by Terry Spear
“Thanks. It was my favorite.” She appreciated the way he had observed her in the sweater, like he wanted to get his hands on her and kiss her all over.
He helped pull it over her head and added it to the jacket in the washer. He touched the dirt streaking her skin. His touch was gentle, his expression dark and contemplative.
Suddenly, she didn’t really care if she was squeaky clean or not. Or if Bjornolf was. She didn’t want to think of what might have happened. Only of where they were now. Muddy, sure, but alive and well. And hot for each other in the laundry room of a cabin retreat. That’s all that really mattered.
Before they could focus on keeping things clean, they were kissing, tongues and lips colliding. He fumbled with the fastener on her white bra while his tongue was teasing hers and her fingers were unbuckling his belt. The bra went sailing and ended up inside one of the sorting tubs on the shelf above.
His large warm hands slid over her breasts, making them swell, her blood heating. Her hands took measure of his chest, feeling the ripple of muscles, his nipples hardening, his stomach tightening. Somehow they managed to get out of their jeans. She thought her white panties went into the sink when they were supposed to go into the washing machine, but when she glanced in that direction, she saw them hanging off the sign, the teddy bear peeking through the silky fabric.
His white boxers landed on the floor. He lifted her onto the top of the dryer. They weren’t going to make love in here, were they?
He saw the hesitation in her expression, and he spread her legs and moved in close to her. His gaze held hers, and she swore his amber eyes were a little misty. Dark with lust, but misty.
He took her face in his hands and rubbed her cheeks with his thumbs. “I thought I’d lost you today, Anna.”
She thought of making a smart-ass reply because she didn’t want to feel the emotions that were swirling through her—the fear of losing him, of leaving him behind—but she knew what he must have suffered.
She took his hand and kissed the palm. “I wasn’t giving up.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s what I love about you. If I’m not there to protect you, you’re going to do it yourself.” He smiled slightly. She could tell he was damn proud of her for being able to stay alive on her own.
She smiled. That was the end of the serious discussion as far as she was concerned. “Here… or in the bath… or in the bed?”
“In the living room,” he said, his hands stroking her breasts, his eyes focused on them now. He looked up at her to see her expression when she didn’t say anything.
“With the Christmas tree lights on, a fire going, and a wild sword fight on the TV. What could be better?” he asked. “When I saw you standing in front of the Christmas tree after we’d hung the lights, that’s all I could think of. If Nathan hadn’t been in the guest bedroom, I would have made love to you next to the fire.”
She loved the idea. “Sounds like a deal.”
He went over to the sink and took a cloth from the cabinet, then warmed the water and added a little hand soap to it. “We’ll clean up a bit first.”
The cleaning up involved a lot of kissing, her mouth on his and on his neck and shoulders and throat. His mouth kissing her back, then moving down her throat to her breasts. Her hands combed through his hair, while one of his hands massaged a breast and the other ran the wet cloth over the streaks of mud on her belly. Cleaning off dirt had never taken this long or been this erotic, she thought as he rubbed his stiff cock against her leg.
After they’d cleaned themselves, he tossed the rinse rag into the sink, lifted her off the dryer, and was about to carry her into the living room when she said, “No. Go get the fire going, and I’ll start the wash.”
He sighed and set her on the floor. “Don’t take too long.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Keep it warm for me. All right?”
“I’ll be ready.” He gave her another searing kiss and then took off as if he was in a race. She started the wash and then filled the sink with water to soak the rest of their garments. She snagged her underwear and his, tossing them into the machine. Their jeans had managed to land on each other—his on the bottom, hers on top, pinning his to the floor. She smiled at the image that brought to mind. She threw them into the sink.
By the time she was finished and walked into the living room, the dark room was filled with the soft twinkling lights on the tree, the reflection sparkling on the round, multicolored Christmas ornaments. The fire had just begun at the hearth, but what really stole her attention was that he’d moved the coffee table out of the way, and sitting in its place was the sofa’s foldout bed.
He was bent over the bed as he covered it in red-and-white, candy-cane-striped bedsheets. She studied his gorgeous ass. Perfectly muscled like fine art. “Are you going to climb into bed, or just ogle me?” He looked over his shoulder at her with a smug smile.
She laughed, gave him a pat on the butt, and meant to climb onto the bed, but he tackled her. In that instant, the imagery of her jeans straddling his faded and a new one came into mind—his hot, naked body straddling hers.
She grinned. “I thought we were going to do it on the floor.”
“You deserve soft.”
“I want hard.” She stroked his cock, as aroused as before. “What made you so hard?” She was curious, not thinking he could have remained that way all that time.
“You,” he said, “just thinking of you on the sofa bed with me like this.”
There were no more words after that, just the sound of the wood crackling in the fireplace, their hearts beating wildly, and their breaths ragged. The lights sparkled softly in the room, and the scent of the sweet-smelling soap they washed themselves with filled her senses.
Everything else was touch.
