“Your cabin is fine, Edith.” She started working at the knot again with her free hand. “But there is a little matter I need to tell you about. I was returning from the airport with a resort guest when I hit a patch of ice and buried the nose of my SUV in a snowbank.”
“Oh, no! Are you all right?”
“Fortunately my passenger and I weren’t hurt, but there’s no way we’re getting a tow tonight. We happened to be right by your cabin, so we—”
“I hope you found a way to get in.”
She tugged harder on the knot, but it wouldn’t give. “Yes, we did get in. But I have to apologize because we had to break a front window to do it.” As she reached down to unlace the other boot, Duncan walked over and knelt at her feet. She waved him off.
“Don’t worry about the window,” Edith said. “At least you’re in out of the storm.”
“We’ll get the glass replaced tomorrow, I promise. And we’ve taped a garbage bag over the window. I’ll reimburse you for the extra electricity, too.”
Duncan wouldn’t be waved off. He started working on the knot she’d created, his dark head bent over the task. Unless she wanted to get into a tussle with him while she was on the phone with Edith, she had to sit still and let him finish the job.
“Heavens, don’t even think about paying for the electricity,” Edith said. “You’ll need food. Eat whatever you can find. It’s only canned stuff, not very exciting, but there are a couple of bottles of red wine in a cabinet in the living room. Oh, and some beer in the refrigerator, I think. Make yourselves at home.”
“Thank you. That’s very sweet of you.”
Duncan lifted his head and smiled. “You’re welcome.”
“Not you,” she muttered, frowning at him.
“Excuse me?” Edith sounded confused.
“Nothing, nothing. Just trying to do two things at once. I appreciate the offer of food and drink, and we’ll replace that, too.” She tried not to imagine Duncan undressing her, yet his attention to her boots felt like that. After she’d made such a big deal about his feet, he must assume she was desperate to get out of her boots.
“Please take whatever you need and don’t worry about replacing it,” Edith said. “None of it’s gourmet fare, I assure you. We don’t have TV reception, but there’s a DVD player and the bookshelf’s loaded with movies. I’m afraid there’s only one bed, though. I don’t know if you feel chummy enough with your guest to share it, but there’s also the couch.”
“We’ll work it out, Edith. I’m so grateful for your understanding.”
Duncan finished with one boot and pulled it off. Then he rolled down her wet sock and tossed that aside. The combination of his capable hands working on her feet and Edith’s comment about bed sharing put Kate in the very state of mind she’d been trying to avoid. Why did she have to be snowbound with the sexiest Were she’d met in years when he was also the last one on earth she should lust after?
“Of course I understand, dear. There’s a reason we only spend summers at the cabin. It’s gorgeous there, but we’re not up to battling that winding road in the winter. I’m just glad you’re going to be okay. You and your guest, that is.”
“Thank you. We’re feeling very lucky, too.” So long as neither of them got lucky tonight, all would be well.
“You’ll need a key to lock up when you leave, and also when someone repairs the window. There’s a metal key box in the flowerpot by the back door.”
“Too bad I didn’t know that before. We could have spared the window.”
Duncan grasped her calf and pulled off the other boot. After he removed her sock, he began massaging her feet. She told herself to resist, but his touch felt like heaven and she couldn’t make herself draw back.
“You can file that information away for next time,” Edith said. “Also, there’s a small supply of firewood under a tarp on the back porch. You should make a fire and thaw yourselves out.”
Kate was more thawed out than she’d been in ages. A fire might be overkill. But the offer was generous, and she told Edith so. “And be sure and say hello to Bob for me. I’ll be talking to you soon.”
“Don’t rush out into that storm again, Kate. Take all the time you need.”
“We will—thanks. Good-bye.” She pushed the disconnect button and sank against the back of the chair with a groan. “I thought we agreed on our course of action.”
He looked into her eyes. “We did, but you seemed to be having trouble with your boots, and I couldn’t stand watching you struggle to get them off.”
