“I was in bed with you, and you just disappeared. Everything disappeared. The cabin, the bed, the village. I was alone in the darkness, and that man found me.”
He was rocking now, the movement unconscious as he sought to soothe her.
“You can’t fight it,” he said, more to himself than to her. “The dreams only get worse if you fight it.”
She heard his words, but they didn’t sink in. The visions of the dream, and the words of the madman were playing over and over in her head. She couldn’t hear Logan over her thoughts, which were running wild, working her up again and making her feel like she needed to run all over again.
She struggled, trying to pull away from Logan, but he held fast.
“The dream is over, Maci. Let it go. You can’t run from yourself.”
“I’m not running from myself. It was a man.”
“It was your fears, Maci. It was just your fears. You can’t run from this. Fate is bigger than all of us.”
“I’m scared, Logan,” she admitted.
“It’s alright. I’m here, and I won’t let you go.”
“Promise?”
“With all my heart,” he said.
He moved, still cradling her in his arms, until his back was against the headboard. He leaned back, pulling her closer so that she rested against his chest. Grabbing the quilt, he pulled it around them both and tucked her head beneath his chin.
“Your heart is beating so fast,” she said, her ear against his chest.
“You were screaming, Maci. And you tried to get out of bed and run. It was a little scary to witness.”
She sucked in a deep breath.
“I hope I didn’t wake anyone up,” she said, feeling suddenly self-conscious about the entire event.
“Don’t worry about it. They know that I’m here, and they know I’ll protect you. I’m sure they think it was just a dream, if anyone heard you at all. You would be surprised at how much sound the fog swallows up between cabins.”
She nodded, finally letting herself relax against him.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry that I woke you up like that.”
“That is not what woke me up,” he said, his voice wry.
“What woke you-” she stopped, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t just been screaming in fear. “Oh wow.”
“Don’t be embarrassed. I just hope I can measure up to your dreams.”
She elbowed him, and he let out a whoosh of air in jest.
“It’s going to be morning soon,” he said after a long silence. “Rest, and try not to have any more sexy dreams about me.”
“Will you stay with me?” she asked, her voice still shaky.
“I promise you that there’s nowhere else I need to be than right here with you.”
She nodded, suddenly exhausted. She burrowed her head into his shoulder, snuggling against him and letting herself drift off to sleep in his arms. Her last thought was about something he’d said in her dream, but just as quickly as the thought came up, it was gone, and she had fallen asleep in his strong arms. Safe and sound.
CHAPTER TEN
The sun was streaming into the large room when Maci woke up the next morning. She stretched, looking at the bed beside her as she did, glad to see that Logan was still there.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked, his face relaxed.
“After the dream, yes. Before that, no. I think I was just too exhausted to sleep well.”
Logan smiled at her but made no comment about the dream. She brushed off the look, sliding out of bed and opening up her backpack to get her change of clothes out.
“What do we do about clothes? You have clothes, but I only have one change of clothes in my bag.”
“I’ve already washed your clothes, and they’re drying with mine in the laundry room.”
“I’m surprised that you have a washer and dryer here,” she said.
“I don’t. I hand wash my clothes, then hang them up to dry.”
She arched an eyebrow in surprise.
“That is so domestic,” she said, impressed with his skills.
“When you live off the land, there is really no women’s work or men’s work. It’s all just work.”
“But life is so simple.”
“It is, but it gets boring at times. I’ve enjoyed living in DC these past months. It’s been a nice change, and there’s so much to see and do.”
“That gets old after a while, too,” she admitted. “I’m looking forward to hiking today. I feel powerless, and everything else that is going on has taken such a toll on me. I didn’t realize it until I stopped moving long enough for the exhaustion to catch up with me.”
She was dressed now, kneeling down to tie her shoes.
“Are you hungry?” he asked. “If not, I can pack us a lunch for the warm springs.”
“Lunch sounds fantastic. I’m really just itching to go.”
He smiled.
“I’ll be right back,” he said. “There are some snacks in the cupboards in the kitchenette. Help yourself to anything you like.”
He kissed her quickly, then got up and pulled on a pair of pants and a clean shirt. He was out the door in moments, jogging across the open field toward the dining cabin.
She watched him through the window, admiring his body as it flexed and stretched with each step.
He really is handsome, she thought as she watched him. He disappeared into the cabin, and she turned, walking through his home and looking into each room, even though she knew where she was going.
The cabin was larger than she had originally thought, with four rooms, including the master bedroom. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said that the other rooms were completely empty and unfurnished. The other two empty rooms were the same. At the end of the hall was the laundry room where her clothes and his from the day before hung near an open window in the sunshine. She backtracked, going through the hall again and taking one last look at one of the three bedrooms that wasn’t the master. The one closest to the master bedroom had what looked like the beginnings of furniture being handmade, and she was interested to see if she could tell what Logan had been working on before he had left home to help Chad.
