by Vivian Arend
“Number eight. I tell you, the clues are logical but if TJ didn’t have such a good sense of smell I think we would have missed half of them.”
TJ lay flat out on the trail, panting lightly. His ears pricked up when Erik said his name, as if delighted by the praise.
Jared dropped his pack and passed out granola bars, unwrapping TJ’s and tossing it to him whole. “Where was the clue this time?”
“On a tree.”
“Drawn on?”
Erik shook his head. “Carved into the bark. Looks like it was done at least six months ago.”
Jared swore. “How the hell did TJ get a scent on something that old? That’s freaky impossible.”
Maggie stared down at TJ and could have sworn he winked at her.
Erik laughed. “Yeah. The kid has always said his sniffer was good, and he wasn’t kidding. We’re at the point I think we should set up camp. I’d like to make an early start tomorrow so we have enough time at the end of the day to figure out the first mental challenge.”
“You want to camp here?” Jared looked around. Maggie wondered too—there wasn’t much of a clearing.
“Sheep Camp should be within the next half hour of hiking. Let’s make that our destination. Once we get there, TJ can shift back and we’ll get supper going.” Erik turned her and Maggie froze. He reached and adjusted her chest harness straps then patted her cheek with his fingers before pointing for her to follow TJ’s lead. She stared at him even as her body obeyed, and she took her first steps still watching his face. There was a laughing look in his eyes that made her want to haul him aside and ask just what the hell was going on.
She walked in silence for almost twenty minutes before it hit her. She’d spent the entire day with pack members, one in wolf, and she wasn’t having a panic attack. She hadn’t passed out and she was still safe.
Maybe Missy had been right. Maybe it was time to move on.
“So what do you think this is?”
Jared hit TJ over the head with his baseball cap. “Shut. Up. That’s why it’s called a puzzle, you idiot, because we don’t know what it means.”
“Jared.” Erik didn’t want to have to deal with a couple of young punks right now. Maggie reclined next to him and her scent filled the air. He’d far prefer to be able to continue the little mental fantasy he’d been enjoying than have to discipline his teammates.
“But he’s asked the same damn question ten times already.”
Erik sighed and sat up with reluctance. “I know. I’m only four feet away and I’ve heard him every single bloody time. As well as heard you make smart-ass responses and guesses back every single bloody time.” He held out his hand. “Give me the puzzle page and find something else to occupy your minds. We don’t have enough clues to be able to solve this, and you’re both getting on my nerves.”
The two young men exchanged panicked glances and then got busy. Jared grabbed a knife and whittled at a stick, while TJ produced a mouth organ from somewhere and started playing some pretty damn good blues. Erik always had appreciated that—even though TJ was clumsy, everywhere he went music followed.
Erik was just about to settle back down when there was a soft touch on his arm.
“You did that well.”
Maggie sat with her arms wrapped around her legs, her face whiter than he remembered. Shit. “Did I scare you? I didn’t mean to. The boys know I’m joking around.”
She shook her head and frowned. “I’m not upset.”
“You look pale.” He shut his mouth quickly. What an incredibly stupid thing to say.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Gee, thanks. You’re really batting a thousand right now aren’t you?”
Yup. “Are you tired? Hungry?” Can I massage your feet—or any other part of your body? What he wouldn’t give to be able to touch her. The whole day spent together, even hiking, had made his desire for her rise.
“No, I had more than enough at supper. I just need to think for a bit. Thanks for asking the comedy duo to shut up. I haven’t been around a lot of people for a while and their constant yattering was getting to me.” She stretched lazily and he enjoyed the way her T-shirt pulled tight over her breasts, the display making his mouth water. She might be a little thing, especially compared to him, but her breasts were full and distracting.
