“I figured you might like a bath, while I make sure everyone gets settled in. I need to hold a team meeting before dinner.”

  Beth gazed at the ancient tub, which had a streak of rust under the faucet. Suddenly she turned to Gavin and hurled herself into his arms. The surprise of it nearly knocked him off his feet. “You’re such a darling, Gavin. I’d love a bath. I’m glad we came here. You were right. This is exactly what we need, something new, don’t you think?”

  Gavin hugged her close. He felt the tension in her slim body, as if she were trembling from some intense emotion. But when she lifted her face from his shoulder, her expression showed nothing out of the ordinary. As he’d thought many times, if Beth had a superpower, it would be her control of her emotions, her reactions. She’d learned it from her mother, of course, and nothing he’d done—with his body, hands or heartfelt words—had ever put a dent in her serene façade.

  But that was about to change, damn it. Because they couldn’t go on like this. He couldn’t go on having her close, yet so far away.

  “I’m glad you think so,” he told her. He kissed her, brushing his lips across hers, taking her bottom lip gently in his teeth. Her scent, fresh and light, like honeysuckle growing in a forest meadow, made his head swim. What was it about Beth that made him want to possess her utterly—body, mind and soul?

  Even marrying her hadn’t done it. She still kept a part of herself locked deep. But he wasn’t about to give up without a fight.

  * * * * *

  After Gavin left, Beth ran her hand across the cool enamel surface of the bathtub. A nice long soak would be luxurious. Soap bubbles playing peekaboo with her body, a man’s hand stroking between her legs, another man’s fingers on her slippery nipples. She shook off the vision. It was still early, not even five. The sun would be setting shortly. This far south, it probably set around five thirty. Where they lived near Fairbanks, it would already be dark by now. Why not take a quick tour of Wild while the light held?

  As soon as she thought of it, the idea seemed absolutely the right thing to do. In art school she’d taken a two-week trip to Paris. Her favorite part was wandering through the little streets of the Left Bank. She could pretend Wild was Paris, and she was an anonymous tourist on vacation. Gavin would be busy with the guys for a while. He’d never even miss her.

  She scrawled a quick note to him, grabbed her wool coat and pulled the door closed behind her. No lock, she noticed. Par for the course for a hotel of this era, no doubt. Anyone caught stealing would probably find themselves at the business end of a hunting rifle.

  Outside, she felt the cold air whip off the bay and nearly turned back. But something in the air made her blood sing. It had the salty bite of the ocean in it, and something else, something wild and alluring. She took a deep gulp and felt a tingle all the way through her lungs. It made her giddy.

  She tucked her hair under her hat, dug her hands into her pockets and headed down Black Bear Road, which sloped toward the bay. Wild had a frontier quality, a ragged-around-the-edges, ramshackle atmosphere she found hard to resist, like a swaggering, flea-bitten kitten.

  The Chow Now Chinese restaurant nestled next to the Whiskey Gulch bar, which stared across the road at the True North Bakery. Little whirlwinds of snow kept sweeping across the street, but none of the people she saw seemed to notice. Everyone seemed to be in a party frame of mind. The worse for drink, as her mother would have said. Was this what Wild Nights was all about? An excuse to get drunk?

  But no, something different hummed through the air of Wild, something joyous and free. A group of three young women skipped down the street, singing at the top of their lungs. An older couple, arm in arm, laughed as the girls danced past. Beth did a double take at the sight of the older pair. Was the man’s hand on her ass? It sure looked like it.

  Was that the idea of Wild Nights? An excuse to get laid?

  She hurried on.

  At the bottom of the hill, the road branched. To the right was a marshy area that bordered the bay. To the left was a large frozen lake. The snow had been melted off to create a smooth surface for skating. A dozen or so people swooped and twirled across the white expanse, like terns riding air currents. How free and wild everyone looked. She bit her lip from pure envy. If only she’d brought her skates!

