by Terry Spear
“Right. Well, normally Chris is as responsible as can be, according to Hunter. Very serious-minded. But Meara took so long to read every back-cover blurb on the romance books before she picked the ones she wanted that he figured she’d be there for hours and no one would even notice her. How likely would it be for an alpha male wolf to spot her in the romance section of a bookstore?
Anyway, Cyn bought her dinner right after that and was a bona fide gentleman. He wanted to see her further so she mentioned him to Hunter the next morning, but Hunter threw a fit. Not only that, but he was furious she had gotten away from the pack members who were supposed to be watching her. He was especially angry with Chris because he’s a sub-leader and should have known better. So I’m sure Hunter gave Chris hell, as you suspected.”
Finn could imagine Hunter being that way. Not that he blamed him. Hunter had a pack to run, but he had been away a lot and had to rely on sub-leaders who wouldn’t let him down. “Hunter didn’t tell Meara why he suspected the guy wasn’t trustworthy?”
“No. Hunter didn’t want to hurt her feelings. He was afraid she’d feel bad if she knew Cyn was only trying to get into the family so he could be on Hunter’s SEAL team. That he truly wasn’t interested in her.”
Finn leaned back in the chair and stared out at the ocean swells making their way to the shore in constant rolling waves, white foam capping each like thick lace. “Why would he have wanted to be on our team so badly? Was it because he wanted to rescue his sister? He had to have known that his emotions would have been involved and could have adversely affected the mission. And why did Hunter have a bad feeling about him?”
“I don’t know. You know how he is sometimes. He just has a wolf’s intuition that something’s not right. Paul told me Hunter felt that way about the mission before you all landed on the beach, and then his instincts were confirmed when so many of the team were shot to hell.” Anna tapped her fingers on the arm of the lounger. “You’re not going to give her up, are you, Finn?”
He glanced over at Anna, surprised at the question when all along she’d acted as though he shouldn’t have anything to do with Meara.
She snorted. “Don’t give me that damned innocent look. You’re dying to have her, as much as she’s dying to have you. Even though Hunter told me to stay with her until he gets back, in essence to protect her from you and to protect her from herself, I’m not standing in your way. Not when I know what you’ll be like to live with in the morning. And I’m not even mentioning how Meara will be.”
He’d always liked Anna. She’d been a great asset to their team, but he appreciated her all the more now, glad he didn’t have to set her in her place if she hinted that he shouldn’t stay with Meara.
She gave Finn a thin smile. “Tessa called me on the sly after Hunter left on the plane to return to Portland. She said that Meara doesn’t share her room with just anyone. Male or female. When I asked Meara if she minded if I stayed in the same room with her, she politely declined. If I had insisted, I’m sure her wolfish blood would have fired up. So you see, you’ve made some headway where no one else has. And Tessa said if you didn’t stand up for Meara, she’d have a word with you.”
Finn shook his head. “I don’t even know Tessa. How in the world did a wolf convince Hunter to go on a honeymoon?”
“She wasn’t all wolf, exactly.”
“If she’s not all wolf, exactly, why does she think she can talk to me as if she is one?” He raised a brow at Anna.
“Maybe she has her own arsenal of weapons,” Anna said, patting her waist, “like I do.”
The door opened behind them. Finn turned to see Meara standing in the doorway, pushing straggles of dark hair out of her sleepy face. He damn well wanted to take her straight back to bed and have his way with her. Hell, the woman would be the death of him.
“So Cyn took you to dinner and was a gentleman, and you wanted him after that?” Finn growled at Meara, unable to stop the words as they spilled out of his mouth. What was it with him when it came to other men’s interest in her?
Anna rolled her eyes and vacated her seat. “I’m getting some sleep while the two of you talk about Cyn so I can take the night shift.” She gave Finn a look like she could strangle him, and then she shut the door as Meara glowered at him.
“Yeah, he was a gentleman,” Meara said.
