by Vivian Arend
He patted her hand, nodding as if he understood her dilemma. Her gaze returned to the room around them as he finished ordering. Everywhere she looked there was something to catch her interest and increase her arousal. At the table opposite them a couple kissed, long and slow, infinitely erotic as their tongues brushed together. An electric tingle struck deep inside as she spotted two wolves leaning against the wall, one covering the other as he nuzzled his partner’s neck. The dance floor was filled, body to body, all gyrating and pumping in a wild enthusiastic celebration of life.
It was terribly hot. Gem patted her napkin over her forehead and neckline. She drained her water glass, and still the heat rampaging through her system refused to cool.
She’d already decided this was one of the most unusual evenings she’d ever spent when the constant stream of, for lack of a better term, hussies parading past their table began. No less than a dozen women came over. Supposedly to welcome her, but it was clear enough after the second faked casual hello they were there to see if Gem was a challenge to their hopes to hitch up with the Alpha.
Even in her mind-fuddled state, she was shocked. Some women would go to any lengths for attention, but this kind of approach was far too blatant to be effective. Getting your way around the male of the species, human or wolf, took a little more finesse.
Evan appeared uncomfortable with the whole situation. When he managed to scatter the final of the convoy like the squawking crows they were, he tossed Gem a less-than-in-control grin.
“Sorry about that. Ignore them.”
“Do you get this much attention from women all the time?”
“Well…”
His bravado was back, his expression changing as she stared at him, and the kiss they’d shared returned in vivid detail. She flushed. “I mean, not that I don’t think you’re attractive. You are, very, but…”
The tension between them dissipated as they both laughed. Evan winked. “Why, thank you. But yeah, it’s part of the hardship of having a high-ranked position and no partner.”
Gem considered his dilemma. “What would they have done if we had turned out to be mates?”
He paused in the middle of lifting his glass to his mouth. “How good are you at arm-wrestling?”
She smiled. “Is that a northern euphemism for displays of power?”
Evan nodded.
Interesting. Back home they all knew their place. There was little movement up or down the ranks in the pack, and everything stayed very dignified and orderly. Getting asked to show how strong she was—that hadn’t happened in a long time.
She rested her fingers on the back of his hand. “Excuse me if I break any rules—this isn’t a common situation for me.”
His sexy grin flashed. “Trust me, darling, there’s not much you could do to surprise me.”
She shrugged. Wolf hierarchy games had never thrilled her. She opened the mystical part of herself and let a smidgen sneak out. Just a tiny bit, like she had back at the airport.
Well, that was the intention. Maybe she was more tired now, or the confusion of the strange scent had affected her ability to maintain control. This time her power didn’t sneak, it ripped through the pub like a low-level sonic boom. All faces whipped in their direction. A few wolves fell to their feet. Chairs tipped as bodies scrambled back, eyes wide with…fear?
Oops.
“I have no idea why—” Sheer embarrassment heated her face, again. It seemed she was going to spend her entire time in the Yukon either aroused or embarrassed. Or both.
Evan stared slack-jawed for a minute before breaking out into a deep, strong laugh that shook the room harder than her momentary loss of control. He rose to his feet, turning with his palms open, his confidence streaming out like a calming balm.
“Relax, it’s okay. Everything is fine.”
The pack members dipped their heads, then turned back to their activities, music resuming. The overall tone in the pub remained subdued for a few minutes, with an awful lot of questioning glances tossed their direction.
The receptionist from the front desk, Caroline, popped in the doorway and glared at Evan. She rolled her eyes before making her way to a table occupied by a human couple. Gem overheard her commenting to them about music systems and overload feedback.
Great. She’d made the Takhini pack have to do damage control around humans. She was toast. She was going to be sent home on the first plane south, without a chance to complete her research.
“I stand corrected. That was not what I expected.” Evan’s tone was light, but a tad more respectful than before. Maybe.
