by Vivian Arend
Dead silence fell at the table.
Oh, good grief. Overprotective males were the worst. Dani was about to take charge of the situation when Nadia stepped forward. The strangest sensation stole over the room, like the fresh, cooling air of springtime. Relaxation and peacefulness in one heady dose.
Wow. That was a new one. Dani eyed the little blonde shifter as she tugged out a chair and sat in it backward, leaning her arms along the backrest. “Nothing has to be decided this instant,” Nadia pointed out.
“I’m not letting Danielle out of my sight,” Cole insisted.
“I know, because she was talented enough to give you the slip for such a long time.” Nadia clicked her tongue soothingly. “I’m sure she won’t be so mean to you, ever again. Poor wittle wolfie.”
Cole sputtered.
Okay, in spite of the woman being the one to say it, Dani’s lips twisted into a smirk.
“We can figure out something that keeps everyone around and happy until Mandy has made a decision. Because, unless I’m wrong, and I don’t think so, this is her decision to make.” Nadia pointed at Mandy.
Mandy stood, pulling Dani into her arms and hugging her tight. “Yes, it is my decision, but there’s no way I can make it unless I have time to talk with my sister. Alone.”
Deep frustrated growls echoed off the walls, and Mandy rolled her eyes at Dani. Then she twisted, fists going to her hips as she glared at both Cole and Justin.
“Stop with the growling, guys. If you’re worried about Dani magically whisking me off under your nose—” she shifted her gaze to Justin, her chin tilting up defiantly, “—or if you don’t trust me to stay around like I promised I would, we’ll just sit here and talk. But you two have to sit over there.”
She pointed across the room.
Dani patted her sister on the arm encouragingly. Now they were getting somewhere.
The big bear wiggled on the spot before reluctantly reminding her of one key fact. “Cole will be able to hear you.”
The wolf jabbed his fingers into Justin’s ribcage.
Mandy laid a hand on his arm. “I know he can hear. That’s not the point. I’m not trying to keep secrets, I just want to be with her, alone.”
As if she’d waited long enough, the blonde grabbed hold of the two men, hauling them toward the door. “See, Cole? See how much easier things go if you just listen to the smarter people in the room?”
Cole snapped his teeth at Nadia.
She laughed. “Okay, that one was a little mean of me. Come on, Mr. Growly. Your new friend will be here when you get back. I need you to come give me a hand for a minute.”
“But she said—”
“Mandy might not mind your bionic wolf hearing, but they deserve privacy. And I really do need your help. Please?” Nadia wheedled.
Cole stood like a statue until Dani met his gaze. “Don’t even think about leaving town without me.”
Oh. Really? He was going to order her around? Dani scratched her cheek with her middle finger before turning her attention back to her sister.
This next part wasn’t even necessary. Not really. Just looking at her sister, Dani could tell that she was happy, and the terrible times were over. Amanda looked peaceful and satisfied. That big bear had to be the reason.
Still, she’d go through the motions and make absolutely sure. After, she’d sweet-talk Amanda into taking control of the leadership of Kodiak Island, because then Dani could get on with her new life.
Simple, really.
Her thoughts were already turning to how she should deal with the sexy wolf who’d been making her hormones jump like jelly beans. The one reluctantly being hauled from the room by the lynx, Nadia.
It was an easy decision, really. She liked the wolf. He could be fun, especially once she’d taught him to lighten up. But first? He needed to learn a thing or two about judging people by appearances. And a thing or two about leaving a woman all heated up with nowhere to go, the way he had the night before.
Yes, the wolf was interesting enough to make a part of her next adventure, She didn’t have to report in to Charlene for three days yet, so why not? There was one final, final assignment she was giving herself.
After she’d talked with Amanda, Cole was her next assignment.
Poor wolf. He wasn’t going to know what hit him.
Outside the door to his own shop, Cole pulled to a stop. “That’s far enough.”
