She searched his face. “No one in the pack would be stupid enough to flick a lit cigarette.”
“I’m not taking chances. It’s dangerous in the woods.”
“It’s not fire season yet.”
“I’m not taking chances,” he repeated. “You’re never to be alone. If a fire breaks out, you might get trapped.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “I never thought about that. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Just did.”
Jordan released an exaggerated sigh. “Communication is a good thing in a relationship, Mitchell.”
It was, and he wanted answers from her.
“Why did you take the bike?” he asked quietly.
Jordan shrugged. Something brewed inside her, dark and deep. Nolan clasped her chin and turned her face toward him to meet his scrutinizing gaze.
“Pixie, why did you take the bike?”
Whether it was the endearment or his gentle tone, he didn’t know, but her lower lip wobbled. “I just needed to get out of here. Too many memories all bottled up, I guess.”
He wondered what memories. “When I get like that, I shift and run through the woods. Release my wolf.”
Now she refused to meet his gaze. “Running as wolf is one thing. I wanted to have fun as a Skin.”
Surprised, he studied her, stroking the softness of her lower lip. “You having trouble shifting?”
She shrugged again. “Never had any problems on the road.”
Her evasive answer worried him. He needed a strong mate who could run with him as wolf, and control the others when they were in wolfskin. Then again, perhaps she hadn’t been eating right while she’d been gone. Lupines needed to eat raw meat once a month in order to shift into wolf.
“You probably need a good, home-cooked meal.”
Jordan traced a line on the bench. “I’ve done okay for myself.”
The wildness was all related to human activities, not anything Lupine, he realized.
She needed alone time with him in the woods to learn how to be a wolf again. Being wolf would relieve her restlessness.
Tomorrow, he’d take her into the park and teach her a few things.
Maybe teach her how to make love in the wild, as a wolf did. His blood surged at the thought.
For now, she had to face the consequences of her actions. Nolan gestured to the house. “Dinnertime. And after dinner, you’re on cleanup detail.”
Her face fell. “I scrubbed the bathrooms at the winery. You can eat off those floors and they were gnarly. And now I’m to do more manual labor?”
Nolan tapped her nose. “Consequences of breaking the rules, Jordan. That’s the price you pay.”
Sullen, she didn’t look at him but she did take his hand as they walked up to the lodge. “Are you going to spank me as well?”
“Maybe later in our bedroom. Could be fun.”
He gave her a gentle swat on the rear and she tried to glare at him.
Nolan caught the sassy twinkle in her eyes and knew it wasn’t a trick of the setting sun.
He’d made some headway and felt more confident she had learned her lesson not to leave the grounds without an escort.
Trouble was, he wasn’t sure if she wouldn’t break the rules again if pushed too hard. Or worse, run away for good next time.
9
At breakfast the next day, Jordan saw Sam. Digging into a big pile of scrambled eggs, he saw her, laughed, and stood, sweeping her up in a giant bear hug.
“Hey put me down,” she said, laughing, hugging him back.
Sam set her on her feet. “Didn’t recognize you yesterday, sprite. You’ve grown up.”
“And you’re still the same.” She inhaled his scent, woodsy and smoke, like outdoors. Not as enticing as Nolan’s spices and cedar, but still intriguing.
She sat next to him, watching Nolan talk with a few others across the room.
Sam resumed his seat, kept eating. “Surprised to see you back. I thought after you left, you’d be gone for good. And now you’re mated to Nolan? Biggest surprise of all.”
Jordan reached for the pitcher of orange juice, poured herself a glass. “I heard you’ve been on the road as well.”
“Not as long as you have.” Sam focused on his food like a man, or a wolf, with a mission. “Always aimed to return. You? After you rejected Nolan like that, didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
The delicious juice soured on her tongue as she swallowed. “Broke his heart? I doubt it.”
Sam finally looked at her, his gaze hard. “I understand you wanted to leave, but did you have to be so nasty? Nolan’s my best friend. You hurt him, you hurt me. You hurt the pack.”
