He pumped into her hard, and she saw the tension leave his face. She laughed when he growled and turned her so that she was on her back, and he was still connected, still thrusting until the end.
“I love you.” She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. “Forever and always.”
He smiled and kissed her mouth before he rolled off her and took her into his arms to snuggle. “You are the love of my life. I knew it that first time I greeted you and mispronounced your name.”
She laughed. “Who would be named after a tire?”
He smiled and kissed her again. “You were cute when your green eyes narrowed, and then they lit up and you bowled me over with that beautiful Irish lilt to your voice. I knew I was in love then.”
“I have to admit, when you turned fifty shades of red for mispronouncing my name, I had a devil of a time keeping my distance from you.”
“I know.”
She laughed. “You did not.”
“Yeah, I did. How would we have gotten here if it wasn’t so?”
“Hmm, your private ski lessons? I can’t decide if that’s when it really hit me, or when we were making the snow sculpture, and just in sweet fun, you kissed my nose. Or when we fell asleep on the couch watching A Christmas Story. But I knew then that keeping my distance wasn’t going to happen.”
He sighed. “I’ll second that. We were meant to be together. Merry Christmas, honey.”
“Merry Christmas, CJ.” She couldn’t sleep though. Well, maybe she dozed. She kept waiting for CJ to get out of bed and put her packages under the tree! But he didn’t.
Instead, he made love to her two more times.
* * *
CJ felt the mattress move, again, as Laurel slipped out of bed early the next morning.
“Where are you going?” As if he didn’t know.
“To see what Santa brought.”
“I’ve got a present for you right here.”
She glanced at his erection tenting the sheet and smiled. “You can give that to me later.”
He smiled as she slipped on a soft, robin’s-egg-blue robe, her red hair cascading about her shoulders, and then headed out of the bedroom. He couldn’t believe how many times she’d left the bed in the middle of the night to see if he’d tucked her presents under the tree. He’d thought she’d never fall asleep, though making love to her two times during the night hadn’t helped him carry out his Santa mission.
He groaned when he saw it was still dark out, then climbed out of bed, put on his navy blue robe, and padded down the stairs.
She was poking around at the presents he’d finally managed to put under the tree. Well, except for one.
She was crouched in front of the brightly colored packages, grinning. “What is this? It weighs a ton.”
“Open it and see.”
She opened the package and beamed at the blue-and-white ski boot. “You’re taking me skiing again, but this time I have my own boots.”
She was just like a little kid, and he loved seeing her excitement. Christmas had never been quite like this—and it was the best.
Then she rummaged through the packages to find the other. Inside the second ski boot was an envelope. She tore it open and smiled. “Free private and personalized ski lessons for a lifetime.”
He hadn’t even opened his first present from her when she came over to thank him. She leaned over to kiss him, her robe gaping enough for him to see her mouthwatering breasts. In the next instant, he was pulling her down on top of his lap; then she was pushing him onto his back, untying his robe, and spreading it wide like a blanket.
He was still fully aroused and she smiled. “I love you, and this is the best Christmas ever.”
And it had barely begun. She untied her robe and tossed it aside, then lowered herself onto his cock and began to ride him. With the lights sparkling on the tree, two packages unwrapped, and a hot she-wolf making his dreams come true, he couldn’t have loved Christmas more.
“Forget waiting for this Christmas present. I didn’t give you yours yet.”
“This is the best one yet,” he said, and then there were no more words as he brought her to climax and gave her yet another Christmas present before she collapsed on top of him and hugged him tight.
“Here I was looking for presents under the tree when I could have just found them in bed.”
He smiled.
Then she hurried to get off him, pulled on her robe and belted it, then handed him some of his gifts. When she gave him his first present, he pulled her onto his lap to open it, because it wasn’t the gift, but the giver that made his Christmas so special. He opened the package and saw the picture of him, his brothers, and their father and mother at a happier time in their lives, and he looked up at her with tears in his eyes.
“I found it in your father’s things. I had Jake take the original and refinish it and then framed one for you and each of your brothers.”
He kissed her soundly. “Thank you. I’ll cherish your gift to me always.”
“I…I hope your brothers will love it too and won’t be upset that I did this. I worried about it the whole time I was getting them ready.”
“They’ll love it. Thank you.”
Then she gave him another present, and he said, “Your turn next.”
“I opened two.”
He chuckled. “Two ski boots.”
“And skiing lessons for a lifetime.”
He smiled and was starting to open the present when she found one of the ten-thousand-dollar bills in her next present. “I thought you put them all in the bank.”
“I did. Until right before Christmas.”
“You gave some to your brothers, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. They’re sure to be surprised. I usually don’t spend that much on them.”
She laughed. “I bet they’ll be shocked.” She stared at the bill, not believing it.
“You can do whatever your heart desires with the money. Fix up the basement of the hotel, redecorate the house—whatever you’d like.”
“Take you on a trip to Ireland.”
“I thought they got rid of wolves over there,” he said, smiling.
“They don’t know about us.”