The bear seemed to agree with him. Justin folded his arms over his chest and stood like an immoveable rock.
Nadia shook her head. “Stupid-ass men. Fine. You, sit over there.” She pointed to a bench outside the shop, waiting until Justin moved his big bulk the extra five feet away. Then she turned her attention on Cole, speaking softly. “You are a very lucky man.”
Not the direction he expected this conversation to go. “Huh?”
She snickered. “Look, you’ve been moping around for years, waiting for your fated mate to arrive, and poof, look! She’s finally here.”
“Breaking and entering my shop, stealing my sled, running and hiding in the wilderness for days. Yeah, I can see how any man would be thrilled about the arrival of his mate. Oh, and I did mention she’s years younger than me?”
“So?”
He glared at her.
Nadia sighed. “You’re not making any sense. When it comes to mates for you wolf-types, you know there’s no fighting destiny. Why are you trying?”
“Because, hello, she’s just turned twenty-one. She should have her entire future ahead of her and not my bullshit to deal with.” Okay, that might have come out at a much higher volume than he’d planned.
Justin huffed, folding massive arms over his football field of a chest. “Sounds as if you’re talking about Mandy’s sister.”
Cole held his tongue and tried to look innocent.
Didn’t work. Justin’s eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. Are you planning on putting the moves on Mandy’s sister?”
“None of your business,” Cole snapped, lifting a finger to point it in Nadia’s face. “None of yours, either. Mouth shut.”
A shadow fell over him. Cole glanced up. And up.
Way up.
Justin stood inches away, stern disapproval on his face. “Mandy’s little sister.”
For fucks sake. “Not your business.”
“Little sister. Younger sister. Much younger sister.”
Cole pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting his internal frustration because now his wolf was getting riled up and spoiling to turn someone into a bearskin rug. “Not helping. What you’re doing is not helping.”
“I want to know if your intentions are honourable.”
Wolf and man jerked to a halt. What the—?
Justin grinned. “Damn, you are so screwed. She’s your mate, isn’t she?”
“You’re insane,” Cole snapped. “All you bears, but especially you.”
The big guy lifted his shoulders in an easy shrug. “Life is more entertaining this way.”
Now that he didn’t have to fight, Cole’s curiosity shot skyward. “Nadia, you got any tech on you? An iPad or anything?”
“I think so. Martin?” Nadia glanced around her.
Her ever-present shadow stepped forward, holding out a tablet.
“What’s so important you need to go online right now?” Nadia demanded. “I wasn’t finished teasing.”
“Information. Details that certain people seem intent on withholding. Since my mate has been amazingly close-lipped about her background.” He glared at the others. “Code of silence regarding that mate detail, by the way. She’ll find out in due time.”
Nadia lifted a hand to her lips and pretended to turn a lock.
Justin dipped his head.
Martin never spoke much anyway.
Cole settled on the bench and punched in a search for Kodiak Island using the three sisters’ names as references. Justin slid next to him, and soon the two of them were pouring through old articles.
“Check eight years ago. That’s when Mandy left the island,” Justin suggested.
They hit the jackpot a few minutes later. By now, Nadia and Martin were both hanging over their shoulders, also reading with interest.
Justin let out a soft whistle. “Wow. So, yeah. That adds a twist to the story.”
“Dani said she had a position, but I never dreamed…”
The two of them stared at each other for a moment in silence. Mandy and Dani weren’t just in line for a leadership position, they were basically royal blood of the island.
Dani was Lady Danielle. His mate. Well, that explained a few things. And complicated a bunch more. Cole’s fate in life didn’t have anything to do with living on an island, ruling.
Did it?
Considering how excited Dani had been about the option, he really hoped that wasn’t where the Yellow Brick Prophecy Path was leading them.
Justin laid a hand on his shoulder. “Well, it’s still up to the ladies what happens next, but I’ll keep your secret for a while. Right now, I plan to make sure Mandy gets to make the right decision to make herself happy for once.”