She winced. “I wanted to burn my bridges.”
“You blew them up.” Sam shook his head, drained his juice. “Can’t believe Nolan agreed to marry you. If I were here, I’d have advised against it.”
Guilt filled her, as well as anger. “And here I thought you were happy to see me.”
“I am, if you’re here with Nolan for the right reasons.” He gave her a long, thoughtful look. “What’s done is done. All that matters now is making Nolan happy, making this work.”
“Why did you leave, Jordan? You loved it here.” A shadow draped his face. “Thought you loved my best friend, too.”
“I had my reasons.” Reasons too private to tell Sam. How could she, when she couldn’t even share them with Nolan?
Sam frowned. “Doesn’t matter to me. It’s the past. Long as you toe the line here with Nolan, that’s all I care about.”
A smart answer was on the tip of her tongue when the Lupine in question came over to her. Nolan nodded at Sam, but his gaze centered on her. “Forget breakfast, Jordan. I’ve got a surprise for you. We’re leaving in thirty minutes.”
She wondered what he planned now.
Half an hour later, she found out. A picnic in the park? She’d hoped for as much, but he packed no basket, not even a bottle of water as they headed east in his truck toward the national park.
Nolan talked about the pack, about the places they liked to run in the wild as he drove, one arm hanging out the window. Shirt sleeves rolled to show off muscular forearms, he seemed more relaxed than she’d ever seen.
“So why are we here?” she asked. “When’s breakfast?”
“You’ll see.”
He parked the truck in a popular picnic area not far from the entrance. He shut off the ignition and turned to her. “Here in the park, the pack runs wild, but the rules are, we do it where no Skins can see us and no one goes alone. No one. Got it?”
“Yessir.”
His hand tightened on the steering wheel. “Those are the rules, Jordan. There’s reason for them. Safety above all else. This is a popular park and we don’t risk Skins seeing us as wolves.”’
“And you? Do the rules apply to you? You never run alone here?”
No answer. He climbed out of the truck.
“Figures,” she grumbled.
They walked down the hill to a pathway leading to the Little Pigeon River. Children splashed and played in the water, and a black Labrador bounded after them. Green moss coated the thick maple trunks growing near the river. Huge boulders flanked the rushing water, some flat, making good areas to stretch out and relax.
Skins cooked meat over charcoal grills. The smell of grilled chicken made her stomach growl with hunger, reminding Jordan she hadn’t eaten breakfast.
Pride prevented her from saying anything, but Nolan gave her a sideways glance. Blushing, she ignored it.
They descended to a pool of water trapped by rocks near a small waterfall.
“Did you take me here for a picnic?” She gazed around. “Where’s the food?”
Nolan didn’t answer. Instead, he crouched down, staring at the water as if divining secrets. Her stomach growled again.
“I’m so hungry I could eat a Skin,” she muttered.
Still no reaction. What did it take to get a rise out of this guy?’
<
br /> “Maybe even one of those children. Would you mind? I can grill my own,” she taunted.
Nolan leaned closer to the water. She felt like pushing him in. Gods, she hated being ignored.
“Why are we here anyway? You won’t let me run, or hunt…”
Suddenly his hand shot out. Her jaw dropped as she saw what wriggled in his palm.
A fat trout, scales shiny in the sunlight.
Jordan’s jaw dropped. Nolan glanced at her.
She hadn’t even seen the trout. Admiration filled her. Best not to let him see it or it would feed him even more power over her.
“If that’s breakfast, I don’t like fish,” she told him.
Nolan released the trout and it splashed into the water, swimming away from danger and the wolf’s grip.
Hunger bit at her. “Hey, why did you do that?”
“I already ate breakfast. You need to catch your own.”
“I’m not that quick!”
“Learn.”
Jordan folded her arms. “I don’t know how.”
So calm. He was so damn calm and quiet, his light brown gaze clear and uncompromising. “Do it. It’s in your blood.”
Her blood consisted of rebellion and anger, not patience. Jordan’s stomach rumbled.
