Joy to the Wolves

by Terry Spear

  She laughed. “See? You are a collector in your own right. We’ve finished with the stuff from the boxes. Let’s look at the paintings.” She brought up a site that showed some of the items people had found in the trash, thrift stores, garage sales, and attics. “Here’s a painting that turned out to be an original oil painting by the Renaissance artist Caravaggio, collecting dust in an attic filled with clothing, toys, and clocks. Who would have known? A woman bought a faux diamond ring for thirteen dollars—and wore it for thirty years—but it turned out to be a 26-carat diamond worth over $800,000. I can’t imagine wearing something that valuable all those years, thinking it was pretend.”

  “It was a good thing it looked as fake as she thought it was.”

  “Exactly. The gilded frames on these oil paintings are worth a lot,” Brooke said. “This is an A. F. Tait painting of birds, circa 1865, worth about $10,000 to $25,000. The oil painting of the fox is by William H. Beard, around 1874 and worth about $15,000. This one is a John Haberle painting of the cat and bird in the cage, circa 1885, worth around $23,000. Kittens in a trunk by Charles van den Eycken, nineteenth century, worth around $29,000. That’s the high end.”

  “I’ll have to see if we have any old paintings we didn’t think were worth anything that are sitting in storage.”

  “You never know. I’ll have to have these cleaned, but I’ll store them in the spare bedroom closet for now. It’s getting late, and we’ve finished all we had to do. Are you ready for bed?” She glanced at Mr. Lee’s business card and picked it up and tried ringing his number again.

  “Sure. I’ll help you move these paintings into the bedroom.”

  “Thanks. No answer.” Brooke grabbed two of the paintings and carried them into the guest bedroom.

  Josh carried the other two into the guest room, and they carefully set them in the empty closet.

  She retired to her bedroom and pulled out a pair of pajamas.

  Josh followed her into her room. He wasn’t sure she wanted him to sleep in there. “I’ll just take my shower then.” He motioned to the guest bathroom down the hall.

  “I’ll take mine in here. Then you’ll join me so I don’t have to jump into the guest bed in the middle of the night?”

  He smiled. “You bet.” He was glad she wanted him to join her there.

  It didn’t take him long to return to the master bedroom soapy clean, wearing a fresh pair of boxer briefs, and join her under the covers.

  She was wearing a pair of tiger pajamas and smelled of the delightful scent of vanilla. She sighed and snuggled against him. “If you thought I was guilty of stealing the calf and had an accomplice, that means the cop is now sleeping with the crook.”

  “You’re vindicated.”

  “But you haven’t caught the real culprit yet.”

  “I had considered it was a prank. Once I discovered the security video had been tampered with, I didn’t believe so. I just can’t figure out why anyone would do that and then drop the calf off at your place.”

  “Unless they were about to get caught so they dumped the calf. Maybe they even planned to come back for it, but something happened, and they couldn’t.” She frowned. “You haven’t heard back about the pickup’s tag number?”

  “They haven’t been able to discern what the tag number was.”

  “Tomorrow, while I’m at the shop, why don’t you check with the stores about their video security and see if you can learn about the men who shot me. You shouldn’t have to worry about me now that I have the security cameras. You can monitor them while you’re off on your quest to learn the truth. If I have any trouble, I’ll call you. You’ll be close by and can be back to my shop in a heartbeat. Besides, I doubt the other intruder will return during the day.”

  “You call me if anything seems amiss. Anything.”

  “I will. Can you run an announcement about it too? Telling the public that the police are actively investigating the theft of a reindeer calf. Mention animal endangerment. Maybe someone will know something about it and report it.”

  “I can. Because he was found safe and sound, it’s not a case that anyone else on the police force is looking into.”

  “What about any of the people you employ?”

  “All wolves.”

  “Did you fire anyone recently?”

