Wild Thing Read Online Free

like a second skin. She wore the same wrist cuffs she’d worn earlier, but she’d changed collars; this one sported studs and rings with silver chains draped between them. Her hair was down and so straight and shiny, it looked fake. She caught her bright red bottom lip between her teeth and watched him with wide eyes. She looked like something out of a steaming hot sexual fantasy. He’d never had a sexual fantasy of the Goth variety before. He was pretty sure that was about to change.
    The shadows lengthened, and although it didn’t get dark until after ten at night in high summer, the first hint of the evening chill had settled. Hunter cleared his suddenly dry throat. “You forgot a jacket.”
    “Oh.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m not going to stay long.” Her gaze skittered to the edge of the clearing and back to him.
    “We’re having a bonfire after the barbecue. Come on, it’ll be fun.” He took her arm and walked her toward the barbecue.
    “Yeah. Fun is subjective… obviously.”
    He wasn’t sure why she was so nervous, but whatever it was, it had her wound tighter than a duck’s ass. The farther they got from her cabin, the slower she walked, and the more often she glanced back.
    Maybe she was reconsidering going back for her jacket or possibly rethinking the outfit choice. She looked fine to him. Mouthwateringly so. But he figured Karma would probably think Toni was overdressed. He didn’t know what they wore at barbecues in New York, though if the few episodes of Sex and the City he was forced by assorted girlfriends to watch were accurate, they dressed a whole lot different for just about everything. In Idaho, shorts or jeans and T-shirts were good for every occasion except weddings and funerals.
    She stopped dead in her tracks, and Hunter almost stumbled over his own feet.
    “You know, I’m really tired. It’s been a long day, and I’m still on Eastern time.” She backed away. “I think I’ll just go back to my cabin and crash.”
    “You’re not even going to eat?”
    She shook her head and bolted.
    Since Toni looked more terrified than tired or angry, Hunter didn’t take it personally. He just wanted to know what had her so upset.
    When he arrived at the barbecue, James was deep in conversation with Trapper.
    Trapper shook his head, dug a twenty-dollar bill out of his pocket, and handed it to James. “Little brother, I’m disappointed in you.”
    “Yeah, and why is that?”
    “I just lost a bet to James that you’d have Toni out of her cabin in under a half hour.”
    “I had her out of the cabin and halfway to the barbecue before she made up some excuse about being tired and bolted. What’s going on with her?”
    James let out a sigh. “That, my friend, is Toni’s story to tell. If she chooses to share it with you, she will. I’ll fix her a plate and make sure she’s okay.”
    Shit. Hunter had wanted to do the same thing, but then barging into Toni’s cabin uninvited twice in one day might not be the best idea. “I need to know what’s going on, James. I can’t do my job if I have to be afraid of Toni freaking out and disappearing. This isn’t New York.”
    “I believe Toni is painfully aware of that. I’ll talk to her, and we’ll see you all in the morning.”
    James made his way to the buffet that had been set up and piled two plates with food before moseying off in the direction of Toni’s cabin.
    Trapper handed Hunter a cold one. “James said she’s not into the great outdoors.”
    “Yeah, that much is obvious, not to mention an understatement. She’s terrified. Why is a mystery—she’s told me everything but.”
    “Everything?” Trapper speared Hunter with the look he had that makes everyone spill his guts. Everyone but Hunter, that is.
    “Nice try, Trap, but that hasn’t worked on me since I got caught under the bleachers with Jeannie Coleman in the sixth grade.” Hunter took a draw off his beer before going to get some grub, leaving