After they dropped Allan off, they headed to the Greypaws’ cabin. But when they came to the place where the trees had fallen, all they found was fresh, wet sawdust.
“What…?” Lori asked.
“I told some of the men we had trees down on our road, and they said they’d take care of it. I knew we’d be getting in late so we’d need help with it. I’m glad they managed to take care of it before we returned home.”
“You know what that means, don’t you?” Lori asked him as they entered the cabin.
“What’s that?”
“We won’t be too tired for what comes next.”
He grinned down at her, and as soon as he shut and locked the door, he scooped her up in his arms and hauled her toward his room this time. “I like the way you think.”
“Your room?”
“Hell, yeah. I kept thinking about what it would be like to roll around in the sheets with you. It about killed me to know you were so close that I could nearly taste you, yet not be able to have you.”
“I love you,” she said. “And, well, I won’t deny it was the same for me.”
“When you were rubbing up against me in the lake when I was wearing my wet suit and you were wearing that sexy wolf bathing suit, I wanted us to be like this.”
“When it’s not so stormy, that can be next on our agenda. Skinny-dipping in the lake.”
“You got it. I love diving for treasure—your treasure.”
In record time, they stripped off their clothes, dumping them on the floor in Paul’s guest bedroom. Naked, standing next to the bed, he kissed her mouth, having wanted to do that since the beginning of the evening. They rubbed their naked skin against each other, wanting, needing the intimacy.
He was so glad they had reached this point in their relationship instead of waiting another year or more.
Her eyes were darkened with desire as he tilted her head back and kissed her mouth again. Her lips were hot and spicy, her tongue stroking his as her soft, pliable body pressed against him, enticing him to devour her. And he wanted to do so, to reach every wolfish, sexy part of her with his kisses. Her dusky, erect nipples brushed against his chest, and his cock was just as hard, stretching out to her, eager to feel her rubbing against him. She licked his nipple and he sucked in his breath, his body feverish for wanting.
She smelled of tangerines and the piney woods, of she-wolf and her own personal sweet and spicy scent. Their mouths fused as if he could never get enough. He’d never wanted to fight the attraction, not when he was young and wanted so much to prove he was the wolf she thought him to be. Even if he failed. She was always there for him, loving him just the way he was.
And she couldn’t know how much that meant to him as he kissed her jaw, brushing his mouth against her throat. Her breathing was shallow, her pheromones hot with excitement, which helped kick his into a firestorm of desire. He was glad for his wolf senses because humans couldn’t smell the stronger scents of arousal, the pheromones that triggered each of them into wanting and needing resolution. He stroked his mouth down her collarbone until he reached a breast, cupped both of them, and then licked each in turn.
She sank against the bed, and he smiled to see her so boneless.
“Sorry,” she said.
“Works for me,” he said, joining her. Leaning against her, he began kissing her breasts, licking the nipples while she swept her hands down his sides and buttocks, and growled softly.
He loved her growly nature, loved smelling the way she was so turned on. The dark, curly hairs between her legs were moist with her need, proving she loved what he did to her as much as he loved the way she made him feel—special, cared for, desirable.
He slid his hand down her smooth belly and stroked her between the legs, wanting to make her come as he listened to her tripled heartbeat.
Twisting underneath his sensual assault, she dug her fingernails into his sides and came unglued with a healthy cry.
She pulled at his muscled arms to join her, to enter her, to take his fill while she took hers of him. He rocked her world in a way that only he could, the way he touched her, kissed her, and molded to her. No one would ever be Paul—in his pink palm-tree shirt with the green flamingos and with his heart of gold—who wanted to save the world. A leader who loved his family and his pack, but most of all her.
He rubbed against her in a sweetly erotic way, sliding his rigid cock against her slick folds, wanting her to take charge and slide him into her until she was full of him, eager to mate again and again. He was everything to her, their bodies on fire, her body needing him deep inside, softening for him, welcoming him.
And then he penetrated her tight sheath. Their breathing was ragged, their hearts beating in sync.
They rocked together, his kisses verging on desperate as he thrust into her hard, taking her, claiming her. He worked deep, satisfying her need to claim him for her own. He was dangerous to others but safe for her. She loved that about him.
His eyes were nearly black when he lifted his head, and she knew then that he was ready to come, but she hadn’t expected his next move. He howled with his release—a robust, loving-her howl.
He continued to thrust into her until she had used him all up, and then he sank against her, one sexy, loving wolf. She wrapped her arms around him and sighed. “I loved your howl.”
He kissed her cheek. “More where that came from.”
“Good. I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
He chuckled and pulled her into his arms, and she knew the night had just begun.
* * *
Late the next morning, after they had been up half the night making love, they went to town to open a bank account. When Lori got a call in the SUV, Paul instantly assumed it was Emma and hoped the construction workers were there.