“And Dani’s my concern.”
They shook hands firmly, following Nadia’s summons to return to the shop.
Cole pushed his way into the room. He could have been alone, just him and Dani as he eagerly sought her out. His wolf growled deep inside, satisfaction and hunger at the forefront as they caught sight of her still sitting at the table with Amanda.
Both the women had been crying, that much was clear, but it seemed by their current smiles that it had been happy tears. Whatever the hell those were.
The woman at the center of the whole find-and-seek game rose to her feet. Mandy held a hand to her sister. “Danielle, I’m going for a walk. Can you stay here for a while? Or do you need something to eat, or—”
“I’ll stay with her.” Cole was across the room and by Dani’s side in an instant.
His mate, cheeky as always, rolled her eyes. “Sure, big guy. You can sit right here.”
She dragged out one of the chairs and patted the seat before lowering herself into the one next to it.
Mandy looked confused, but she nodded. “I’ll see you in a little while, okay? And then you can come back to our place, and we’ll catch up a whole lot more.”
“No prob, sis. Love ya.” Dani blew her a kiss then turned to the wolf. “You are a grumpy puppy, aren’t you?”
Cole threw himself into the chair and growled at her, but it was impossible to be truly mad. Just being this close to her made something inside soften, his wolf turning into a gooey mess. Hell, he was one step away from chuckling.
Danielle waved her fingers at her sister then laid her hand on Cole’s arm where it rested on the table between them.
Gooey mess turned rock hard. Cock-hard, especially a minute later once they were alone and Dani was eyeing him like candy.
His wolf was pleased, but the human side still hesitated. Having others know that she was his mate and not disapprove helped, but he still felt as if he was sealing her future too soon. “Stop that.”
“Why? ’fraid your girlfriend will come and smack you one?”
She sounded…jealous?
Hmmm. As much as it hurt, maybe if she thought Nadia was in the picture, that would put up a temporary wall—
Nope. Couldn’t do it. Lying to his mate was one hundred percent out. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Good.” A firm statement with a ton of satisfaction.
“You’re not my girlfriend, either,” he tossed out. Just to see what she’d do.
Dani eyed him up and down, rising to her feet. A challenge in her eyes as she set her feet on the floor, fists dropping to her hips. “No, I guess I’m not.”
She strutted away, hips swaying hard, and Cole gave up fighting his attraction. He let his gaze drift over her curves and thanked every good deed he’d ever done that had brought him a mate as gorgeous as Dani. Still wasn’t sure he could touch her without worrying he wasn’t being protective enough, but maybe he’d get used to that. Slowly. Over time.
Music clicked on, and he snapped his attention back to the woman still swaying her hips seductively as she returned to his side. “You found the sound system.”
“I didn’t realize it was lost.” She aimed the control at him like a gun and clicked, the volume rising rapidly. A heavy pulse rang off the walls, filling every bit of the shop space like a sensual heartbeat.
Cole folded his arms over his chest and watched her with suspicion. “We’re just passing the time, right? Once your sister gets back I don’t want you taking off.”
Dani twirled in a circle, body gyrating to the music as she stepped closer and trailed her arms up her body and into the air. Eyes closing as she lost herself in the beat. “We’ve got time to talk now,” she said, her voice a sexy drawl, knees brushing his as she moved even closer. Lowering her hands as she stepped behind him and lightly scratched his shoulders. “Although it’s a very good song. Maybe we should save the talking for another time.”
She dragged her hands over his neck, fingernails leaving four distinctive heated lines, as if she’d used a branding iron and not skin on skin.
Cole was torn between closing his eyes and letting pleasure skim over his entire body, or the option of watching her intently, her torso rolling to the beat in a way that did dangerous things to his system.
Watching. Watching won.
Dani continued in a slow circle around him, the words in the background something about girlfriends and how she was so much hotter than any girlfriend he could have, and a smile escaped. “I’m not going to ask how you managed to cue up that song so quickly.”
