Wolf Nip: Granite Lake Wolves, Book 6

by Vivian Arend

  Sweet. “We’d love to.” Tessa snuck her fingers into Mark’s. “Can we bring anything?”

  Keil turned to his mate, moving his hands in sign language. Tessa watched in fascination as Robyn responded. It was one of the most beautiful things she’d ever seen. She immediately put learn sign language on her bucket list.

  Keil faced them again. “If you’d like to bring dessert, that would be great. I’ll call later to set the date.”

  Mark leant over to whisper in her ear. “I’ll cook.”

  “Hush, your Alphas are listening. Be polite.”

  Robyn hadn’t stopped grinning, only now she reached out her hand. Tessa accepted it happily, pleased at the gesture.

  The Alphas excused themselves, wandering through the pack house and visiting with people, making sure everything went back to normal. Tensions seemed to have faded after Tessa’s little display, and she tucked herself against Mark’s side and hauled him back to the area they’d been sitting originally. Really, it had been a pretty good evening, except for the wetness clinging to her body.

  Keri shook her head. “Troublemaker.”

  “Hey, it wasn’t me.” Tessa crossed her legs under her and relaxed on the couch. Mark had draped his arm along the back of the headrest, enclosing her in his embrace without touching her. It was cozy and warm, and she felt like purring—it was the closest she’d been to being in his arms in days. “Well, it wasn’t just me. It had to happen, and it might not be the last time someone objects to having a cat around. We’ll deal with it.”

  Jared stared at the pen markings. “What I don’t get, and excuse me, I’m just a simple wolf… Why?”

  “Why, what?”

  He pointed. “Why are you claiming him without claiming him? I mean if you don’t want Mark as a mate, I can understand that. I bet you can find someone better.”

  Mark growled. “You’re not helping.”

  She wasn’t sure herself. “Mark says we’re mates. You think he’s lying?”

  Utter shock at the suggestion flashed in both their faces.

  “Um, why would he lie about something like that?” Keri frowned. “I don’t know that a wolf could lie about something like that.”

  “Right. So…once we get to know each other and a little more time passes, I figure he’s got a good chance at being the one for me. I’m not letting anyone else drool on him.”

  Keri nodded slowly, then shot to her feet. “Come on, I need to talk to you.” In a total change of situation, this time it was Tessa being dragged across the floor to the front doors. The guys rose, but Keri waved them off. “Alone. Give us a minute.”

  The pack was getting some entertainment tonight. Tessa waved at the cluster of women where Linda had retreated. Two seconds later she was out the door and down the stairs, being backed against the outside railing by her best friend.

  Keri glared at her. “Okay, blunt-speaking time. Are you out of your damn feline mind?”

  What in the world? “No more than usual. What’s wrong?”

  “You’re what’s wrong. I can’t believe you lived next to wolves your entire life and you’re acting like this.” Keri paused and dragged her hand through her hair. “I mean, okay—you were brilliant with the marker thing. And yes, I vaguely see your point in terms of wanting to be in love before you make it official…”

  There was an unspoken but written all over the silence that fell as Keri’s words faded away.

  “What?”

  Her best friend shook her head. “Mark said you’re mates. You kind of, mostly, believe him. You just claimed him…and now what?”

  “And now we’re going to turn the paddle wheeler into a B&B?”

  Keri poked her in the shoulder. “No. You’re going to be nice to the guy and give him a break.”

  She still didn’t get it. “Nope, you lost me.”

  Keri dragged her closer. “When we were on the cruise ship, and I’d sniffed out Jared? I swear it was seven kinds of hell waiting until we mated. You just told me about all the things he’s been doing around the B&B, all the fast-tracking and hard work… What the hell are you waiting for? Him to spout poetry and recite some specific lines you think you need to hear?”

  “Is it wrong to want romance? To want fine gestures and romantic words? ‘I would die for you’—all that kind of thing.”

