He moved one hand to her pants and unfastened them before pushing them away, all the while distracting her with the way he paid homage to her breasts. She felt the cool air against her bare butt and realized he’d done away with both pants and panties. They were pooled at her feet, but that was easily remedied. She stepped out of them, sliding off her slip-on shoes along the way.

  She felt his big hands cup her ass, touching lovingly, before he lifted her in one powerful motion, sliding her onto the countertop next to the sink. Holy cow, that was chilly! But, as a wolf shifter who, until recently, had lived in Canada, she’d felt worse. Room temperature granite was nothing compared to the snow and ice of a Canadian winter.

  King grinned at her, his expression filled with passion and possession that turned her on like nobody’s business. Then, he put his hands on her knees and spread them. She just about spontaneously combusted on the spot.

  When he stepped into the V he’d made of her thighs, she wanted to rub up against him like the wolf that lived inside her. She wanted to splay herself in submission. She wanted to show him in every way possible that she was receptive and ready for his most intimate possession.

  His left hand rose to cup her nape as he brought his lips back to hers. His right hand rose along the inside of her thigh, seeking, searching, and then finding the spot where she most wanted him to be. Sweet glory be! She moaned when he found her entrance with one thick finger, pushing within as if testing her readiness.

  She was wet and hot, ready for anything, and she wanted him to know it. His growl originated deep in his chest. She could feel the rumble against her breasts as he moved closer. It was a growl of approval as he discovered what she already knew. She was with him. Now he just had to take what she was offering.

  He kept his mouth on hers, kissing deeply, exploring her mouth with a sensual mastery that she had never before experienced. His left hand moved away from her nape as the other surged in and out of her tight hole, priming her for a possession she wanted with every last fiber of her being.

  And then, he left. She opened her eyes to find that he’d moved back from both the kiss and the sweet torture he’d been performing below, to unbutton and unzip his pants. He didn’t hesitate. He just pushed them down, revealing a long, hard cock that made her mouth water.

  Damn. The boy was built. And she was just the girl to put all that masculine loveliness to good use.

  His gaze met hers as she reached for him. When she wrapped her fingers around his erection, he was looking deep into her eyes. She saw his pupils dilate with pleasure, and she felt a certain feminine power she had seldom experienced in her relatively sheltered life.

  “You like that?” she asked in a low sultry tone she had never once heard come out of her mouth before. King brought out all kinds of new aspects to her personality.

  He growled, and she squeezed him gently in reply. She liked the way he responded to her. As if she were special to him. As if it mattered that it was her—Marilee—giving him this pleasure. As if she mattered. It was a heady feeling.

  “Let me,” he begged, seemingly unable to get out a full sentence. But she knew what he meant. She wanted it too. And, like him, she was similarly incapable of putting her thoughts into coherent sentences right now.

  “Yes,” she said, keeping it simple. Simple was good.

  In answer, his hands moved to her hips, dragging her closer to the edge of the countertop. She helped him slide her closer to what they both wanted.

  And then… Contact. He slid into her, the counter putting them at the perfect height, since he was so tall.

  He pushed all the way in then paused, meeting her gaze. She could see the moment he lost control, and she reveled in it. He began to thrust. Hard. Fast. Making her sweat and growl in delight, yearning higher, wanting to reach someplace she had seldom seen before.

  Sex with other men had always left her wanting. Wondering. Somehow, she just knew King would be the one to show her, finally, what it was all about. What it could be, if the man she was with cared for her, even just a little.

  They may not have known each other that long, but she knew, in her heart, that King cared. He was a good man. He had compassion. He knew a bit about her past through Sabrina, and whatever he had been told to get him to ride to her rescue. But, more than that, he’d taken the time to talk to her while they travelled together. He’d treated her as a partner, not a dependent. He’d been nice.

  And what he was doing now felt very nice, indeed.

  Scratch that, it was freaking tremendous! She lost the ability to even think as he pushed her to whole new heights of passion. His possession was thorough, but he was thoughtful. He held her hips and was careful to shield her from the truly wild thrusts that overtook him toward the end.

  She exploded into a fireball of light just seconds before he did, coming apart, only to fuse back together, again, after a long drift among the stars.

  After their session in the kitchen, King lifted her in his arms and carried her into the bedroom, where he started the process of making her scream with delight, all over again. And again.

  They made love through the night, speaking little but saying a lot with touch and sensation. He showed her new things and made her feel…so much. Her heart opened and accepted him. She was very much afraid she would never dislodge him from it, but she was feeling way too good to care.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The next morning—well, actually before dawn—Marilee woke in the big bed, alone. She could hear King moving around in the main room of the cabin, but he’d left her bed. A pit of sadness formed in her tummy, and she thought, morosely, that their time together was at an end.

  Damn. It had been glorious while it lasted, but now, in the pre-light of dawn, she realized the night had been much too short. They’d made love four times. Each time, she’d experienced enormous pleasure, but in the dark before dawn, she wanted even more. More of that feeling of not being all alone in the universe. More of the feeling of being connected to someone. More of feeling cherished.

