by Terry Spear
She smiled, though her eyes were misty with lust. “This is the first time I’ve ever been in a hot tub. I think I could live in one for half the day. This feels so good with the cold breeze brushing my face and tugging at my hair while the rest of me is buried in hot water. Between the hot water and you, I’m toasty warm.”
“Maybe we can get a little warmer.”
“Whatever the doctor suggests.”
“As long as the doctor is of the same opinion.” He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her mouth more.
“Oh, believe me, she is. This is just what the doctor ordered.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him deeper into the tub so they were submerged to their necks to stay warm. She kissed him again, snuggling on his lap, and he began thinking of moving this inside.
But he didn’t want to stop. They couldn’t go too far, as in having consummated sex, or they’d be mated wolves, but he wanted to share the same space with her tonight. In bed.
She let him up for air and smiled. “Do you think we would have ever gotten together if it hadn’t been for Joey and us meeting you at the mall?”
“Yeah. I would have called you once Everett told me you would be looking for Nick at the same time we were in the area so we could do it together. I would have worried about you going it alone, even though I wasn’t sure you’d want to run with wolves outside your pack. One way or another, I was planning to talk with you, professional to professional, as someone who was interested in locating your pack member.”
“And you were hopeful I didn’t share Ronald’s viewpoint concerning meeting with other wolves.”
“Yeah. I had no idea your longevity wasn’t an issue for you. That was a real shock. It could change everything.” He ran his hand over her arm in a gentle caress.
“Ronald’s an idiot to believe it couldn’t change for us too.”
“I hope not. I’m hoping you’re the cure.”
She smiled, and then they kissed again. With her sitting on his lap, her thigh bumping against his steel-hard erection, he was dying to get some relief. He could imagine her underneath him in his bed and pumping into her as they kissed each other with abandon.
He was mindful of the time they’d been in the hot tub though. Fifteen to thirty minutes was all they should allow for, but as cold as it was, a shorter time was better. It had been fifteen minutes, and as much as he hated to give this up, her sweet, soft, naked body pressed against his as she sat on his lap in the hot water, they needed to. Not only because they could become light-headed, but especially since she’d given blood.
“Are you ready to get out? I think the only way the guys are going to be able to come home is if they think we’ve returned to the cabin and gone to bed. Not to mention, we’ve probably stayed in as long as we safely can.”
“Yeah, this has been so nice. I’m feeling a little sleepy, probably from the heat and giving blood.”
“We’ve got a hot tub at the chalet in Colorado too. We can enjoy it there.”
“Then I’ll give this one up for now.”
“Let me get a fresh, warm robe for you. Stay in the hot water, and I’ll be right back.”
“Thank you.” She slid off his lap and he kissed her cheek, then climbed out of the tub and grabbed the cold robe off the bench. He used it to dry himself off as he moved quickly to the door and entered the room. After grabbing a warmed robe and wrapping it around himself, he carried another out to her.
He was hoping she’d agree to sleeping in his bed with him tonight. Where she was concerned, he was ready to move this along.
As soon as she climbed out of the tub, he helped her into the warm robe, tied the tie for her, and lifted her into his arms to carry her inside. To his bedroom.
He told himself he was carrying her because he was afraid she was too light-headed and he didn’t want her collapsing, but he would have done it for her anyway. They’d had a wild day with all the running they’d done to reach Nick, falling down a crevasse and climbing back out of it, and then making it the rest of the way through the snow to his cabin, and her giving blood. She had to be exhausted.
But he couldn’t help worrying that tomorrow there would be real trouble with Ronald and Jared when they learned she was leaving the pack.
Chapter 18
Holly loved how romantic Aidan was. By the way Ted and Mike had orchestrated things so she and Aidan would have an ideal evening alone, she’d thought that Aidan wasn’t truly a romantic at heart. But he proved he was all on his own. “Ted and Mike didn’t mention this side of you when they were extolling all your other virtues.”
“They’ve never seen me with a woman I’m damn interested in before. They’ve only been with me for two months.”
“They act like they’ve known you forever.”
“Yeah, we make a great team. We all get along well. I didn’t expect their matchmaking efforts though.” He carried her to the stairs.
“I don’t believe you needed their help, though it was nice they took my brother with them so we could have some time alone. And having our special dinner was lovely too.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I can walk.” But she liked the way he was pampering her. And she wasn’t sure, as light-headed as she was feeling, that she could make it all the way upstairs, except at a much slower pace.
“I’m keeping you warm. Shoot, I forgot to grab my clothes and the sweats you were wearing from the bathhouse.” Then he shook his head. “That’s okay. I’ve got more.”
As soon as he reached the landing, he walked down the hall. Since her bedroom was next to his, she wondered if he was waiting for her to tell him which bedroom she wanted to go to. What did he want to do? She suspected he wanted her to stay with him.
She couldn’t wait for him to reach the rooms before she commented. “The suspense is killing me.”
“I want you in my room, in bed, with me,” he said quite honestly.
“Okay, just making sure. That works for me.”