“I appreciate that, but now they’re off.”
“And your feet were icy.”
“They were?” She found that hard to believe.
“Well, chilled. Definitely chilled.” He continued his massage.
He had very talented hands, and she was rapidly losing all interest in being strong, good, and true to the cause. For one irresponsible moment, she considered inviting him to join her in the bedroom so he could put those hands to good use elsewhere on her body. The thought of that made her damp and achy with needs that hadn’t been satisfied in too long.
But she’d hate herself later. Summoning what little willpower she had left, she pulled her foot away. “That was terrific. But it needs to end, and I think you know why.”
He sat back on his heels and gazed up at her. “Kate, while you’ve been talking on the phone, I’ve been thinking. We’ve already made a pledge not to reveal what’s happened here.”
“As in what happens in the cabin stays in the cabin?”
His gray eyes flashed with amusement. “Believe it or not, that expression has made it over to Scotland. Aye, that’s exactly what I mean.”
“I think I know where you’re going with this.” Her heart thumped crazily at the implied suggestion. She was so tempted to say yes and scratch this maddening itch. But then she’d have to live with herself, and she wasn’t sure she could do that.
“The answer is no.” She stood and walked away from him.
“I know what this is all about.” He got to his feet and swung to face her. “You think it’s time some female rejected me, for my own good.”
“It’s not about that, but now that you mention it, perhaps it will do you some good. However, I’m saying no for me, because I am the leader of Honoring Our Werewolf Legacy, and that means I need to display some dedication and backbone.”
He sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that. I admire you for it, lass, but it’s going to be a very long and frustrating night, I’m afraid.”
“Think of it as character building.”
“Aye.” He glanced down at his trousers. “But try telling that to my wee man.”
“Wee man? Surely not, Duncan MacDowell, seducer of females.”
His smile nearly undid her. “Not so wee, then. But you won’t be finding out about that, will you, now?”
Chapter 4
WERECON 2012:
STILLMAN AND MACDOWELL SNOWBOUND!
Exclusive Wereworld Celebrity Watch report
by Angela Sapworthy
DENVER—Following a harrowing auto accident in the midst of the worst snowstorm to hit the city in decades, HOWL leader Kate Stillman and WOOF leader Duncan MacDowell have taken refuge in an unoccupied cabin several miles from the conference site. This reporter talked with a visibly shaken Elizabeth Stillman, Kate’s grandmother and the Stillman pack alpha.
“I’m so relieved they’re all right,” Elizabeth said. “This is a killer blizzard and I feared the worst. Thank goodness they found a safe haven.”
Other conference attendees echoed that sentiment, although several wondered whether a storm might take place inside the cabin as well as outside! After a summer of battling online, these two are face-to-face at last, with no referee! Emma Wallace, Aidan Wallace’s lovely mate and a fellow writer, was heard to say that she would love to be a mouse in the corner of that cabin. This reporter would, too! With luck, Kate and Duncan will inform their followers of the details on Sniffer!
Duncan had made his case and lost. As he’d unlaced Kate’s boots, he’d been struck by this new thought—that the snowstorm had isolated them completely. No one could barge in on them to interrupt…whatever might be going on. He had some vivid mental images of what could be going on if they allowed themselves full rein.
They’d already vowed to keep their interaction in this cabin private, so they could do whatever they wanted tonight. Maybe that wasn’t a noble conclusion to reach, but he wasn’t convinced he could be noble for another twelve hours given their circumstances. He wasn’t sure that she could, either, and so why make themselves miserable if, in the end, they’d succumb?
Better to succumb sooner rather than later, in his opinion, and reap the rewards of more time alone together. Once they arrived at the conference, they wouldn’t dare step out of line. This would be their one and only chance, maybe literally, forever and ever.
He’d even begun to convince himself that fate had thrown them together tonight. They were unlikely partners, and reason said they wouldn’t get along. But on one level, the purely physical, sexual level, they could be a perfect match. Now he would never know.