  One man immediately drew her attention. He wore no hat and his black hair flew behind him as he attacked the ice with fierce strokes. Riveted, she watched him dash to the far edge of the lake, screech to a stop in a rooster tail of ice shavings, then hurl himself back to the other side. She wondered if he was practicing for the game, but he had no hockey stick. And there was an official rink for team practices. This guy seemed more like a lone ranger.

  Watching him, she lost herself in the aggressive purity of his movements. Without realizing it, she took a step onto the ice, then another. Then, to her utter surprise, the man changed course. In a flash, he spun on one blade and sprinted toward her. She didn’t even have time to back up before he grabbed her and swooped her off the ice and into his arms as if she were a child.

  “I’m Eagle,” he said in a matter-of-fact voice, as if it were a totally normal thing to skate at top speed holding a strange woman in his arms. Dizzy and disoriented, she clung to his body. The world transformed into a blur of ice and faraway lakeshore. How strong must he be to lift her like this? She was on the petite side, but still…he must be outrageously muscular.

  “You’re an eagle?” That made no sense. But then again, none of this did.

  “My name is Eagle. What’s yours?”

  “Beth,” she said helplessly. “I mean, put me down.”

  “You want to skate, don’t you? I saw how you were looking at the ice.”

  “I don’t have my skates with me.”

  “I figured.” His body burned against hers. She saw the damp sweat on his neck. His skin was a deep brown, his eyes even blacker than Gavin’s. She guessed he had some Native blood, with his tilted eyes and ink-slash eyebrows. He was so beautiful it almost hurt her eyes. She felt as if she were a mouse in the claws of a bird of prey. “But I do.”

  “You can’t just…snatch people up like that.”

  He executed a fast spin that made her gasp and grip his shoulders.

  “You can if they want it. Especially during Wild Nights. But if you really don’t want to skate, I’ll take you back.”

  She didn’t answer. On her own, she never skated this fast—probably wasn’t capable of it. Was this how Gavin and his players skated? Fearless and swift. The feeling was incredible. She responded to it on a soul-deep level. A feeling of power grew within her.

  “Okay then,” said Eagle. “Get on my back, my arms are getting tired.” He slid her around so she was riding piggyback. She gripped his hips with her legs, wrapped her arms around his shoulders. The feel of his strong body between her thighs gave her a rush.

  “Here we go.” He struck out across the ice. Her wild whoop of excitement got snatched away by the wind whipping her face.

  “You’re crazy,” she shouted.

  “No shit,” he yelled back over the wind. “Gotta love Wild Nights.”

  Then he snapped his mouth shut and concentrated all his attention on the ice in front of him. Stroke, stroke, turn, stroke. He was a powerful skater, though he didn’t have the finesse of someone like Gavin. But he had a sureness about him, an absolute confidence in his skills that set her at ease.

  She rode on his back and watched the world spin around them. As they raced across the ice, she felt as if pieces of her were flying off into the atmosphere, tumbling away like the ice shavings off Eagle’s skate blades. The caution that would never let her skate this fast—gone. The impeccable manners that wouldn’t allow her to relax in a strange man’s arms—gone. The control that wouldn’t let her trust a wild thing like Eagle—gone.

  His breath came in deep heaves, though he kept his mouth closed against the cold air. She felt the rapid beat of his heart and the iron tautness of his arm muscles. His pure physicality overwhelmed her and made her hyperaware of her own body. A well of heat pulsed in her. Her skin felt oversensitive, her nipples strained against her jacket. Good grief, was she getting turned-on? Had he noticed?

  She glanced at the curve of his cheek. Although his black eyes stayed fixed on the ice, she knew he felt everything going on with her. Excitement ripped through her. A deep throb tightened her belly. Good God, another minute like this and she might come right here on the ice, against this crazy man’s back.

  Shocked at herself, she kicked out to force him to put her down. As soon as he’d slowed down enough, she tumbled herself onto the ice.

  “Are you all right?” Still gliding, he bent down to meet her eyes. The calm, amused look in those black depths told her everything she needed to know. He knew she’d become aroused and it didn’t matter. Darren’s words came back to her. Anything goes, nothing counts. Good lord, the possibilities…

  She picked herself up off the ice and stumbled the few steps to shore. Then she ran back to the roadhouse. To Gavin.

