He scooped her up, lifting her over the edge and setting her back into the water.
“This pool is warmer,” she all but purred.
“Each one is a little warmer,” he said, his hand still around her waist.
She followed his lead, moving to each pool until they were in the one closest to the edge, with a narrow opening that let the water fall over the edge, creating a waterfall of warm liquid that was cooled by the late winter air before it hit the bottom of the ravine.
“How is that view?” he asked her, pulling her to a natural ledge and sitting beside her.
His arm went around her, and they watched the animals below and the clouds that were passing by.
“This is amazing.”
“We are the only ones for miles,” he said, whispering into her ear.
The water came just above her navel where they were sitting, her breasts floating just on the top of the surface. His hand slid down, his fingers rubbing lightly against her exposed flesh. She took a deep breath, her skin tingling where he touched her, the rest of her body almost exploding from the need for him from just a simple touch.
He was beside her and a little behind, her backside pressed against his hip, one arm locked around her waist as he gently pinched and tugged on her nipple.
“Look out onto the world,” he said when she cast her gaze down. “This time is yours; own it.”
He turned her gently so that she faced the edge of the pool on her knees, her arms over the edge for leverage.
He kissed a trail down her spine, stopping at her waistline where the water touched now, then going back up again. His hands were on both of her breasts, the heat of his flesh and the water on her skin in contrast to the chilly wind that kicked up and bit at her skin. She shuddered, the pleasure so consuming that she felt afire and frozen all at once. The sensation was magical.
He kissed her shoulders and neck, taking his time with her. She let out a heavy sigh, and her body relaxed against him. He chuckled, the vibration tickling her skin as he continued his trail of kisses over her body.
His hands roamed down over her abdomen and hovered over her pelvis. He hugged her against him, kissing her ear again and whispering sweetly.
“If you want me to stop, I will,” he said, his voice a mixture of overwhelming sweetness and mischief.
“Don’t stop,” she said. “Please, don’t stop.”
“That is all I needed to hear.”
His hands slid the rest of the way down, one hand pulling her leg back while the other dove between her folds and stroked the heat between her legs.
She moaned softly, her hands going up to her own breasts, squeezing roughly as he worked the hard nub between the folds of her.
“Don’t close your eyes,” he said when her eyelids began to droop shut. “I want you all the way here.”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak as he continued to toy with her body.
When he slid her off the ledge and over to the smooth dip in the wall that let the water out over the edge, she giggled at the odd sensation of the water flowing around her body on its mission to fling itself over the side of the ravine.
Her breasts rested on the edge of the smooth rock wall that held the spring water in, the water flowing across her nipples.
He put his hands on either side of her, grabbing the wall and moving against her. She arched her back, welcoming him inside her, her legs floating behind her. She wrapped her legs around his hips and used the wall to leverage herself, pulling him close so that his rigid member pressed against her folds.
She heard him suck in a deep breath when the head of him caressed her body, then slid inside of her. He gathered her closer, burying himself deep within her, then began to thrust slowly.
He let go with one hand, still holding the wall with the other while his free hand reached around the front of her. His large hand captured both of her breasts, tugging at the tender nipples and rubbing the now hardened nubs.
She moaned, giving herself over to the pleasure, the scene spreading before her surreal and entrancing. He moved within her, completely unhurried, sliding deep within her and pulling out so that he was almost completely removed before diving into the depths of her again.
She tightened her legs on his waist, forcing him even deeper inside of her. She was getting close, and he was taking his sweet time, torturing her with his hardness and the promise of a mind-blowing orgasm.
The pleasure snuck up on her, and she went from enjoying the leisurely pace and the sweet teasing to her pulse quickening and her hips driving against him. He grabbed onto the wall with both hands now, pressing her between the wall and his body, bearing down and driving into her roughly as she begged him to go harder and deeper.
She was no longer trying to be quiet, her desperate moans of pleasure, as the tension built at a frightening speed, echoing off the trees and the rocks that surrounded them.
The murmured words of love and encouragement, neither paying much attention to what was being said, and both completely lost in the feel of their bodies crushed in the swirling waters.
Without warning, she began to convulse around him, destroying the last bit of restraint he’d been holding onto. He cried out, the sound of his pleasure melting into hers so that their voices and their needs became one.
He rode her hard, following her lead and pushing her to the breaking point until her body began to orgasm almost violently. He let himself go, holding onto her tightly as she flew apart in his arms and he struggled to hold them both together.
When the pleasure became too much, he slowed his movements, smiling when she writhed in his arms involuntarily.
When she collapsed against him finally, he wrapped his arms around her and let their bodies float away from the wall.
She sighed, turning to face him and wrapping her arms around his neck. She kissed him, moving against him again, already wanting more.
