Still smiling, Sawyer shrugged innocently. “You know, Riley, you want to make sure he never turns that temper on you.”
Tao advanced on him. “You son of a—”
Riley slipped in front of Tao and planted a hand on his chest just as she scowled at Sawyer and snapped, “Get the fuck out of here, asshole!”
Looking very pleased with himself, Sawyer began to back away. “You used to have such sweeter things to say to me.”
Growling, Tao snatched the can out of her hand and threw it at Sawyer, but the raven was jogging away, retreating into the woods.
Riley spun to face Tao. “What the hell was that about?”
“He took me on a trip down memory lane,” Tao said through his teeth. “Told me how he’d had you in the shower, the bathtub, against the wall—”
“No, he hasn’t,” she scoffed. “He sensed you had a short fuse, so he antagonized you. Unfortunately, it worked. He probably just wants me to feel unsafe with you.” Suddenly Tao was all up in her space.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” he rumbled. “I can be a mean motherfucker, I have a shitty temper, and I’m not tuned in to the feelings of the people around me. That means I’ll snap at you, piss you off, even yell at you, but I will never lay a finger on you in anger. Not ever.”
“I already know that,” she assured him. “Now can you calm down?”
“It’s a bit hard to be fucking calm when I’ve got images of you and him dancing around my head.”
Casting a sad look at the can spinning on the ground, squirting precious Mountain Dew everywhere, she sighed. “Did you really have to throw it?”
“Well, some people need to have cans slung at their head. Boat-size cans. Or maybe just boats. Cruise ships would be better.”
“It would be hard to pick up a cruise ship. Impossible, actually. Unless you’re Superman. You’re not Superman. You can’t fly and you don’t have a cape. You also don’t have x-ray vision or the ability to shoot red-hot beams out of your eyes—both of which would be cool.”
He looked at her in sheer exasperation, shouting, “Why are we talking about Superman?”
“Because it’s distracting you!”
He inhaled deeply. Very, very deeply. “I need coffee. Then food.”
“Max and Ethan just invited us over for blueberry pancakes. Their cabin’s only a few minutes’ walk away; I’m ready to go when you are.” Spotting something, she frowned. “What’s that in the tree?”
Under the glare of the sun, Tao followed her along the winding, uneven dirt path, taking in what he couldn’t deny were breathtaking views of red rocks, tall spires, canyons, and mountains. Predatory birds flew overhead while small animals scrambled in the underbrush. He could hear the trickle of a nearby creek and the white noise of a distant waterfall.
Like his wolf, Tao found the sights and smells of nature relaxing, but it was hard to relax when he had the sultry scent of Riley filling his nostrils, drowning out the other scents of wildflowers and dry earth.
Now that they were closing in on her uncles’ cabin, he could see the mated pair setting plates out on the patio table. Tao squeezed her hand. “Looks like we’re eating outside.”
“They like to have breakfast outside,” she told him.
Tao sighed inwardly at her flat tone. He’d hoped she’d have calmed down by now. From what he could tell, she was even more pissed about Cynthia’s stunt than he was. It had taken a good twenty minutes to convince her it wasn’t worth storming to Cynthia’s cabin and calling her on it.
His wolf rubbed up against Tao’s skin, wanting to soothe her. “What are you thinking?” he asked, sidestepping a berry bush.
“I’m thinking that I shouldn’t have let you talk me out of bitch-slapping Cynthia for ripping your clothes.” Riley swatted a gnat. “I’m also thinking that I don’t like that she saw us fucking.”
“Is she the type to gossip?”
“Depends on the topic. Why?”
“If she goes around telling people how big my dick is, you might find yourself with some competition, even if I am an asshole.” As he’d hoped, she laughed. It was a husky, from-the-heart laugh that made him smile.
“Your confidence issues concern me.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get by.”
They made their way to the patio table, where Ethan stood to kiss her cheek. “Morning, sweetheart. Morning, Tao.”
“Morning,” Riley said with a smile. Tao just nodded in greeting.
Slumped in his chair, Max said, “I’d stand and kiss you if I trusted my balance.” It was clear by his pinched expression and disheveled appearance that he was feeling the aftereffects of the party.
Riley bent and kissed him on the cheek. Seeing there was a glass of Mountain Dew waiting for her, she grinned. “You guys are the best.”
Max eyed Riley and Tao as they took the seats opposite him and Ethan. “You don’t look at all hungover.”
“We only drank Coke,” said Riley, wasting no time in grabbing pancakes from the pile at the center of the table. “How’s your head?”
Max shrugged one shoulder. “It’s been worse. It’s also been fucking better.”
Ethan pushed a glass of water toward him. “Drink more.”
Dutifully, Max took a sip and then turned to Tao. “Well, Tao, tell me about yourself. I know you’re a Head Enforcer and you’ve marked my Riley, but that’s pretty much it.”
Tao sliced into his pancake. “There’s not much worth knowing.”
“Did you grow up in the Phoenix Pack?” asked Max.
“No,” replied Tao. “My childhood pack split when I was about fourteen. Some of those that left formed a new pack, the Phoenix Pack.”
“I heard some stories about your Alpha, Trey,” said Max. “Heard his wolf turns feral during battles, and that your Alpha female was latent until she mated Trey.” Tao nodded in confirmation. “I also heard they’re both pretty crazy,” Max added.
After chewing his pancake, Tao said, “It’s a fairly common belief.” It was also true.
Max put down his glass. “How long have you been Head Enforcer?”
Riley exhaled heavily. “Max, will you stop? He’s not actually interrogating you, Tao, he’s just terribly curious.”
“What else do you expect from a raven?” Max smiled. “I suppose we could talk about you instead, sweetheart. I have some pictures here he might be interested to see.”
“Max . . . ,” she growled. But it was too late. Her uncle dug out his wallet and showed Tao his collection of her childhood photographs, some of which were too embarrassing for words.
Studying one of her on her fifth birthday, Tao said, “You look . . . sweet. I can’t imagine you ever being sweet.”
Ethan chuckled. “She was sweet when she wanted something.”
“And so damn cute and funny,” said Max. “Remember her second Christmas with us, Ethan?”
Max ignored Riley’s groan and turned to Tao. “We asked her to write a list of the things she wanted so we could post it to Santa. She came to us later and it read, ‘A new bear, a bike, a Minnie Mouse dress, and a pair of tits.’”
Tao burst out laughing.
“Turned out she was trying to spell ‘tights,’ but it was still freaking funny.”