  Chapter Four

  The team meeting seemed to drag on forever. Gavin outlined the Renegades’ strategy against the Nasties. The two teams were well-matched, both notorious for their shoot-from-the-hip style. But the Nasties had a key weakness—an overly emotional star forward.

  “When he’s on, he’s a superstar. But when he’s going through some sort of personal crisis, he’s a mess. Word is, he caught his girlfriend with another guy last week. Doing the nasty in his ice-fishing shack. He tore the shack apart, pushed him down to the ice and threatened to freeze his dick off.”

  The team gave a collective wince. He saw a couple of guys adjust their crotches. Someone muttered something about a “dick-sicle”.

  “The guy’s a loose cannon. Watch out for him. If he’s distracted, we can take advantage. Or he might be so pissed he takes it out on us. I don’t want anyone to get hurt out there. No more than usual, anyway.”

  The guys laughed. Most games ended with a healthy array of bloody noses and bruised ribs, and fractures were par for the course. Hockey wasn’t a game for anyone afraid of a little physical intimidation. Quite a few players had sacrificed a tooth or two in an on-ice brawl.

  “Now, you all know about Wild Nights. The rules are the rules. I’m not going to pretend you won’t all enjoy the hell out of it. All I ask is that you bring your best to the game tomorrow. This town loves their hockey, and they deserve a well-played match with players who are conscious and mobile. So I respectfully request that you save the wildest partying for tomorrow night after the game. Got it?”

  The players all nodded eagerly. He knew they’d been anticipating a complete ban on partying until the game was over. He figured this way they’d be grateful and he’d stand a chance of getting a decent performance out of them tomorrow. Besides, he had his own plans for the first night of Wild Nights.

  “I guess that’s it. Dinner’s served at the lodge here at seven, in case you haven’t gotten a better offer, and I’ll see you at the rink one hour before game time.”

  The players shot to their feet, and within seconds Gavin found himself alone in the lodge’s game room surrounded by shelves of paperbacks and stacks of board games. The town of Wild was about to be invaded by a dozen wild and horny young men. Good thing they were invited guests.

  Wild had its own way of keeping control over the number of people who might try to flood the town during Wild Nights. No one ever knew exactly when it was going to take place. The schedule was kept utterly secret until the day before the festival. He’d been sworn to secrecy when the mayor had called him. He’d debated whether or not to accept but deep down, he trusted his players not to make any huge errors in judgment. Everyone needed to let off some steam sometime, especially in the middle of an Alaskan winter.

  As for him and Beth, they needed to generate some steam.

  At that moment, she flew into the room as if a blast of wind had pushed her through the door.

  “Beth! Are you okay?”

  She ran to him and jumped into his arms. He felt her tremble.

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing.”

  But something had happened. He lifted her face up to his. She looked different, her hair mussed, her cheeks bright red with cold. Her eyes shone with a wild green light.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I just missed you, that’s all.” She buried her face in his chest again. He found he didn’t mind that at all. She felt hot to the touch. He cuddled her against him, trying to soothe whatever strange mood had taken her over.

  “Did you take a bath?”

  “No. I went out, walked around. Saw the town.”

  “And what do you think of it? Nice setting, huh?” It seemed strange to be discussing landscapes, but what the hell.

  “Beautiful. Wild. Free.”

  “Free?” It seemed an odd choice of words.

  “It’s hard to describe. Gavin, I’m starving. Can we go get that glass of wine now?”

  “Sure, babe. You sure you’re okay?”

  She drew away and he saw her usual calm return. He felt a sharp tweak of regret, as if a window into her soul had cracked open then slammed shut. He’d liked being needed, even if it was for only a short moment. That sense of closeness, that was what he craved.

  “Absolutely. I’m going to go change. Meet you out front?”

  “Sure.”

