by Vivian Arend
“Gee, you do that man-of-mystery thing really well. I’m going to have to pull words out of you with a spoon, aren’t I?” She sighed dramatically and leaned back in her chair, trying not to feel even more hurt as he continued to withdraw, folding his arms over his broad chest.
She looked him over slowly, considering her next move.
His face had that classic movie-star structure. Dark brows, haunted expression, as if he was thinking deep thoughts regarding how to save the world. His solid muscular body was thick in all the right spots, like his biceps and chest, narrowing in at the waist to trim hips, and she really wanted to slip her hands into his back pockets before rubbing herself all over him.
If she had a type, he was it.
A layer of scruff covered his chin, and she was tempted to reach over to see if it was soft or scratchy—she hadn’t met many shifters with facial hair.
Intriguing.
He backed up slightly. “What’re you doing?”
Oops. She had moved forward on the hard, wooden seat, one hand lifted toward his face. It was too much fun to resist. “Wait. You have something right here…”
Her palm ghosted over his chin and cheek. Hmm, interesting. A combination of scratchy and soft. She wondered what it would feel like if he rubbed it over her skin—especially between her legs. She hummed in approval at the naughty thoughts.
He scrambled backward, the chair falling behind him as he shot to his feet. “Don’t do that.”
The sharp cut of pain in her chest was unfamiliar, and strong. Being underestimated she was used to.
Being run away from as if she were some kind of monster?
Dani fought back with sarcasm, folding her arms before she could stop herself. “I wanted to see what it felt like. I wasn’t going to hurt you.”
“Of course you weren’t. You’re a sweet, innocent girl—you can’t hurt me.”
Fury struck out of left field. Sweet and innocent?
Fuck. Him.
Dani shot to her feet. “You take that back.”
Confusion twisted his face. “You can hurt me?”
She wanted to stomp her foot, but wouldn’t, because—obvious reasons.
“I’m not sweet and innocent.” Well, not the sweet part, anyway. Innocent was a different matter, depending on which way they were defining it. “What the hell is it to you, anyway? Go away. I was here first, and I don’t feel like sharing the cabin.” The longer she spoke, the more right this felt, working up to a rage. She tipped her chin higher. “You got your sled back, so no harm, no foul. I didn’t hurt anyone or anything, and I’d like you to leave. Now.”
She put all the fire into her command she possibly could, and he didn’t even flinch. Just stood there and stared back, equally frustrated and pissed off, and the whole situation was bordering on dangerous territory.
Until she noticed he was standing in the exact same position she was. Feet spread wide, fists planted on his hips. Leaning forward as they glared daggers at each other.
Her anger left as rapidly as it had arrived, because him as a mirror to her? Funny. Really funny. He had to have a full foot of height on her, like a darker shadow, and she was not a broody movie star with an attitude.
Dani snickered.
A crease folded between his brows.
Oh, this was good. She cracked a smile, and his frown deepened. Yup, they were mirror opposites.
She twisted to the right, and he moved with her unconsciously. She fought back a laugh as she lifted one hand into the air and…he lifted his hand in the air.
“Are you doing this on purpose?” she asked.
“I need you to sit down,” he said slowly. “We need to talk.”
Fine. She dropped back into her chair and gestured to his. “I’m not the one who decided to break the place. Sheesh, you’re jumpy.”
He tipped the chair back into position and settled into it. “Not jumpy. I’m cautious.”
She blinked at him sweetly. “Awwww. It’s okay. Remember, I promised not to hurt you.”
A strange noise escaped him, like the slow leak on a bicycle wheel. “You hurt—?”
“What’s your name, sweetie?” Dani said encouragingly, like talking with a child. “Tell Dani everything, and I promise to make sure you get a nice treat before I tuck you into bed.”
Fire lit his eyes. “The name’s Cole, and you’d better not make promises you can’t keep, little girl. I’m not one of your schoolmates to be played with.”