He chuckled. “Good, because I hate to have to beg. Though I would have. I wouldn’t sleep a wink all night, thinking about you catching z’s next door when you could have been snuggling with me.”
“I wouldn’t want you to lose sleep over me.”
“Excellent.” He carried her into his bedroom and shut the door. Then he set her down on the floor. They both disrobed. “Any preference to which side you like to sleep on?”
“Left side of the bed. You know the old adage: Waking up on the wrong side of the bed? Well, researchers have said that people who sleep on the left side of the bed are more optimistic and get more accomplished during the day than those who sleep on the right side.”
“Really. That works for me too then.”
She climbed into bed, and he got into bed on the right side but scooted over until he was on her side of the bed and pulled her into his arms. “I sleep on the left too.”
She chuckled.
They heard someone heading up the stairs. Then someone followed him.
“It worked,” Greg said, his voice hushed.
“What?” Ted asked.
“They’re in Aidan’s bedroom. I wonder how Mom and Dad are going to feel about that.”
“Glad. Go to sleep, or we’ll make you pull guard duty.”
Greg sighed. “Night.”
“Night.”
Then it was quiet. Holly was wrapped blissfully in Aidan’s arms, her back to him as he stroked her arm and pressed a kiss against her hair. He sighed. “I hope some of tonight made up for the horrors of the crevasse earlier today and you don’t have nightmares about it.”
“But you promised you’d chase them away.”
“I will.”
“I had a lovely time. And if I ever fall in a crevasse again, I’ll want you to rescue me. Being with you gave me hope and encouragement. You were truly heroic, and I apprecia
te you and everything you’ve done—including helping me look for Nick.” But tomorrow was back to reality and dealing with Ronald and his issues.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute with you, and your brother too. And I want to say that I hope this is only the beginning for us.”
“Hmm, I’m hoping for the same.” But she was also hoping she didn’t cause huge problems for her family. Then she turned toward Aidan and began to kiss him. She’d wanted a real wolf in her life forever. But finding one outside the pack wasn’t easy. And finding one in the pack wasn’t about to happen. Aidan made her heart sing, and she wanted to finish what they’d started in the hot tub, no restrictions on how long they had to fool around this time.
She turned her face up to kiss him, her hand stroking his waist and hip, his mouth closing in on hers. His large hand glided over her hair in a soft caress and then moved to cup a breast, kneading, his thumb rubbing over the sensitive tip, making the nipple stretch out for more, the erotic touch filling her with burning need. Her inner feminine muscles clenched, and she leaned into his touch, wanting more, wanting him inside her, wanting to climax. Now.
Their hearts were beating erratically, their pheromones going to town as he licked and kissed her mouth and she licked and kissed his back. She ran her hand over his buttocks, feeling the hard muscle tighten. She captured his tongue with her mouth and sucked. He smiled and speared her hair with his fingers before reaching down to spread her legs, gently pushing her onto her back.
Lustful hunger burned in his gaze as he kissed her mouth again, his fingers working magic on her clit, her nether region dewy with anticipation. Their musky scents mixed together as a powerful aphrodisiac to their enhanced wolf sense of smell.
She wanted him inside her in the worst way, to fulfill the ache that had begun the day she’d first met him, the way she’d felt his hard muscles pressed against her, felt his arousal burgeoning, smelled his sexy wolf scent—yeah. She’d wanted him that first time. And then in the hot tub…
She felt like a nymphomaniac with him, when she’d never felt that way toward any male, wolf or otherwise. She’d thought there’d been something wrong with her. But she just hadn’t met the right wolf.
She reached down to stroke his hard cock, but he began coaxing a climax out of her, rubbing faster, harder, as if he couldn’t allow her to distract him before she came. And she loved him for it, loved the way his fingers so expertly pushed her and drew her into mind-shattering bliss as the climax hit. She quickly took charge of him, stroking him from the base to the tip of his cock, while he kissed her mouth, tonguing her, and finally let go with a wolfish groan.
They kissed again, hugging each other tightly and enjoying the intimacy between two wolves in the aftermath. She was hoping he was the one for her. And was really glad they had a bathroom in the master bedroom, so they could shower together.
* * *
Aidan hadn’t been sure Holly would want to go that far with him this early on, but he was certain that’s where they’d been headed all along. They couldn’t disguise the way their bodies were reacting to other and, in particular, how their pheromones told them what they wanted to know. There was no mistaking they were hotly into each other.
He was glad she had decided to be with him and work with him, but he hoped she’d want a mating with him before too long. She was just too irresistible. They showered, changed the sheets, and settled down to sleep while he tucked her in his embrace, physically showing how much he wanted her to be his, permanently.
Even though he’d been thinking of Holly, the hot tub and what they’d started there, now that he’d put his other head to rest for a bit, he could concentrate on the longevity issue. His scientific brain took over once again with mysteries and puzzles colliding and demanding to be solved. Though if they started kissing again, all bets were off.
Knowing that her blood and Nick’s hadn’t changed was a real game changer. He’d been so stuck on trying to come up with other theories. Now that he had a moment to relax, knowing Nick was safe and well on his way to finding a home with a wolf pack, Aidan was back to pondering over the situation.