  She slipped out of his arms, then out of the room. Something had affected her deeply, no matter what she said. Things were shifting. Wild Nights was unpredictable. He’d taken a huge risk coming here. If he didn’t do something, she would slip away forever, in every way that counted. He had to act now. Tonight. He thought of the boxes he’d hidden away in his suitcase. Yes, it had to be tonight.

  * * * * *

  Beth barely tasted the grilled salmon and hot buttered potatoes served up by the Grill by the Bay. That crazy skater had knocked something loose inside her. She could barely sit still, as if she’d burst into a million pieces if someone didn’t do something. She wanted to scream at Gavin. Do something. Help me. I can’t take this.

  Instead she lifted her glass of wine to her lips and drained it. Gavin poured her another one without comment. Normally she was content with half a glass, but she was already on her third, and still the restlessness churned inside her.

  She realized she hadn’t said anything to Gavin for some time. She had a habit of doing that. Losing herself in her thoughts and forgetting who was right in front of her. Gavin was awfully patient and sweet with her. It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t give her what she needed. Especially since she didn’t even know what that might be.

  She gave him her sweetest smile. “Are you ready for the game tomorrow? Do you have a…what is it…a game plan?”

  “Oh, I have a game plan, all right.” The black gleam in his eyes gave her the strangest shiver deep in her belly.

  “Oh?” She took another sip of red wine. “What is it?”

  “We’re going to a party tonight.”

  “What?” She frowned at the idea of Gavin and the team leaving for a party the night before a game. “That doesn’t sound very wise.”

  “No, it’s probably not wise at all.”

  “I hope you’ll keep an eye on the guys. We wouldn’t want them to get into too much trouble.”

  “The guys have nothing to do with it. Only you and I are invited.” He raised an eyebrow as if daring her to argue.

  Heat streaked through her. Her mouth went dry. She swallowed. “A…party? Tonight?” I’m too tired, she wanted to say. I should get some sleep. But it wasn’t true. She felt wide awake. She watched Gavin, feeling as though she was the prey to his predator, mouse to his snake.

  But that was silly. This was Gavin. Solid, strong Gavin.

  Except for that new gleam in his eye, that twist in his lips. She wet her mouth with another sip of wine. “What kind of party?” she managed to squeak.

  He cocked his head. “Let’s call it a masquerade party.”

  “Oh.” A weird mixture of relief and disappointment made her slump back in her chair. “I wouldn’t have anything to wear to something like that.”

  “Don’t worry about that.”

  Her mind wheeled in a dozen different directions. What did he mean, don’t worry about that? Were clothes not involved in a party like this? Or did it not matter what she wore? What kind of party was this?

  Gavin signaled for the check. She watched him scan it briefly then hand over his credit card. The waiter hurried off with it, obeying the understated air of command Gavin carried with him like a second skin. Gavin was a natural leader. People always instinctively looked to him for direction. She’d used his strength as a crutch during her mother’s illness and death. He’d always used his strength to protect her.

  But now she wanted more than protection.

  As soon as the waiter returned his card, Gavin stood. “Ready?” He guided her out of the restaurant with his hand on the small of her back, where it began to curve into her buttocks. The skin of her ass tingled. Why didn’t he lower his hand? Give her a sharp thwack right on the flesh that silently screamed for it?

  She shook herself. What was she thinking? Too much wine, that was it.

  She clung to that mantra as they walked back to the Wild Times Roadhouse through bitterly cold air. Too much wine explained the heat that had pooled between her legs when he’d wrapped the scarf around her head. Too much wine explained her lightness—not just lightheadedness, but lightness. Walking next to Gavin made her feel as if she were floating across the new snow, through the deep blackness of the wintry night.

  And too much wine explained the fervent kiss she planted on his lips when he brought her to the door of their room. When it ended, the quickened pace of his breathing gave her a deep satisfaction.

  He firmly put her aside. “Temptress. I’m going to go check on the team. Better to know what I’m going to be facing tomorrow. We’ll go to the party as soon as I get back. Make sure you’re dressed.”