“Learn or go hungry.” Nolan dusted off his hands and stood, leaning against a tree trunk.
Fine. I can do this. I’ve done much more complicated things.
She climbed over a fallen tree trunk to access a pool further from where Nolan had caught the trout. Jordan had never fished, but she wasn’t stupid. The trout he’d caught was long gone, and that fishing area tainted.
Hunkering down, she waited. Memories bit of those first lonely days on the road, huddling under dead, dry leaves for warmth at night, trying to wash away her scent by sticking to the river so Nolan couldn’t track her…
Or worse – Bryce.
Fishing in the river as wolf.
Being chased by Skins with guns who thought she was a coyote after their livestock.
Jordan waited. A flash of shiny scales, the wriggle of a fin…
Her hand shot out, almost of its own accord. When she drew it out of the water, the trout wriggled in it.
She beamed at Nolan. “I did it!”
He gave her a long, slow smile. “Knew you would.”
Something in that smile shattered her stubborn resolve to distance herself. That smile scared her more than his silence because it provided a connection she didn’t want.
Jordan dropped the fish into the water. Nolan blinked in apparent surprise.
“Bye fish, swim free.” I’m not free. I never will be free.
“What in tarnation did you do that for?” he demanded.
Finally, a reaction. She shrugged. “I told you, I don’t like fish.”
Nolan stared at her a good long minute. Suddenly he threw back his head and laughed. It was such a charming, warm-hearted sound that the Skins cooking on the grill above them peered down.
Jordan only felt more confusion. He should be angry. “Why are you amused?”
“You always were a prideful lil thing,” he mused. “That hasn’t changed. Reminds me of the time when Dad refused to let you leave the main dining hall during the monthly pack dinner until you ate your beef. I came down for a midnight snack and you were still there. Meat on your plate congealing in sauce. What were you, all of five years old?”
She broke into a reluctant smile. “He’d caved and dismissed me two hours before, but I wasn’t about to break. It was a test of wills, until you showed up and carried me off to bed.”
They both fell silent. The memory of that night had stamped deep into her conscience. Nolan had asked his father to carry her upstairs, and then Craig had tucked her into bed and kissed her good-night on her cheek. Nolan had remained at her bedside, singing until her eyes fluttered closed.
For the first time since arriving at the Mitchell pack in Tennessee after being orphaned, Jordan had felt hope that maybe things could work out.
How wrong she’d been.
She rubbed her arms, suddenly cold as a different memory overtook her. “How much longer do we have to stay here?”
Shock filled her as he approached, enfolding her in his strong embrace. “You’re shivering,” he murmured. “I’ll take you back the long way and we’ll stop at a restaurant in town. Lots of rare beef.”
The warmth of his body and the gentleness of his tone nearly undid her. If she broke, it wouldn’t be from Nolan’s gruffness and reticence, but his kindness.
Yet it had been too long since anyone had held her with such gentle consideration, had taken the least bit of care with her. So for a few minutes she remained in his arms, resting in them.
“Maybe we should hunt our own,” she murmured, glancing up at him.
Teasing him.
Daring him.
Not giving him a chance to think, she tore off, her nimble feet using the rocks to cross the river. Jordan kept running through the woods, hearing his frustrated growl behind her. Laughing, she pressed deeper into the forest and when she felt confident no Skins were around, she shifted.
This time the shifting came easier, bones and muscles strengthening and lengthening. Wolf sense exploded in her mind, her hearing and sight sharpened. She paused to sniff the old scat of a rabbit, and then looked up to see a large, muscular wolf bearing down upon her.
Wagging her tail, Jordan took off again.
Zigging and zagging, she bounded through the woods, crashing through brush. Her paws raced silently over the dead leaves and forest floor, until she came to a clearing where a mighty oak had fallen.
Pausing to catch her breath, she barely had the chance to sniff her surroundings when the big wolf was atop her.
He wrestled with her, growling playfully, nipping at her hindquarters as if to punish her for running off. Jordan yipped, writhing beneath him.
