Free A Cowboy in Ravenna by Jan Irving Page B

upright, considering. “I go from submissive to bossy, you mean?”
    “Yeah. I never know if I’ll be the beast you dominate or the man you lie under.”
    Chace ran his teeth down the vein in Trin’s neck. “Mmmm. I like mapping out my sexual identity with you.”
    “Oh, fuck, yeah! ” Trin hollered. “I want to be yours. Your animal, yours—”
    Chace jerked back. Shit . “Sabin,” he croaked.
    Trin squeezed his eyes shut. Claws scraped Chace’s T-shirt before Trin pushed Chace away, curling up. “I need a good ride about now,” Trin said.
    “No kidding,” Chace agreed with feeling.
    Trin cracked a pained laugh. “That’s not what I meant. But yeah…” His grey eyes focused on Chace’s face, held on. “Tonight is dangerous for you. Things have a way of…not exactly being what you expect when you go to a pack meeting.”
    Chace swallowed, nodded. “I had a feeling.”
    “You have to do everything I say.”
    Chace reached out, touched Trin’s heart under his blue denim shirt. He was wearing his hand-tooled Western boots, scarred from long, hard use, and his worn jeans. He was the quintessential cowboy.
    “I know I don’t fit in here,” Trin said as if he’d read Chace’s mind. “Fancy art, fancy furniture…” The molten gold eyes of the beast looked at Chace through Trin’s eyes.
    “No, you don’t.” He stroked Trin’s chest. “It doesn’t matter.”
    “I’ve totally fucked your holiday.”
    “Just my holiday? You’ve fucked my life.” Chace said. “Keep on doin’ it.”
    Trin laughed again. “You’re crazy.”
    A fist pounded against the door.
    Trin raised his head. “Calhoun.”
    “Showtime,” Chace said. “Get the door.”
    Trin’s face tightened as if he wanted to try to talk Chace out of coming. Instead, he left the bed they’d gone wild on for an all-too-brief time and let Calhoun in.
    “Did you find what I asked for?” Trin asked Calhoun.
    Calhoun’s eyes ran over Trin’s body then took in Chace, curled up on the bed, still throbbing. “I’m looking forward to watching your boy submit in the mating ceremony,” he drawled. Then his gaze snapped to Trin. “Easy, shifter. I know he’s yours. Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy seeing you with him.”
    “Maybe he won’t be the one submitting.”
    “I’d pay good money to see that,” Calhoun said.
    Trin’s snarl sent ice down Chace’s spine. By Trin’s side at once, Chace touched Trin’s arm.
    Calhoun dropped a heavy duffle on the floor. “What’s that scent?” He frowned. “Someone else is here.”
    “Sabin.” Chace went to the bathroom and knocked. After a few moments, he opened the door. The little window was open, admitting a draught of warm air and the settling sounds of birds.
    But no Sabin.

    * * * *

    While Trin was in the bathroom shaving, Chace dug through the contents of the bag. He pulled out chains so heavy he couldn’t lift them.
    “Calhoun knows his stuff,” Trin said, wiping shaving lotion off his face.
    Chace remembered Trin working a prairie fire a year ago, using a chain saw to bring down trees in a fire break, shovelling out spot fires. He’d fought to save not only the ranch, but thousands of acres of the national park.
    It helped, remembering that. Trin was a man he could trust. Always.
    “I’m glad someone does.” Chace attempted a dry tone, but his voice cracked. He couldn’t bullshit Trin, so why try? “Trin, I’m freaked.”
    “I’ll take care of you. Nothing will happen tonight unless you want it.” Trin’s voice bore an underlying growl.
    “Like anything you ever do to me I don’t want. That stuff you talked about, displaying me in front of other men. That starts now?”
    Trin nodded. “Shifters aren’t modest and these shifters are…old fashioned. That means they see you as my property.”
    “How do you see me?”
    “I see you as my boss one day, and an amazing artist who is going places. I figured…” Trin rubbed the back of his neck. “You’d