She curled up next to him, her hip touching his and he smiled. There was no way to ignore the physical pull between them. He wasn’t even interested in trying to act as if it wasn’t there. He’d go as slow as she needed, but he wouldn’t back down. For the next thirty minutes he pretended to stare at the puzzle clues all the while looking over every inch of her body. She was going to be his—to care for and love and be with for the rest of their lives. The whole idea of fated mates didn’t bother him one bit.
Jared yawned, a loud juicy sound that made Erik laugh. Time to round them up. “Hey, good job today, everyone.”
TJ waved lazily, tucking away the mouth organ and letting out his own yawn. “It’s the altitude, I swear it is. I’m heading to bed. Early morning I assume?”
“On the trail by seven please.”
Jared nodded. “I’ll turn in as well. I need to spend some time talking to my eyelids.”
Erik wondered what the hell was up as Jared gave a direct look at Maggie as he spoke and she laughed.
It took a long time for the boys to crawl into the tent, and organize their sleeping bags with all their goofing off. The grumbles and laughter slowly died away, and Erik relaxed. Finally. Time alone with his mate.
The two of them sat silently, the small noises of the forest at night continuing. Here in the southernmost part of the Yukon, the sky insisted on staying bright, but it wasn’t midnight sun by any means. There was a beautiful pink glow rising from behind the eastern mountain and Erik shuffled back down to rest his head on the log they’d rolled over to sit on.
Maggie looked at him for a long moment before sighing. “It’s no use, is it?”
“What?”
She touched his arm hesitantly and a thrill shot through him. Oh hell-o. He kept his hands behind his head and watched as she wiggled closer, resting her head on his chest. Her short bouncy curls tickled his chin and her breath warmed him. “I can’t deny I’m attracted to you. My wolf likes you too.” She sat up to look into his eyes. “I just can’t…”
“I’m not asking you to. Not yet. You told me to wait, I’m waiting.” Shit, crap and merde, he was waiting.
“Where were you born?”
Erik wondered where the remote was. “That was a quick change of topic.”
She snuggled against him and his wolf preened at the attention. “I just thought maybe if we learned a little more about each other, it would help.”
He nodded slowly. Made sense. Didn’t seem like they were going to be passing the time with any other distracting activities.
“Lavrentiya. Small coastal village on the Bering Strait.”
She paused. “I guess that explains why you speak Russian. When did you come to Alaska?”
He told her about his childhood and moving around until the family finally settled in Sitka. “The rest of my family is still there. I’d love to take you to meet them. When this is all over.”
“All over?”
“The Games.”
“Oh.” She nodded. “That would be…nice. I guess.”
“What about you? I know your family went through some tough times, so let’s not talk about that now. Tell me your favorite colour.”
Maggie snorted. “You’re really not what I expected, you know that?”
“Why? Because I want to be able to buy you sexy underwear in your favorite colour?” Her jaw dropped and he grinned. “Damn, you’re fun to tease.” She wiggled her nose and he wondered what was going on behind those beautiful eyes of hers.
He grabbed her hand. He’d done more handholding in the past few days than in his entire life before. “I was thinking about your fainting issue while we were on the trail. You said i
t’s a chemical imbalance?”
She nodded. “It only got bad this past year, and obviously I can’t shift to wolf for her to be able to heal me.”
Yeah, that part. He wasn’t even going to try to touch that issue yet. Soon, but not tonight. “I think it has to do with you not shifting and avoiding wolves. We give off so many pheromones, all the time, it helps maintain a delicate balance. Now that you’re around pack, even a few of us, you should feel better.”
Maggie stared at him. “That’s why I came north to rejoin the pack. Missy insisted being around her family would be enough to heal me.” She looked down at where their joint hands rested in his lap. “How did you figure it out? Do you have training in chemistry or something?”
“Nope. PhD in Slavic languages.” She gasped in surprise, her eyes widening and he laughed at her expression. “With a master’s in Classic Literature.”
“But…you work with Keil as a wilderness guide.”
He shrugged. “When he looked into starting the company, he knew his brother would be too young to be a real help for a number of years. I offered to partner with him until TJ is able to take over.”