  Her best friend laughed. “Oh, Tessa, you’re getting romance in the movies mixed up with the real romance of life. Not everyone does things the same way, right? Not everyone is going to say I love you the same way.”

  Tessa clung to her ideals, even as they seemed to whither a little. “But Romeo and Juliet—”

  Keri’s expression darkened, and Tessa jerked to a stop before she got bitten.

  “If there were ever a couple of sickies… How does that story end, Tessa? With partners who listen to each other? Who grow old together? That’s not romance, it’s nothing but selfish, sorry people screwing up big time.”

  Her friend’s admonishment was enough to make Tessa ashamed. “I’ve been so focused on the changes around the place, and all the plans I came to Haines to accomplish, I didn’t think.”

  Keri rolled her eyes. “Stop with the excuses. And I’m not telling you that you need to simply accept him.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “You’d prefer Linda to be the one he was building things for? Or that she was curled up in his lap and running her fingers over his body—”

  “Hey.” A hot flush of anger slid over her at the thought. “Now you’re getting nasty.”

  “Now I’m being honest.”

  Tessa froze, the seriousness of her friend’s expression making her listen, not just to the words, but to the lingering aftershocks of annoyance conjured from imagining Mark with anyone but her.

  Keri lowered her voice. Slowed her tirade. “I realize as a wolf I can’t truly understand where you’re coming from. What’s built into me doesn’t compute when I hear you talking about what you need. I hear you say you want to wait for the forever part of the deal, wait until the sunset is just right or something. It makes no sense.”

  If her friend couldn’t understand, what was Mark feeling?

  Keri caught hold of Tessa’s arms and held her tight. “Maybe that sounds as if I’m putting down your choices, and I don’t mean to. You’re a good friend, Tessa, and a good, good person. What you’re doing isn’t good, though. You’re being mean to that wonderful man, because while wanting you to be his mate right here and right now might not be the cat way, he’s not a cat. And you can only push the wolf so hard before he’s going to go mad.”

  Chapter Nine

  Tessa had been strangely quiet since she and Keri returned to the pack house. She curled under his arm again, but this time all the fidgeting seemed to have drained from her.

  Mark stroked her arm gently, worried. “Are you okay? What did Keri say to you?”

  “Nothing but the truth.” She blinked hard, and his heart skipped a beat.

  “Are you crying?” He touched her cheek. “Don’t be sad. There’s nothing we can’t face together, okay?”

  That only seemed to make her sniff harder. “Can we go home?”

  The words snuck out slowly.

  “Of course.” He brought her to her feet. They made their goodbyes to their friends. Mark gave Keri a dirty look for whatever it was she’d done to upset Tessa.

  The short ride home passed in silence. The exterior lights were on at the house, the upper floor sparkling with the new fixtures she’d chosen and he’d rushed to install. He pointed them out to her. “You picked the perfect ones. I love how they look.”

  Tessa smiled, but it never reached her eyes. She tugged him to a stop before they hit the door. “Wait. I need to…look around.”

  This night got more and more confusing. “Of course.”

  She caught his fingers in hers and refused to let him go. The feel of her skin under his hand—he’d never got the concept of pleasure/pain before, but being with her withou
t being with her was teaching him fast.

  There didn’t seem to be anywhere specific she wanted to go. They shot past the full wood shed, through the freshly painted paddlewheel blades that she’d mentioned would look great in dark green, around the outside where he’d begun to widen the front walkway.

  Tessa brought him inside and paced through the rooms that were ready and waiting for the drywall that was on order—he’d run out of things to build. While waiting for supplies, he’d switched to making furniture.

  She trailed her fingers over the smooth sanded surface of a bedpost, still not talking. Not explaining what was wrong.

  His wolf was ready to burst out when she finally smiled. A real smile. “Come upstairs, I have something to show you.”

  The beast inside calmed enough he could take the stairs at her side without panicking. But when she stopped in the kitchen of all places, he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

  “Tessa, what the heck is wrong? What did Keri say?”