Dani pushed his knees together and straddled his thighs, her lean legs nestled on either side of his. “You’re the one who said I wasn’t your girlfriend.”
Because you’re my mate. He held back the words, but it was getting easier to think that way. He’d never intended to deny her, but the more time he spent around her the clearer it got she wasn’t some defenseless creature, no matter how much she looked that way.
Or more correctly, how much her face made him think she was too young, because as she gyrated her hips—God, those hips—inches over his thighs, it put her breasts on a direct line with his face.
Distraction of the most demanding type. What he wanted to do was reach out, wrap his palms around her, lifting the heavy weight to his mouth. That would be after stripping off every inch of her clothing, of course. He wasn’t some kind of savage.
What he let himself do is drift his fingers up the sides of her thighs to her hips, gently circling his hands back a bit at a time over the swells of her ass. The heavy musical beat drove through him now as well, the pulse throbbing in all his extremities including his cock.
Dani leaned closer, breasts brushing his chest briefly as she leaned over and caught his gaze. “You know, I was a little disappointed last night.”
Screw decorum. Cole grabbed her hips and dragged her forward, lining up her sex over the aching length attempting to burst free from his pants.
The little gasps of pleasure escaping her lips sent another rush through him, just as hard as the physical enjoyment. “But you were warm, weren’t you? I kept my promise.”
She slid her hands over his shoulders and down his back, dragging her nails over the fabric of his shirt. The movement brought her closer, their bodies in full contact as her lips ghosted over his. “You did. I’m still mad at you.”
He rocked her forward and back at a slow, dirty pace. “Maybe I can make it up to you. Once we’re done here. You can come back to my place. And we can have a nice long”—he dragged her over his cock—“hard”—another drag—“talk.”
Dani’s lashes fluttered closed and she rumbled with pleasure. “That sounds like a lot of fun. Only, I was thinking we could start something right here. Right now.”
It was the most brilliantly good bad idea Cole had ever heard. “Right
here? Right now?”
“Uh-huh.” She did another torso rub against him.
Was that his brains dribbling out of his ears?
“Your sister is going to be back in a short while,” he warned. Which meant the ginormous bear would also be back, and while Justin knew that Cole and Dani were mates, Cole still wasn’t certain how long his lifespan would be if the big bruin thought he was being disrespectful.
Then Dani was looking him straight in the face, and he didn’t give a damn what any big bear thought because she was licking her lips slowly and igniting every nerve ending in his body without even trying. “We’ll just do something quick,” she promised.
No. No quickies. Even though his wolf howled in protest Cole retained enough sense to know that was not how he was going to take his mate for the first time in forever. But when she pressed her lips against his, he was unable to resist. He squeezed her against him until there wasn’t inch of space between their bodies. Her soft lips opened under his, and like the finest of wines, went straight to his head. Her mouth was a distraction he couldn’t get enough of, her hands drifted over him, down his arms, around his torso. Tugging him this way and that, and he went willingly because he still had her lips.
And her teeth. And her tongue. Her lips and little moans, and Cole found a growl rising in his chest he couldn’t stop.
His next move was not a smart idea, but he couldn’t help himself. If he grabbed hold of her hips, it would only take seconds to strip the clothes from both of them, lay her out on the conference table and drive into her—
His hands wouldn’t move. Cole jerked his torso back, attempting to wrench his hands free, but they were stuck like crazy glue in an open hug position.
And the next second was worse, Dani was gone. Standing in front of him with her chest heaving as she fought for air.
Cole glanced down, shocked to find silver wrapped around his wrists and the arms of the chair. “What the hell? Is that duct tape?”
Then she leaned in and slapped another line over his chest, racing around him until she stood at his back, chin resting on his shoulder as she spoke softly. Her lips tickled his ear, but her hands kept hard at work wrapping him again and again as another dozen layers of tape lashed him into the chair back. “Well, that was a lot more invigorating than I expected.”
