Chapter 3

3

Preston

I t’s even worse than I thought it would be. Ninety percent of my concentration is going into keeping my beast inside of me. The other ten percent is focused on listening to the endless stream of whining and complaints.

The beds are not comfy.

The pillows smell of mildew.

There’s a weird stain in the bathtub.

Yada, yada, yada.

Someone just threatened to give this place the worst review in the history of the world. I told them to their face that I have no idea what the fuck they’re talking about.

I’m this close to throwing them all out, and telling them to find someplace else to have their goddamn team-building weekend. Whatever the hell that is.

And I would.

If it wasn’t for her .

Lucy Cole.

All soft golden curls, sweet round cheeks, and luscious, luscious curves.

I can’t take my eyes off her. She’s delectable. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. When I heard that voice again—the same one that called up and made the reservation—and I saw that it belonged to her, my beast woke up .

This has never happened to me before.

Now it’s scratching me up inside in a way that worries me.

It seems to think I’ve got a claim on her.

No fucking chance. She’s a princess and I’m more than half animal.

I just like to look at her. See her energy. The way she flits from one huddle of assholes to another, doing her best to cheer them up. Most of these assholes don’t seem to notice though. They’re too darn busy acting all entitled.

Looks like she’s taking the blame for the place being a dump. Well, it’s not her fault, and if I hear much more of this crap, I’m gonna go and tell ‘em all so. It’s squarely the fault of my grandaddy, one Jerome Wright, who liked gambling more than he cared about maintaining this “precious” family heirloom.

I’m sure glad I gave her the best room—the only good room, to be honest. It’s officially designated as the honeymoon suite. It even has a hot tub. I sure hope she gets to use it?—

All by herself! my beast snarls. Those creeps better not think of getting in there with her.

Maybe one of them is her boyfriend.

I glare at each wan human face in turn. Whichever one it is, my beast will cheerfully rip his head off and scatter his remains all over the mountain.

A snarl escapes my lips.

Whoa, settle down . Just think of her in the hot tub instead.

Alone.

Naked.

Soaping up those beautiful tits of hers. I wonder if her nipples are the same pale pink as her lips?—

Uh oh, and now she’s heading in my direction. And I’ve got a boner.

Don’t want her to catch me staring at her. Instead, I busy myself leafing through the ledger, pretending I’m reading all those blank pages.

“Uh, hi.”

I lift my head. And I quit breathing altogether.

Because those big blue eyes of hers are flaring with passion.

I watch transfixed as she lays her tiny hands on the desk. Her nails are painted bright pink, and some of them have little glittery things attached to them.

“Hi,” I grunt.

I want to tell her she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

That I want to spend the rest of my life caring for her and protecting her.

That I can’t wait to fill her belly with my young.

But that’s all I’ve got.

Her lower lip trembles.

Shit. What’s wrong? Is it me? Am I looking all scary? I try hard to tug the corners of my lips up.

Clay’s words float back to me: Dude, if you ever smiled, I think your face would crack.

Screw him. I’m gonna smile at this girl, even if I have to practice all damn day.

Her eyes get even bigger, and she clears her throat.

“S-some things are missing here.”

I frown. “Missing? I don’t think so.”

Her smooth forehead crumples. “Look.”

She takes out her phone. One of those modern devices with a big, bright screen. Her slender fingers glide across the glass so deftly. I imagine how they’ll feel wrapped around my cock.

She turns the phone around and lays it down on the desk. She’s acting all tough, but I don’t miss the tremor in her hand. Damn, it’s costing her a lot to be brave with a big ol’ beast like me. Well, I’m gonna show her she doesn’t need to be brave. I’ll take care of her every need.

“Here,” she says with a sigh.

I shake myself. Turns out I’ve been staring at her the whole time. I force my attention to move to the glowing blue screen. It’s full of photos of the lodge. I peer closer. Except, it looks a lot better than it does now. The sign isn’t half broken, for starters.

She taps a fingernail underneath the photos, to where it says amenities .

“Spa services,” she reads out. “But I just went there and there’s a sign on the door saying out of order.”

“Yup. Can’t get anyone to come fix it this time of year,” I say.

She raises one of her adorable golden eyebrows. “Fitness center,” she continues.

“It’s open.”

A sigh rushes out of her. “Half of the equipment is broken.”

“Heated swimming pool,” she continues.

“Wine cellar and tasting room.”

“Where did you find all this stuff?” I demand.

“Right here on the booking app.”

“The what?”

She takes a big sighing breath, which pushes those beautiful tits of hers closer to my face.

“Right. I tried to make the booking through the app, but it failed to go through, which was why I wound up calling you.”

I work my jaw. This is the first I’m seeing of this “app”. Technology really isn’t my strong suit.

“Let me see.” I pick up the phone and try to move my fingers across the screen just like I saw her do. Rated: 5.3/10 it says. Out of 1243 reviews .

“Is that good?” I ask.

The creases in her forehead get deeper. “No, it’s terrible,” she says, sounding all angry.

And that connects directly with my gut. I never want her to be angry with me.

“Should be ten out of ten, right?” I mutter.

Her eyes get real wide. Then something happens.

An incredible smile breaks out across her beautiful face, and she throws her head back and laughs .

“You’re new to this, aren’t you?” she says through a bunch of breathy gasps.

Suddenly, I’m laughing, too. A sound I’ve never heard before is bursting from my mouth, and I don’t even have to try to tug my lips up at the corners. They’re doing that all by themselves.

