by Terry Spear
She shook her head. “I’ve been thinking more about the possibility, but I really don’t believe it would work. The brothers are likely to ask to do a ghost-hunter show for their help in the matter. They see every ghost situation as a moneymaking opportunity.”
“Hell no.”
“That’s what I’d assumed you’d say, and I feel the same way. I’m glad they haven’t heard about what we’re doing in the mine.” If her loved one had died, she wouldn’t want the ghost hunters to feature him in a story to profit from his death. She’d only want to help him pass over.
“You don’t happen to know any other…people who can see them, do you?” Peter asked.
“Just a few people who have seen Chrissy.” Meghan thought about Chrissy and realized she was gone. That just hit Meghan all at once. She’d so wanted to help Chrissy find resolution in death, but it hadn’t sunk in that she was gone forever. “Have you seen Lena recently?”
“I didn’t see her when I was in the house looking for clues Rollins had been there.”
“Spirits don’t always appear for us. They can still be there, lurking about.”
He looked so serious. “Meghan, I would do anything for you. I’m not giving you up. I want you in my life, today, tomorrow, the next day, and every day after that. I’ve been trying to do this for a long time, afraid of telling you about my past when here you were afraid to share yours with me. I’ve never felt surer of anything in my life.”
“But your mate…”
“She’s gone. She’s been gone for a very long time. I loved her. I still do. But it’s time for me to move on. Will you mate me?”
“I love you, Peter. I’ve seen the way you’ve looked at the other bachelor males since we’ve been dating when they’ve been trying to catch my eye. It’s our way, a wolf’s way, of proving to a prospective mate he or she is the center of your life. Bill had no competition in that regard. He had nothing to prove. I don’t know how he would have reacted if he’d had to show other wolves I wasn’t available.”
“He wouldn’t have done a good job of it.”
She chuckled.
Peter pulled her closer and began kissing her. “I love you, and I’m so glad you moved to Silver Town to be mine.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him. “So that’s why I moved to Silver Town.”
He smiled, dimples appearing on his cheeks. “You know once you saw me in my uniform, you couldn’t resist me.”
“Oh, you better believe it.”
Peter smiled again.
Smiling, she shook her head. “But…”
“But…?”
“I want you to play with me not just as a human, but as a wolf too.”
Peter smiled. “I was afraid I might be too rough with you. I’d never played with a she-wolf until you tackled me. Just with my brother, Bjornolf, and other male wolves. But I’m ready and willing.”
“I’ll let you know if you’re too rough, believe me. So yes, I’ll mate you! I love you, Peter. I worry about you and your late mate, but…”
“We’ll be fine. I know we will.”
Whether they would be or not, she didn’t want to wait either. “My house or yours?”
“Yours. I told Trevor to take us there first.”
“And you’ll move into my home and sell your place?” Meghan didn’t want to give up the house behind the inn. The two properties needed to stay together.
“If that’s what you want. I figured if we mated, I’d be selling my place. I’ll be even closer to my job this way. And closer to you.” Peter kissed her nose. “Loving you is going to be so easy.”
“I guess my sisters weren’t surprised about all this.”
“Oh, believe me, they were. Once we had to change plans at the last minute and have a guard detail, we wanted to have them come along for the ride. They were ecstatic that we’d come this far and thrilled to take part.”
“I think they figured we would take a lot longer to get to this point.”
“Not when we’d both made up our minds—a long time before this.”
Trevor pulled the sleigh next to the old barn, and the others followed suit.
“We’re going for a short wolf run,” Peter said. Then he smiled. “She said yes!” Though everyone knew it wasn’t a done deal until they actually had consummated sex.
Everyone cheered them with heartfelt congratulations, and then the men helped the women down from the sleighs. The sisters hugged Meghan while the guys shook Peter’s hand and slapped him on the back.
Meghan’s eyes teared up. She never believed she’d be the last one to have a mate, but this felt so right with Peter.
“We’re going to run about three miles to the river and back,” Peter said, “if you think the horses and the drivers will be okay.”
Trevor nodded. “We’ll be warm as toast.” He jerked his thumb at Michael, the Army Ranger who had volunteered to be a driver, since he was also sniper-qualified. “Michael tells us he can handle any weather. The horses are fine. Go have your run. As lupus garous, it’s all part of the deal.”
Which it truly was. Their wolf halves were an integral part of who they were.
They all agreed to run and then climbed into their sleighs to strip out of their clothes, which was a monumental task with all the Victorian garments they were wearing. Everyone was laughing as the men helped their mates strip out of their cumbersome clothes so the women could shift faster. And then the men hurried to remove their clothes and shift. Wolf after wolf leaped out of the sleighs and into the snow. They gathered together, greeting each other as wolves do, nuzzling and licking, and then they tore off.
Meghan knew Peter wanted to make this quick for the horses and drivers, and so he was pushing the limit on their ability to run through the snow. They stayed on top of it for the most part and continued to yip and bump into one another affectionately as they ran to the river.