The heat from Bjornolf and the fire warmed her as his fingers stroked her clit, making her hot, wet, and eager to have him finish her off. His tongue teased a nipple, his other hand cupping a breast. Faster. She wanted him to stroke her faster. She touched him, too, wanting to reciprocate the pleasure he was giving her. She caressed his buttocks, loving the hard feel of him. She reached between them and stroked his cock. He was rigid, throbbing, engorged, and ready for her. He groaned and rubbed her faster.
“Yes,” she said in a hushed voice, as if anyone would hear them out here on the coast. Only the sounds of the ocean waves striking the beach and the wind blowing snow off the pines were audible. No other cottages were close by—just wild nature and two hot wolves.
She arched as he dipped a finger inside her, then continued to assault her senses with his strokes. Her breathing grew shallow as she felt herself lifted heavenward. So close, so close, she was almost there as he pulled at her nipple with his teeth in a gentle tug.
The climax hit, sending her senses reeling, and she loved him with every cell in her body.
“OhGodIloveyou,” she said in one string tied together, trying to capture her breath. Was that the first time she’d made the declaration of love to him?
She saw the expression in his lust-filled eyes change a little. Surprise, she thought.
Hell. She loved him.
* * *
Blood had rushed straight to Bjornolf’s loins as soon as he had carried Anna into the house. She needed tender, loving care, and all he could think of was getting her naked and making love to her. He’d craved having her from the moment he got up that morning and saw the way she was snuggled under the covers.
After nearly losing her, nothing else mattered but loving her, feeling her in his arms, all around him, while he buried himself deep inside her.
She came and exalted in it, and he wanted her to come again, only this time while he was submerged in her sweet, wet heat. Her declaration of love smacked him right in the solar plexus, and he couldn’t have been more surprised or happy about it.
Anna clearly worked out. She had well-toned muscles and used them to her advantage during lovemaking, arching her pelvis to capture hi
m more deeply. She wrapped her legs around him as if she wasn’t about to let her prisoner go no matter what, tightening them like a glove around his cock. He couldn’t get enough of her. She was hot, wet, and snug. Her tongue played with his in a loving, fun-hearted way as her hands traveled all over him… first on his ass, then digging into his back and his shoulders, and then combing through his hair.
He suckled on a nipple and enjoyed its rigid contour. He treasured the way he made her gyrate underneath him and moan. He massaged the other breast, loving the softness, the size, the sexiness. All the while his cock penetrated her deeper, plunging, the couch bed squeaking as it rocked with his thrusts.
Through a haze of passion, he felt her come again, her inner muscles clenching in climax, her soft moans driving him on. She buckled underneath him, and he couldn’t hold off any longer, the pleasure sucking him in. At the breaking point, he held his breath, and then he came inside her, thrusting until she’d milked him for everything he had.
“Anna,” he breathed against her hair as she wrapped her arms around him, keeping him on top of her.
“I’ve changed my mind,” she whispered.
He studied her for a moment, not knowing what she meant.
“Let’s skip the movie and just… cuddle, like this.”
“I need to feed you.”
“You’ll cook?”
“Of course.”
“I’m glad you cook.” Then she sighed. “But I’m not hungry right now.”
He was, but he wouldn’t leave her for the world if she didn’t want him to. Instead, he rolled off her and tucked his arm under her head, his hand caressing her breastbone as he stared up at the ceiling. He kissed her forehead, then said quietly, not wanting to disturb her if she was falling asleep, “It’s nothing we have to decide anytime soon, but…”
She took a deep breath. “We have to decide where we’re going to live.”
“Right.”
“What do we do about Nathan and Jessica?”
Chapter 20
Bjornolf wasn’t sure what to say to Anna about Nathan and Jessica. He enjoyed cuddling with her now as mated wolves in the privacy of their own place, and he knew they needed the time to get to know each other like this. Having Nathan and Jessica living with them with babies on the way?
He let out his breath and continued to stroke her arm as the fire crackled in the hearth and the Christmas tree lights lent a holiday ambience to the sofa-bed play they’d just experienced. “When it was just Nathan, I considered his staying with us. Now that he’s got a mate and maybe babies on the way, he’ll have the help of the whole pack behind him. I’m thinking that they might need a place of their own, close to pack members who can assist them,” Bjornolf said.
Anna turned and snuggled her soft cheek against his chest and didn’t say anything.
“What do you think?”
He thought she’d fallen asleep when she didn’t respond, and he began to caress her bare shoulder again.
“What about us and the pack?” she asked.
He looked down at her. She turned her chin up and met his gaze.
“Hunter’s pack?”
“Maybe it’s time for us to join one,” she said. “Like Hunter’s. Here on the Oregon coast.”
He went back to rubbing her arm. “Yeah, maybe it is. Hunter wouldn’t be too bad as a pack leader. He might consider letting us join.”
“He’s good. And I’m sure he’d jump at the chance to have us in the pack.”
“You’re not thinking I should join his team as well, are you?” Bjornolf was ready, but he had to hear what Anna thought first.
“We couldn’t handle missions without you.”
He nodded.
She chuckled. “Glad you’re not conceited or anything.”
He smiled and kissed the top of her head. “So what about the kids?”
“We can’t stay here. This is one of Meara’s cabins to rent. So I’m thinking we’ll need a house.”
“Okay,” Bjornolf said.
“On the coast.”