  But it was not meant to be, it seemed. Marilee pushed aside the covers and got out of bed. She was a little sore, but shifter healing meant she wouldn’t feel too many twinges from the unaccustomed activity last night. She headed for the bathroom—which had an entrance from both the bedroom and the main part of the cabin. She went in from the bedroom side so she wouldn’t have to face King just yet.

  Making sure both doors into the bathroom were secured, she stepped into the shower for a quick clean up. No one interrupted her morning routine, and she was out of the bathroom, again, about fifteen minutes later, freshly dressed and ready for whatever the day would bring. She hoped.

  First, she had to face King. She wasn’t looking forward to the possibility that he would be cold with her this morning. She really didn’t want to see his rejection. Not so soon after the passionate night she’d spent in his arms. Reality could wait a bit, surely?

  King puttered around in the main room of the cabin, packing the things he had used the night before back into his saddlebags. He admitted, if only to himself, that he was nervous. Fidgety. He wasn’t sure what to expect from Marilee this morning, and like a coward, he’d left the bed so he wouldn’t have to face her just yet.

  What if last night hadn’t meant anything to her? What if she treated him casually this morning? Could his heart take it? He wasn’t sure.

  Because last night had cemented even more firmly in his heart and soul that she—Marilee—was his one and only true mate. She was it for him. The only woman he would ever want…forever.

  That was huge. Monumental. And scary as hell.

  He’d awakened about a half hour before dawn and went to meet the cougar sentries who had prowled the area all night. He thanked the men and exchanged a few words about mutual friends and acquaintances, as shifters—especially those who had served in the military—often did when meeting new people. In the shifter world, identities and position in the hierarchy were often established, at least on a preliminary basis, in such ways.

  King had checked his messages and exchanged a quick text with his older brother, who was already awake. Probably because he was a Mother Hen, at times, when the younger siblings were in trouble. Ace had taken care of them all for so long. It seemed his instincts hadn’t faded, even though he, now, had a mate of his own. In a way, that was reassuring.

  King had started collecting his things and cleaning up the cabin. They’d have to leave at first light, and that wasn’t far off. He didn’t attempt to muffle the noise he made as he moved around. Maybe that was a bit passive-aggressive, but if his movements woke Marilee without him actually having to go in there and face her, so much the better. He was gathering his courage and tamping down the instinct that told him to go in there and wake her with a kiss.

  He wanted so badly to wrap her in his arms and never let go, but he couldn’t. Not yet. He couldn’t take the chance that she would reject him. It was too soon in their relationship, and he needed to be sure she felt the same before he made any declarations. He just had to hold his inner bear back because the furry bastard didn’t really give a damn what his human half said right now. The bear kept clawing at him from the inside, trying to get back to its mate.

  “Good morning.”

  King spun to face the door to the bedroom, which had just opened. Marilee stood there, a vision of beauty in dark jeans and a pink T-shirt that left little to his already over-active imagination. It was tight enough that he could see the outline of those luscious breasts he’d been privileged to caress through the night. He’d always liked curves on a woman, and Marilee’s were just about perfection.

  “Good morning,” he replied automatically, trying to figure out what last night had meant to her. It was killing him not knowing if they were on the same page as far as this mating was concerned, but he couldn’t just come out and ask, and risk running her off forever.

  “Do we have to leave soon?” she asked, still not giving him any real indication of her emotions.

  “I figured first light. The roads we need to travel are going to be kind of rough, especially with the trailer,” he told her, aiming for neutral since he didn’t know which way to play this morning-after scenario.

  “What are we going to do for breakfast?” She looked around, moving into the room, her overnight bag already packed and on her shoulder.

  “I found some quick oats, honey and cinnamon in one of the cupboards, and there’s a microwave hidden in that closet in the corner. We can have that. It’s not gourmet, but it’ll get us through,” he offered.

  She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “That’s okay. I love honey and cinnamon. It’s one of my favorite combinations.”

  He chuckled and felt a bit more at ease, even though everything between them was still up in the air. He needed to put her at ease, as well. Maybe she would welcome a morning kiss? Women liked that sort of thing, even if the night before hadn’t meant as much to them as the past night had meant to King.

  He approached her, smiling as she smiled back at him. “Marilee, I’m a bear,” he reminded her, moving close. “Everything you’ve heard about bears and honey is true. Especially in my case. I can’t get enough of the stuff.” He put one of his hands on her waist and was gratified when she didn’t move away. Her smile grew wider and touched her eyes with that special spark of joy he’d been looking for. “And speaking of things I can’t get enough of…”

  He dipped his head and claimed her lips in a good morning kiss that he hoped said so much more. At the moment, he wasn’t able to say out loud the feelings he put into their kiss, but he hoped she was starting to feel the same.

  When he moved away, the smile was still in her eyes, and she looked a lot happier than she had before. He felt happier, too. Every moment his mate was in his arms made him a happy bear.