Okay, old news again. Dani had enough. “Okay, Cole. You need to get your head out of your ass and get this straight. I’m not a little girl, and I’ll play with you if I damn well want to. I’m a grown woman, and—”
“Grown? How old are you?” he demanded.
“Twenty-one, not that it’s any of your business.”
He looked her over again, the furrow between his brows deepening. “You don’t look that old.”
Good grief. Dani thrust her chest at him, “Do these look as if I’m lying, sweetheart?”
His gaze dropped over her curves before a shiver shook his shoulders, rippling down through his entire body. He closed his eyes as if he were in pain. “Don’t do that,” he barked.
Dani had reached her limit. “Okay, I don’t think we’re getting anywhere with this conversation. I’m making breakfast and coffee—because this day needs a bucket-load of coffee to make it bearable. You can sit there like a bump for all I care. You insult me again, and I’ll throw something at you, and it might not be cooked.”
She shot to her feet and went to the stove, shoving a log into the fuel box and waiting until the coals rushed to full heat before tossing a kettle on the surface and digging into one of the emergency food stashes.
If Cole moved, she had no idea, ignoring him as frustration burned.
4
Cole and his wolf were having an argument.
This wasn’t a new event by any stretch, but it was the first time Cole had ever wondered if his inner wolf was completely sane.
In the first place, the damn beast didn’t seem to understand why they weren’t making a move.
Mate. She’s ours.
No. Cole paused. Well, yes. But only to protect. Not for anything else.
Not for a while. Not for what was going to feel like a million, trillion years. Because he wasn’t going to let her go, let her go, but his hands were tied as surely as if someone had hauled out a big-ass rope and looped him up good.
Mates were to be cherished. Jumping her bones immediately would probably trigger the prophecy, which meant before they did anything, he had to have a long talk with the woman.
Dani drifted around the cabin, pointedly disregarding him as she boiled water and piled foodstuffs on the counter. Slowly, the scent of coffee filled the air. She’d rolled up the sleeves of the oversized sweatshirt, her delicate forearms drawing his attention and forcing as many erotic images as if she’d stripped.
He twisted his chair away to stop from staring at her. Didn’t help, not with the scent of her filling the cabin more than the coffee she was now pouring into two cups.
“Sugar?” Her tone was borderline rude.
“No.”
She eyed him, then sniffed before putting three heaping spoons into her cup and stirring violently.
“Maybe you should stick with hot chocolate,” he muttered.
Dani whirled on the spot and glared evilly. “Look, Mr. Judgey-McJudgey-Pants. How I like my coffee is none of your business.”
“Just saying when your taste buds mature a little—”
A low growl escaped her. She snatched up a cup and stomped the three steps back to his side, slamming it down in front of him. Liquid sloshed over the brim onto the table. “Oh, how surprising. That was another dig at how young you think I am. Buddy, I don’t know where you get off deciding you’re in charge of me, ’cause you’re not. And I’m old enough, so there.”
He kept eye contact, almost certain she was about to blow a raspberry at him as a f
inal punctuation.
Her face contorted a few times. Definitely fighting for control.
Cole reached for his cup and hid his smile by taking a sip. Damn, he wasn’t supposed to like her this fast, other than it made sense because of the mate thing. His wolf paced inside, pleased and content as Cole dragged more of Dani’s scent into his system.
She’d returned to the counter, tipping back her own cup and drinking deeply. Her throat moved rhythmically, her breasts—God, those breasts—rising and falling noticeably as she lowered the cup and sighed with satisfaction.
Cole wiggled in his chair, casually adjusting…things.
Screw this. Nothing about this situation was normal. He rose to his feet and joined her at the counter. “What can I do to help?”
Dani looked him up and down. “Don’t go all nice on me. I’ll get whiplash.”
“I like to keep people on their toes.”
She snorted. “Look, we got off on the wrong foot—”
“What? You mean with you breaking into my shop and stealing one of my sleds? Funny how that might set the wrong precedent for us to be best buds.”