There were a few slats of wood that were well-sanded and polished until they gleamed. A flat board was already affixed to two pairs of legs, each joined together by a curved piece of wood to make a rocker.
“A rocking chair,” she said aloud, admiring the craftsmanship and the hours that this project must have already taken him to do.
“Actually, it’s not quite a rocking chair, but you’re close,” he said, startling her out of her musings.
“What is it, then?”
“It’s a cradle.”
“Is there a baby here? I didn’t see one. I guess I didn’t see any kids, either, but I’m sure that there are some.”
“There are a lot of children. They eat earlier than the adults. Then the parents get them ready for bed and come to the dining cabin for dinner.”
“They just leave them sleeping alone in their cabins?”
“Where are they going to go?” he laughed. “We do things differently here than you do in the city. We don’t have an issue with kidnapping or anything else like that. Our doors don’t lock, and our windows don’t shut. We lead a very simple life, and we don’t spend time worrying that things that can’t happen will happen.”
“But you left your home to go after the possibility of clones. Isn’t that almost the same thing?”
“No. Because we believe that almost anything can happen in the human world. Your kind might think that wolves are dangerous and inherently evil, but it goes both ways. My kind doesn’t trust your kind, and humans have a long history of pinning murders on my people and punishing us for it. The distrust goes both ways, and I think that humans have more than earned it.”
He took a deep breath, looking around the room, then motioning her out of the room and closing the door.
“This is a conversation
for another day. I’ve got everything ready. Let’s go. I think you’re going to love this hike.”
“I think so, too,” she said. “I’m sorry I was snooping. Whatever you have going on, and whoever you’re making that for, is none of my business.”
“The baby I’m making it for doesn’t exist, at least not yet. I was just working on it as a way to work off some energy and impatience.”
“I can understand that.”
“Now, come on. No more heavy conversations today. Let’s enjoy our day and relax. The world can wait, and we can’t do anything until Chad contacts us anyway.”
Maci shook her head.
“This entire time, I thought he was just an annoying wannabe. I knew he was SSE, but I didn’t think that he was going to last long.”
“Why not?”
“He kept trying to be friendly with me, and SSE has a strict, no fraternizing policy. It didn’t seem like he got the memo, and I shut him down more than once.”
“He wanted to date you?”
“Don’t sound so shocked.”
“It just doesn’t make sense. Maybe you misunderstood him.”
“Or maybe he’s a clone already.”
“There’s no way. Chad was-is-incredibly careful. There would be no way for a clone to know the things that he knew when I talked to him last. Chad wouldn’t keep my name or my contact information in his own phone, and the burner phone changed every week.” He shook his head again. “No, Chad isn’t a clone. He’s not the smoothest operator, but I promise you that he wasn’t trying to get a date with you, nor was he a clone.”
Maci shrugged.
“I don’t know why he was so interested in me, then. But I guess you know him best.”
“I do.”
They fell silent, walking up the steep trail that was lined on either side with brush and trees but was open above them, letting the sunshine down on them. The air was crisp, with just a hint of the coming spring. Logan set a comfortable pace, and Maci spent the morning following him or walking beside him when the trail opened up enough for the two of them.
“This is beautiful,” she said when they stopped to sit on a large, flat boulder and drink some water. “You’re so lucky, living out here like this.”
“It’s not for everyone.”
She shook her head.
“I could live here the rest of my life and never miss the city.”
“Could you?”
“I might miss the city, but it’s nothing a little trip into town wouldn’t fix, right?”
“I would imagine so,” he said, standing up and holding his hand out to her. “We are almost there. If you think that the trail here has been magical, wait until you see the spring.”
“How far is it?” she wondered aloud, taking his hand and walking alongside him down the trail.
“It’s just over the ridge. We have to go downhill for almost half a mile, but you’ll see it.”
She squeezed his hand, looking at him when she did.
“Thank you for bringing me here,” she said, smiling at him.
“Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t seen the best part yet.”
He climbed to the top of the ridge, the trail suddenly steeper than it had been. He reached down, helping her up the last few feet and putting his arm around her as she took it all in.
“Oh, Logan. This is breathtaking,” she said, taking in the valley in the distance, the miles and miles of beautiful foliage. “The mountains look so blue in the distance,” she said in awe.
“If you look over there, you can see part of the springs,” he said, pointing off to the right a little bit. “The trail moves away from the valley and circles around. From one of the springs, you can rest your arms on the edge and look out into the valleys from the very edge of this mountain.”
“That sounds perfect,” she said. “Let’s go. I can’t wait to get there, and I’m hungry.”
“That is good because I packed a good lunch.”