He began thinking about the wolf fights Holly said her pack had had in the early days. That made him wonder what had happened to the other wolves. Where were the packs living? He couldn’t shut down his brain when it came to wanting to locate other wolves, any of whom might be the key to their dilemma.
He suspected Holly wouldn’t be happy about dealing with them, but she wouldn’t have to. He’d take care of it, if he could locate them.
He began stroking her arm, not as a prelude to sex, but he didn’t want to just start talking and wake her if she’d gone to sleep. She sighed and snuggled closer to him. “Either you didn’t get enough, or you’re worrying over something.”
“Thinking.”
“Ah. If I had to venture a guess, it’s about my blood.” She wasn’t sleeping soundly, and he suspected she was lying awake thinking too. Maybe not about what he was, but he was glad he hadn’t woken her.
“Yeah, I was just wondering about the wolf packs that attacked yours with the notion of trying to take over. Where did they end up? Do you know?”
“You want to test their blood too?” She didn’t sound annoyed with him about wanting to find them, more like she wasn’t surprised. “Nick or my parents would know more about them than I would. I was only a baby when the last pack of wolves tried to take over. The others tried to take over before I was born. I’m sure it’s still a sore subject with many of the wolves who fought them and suffered.”
“I completely understand.”
“You’re right in wanting to learn about any other wolves out there whose blood might hold a clue. There’s got to be a reason our DNA isn’t changing. All I know is the wolves that fought our pack were all males. In each of the cases, they were looking for an established pack that had several females. I think they believed they could overpower us because they had so many males who were of a strong fighting age. But our females fought them too. And some died in the wolf wars. My parents were only courting the first time we were attacked. My mom fought alongside my dad as if they were already mated wolves. After our pack killed off the attacking wolves, my mom and dad mated.”
“So that was the deciding factor for them. I don’t blame them.” Aidan wouldn’t want Holly in the middle of a war like that, but he knew if some wolves had tried to take over, he would have done anything he could to protect her and not waited on a mating afterward either.
“Mom’s parents were adamant she wait longer. But you know when someone special captures your interest and there’s no letting go of him, so there’s no sense in putting it off. In any event, they killed some of ours. I don’t know what happened to theirs.”
“That was before you were born. When you were a baby?”
She sighed. “Okay, I told you Ronald was against having anything to do with other packs because of the issues we’d had in the past. There’s more to the story than that. His father actually befriended and mated their mother. He was a leader of another pack and got friendly with ours, learning our strengths and weaknesses, and then attempted to take over. Not just fighting with the pack leader—who, at the time, was Nick—but his men fought all of our men who were capable of fighting to get rid of the stronger males, including my dad. A wolf pack defending their own—their mates and children—can be stronger than a bunch of aggressive, bachelor males. Ronald and Jared’s father was killed in the battle, but I don’t know about the rest of the wolves.”
“Hell, no wonder your people don’t like outsider wolves.”
“Just Ronald, Jared, and a few of the ones in charge. They all lost someone in those battles, and I think Ronald and Jared are trying to prove they won’t let it happen again, probably feeling as though everyone halfway blames them because their mother mated one of the wolves. Though, as far as I can tell, this information wasn’t pa
ssed on to younger generations. Nick finally told me about it because I had to know why they were so against having other wolves join the pack.”
“Okay, it makes sense.”
“But you’re not going to sleep. Because you’re going to keep thinking about those other wolves. And what happened to them. And if you can sample their blood. But you’re not going to call my parents or wake up Nick to satisfy your need to know.”
He smiled and kissed her head.
She snuggled against him. “Good. Because I wouldn’t want to think you were obsessed with your work or anything.”
“I’ll just think of us making love, and that will obliterate any other thoughts I might have.”
She chuckled. “Good. And if you need any further inspiration, just let me know.”
“With an invitation like that, how can I say no?” He wanted Holly to get a good night’s sleep.
But, if she initiated anything further, he was going to take full advantage of her generosity.
Chapter 19
After making love again without consummating their relationship, Holly had finally fallen fast asleep. Yet something woke her. She wasn’t sure what had disturbed her. She lay in Aidan’s arms, and he was sound asleep. She was glad he’d finally given in and quit thinking about the wolves that had attacked her pack.
Now, she couldn’t sleep. Giving blood and spending time in the hot tub had made her thirsty. She got up, pulled on the robe, and cinched it, then went downstairs to get a glass of water.
She peeked out the kitchen window and saw the security lights on outside. In the foggy snow, a gray wolf was skulking around the trees. Shit! It was Jared. Were Ronald and more of his minions out there?
Hoping to circumvent a wolf fight, she set the glass of water on the counter, tore off the robe, and tossed it over the back of a dining chair. She quickly shifted into her wolf, the heat filling her cells as the shift took over, and raced for the wolf door. Thankfully, the door wasn’t locked when she pushed at it with her nose, probably so the guys could switch places on guard duty without any trouble. She barged outside and ran into the snow, the full moon glowing on the snowy night.