She waved the cell phone she still held. “I’m going to post on Sniffer. Our isolation is making us forget our responsibility, but reconnecting with our followers should help us focus.”
“Until our phones go dead. I don’t know about you, but I left my charger in my suitcase and my battery’s low.”
Glancing at her phone, she winced. “Mine, too. So here’s a thought. Let’s each post something on Sniffer and then turn off our phones so we can conserve battery life and post again later.”
“All right.” He retrieved his phone from inside his topcoat. “You first. I’ll respond to your Sniff.”
She looked up from her phone. “Just like old times.”
“Except we’re not an ocean apart.”
“Exactly. And therein lies the problem.” She returned her attention to her phone and began typing in her Sniff.
He supposed it was a problem, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret a single minute of this adventure so far. Now that he thought back over their Sniffs and blog posts, there had always been sexual overtones. Without acknowledging it to himself, he’d expected them to spark off each other when they met.
And they had. Good Lord had they ever.
“Done.” She pushed a final button. “Your turn.”
Consulting his screen, he found her Sniff. Duncan MacDowell claims to live in a castle but says he’s no prince. #totallyagree
Trying not to laugh, he looked at her, eyebrows lifted.
“Well, you did say that.”
“Aye.” He hid a smile as he typed his response. Kate Stillman carried a torch for me, but, sadly, she no longer does. #torchextinguished
She reacted the instant she saw the Sniff on her phone. “Hey, no fair!”
“It’s true.”
“But they probably don’t realize that you call a flashlight a torch! I’m responding to that.” Her fingers flew over the surface of her phone.
A moment later, her reply to his Sniff arrived on his phone. @DuncanMacDowell You’re mistaken, Woofer. That torch was a flashlight to keep track of your shenanigans. #clearvision
He couldn’t help chuckling. Sniffs from Woofers and Howlers began popping up in response to the interchange and the battle was on.
“Ha! The Italian delegate says my posts are magnifico!” Kate said.
“That’s nothing. The Russian delegate just offered to buy me as much vodka as I can hold.” He glanced at her. “Guess that woke them up. Feel better now? More focused?” The silly little banter hadn’t helped him one bit. It had only reminded him of the fun he’d had sparring with her this summer.
“Sort of.” She didn’t sound very convinced. “Let’s turn these things off and save our batteries.” Her phone rang before she could do it. “Oops.” She glanced at the screen. “I’d better take this. I won’t be long.”
Powering down his phone, he laid it on the kitchen table as he wondered who the high-priority call could be from. Not her grandmother. If it had been the Stewarts, she would have said so. He suspected a lover. She ran a dating site, so she must have dozens to choose from.
Her secretive behavior as she walked into the living room and lowered her voice confirmed his suspicions. And yet…she’d admitted earlier that she’d responded to his kiss because she’d wanted to be seduced. She must not have an exclusive arrangement with this Were, whoever he was.
It was none of Duncan’s bloody business, but as he went through the cupboards in search of something they could warm up for dinner, he eavesdropped with morbid fascination. Even with his superior hearing he got only snatches of the conversation. Yet because his name came up a couple of times, he was reasonably sure Kate was discussing him.
Her soft laughter that followed a mention of his name pricked his ego. He acknowledged that he had one, although it wasn’t as big as Kate seemed to think. Trading punches on Sniffer was one thing, but he didn’t relish being the subject of a private joke between Kate and whatever randy Were she was talking to. That was too personal.
By the time she got off the phone and came back to the kitchen, his mood had deteriorated considerably. “I suppose he’s worried about you spending the night alone in this cabin with me.” As well he should be, considering that scorcher of a kiss.
Duncan took two cans from the cupboard and set them on the counter with a little more force than was necessary. The satisfying clunk of metal cans on the tile counter pleased him.
“Who’s worried?” She asked it so innocently, as if she had no idea what he was talking about.