They headed down the trail, and within minutes, Maci heard the sounds of a waterfall tumbling over the edge of rocks into the warm springs. When they rounded the corner, she stopped, her mouth open at the sight before her.
“It’s more beautiful than I ever imagined,” she said in awe.
On the outer edge of the pools that fed into each other before spilling over the edge of the mountain and down into the valley was one large boulder that was just out of the reach of the spray from the waterfall. Logan set up their picnic there, spreading out a large quilt and setting their food out on it.
“Wow,” she said, taking in the fruits and cheeses that he had brought. “You know how to make a woman feel special.”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” he said, beaming.
They ate the meal in easy silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts while Logan pointed out a bird flying by from time to time.
“There’s so much life here.”
“There really is. I’m almost glad that it was set aside to house shifters. If this was open to just anybody, I don’t think that it would still be in the pristine condition it’s in now.”
Maci finished the last bite, looking wistfully at the warm spring beneath the waterfall, then back at Logan.
“There’s no one here but you and me,” he said. “I’m jumping in, so you might as well.”
He stood as if to prove his point, shedding his clothes so quickly that Maci didn’t bother turning away. He stood there, completely naked, the sun kissing his bronzed skin, then he ran across the boulder and jumped to another one before diving into the water that captured the waterfall on its way down.
Her body stirred at the sight of him naked, swimming playfully beneath the waterfall. She sighed, standing up and removing her clothes.
It’s just a swim, she told herself, knowing full well that she would regret it if she passed up this opportunity. It wasn’t like she was going to be here forever. And she could ignore the stirrings of her body, couldn’t she?
She left her clothes out in the warm sun that heated the rock beneath them and walked carefully across the boulder to the next boulder. She stared down at the water that churned below her, building up the nerve to jump the nearly ten feet into the spring below.
Logan was treading water in the middle, looking up at her with a huge grin on his face.
“Just jump,” he said. “The water is perfect.”
She decided to go for it, getting a running start and jumping out away from the boulder. She held her nose, pointing her toes before she hit the water.
The water was a mix of hot and cold that hadn’t quite melted together, the sensation invigorating. She went down for what seemed like forever before her body slowed and she was able to swim toward the surface again.
When she finally burst through the surface, he was right there, reaching out to her in the middle of the pool.
“That was fun,” she said, giddy.
“It was fun for me, too,” he said, his grin mischievous.
“You’re awful,” she said, laughing.
“And you’re a goddess.”
Her smile faded, and she looked at him, really looked into his eyes and saw the truth there.
“You’re not just flirting with me,” she said, more in statement than asking a question.
“I’ve been serious.”
“But why?”
“Sometimes, you just know.”
“Even if the other person doesn’t?”
“I think you do, but you’re fighting it,” he said.
“You’re so sure of yourself,” she said quietly. “I wish I could be half as sure.”
“Sometimes,” he said, moving closer. “Sometimes, you just know. And other times, you know, but you’re too afraid to admit it to yourself. Change is scary. It’s difficult to open ourselves up to the possibility of something more than what we have now.”
“And what if I act on these feelings and then nothing comes of it?”
He smiled, reaching o
ut to smooth a wet tendril of hair out of her face.
“You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
“I wish I could be as bold as you.”
“Stop worrying about it so much. You know how your body feels; I’m pretty sure I had front row seats to the best dream of your life last night before it went sour. Your body and your heart have been telling you all along. Stop fighting yourself. It doesn’t have to be something serious right now.”
“It doesn’t?”
“Of course, it doesn’t. There’s nothing wrong with a little fun.” He gestured at the view around them. “And what better place than here?”
She felt the familiar heat flood through her, warming the center of her body and causing her skin to tighten in anticipation. She sighed inwardly. He was right, and she knew that he had been for some time. But there was a difference between acknowledging attraction and acting on it.
His other hand snaked around her, pulling her close and pressing her slick, wet body against his. She fit perfectly. He kissed her soundly, holding her gently against him. He kissed her long and hard, taking her breath away.
When he finally released her, her body was on fire with her need, more than it had been in her dream.
“What?” he asked, looking into her eyes. “I wish I could read your mind.”
“No, you don’t,” she laughed. “I was just thinking that I either need to get away from you, now, or-”
“Or what?”
“Or I am going to have to give into my needs.”
“I like the second option,” he said, kissing her quickly on the forehead.
“I’m sure you do.”
He smiled, pulling away from her and swimming to the edge of the large pool that they were in.
He beckoned to her.
“Come with me,” he said, slipping over the low wall between the large pool and a second pool.
The wall stopped just short of the surface of the water, allowing the overflow to spill over into the next spring and then the next until it got to the edge and went over into the ravine below.
“Where are we going?” she wondered aloud.
“To the edge.”
“Why?” she asked, following him anyway.
“Because I think that is exactly what you need.”
The Wolf In The White House Page 11