She struggled to apologize enough to make up for her blunder. “I’m so sorry. I had no intention of making a public display that loud.”
He shrugged. “I’ve always been told it was the quiet ones to watch for, and in your case, that’s true. You pack a pretty punch there, sweetheart. Not quite as powerful as me though…” Evan polished his fingernails against his shirt, before tossing her an outrageous wink.
Forgiven? That easily? “I’m not in trouble?”
He pushed her empty water glass away to make room for the arriving plates of food. “No. No trouble. And thank you—all the women who have been hounding us should give me a bit of a reprieve, at least until you’re out of town. They aren’t going to mess with you, darling. Just in case, you know.”
The rest of dinner passed in a blur. She didn’t taste a thing, couldn’t remember a word she said. When Gem finally closed the door on Evan’s grin she was more confused than the last time she’d been alone in her hotel room.
Only her years of training in etiquette had allowed her to sit and chat with the pulse of sexual desire firing through her veins. She turned and headed toward her suitcase, kicking off her shoes, stripping the confining sweater and skirt away. There were more than a few times she must have lost her concentration, if the amusement on Evan’s face was any indication.
She was getting very tired of people finding her entertaining.
The aching need swirling around her refused to diminish. It was as if a shimmering layer of an aphrodisiac lay over her skin, from her toes to the top of her head. Nothing had ever turned her on like she was now.
And, Lordy, the music. The pounding beat drove lust hard. She still heard it, and in a flash, there was nothing she wanted more than to have passion surround her. Push her farther down the road toward an urgent release. She clicked on the radio and fiddled with the knobs until she found a local station with a similar rhythm.
There was a mirror mounted over the dresser, and she caught a glimpse of herself. Her light pink bra and panty set shone like pale cotton candy against her dark skin. She pulsed her hips in time with the music, letting her hands drift above her head in imitation of one of the women on the dance floor.
Only that lucky lady had a man opposite her, someone to stare in admiration. A partner to caress her, draw their torsos close and grind their bodies together to let the heat between them escape. Gem had nothing but this frustrating sexual urge and no one to ride it with.
Like usual.
She cranked up the volume then slipped back into position before the mirror to resume her dance. Fine. If she was alone, that meant she could go for it. Swing her body to the beat and do whatever she wanted. And if Evan found her a solution in the morning for her troubles, that was wonderful, but in the meantime…
If she had to take matters into her own hands, she had a lot of experience with that as well.
The faint scent of laundry soap rose off the bedsheets, and Shaun nestled deeper in the covers to make himself a nest. Hmm, that almost, but not quite, feminine fragrance. Some of his happy thoughts faded.
Female? There was no female in his room. Sadness slammed into him like an earth slide.
He sniffed harder. Man, whatever they washed the linens in not only smelled good, it kinda…turned him on. A momentary confusion scrambled his brain—and the idea he might have had a wee bit too much to drink passed by, waving madly.
He ignored the mental suggestion, stuck his tongue out at it, in fact.
He was a wolf, damn it. He could hold his liquor.
One mad grope gathered the covers into his arms, and he buried his face in them to breathe deeply. The interesting scent vanished, covered by the cloying after-burn of dusty dryer sheets.
Nope. Nada. He sat up, the crumpled bed linens forgotten as he found his feet. The fragrance wasn’t coming off the bed, the delicious aroma instead rolled along the covers, originating from somewhere else.
Shaun hauled himself off the mattress, the clock staring at him with red eyes complaining it was barely nine o’clock. He swung his head to peek out the window—pale light and not daylight bright. Okay, that meant evening, not morning, so he hadn’t snoozed the entire night away yet.
There had to be a source to that wonderful smell. He was tempted to shift to a wolf—his sniffer would be stronger in that form, but doors were a bugger to manipulate with paws. Instead he clung to the wall to help stop the slow roll of…well, himself…as he made his way back to the main door.
