by Marie Mason
Wooing his mate.
Setting down his cup, he figured there was no better time to start than now. His fingers encircled her wrist and gently disengaged her fingers from her mug. He sat it on the counter next to his, keeping hold of her fingers as he did. It shocked him how much he simply wanted to touch her. And taste her. Logan’s nostrils flared with the need to pull her roughly into his arms and claim her lips with the fiery need that was burning him.
Careful, his wolf warned, and he wanted to laugh at the animal. The damn wolf had been pulling at his chains for hours, determined to break free and ravish their mate.
“I got my thank you kiss, but no good morning kiss.”
An instant before his mouth covered hers, Katie saw a golden light spark in his eyes. Then he was ravishing her with a good morning kiss the likes of which she’d never experienced. This kiss started with a soft brush against her lips that held a sensuous promise of heat…passion…need. And just that easily, he made her ache for him again.
She quickly discovered he was more difficult to resist than a giant-sized bar of milk chocolate. One of her hands tangled in the tousled dark locks and held his bent head to hers. With a groan, she kissed him back, and forgot her own name.
Later, she couldn’t have said how long he kissed her. It could have been seconds…hours. Days could have past.
“Oh, Katie, what you do to me.” He growled against her lips as he pulled her closer, their hips bumping against each other. The feel of his aroused cock was all it took to bring Katie back to her senses.
She eased back. “I’m sorry, Logan. I didn’t mean to let this go this far. I’m, I’m.” I’m horny as hell and I don’t want to take advantage of the situation. Yeah, that made perfect sense.
“It’s okay, baby,” he smiled down at her, still holding her in his arms. The look on his face was wickedly handsome and she called herself three kinds of fool for not seeing where this early morning attraction would lead. He took her chin between his thumb and finger as he had last night when he wanted to get her attention. “But know this. I want you. It’s that simple. Every time I get near you, every time I touch you, I want you so much, it’s a physical pain.” He leaned down and placed a light kiss against her cheek and whispered in her ear, “And make damn sure you know, I will have you.”
Katie wanted to cry for the second time that weekend. The first time had been when she’d realized she could easily end up in a ditch on the side of the road and no one would know where she was—or care.
Now, she stood just inside the door of the cabin her good for nothing ex-boyfriend had rented for their love getaway. It was a one room…she couldn’t bring herself to even call it a cabin. It was a structure that lacked—everything.
After their explosive kiss in the kitchen, Logan had called the rental agency. She should have realized how horrible it would be by Logan’s reaction when he was told where she’d be staying. Her rental was only a mile down the road from his house, which explained her mistake last night.
He’d argued and threatened and ordered her to stay with him. She knew her coming to the cabin had upset him, but she wasn’t quite sure why. Or at least she hadn’t been until now. He must have known what bad shape it was in. But, there was nothing else for it. She couldn’t stay with him a moment longer. Her defenses were down and her need to get away from him even higher. Getting higher by the moment.
He had insisted that he drive her, promising to bring her car over later that afternoon. Seeing the condition of the graveled road between her cabin and the main road, she wasn’t certain her compact car would have made it anyway.
Logan had refused to let her out of his SUV until he had shoveled a path to the front door. She suddenly wished she hadn’t let him. The time and effort it had taken had certainly not been worth the reward.
It was painfully obvious that whoever owned this cabin only cared about the rent money it could garner. It might—through a large stretch of the imagination—might have been satisfactory for a hunting party. But not a couple hoping to cement their relationship during a romantic weekend away.
Finally getting up enough courage to slip through the doorway, she wrinkled her nose in distaste at the smell. It was a mix between a pine scented air freshener and a stagnant pond.
“Well, this is cozy.” Logan come in behind her, her suitcase in one hand. She was grateful that his tone didn’t carry any sarcasm or condemnation that she knew would have been in Brad’s voice, even though he had been the one to book the place.
