by Terry Spear
“No. They’re still searching. They’ve got tons of lights out there, propped up with sandbags, but everything is cloaked in a screen of snow, and the wind is blowing so hard that they’re afraid the lights are going to be blown down.”
“Okay, Kayla. I’d say we’re halfway there, but it might take another half hour or longer.”
“Okay, drive safe. Tell Jake he’s got a room.”
“I will.” Nicole ended the call and tried to lean back against the seat to reduce some of the tension she was feeling. It didn’t help. “They’ve got a room for you, Jake.”
“Good. I’ll let Alicia know I’m staying the night.”
Then Nicole got on the phone to call Clay. She was smiling when she got ahold of him. “If you’re waiting poolside for the brothers and cousin to show up in Acapulco, don’t bother.”
“Brothers?”
“Yeah, the case is solved. You can find another one that’s even more lucrative.”
“Wait, you arrested them?”
“Yeah, they’re all confined.” The one buried in snow counted as confined, Nicole figured.
“Does Taggart know about this?”
“He does. He told me to pass the word along to you.”
The phone clicked dead in her ear. She smiled. “I don’t think he liked the news.”
“That’s the other private investigator?” Jake asked.
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t like him from the get-go.”
“The feeling is mutual.” She thought again about locating Rhys and just prayed they could find him before anyone else was injured by avalanches.
Chapter 22
Blake was feeling as though locating Rhys tonight was hopeless. They were looking for a dead man. Yet he didn’t want to give up the search either in the event the man was still alive. As wolves, their wool coats kept them warm, and the snow collected on their outer guard hairs, the inner coat keeping them warm and dry. Even so, the blowing snow was getting into their eyes, and the howling wind made it almost impossible to hear what else was going on.
Twice, they’d made out the sound of avalanches, one near one of the ski lifts where no one should be, and another near the searchers that had all the wolves and men running for their lives. The wolves could run a lot faster, and he was praying none of the ones in their human skin were caught up in the avalanche. When the snow had settled, it had buried all their lights.
But everyone had made it out of the avalanche’s path.
They checked each other over, making sure everyone was all right. Tom Silver, one of the subleaders, pulled out his cell phone. “Hey, Darien, another avalanche just buried our lights. We haven’t found Rhys yet. Yeah, everyone’s safe. Okay, will do.” He shoved his phone in his pocket. “Darien wants me to put it to a vote. Do we stay a while longer, or give it a rest until daybreak?”
No one said anything, and Blake assumed they were wolf-tired, but they didn’t want to give up the search either. Everyone could imagine what it would be like to be buried alive and hoping beyond hope someone would come to their rescue.
Then they saw three she-wolves coming to help with the search—Nicole and his sisters. Hell, if they were coming out to aid them, no way could the guys give up, even if the she-wolves were fresh.
Jake was with them, too, in his human form. “I’m taking over from you, Tom. Go, get some rest, warm up. Some more fresher wolves are joining our ranks. Those of you that need to get warm and rest up a bit, go on inside. The Wolff clan has hot cocoa ready for you, and you can order dinners on the Silvers if you haven’t eaten yet.” When no one made a move to leave, Jake said, “That’s an order.” Then he smiled, but Blake knew he still meant it as an order.
The other volunteers made their way toward the light of the lodge that was a warm, welcoming beacon on a blizzardy, cold night.
Blake, Landon, and Nate didn’t budge. No way were they going in while their sisters and his mate were out here facing danger without them.
Six more hefty male wolves joined them, and they began hurriedly looking for Rhys’s body.
Then more lupus garous in their human skins came out to join them too. Some of the wolves found the buried lights and woofed and dug at them. The men hurried over to shovel the snow off them, then set them up next to nearby trees, wrapping rope around the lights and trees to keep an avalanche from burying them again.
Nicole nuzzled Blake, and he hoped they didn’t have to do this much longer. He wanted to return to bed with his beautiful mate. But he knew if they didn’t find this bastard, they wouldn’t be thinking of anything else tonight but recovering his body.
As soon as she was with him, he felt oddly invigorated, like he was a young wolf pup, eager to please her. She rubbed against him, just as happy to join him. Then they helped the others search again for the victim.
Two hours later, Roxie woofed and began digging vigorously at the snow. The wolves and men had been spread out, but they all joined her to help her dig for a body. She woofed again when she reached the victim’s hand.
Others were trying to shovel snow away from his head. Blake recognized Rhys’s scent and clothes right away, but he wasn’t stirring. His face was down, though, and the more they dug the snow away, the more Blake could see Rhys’s body was lying on top of a mesh of branches that the snow had torn away from trees on the way down the slope. The good news was that the branches had given him a large area of air that he managed to use to breathe. He was unconscious and cold, but Blake heard his faint heartbeat and woofed, letting the others know he was alive.
Everyone worked even harder, Jake calling for a sled and his brother Tom coming with a medical team. As wolves, they all had some medical first-aid training to take care of their own when they needed to. But Rhys was human, and his situation was critical.