Feels nice. More than nice. But that’s nothing compared to watching the joy transforming Lucy Cole’s beautiful face.

“I’m sorry, I just inherited the place,” I say, when I can talk again.

She looks around, taking in the grimy-ass lobby. “So, it’s not your fault it’s like this?”

“Nope.”

She gives me a look I don’t understand. Might be relief or something. I’m not good with this kind of thing.

“My grandaddy made me and my brother promise to keep it going, right before he died.”

She leans a little closer. “And you didn’t want to?”

I shrug. I’m not used to being asked questions about myself, and it’s making me feel all stirred up inside.

Those sky-blue eyes of hers narrow as they keep right on, staring into mine. “Well, we need to do something about this. My team isn’t happy, and they’re talking about leaving.”

Let ‘em leave. And you can have her all to yourself , my beast grumbles beneath my skin.

I shush it up. That’s not how these things work, doofus. She’ll leave too, and I’ll never see her again.

My beast howls. You’d go after her. She’s your mate and you’d follow her to the ends of the earth.

Mate. The word resonates through my being.

She’s my mate?

Beasts like me don’t have a mate. Least of all a beautiful, delicate human one.

She’s staring at me expectantly. Shit. She was talking and I was too busy obsessing to hear her.

“Huh?” I grunt before I can stop myself.

“They’re saying you’re in breach of contract, so they want a refund.”

“Okay.”

She blinks several times, then shakes her head. “Not okay.”

“No?” This tiny goddess is confusing the heck out of me.

“We’ve got to find a solution.” She laces her hands together. “Or I’m toast.”

I frown. “You’ll get in trouble?”

“Big trouble.” She’s looking at me real seriously. She’s also chewing on her lower lip, which is driving my beast to distraction.

Fuck. I already know I’ll do whatever it takes to help her. “Just tell me the solution?”

She laughs again. “Well, that’s the hard part. Looks like most of the amenities are out of order.”

I grab the phone, scan the list again.

Finally, I jab at one of the entries triumphantly.

“Fire pit. We got a fire pit.”

“Fire pit… fire pit.” She stares up at the ceiling dreamily. ““Great! So, we could have a campfire evening. That would be so cozy and bonding.”

I stifle a snort. With that bunch of assholes? But I keep my thoughts to myself. She’s extra pretty when she’s soft and dreamy like that.

“I could go get stuff to make s’mores,” she says.

“I can get s’mores stuff,” I blurt out. I have no idea what that is. Hopefully I can find it in the grocery store.

The look she gives me sets my chest on fire. “Thank you. That would be real nice.”

“Least I can do,” I say, and I know that’s true.

She peers at the glowing screen. “Is there a barbecue?”

“I can make one! It’s just a fire with a grill over it.”

Her eyes fill with excitement. “Be so cool to have a cookout.”

“What’s that?”

She giggles. “It’s where a bunch of stuff gets cooked up and eaten.”

“Like meat.”

“Yeah.”

I puff my chest out. This I can do. My animal can hunt like no other. “I’ll get meat. A lot of it.”

My excitement grows as I scan the rest of the list. But there’s nothing else. All the other amenities are either broken or don’t even exist.

My heart sinks.

“We’ve got to think outside the box,” Lucy murmurs dreamily.

“What box?” I struggle to keep the suspicion out of my voice.

She giggles. “That’s what Natasha is always telling me—think outside of the box, Lucy.”

She leans even closer. So close I pick up a waft of her scent. Floral with a musky undertone. She’s so ripe, so ready to be mated. It’s intoxicating, charging my veins with need, until I can hardly see straight.

“To be honest, I’ve never understood exactly what she means. But I think the box is like the version of the world that most people see.” A light comes into her eyes. “Like you, you’re not in the box.”

“I’m not?”

She props her chin on her hand and gives me a long look. “No, you’re different.”

“What am I like?” I hate that I’m asking, but I can’t help myself.

“You’re all wild?—”

My beast purrs.

She didn’t say that was a good thing, I snap at it.

“And…” Her eyes are running all over me. As if she likes what she sees?

No, that’s ridiculous.

“Lucy!” goes a nasal voice, as the lobby door bursts open and one of the human men storms in. The one who was as green as a pile of frog puke when he first arrived. But now he’s swaggering around like he owns the place.

And he’s staring at my girl’s ass.

Not even trying to hide it. Just zoning in on it like she’s his property.

I’ll kill him. Right after I’ve gouged his eyes out.

My beast swells beneath my skin.

“Keep your eyes to yourself!” I roar.

The dickweed jumps a mile.

Lucy turns to him, then back to me again, eyes wild with confusion. “Huh?”

“Nothing,” I say.

Darn, and now she’s scared of me again. Like I’m some crazy asshole. Guess I don’t blame her. But when she’s mine, she’ll understand that I’d lay down my life to protect her.

Dickweed can’t look me in the eye. He knows.

“Lucy, what’s keeping you? We’re all waiting—” He slinks up beside her.

“She’s doing her best. Can’t you see that?” I snarl.

His mouth falls open. “I-I was talking to her.”

“Then you’ll talk to her with some manners. Like the princess she is.”

His jaw twitches. “Princess. Right.” He clears his throat. “Come on.” He turns on his heel and stalks across the lobby.

“I’d better go,” Lucy says, her cheeks hot. She follows after him. But as she passes through the door, she turns and gives me a long look.

Like she doesn’t want to go.

Like she wants to stay here with me.

Mine , my beast purrs, and the claiming urge burns through me like a lightning bolt.