“Isn’t it though?” There was little she could do but try and make the best of the situation. She knew she’d been foolish to turn down Logan’s offer to stay with him. Maybe her brains had been addled by the fall. Who in their right mind would want to stay here and not with a gorgeous man in a beautifully appointed house?
One who was scared as hell of losing her heart, that’s who.
She didn’t know what it was about the man, but she’d felt drawn to him on some level she’d never imagined existed. Oh, he was sexy as sin, made all her girl parts tingle and clench, but there was something more. He made her heart feel so full.
He sat the suitcase just inside the doorway and turned to go. Her heart fell to the ground, realizing he was about to leave her. Before she could protest, or beg to go with him, he said, “I’m going to get you some firewood.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Hush, Katie.” He said in a tight voice and walked back out the door. There was certainly no use closing it behind him. It was just as cold in the cabin as it was outside. She noticed the baseboard heaters and thermostat on the wall by the kitchen. Since it was just one room, the cabin shouldn’t take long to heat.
That’s right, Katie, look for the bloody silver lining in everything. Now she was being snarky to herself.
She took off her coat and draped it over the couch. While everything looked worn and used up, the cabin did appear clean for the most part. Going over to the fireplace, she realized she’d have to clean it out before she could start a fire.
Time to pull up her big girl pants, put on her grown-up hat, and deal with what life had given her. She’d done it before and she no doubt would do it many times during the course of her life. One thing she’d realized long ago was that she hadn’t been born under a lucky star. Katie Wilson made her own luck. Sometimes.
She found a dishpan under the sink and a fireplace shovel hanging on the mantle. Taking it slow and easy, she started removing the layer of ash.
The door opened blowing in the fresh scent of snow. Logan stepped through, carrying a load of firewood.
“What are you doing?” he demanded, closing the door with the heel of his winter boot.
“This seemed to be a little dirty.”
“Get up.”
Katie’s gaze jerked up to him. Those were the first sharp words she’d ever heard him say. “I…”
He put down the firewood and almost lifted her to her feet. Taking the shovel from her hand, he nudged her toward the couch.
“I’ll do this. You don’t need to be breathing in the ashes.”
Katie sat on the edge of the couch, unsure what to do now. She wasn’t use to someone else taking care of her, seeing to her needs. She was pretty sure if she said she was going to bring in some more wood, he just might tie her to the couch. That thought shot up her body temperature fast. “I was being careful.”
“This chimney probably hasn’t been cleaned in years. It’s unsafe. I don’t want you to use it.” His words were clipped and hard as he continued to dump ashes into the pan. When it was full, he stood up and strode to the door. He was back in a few minutes and he did the process all over again. She wondered why, if she wasn’t suppose to use it, he was still cleaning it. Maybe because he knew she wouldn’t just blindly obey him.
It took two more times before he considered the chimney clean enough. On the last trip, he went to the sink and rinsed out the pan before washing his hands.
K
atie jumped up from the couch worried about his silent demeanor. Gone was the caring man who had spent the night taking care of her and the morning flirting. He’d been replaced by a wolf who was in a temper. “Thank you for your help. I guess I’ll see you later. When you bring my car. That is if you still—”
“Damn it, woman, why are you being so stubborn!”
Yep, that was one angry animal Katie thought, taking a step back. Strangely, she didn’t feel threatened with his show of temper as she would have with Brad.
Damn the man for causing all this mess. If he hadn’t been a tightwad and booked this shithole and if he hadn’t been an ass wipe by fucking that nurse...
If he hadn’t been all of those things, she would never had met Logan.
She closed her eyes at the thought. There was no way in hell she was going to be thankful to the obnoxious doctor. “I don’t understand. What am I being stubborn about?”
Logan ran his fingers through his hair, leaving some of the shorter locks standing on end. He clasped his hands behind his head as if he didn’t know what to do with them. She smiled just a little. He looked like a very frustrated man.
“Come back home with me.”