After the men pulled him out of the hole, the medical team stabilized him as much as they could, then wrapped him up on the sled, the snowmobile taking off for the first-aid hut.
Blake nuzzled Nicole’s head and licked her cheek. They’d had a long night and needed to get warmed up. He suspected she’d want to speak with Rhys when she could. Tomorrow though. Rhys needed to recover.
Everyone wearing their human skin began to pack up their gear and head back to the lodge.
The wolves headed around to the staff door so they could slip into a room where they’d left their clothes and shift. The Wolff family—which included Nicole, even though they didn’t have a marriage certificate to say so yet, and Nate—all ended up in the office, shifting, dressing, and congratulating each other.
“Let’s get some dinner,” Blake said.
“Here or at home?” Kayla asked. “I think it would be nice to relax at home. I’ll cook.”
“We’ll help, and yes, I think that would be nice,” Nicole said.
Rosco hurried to greet them, his tail sweeping out frantically. He was ready to go home.
* * *
Over a dinner of spaghetti, garlic toast, spinach salad, and red wine, Nicole couldn’t have been more relieved that Roxie had found Rhys and this mission was over. Though the avalanche had been a close call for him.
Nicole squeezed Blake’s hand and smiled. “Did you want to stay at the lodge tonight or move over here? You could have the room cleaned in the morning, and it would be available to guests.”
“We’re done with the mission so we can pack up your bags and mine and return. That works for me.”
“Tomorrow morning, I need to speak with Rhys. Not that I need any more information from him, but I’d love to gloat,” Nicole said.
Everyone chuckled.
“Can I go with you?” Roxie asked. “I’d like to gloat too.”
Nicole smiled at her. “You sure can. Hopefully, he’ll be well enough to speak to.”
“And Clay?” Blake asked.
�
��I told Taggart the news, and he told me to tell Clay the case is wrapped up. He was not happy, to say the least. Not only did he not finish the mission, but he won’t be reimbursed for his trip to Acapulco.”
“Good,” Landon said. “He was one egotistical wolf.”
After dinner, Nate, Blake, and Nicole headed back to the lodge. “See you tomorrow,” Nate said but gave Nicole a hug and Blake a handshake.
“See you tomorrow,” Blake said, and he escorted Nicole up to the room.
She had mixed feelings about moving in with Blake’s family. She realized she liked her privacy. She hoped the guest suite at the house would offer that. Still, it was kind of nice getting away from the whole family while staying at the lodge. They couldn’t tie up a lodge room until their house was built though. And she knew she’d have fun with Blake’s siblings at night. It was just that she’d feel like she was overextending her welcome if she raided the fridge at night or wanted to watch a movie late at night with Blake. Or even if they wanted to slip off to have some private time away from the rest of the family.
“You’re all right with packing up and moving to the house, aren’t you?” Blake asked as he packed up his bags.
“Yeah, yeah, we can’t stay here.”
“The suite is like a separate entity, part of the home, sure, but it’s set off from the rest of the house, and we’ll have our own entertainment center there. Truly, it will be a lot more private than being here.”
“It has a TV?” she asked.
He smiled and pulled her into his arms, giving her a sound hug. That was one thing she loved about him. He was nice and physical, loving to share hugs and kisses any time. “Yeah, it has a TV. And everyone’s going to understand if we slip away to be by ourselves. There’s a desk in there, too, so you can work from there or at the office at the lodge until we can set you up with your PI office with your brother.”
“You want to put me to work right away?” she asked.
He laughed. “No. I want to spend all my time with you.”
“Okay, good. I was worried for a second.” She smiled up at him and kissed him. “I haven’t even thought that far in the future. I mean, about working.”
“We’ll figure it all out. You might want to have an office in town. Though, for selfish reasons, I’d rather you were right here at the resort.”
“So we could have lunches together and have time to walk Rosco in the morning.”
He smiled. “So we can have time to slip away to do whatever comes to mind.”
She chuckled. “Okay.” She kissed him again and went back to packing.
She knew it would be an adjustment for everyone, not just her, when she moved in with the family. She hoped it all turned out just fine.
But she didn’t know what she was thinking, because as soon as she and Blake returned to the house, everyone was waiting for them to go with them on their wolf run. Even Nate, to Nicole’s surprise. They had called him to invite him to run, too, and he had returned pronto, wanting to run free with the rest of the family as wolves.
She loved her new family, and before long, they had dropped off their bags in the lovely suite that was perfect for a honeymooner’s getaway, stripped in the room, and kissed each other. But before they got too carried away, she shifted and Blake followed suit. They raced out of the suite, and everyone else laughed. Then they began to strip and shift. Nicole noticed Kayla had removed herself from the living room and soon joined them as a wolf from her bedroom upstairs. It appeared she’d been shy about stripping in front of Nate.