He laughed softly.
“You’re naughty,” he said when she slid onto his still hard shaft and began moving against him.
“You unleashed me,” she said. “I tried to warn you.”
“If I had known that this was what was hiding beneath the surface, I would have brought you here last night.”
He floated backwards until he felt a ledge behind him, sitting on it and holding onto her as she rode him, her body already tensing with the need that was building again.
His hands were on her hips, holding her against him while he watched her move. His hot lips closed around one nipple, sucking hard before releasing it and doing the same to the other. Within minutes, she was climaxing again, calling out his name so loud that it echoed long after she fell into his arms, his body still buried in hers, her arms wrapped around his shoulders as she struggled to calm her beating heart.
“One more time?” he whispered into her ear seductively.
“Just one more?” she asked. “We’ve got all day.”
He laughed, pulling her close and kissing her deeply.
“We can keep going until you can’t take anymore,” he said teasingly.
“Gosh, I sure hope you don’t have any plans lined up for tomorrow, then.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Maci’s legs were still shaky when they finally crawled out of the water, lying out on the quilt that had been heated thoroughly by the sun. They lay there, side by side, letting the wind dry their skin while the sun kept them warm. Maci sighed heavily, stretching out on the quilt and wrapping her leg over Logan’s hip. She toyed with him while they lay there, stroking him with her fingers as he caressed her bare skin and watched her face.
Maci looked around at the clear, blue sky and the trees that surrounded them, her smile so wide that she thought she would never frown again.
“This place is so beautiful,” she said. “I can see why you’re happy here.”
“You could be happy here,” he said softly.
“I know I could, but I don’t know if I can stay here forever.”
“You keep saying that,” he mused. “You know, you don’t have to leave, and staying doesn’t have to be forever. It’s not an all or nothing thing. You can stay here as long as you want, and then we can go back to DC. It really is that simple.”
“You mean we are just supposed to let the clones run the world while we live here in our own little world?”
“No. I wasn’t talking about now. But when we set everything right, there’s no reason that you can’t come here.”
“Except that I don’t belong here.”
“I disagree,” he said, turning on his side and propping himself on his elbow so that he could look at her. “I think you belong here just as much as anyone else, especially if you’re happy here.”
She didn’t say anything, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath of the fresh air that enveloped them.
“Are you happy here?” he pressed.
“I’ve only been here a day. I don’t know if I’m happy enough here to live here forever, even after we’ve saved the world and there’s nothing left for me to do. And what if we can’t save the world?”
“Then this is the safest place to be.”
“Is it?”
“We can protect ourselves here. There’s more than just cameras in the woods to keep watch.”
“And what if the clones come here looking for me?”
“We’ll stop them. You’re safe here. There’s no scenario that you can come up with that would put you in danger here.”
“What about everyone else? Would my presence here put them in danger?”
“Probably not.”
“What do you mean by probably?”
“We are always in danger, simply because we exist and we are not human. You being here doesn’t change that, or at least, it shouldn’t. We are always a threat to the human race, and we are always threatened by humans and on the brink of war. That has been going on since I was a child, and things rarely get better. Your presence really doesn’t affect us much, if at all.”
“That is awful. Why can’t they just let you live in peace?”
“Because they are afraid of anything that they don’t understand.”
Maci was sitting up now, watching his face as he spoke and looking into his soul with those honey brown eyes of hers. She was quiet for a long time, then she finally sat up straighter, preparing herself for what she was going to say next.
“I want to ask you something, but I want you to be honest with me.”
“Alright,” he said easily.
“Am I really your Fated Mate, or is it just a story you told your parents so that I could come here without fear?”
“Why do you ask?” he countered, not answering her question.
“That dream I had last night, it was-”
“Real, scary, intense?”
“All of those things and more. I’ve never had a dream like that before in my life, and in my dream, I felt so connected to you. When you disappeared, I felt lost and afraid for my life. Even this morning, when you left for a few minutes, I felt a sense of loss. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“I do,” he said softly.
“But how can we be?” she asked, afraid to finish the thought.
“Because you’re human?”
“Exactly. How could a human be chosen by Fate to be the lifelong mate of a werewolf? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Fate doesn’t have to make sense to us. She has her reasons, and we have our choices. You’re not stuck with me, and you’re free to leave.”
“I feel like there’s a ‘but’ in there.”
“You are my Fated Mate.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that you’re the only one I’ll ever love the way that I love you.”
“You love me?”
“I do.”
“But we only met a few days ago.”
“It doesn’t matter. I knew I loved you before I met you. It was when I met you that everything finally fell into place.”
“And what about my dream? It was awful.”
“It didn’t start out awful, right?”
“It didn’t. It started out much like today.”
“And what happened?”
“I don’t really know.”
