by Vivian Arend
“Stay back from the shovel if you’ve got the room,” he shouted as he swung at a furious pace. It was only a few more shovelfuls before he broke into the human-sized air pocket that contained the smaller wolf-sized body that was TJ.
His brother scrambled out of the hole and, in his wolf body, circled around their legs in thanks.
TJ sat in front of the fire in the cabin sipping a steaming cup of hot chocolate. He’d run beside them all the way to the cabin as a wolf, his gear buried somewhere back on the hill.
“I still don’t get it. What part of ‘stay away from the right, the snow is unstable’ did you not understand?” Keil complained, dropping an extra blanket around TJ’s shoulders.
“Enough, I’m sorry. I got my lefts and rights mixed up. No harm done since Robyn made me put on the tracer. You found me, I’m fine.”
“TJ, that’s the third set of skis you’ve lost this year!”
The sound of logs crashing to the floor made both of them look up at her stunned expression. She lifted a trembling hand to show three raised fingers, a questioning expression on her face.
“Yeah,” Keil said, “this is the third time Mr. Disaster has been in action this winter. His record is six times in a single season. I’m thinking of having a tracer permanently implanted—”
“Umm, Keil, why is she glaring at me like that?”
Keil glanced up. He could have sworn he saw steam pouring out of her ears just before she leapt across the room, grabbed TJ by the throat and shook him.
Hard.
“Whoa, there.” Reaching around her, he gently grasped her forearms and loosened them from TJ’s neck. Muttering soothing words even though he knew she couldn’t hear, he settled her under his chin as her body continued to shake. “My guess is she’s a little shocked we had to rescue you in the first place, TJ, and learning this is a typical experience in the bush with you might be more than she needed on top of everything else today.”
TJ had the grace to look embarrassed. He shuffled over and knelt low so he could peer up at her where she hid in Keil’s arms. “I’m sorry I scared you. I don’t think sometimes. I won’t do it again.”
“Ha!” Keil snorted. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, little brother. The sauna should be hot by now. Go get warmed up all the way. Robyn and I need to talk.”
TJ shot another concerned glance at her before gathering his clothes and heading out the door.
Keil settled down on the chair by the fire, still holding Robyn as they sat quietly together. Having her in his arms felt wonderful. She was small enough to treasure, yet strong enough to react in a quick and fearless manner when faced with the emergency on the mountainside.
She was going to be a fabulous mate for him.
She smelt wonderful too. He took in a deep breath and fought down the urge to throw her on the sleeping platform and rip off her clothes.
She slipped her fingers up and traced the edge of his jaw. Keil shut his eyes to enjoy the sensations tingling through his blood. She wiggled and he looked down to see she was shaking silently, tears trickling from her eyes.
“Hey, it’s okay.” He tilted her head back to reassure her and stopped at the expression on her face.
Sheer delight.
“What’s up, little bird?”
Robyn wiped at her eyes and crawled off his lap, stopping only to plant a kiss on his cheek. She returned to his side with her notepad, dragging up another chair so they could face each other but both still enjoy the fire’s warmth.
It may seem insane but I’m so happy right now, she wrote.
“Happy? Having to rescue my brother makes you happy? Leaving him buried for once would make me ecstatic.”
Her snort of laughter made him smile.
“Tell me, how can having your whole world turned upside down make you happy?”
Robyn stared at him for a minute then bent her head to write. When she handed him the note pad, she signaled like she was drinking from a glass.
He turned to read her message as she went to the water bucket.
All my life I’ve been different. But it’s been bad different. It’s hard to share with new people. My only friends my brother and old family friends.
But you accept me right away. You trust me right away. Your brother is an idiot right away! You’re real with me.
All that makes me very happy.
Keil lifted his head to see her watching him with her big brown eyes, a soft smile on her lips.
“You have been different. It’s because you were supposed to be a wolf. You were supposed to be around your pack who would love you and support you. That’s what’s been missing.” He took the glass she held to him and placed it to the side with care before pulling her back into his arms.
“I won’t rush you, and you probably still have a ton of questions but, you need to know that I’ll do anything for you. The connection between us is growing stronger, and I’m glad that I’ve found you.” He leaned down and kissed her.
Soft. Gentle. A kiss of exquisite tenderness. He put his heart into the motion, trying to tell her without words that she didn’t have to worry about him, and that all the concerns of the day would work out fine in the end.
“How can I feel this connected with someone I just met?”
Keil froze.
He’d heard her voice in his mind.
Pulling back, he stared into her eyes. He thought it would happen, but not already. They weren’t even mates yet. She hadn’t had her wolf triggered.
It was impossible.
“How did you do that?” he asked.
Her expression grew puzzled, and he tried to paste on a smile. It must have not worked because she pulled away.
“Wait, try something for me. Tell me your favorite colour.”
After giving him the “are you insane” look she did oh-so-well, she reached for the notepad.
“No writing. Try and tell me in my head.”
Robyn stared at him. “He’s doing the crazynut thing again. I don’t have a favorite colour to tell him.”
“Everyone has a favorite colour, Robyn.”
Her face went pale. “Did you hear me?”