“Emma, what’s up?” Lori asked. Neither Lori nor he had wanted to disturb her because they thought she might be sleeping late, as worn out as she had been the night before. “Really. Okay, thanks.” Lori tucked her phone away.
Paul waited to hear what that was all about, and when Lori wouldn’t say, he asked, “Good news?”
“Yeah. The workmen have started fixing her place. But…as you probably assumed, my assistant has been running my martial-arts center while I’m gone, and she said twin girls signed up.”
“That’s great.” Paul pulled into the bank lot and cut the engine.
“They’re wolves.”
Paul glanced at her, not liking the sound of that. “Your assistant isn’t a wolf. How would she know that the girls are?”
“Emma ran by there to check on the place, and she realized they were, and vice versa. She told them the owner was one too, and they said they already knew. Their momma wanted to join the Cunningham pack.”
“How did they know about us? Wolf packs don’t advertise.”
“Word of mouth, I guess.”
“What kind of jobs do they do?”
“The girls are six.”
“The parents,” he said, tilting his chin down.
“She lost her mate, so it’s just the mom and her two girls.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Lori smiled and reached over the console to curl her arms about his neck. “Except for Allan, you probably have the only all-female wolf pack in the States, given that females are fewer in number.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist. “And that could mean real trouble.”
She frowned a little at him. “How’s that?”
“Female wolves attract male wolves.”
“And Allan and you can make them all behave.”
Paul grunted.
She laughed, but before they entered the bank to set up the pack’s account, Paul noticed Howard Cooper sitting in his pickup truck outside. As soon as Howard saw them, he called someone on his phone.
&n
bsp; Trying not to wonder if something suspicious was going on, Paul and Lori entered the bank. Lori really would think he was crazy if he overreacted again.
Inside the bank, Paul saw a man wearing a motorcycle helmet approach the bank clerk. Then it dawned on Paul. The guy might have hidden his face, but the clerk would know him because he was withdrawing money and had to have an ID.
Still, what if this was the bank robber? “Stay here, Lori,” Paul said, unable to help feeling something was off with the guy.
This time she nodded and moved toward one of the loan officers’ desks.
“May I help you?” the woman asked Lori.
Paul could imagine Lori thinking she would have to wait for her crazy mate to overcome his suspicion that something was wrong every time he came home from a mission.
“We’re going to open a business account,” Lori said finally.
“New accounts is over there,” the woman said.
“Thank you.”
Paul cast Lori a look that said he didn’t want her moving in that direction until he knew if everything was all right.
The man got his money, shoved it into his wallet, then headed out of the bank.
Hell, Paul thought. Lori was sure to think he was nuts.
She joined him, took his hand, and led him to the new accounts desk.
“We want to open a business account,” Lori said and they took seats in front of the desk. “It will be the Cunningham Recovery Corporation.”
Paul smiled at Lori. He loved his clever she-wolf.
It seemed more official today, maybe because setting up the account would acknowledge they had a viable pack.
After they finished at the bank, Paul wrapped his arm around Lori’s shoulder and walked her outside. “I love the name of our corporation.”
“Isn’t it perfect? Between our pack recovering and the kind of work you and Allan do—recovering people, retrieving necklaces from the lake, and other really important things—it just seemed perfectly appropriate.”
“It is.”
Lori got another call and said, “Yes, Grandma?” She frowned. “I’ll let him know. We’re coming by to check on the work being done on your house.”
When they ended the call, she said to Paul, “Well, not sure what’s going on, but Widow Baxter said it’s too dangerous for us to take her into the pack.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. Grandma figured we’d have to talk with her to learn the truth.”
“You want to call her?”
“Sure.” Lori had never expected that the Baxter mother and daughter wouldn’t want to join their pack. She just figured for protection and camaraderie, they’d automatically want to be included. “Hi, Mrs. Baxter? This is Lori Greypaw-Cunningham,” she said, smiling at Paul and glad she could say that now.
He looked just as pleased that she would.
“You can call me Jean,” the woman corrected her. “If this is about joining the pack, we really can’t.”
“Can we come over and talk?”
“Do you want us to leave your territory?”
Lori was so surprised to hear her say it that she was taken aback for a second. Though normally she would discuss this with Paul and they’d both agree on it, given the facts, she said, “No. You’ve got our protection no matter what. Can we still talk about it?”
“I’d prefer not to. If that’s all you wished to discuss?”
“Yes, but if you ever feel the need to talk, I’m a good listener.”
“Thanks.” Then the woman hung up on her.
Stunned at this turn of events, Lori said, “Well, they won’t be joining, but they want to stay here as long as it’s all right with us.”
“As long as it doesn’t have a negative impact on the pack.”
“Agreed.”
When they arrived at Emma’s house, they were glad to see all the men working away.
“How are you doing?” Paul asked as he gave Emma a hug.
“Oh, just fine. What do you think about the Baxters?”
“Not sure,” Paul said. “But we’ll have to keep an eye on the situation.” His phone rang and he answered it. “Yeah, Allan?”
