by Terry Spear
She turned on the TV.
That wasn’t really what he had in mind. But then she turned it to a channel that had music. Okay, so no movie time. Just background music to mask what they were up to. Hopefully.
They were still wearing their ski jackets and hats and scarves, and she came over to him and put her hands on his shoulders and tilted her head back for a kiss.
A knock sounded on the door.
“Hell.” Blake went to the door and peeked out the peephole. “Clay,” he said under his breath.
“You’re kidding,” Nicole said.
“Nope.” Blake opened the door. “What do you want?”
Clay looked surprised to see Blake was in Nicole’s room.
“So that’s why you wouldn’t share a room with me,” Clay said, glancing beyond Blake to see Nicole.
“You got a room,” she said, all growly.
“And your room is right next door—”
“What do you want to do? Talk out in the hall and sabotage things?” she said, her voice hushed and dark.
“He’s not letting me in to talk,” Clay said with a shrug, referring to Blake.
“That’s right. This is my room. Go to yours. You don’t have any business being here,” Nicole said. “If you want to talk, we can do it in the morning. If Blake will allow it, we can talk in their office.”
“Yeah, that would be fine,” Blake said.
“Tomorrow, after we have breakfast and before these guys get up,” Nicole said.
“All right. You’ve got my number.” Clay sounded disgruntled that Nicole seemed to have the advantage on this mission, but he was the arrogant ass who acted like he knew everything.
Blake shut and bolted the door. They heard Clay walking toward the stairs.
Nicole shook her head. “I can’t believe he actually came here.”
“I can. He was just waiting for the right time, figuring you’d be alone, I bet. But he wasn’t getting in. You don’t trust him, do you?” Blake asked Nicole.
“Nope. I believe he’d use everything I learned and then solve the case, but he wouldn’t help me back. I would like to think otherwise, since he’s a wolf, but his going missing to work another case put him in the untrustworthy category for me.”
Blake wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug and kissed her lips. This was what he’d wanted to do since he’d first met her—kiss her in the privacy of a room. Her mouth, and his, were still cold, but the movement of their lips against each other’s soon warmed them up.
Then she yanked off his ski hat and tossed it on one of the beds. He pulled hers off and threw it on top of his. He unfastened her scarf and she was unwrapping his, and their scarves joined their ski hats on the bed.
She ran her hands up his ski jacket and kissed him again, as if enjoying the slow seduction. At least he hoped that was where this was going.
While their mouths were still pressed against each other’s, kissing, nuzzling, sharing pure joy, Nicole and Blake were fumbling for each other’s ski jacket zippers. They unzipped them as if in slow motion, then helped each other out of them, not wanting to pull their mouths from each other. Then they were wrapped in each other’s embrace again.
“You are so…” Nicole said, pausing. “Incredible.”
“You’re a delight.” He pulled her sweater over her head, and as soon as he tossed it, she pulled his sweater over his head.
He sat her on the bed and crouched down to unfasten her boots. She ran her fingers through his hair, her touch thrilling his senses as he breathed in her magical scent. She was so sexy and tempting. He pulled off one boot and then the other. Then he was sliding her socks off.
He was thinking they were going to have to get dressed and go out in the cold again, but that would be in about three hours. The guys next door had started a movie, which would help disguise what was going on in this room, though they were being quiet.
Nicole had him sit down on the bed and began to remove his boots, then his socks.
She kissed his knees, then leaned in between his legs to start unbuttoning his shirt. His hands went around her head, and he kissed her forehead. But as soon as she unbuttoned his shirt and pulled the shirttail from his jeans, he yanked it off. He rose to his feet to pull her to hers and remove her shirt. Ski pants came off next.
Then he was stripping off her bra and panties. She slid his boxer briefs down, and then they were together on the bed, naked, hot skin to hot skin, bodies writhing, lips kissing. Her hands were on his chest, rubbing his nipples, her fingers firing him up, stirring his cock to life. She felt divine beneath him, and he was in heaven with the she-wolf.
He kissed her neck, her throat, licking, nuzzling, loving her soft skin and she-wolf scent, her arousal, and sweet fragrances of lavender and mint. She was taking deep breaths of him, and he smiled, then cupped a milk-white breast and massaged.
“Hmm,” she said, “keep going.”
He intended to as long as she was agreeable. He suckled her nipple, and she ran her hands through his hair. He wanted to convince her to stay here and not return to Denver. To set up her PI shop here. She could work in town or up at the house. Their house. The one he would share with her. They could ski together and take Rosco for walks in the snow in the winter and on hikes in the summer. And run with the family as wolves. Their own little family pack within the pack. He couldn’t think of anything nicer than that. Not that she was thinking about anything beyond this mission.
She moved her face closer to his chest, and then she began to kiss his pecs, and he flexed them a little under her lips.
She smiled. “You’re such a wolf.” Then she nibbled and licked his nipples, and the heated sensation was like a jolt of electricity that shot straight to his groin.
He moved his mouth to her breasts, kissing, licking, nibbling, and she groaned, her hands tightening in his hair, encouraging him. He could already smell her rampant arousal, his too, their pheromones aiding in the seduction process.