  Tessa poked at the coffeemaker on the island countertop. “Keri told me to open my eyes and stop being a fool.”

  One more tug, and she had him in the large open space where the giant table for the group dinners would sit. When she would have brought him to the floor, he hesitated.

  “Tessa, this isn’t a good idea.” If he got down with her, she might not get up for the rest of the night. “I’ll just go—”

  “Stay,” she ordered. “I need to tell you something important.”

  He knelt, keeping a bit of distance between them. Tessa eyed the space, and sighed unhappily.

  His heart ached, but he didn’t break. Not yet. Not until she lifted her gaze to meet his, and her eyes were full of unshed tears.

  Mark moved without thinking, scooping her up and cradling her in his lap, holding her head to his shoulder and rocking her. The connection between their bodies heated like a branding iron, but somewhere he’d find the power to give her what she needed without claiming her.

  Tessa’s fingers brushed his cheek. “You’ve been saying it all along, haven’t you?”

  Mark paused, partly because her touch was driving electric pulses through his entire system, and partly because he wasn’t sure what she meant.

  She wiggled upright and held his face in both her hands. “You’ve been saying it all along and I wasn’t listening. That’s what Keri smacked me over the head with—that I’m a cat and you’re a wolf. It wasn’t a stupid comment that my brother made not very long ago.”

  “Tony?” Had she been chatting with family? “That reminds me. I wanted to suggest you invite everyone over for a visit. Whenever works for them. We’ll have room—”

  Her mouth covering his stopped his rush of words and, holy moly, he really was going to die now. Because after a few days without tasting her, there was no way he’d be able to convince his wolf to stop. The buzz of chemicals turned him inside out, longing far too soft of a word for what he felt.

  Her lips caressed delicately though, and his fingers trembled on her hips as he fought for control.

  A slick of tongues together, and the shaking increased to include his arms.

  When she buried her hands in his hair and leaned back, pulling him on top of her, he was torn between stripping them naked and worrying about her on the hard wood floor.

  Her entire body softened as they kissed, his groin so tight to hers he was afraid he might spontaneously erupt. Mark rolled, putting her on top, protecting her from the cold and the unpadded surface.

  His gums ached with the urge to mark her, to take her, to possess her. But while she was kissing him, at least he wasn’t doing anything crazy like.

  Tessa planted her palms to his chest and pushed herself upright, straddling him and pinning him in place. Well, as much as a lightweight like her could keep him trapped.

  She calmed her breathing, that beautiful smile he’d fallen in love with returning to brighten her face. “Do you even know you’re doing it?”

  “That I’m lying on the floor trying not to ravish you? Oh, I know, sweetheart, I know.”

  She shook her head. “I mention I’m worried about the cold winter—you fill the shed with a two-year supply of wood. I try to break your coffeemaker; you get me a different one. You’ve worked and worked and listened to every single thing I’ve said, and I’m so ashamed of myself…”

  He curled himself upright, sexual tension temporarily forgotten in an attempt to reassure her. “Hey, stop that. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

  Tessa tilted her head to the side. “Maybe not if you were a cat, but you’re a wolf. And even if you were a cat, I’m guilty of one terrible thing. I haven’t been listening. Not like you have. Can you forgive me?”

  Mark was lost, but… “Sure. I forgive you. But are you going to tell me what specifically I’m forgiving you for?”

  She stroked his chest lightly. “I had my own agenda when I came out here, and that’s not wrong. It’s good for me to have goals, and even though we’re mates, I’m not going to give up thinking things through and making plans.”

  “I wouldn’t want you to,” Mark insisted.

  She nodded. “I know, yet that’s why I’m sorry. I had an idea of what ‘being in love’ looked like, and when you didn’t do those things, I figured we had to wait. I wasn’t listening to what you were really saying.”

  His brain had focused in on one part of her confession. “You figured we had to wait. Does that mean…we don’t have to any longer?”

  Tessa paused. “Do you love me?”

  “Of course I do.” His heart raced. “I mean, I’ll fall in love with you more as time goes past, but right now I can honestly say I love you.”