“I got a doctor’s appointment for Rose to see Hunter’s doctor on the Oregon coast in a couple of weeks.”
“Nothing closer than that?”
“Everyone’s still looking. Mom said she’d take care of the shop while we’re out there.”
“All right. They’re doing a great job on repairing Emma’s house.” Paul walked into the living room and nodded to the workmen.
Lori and her grandma had gone off to talk in private, away from all the noise, but he swore he heard Lori say something about a Facebook party and inviting wolves to join. And something about papers needing Paul’s approval that were sitting on the kitchen table.
“Have you told Hunter you’ve taken over the pack and mated with Lori?” Allan asked.
“Not yet. I guess I’ll give him a call and let him know the good news.”
“Hunter said he might have a lead on this Everett Johnston, the guy who got Rose pregnant, but he wanted to make sure before he shared the information.”
“Good. Maybe we’re getting somewhere with this then.”
Paul glanced back down the hall and tried to listen to what was being said between Lori and her grandma. “Two more, yes!” Lori said.
“Do you need me to come over there?” Allan asked Paul.
“The workmen have got it well in hand.”
“Okay. Did you hear about that motorcycle-helmet bandit getting away with another thirty-one thousand dollars? He hit the same bank twice. You’d think they’d learn.”
“Sounds like the police need some help with this one.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Maybe you and I could run over there later and check out the bank, see if we recognize anyone’s scent. I’ve got some work to do on this place. I’ll talk to you later.”
“All right. Out here.” Paul tucked his phone away and watched the men, but he was still trying to hear what the ladies were up to.
Lori joined him while her grandma was starting a load of wash after using so many towels to mop up the water last night and this morning.
“What’s going on?” he asked as Lori slipped her arms around his waist.
He really liked the way they were leading the pack if it meant having Lori close like this.
“Well, Emma asked two of the women in her quilting group if they’d join our pack.”
“They’re…wolves?”
“Of course. They live two hours away, widowed like her, and are sisters, no pack. So they want to move here. What do you think?”
Even if he didn’t want any more females in the pack, looking down into Lori’s enthusiastic, smiling face, there was no way he could say no. “You’re not putting out the word somewhere that all female wolves who need a pack can join ours, are you?”
He was thinking of the comment he’d heard them make about Facebook.
“Emma’s excited about having a larger pack. Now that I’m going to be even busier with helping to run it and still offering my martial-arts classes and spending time with you, she wants to have some friends in the area to go to the movies with, have more frequent quilting bees, or have lunch dates, play cards, whatever,” Lori said. “I’m going to fix spicy beef enchiladas and fried rice for lunch. Does that sound good?”
“Delicious. You know I mated you because you’re a great cook.”
She grinned at him as she took his hand and they walked into the kitchen. “Among other things.”
“Hmm, the other things too. What’s this?” Paul asked as he spied the papers on the kitchen table. “Four more single female wolves who want to join our pack? They know we have no mates for them here, right?”
&n
bsp; “Allan will be in seventh heaven since he’s at least one eligible bachelor here.”
Paul leaned his back against the counter as she made the enchiladas. Once she placed them in the oven, he pulled her into his arms. “Are you sure someone isn’t putting out the word somehow to open up the pack to a whole lot of stray females? On average, there are more male lupus garous than there are females. So I don’t understand how we’re getting so many new unattached females.”
Lori sighed. “All right. Here’s the thing. Emma and Catherine are spreading the word that we have a safe pack here, a good leader—”
“Leaders. There are two of us.”
“Well, three, since Allan’s our sub-leader.” Lori kissed him. “I have nothing to do with this.”
“Why only females?” he asked, sensing there was more to it than helping out some single women, widows, and single moms raising kids. He could handle a larger pack, and women and kids were fine, but he could envision a big hassle with a bunch of footloose males if they learned about all the single women in the pack with only Allan and him there to offer protection. Not that the ladies probably couldn’t fend for themselves, but it was a pack thing. Still, he could see all the trouble that would bring.
She pointed at the papers. “I thought they were fine. What do you think?”
“I think I’m bound to be in real trouble.”
She chuckled. “But you handle trouble so well.”
After the meal was cooked, he helped her set the table and Emma joined them.
“He said yes, didn’t he?” Emma asked, all smiles.
Just like with Lori, there was no way he could say no to Emma, and he was thrilled they were so happy.
He started eating the enchiladas, then paused. “You and Catherine don’t think that if we had other males in the pack, one of them might try to take over, do you?” he asked Emma.
When Lori and Emma shrugged, Paul shook his head. “Over my dead body.”
They smiled.
* * *
After two days of finishing several more projects at the lakeside cabin, while Lori taught more of her martial-arts classes, Paul and Allan took a drive into the next county to check out the bank that had been robbed. They smelled no one they recognized, though Paul was still suspicious of the guy who’d worn a helmet into the local bank twice.