“And that’s what you wanted. Some gentleman. Someone who would keep his hands off you. Who would say good night without a kiss or offer you one so benign that it wouldn’t scare you off. I know you only thought you liked him because he seemed safe.”
Meara glared daggers at him, but she didn’t deny it.
“You wanted a gentleman who was sin in name only. But he was using you to get on Hunter’s team, Meara. Only your brother didn’t tell you that, not wanting to hurt your feelings.”
Meara stared at Finn. “You’re lying.”
“No, I’m not lying. Hunter should have told you. We don’t know why Cyn wanted to be on the team so badly. Maybe it was so he could help to rescue his sister. Or…” Finn paused. “…maybe he planned some criminal act of sabotage. The reason is still unknown to us. But since that fiasco, several scenarios have come to mind. He wants revenge for Hunter saying no to both his being on the team and making something more of a relationship with you or maybe losing his sister. Maybe Cyn thinks you were the one who said no to seeing him further and hurt his efforts at joining the team. We don’t know. But Hunter shouldn’t have kept you in the dark about Cyn being a Navy SEAL and wanting to be on the team.”
“So… so you’re saying he followed me to the bookstore? Offered to take me to dinner? Made me believe he was genuinely interested in me so that he could get to Hunter?”
He hated making her face the facts, but the guy was no good for her. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying. He might have been following you, waiting for the chance to get you alone. As soon as he saw that your escort had left you by yourself, he made his move.” Finn thought back to the book she’d had on her lap while she’d been sleeping in the living room. “Were you looking for romance books?”
“How did you…” She glanced back at the house.
“You were reading one before you fell asleep on the sofa. At least I figured that’s what it was since the cover featured a bare-chested man with a six-pack. So where did Cyn meet up with you? In the romance section? Looking to buy a book?” From what Anna had told Finn, that’s where Meara had been, but he had to hear the details from her and not just secondhand.
She parted her lips to speak, hesitated, and then said softly, “He said he was looking for science fiction and fantasy. I told him they were in the next aisle over.”
“Most likely clearly marked, too.” Finn gentled his tone. “Did he buy any books?”
“No. We got to talking and… well, I bought six romance books, but I didn’t even remember he was there to look for a book. After I paid for my purchases, he escorted me across the street to a steak restaurant. I guess I was so wrapped up in the notion of a wolf wanting to dine with me—and I didn’t have Hunter or one of his men watching out for me, knowing they might be checking up on me any second—so I jumped at the chance.”
She turned and looked out at the ocean and harrumphed. “And here I always thought that of all the men Hunter chased away, Cyn was the only one who wouldn’t have backed down. I thought he would eventually learn I was in Oregon and come to see me because he really did feel something for me,” she said in a silky, sultry way, her arms crossed beneath her breasts, raising them in an inviting manner.
Finn placed his hands on her shoulders and caressed lightly, still concerned she might be bruised from the earlier fight he’d had with the assassin on top of her. She tilted her chin up, her brown eyes challenging him. He leaned his mouth down to brush her lips with an unassuming kiss, barely skimming the softness, the taste of the orange-flavored tea on her lips, her light breath coming quickly as her heartbeat picked up its pace.
His han
d caressed her neck with the barest of touches, and she shivered, her eyes misting with tears. Then he lowered his face to kiss her throat, to lick her soft skin, to sample her sweet lavender fragrance. That reminded him of when she had been buried in lavender-tinted bubbles and how much he had wanted to join her—and would have, if Paul hadn’t been around.
She stiffened slightly, and he captured her hands, unwrapping her arms from beneath her breasts and setting them around his neck so his hands could feel her breasts underneath the cotton tank top she wore. She moaned into his mouth as he stroked the soft mounds and felt the nipples extend. He touched and teased and captured one between his lips through the light fabric.
“God, Finn,” she breathed out.
He nuzzled her cheek tenderly. She caressed the nape of his neck and swallowed hard. He lifted her face and kissed her mouth, touching her lips with his tongue and probing until she opened her mouth to him, gave herself to him, and clutched at his neck to keep from slipping to the floor as the stiffness in her posture melted away.