“But why, if you have all this education…”
Maggie wrinkled her brow and he smoothed the skin on her forehead with his thumb. “He’s my best friend. I’m currently tutoring a half-dozen students online, so I’m still using my skills, but it would have been very selfish to let his dream die when I could help him.”
Her bright eyes examined his face closely, as if she was trying to see if this was some kind of trick to impress her. “You’re a very complicated man, Erik Costanov.”
He shook his head. “I’m as simple as they come. I believe in the golden rule, and I try to live by it.”
She knocked him off balance by crawling across his legs and straddling him, her butt resting on his thighs. He lay very still, afraid to scare her, but savouring the sensation of her weight on top of him.
“What are you doing?” There, that managed to come out sounding reasonably intelligible. Damn, he spoke seven languages and right now English didn’t seem to be one of them. His tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth.
She wiggled a little closer and he bit back a groan. Her hot core now rested against his groin and his cock rose like new bread in an oven. “I want to kiss you.”
Hallelujahs rang in his brain. Holy freaking exclamations of jubilation, rejoicing and unending glee broke out in a full chorus. But when he spoke, he delivered a measured, “Okay.”
She leaned forward and brushed her lips over his, and the electric sensation he’d felt before when they kissed buzzed through his torso and up his spine to his brain. Before he knew it, he’d buried the fingers of one hand in her hair, moving her the way he wanted her, while the other wrapped around her body to pull their torsos together. Her sweetness filled his senses, tantalizing his taste buds with the desire for more. Eager noises rose from her as their tongues brushed.
The night remained warm, and they both wore only shorts and T-shirts. Having a barrier between them was torture. He broke off their kiss, sat with her still straddling him, and whipped off his shirt. Her eyes bulged for a second before she reached down to caress his abdomen, the fleeting strokes tormenting him even as he savoured his mate finally, finally touching his skin again.
“Please take off your shirt.” His voice cracked, he needed this so much. He closed his eyes against the disappointment of her saying no, then the rustle of fabric hit his ears. When he looked again, she still wore her bra, but the creamy smoothness of the rest of her skin more than made up for that small disappointment. He touched her reverently, stroking from her hips up the gentle indent of her waist until he covered the swells of her lace-covered breasts. She sucked in a gasp as he rubbed his thumbs in small circles over her nipples, the tips beading to tight points that stabbed his flesh through the fabric. “You’re beautiful.”
He ignored the driving urge to roll her over and take her, and instead slipped his hands back around her torso so their lips met again.
They kissed leisurely, exploring each other’s mouths and necks, tongues stroking, teeth nibbling. Erik wasn’t sure how long they sat there and frankly, he didn’t give a damn. He’d waited his whole life for her, and they were finally doing what his wolf had been howling at him to do for days. Although the beast was going to be sorely disappointed when they didn’t go all the way.
Maggie’s breathing grew more rapid and she squirmed against him, her mound rubbing his groin like a firebrand. When he finally couldn’t take it anymore, he grabbed her by the ass and adjusted her until he was happy. He ground them together again and again, and she moaned in his ear. Damn, he was going to come right like this if he didn’t watch it.
So he lifted her and undid her belt.
She slapped at his hands. “What are you doing?”
“Take off your pants.”
“Erik, we can’t—”
He was on fire with a desperate need. “We’re not having sex but I need to touch you. Take them off, now.” She hesitated for just a second, then unzipped and dropped both her panties and her shorts, stepping out of the legs where they bunched around her ankles. She stood there, bare-naked except for her bra, with her pussy right in front of him and he had no power to resist.
He clutched her ass and buried his face between her legs. She cried out softly but he was too busy to warn her to stay quiet. Her sweet scent drew him, and he separated the curls covering her with his tongue and licked the length of her slit. Oh Lord, she tasted good. Her flavour raced through him and drugged his senses. He pressed his tongue into her pussy as far as it would go, lapping at the cream coating her passage.