Evan was a twisted bastard. Shaun grinned. The moonshine began to fade from his system as his wolf metabolism kicked into gear, but the wicked aftertaste remained, and the pounding in his head let him know he was going to hurt like the blazes.
Yeah, his Alpha was a right asshole—which pleased Shaun like whoa. The dude was the first Alpha he’d been beholden to whom he really respected when it came down to it. Just because a wolf was powerful enough to be able to boss around the rest of a pack didn’t mean they had to lose their sense of humour like most of the tight-assed jerks who ran other territories.
Both hands slid onto a smooth surface, and Shaun halted. The connecting door to the next room was warm under his palms, a soft thump, thump, thump radiating from the opposite side. It took a little maneuvering to get the deadbolt undone, and he swung his door inward.
The second door, the one from the neighbouring room, remained closed, but the volume of the music and the amazing scent increased tenfold. Shaun soaked in the bouquet. Delicious and invigorating. Appetizing enough to chase away the brain-buster of a headache hovering nearby. One deep breath after another cleansed the fog from his brain and lit a direct path from his nostrils southward.
Whatever the hell was on the other side, he had to have a taste.
The music changed, slowing in pace. Shaun pressed his ear against the door and froze in surprise as the surface retreated from him. He glanced to the side and spotted a faint crack of light glowing back. Holy shit—the lock on the second door was open, and as the space widened, he was gob-smacked with more of the mouth-watering goodness.
Leaning on the doorframe, he pushed and let the door swing on silent hinges away from him. His eyes adjusted to the increasing light, focusing in a flash as a pair of shapely cocoa-brown hips barely covered by pale pink panties swished from side to side not ten feet from him.
Chapter Four
Shaun dug his fingers into the doorframe, using arm strength to keep his body vertical. Standing was a major issue in light of the reverberating shock waves rushing up his limbs. Every breath he took forced more of the incredible scent into his head and brain. His gaze remained trapped by the woman as she undulated before him, her head tilted to one side, her hands running over her skin. The long, lean line of her neck tempted him, the shimmer of the lamps highlighting her curves.
One pulsing beat after another, the music drove into his ears, his blood racing head to toe in powerful surges. And when she widened her stance and scooped upward with her palms, catching hold of her lace-covered breasts, Shaun wasn’t sure what could possibly calm the storm raging inside him.
Imagining that he was touching her would be a good start, him pinching her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers. She hummed in time with the music just before the sound disappeared behind a scene of white noise, his hearing obliterated by the blood pounding out of his brain en route south to his groin. The lacy wisp of her bra floated to the floor, and he followed the frilly thing with his gaze, distracted for a second by the desire to pick it up and see if the lingerie was warm from her skin.
There had to be a reason for his entire body to be shaking with need. He glanced behind him into his room, his abandoned clothes untidy heaps barely visible in the darkness.
Was he still asleep? Shaun wiggled himself upright and pinched his thigh, snapping his mouth shut on the ouch he wanted to exclaim.
Nope. Awake.
A hallucination. That’s what this was. Damn fine one too, made even more incredible the moment she revealed those breasts. Perfectly formed, dark nipples already tightened to peaks. Shaun stared slack-jawed, frozen in admiration for the sheer angelic beauty before him. Or maybe this was heaven—that was the answer. Evan’s moonshine had given him a heart attack, and he was now entering the Pearly Gates. The cheap wooden doors weren’t expected—but then people everywhere were dealing with cutbacks, right? And who the heck cared what the gates were made of when the streets beyond were lined with visions like this one.
He stepped forward and took a deep breath. Angelic perfume flooded his brain and erased all thoughts except needing to see if his other senses were going to be treated to an incredible feast tonight.
Then the angel opened her eyes, and he stared into dark glistening obsidian pools. Right before she vanished.