Keil stroked her cheek and attempted to speak to her mind. “Yup, it goes well with the ‘crazynut thing’ that I do.”
She scrambled off his lap, ending up in a pile on the floor.
“Holy shit! You can hear me. I can hear you! How is this possible?” She pulled herself up to her knees and grabbed his legs. Then she dragged herself upright until they were eye-to-eye. “Say something else to me.”
“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
She blew a raspberry at him. “Say something intelligent.”
Instead he dove at her, trailing kisses over her lips and flowing down the edge of her neck to bury his face in the V of her shoulder. “You’re beautiful and you smell like a spring meadow. Your skin feels fresh and clean like the wind blowing over the glacier. You taste like a fresh-caught fish with a good glass of wine.”
“You poet, you. You’re making me hungry.”
Keil lifted his head and stared into her eyes. “You make me hungry too, and I’m planning on doing something about it. I wanted to wait but…”
Her fingers laced into the hair at the back of his neck. “This is crazy. My body feels like I’m on fire. How can I hear you? You said this morning that mates could sometimes speak like this but we’re not mates. I mean, doesn’t that require us to have sex first?”
“It usually does. The only thing I can think of is the adrenaline rush from the avalanche triggered you and started to link us. Life and death situation, and all that. You’re an exceptionally strong wolf, and so am I. Not that I’m bragging or anything.”
Robyn blinked at him. He grinned back as he stood, lifted her and took a step toward the sleeping platform. He stopped and checked around the room. Shaking his head he turned back, his need for her growing stronger.
“Damn, I want you. But
not here. Get your things together.”
“We’re going to have sex? Now?”
She was thinking so hard he could hear the echo of her concern bounce off the mountainside. “Now. And if that means we not only trigger your wolf, we get you pregnant at the same time, we’ll hold a double celebration. You’re my mate. That means lots of great sex and a family to boot. Whenever it happens, sooner or later. You have any trouble with that?”
Her shy head shake almost undid him.
Chapter Seven
Robyn shifted uncomfortably on the bench in the annex outside the sauna. Keil had gone back to the cabin with TJ and left her with the directions to relax and wait for him while he grabbed a few things.
She added a couple extra logs into the stove, topped up the snow in the buckets and sat to wait.
It was damn uncomfortable to be sitting there knowing any moment a werewolf was going to walk in the door and have sex with her.
Arghhhh. Even the thought made her twitch. What the hell was she doing? This was crazy. It was beyond crazy.
The door opened, and she jumped. Sexual heat flowed off his body and reached to caress her.
Okay. She remembered why she was going to do this. Every inch of her was on fire and she was being drawn toward the tall, hard male as if she had ropes that twined about her limbs, trapping her.
Keil dropped a blanket on the bench beside her. He checked her expression before lifting her chin with his hand.
“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll take this slowly.”
Robyn dropped her eyes, blushing furiously as she spoke into his mind. “I’m scared.”
“Scared of me?”
“Kind of.”
His gentle hand traced over her ear and nestled in the hair at the back of her neck. “I don’t want to scare you. I want to love you.”
She lifted her eyes to his. “I don’t know what to do. I mean, I know what to do, but I’ve never…”
Keil waggled his eyebrows and his eyes brightened. “I know you’ve never. I’m glad you’ve never. It’s good that you’ve never. Now I don’t have to go track down your old lovers to kill them.”
“Possessive much?”
“You have no idea. Yet.” He leaned closer to brush his lips over hers. “Wait until you’re fully wolf. I bet you’ll be just as possessive about me. Wolves mate for life, and we don’t like to share.”
Robyn shifted on the hard bench. How could she want this much yet still feel afraid to take the next step?
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to build up her courage.
A gentle touch pulled her to her feet. “You’re thinking too hard. Let’s go slow. You must be sweaty from our ski and digging up TJ. Let me help wash you up.”
His hands drifted over her shoulders, pulling her against his body for a brief caress as he reached behind her to grasp the bottom of her long-sleeved T-shirt. With a slow fluid motion, he lifted it off, then dropped it on the bench behind them.
As his eyes traced over her torso, Robyn fought the urge to cover her chest with her hands. Ugh. She had to decide to be seduced in a mountain cabin wearing her plainest and sturdiest underwear.
Luckily, he didn’t express any displeasure with what he saw.
And neither could she complain. Keil removed his own shirt with one swift yank and stood inches away from her, his rock-solid stomach tempting her fingers.
“Damn. Just…damn. Is that what they mean by washboard abs? Can I do some laundry?”
He smiled and reached for her. Removing the tight sports bra didn’t go as smoothly. In the middle of pulling it off, his hand got stuck in the twist of the Y back, and she froze with her arms pulled over head, bra wrapping her tight with his forearm. Heat rose to her face.
“Hell of a thing to happen, but don’t worry. This gives us some very interesting possibilities.” He lowered his head to press his lips to her neck. He fluttered soft kisses over the tops of her exposed breasts, sending chills shooting through her even as he supported and stretched her arms above them.
His touch was gentle, but the restrained power was there, under the surface. His tongue stroked toward her cleavage then his teeth nibbled back up the line of heat he’d created all the way to her lips.
