tana stood staring at him as though she was waiting for a punch line. The female was going to have to learn he had a serious side sooner or later.
    Surge turned to stir the soup, testing the potatoes. It was almost done. Soup was comfort food, and the whole damn lot of them needed comforting. No one was left unshaken by the events of the night, and he still wasn’t sure how the other female bobcat would fare.
    And on that note, what the hell had happened to them? Three female cats. No clan. One injured so badly she was near death. The other hopeless enough to try suicide. Where was mama cat’s mate?
    “Mine is too.” Tana’s quiet voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
    He looked up from the soup.
    “My intended is dead too.”
    Surge almost laughed. Not because it was funny. In fact, he wanted to comfort Tana. He knew the pain of losing that bond. But all he felt was relief. He’d been wondering about her mating status since she’d first arrived, and he’d decided he didn’t care. He intended to make her his whether her mate existed or not.
    But knowing she was as free as he was… that changed the game.
    He put the spoon down and stepped closer to her so he could look into her golden eyes. “I’m sorry for your loss.” He let the truth come through his words. Anything that was a source of pain for her made him sorry.
    Tana crossed her arms, a wry smile forming on her lips. “Don’t be. It was no loss. He was a fucking asshole.”
    Surge’s eyebrows shot into his forehead as Tana went to the fridge and pulled out a beer, popping