by Terry Spear
“Did you want to go with Kayla to talk to the restaurant manager, Nate? He also has a PI license,” Nicole said to Kayla.
“Yeah. Sure.” He was about to join Kayla, but Nicole stopped him.
“You need to eat your food.” Nicole was amused with her brother. Now it appeared he wanted to make some points with Kayla.
Kayla sat down at his table. “I can fill you in on the details while you finish eating.”
Nate sat back down to eat, and Kayla said, “We’ve smelled their scent—three human males had been down in the wine cellar where we also store other food supplies. We don’t have any humans working for us, so no one should have been down there but us wolves.”
“And the security video?” Nate asked.
“I’ve got it on my phone.” Kayla showed it to him.
“We’re going skiing,” Nicole said, taking Blake’s hand.
“Catch up with you later. Oh, and I need to get a room of my own, I guess.” Nate winked at Nicole.
“I can get you a room.” Kayla got back on her cell phone to get a room reserved in his name.
Blake and Nicole went to the office, though she changed her mind about getting their ski boots. Once she’d declared her love for Blake, it was time to mate.
“That was a smooth move,” Blake said.
“What? Giving my brother a job? I wanted him to bring Kayla out of her shell. He’s good with people like that. He’s more into the shy violet type than the splashy, bold type.”
“Like Roxie?”
Nicole smiled.
“You want him here working with you, don’t you?”
“Yeah. My twin brother and I have always been close. We had always talked about going into business together, which is why we wanted to join forces once he left the service.”
“Staying here kind of messed up your plans though.”
“Doesn’t look like it.” As soon as they were in the office, she shut the door and pulled Blake into her arms for a hug and kiss. “You really want to be mated wolves?”
“You bet. You only said you wanted to go skiing in front of your brother, right? I was thinking we would do something else. Let me give my brother and Roxie a heads-up to call us if anything happens with the case because we need to return to the house.”
“Speaking of which, how are we going to work that?”
“Build a separate house? The forty acres beyond the house is ours—woods, rabbits, squirrels, and all. We planned to have our own places when we mated. And Darien and Lelandi wanted to ensure developers wouldn’t hassle them any longer about building more lodges, restaurants, or shops near the ski resort.”
She laughed. “So the Wolff family has to field all the offers.”
“Yep.” Blake smiled. “The Silvers knew how to work that. They knew we could handle it too. The last one of my siblings who finds a mate will keep the main house, and we’ll continue to use it for our family gatherings.”
Nicole smiled at him. “I love you.”
“Oh, man, I so hadn’t wanted you to see me make a mess of that snow-blowing operation, but now I know it was the right thing to do.”
“And lose control of Rosco that morning. Remember, those were the two things that made me fall in love with you, just a little. You were too cute, and I felt sorry for you.”
“Man, am I lucky for that.” Blake touched base with Landon and Roxie, putting it on conference call and speakerphone. “Nicole and I are heading over to the house for a little while.”
“Is this what we are hoping it is?” Roxie asked, sounding enthusiastic.
Blake smiled. “A mating? Yeah, it is.”
“Hot damn, brother,” Landon said. “And here I thought I would be the lucky wolf first.”
“I got damn lucky.”
“We’ll have a celebration tonight,” Roxie said. “I’ll get with Kayla and Nate.”
“Okay. Sounds good. See you later.” Then Blake took Nicole’s hand. “Let’s go to my place.”
“That works for me.” She couldn’t be happier. Finding people and things was part of her job, but finding a loving wolf mate while on a case? It certainly hadn’t been in the plans, but she hit the jackpot.
Instead of trudging through the snow from the lodge to the house, she felt like she was practically walking on air. Blake wasn’t taking a leisurely stroll to the house either. He was moving like a wolf on a mission, his gloved hand clutching hers, pulling her along, keeping her on her feet, their warm breaths making a frosty mist in the air.
When they finally reached the house, he hurried to open the door, closed and locked it behind them, and swept her up in his arms. “You are mine.”
If he didn’t sound like some dire wolf from caveman times. She loved it.
She loved the gesture, but she really didn’t want him to carry her all the way up the stairs to his bedroom. But he did. He was being super romantic, and she loved him for it.
There was going to be no slow seduction this time, not as he set her on her feet in his light and airy bedroom and began removing her outer ski clothes and boots with urgency. And then she was frantically removing his, their clothes tossed this way and that as if the blizzard had stripped them away and blown them asunder. His need for her was only met by her need for him.
It was if they were afraid one or the other might change their mind. But there was no going back.
He crushed her against his body in a ravenous hug, and she wrapped her arms around him in a heated embrace. A wolf could survive on its own, but two wolves made a family, a small pack within a pack.
His eyes were hungry and dark, aroused and focused solely on her. But then his large, warm hands cupped her face and he kissed her, slowly, thoroughly, deeply. She had to hold on to his waist, feeling the sexual need to make him hers building, the passion in his kiss heating her blood, and she felt unsteady on her feet. She needed him to be her rock.