“Did you try to deny your feelings?”
Maci thought back, trying to remember the moment before the cabin fell away and everything changed.
“I did. And you were gone, so I was trying to leave. But what does that all mean? It can’t mean that I have to stay with you or risk getting pulled underground.”
He chuckled. “Dreams can’t be taken literally. The point is, when I wasn’t around, you were in danger. You need to stick with me, even if you don’t want to.”
He stood, reaching out to help her up and getting dressed.
“So, that’s it?”she asked.
“Are you talking about the dreams, or…?”
“No, I mean, that is all you can tell me about being a Fated Mate? That I’m stuck being your mate, and if I don’t like it, I’m destined to feel alone and scared? I never felt alone and scared before; why would things change?”
“Think about it like this: once you got out on your own and had a job and a place of your own, would you ever move back in with your foster family?”
“No.”
“The soul feels the same way. Once you’ve met your soulmate, you’re never the same, and you can’t just go back to the way things were.”
Maci sighed, not sure where she was going with the conversation, but suddenly feeling like the vast wilderness was imposing. She got dressed quickly, pulling on her boots and lacing them up.
She was about to leave the boulder and head back toward the village when Logan stopped her with a hand around her wrist.
“Maci, look at me. It’s alright. Fate doesn’t take away your choice, and I’m here for you, in whatever way you’re willing to give. Your reticence doesn’t change how I feel.”
“But I’m not the marrying type.”
“Then let’s not get married. I don’t need a paper marriage to be with you.”
“That is not what I mean.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just always saw myself being Archer’s faithful sidekick and taking the journey with him and his family.”
“Alone?”
“I guess. I never really thought about it.”
“Are you happy that Archer found Elaine?”
“Of course, I am. They love each other, and I love their children.”
“So, why don’t you deserve the same happiness? Aren’t you just as worthy of love and family?”
She couldn’t look at him then. His words were so heavy and filled with more truth than she was ready to take in. She couldn’t think about everything he’d said because she knew in her heart that he was right.
“I can’t talk about this now,” she said. “I sound like a broken record, but this is really hard for me. I don’t really do feelings.”
“I get it. Feelings make you vulnerable, and no one wants to vulnerable.”
“Thank you for understanding,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry to ruin our perfect day.”
He pulled her close, kissing her roughly and reaching under her shirt. He squeezed her breast, smiling wickedly at her.
“There is nothing that you could do to ruin this day. It was and is still perfect, and you’re perfect. Don’t let anyone or anything make you feel like you’re not, least of all me.”
She nodded, smiling when he lifted her shirt quickly, stealing a quick kiss on each of her nipples before setting her clothes aright.
“No matter what happens from this moment forward, we have today, and no one will take that from us.” He tilted her chin up so that she had to look at him. “I love you, Maci Brown, and I’ve loved you since the moment my soul felt yours moving in this world. I’ll wait forever if I have to, but I’m not giving up on you.”
He smo
othed his thumb over her cheek before reaching down to grab her hand again.
“Let’s get going. My mother is going to start worrying if we miss dinner.”
“When are we going to head back toward town to see if we got anything from Chad yet?”
“It’s only been two days, but probably tomorrow morning. We only have to go ten miles back the way we came, so we can make the trip pretty quickly.”
“That is twenty miles round trip if we go and there’s no message, and twenty if there’s a message and we go back to the car. There’s nothing quick about that.”
“It’s quick if we go on four paws.”
“I’m not a shifter.”
“No, but you can ride a shifter. That is one of the definite perks to being larger than an actual wolf. You can ride on me, and we’ll take a quick run.”
“Why in the world didn’t we do that on the way here? Are you going to share those reasons?”
“One of them was just that you didn’t trust me yet. I thought that you would feel safer if you felt like we were on even footing, so to speak.”
“That is an awful lot of trouble to go to just to make sure that I feel good about something.”
He shrugged.“I know you better than you know you. I understand why you’re scared of Fate choosing you as my mate, and I get why you don’t think that marriage and a family is for you. I know it seems like a lot of work, but I can’t talk to you when I’m in wolf form, and I enjoyed spending the day with you and seeing how tough and how resourceful you really are. If I had shifted and let you ride me all the way in, I don’t think we would have had that chance to get to know each other the way we did.”
“So, you did it for the greater good,” she teased.
“I did it for us. I thought this would be easier for you that way.”
“You were right,” she admitted. “I would have been anxious climbing on the back of a shifter and letting you bring me here like that. I’m glad someone gets me.”
They walked hand in hand down the trail, and by the time they made their way into the village, the sun was starting to set and Maci could smell dinner cooking in the large dining cabin.
“That smells divine,” she said, taking a deep breath.
The Wolf In The White House Page 12