But he wasn’t born yesterday. “The Were you were talking to just now.” He pulled more cans out of the cupboard without looking at her. “It’s plain that you have something going with him, and he can’t be happy about this situation you’re in, getting trapped for the night with me.”
“So you think I was talking to my lover?”
“Pretty damned obvious that you were, lass. I’ll wager you didn’t mention that kiss, now, did you?”
“I promised you I’d keep that incident private, and I will. But I suppose you don’t know me well enough to trust me not to blab.”
She sounded so blasted reasonable, so calm. There was even a hint of laughter in her voice. Meanwhile he was seething inside. And for no good reason, either. One kiss didn’t mean he had any right to feel jealousy regarding her. He was mostly angry with himself for letting that nasty emotion get its hooks into him.
He’d blame his funk on jet lag, and on finishing her book mere hours ago, which gave him an unrealistic view of how well he knew her. Plus their online contact, though contentious, might have tricked him into thinking he was the most important male Were in her life right now. Stupid.
He reached up to the top shelf for more cans. “I have to trust you. I don’t have a choice.”
“Duncan, you can stop stacking those cans. That’s plenty to choose from and you have some duplicates.”
He finally noticed that he’d gathered a grocery market full of canned goods on the counter. In his preoccupation with Kate’s phone call from her lover, he’d lost track of what he was doing and why. But he hated admitting that.
“Wanted to make sure we knew all our choices.” He waved a hand at the collection he’d created. “What do you fancy for dinner?”
“The chili looks good.”
He glanced at her. “That’s it? Nothing else, then?”
“One can of chili is more than enough for me, but if you want some, we should open two.”
Duncan pretended to study the options carefully, when in fact he’d be happy with warmed-up chili, too. But he’d hauled all this out of the cupboard, so he picked up two or three other cans and turned them around to read the ingredients as if trying to decide.
Finally he nodded. “Chili would be fine. I’ll just put this lot back in the cupboard for now. At
least you know what’s available, if you get hungry for something else.” He began putting the cans back in the approximate order they’d been before, although he couldn’t guarantee they were the way the Stewarts had them. Other things had occupied his mind while he’d been emptying the shelves.
“Thanks, Duncan. I’ll look for a can opener and a saucepan.” There was that hint of laughter again. “I appreciate you being so thorough.”
Still irritated with himself for his behavior, and her for enjoying it too much, he paused and turned to her. “I’m glad to be a source of amusement to you, lass. You and your lover, too, in fact. I heard you over there having a wee chuckle on my account.”
That brought her laughter bubbling to the surface. “Duncan, that wasn’t my lover. That was my assistant, Heidi, reporting that the Furthebest site is back up and wanting to know if you’d said or done anything suspicious. She’s convinced the Woofers are behind our site crashing today.”
“Your assistant?” Heat climbed up from the collar of his sweater as he began replacing the cans faster now. “Bloody hell.” He felt like a fool, but a relieved fool.
“It was bad of me, I know, but I got a kick out of watching you work yourself into a lather over it while you hauled every blessed item out of that cupboard.” She put a pan on the stove.
“I wouldn’t say I was in a lather. I just—”
“You didn’t like the idea of me taking a call from my lover right under your nose, after we’d both confessed we were attracted to each other. I get that.” She opened the first can of chili. “If the call had been my lover, I wouldn’t have answered. That would have been tacky.”
“Then you have a lover?” To his dismay, he discovered that he still hated the idea.
“Not at the moment.” She dumped the can of chili in the saucepan and opened the second one. “And now that we’re on the subject, do you have a lover?”
“Not at the moment.”
She emptied the second can, opened a drawer, and took out a large spoon. “Well, that’s good, because to be honest, I don’t think a hot kiss like the one we shared should happen unless the two Weres involved are unattached.” She turned on the heat under the chili and stirred the contents of the pan. “I realize not everyone agrees with that somewhat conservative view, but—”
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