Even though she had told Peter she wanted him to play with her, this wasn’t the time. She loved running with him and the others in the cold night. The moon cast a white light on the snow and trees, the shadows of the tree branches stretching out like ghostly figures against the pristine snow.
Playing meant stopping and tackling, and they didn’t have the time, so instead she nipped at his tail and he yipped with joyful glee. They soon reached the river and circled around. In a mad dash, the six of them raced back to the sleighs as if in a race for their lives. Meghan and her sisters were just as fast as the men, but Meghan had sunk into deeper snow and that had slowed her down. She leaped out of it and followed behind Laurel and CJ to stay on the earlier path they’d made through the snow. And she nipped at Peter’s flank. He bumped her back, his tongue hanging out, his eyes glinting with interest. So much for not playing with him, but she couldn’t help it. She was eager to be everything with him—his lover, his playmate, his wolf mate. And she wanted desperately to show him just how much she loved him.
She considered not shifting when they returned to the sleigh and instead just riding the rest of the way back as a wolf. It would be much easier than dressing in the Victorian clothes in the cold. Her fur coat would keep her warm. Best of all, when she arrived home, she’d be ready for what came next.
Wait, dinner came next. Well, they could throw on robes for that. Or eat dinner afterward!
A shot rang out in the vicinity of the sleighs, and the wolves ran faster than Meghan thought they ever could. She knew everyone was afraid for the drivers’ safety. She was ready to use her teeth on Rollins this time if he was there.
When she and the others ran into the area where the sleighs were, Trevor quickly said, “We didn’t find Rollins, but it looks like he was camping out here in the barn. I fired the warning shot so you’d return, afraid you might run into him out there. I’ve alerted more of our men to join us in a search of the area.”<
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Peter jumped into the sleigh.
Damn. Meghan had wanted this time with Peter. Now she was afraid he’d have to be with the search team.
She leaped into the sleigh, but she didn’t shift. Peter did and hurried to dress. She realized he had to give orders concerning what they were going to do about Rollins.
“Okay, we’ll head back to the houses, and you and our other drivers can take the horses in while we have men search the woods for Rollins,” Peter said, pulling on his coat.
CJ had also shifted and dressed, but no one else had. “You and Meghan have the night off,” he told Peter.
Peter smiled. “You still work for me.”
Smiling, CJ gave him a thumbs-up.
Meghan loved how the wolves were all there for each other.
They waited until men arrived to search the area, and then they continued their sleigh ride home. Meghan hoped Peter didn’t feel like he was abandoning his men while enjoying his time with her. But wolves understood that matings and children were at the center of their being. Without both, their kind couldn’t carry on.
They finally reached her home, and this time, Trevor went to the door of Meghan’s house and guarded it, rifle at the ready. Peter carried Meghan’s clothes inside and set them on a chair. Then with his gun readied and Meghan still wearing her wolf coat, they checked everything—the upstairs: the bedrooms and bathrooms; the downstairs: sitting area, office, and kitchen—making sure Rollins wasn’t hiding anywhere in the house. The aroma of the pot roast cooking in a Crock-Pot permeated the air, and Peter’s stomach rumbled.
Meghan smiled when she heard it. She shifted and grabbed her cloak off the couch and wrapped it around her naked body.
“Dinner smells good,” Peter said, kissing her cheek, then giving the all clear to Trevor and locking the door.
“What should we do first? Mate or eat?” she asked.
He smiled at her as if he was surprised she’d have to ask. “Are you kidding? Mate first. Not just because I want to do this before anything else happens that would delay us from making the commitment, but because it will kill me to wait any longer. Besides, you’re dressed right for it.”
She chuckled, and he swept her up into his arms and headed for the stairs to the bedroom. She loved it when he was decisive. And when he had his priorities straight.
Once he reached the bedroom, he set her next to the bed. He slid the cloak off her shoulders and set it on a chair. He began kissing her cheeks, her neck, her breasts, her tummy, and then he pulled her close and hugged her tight. “God, I’ve wanted this for so long,” he murmured against her hair.
Meghan knew this was where she wanted to be—in Peter’s arms, loving him, no matter what other situations they had to face. They’d do it together. “I feel the same way about wanting you.” She’d just been too much of a coward to tell him everything when she feared losing him.
She began helping him out of his clothes, pulling his jacket off first, then making him sit down on the bed. She pulled off his boots and socks, and when she rose, she moved his legs apart so she could step in between them. He cupped her buttocks and pulled her even closer, smiling up at her.
“I thought it was going to be too much of a hassle taking off all these clothes, but I like this. You naked against me, stripping me.”
She chuckled and moved one of his hands to her breast. He began to massage her breast, and she felt the familiar achy need pushing her to hurry so he could finally plunge his cock deep inside her, giving all of himself to her, like she was opening herself up and giving all of herself to him. As she hurried to unbutton his shirt, he leaned over and nuzzled her cheek, his mouth kissing her neck. She was bending over now to pull his shirt from his pants when he moved her hair aside and kissed her shoulder, licking and nipping at it.