And then she shifted back, panting, staring up at a pair of intense caramel eyes and a set of wide, firm human lips. Those lips pulled back into a knowing smile.
“Caught you,” Nolan said in a husky voice. “Time to take your punishment for running off on me.”
He levered off her, and pulled her to her feet. Jordan didn’t bother with clothing. She undulated her hips and tossed her long, red hair.
Naked, he pressed her against a tree trunk, and kissed her hard. Nolan kept kissing her, dropping kisses on her neck and she groaned with pleasure.
His mouth encircled her nipple and she clutched his head as he sucked hard. Cupping her ass with his hands, he lifted her and settled between her opened legs. His shaft was thick and hard, and Nolan kept kissing her as his penis sought the soft opening between her folds.
Whimpering she urged him inside her. With a triumphant grunt, he thrust deep.
She wanted him so much she couldn’t stand it. Jordan wrapped her arms around his neck, biting back a cry as his hips pistoned back and forth, his shaft gliding in and out of her soaked core. It was hot, passionate sex. Nothing more. Sex with her mate.
Not love, she told herself as he penetrated deeper, one hand dropping between them to finger her clit. Closing her eyes, she let sensation overwhelm her. It felt wild and free, making love out here in the forest, the sky above them and the dank, rich scent of the forest perfuming the air.
Feelings gushed inside her and orgasm slammed into her. Jordan buried her cry in the crook of his neck as Nolan shuddered, spilling his seed deep. He kept climaxing, his hot seed sending renewed orgasms shooting through her.
Finally, exhausted, they clung to each other, his seed and her dampness trickling down her leg.
Nolan kissed her gently, then pulled out. Taking her hand, he led her over to the banks of a small creek trickling nearby. Still naked, he crouched down, splashed cold water on his face, and then playfully splashed her.
“Hey,” she protested.
Impish mischief glinted in his eyes. “Let’s run again. Loser has to sit shotgun.�
��
“Like you’re going to lose? I don’t know where we’re going.”
“Follow me, pixie. Can’t go wrong if you’re with me.”
Before she could shoot back a jibe, he shifted and took off. Jordan shifted back, racing after him. They raced through the forest until he heard the sharp crunch of leaves underfoot. Skins hiking.
Jordan shifted back so quickly her head spun. Nearby, Nolan shifted as well. He clothed himself by magick, but in her panic, she fumbled. Still naked, she stared at him in panic as the hikers drew closer. A flash of red through the trees, laughter riding the air, they were going to see her.
See her and question. Her hand touched the tattoo on her back. Memories of that other time in the woods, when a hot knife drew across her skin. Imaginary pain flared.
Grunting, Nolan shrugged out of his button-down shirt and draped it around her. Then he drew her into his arms, kissing her deeply. She kissed him back, trying to control the frantic pounding of her heart. Knew what he was doing.
Sure enough, the nearby hikers stopped. One coughed and said, “Uh, excuse us.”
Jordan’s eyes remained tightly shut as embarrassed laughter and footsteps drew away. Finally Nolan broke the kiss and looked down at her. His mouth was red, wet and tipped up in a smile.
“Close call. You okay?”
Jordan clutched his shirt. “Yeah. I forgot for a minute how to summon clothing.”
“Need help?” He smoothed back a lock of her hair.
Maybe. What if she couldn’t do it? Jordan’s mind went blank. Giving a breathless laugh, she shook her head. “Give me a minute.”
After handing back his shirt, she closed her eyes, hoping this time it would work. Jordan waved a hand, forcing the magick to surge, imagining herself in clothing suitable for hiking in the outdoors.
Wind brushed against her bare skin. Wasn’t working.
“Jordan,” his deep voice said.
“A minute,” she snapped. Oh please, let it work this time.
When she opened her eyes, she was clad in jeans, a mulberry sweater and hiking boots.
Her lower lip wobbled. “Sometimes I feel so empty. It’s hard for me to concentrate on the magick.”
WILD WOLF: Werewolves of Montana Book 12 Page 10