His hand was loose from her bra and she lowered her arms slowly, his hot gaze never leaving her body.
“Take off the rest and I’ll get the shower ready.”
He spun away quickly, leaving Robyn wondering what she’d done wrong. “Keil?”
He answered even as his strong arms poured heated water into the holding tank over the top of the shower. “I need to cool off a bit. You’re very beautiful, and because you’re my mate, I really, really want you. I’m trying to keep things slow here.”
After prepping the water, he placed her into the shower, turning her until she was wet from head to toe. With a flick of the wrist, he stopped the water and picked up the washcloth and soap.
Starting at the back of her neck, he rubbed small circles over her skin, covering her shoulder blades, slipping over her spine until his hands cupped both cheeks of her ass.
Robyn dropped her forehead against the side of the shower stall and closed her mind to everything but the wonderful sensations racing over her skin at his touch. The heat from the sauna warmed the side room they were in to the point that she was comfortable even as droplets continued to cling to her skin.
His mouth fastened on her neck, lapping at stray pebbles of water pooled there. Her sex clenched, releasing moisture as every stroke of his tongue sent thrills through her, desire rising deep inside.
His touch dropped lower as Keil squatted behind her, his hands caressing down one leg.
The small circular motions were driving her crazy as he teased, moving closer to the core of her heat and retreating without satisfying.
“Turn around, beautiful.”
His voice in her mind was deep and dark, like rich chocolate. Robyn was so into chocolate.
His voice made the tingles race.
She pivoted to face him as he continued to kneel in front of the shower stall. She gazed down, shocked by the powerful look of need reflecting back.
He drew a shaky breath, dipped his washcloth into the warm water he had by his side, and the torment began again.
Only now she could watch as well as feel his touch. He dropped his gaze over her as he washed her feet carefully before moving up her legs. She caressed his head, enjoying the erotic feel of his hair under her fingers.
Impulsively, she bent and loosened his ponytail holder, combing out the braid to let the dark strands pour over his shoulders in a fountain of dark silk.
His attention had reached the level of her pussy, and she drew in a sharp breath as he licked his lips and shot her a glance hot enough to make her melt. The cloth dipped, and this time Keil lifted it still dripping to softly touch her folds. The warm water ran over her skin, slipping into the crevices hidden from his eyes only to continue the journey down her legs in slow rivulets.
He dropped the cloth to the side and used both hands to open her to his gaze. Robyn shivered at the intimate touch. She closed her eyes only to have them shoot open at the feel of his tongue darting against the small nub he exposed.
“Ohhh.”
His mouth lowered on her, his tongue gentle as it slipped up and down the sides of her sex, each pass including a circle around the tip of her clitoris.
While one hand held her open, the fingers of the other dipped lower. He explored her pussy, tracing circles in the moisture he found.
“Oh, babe, you are so damn beautiful. You may have never made love before, but your body knows what to do. Feel how wet you are? That’s your body getting you ready for me. You’re wet and hot and…” his tongue dipped lower to thrust into her, “…and oh-so-tasty.”
Robyn was sure she was going to collapse. She shook as the assault on her pussy continued. Keil raised one of her legs and placed it over his shoulder, opening her even more to his touch.
He pressed back on her torso until she leaned on the shower wall, then shifted his hands to support her hips.
With that single motion she was held in his grasp, completely at his mercy. He increased the tempo of his mouth, licking and caressing every inch of her pussy, his hot breath bathing her limbs. The tension inside her was rising, closer and closer to exploding, when one hand dropped back down. He slipped a finger into her passage and stroked in and out.
“Does it feel good? I want you to enjoy this.”
Robyn tried to engage her brain enough to answer, but it was impossible. She was a puddle of warm goo, and if he wasn’t careful, she was going to slip down the drain. The tingles had been replaced by electrical zaps that could power a small village, and she was panting hard enough she was in danger of hyperventilating.
A second finger joined the first, and the feeling of fullness countered with the exquisite torture on her clit sent her over a cliff with an explosion that knocked her off her remaining leg. Supported only by his hands and the wall behind her, her body squeezed hard around his fingers, moisture drenching him as his tongue continued to lap at her.
“Hmmm, you don’t need to answer. I know you liked that. You’re delicious.” He kissed a trail up to her bellybutton, then stood her on her feet.
His tender touch supported her until she stopped swaying. He flicked on the tap, and the warm water of the shower slid over her skin.
Soft, gentle caresses over her back rinsed away the soap he’d used earlier.
As the water stopped, Robyn opened her eyes to stare directly into his face.
Heat and deep need shone back at her.
Wrapping his arms around her, Keil lifted her, carrying her into the sauna, leaving the door open behind them. He sat on the widest bench and arranged her on his lap facing him.
Kisses like a ten-car pile-up were followed by his hands soft and gentle over her breasts. Her head fell back as he palmed one breast and lowered his mouth to the other, lapping and suckling at the needy tip until it hardened to a peak.
He switched his attention to the other side, each tug of his mouth sending another streak of desire from her nipple to her core, tension building as her desire for him grew stronger.