  “No.” Josh rubbed his chin. “Come to think of it, we did have a disgruntled customer a few days ago. He felt we overcharged him for time on a couple of our reindeer he rented. We had another job lined up right after his, and we needed to get them to the next location. We have built-in time for issues like that, but we charge for it too. Our contract spells out that if the customer delays us, we have to be reimbursed for the time. Otherwise, we’d have issues with a fair number of customers. You know, one last picture. Ten pictures later, one more picture.”

  “Which is totally reasonable on your part.”

  “True, though I can’t imagine him going to all the effort to steal a reindeer calf because of it, but he’s the only customer we’ve had issue with recently. Everyone else has had a great time with the reindeer visits.”

  “What’s his business?”

  “He’s in charge of a security systems company.”

  Brooke frowned. “So he could have the know-how for tampering with your surveillance video equipment.”

  “Right. But he’s more of a businessman. He was having a big Christmas party for his staff, Santa and the like. It doesn’t sound like he would stoop that low.”

  Brooke scoffed. “You had a perfectly great suspect with the capability to do it and the motive—revenge—and you picked on me?”

  Josh smiled and kissed her forehead. “Maybe I just wanted to see more of you.”

  Chapter 15

  Brooke couldn’t believe she’d climbed onto the guest bed to be with Josh and now she had asked him to join her in her own bed. Yet this seemed so right. Better than right. Amazing. She felt secure and happier than she’d ever thought she would. His body was snuggled against hers, his thigh between her legs, pinning her against the mattress—so different from when they’d snuggled before. It had been sweet then and sexy, sure, but this was…hotter, more intense, with a deeper purpose. His hand caressed her face, his gaze focused on hers.

  She couldn’t help but question her sanity. Was she ready for even this much of a commitment to the wolf she’d only just met? Would she feel any differently about him if he hadn’t been there to protect her?

  Her heart said that the way he had been there for her—from questioning her innocence to charming the pants off her—had endeared him to her.

  “I never thought I’d be in bed with a tantalizing tiger.” Josh’s rough voice broke into her thoughts. He ran his hands over her tiger pajama top, the soft, stretchy fabric rubbing against her nipples, making them erect and sensitive and needy. His chocolate-brown eyes darkened, his expression hungry, almost predatory.

  “I never thought I’d be wearing my tiger pajamas in bed with a male wolf.” But not just any male wolf. One who had fascinated her from the beginning and made her feel hot and eager to have his hands running all over her.

  His darkly captivating expression turned her on, and she wanted more of his touching her, just as much as she wanted to run her hands over every muscular part of him. She pressed her breasts against his large capable hands, loving the feel of his stroking her. His thumbs caressed her taut nipples, and then he turned them so his thumbnails gently scraped over her shirt-covered nipples, and she moaned.

  Her scent was aroused and titillated every bit as much as his was. She ran her hands over his face, hard angles and stubbornness personified when he wanted things his way, hot and pliable when he was giving in to her caressing touch and she was having her way.

  She could become addicted to this. To him.

  He slid his hands up her top and cupped her naked breasts,
and then massaged them again, only this time with the palms of his hands, the friction heating her skin. Relishing the feel, she ran the planes of her hands over his nipples, soliciting a deep moan. She loved sliding her hands over the back of his boxer briefs too. It wasn’t enough to feel his toned buttocks beneath the fabric though. She wanted…needed more—the skin-to-skin contact between them. Slipping her hands inside his boxer briefs, she squeezed his firm ass.

  He groaned and captured the bottom of her top, his fingers making her skin sizzle on contact. He slid the top up her body, exposing her breasts, the cool air making her skin tingle with sweet awareness. His warm, slightly fuzzy face nuzzled each of her breasts, tickling her before he pulled her top off over her head. Then he began kissing her mouth, her neck, her breasts. Every kiss made the area between her legs just a little wetter. She was so ready to have him claim her, as she would claim the wolf for her own. Though she knew they couldn’t go that far, not just yet.