Gem snapped her mouth shut, trapping the scream that threatened to burst free. It wasn’t turning to discover a man in her room—a naked man—that stunned her the most. The complete flip-flop her belly turned as her wolf sat up and howled in delight wasn’t enough to shock her into letting a girlish cry escape.
It was staring into the man’s eyes as all his humanity drained away. Watching as he transformed into the biggest, most enormous and bushiest black wolf she’d ever seen in her life, the beast immediately crashing to the floor between the wall and the bed.
She snatched up her shirt and held the fabric in front of her. Then the stupidity of attempting to cover herself when she had a much bigger issue at hand hit—there was a strange wolf at her feet and her own itching to come out and say hello. Being mostly naked was nothing compared to that.
Gem took one step, then another, slow and cautious until she reached the end of the bed. She nudged one furry paw with her toe. “Hello? Are you okay?”
No response.
She peeked into the space behind the now open door, figuring out the rooms were pretty much identical. He’d opened his side, and she must have left hers unlocked. With that mystery solved, she turned back to deal with the more difficult one of the furry beast sprawled on her floor.
Deep inside she felt it again—a nearly violent urge to change and let her wolf crawl all over his. The scent in the air had returned to intoxicating levels, even higher than she’d experienced earlier in the office with Evan.
Oh my. Oh no. Through the haze of lust coating her mind like a thick coastal fog, the only possible solution pulsed out a lighthouse-warning signal.
Her mate? For real this time?
A low rumble bounced off the wall, urgent growls and moans increasing as the wolf scrambled to his feet. Gem retreated instinctively before making a stand.
She was not going to freak out. One hand shot forward, palm upright.
“Freeze right there, mister.”
The wolf ignored her, pacing closer until he stood on top of her feet. Then he rubbed against her legs, bumping hard enough to force her to sit on the bed. The mattress swayed under her hips as he jumped up and joined her, the bulk of his wolf body dipping the surface.
He sniffed her cheek and sighed happily, the warmth of his breath hitting her squarely on the neck. Gem twisted to bring up one leg and face him better.
“You don’t take direction very well, do you?”
A wolfish grin, with a full flash of teeth greeted her just before he stuck out his tongue and licked her from jaw to hairline.
She giggled and grabbed him. All thoughts of how
utterly enormous his wolf was compared to the other wolves she knew disappeared as she wrestled with him on the mattress. Instantly comfortable with this stranger in her room, she targeted all the prime wolf ticklish spots, laughing as he squirmed under her.
Then he rolled and shifted at the same time, and instead of the weight of a furry wolf pinning her to the bed, the full length of a very smooth-skinned, muscular and naked man held her captive. His black hair hung in unruly tangles around his head, beautiful dark brown eyes with simply enormous pupils filling their cores hovered inches over hers.
A squarish jaw. The smile she’d seen moments earlier on his wolf—the expression was still there, although his teeth were now human-shaped and even. His nose had a slight bump in the middle, broken at some point she suspected.
“Hello, love.”
His voice tickled inside her ears, drowning out the background music and sending an icy sensation down the length of her spine. She instinctively arched and hit the brick wall of his body. He held her immobile. His hips nestled tight to her groin, her breasts crushed to his chest.
The interest on his face flashed hotter.
Gem panted with need. She’d been turned on before, but now the scent in the air was an impossible-to-ignore aphrodisiac. “Hello. Are you…? I mean…are we…?”
He lowered his head and kissed the hollow of her neck. The icicles spread from her spine, threading in an intricate pattern over her skin. How could she be on fire and so cold at the same time?
“Are we what? Are we going to fuck?”
The dirty word was accompanied by a light nip to her throat, and Gem cried out. She thrust her hips forward, the rising heat between her legs meeting his erection. His very large erection.
Oh my goodness, they made everything about these northern wolves larger than in the south.
She tangled her fingers in his hair, reluctantly pulling his lips from where he’d been laying a trail of soft bites and lazy kisses.
“Stop. We need to stop for a moment. I don’t even know your name.”