He’d never been around a she-wolf like this, and he’d never wanted to take things this far in a relationship. She was special.
She slid her hand down to take hold of his ironhard erection, and his cock convulsed in her grip. He sucked in his breath and slid his hand down her smooth skin until he reached her short, blond curly hairs and found her erect nubbin. Her eyes were darkened and filled with lust. Her head dropped back to the pillow, and her lips parted on a sigh as he began to stroke her.
But she didn’t give up on stroking his cock either. He was finding it hard to concentrate, trying to keep touching her to bring her to fruition. Likewise, her hand would still on his arousal, as if his touches were stealing her attention and carrying her away. Which he was happy to do. Anything that would prove he could be her wolf lover for now and forever.
He couldn’t even believe he was thinking along those terms this early in the relationship, but after she’d kissed him in the lobby, knowing he was a wolf, she had claimed him.
He was all too willing to be hers, even if this was really a rash decision for him.
Still, he groaned when she began stroking him again. He leaned in to kiss her parted lips, tonguing her, his finger dipping between her legs to stir things up there, to moisten his finger and work on her nub again, but she cried out, to his surprise.
He smiled and kissed her again.
She pushed him onto his back and straddled him, stroking him again while he watched her smiling eyes and lips, her blond hair hanging over her shoulders, her breasts jiggling with the movement. In the worst way, he wanted to flip her onto her back and consummate the relationship. They would be mates for life then. What if there was another she-wolf out there who was more perfect for him?
He didn’t think so, and when she stroked him to the point of no return, he couldn’t believe how good it felt to be with her, only he still couldn’t help
wanting more. He exploded, feeling satiated and complete with the world.
She left him to turn on the shower, and he wondered if he should let her have some time to herself. He didn’t want to crowd her.
But what if she wanted him to join her?
He wasn’t second-guessing this. He entered the bathroom. “Do you mind me joining you, or do you want me to wait?”
She pulled the shower curtain aside and smiled at him. “I made a mess of you. Join me.”
In a heartbeat. “Gladly.”
Then they washed up, using her bodywash because it was the only soap in the bathroom.
It didn’t matter if he smelled like peaches, not when they were rubbing the bodywash all over each other’s bodies in silky caresses. Every bit of her was a tactile delight, just like her fingers tracing across his heated skin sent his adrenaline soaring. She began washing her hair with coconut shampoo, and he took over. Then she did the same with his. They smelled like they were sunbathing in the tropics. He wouldn’t have ever worn the sweet-smelling fragrances, but he had to admit it was like wrapping her scents around him, and all the next day, that was all he’d think of.
Afterward, they dried off and he blow-dried her hair, combing his fingers through the wet strands while he swore she was purring, her eyes half-lidded. When her hair was soft and dry, she ran the dryer over his hair, though it was mostly dry. Her fingers combing through his hair felt damn good, and he could see why him drying her hair had such an effect on her.
Then they climbed under the covers of the bed they’d already messed up and cuddled together, listening to the music in their room and the TV playing in the other room.
“Should we set an alarm?” Blake asked.
“No. One of us will notice the TV is off after a while.”
They turned out the lights, and she pressed her head against his chest, her arm dropped lazily over his stomach saying he was hers, and he was all for it. He used the remote to turn off their TV.
They had slept maybe for three hours when he finally stirred awake, realizing the TV had been turned off in Rhys’s room.
“Hey,” Blake said to Nicole, his voice whispered against her hair, “are you ready to see if we can find some evidence?”
“Yeah, I sure am.” But she didn’t make a move to unwrap her body from his.
“I’ll call Roxie to make sure she’s awake and watching the security videos.”
“Okay, I’m getting dressed. I don’t feel like it though.” She still didn’t move a muscle to leave the bed.
Blake smiled and kissed her lips. “I feel the same way.” He pulled her into his arms. “I’d love to keep going with more of this.”
She smiled up at him. “Man, is it tempting. But look at all everyone did to set this up for us.”
He chuckled. “I think they’d understand. Then again, Roxie might give me hell for thwarting you in your mission.”
Nicole laughed. “I can see her doing that.” She got out of bed and started dressing.
Blake called Roxie. “Hey, did I wake you?”
“Yeah, but I’ve been waiting for your call. Are you guys ready? I checked the video, and they’re still in the room,” Roxie said.
“TV’s turned off. They’re probably asleep.”
“Okay, good. I’ll let you know if anything happens.”
“All right. We’re just getting the equipment together to go on our mission.”
Nicole was smiling at Blake while she was dressing.
“Hey, talk to you in a bit,” he said to his sister.
“Out here.”
Blake started getting dressed. “I couldn’t tell her what we were really doing.”
“I bet she guessed.”
He chuckled. “No doubt.” He finished dressing, and then they left the room, carefully shutting the door, and headed for the stairs. His adrenaline was pumping, and he could hear Nicole’s heart beating hard too.
He ran his hand over her back. “You’ve got this.”