  Then she seized the waistband of his boxer briefs and slid them down his hips. He pulled them off the rest of the way and tossed them aside. His arousal freed, his erection poked her belly. If they’d been ready for a mating, she would have welcomed his cock thrusting deep inside her. She loved how she could make him hard with wanting.

  He rocked his steel-hard erection against her, showing just what he had for her, rubbing his aroused scent on her. The slow, seductive moves were meant to stir her need for completion, his cock rubbing against her mons. She softly moaned while experiencing the delectable sensation.

  “Man, oh man,” he murmured against her neck, nuzzling and licking her skin, making her shiver with need.

  He slid his fingers down her pajama bottoms, through her curly hairs, moving so slowly she was throbbing with anticipation. And then his fingers touched the center of her, feeling her wetness, and he smiled. Yeah, he did that to her. He grabbed the waistband of her tiger pajama bottoms and pulled them down until she could kick them off the rest of the way.

  Brooke’s body thrummed with sexual need as she pulled Josh closer, her eyes and mouth pleading with him for another kiss. To take a chance. To prove this wasn’t rebound for him and it wouldn’t be just another case of a disappointing relationship for her.

  His dark eyes were already swimming with lust when he leaned over and kissed her mouth again, his breathing heavy, his heartbeat—and hers—pounding away. The kiss morphed from gentle to hot and passionate within seconds. She wet her lips, touched her tongue to his, and he devoured her. Their mouths melded, an intimate contact that made her even wetter with want.

  His beautiful eyes closed, his lashes thick and black, he turned his head slightly so he could kiss her cheek and then the other. Then he was kissing her mouth again, parting her lips with his tongue, dueling with her. He tasted of pinot noir grape, not heavy or strong, but of cherry and dark fruits, crisp and lush. His masculine heat warmed her as he pressed his body against hers, rubbing his arousal against her mound, stirring the craving to come.

  He groaned, the sound deep and guttural, telling her how much this was killing him too. The wanting, the waiting, the seeking of fulfillment between two wolves of a similar mind. She wanted his full cock thrusting deep inside her. And to be wrapped up in his arms like she enfolded him in hers. To have their naked skin sliding against each other, the friction upping the sexual tension. To feel the heat escalate from sizzling to an inferno.

  The exquisite pleasure she felt in being with him was like no other time she’d been with anyone else.

  His hand trailed along her breastbone, moving to a breast, cupping it, molding his large, capable hand over it, and gently massaging. She absorbed the feel of his comforting and sensual touch while she stroked his sides, enjoying the hard muscle and the silkiness of his skin. His animal magnetism drew her in, bumping up her pheromones. Hers kicked his into a tailspin.

  Their hearts were beating hard, their breathing shallow as he leaned down to lick the nipple of the other breast.

  She sucked in her breath when his warm, wet tongue touched her sensitive, peaked nipple. Reveling in the feel of his strokes on her nipple, she arched against his cock. He switched the attention of his tongue and mouth to hers. Leaving a trail of heat in their wake, his fingers swept down her waist, targeting her nubbin as he moved to the side of her.

  She hated losing the heat and weight of him pressing against her body when he moved off her. Until he began stroking her between her legs.

  And then she was lost in the magic of his touch, the feel of his mouth against hers, his tongue plunging between her lips, and his fingers plying her feminine nub with strokes meant to bring her to climax. The peaks of the mountains were calling to her—the climb well worth the sweet tension drawing her forth. And then she gave in to the feelings sweeping over her. The sensory assault pushed her to the edge. And over.

  She cried out with exultation, feeling spent and glorious, basking in his warmth and wonderful ministrations. For the longest time, it seemed to her, she lay there, glorying in his touch while he continued to caress her skin, her tummy, her breasts, her arms as if he loved every blessed inch of her and couldn’t get enough of touching her, just as she couldn’t stop touching him.

  Smiling up at him, she reached for him, pulled him close, and kissed his mouth. He rubbed his cock against her and kissed her mouth just as greedily.

