Shifter Cowboy

Excerpt From: Shifter Cowboy

Gravel and dirt sprayed Cody Marshall where he was lying curled up in the middle of an unpaved road. He put a hand instinctively over his eyes, shielding them from the stab of headlights.

“What the…” The creak of a truck door, boots crunching on gravel…A slight figure blocked out the headlights and Cody looked up at a man with brown hair in his eyes. He knelt next to Cody, reaching out to gently grip his arm. “Are you hurt? Can I help you?”

Oh, shit. Cody’s cheeks heated as he realised two things: one, he was lying in plain sight recovering and second, he was completely naked.

“’M fine,” he mumbled. Blood. He could smell it on himself.

“No, you’re not.” Soft eyes held his, their colour reminding Cody of a string of tiger’s eye, clear brown with strands of amber. “Look, I’m going to help you to your feet. Are you okay to try that? If you’re hurting anywhere, let me know—”

“I’m not.” Crap, just his luck he’d get some do-gooder on a little used road in the middle of fucking nowhere on a Friday night. The man looked young and attractive enough, so why wasn’t he doing the traditional thing and partying like most of the cowboys who lived in the area?

“Okay then.” Strength. Warmth. The stranger exuded it as he helped Cody to his feet. The front of the truck loomed suddenly closer as Cody wavered but before he could fall, he was snatched close to a hard, protective body. He felt the crispness of denim against his bare thighs and the cotton of a T-shirt brushing his sensitive nipples. He caught his breath, his hands fisting as powerful sexual hunger beat in his blood.

No. He shook his head, desperately holding onto his control. It was tough when he could see the waning moon through a clump of trees, when he could smell lime aftershave and feel the caring in the stranger’s touch.

Nothing got to Cody like someone touching him with tenderness.

“Fucking let me go!” He shoved the man away from him, unable to handle it.

Shocked velvety eyes widened. “Hey, mister, I’m trying to help you!”

Cody dropped his gaze away from the other man’s. What Cody needed was to feel in control again. He took a deep breath, pushing back his long black hair with a shaking hand. “What’s your name?” he demanded, pretending his nerves weren’t shooting sparks like a downed power line.

The stranger tilted his head, as if considering Cody. Cody hunched his shoulders, wanting to attack, wanting to ghost back into the trees while a third impulse licked up his thigh. Want. Not the pale human thing, but want like the satisfying crunch of bone under his teeth. He wanted to wrap himself around that slender body, him nude, the other man dressed, it didn’t matter. He wanted to spread the stranger out on top of the truck, bury himself inside him while looking into those yellow-brown eyes.

Panting, Cody fought the need, curling his arms around himself.

“I’m Adrian Le Roy,” the man finally answered gently, as if he had some sense of the wildness crashing through Cody. “I’m new here.”

Cody thrust his hand out. “Howdy.”

Adrian blinked and then his lips curved into a rueful smile. He took Cody’s scratched and dirt-encrusted hand. “Howdy,” he said in that deep voice that tightened the muscles in Cody’s lower body like strings on a guitar. He had a slight southern accent that Cody couldn’t help but find sexy, the slow drawl adding an old-fashioned courtliness to his words. “May I ask your name?”