Bjornolf nodded. “I like the area. Close to other pack members. Finn’s got that property farther south of here. He’s trying to sell the land. Maybe we could make an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
She smiled. “I like that idea. Beautiful vista. What do you think about us having a garage apartment? Or a mother-in-law house behind ours?”
“Nathan’s got money, you know. His parents left him money and a home that he also sold.”
“Okay. So he could buy his own place,” Anna said.
“But you want him close by.” Bjornolf studied her expression, noticing that even though she didn’t want to let on that she had a mothering instinct, she had one.
“Yeah,” she said softly. “He reached out to us first. He made me view Christmas in a different light and brought us closer together. How long would it have been if you had continued to ghost missions before we got this far on our own?”
Bjornolf snorted. “Not long.”
She looked up at him, brows raised quizzically.
“I seriously contemplated changing cabana arrangements when we stayed at that jungle town.”
She laughed. “You know Allan and Paul were trying to get a reaction from you.”
“That’s why I whispered in your ear. I was dying to kiss you.”
“And you did. Some kiss.” She licked his nipple and snuggled tighter against him. “Nathan made us recognize how important the pack is. I want to see him and Jessica do well.”
“We’ll discuss it with them and see what they want to do.” Bjornolf wasn’t sure he was ready to be a surrogate grandfather when he hadn’t even had his own kids yet. He ran his hand over Anna’s belly. He was working on that, though.
“We haven’t even talked about our schedule for after this business is finished,” she said.
“Schedule?” he asked. He hadn’t found anything in her profile that indicated she was fanatical about scheduling herself for anything on a regular basis.
“Sparring practice,” she said.
“Every day of the week,” he wholeheartedly agreed. He definitely would ensure that they had one room for sparring in their new home—and whatever else came up in the process. “And massages.”
“You had regular masseuses rubbing your muscles down after a workout?” She looked cynically at him.
“No, but now that I’m going to have a regular sparring partner and she’s you, I’m adding massages to the schedule. After the workout. Maybe before… to loosen us up a bit.”
She chuckled. “Yeah. Like we’re going to get any workouts done then.”
“Oh, I’ll guarantee you that we’ll get workouts. Plenty of them.”
Still grinning, she shook her head. “And weekly trips to the firing range.”
“Gotcha,” he said.
“If I get a mission that you aren’t invited to go on, then what?” she asked.
“I’ll go. Just ghost you.”
“Okay. If you get a mission that I can’t go on?”
He hesitated to answer. If the job was too dangerous, he wanted her home. He was certain she wouldn’t like that answer. He’d even thought of saying she could go on a different mission without him. But he couldn’t go along with it. For one thing, he didn’t want her anywhere on a dangerous job without him watching her back. For another, he was certain she wouldn’t appreciate that he’d sound like he was telling her what she could and couldn’t do.
He smiled and kissed her head. She was watching him, observing him as if she could read every thought going through his mind. He finally said, “If someone asks me to take on a job that’s too dangerous for you to go on, it’s most likely too dangerous for me.”
He loved the way she smiled up at him, and that led to him kissing her all over again.
* * *
The fire had gone out, but the Christmas lights were still twinkling on the tree when Bjornolf’s phone rang in the laundry room around two that morning. He ca
refully replaced the cheery, yellow-and-red quilted comforter over a sleeping Anna and then sprinted for the room.
He missed the call but saw the text. Call me. Nathan.
Bjornolf hit autodial as he pulled Anna’s white sweater out of the washing machine and laid it out gently on top of the dryer to dry. He stared at the streaks of light brown and frowned.
The phone was asking him to leave a message, so he did. Then Bjornolf pulled her jacket out of the wash. Pale mud stains streaked the front and the back. He checked the labels on the jacket and sweater, and decided it was time for some online shopping. He left the jacket to soak some more.
He opened a browser on his phone and began searching for a replacement for Anna’s lacy white sweater. Elated to find the online version of the store, he clicked on the link for sweaters and saw hers on the first page.
He glanced at the color selections. Ice white! Yes! He began to click on the links to the other colors just to see what they looked like. Stunning Black. Ecru. Royal Blue. Red Hot, Pleasing Purple. Hell, yeah, he’d have to get them all. She’d look amazing in any of the colors. Then he looked for white fleece jackets, found one, and ordered it, too.
In the meantime, he tried calling Nathan again.
“Bjornolf,” Nathan said, his breath short as if he’d run to get the phone.
“Yeah, what’s up?” Bjornolf let the water out of the laundry sink, squeezed the excess water out of each article of clothing, and then threw them into the washing machine.
“Jessica and I couldn’t sleep. She told me there’s a safe in her parents’ home where they keep important papers. She thought it might help us find some answers about the DEA agents or maybe even about her birth.”
“The feds will have a search warrant and investigate the deaths,” Bjornolf said.
“Yeah. If they can find the safe—it’s hidden. Even if they do, would they be looking into her birth records? What if they open the safe and just take everything? Then we’ve lost the chance to learn who her parents were.”
“There might not be any record of her birth. We make up our own birth records when we need to because we live so long that we have to change our records from time to time. We homeschool our children so they don’t go to public school.”