  They took turns heating bowls of oatmeal and adding honey and cinnamon. It was so good, King went back for seconds, and then, it was time to do a final check of the cabin to make sure they had packed up all their stuff and left the place as close to the condition they’d found it in as possible.

  He went in to check the bedroom and found that Marilee had stripped the bed of sheets. None of their belongings remained in the room, so he moved on to the bathroom, where he encountered Marilee standing in front of a stackable washer-dryer unit that had been hidden in a closet in the corner. She was taking the wet sheets out of the washer and putting them in the dryer.

  “I found this earlier and figured I’d clean up the bedding,” she told him, a slight blush staining her cheeks pink. He liked the oblique reminder of what they’d done to mess up the sheets and couldn’t help the growl of approval that issued from his chest. “I won’t be able to make the bed, but I’ll leave a note to check the dryer,” she continued.

  King approved of the extra work she’d done to be a good guest. He moved closer and wrapped his hands around her waist as she reached up and closed the dryer, starting the machine tumbling. Once it turned on, he turned her in his arms and stole another kiss.

  He wasn’t sure how long they’d been there when he heard a knock on the cabin door. One of the hawks? Or maybe, the cougars? Whoever it was, he had better go answer the door. There might be a problem and, enjoyable as it was to kiss Marilee, keeping her safe was his first priority.

  Marilee felt bereft when King moved away, but she understood why he’d done it a moment later when the knocking on the cabin door sounded again. She realized, at that point, that she’d heard it before, her conscious mind had just refused to acknowledge it. A dangerous thing to do, considering the danger that had shown itself only yesterday. They’d had a night free of threat, but that would all change the moment they got back on the road.

  Instead of mooning over the hunky bear shifter, she should be grilling him with questions about their safety. If she wanted to change her life, she needed to start being more of an active participant in it, instead of just a bystander.

  “What is it?” she asked, realizing too late that the proper response to a possible threat would have been silence.

  “Sounds like Clive, possibly,” King replied, heading for the door while she stayed on the other side of the cabin. “Only one way to find out.”

  He opened the door, being sure, she noticed, to stand in such a way that he blocked any possible view of her from the doorway. Even just opening a door, he was protecting her. She heard the man on the other side speak and recognized Clive’s voice right away.

  “I brought you some goodies for the road,” Clive said from outside the cabin.

  Marilee checked that she had everything and joined King by the door. “Thanks, Clive,” she told him politely. “We used the oatmeal and honey, but I tried to clean up everything else as best I could. The bedding is in the dryer.”

  “You didn’t have to do that, ma’am, but thank you,” he said, smiling kindly at her.

  “I’ll just do my final check, and we can be on our way,” King said, going back into the main room of the cabin to grab his gear and gaze around the room a final time to see if they missed anything. He rejoined Marilee at the door a moment later, and together, they left the cabin with Clive, who held a bulging knapsack and a small plastic cooler in one hand.

  Predawn light was filtering through the treetops as they walked toward the SUV and trailer. Jim was there, another detector on a stick that he used to give the vehicle the once-over before he shut the electronics down.

  “Everything remains clear. Nothing is transmitting from the vehicle or trailer on any frequency I can detect,” he reported as they drew closer.

  “The lack of perimeter incursions would support that finding, as well,” Clive added. “I think you’re clean, now, as far as mundane tracking devices go. If there’s something magical they can follow, I have no idea, but again, the fact that we had a peaceful night would seem to indicate that there isn’t anything like that.”

  “Any news from your man with the trackers?” King asked.

  Clive grinned. “He’s having a lot of fun, actually. He stopped a few times to let pursuit catch up with him, then took off again, leading them farther and farther away. He’s enjoying the game. At this rate, he figures he’ll lead them to Lake Tahoe, then maybe ditch the trackers in the middle of the lake.”

  “Remind me to buy that man a case of beer the next time I come through this way,” King said on a chuckle. “Or, better yet, send him up to Grizzly Cove, and I’ll buy him dinner.”

  “Buddy likes to roam, so he might just take you up on that sometime,” Clive allowed, swinging the knapsack toward King. He caught it and hefted it, as if weighing it. “I took note of your hardware yesterday, and packed some extra ammo for you. There are also a variety of snacks in there for when you get the munchies on the road.” Next, he handed over the cooler. “Drinks and ice. There’s also some water bottles and a few sandwiches to tide you over. I got to thinking last night, that the roads you’ll be taking today won’t have those convenient truck stops and fast food places, so these provisions ought to keep you fed on the way to your destination.”

  “Much obliged,” King said, opening the back door of the SUV and stowing the cooler and knapsack on top of a box of Marilee’s possessions. The car was mostly full, but there was just enough room for the things Clive had given them. “I left a little something in the cabin to offset the costs of putting us up, but I definitely owe you one.” King slipped Clive a piece of folded paper he took from one of his many pockets. “If you ever need a favor, give me a call.”

  Clive nodded with seeming satisfaction as he tucked the paper into his own pants pocket. “It was good to meet you both, and I wish you safe travels and good hunting. Maybe our paths will cross again someday.”