She ignored him and kept on rolling. “—but I’m sure now that you have your sled back, and you can tell I didn’t mean any harm, we should start over. And you should get out of your clothes.”
His spine froze. His skin lit up like an electric field. His cock—
“What?”
Dani waggled a finger up and down at him. “Dude, you’re wet. And not to be indelicate about it, you stink. There’s a shower house behind the cabin and spare clothes in the chest by the bed. If you’re going to hang out here and bother me, I expect a certain level of grooming and personal hygiene from my houseguests.”
She grabbed a full bucket of water off the counter, plopped it at his feet then pointed to the door.
Good grief. Cole lifted an arm and took a sniff. “I do not stink,” he grumbled, but his wolf and his feet were already heading toward the chest. He rummaged through it to find a shirt.
Damn wolf didn’t want to piss off his mate.
I will get even with you for this, he warned the beast.
His wolf gloated, eyeing Dani with pride. She was once again ignoring Cole, working steadily at the counter and slipping something that smelt salty and bacon-y into a pan on the stove.
“And you’re not going to use this opportunity to run away?”
Dani glanced over her shoulder before raising a brow sky high. “I promised not to run. I keep my word.”
A loud hmmph escaped her as she tossed her head then turned her back on him.
Okay, then.
She likes us, his wolf insisted.
Cole was tempted to slam the door on his way out, but the hinges were one step away from being toast. Oh, and you know this from the way she informed us we stink?
Clean means she wants contact. His wolf sent over a rush of images involving Cole and Dani tangled together with nothing between them but hot, wet skin.
The string of curses in his head were long and creative, the icy wind temperature welcome as Cole trudged around the back side of the cabin.
The shower house was a simple setup—he poured the water into the overhead container then let it run out a spigot/showerhead. Cole stripped and got wet before stopping the flow and soaping up. It was cold enough the lather barely rose until he scrubbed harder, steam rising off his shifter body.
He was tempted to curl a hand around his cock and rid himself of the pressure. Desire for his mate pounded through his blood, and he stroked his hard length a couple times, pushing forward into the tight circle of his fist. Another stroke, mind wandering. He could step behind Dani where she stood at the counter, his hands drifting up her torso to cup her breasts, nuzzle against her neck—
Cole forced his fingers open. Every bit of control had to be summoned to stop his imagination from running away with him. Now was not the time to indulge, now was the time to get used to suffering because they were not in the clear yet. He had to take her back to town. He had to make sure she was telling the truth before figuring out how they were going to survive the next step.
It wasn’t going to be simple, whatever it was.
He cranked open the water and let the icy coldness wash away the soap, his hopes, and his erection.
One tipsy-door tangling incident later, Cole was back in the cabin, his “stinky” clothes washed and left hanging in the shower house.
Dani examined him as he dropped into his chair, a smile flitting over her lips.
His heart leapt in a most not-in-control manner. “Happy?” he growled to hide the way his emotions were dancing inside like a goddamn puppy.
“Ecstatic. Ready for breakfast?”
She pushed a plate in front of him, laid one for herself and dug in enthusiastically.
Cole eyed his plate. Salt pork, with perfectly crisped edges. A steaming mound of baked beans, and a stack of pancakes smothered in maple syrup.
Oh, my God, his mate could cook. He was going to cry for joy.
“How did you do this?”
She lifted a brow. “Specifically?”
He gestured at his plate. “I tracked you here after you showed up in Chicken. You got to Chicken from somewhere that was not here, in this cabin. How did you make a meal like this?”
She frowned. “Seriously? What kind of adventure guide are you? All these old cabins have emergency stashes. I’d have thought, with you being so much older and more experienced than little ol’ me, you’d have learned that already.”
Cole growled at her and she smirked. “Smart-ass. Yes, I know what the typical rations are in these cabins, and it’s not this kind of fare.”