Finn wrapped his arms around her and held her lightly against his body, which without his permission—as he only intended to comfort her in a damned gentlemanly way—was hardening with feral need. “I’m the only one who won’t back down from Hunter when it comes to you,” he said against her ear.
“Yeah, well, you talk big, but when you have to face him down…”
He smiled. “I have faced him down… on other issues, Meara. We don’t always see eye to eye.”
“But you’re not giving up your job, and well, it just wouldn’t work out between us.”
“Hmm, you may be right, but I’m staying in your bed tonight.”
She looked up at him, tears in her eyes.
“All right?” he asked in a more appeasing manner, stroking her cheek, wanting her more than he had ever wanted a woman, and feeling tenderness toward her that he had never felt for any other woman. He sure as hell didn’t want her to be upset, but she had to know that Cyn most likely had ulterior motives for wanting to see her.
“And if Hunter arrives here in the middle of the night?”
“Only two people will fit in that bed. He’ll have to find his own bed to sleep in.”
She groaned, and he kissed her cheek. “Want something to eat?”
Hunter would arrive in the middle of the night. They might as well make the most of the time they had left with each other before Hunter interfered.
She twisted her mouth for a second, and then she smiled, her whole expression brightening.
Suspecting just what she had in mind, he shook his head. “S’mores later. You have to eat something more substantial first.” He took her hand and led her back into the house.
He wasn’t sure why he asked Meara what he did next, but the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. “So what do you plan to do when you find your mate?”
She didn’t hesitate to respond. “Run the cabin resort. Maybe focus on finding a single female for poor Rourke. You know, the reporter who learned about Cyn’s sister. He needs a mate for certain.”
Finn stiffened.
“Not me. And well, when I find my mate, he’ll take me on a nice long cruise.”
“A cruise?”
“Yeah. Like Tessa’s idea of going to Hawaii for a honeymoon. We may not have church weddings, but I think honeymoons are the way to go. I’ve never been on a cruise before, and that’s where I want my mate to take me.”
“What if you get seasick?”
“I’ll just take something for it and stay in the cabin with my mate, curled up in bed with him so he can take my mind off the waves—or we can make our own waves.”
Finn had been on a lot of ships in his lifetime, but never a cruise ship. To think he could be on the high seas with Meara, sequestered away in a cabin for two. The scenario definitely played into his fantasies.
He looked into the fridge and smiled at all the steak. “Anna brought us some groceries.”
Moving in behind him, Meara slipped her arms around Finn’s waist and peeked around his shoulder. “Hmm, shrimp,” she said.
“And steak.”
“You and Hunter.”
He looked down at her. “You don’t like steak?”
“Of course I do.” She ran her hand over his hard stomach. “Beefsteak is my favorite. But I love shrimp, too. Do you want to grill it by the ocean? We could use that gas grill down below.”
“Yeah. I’ll let Paul know we’ll be down there, and he can watch our backs.”
She studied the bottle of wine Anna had gotten them and set it aside, then looked for a couple of wineglasses. Once she’d found them, she fished out a couple of plates and sighed. “Too bad we have to have an audience.”
Finn shook his head and pulled out his phone to call Paul. Having an audience was good, or he was bound to forget what he was here for—again.
* * *
Meara set an old comforter Finn said he’d found in the garage on the sand. Like a pro, he prepared the steak and vegetables, which she hadn’t thought he’d go for. Hunter liked to grill, never bothering with the vegetables, but she didn’t figure that meant Finn would grill, too. At least half of their male pack members didn’t cook.
She loved watching Finn flip the steaks with finesse as if she was in a fancy Japanese restaurant. Then she poured them some wine, thankful to Anna for being so thoughtful, and stood next to Finn as the breeze tugged at the collar of his shirt.
“Do you vacuum?” she asked, teasing in a casual way.
“Vacuum?”