She rocked against his mouth, opening her legs wider, her fingers clutching his head. The arm he’d wrapped around her ensured she stayed right where he could reach and delve into her body. She made the most delicious noises, and he stopped to take a deep breath and enjoy the sensation of holding her intimately.
“More,” she demanded.
“Yes.” He slipped a finger into her depths and suckled her clit with his mouth.
“Yessss…” Her hiss of agreement trailed off into the contented rumble of a wolf being petted and he smiled. He knew how to wake her wolf. When Maggie was ready, they would call her up together. For now, he wanted to bring his mate pleasure and concentrated all his attention on her. He teased the lips of her pussy with his fingers, circling the tender folds, before again plunging one, then two fingers in and out of her sheath. Running his tongue around the swollen bud of her clit, he flicked it repetitively with the hardened tip of his tongue.
A trembling started in her thighs, her knees shook and he lapped harder. He supported her with one hand as she cried out with her orgasm, a howling keen of delight that echoed into the still-bright sky. He dragged his fingers from her body with reluctance, the sticky moisture covering his hand calling like an aphrodisiac. He held her hips, giving her time to recover. The hands clasping his head softened their death grip as she caressed his short hair. He closed his eyes and planted a kiss on the tender skin in the crease of her thigh. Her scent filled every cell of his body and stopping now was the hardest thing he’d ever done.
A gentle tap on his cheek brought his attention to her bright eyes filled with passion and gratitude. “That was amazing.”
“For us both.”
She giggled. “I guess this proves I really am a wolf at heart. Damn, I can’t even feel embarrassed everyone within a five-mile radius knows I just climaxed.”
They laughed together as Erik pulled up her undies and helped her with her shorts. Their hands brushed and bumped and tangled as he took advantage of every touch he could sneak in.
She dropped back onto his lap, her arms draped around his neck. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” It had been. Her gaze dropped to his crotch and the obvious swell remaining behind the fabric. “Yes, I still want you.”
Maggie nibbled on her lower lip. “
Not yet. I’m sorry, that sounds so selfish of me, but I’m not ready.”
“But soon?”
She hesitated. “Maybe.”
His heart leapt. Maybe was way up from no. “I can live with maybe.”
He kissed her one last time, just to drive himself insane, then led her to the tent. Morning would come soon enough.
Chapter 7
“We’ve got a problem.”
Maggie groaned as she sat up from where she’d sprawled on the side of the trail. The past two hours had been sheer hell as they slogged their way to the top of the Golden Stairs and over the Chilkoot Pass. She hadn’t hiked so much vertical ascent since she was a teenager, and every muscle screamed in protest. “What’s wrong, Jared?”
“Did TJ lose a page of the puzzle when he was goofing off last night?” Jared frowned as he flipped through pages. Erik reached out and Jared handed them over. Maggie watched in concern as Erik examined the set. Jared growled in frustration. “If King Klutz—”
“That’s enough.” Erik cut in sternly and Jared had the grace to look sheepish. “There’s nothing missing. What’s the issue?”
“There are no additional clues for the last few spaces,” Jared pointed out. “There are also no landmark clues. Three completely blank columns—it’s like we’re going in blind and have to find a needle in a haystack.” Maggie crawled closer to look over Erik’s shoulder at the papers. She leaned against his strong back, the warmth of his body drawing her like a magnet. The whole day she’d forced herself to stay away from him but now gave in to the need to recharge her batteries with a brief touch. He glanced at her and winked, and she blushed. Their sexual attraction was normal for wolves, but her continued denial of their mating and his patient response confused her. She felt like a broken fan, running hot then cold.
“I noticed the first day. We’ll figure it out tonight.” Erik handed the papers back to Jared. The young man stared in shock.
“How can we fill in the missing answers without clues or landmarks? Why didn’t you say something earlier?”