“It’s a deal.”
He finished opening his present. “A book on how to create snow sculptures.” He laughed. “Planning this early to win next year’s competition, I see.”
“Absolutely. I’m all ready for a winning streak. And we have lots of snow so we can practice. But we’ll have to do it in the backyard so no one sees what we’re working on next.”
“Speaking of snow, do you want to look outside and see if it snowed last night? Maybe we can get in a snow-fort building contest and have a snowball fight later.”
She laughed. She got up, crossed the living room to the back door, and peeked out the blinds. “Ohmigod, CJ. You got me skis and poles!”
Standing upright in the snow, her skis sat in front of his taller ones, their pole straps looped around the skis, indicating they were together, now and forever.
He joined her at the door and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his body and nuzzling her neck. “I don’t know about you, but all this Christmas is wearing me out. Did you want to go back to bed for a while?”
She turned and slipped her arms around his waist. “This is the best Christmas ever.” And with CJ in her life, she knew it would only get better. She was glad to have found their aunt alive and well, and that her sisters were even beginning to date. She thought a friendship with her cousins had promise. But most of all, she loved the pack, Silver Town, and CJ.
She broke free and said, “Let’s take a break from Christmas.” She headed for the stairs, but he began to chase her and the thrill of the hunt had her squealing and bounding up the stairs before he could catch her.
He did anyway, swinging her in his arms in their bedroom and collapsing with her on the bed. “You really didn’t believe I’d forget about your presents
for Christmas, did you?” he asked, smiling at her.
“You are such a tease. Just remember this next Christmas.”
“I’ll be ready. Next Christmas and beyond.”
She laughed and kissed him, and CJ was glad he’d convinced Laurel they were meant to be together. Haunted hotel and all.
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SEAL Wolf In Too Deep
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SEAL Wolf in Too Deep
Feeling useless, Paul Cunningham propped his broken leg on a few more pillows as he and his partner Lori watched from the deck of their lakeside cabin. Their best friend Allan Rappaport headed down the dock with his temporary police dive partner Debbie Renaud, both ready to do some more practice diving with each other. Paul’s leg was casted all the way up to his hip after a freak accident on a dive rescue mission.
“I still think Allan should ask the sheriff to make new assignments. You and Allan were raised as brothers, you’re SEAL team members, although you’ve left the Navy, and you’re used to working with other men, not women. And you’re both wolves, not that anyone on the force knows that, but it makes it easier to work together. This business”—Lori motioned to Allan and Debbie as they talked to each other on the dock—“is bound to cause problems.”
“Allan respects her work too much. It would look like he’s having trouble with her on a professional level. He won’t do anything that might jeopardize her career.”
Looking cross, Lori folded her arms over her expanding belly. Paul reached over and she slipped her hand into his. “They’ll be all right. Allan’s smart enough to know the boundaries between lupus garou and humans,” Paul said.
Lori squeezed his hand. “Watch the way she looks up at him. They’ve been together for only two weeks and she is so enamored with him. All smiles and sweetness. She adores him. He’s a SEAL and women just fall all over themselves when they learn that.”
Paul raised his brows at Lori.
She shook her head at him. “I know the two of you too well. Your SEAL status doesn’t affect me in the least.”
He chuckled. “As far as Debbie goes, she’s a smiley, sweet woman, Lori. You worry too much.”
Lori frowned and settled back in her chair. “You make light of this and it’s dangerous. He hasn’t dated any of the eligible women in our pack, and we have several. Sure, he’s nice and polite, but he’s not interested in any of them. Look at the way he helps Debbie with her dive checks. They look like they’re lovers.”
Paul smiled. He knew it wasn’t that Lori didn’t want Allan to care about a woman, but the woman had to be one of their kind, or it would cause all kinds of complications they couldn’t afford. “Come here.”
“Your leg—”
“Come on the other side.” She moved to his chaise lounge, and he snuggled with her. “He’ll be okay. We’re talking about Allan. In all our years of wolf longevity, how many times has he fallen for a human woman and not been able to let go of the notion?”
Lori relaxed then. “Never.”
“Right. Never. So they’re just working together, doing practice dives as a team so when they have risky dives to make, they’ll be working in sync with each other. And look, they didn’t have to dive here in front of us, knowing we’re observing every move they make. He could have taken her anywhere to practice diving with her.”
“True. But they won’t always be here under our watchful supervision.”
Paul chuckled. “Lori, you are a worrywart.”
* * *
The day was nice and hot, perfect for practice dives, if that’s all that was going on between Allan and Debbie. But Lori knew she wasn’t just paranoid. She knew Debbie was interested in Allan and he returned the interest right back. What was not to like about Allan anyway? He was sexy and fit and loved to do what Debbie loved to do—dive. They had an easy way with each other, like they already knew each other intimately, not like people who had just started to work together. No formality between them. No getting to know each other.
Paul was trying to calm her fears, but he too worried about Allan. How could he not?