“Oh?” She stabbed a piece of pancake and lifted it to her mouth, licking the maple syrup off the tongs. His gaze locked on her tongue. Licking, licking. Licking again, but missing the glistening drip of sweetness clinging to the corner of her lips.
Cole’s brain clouded over. “This isn’t typical— Sweet, fuck.”
She’d wiped her hand over her lips then popped the sticky digits into her mouth, lips closing around her fingers as she sucked and hummed lustily.
He was dying. His heart pounded so hard he was about to fall over and fucking die, right there in that teeny little cabin. He wrenched his gaze off her, fastened it on his plate and concentrated on shoveling in food as fast as possible without choking. Nothing else existed. Just his plate. Just the food.
Just the scent of her whirling around him and soaking into his system as if he were consuming her, one bite at a time.
He was so dead.
Fortunately, Dani stayed quiet enough he could pretend he was all alone as he fought for control.
They were nearly finished breakfast when the wind gusted and the door gave up being a door. It swung open, teetered on the final attached hinge, then crashed to the floor, icy wind and snowflakes whirling into the cabin.
Cole and Dani hit their feet at the same time.
“I saw some tools,” she offered.
“There’s lumber beside the shower house. I’ll grab it.”
They went in two directions, regrouping moments later.
It was awkward work, compounded by the tight space and lack of proper equipment. Cole had to get her help holding things in position, which meant he’d ended up tangled partially around her. Bodies rubbing far too intimately. If he weren’t already numb from frustration, it might have hurt more than he could bear.
Numbness, he decided, was now his best friend.
They fell into an easy rhythm, working side by side. Dani’s petite stature made it easy for her to crawl into the tight places he needed her to hold things as he jimmied the hinges back into working condition.
“You’re good at this.” Her compliment warmed him far too much. “I thought you owned a sporting-goods store, not a fix-it shop.”
He felt a dire need to share. “I work with my brother for now, guiding and the shop, yes, but it’s temporary. We’ve a
lways known this.”
“Ooooh, you’ve got bigger things planned down the road?”
The question seemed sincere. Maybe that was another reason why he didn’t stop himself. It made sense that his wolf instinctively trusted her—mate and all—but on another whole level, Cole should be holding his tongue.
Impossible. Especially since, although she didn’t know it yet, her future would be tangled up in his.
“I have certain life…situations—” mating was a situation, right? “—that need to occur before I get to assume the position.”
“Ahh. Assume the position.”
Didn’t matter that she was just repeating him, the dirty thoughts that rushed him were filthy to the extreme.
“I get it. You’ve got a hereditary job waiting for you, right?”
Man. How to explain this without mentioning the prophecy that he still didn’t think was explainable. “Sort of?”
She patted his arm in sympathy. “Me too. Which is part of the reason why I need to find out for sure if that was my sister with you. Right now, if she returns to Kodiak Island, I’m off the hook. If she’s not able to return, I’m next in line to rule.”
Her entire body shuddered.
Uh-oh. “Not interested in being part of the ruling elite?”
“I am part of the ruling elite. Have been since birth, but I really hate the spotlight-bullshit-snootery.” She made a face. “All that bowing and scraping is terrible no matter which way it’s aimed, at me or by me.”
His wolf rumbled for a second. Trouble?
Of course, trouble. Not that Cole knew exactly what his true future held, but chances were good that it would involve a bunch of that bowing and scraping she’d mentioned. Or maybe groveling from bad guys once they’d been overcome. Or maybe…
Damn unclear prophets and their prophetic gibberish.
He rubbed his temples and wondered for the millionth time if there was an escape clause. Something that didn’t say, “Now that you’ve found your mate, the legacy will rapidly overtake you.”
Except…he didn’t want there to be an escape clause, because he was growing to like her. Except he didn’t want to want her until he figured out how to soften the blow that he was about to shove her back into that spotlight-bullshit-snootery again—