A dagger of warmth sliced through her at the thought. Stop it, Katie she warned herself. Don’t go off into la-la-land and read more into this situation than what it was. “Thank you for the offer, but that wouldn’t be right.”
“Why not?” He stepped closer. “I’m not involved with anyone and you’re not either.”
“I beg your pardon. I was planning on spending the weekend with my boyfriend.” Great, now she sounded like a prude.
“Was being the operative word.”
“You’re twisting my words.”
“No, I’m trying to make you see reason.”
Shit. As soon as Logan said the words, he knew he’d stepped over that invisible line that his mother and sister constantly warned him and his brothers about. You never, ever, tried to make a woman ‘see reason’. That had the same effect as throwing gasoline on a fire. It exploded in your face. He crossed the room to place his hands on her shoulders. She tried to shrug away from his touch but he held firm “I apologize for that remark, Katie. I’m just frustrated that you still seem to be hung up on this guy. And that is the last damn thing I want. What I want is you in my arms.”
“Logan, you can’t be serious, you just met me.” Oh, she’d felt the instant attraction, too. But it didn’t work that way in real life. Someone as good looking as Logan McCall did not fall instantly in lust with someone like Katie Wilson.
“I’m dead serious, Katie. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any other woman.” His wolf growled in approval of his words. Words that should convince her that she was his. Theirs.
“You’re just using one of your well-practiced lines on me.”
“This is real, Katie. More real than you know.” He bent his head, staring into her eyes. They both knew he was about to kiss her and he moved slowly, giving her time to say no if that’s what she wanted. Bemused, Katie could only stare at his full lips as his mouth got closer. Then he was kissing her with a slow-burning hunger that sparked an ache low in her belly. With a soft moan, she melted against him, loving the taste of him on her tongue. Mercy the man could kiss!
Open mouths, deep thrusts where tongues collided. An expression of pure, overwhelming sexual awareness and instant need. As if from faraway, she heard herself whimper when his teeth scraped along her bottom lip, forcing her to part her mouth wider, so he could plunder inside. Her senses gave over to the overwhelming sensation of being in his arms, tasting his hard, warm lips. He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her as though he never wanted to let her go.
There was a sense of recognition that she had never felt before. It stunned her in its intensity and her hands came up to push him away. He moved away, reluctantly, his mouth letting go of hers. When she looked into the swirling darkness of his eyes, she knew he felt the same thing and that it didn’t seem to surprise him at all. He looked at her as if he had known her all of his life.
“See what I mean?” he whispered roughly against her lips when he finally lifted his head. “You want me as much as I want you.”
A shudder of longing tinged with lightening rippled down her spine. “That doesn’t make it right.”
She gasped as his hands found their way under her shirt. Before she knew what was happening his thumbs were brushing the undersides of her breasts, right below her bra. How she wanted him to keep touching her. All of her.
“Oh, baby, it couldn’t get any more right than this.”
That good-girl angel that sat on her shoulder whispered in her ear that he was simply out for physical gratification. The bad-girl devil dancing on the other reminded her that seeking satisfaction wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, it could be damn good—especially with a man like Logan.
Katie knew it was crazy to let him touch her this way and even more insane to respond to it, but her senses were drugged with desire and for once she didn’t want to fight it. She wanted to reach out and grasp what she needed. She wanted to let herself feel like a woman. A woman wanted by a man.
Did he know what he did to her? Know that no man had ever destroyed her defenses so easily? That she wanted to pull him right down to the floor with her and forget everything but the feel of his body, hot and hard, against hers.
She inhaled the scent of his body—the scent of him. Clean and masculine, and maybe a little dangerous. Who the heck was she trying to kid? He was dangerous. She pulled away—she had to. His hands dropped to his sides and she felt the loss of his warmth immediately. “You’re just a horny wolf, stuck in the middle of nowhere with me. That’s all this is.”