“We’ve got this. If we find any evidence.” She smiled up at him. “I hope we do.”
They left the lodge on the snow-covered path, strode through the parking lot, and finally reached the driver’s side of the van.
Blake used a wedge and rod to open Rhys’s car door. They both smelled the scents in the car—Eli’s, Rhys’s, and William’s. Nicole first looked for trash in the car and found an empty soda can. She gave it to Blake, who put it in an evidence bag. “Eli’s.” Then she dusted powder on the steering wheel and began trying to lift prints with standard lifting tape. She placed it in an evidence bag. Then she brushed hair from around the seat into another evidence bag.
She searched more through the back seat but mostly concentrated on the front seat, since it was Rhys’s car and he would probably be sitting in the driver’s seat most of the time. It smelled like it too.
Blake kept hoping she would be done quickly, but she was taking her time like a good investigator would. He wished he could do more, but she was the one who was trained in this, and all he could do was watch her and help carry any of the evidence she gathered.
Nicole was finally finished and was now carefully cleaning up the powder. He was planning to help her with that when he got a text from Roxie and read it: Hurry! Eli just left the room.
Aw, hell. Blake told Nicole the news.
“I can’t leave any powder on the interior of the car, or they could see it and suspect something.”
“Let me help.” He was helping her remove the powder when he got another text. He paused to check it, but Nicole kept cleaning, dedicated to getting this done properly.
Roxie: Eli’s going outside.
“Come on, Nicole. We’ve got to go. Eli’s on his way outside the lodge.”
“Okay, that should be good enough.”
Roxie: He’s headed into the parking lot, walking toward the car.
Blake locked the car door after Nicole, but they couldn’t leave now without Eli seeing them. Even if Blake had a key to the van, just opening the door would spill light all over the place. So they couldn’t sneak inside it without Eli knowing they’d been next to his car.
They couldn’t chance it.
He texted Roxie: Going silent.
Blake motioned to Nicole to slide under the van. She nodded, looking resigned to the fact, and hurried to slide under there on top of a thin layer of snow. He quickly joined her. The footfalls grew closer. Blake slid his arm under Nicole’s head so she didn’t have to have her head on the snow.
Their hearts were pounding. He was glad Eli and the other suspects weren’t wolves, or they could smell Blake and Nicole had been in their car. They remained still, their breaths frosty underneath the van.
The car door opened, the light came on, and they heard him rummaging around in it. Blake was glad he had told Roxie not to text him any longer. He could just imagine Eli hearing the text ping and coming to look for the “lost” phone underneath the van—and finding a man and a woman hiding there.
They heard Eli continuing to rummage around in the car. He unwrapped the seal around a package of cigarettes, then tapped one out, and lit it. Cigarette smoke wafted in the air while he smoked next to the car. He finally shut the car door and walked slowly back to the lodge. Since he couldn’t smoke inside the lodge, Blake figured Eli was taking his time returning so he could finish his smoke. They waited until they heard the door to the lodge open, then close. Then Blake slid out from under the van, and he helped Nicole up when she reached him. They brushed snow off each other.
“Hiding under a vehicle to avoid detection is a first for me. What about you?” Blake asked.
“Me too, believe it or not.” They were heading back to the lodge when Nicole saw the discarded burning cigarette in the snow. “Yes! The one time I’m glad someone’s a litterbug. Otherwise I want the person
charged with a federal crime.”
He chuckled. He knew how she felt though. A trash bin could be only a couple of feet away from where some inconsiderate person dumped their trash on the ground. As if that was all the people who worked at the lodge had time for, cleaning up other people’s trash.
They put out the cigarette and stuck it in a fresh evidence bag.
“That was so worth it. Though I wish it had been Rhys smoking the cigarette,” Nicole said.
“Me too.”
Blake called Roxie before they reached the lodge. “Hey, we’re done. We’ll have to call Peter to come pick up the evidence.”
“Eli returned to his room. I’m so glad you didn’t get caught. I was hoping Eli was planning to take their trash out to the dumpster or the car, and we’d catch them at it, but then I saw him moving around the van and lighting up the cigarette. I thought we finally had them. I was worried about the two of you. Where did you go?”
“We had to hide under the van. At least we weren’t caught, but man, that was a surprise,” Blake said.
Roxie laughed. “Did you find anything in the car that might be useful?”
“Possibly. And he dumped the cigarette in the snow, so we have that. We’ll have to have the stuff sent to the lab to have all of it analyzed, but hopefully we got what we needed.” Blake put his arm around Nicole’s shoulders.
“I saw Clay went up to Nicole’s room earlier tonight. Looks like you chased him off,” Roxie said.
“I did. I really couldn’t believe he’d come up there. I think he was aggravated that she had the room next to the cousins’ room. Nicole’s going to use the office in the morning to talk with him.”
“Okay. I hope you’re going with her to set him straight. I’m off to bed if you all are done and don’t need my help further.”
“I’m just going to call the sheriff’s office to let them know we have evidence to send to the lab.”
“Okay, night, Blake. Give Nicole a hug for me.”