With howls and yips and playing and running, Nicole knew she hadn’t just gained a mate but a loving couple of sisters and another brother. After playing for over an hour, they returned to the house. Nate got dressed while Landon and Roxie threw on their underwear. Kayla remained as a wolf, and Nicole and Blake returned to the suite, pulled on robes, and went back to the living room. They all wished Nate good night, as he had declined to stay in Blake’s old room. Kayla barked at him and he smiled, then he returned to the lodge. Then everyone said good night and headed up to their rooms while Blake and Nicole slipped off to their suite.
She hoped it was truly private down here when they went to making love and they didn’t disturb Blake’s siblings.
Like Blake had said, it had a nice big wall television, a desk and computer even, a king-size bed covered in a moose comforter, and big windows that looked out on the mountain and trees. He turned on a gas fireplace, and she smiled.
“Now that is really nice,” she said.
She pulled the covers down on the bed while Blake closed the curtains to keep the heat in the room. Otherwise they could leave them open. No worry about Peeping Toms out here, just the wildlife if any came near the house. She suspected with the smell of wolves hanging around the house, deer and other animals probably stayed away.
She checked out the bathroom and loved the setup: a double sink, whirlpool jets in the separate tub, a separate enclosed toilet, and a walk-in shower. “Wow, this is really lovely.” Now she knew she could stay here with all the nice touches until their house was finally built. It felt like a lodge room but ten times nicer. Not to mention they were a long way from the other rooms, unlike having a room at the lodge. “In fact, I wouldn’t mind having something like this in our home.”
She was even thinking Nate could stay with them once their house was built. They’d have plenty of room, and he probably would feel more comfortable living with them until he had a place of his own than living with Blake’s siblings.
“Whatever you want, honey.”
She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, for you, anything.”
She loved how considerate he was of her feelings. She knew if she had said she wanted to stay at the lodge, he would have said that was fine. And his siblings would have gone along with it too. Anything to make her feel like an important part of the family.
“We need to make a trip to Denver so I can pack up my place. I need to give notice too.” She ran her hands over his robe, pressing the soft fabric against his chest.
“Yeah, whenever you want to go, we’ll do it.” Then he untied the tie around her waist and opened her robe to expose her breasts. He leaned down to kiss each one.
When he raised his head to kiss her mouth, she saw his erection poking out of his robe, and she chuckled. “Looks like you have something for me.”
“Always.”
She loved how he made her feel so desirable. She untied his robe, pulled it off his shoulders, and dropped it to the floor. He slipped his hands under her robe and caressed her shoulders, his large hands warm and soothing. Running her hands over his bare shoulders and chest, she sighed. Whenever he began touching her, besides working up her pheromones, he always made her feel like melting into the floor, spreading her legs, and pleading with him to finish her off.
She loved feeling his rugged muscles under her fingertips, too, making her smile when he flexed them for her, showing off.
He slid her robe off her shoulders and moved her to the bed, kissing her softly at first, then hotly. She kissed him back just as greedily, needing this and needing him. They rubbed their bodies together like wolves would, sharing their pheromones, their scents, claiming each other for their own.
She expected to be lying on her back, but he adjusted her so she was lying on her right side. He knelt, straddling her right leg, and lifting her left leg over his left hip. The sexual position was a frontal doggy style with deeper penetration, but they still had intimate eye contact. His hand was free to stroke her clit while he was nudging her folds with the tip of his rigid erection.
Ohmigod, this felt amazing as he stroked her harder and then pushed his cock into her and began to thrust slowly, shallower at first, working her up as he rubbed her clit faster, and she knew he wanted her to c
ome before he did, or maybe at the same time. His already dark brown eyes were nearly black with desire, his kissable mouth parted in a small smile, his sex hot and full and long. His wickedly enticing strokes and the way he ground into her, twisting, angling, made her body scream for release.
Caught up in the heat of the moment, she didn’t even realize she cried out when the climax struck.
He thrust harder, and she clenched her inner muscles around him. Mine. He was all hers.
He thrust faster, and then he ground out a deep, wolfish groan.
“Soundproof walls,” Blake assured her as he remained seated in her for a few more minutes, leaning down to kiss her shoulder and arm. Then he pulled out and wrapped her in his arms and kissed her cheeks, her eyelids, her lips.
She snorted. “Not with our wolf hearing.”
He chuckled. “They will know we’re having a good time if they hear us at all.”
From the sex and climax, endorphins and oxytocin were released into their blood, and she knew the hormones activated the pleasure centers of the brain, which made her feel good and relaxed. Though she couldn’t help thinking about what Kayla had shared with the rest of her siblings about getting a workout while having sex. Nicole was all for having an intimately satisfying workout with her mate as often as they could.
“Have you got any more moves like that?”
He laughed. “Yeah, but I need to refill the pump.”
“Hmm, good, because we need to have more of a workout and prolong our youth.” Even though they lived longer than humans, thirty years for every year that a human lived, any excuse to have more sex with her mate worked for her.
* * *
The next morning during a hearty breakfast with the family, Blake knew Nicole hoped no one had heard them making love again last night. She’d been afraid his siblings would want them to return to the lodge or hurry up building the house, but everyone seemed well rested and cheerful. Maybe a little more cheerful than usual.