  She pushed him onto his back, straddled his legs, and took hold of his cock. Now it was her turn to make him cry out with pleasure. Or…maybe groan or growl a little.

  * * *

  Josh couldn’t believe how finding the stolen reindeer calf at an antique shop had brought him to Brooke and now her bed. Though he wished the other reason he was in her bed didn’t have anything to do with the men shooting her in her shop.

  He was hoping this would not be the end but the beginning of something beautiful and long-term.

  Her skin was like satin, the scent of her arousal like an aphrodisiac. Their pheromones were playing tag, and now she was kissing him before she finally roused from her satiated state to push him onto his back. He hoped she’d never been pleasured so thoroughly, though he didn’t want to stop. He wanted to take it all the way with her. He’d never felt that way about another she-wolf before.

  He watched her expression as she straddled his legs, her gaze and hand on his cock, stroking while he ran his hands over her soft, warm thighs. He was lost in her touch, her strokes bringing him close to the end, though he was trying to hold off releasing too quickly.

  She leaned over and ran her free hand over his abs. “Glorious,” she whispered.

  She was the one who was glorious, every bit of her from her shiny red hair to her creamy skin, blushing nipples, and curly red hairs. Every splendid stroke of her hand on his arousal brought him that much closer to heaven. She moved off him, never letting go of him, leaning over his chest to kiss his mouth. His hands framing her face, he pushed his tongue into her mouth and caressed her tongue with his while she kept up her strokes on his cock.

  He felt the end was near. His skin sizzling from her touch, he tried to hold on to the sensation building longer, but he couldn’t. He exploded and growled, wanting to howl his pleasure, but he bit back the inclination.

  She released him and kissed his mouth. Then he wrapped her in his arms and held her tight. For several minutes, they hugged each other. But then she said in a sleepy voice, “We’d better clean up before we fall asleep like this. The bathroom’s in there.”

  “I shall return.” He left the bed to take a quick shower, soaping up his body, thinking about her touches and kisses only moments before, and already he was becoming hard again.

  He heard her taking a shower in the other bathroom. They could have shared.

  Maybe she wasn’t quite ready for more of a commitment. Hell, he knew he was.

  * * *

  The next morning, Josh woke to find Brooke spra
wled all over him. Smiling, he stroked her back, her skin silky soft. He liked sleeping with her, cuddling in the middle of the night, waking to find her claiming his body with her own. Yeah, he could sure get used to being with her like this.

  She let out her breath and ran her hand over his chest in a gentle caress. “I guess we have to get up.”

  “Or we could put a sign on the door of your shop that says: ‘Family emergency, closed today and tomorrow.’”

  She smiled. “Tempting. You don’t know how much. But I don’t think so.”

  Then she and Josh dressed. In the kitchen, they fixed ham and cheese omelets and ate, then cleaned up.

  At the shop, Brooke turned off the security alarm and turned on the Christmas lights and music.

  They brought over several loads of the merchandise that they’d priced last night. She still couldn’t believe how much she could get done with Josh’s help.

  She set the alarm on her house. Josh walked through the shop to make sure no one had entered it or tampered with the security cameras while they’d been in the house, then checked to see if anyone had been around the shop or courtyard during the night.

  “Did you see anything?” She began placing the new merchandise on the display shelves.

  “No. It looks like no one approached the shop last night. They may wait until they believe things have died down a bit.”

  “Maybe they decided it wasn’t worth it.”

  “That could be. There’s an article in the online paper about the break-in.” Josh handed her his phone.

  “Great.” She scanned through it. “No mention of the wolf in the attic.” She handed the phone back to him.

  “No, but there is a mention of them shooting up the place and wounding you. The police’s official statement is that the two men are armed and dangerous. Sierra delivered the sketches to the police station, and they’ve sent them out everywhere so everyone will be on the lookout for the other man. Not only that, but a photo of the dead guy has been circulated, asking if anyone can identify who he was. That might be quicker than getting the DNA evidence back.”