She shrugged, thinking how even more perfect he would be if he wasn’t running off on deadly missions. Not only could he grill great impromptu meals, but he was a damned sexy lover. But if he also vacuumed, the chore she hated most, he would be a woman’s dream come true. It wasn’t the vacuuming, particularly, that she hated so much. It was that the vacuum spit out more than it sucked up.
“Never was part of my SEAL training.” He gave her an elusive smile.
“Hmm, well, maybe it should have been. Every man needs to know how to vacuum.”
“What about Hunter?”
She sighed. “I’m afraid he didn’t get any training, either.” But then she brightly added, “I’m sure Tessa has him vacuuming up a storm now, though.”
Finn flipped the steaks and said with a smile, “I can’t imagine Hunter vacuuming, sweeping, or mopping floors. He’d be good at giving the orders, though, pointing out spots that needed further work, a little more polish, a little more sweeping and vacuuming.”
She laughed. “Yeah, that’s Hunter all right. He’s also good at building fires to keep Tessa warm.”
Finn gave her a devilish look, and Meara felt her body warm considerably. “I’m talking about wood fires. The electricity was out during a snowstorm, and he had to keep them warm.”
Finn grinned broadly and nodded his head.
“By keeping the fire going.”
He chuckled.
She shook her head. She’d never known a man who was better at taking what she said innocently and turning it into sexual innuendo. She gave up trying. But then she began to think of what it would be like if her electricity went out in the middle of a snowstorm and Finn was with her. Would he spend a lot of time trudging down to the beach to gather firewood?
For certain, he’d take her to bed and ply her with hot kisses designed to thaw her out, his body rubbing against hers in the heat of passion.
Her cheeks warmed again, and he cast her a questioning glance. “Anything you want to share with me?”
“No. I’m ready to eat, though.”
He still looked like he was more interested in knowing what she’d been thinking about.
Within minutes the meat was browned, along with potatoes, zucchini, yellow summer squash, onions, and carrots. The steaks and shrimp had perfect grill stripes and had been seasoned with thyme, rosemary, and lime rind after being lightly coated with olive oil.
“Rare, right?
” Meara asked, watching the steak as it sizzled.
Finn gave her a sexy smile. “Steak seared on the outside, nice and red and juicy on the inside.”
“Hmm, just the way I like mine.” She carried their drinks to the blanket as he brought their dinner plates.
To her surprise, he brought up the vacuuming issue again. “I take it you don’t care for the chore of vacuuming.” He sat down beside her as the sky over the ocean blossomed with pink and orange, the white clouds thinly stretched behind the setting sun, rays stroking the dark water.
“It’s just that my vacuum cleaner doesn’t pick up well. I end up moving the dirt around the floor as the vacuum sucks it up and spits it back out.” She took a deep breath and raised her glass to Finn’s. “To sunsets over the water, and to peace and prosperity everywhere.”
He drank some of his wine and raised his glass to hers. “To a beautiful wolf on a golden night. May you find happiness always.”
“Thanks. I try to.” Once she found the perfect mate to share it with, she would. Of course there would be bumps on the road to bliss, but still…
She watched the sun set as she ate the steak and shrimp and vegetables, also enjoying apple slices and red and green grapes, and washing it all down with sips of red wine. To top it off, they shared bars of chocolate, no s’mores this time. The meal couldn’t have been more perfect. And the company and the setting.
She thought about Finn and his declaration that he wasn’t into dating. Did he mean dating as in eating out at restaurants? They were nice, but she didn’t need five-star restaurant service to enjoy a night out. In fact, this was better than most dinners she’d had where she was waited on hand and foot. More relaxing. More atmospheric and appealing to a wolf. More conducive to a romantic liaison without tons of people in attendance. With Paul watching them, protecting them, she figured Finn wouldn’t kiss her at all.
She hadn’t had any nicer dates with a man than these impromptu affairs with Finn.
When Finn took the empty wineglass and plate from her and set them aside, she envisioned another kiss, hoping that he’d ignore Paul for the moment.