She was just as eagerly kissing him back, his hands shifting to her shoulders, rubbing her soft sweater against her skin, kicking up the heat.
“You don’t know how glad I am you came into my life.” Blake said, his voice low and resonant, mesmerizing. “I love you.”
“You’re irresistible to me,” she said against his lips, then pressured him for another deep kiss. She slipped her tongue into his mouth, toying with his, claiming him. “I love you right back, you old wolf.”
He smiled but then was right back to kissing her.
She’d known from the moment she kissed him in the lobby that he was someone really special. A hot kisser, a sexy wolf, someone who would jump at the chance to protect her, and more. Even when she’d suggested getting someone else for the job of being her pretend boyfriend, he was all for persuading her that he was the only one who need apply for the job.
And he was right. He was the only one for her. There was so much more she wanted to do with him—dance nights, movie nights, hiking trips where they could be wolves or humans to their hearts’ content. Game nights, though she suspected his family and hers would be part of that too. Trips, near and far. So much to do.
She couldn’t be happier.
The wind howled outside the window, the snow swirled around, and they began stripping off the rest of their clothes, alone together, apart from the hustle and bustle of the ski resort. No one in the rooms next door or wandering down the hall. They needed this moment to themselves.
He slid her sweater over her head and tossed it, and she pulled his sweater over his and did the same. And then he wrapped his arms around her and unhooked her bra. Once he’d ditched it, he ran his hands over her breasts in a loving caress. She moved her hands over his chiseled abs to his hard pecs, smiling. He was perfection. She had him smiling, too, and leaning down to kiss her again, but his hands remained on her breasts, massaging and weighing them. His wondrous touch made her feel uplift
ed and loved.
She shifted her hands from his broad shoulders to his ski pants and felt the bulge in his crotch. This time, he would join her all the way, and she couldn’t wait to have the thick length of him sliding inside her, consummating the mating for life. She pulled off his ski pants and slid her hands down his boxer briefs, sliding her fingers over his warm ass. He matched her action and slipped his hand down her pants and cupped her buttocks, his hands warm against her skin.
She gave his ass a squeeze, his mouth on hers again, kissing and tonguing her. Then she tugged his boxer briefs off him, his cock springing free, stretching out to her, poking her. An inspiring, impressive sight, and, she realized with satisfaction, all hers.
He quickly slid off her ski pants and her panties. They were still wearing socks when he scooped her up, laid her on the bed, and joined her. His socks were gray like the wolf, while hers had cute little fox faces and ears. Who would have thought she’d be wearing them to make mated love in?
He took in a deep breath of her, smelling her pheromones kicking his into high gear, just as she was smelling his and basking in his arousal mixing with her own. He licked and kissed her sensitive and taut nipples, and she arched against the mattress and pillow in response, his actions stealing her breath. He suckled a nipple, and a charge of electricity shot straight to her groin. She moaned with need.
He laved the other nipple with his warm, wet tongue, suckling it before he skimmed his hand down her belly and found the juncture between her thighs.
As soon as he began to stroke her clit, the desire for him to join her made her ache in ways she didn’t think she’d ever feel with a man—giving herself to him, allowing him to claim her, to accept him into her most intimate chamber.
Yet now, waiting with rampant expectation, she wanted to tell him to hurry it up, to finish this before she died in glorious anticipation.
But he was taking his time, stroking her, wanting her to climax first, considerate of her needs. She was dripping wet, ready for him already, and she went to say so when she felt the climax hit, shattering her into a million bits of astonishing pleasure. Then she was pulling at his strong arms, wanting him to join her. He moved his muscular leg between hers, preparing the way. She quickly spread her legs, willing him in, telling him she was his.
He inserted the broad head of his penis between her legs and surged forward like a wolf with a mission. She was his mission. Mating her. Loving her. For life. He was hers. Forever more.
* * *
Blake couldn’t believe Nicole had chosen him over any other male wolf she’d encountered over the years, and he knew he was incredibly blessed. He thrust into her, wrapped up in the sweet and spicy scent that was all Nicole, from wolf to human. She branded him, and he would never be the same. Once they’d met, he hadn’t wanted to do anything but prove he was the right wolf for her.
She seemed to believe that with all her heart, just as he knew she was the one for him.
Even now in sex, she moved with him, anticipating his moves, matching them, enhancing them. He was afraid she was going to tell him to quit trying to make her climax and just mate her already, the expression of impatience on her face dissolving with the sexual peak she’d experienced, right before she spoke. He loved that he could do that for her. He loved that he could make love all the way to her.
“You are my beautiful wolf,” he said, kissing her mouth again.
“You are mine,” she barely breathed out as he continued to thrust.
He felt the end coming and held himself rigid for a moment, then surged into her again and again until the climax hit and he spilled his seed deep inside her with a groan of great satisfaction, a stellar finish to a great mating. She truly was his.
There was no going back, and he didn’t want to leave the bed again today. Instead, he wanted to cuddle with his mate the rest of the day and night and forget about the celebration his brother and sisters wanted to put on. Forget about the case she was working. Nothing else mattered but this. Mated bliss and being with the wolf he loved.