  “You love me because we’re mates…”

  Mark laughed. “You’re still hung up on that, aren’t you? I know it’s not a cat way. But, Tessa, I love you because you’re you. That’s why we’re mates in the first place. I wouldn’t have this draw inside toward a random stranger who wasn’t perfect for me. Who wouldn’t complement my talents, who couldn’t enjoy the things I enjoy. It’s not like a shortcut to happiness because we need to work at it, but we’re right together. That’s what being mates means.”

  Enough. He stood and carried her into the bedroom. This time he dropped her—actually, he lofted her toward the bed.

  Tessa twisted with a feline grace and landed on all fours, the most incredible smile beaming out. “Like I said, you listen all the time.”

  This incredible mixture of sorrow and delight filled her.

  She’d screwed up, badly, but he wasn’t going to hold it against her. That much she knew without the slightest doubt.

  Tessa sat back on her heels. Stared at him as he waited patiently, as usual. “Remember I told you I don’t feel successful at times?”

  He nodded.

  “That doesn’t change the facts. I am good at what I do. I have the skills, I have the drive and the enthusiasm, and I work and make things happen.”

  There was a distance between them, but hope lit his eyes—just a flutter of it crossing his face. “Feelings and reality aren’t always the same thing?”

  “No.” There was so much she wasn’t certain about, only she’d been an idiot to ignore the specific truths in this situation. “Mark, you’re a wolf.”

  His face twisted as he attempted to hide his laughter. “Umm, yes. You said that already.”

  “I might need to say it a few more times, just to get it to sink into my thick cat skull. You’re a wolf, and you love me. We’re mates, and that’s not going to change for you.”

  His dark eyes sparkled. “Nope. Well, it’ll get stronger—the being-in-love-with-you part.”

  This time his assurance sent a thrill through her, and that was the final nudge she needed to move forward. Now how to say this without sounding like a diva, a freak or bitch? The last thing she wanted was to remove the happiness blooming on his face.

  She squared her shoulders and went for honest. “I’m stealing your line—
it’s going to get stronger for me too. The falling-in-love-with-you part.”

  Mark sucked in a breath.

  She hurried on before he could interrupt. “Since I’m a cat and all?—my feelings don’t work like yours. I mean, we met barely a week ago, so me being in love with you doesn’t make sense. But that doesn’t mean I can’t make the proper choice right now.”

  Two shuffles put her at the edge of the bed where she caught hold of his belt buckle in one hand and dragged him toward her. His uneasy smile had grown stronger…like the love between them would grow. She was sure of it now.

  “I choose to be your mate, Mark. I choose to accept all the love you’ve poured out for me, and I’m going to smarten up and start listening to the quiet, hardworking ways you say it. I’m going to let the feelings come whenever they come, but in the meantime?” She stared up and let all the admiration she had for him shine out. All the longings she had as well. “I think you’re pretty damn amazing, and I would be honoured to be your mate. I can’t wait to fall in love with you as hard as your wolf is already in love with me.”

  For one terrible, horrible no-good-moment, Mark didn’t budge. Tessa considered repeating her confession, but that seemed so—

  He pounced.

  Tessa squealed as he bore her to the mattress, his weight pressing her down as he found her lips.

  When he lifted his head far enough they could both suck for oxygen, all traces of his faint smile were gone, replaced with an enormous grin. “I had to fall in love with a cat.”

  She could have sworn her cougar preened. Silly beastie.

  “You’re okay with it all?”

  He nodded. “You making a choice? Blows my mind. I’m going to make sure you never regret it.”

  “Cats aren’t all bad, you know…” There was just enough room between them. She stripped down to nothing far quicker than even his needy wolf could ask.

  His delighted growl filled the air. “Neat trick.”

  Then it was past time for talking. Time for doing—for giving to the other side of them, and giving to Mark what he’d been so patiently waiting for. Tessa caught him around the neck and pulled him back against her naked body.