Debbie was a lovely brunette, vivacious, something that totally appealed to Allan. She was definitely an alpha, ready for adventure. She loved the police work, loved saving people and animals, just like Allan. Worst of all, she was single.
“You need to talk to him,” Lori told Paul.
“He’s a grown man and knows what he’s doing.”
“He’s human, well, and wolf, and both are going to get him into trouble.”
“I’ll talk to him—but he’s going to wonder what all the fuss is about.”
Lori was certain he’d know just why they were concerned.
* * *
Allan was just as concerned about working with a human woman as Paul and Lori were, but he knew he could handle this. It sure was a hell of a lot different going on dives with Debbie than with Paul.
He was so used to working with Paul over the years that they just did everything in perfect sync—the hand signals, body movement, the awareness of their partner. Though some signals were universal, he and Paul, along with the other members of their SEAL wolf team, had developed some over the years that were distinctive to them.
Allan knew Paul and Lori were warily observing them. He had to admit watching Debbie swim was a hell of a lot more attention-grabbing than watching Paul. And when she smiled at him, she made him feel as though he was dating her and not just working a job. He had to remind himself to act professional and get the training done. On an assignment, they had to concentrate on the mission so they could get the results they needed—evidence from a crime scene, people or animals to safety—while ensuring they came out of it unscathed.
If he’d been assigned to a human male dive partner, no problem. But working with a single female, one who fascinated him like she did, he could see it would take a lot of diligence on his part to keep his mind on business and not on Debbie. If he could just become interested in one of the new single females in the pack, that would solve all his problems.
But when he swam next to Debbie in the clear blue lake, she fired his testosterone sky-high. That didn’t happen when he was around the single women in his pack. He hoped he could deal with this without getting them both into dangerous waters.
Chapter 2
Four months later
The tires of Allan’s hatchback slid on a patch of ice on the bridge just as he spied tires sticking up out of a deluge of water in a culvert. A rush of adrenaline poured through his veins, readying him for the frigid conditions and a rescue mission. In the cold of winter in Northern Montana, he and his dive partner were the first to arrive on the scene of the accident and had to act quickly.
Debbie was requesting emergency backup and an ambulance as she held on to the dashboard, looking just as alarmed when the tires lost traction on the ice. He worried that they’d end up down the embankment, crashing into the upside-down SUV.
Frantically, a woman jerked at the back door of the SUV without success.
As soon as he saw who it was, his heart took a dive. It was Franny White, wife of the new chef at their wolf-run Italian restaurant, Fame da Lupo. She didn’t go anywhere without her daughter. But the baby wasn’t in her arms and Franny was trying so hard to get into the backseat, he knew little Stacy had to be buckled into her car seat and submerged underwater.
“Cancel the call for the ambulance!” he said to Debbie, knowing that this was a risk he had to take. “Call this number!” He gave her the number for the medical clinic that catered to his kind, though Debbie would be clueless. “I know the woman—her baby is in the car. Just…call it.” He didn’t have time to make up a cover story.
Debbie hesitated, and he knew she had to be thinking his request was a dangerous mistake. That precious time could be wasted. But lots more was at stake if the human-run
hospital’s ambulance picked up Franny and Stacy and they shifted. Debbie quickly called for the other ambulance and canceled the one for the main hospital in Bigfork.
As soon as he could safely brake the car and stop, Allan and Debbie were out of the vehicle, dashing down the steep incline on the crunchy snow and ice. Debbie had grabbed the emergency medical kit on the way out.
Seeing Allan and Debbie, Franny screamed, “My baby’s in there! She’s in a car seat in back.” She was soaking wet, her tearful words were slurred, and she was stumbling around as if she were drunk. She was wearing just a sweater and jeans, standing in the nearly waist-deep water. Allan was certain she was hypothermic. Confusion and the natural instinct to warm herself could cause her to shift too. Between that and rescuing the baby, they were in a hell of a fix.
“She’s only three months old!” Franny added, as if she didn’t recognize Allan—another sign she had hypothermia.
“Get the mom out of the water,” he said to Debbie as her boots crunched in the snow and ice behind him.
She slipped, her boot kicking the back of his. He swung around and grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.
“Thanks,” she said, looking a little embarrassed.
“It’s slippery.” He was having a difficult time staying on his own two feet, but with bigger boots and more weight than Debbie had, he was managing better.
When he reached the moving water, he waded right in. The icy cold sent a jolt of adrenaline straight through him, and he wished he were wearing a wet suit.
The driver’s-side door was open where Franny had managed to get out. Allan pushed through the strong currents to the SUV, while Debbie went after Franny. When he reached the car, he tried to get the back door open, but couldn’t. He scrambled into the driver’s seat and squeezed through the front seats to access the baby’s carrier. Upside down and buckled firmly into her carrier, the baby was unconscious. The cold water covered her, and Allan feared the worst.
He shined his light inside the vehicle to give him more illumination in the dark, though he could see well enough with his wolf night vision in most conditions. But this was so precarious, and with a life hanging in the balance, he didn’t want to make any mistakes.