Yet he knew that wasn’t possible, so instead he pulled the covers over them. They would have a nice wolf’s nap, make love again, and return to the world to resolve this case of Nicole’s one way or another.
Chapter 17
After Nicole and Blake slept for an hour at the house and made love again, they’d jumped in the shower, cleaned up, dressed, and returned to the lodge. And done a lot of smiling. She couldn’t believe they were mated wolves, and she felt on top of the world. But she had to get back to business and get the evidence against Rhys. She and Blake had returned to the office and were reviewing security videos taken of the dumpsters at night when Peter called her.
“Our pack leaders said you and Blake are mated, and you’re staying in town and joining the Silver pack, right? That your brother also wanted to join. Landon called to let Darien know.”
“I’m sorry, I guess we should have run this all past the pack leaders.”
“No problem. Darien and Lelandi want me to deputize the two of you since you’re helping us with criminal and other investigations. Even without being deputized, you can make citizen arrests, but we’d rather you had the backing of the sheriff’s department behind you. We know both of you were in the army and are weapon trained, and we’ve done background checks.”
“Already?”
Peter chuckled. “Why do you think everyone was asking you to help them with their cases? Well, they needed them solved, sure, but they wanted to show you that they believed you were a valuable resource to the pack.”
“Thanks, Peter. Here I thought I might just get some skiing in while I was doing surveillance on my suspects. I never thought I’d find a mate, a family, and a pack all at the same time.”
Peter said, “Silver Town can have that effect on wolves. Oh, and tell your brother there are going to be some growly bachelor wolves if he mates one of the Wolff sisters. We have a lot of males who have been anxiously awaiting their arrival.”
“They’ll have to take that up with my brother.” If Nate found a she-wolf he couldn’t live without, no one was changing his mind.
“I’ll be up there in a few minutes. I’m driving there now.”
“Okay, we’ll see you soon. I’ll let my brother know.” After they ended the call, she told Blake what Peter was going to do.
Blake smiled. “Good show.”
“I need to find Nate and let him know.”
“Unless you need me for something else, I’m going to keep looking at these nighttime videos.”
“No, go ahead. We need to resolve this case.” She left the office and found her brother looking intense as he moved around the lobby, brows furrowed.
“I’m smelling the scent of the men who stole the beer and snacks,” he said, his voice low for her ears only.
“Well, Peter Jorgenson, the sheriff, has good news for us. He’s deputizing us, so we can arrest suspects who are involved in criminal pursuits.”
Nate smiled. “Hey, this is the perfect place to be.”
“Yes, but he also warned me you’d better not ‘steal’ any of the single she-wolves that the bachelor males have been dying to court.”
Nate laughed.
“I told him they’ll have to take it up with you. Peter will be here soon to deputize us, so don’t wander off too far. We’ll need to do it in the office, in case my suspects, or yours, are about when he arrives. How are you doing with that case, by the way?”
“I have an inventory of everything that was stolen—four cases of beer and two cases of individual bags of snacks. Three males wearing black ski masks picked the lock on the back door to the restaurant. They were wearing all black, except for their jeans, like a bunch of thieves in the night. I’ve made casts of their boot prints in the snow. I want to catch them taking out the empty trash or find some of the stolen items in their room.”
“You were following their scent?”
“They’ve walked all over the place. Kayla’s working on some promo stuff for the restaurant, but she’s going to help me sniff around a little later.”
Nicole was thrilled Kayla was offering to help her brother. Then she saw Peter. He stalked across the lobby to join them. “I thought we could do this in the privacy of the office,” she said. She was glad the sheriff wore jeans and a jacket and didn’t look like he was a law enforcement official in case anyone saw him and worried the police were on to them.
When they entered the office, Blake and Landon were there to witness the deputizing. And then Peter wished them good luck on their current cases.
“Oh, and I have to warn you, we always do background checks on anyone who wants to set up a business in Silver Town or join the pack. Lelandi wanted me to ask you if you can do that for us. The pack pays for the investigations, and we could really use your help,” Peter said.
Nicole smiled. “Nate and I will be happy to.”
“You might check out a new couple that want to join our pack. A Nelda and Gary Grayson. I hear they’re looking to move their stationery and gift store down here.” Peter smiled.
“Mom and Dad? Ohmigod, yes!” Nicole looked at her brother, surprised to hear the news, and she wondered if he had anything to do with it. Neither of her parents had indicated to her that they wanted to leave Denver.
Nate smiled at her. “Hell, Sis, when you and old Blake here start having little wolf pups, you know Mom and Dad would want to be nearby. They told me after lunch they had talked to Darien and Lelandi, and it was a go.”
Nicole brushed away tears. “That was my only regret about leaving Denver, but Mom and Dad have always said we needed to do what we wanted in life, and if that meant following a career and finding mates somewhere else, they supported it.”
“They said that because we were both going into the army and they knew we’d be on the move.”