Every action of his spurred her to strip his clothes off him as fast as she could. She wanted them bared to each other, rubbing, and licking, and kissing, and touching. Their pheromones were already surrounding them, urging them on as she pulled off his shirt. Then she pushed him back against the bed and looked at the bulge in his pants. The prominent bulge. It had to be killing him to still be so dressed.
She ran her hand over his crotch, and he groaned.
She unfastened his belt and unzipped his pants, then pulled them off. Then she went to his boxer briefs and molded her hand to his erection through the fabric. But that was enough. From the strain on Peter’s face, she didn’t think he could hold off any longer, any more than she could, and she stripped his boxer briefs off. His erection sprang free, which was a sight to behold. Not to mention his gorgeous abs that she leaned over and caressed.
Meghan was on top at first, resting between his legs, his hands caressing her buttocks with abandon, their lips melded in a fierce kiss. This was it. The beginning of the beginning for them as mated wolves.
She rubbed her mons against his erection, his hands pressing against her ass to keep her close. And then he was rolling her over on her back and moving her legs apart so he could center himself on her.
She thought he was going to plunge his cock deep inside her, but he turned so he could stroke her first, her nub already swollen and thrumming with rampant need, her curls wet with the same urgency. She was so ready for him, he needn’t have done anything further.
At least she didn’t think so. But then he was stroking her into the next world, sending her colliding with the stars, and she felt the wonder of release, right before he centered his cock between her feminine lips and pushed in, pulled out, and then plunged in deeper.
She cried out with climax as he took her to another plane of existence, and then she centered every conscious moment on feeling the power of his thrusts as her orgasm surrounded him. In, nearly out, in, the bed moving with his powerful lunges, and then he held himself still for a moment. He began working it again until he groaned loudly, his face strained, then at peace. When he settled on top of her, she wrapped her arms around him.
“Now, you’re mine.” She just hoped that nothing or no one would come between them. “I love you.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment, then he kissed her mouth. “I was afraid this time would never come. I can’t love you any more than I do.”
She had felt the same way, that it might never have happened, and yet it was the best thing that had ever happened. For both of them. She hoped.
Chapter 22
After making love, Peter cuddled with Meghan, wanting to hold her like this always, but he knew they still had issues to deal with.
Meghan ran her finger over his abdomen. “Are you hungry?”
The aroma of the pot roast lingered in the air, and yeah, he was hungry. Peter ran his hand over her breast. “For more of this.” He was serious too.
She kissed his shoulder. “We either have to eat the roast, or I need to put it in the fridge for tomorrow.”
He chuckled. “Okay. Let’s eat. We’ll need our strength for later.”
They both got out of bed. She slipped on a nightie and a robe, and he pulled on his boxer briefs. He realized he didn’t have a change of clothes that would be more comfortable than the Victorian outfit he’d worn today.
She pulled an oversize sweatshirt and sweatpants out of her closet and tossed it to him. “We’ll have to bring your clothes over here.”
“Yeah, though when I’m home with you, I don’t plan on wearing them.” He realized he was going to need to take some time off to move all his clothes and whatever else he might need over to her place. He was really glad to be doing that.
When they went downstairs for dinner, Meghan set the platter of pot roast, carrots, and potatoes on the table while Peter poured glasses of cabernet for them. The meal smelled delightful, and he was glad they’d left the bed to eat. Then he began carving up the tender meat.
He handed her the fork so she could serve some of
the roast for herself first.
Afterward, Peter forked up some meat and set it on his plate, then spooned out some carrots and potatoes like she had done.
“Okay, even though I’m trying to set this business aside, you know you have to do something about the old homestead,” Meghan said.
Peter let out his breath. He was afraid this would continue to haunt him.
“I don’t mean about Lena, but about the house itself.” Meghan sliced some of her meat. “Like you said, the place is dangerous. You don’t want someone being seriously injured or dying there. Even though you have the No Trespassing and Danger signs posted, what if kids found their way there? Or anybody, really. It would just take one calamity, and you’d never be able to forgive yourself for it. Not to mention the insurance risk.”
Peter knew Meghan was right. As much as the place had deteriorated, he needed to do something about it. Repairing it wasn’t an option. Tearing it down and carting off the debris was the only solution. He didn’t believe in burning it down—too much air pollution. And some of the scrap lumber and items in the house might still be salvageable. It was amazing what crafters could do with old timber.
“You’re right.”
Meghan ran her hand over Peter’s in a consoling way. “Which leads us right back to the issue of Lena.”
And the point Meghan had made about Lena not liking to be out of doors. “You think she would roam the land aimlessly?”
“Yes. Even if the house is gone, if she’s there,” she said.
“All right. What if your sisters and their mates, someone posing as your mate, like Tom, you, and I all go to the homestead to confuse the issue. If she’s there, she won’t know we’re mated.”
“Okay. When?”
“With the way this snow is falling, that roof won’t last for long. If we can get everyone and everything together and find someone to man the front desk of your inn, we’ll do it tomorrow, as soon as we can.”
“You have to remember not to acknowledge me in any way. Try not to look at me, no touching, and if whoever we have accompanying me as my mate holds my hand or wraps his arm around my waist, you don’t growl,” she warned.