Her hands-off warning was like fuel to Logan’s already smoldering senses. One of his hands meshed in her hair, pulling her close until they were lip to lip once again. “If I had wanted female company, you can damn well be sure I would have brought some.” A strangled sound, half growl, half angry howl, erupted from his throat.
Heat flared in the dark depths of his eyes and Katie feared she had pushed him too far. His fingers tightened briefly on her skull and then he was jerking her forward, slamming his lips down on hers. Katie’s head bent backward under the force of the kiss. No sweetness, no ease of greeting, shocking in its intensity. Until this moment, Logan had been careful of her, careful to hide the hunger. Now, he was a predator. A wolf out to devour.
He let her go a moment later and she stood there, her lips throbbing and Lord help her, she wanted more. “Was that supposed to be some sort of punishment for not obeying you?” she asked huskily, licking her lips as if trying to recapture his taste.
“No,” he ground out hoarsely. “It was meant to show you how much I want you.” Logan groaned as the need to tell Katie the truth—that they were mates and he was not just handing her a line of bull to get into her pants—rushed through him. Never had a woman left him so torn and confused, so crazy with need. It took all of his control not to shake some sense into her. He smelt the aroma of her arousal perfuming the air and knew she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. He knew if he picked her up and took her back to his house, she would protest. He also knew those protests would die away once he had her in his bed.
But this wasn’t about a quick weekend hookup. It was about courting his mate. Making her understand he wanted more than that. With her. So much more. Had he made it impossible for them now? Scared her with his flare of temper, the intensity of his feelings? His desire? But damn it, she was his. His.
“We have a connection. I know it and you damn well know it. And I’ll prove it to you. Come back to the house with me and I’ll keep my hands and my mouth off of you until you make the first move. How does that sound?”
“It sounds like you’ve got an ego as big as your dick.”
Logan smirked down at her and Katie wished she could take back her words. “You’ve been checking out my goods have you?”
Katie s
norted, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of admitting she had been checking him out. “I could hardly avoid doing that now, could I, the way you keep rubbing yourself all over me.”
“Yeah, but you loved every minute of it, sweetheart.” He let go of her. Reluctantly, but he let her go. For now. “This house isn’t safe, Katie. I wouldn’t feel right leaving you here.”
Katie rubbed her arms and took a step away from him. The cabin wasn’t the greatest—okay, so it was a dump—but it was safe. There was a lock on the door and baseboard heating. She wouldn’t even have to light the fireplace. She’d just go back to the city in the morning. Surely, the snowplows would be through by then.
“Thank you for your offer, but again, no. I’ll be staying here.”
Logan growled but knew there was nothing else he could do. Well, there was one more thing he could do. Give her another taste of what she’d be missing. He gave her another hard, brief kiss and left her, his wolf growling at him the whole way home.
CHAPTER FOUR
Deciding a run was what he needed after his maddening confrontation with Katie, Logan stripped down and stepped out onto the back deck, his feet leaving wide prints on the snow as he strode across it and down the steps. At the bottom, he allowed the shift to overcome him, feeling the pleasure as his essence mingled with that of his wolf. For a brief moment, they were one and the same.
He took off, running into the thicket of trees behind his house. That had been the main reason he’d bought the property so far away from civilization. He came here as often as he could, but lately his duties at McCall Holdings took up way to much of his time. He wasn’t like his brother Jarod, a born workaholic. Yeah, he’d put in the time and hours to make the businesses the pack acquired profitable, but he’d leave it—well cut back considerably—to spend time with his mate.
His mate. He knew his brothers weren’t as driven to find the other half of themselves as he was. Jarod was married to the pack and Hunter was married to the military. He smiled, knowing this storm had at least forced Jarod to acknowledge the existence of his mate. Sara had worked for McCall holdings for over six months and Jarod had realized she was his mate as soon as he’d caught her scent in the building. Now, according to his brother, they were stranded together for the weekend. He had no doubt that Sara would be claimed by the time the city returned to normal.