She hoped she wasn’t being presumptuous that he would want the same thing as she did. But she wanted to know what it would be like to be with him. She’d never taken it that far with a wolf before, and as long as they didn’t consummate the relationship, they would be good. But she really wanted to be with Landon. He was like no other wolf she’d ever met. She felt comfortable around him, and when they were apart, she looked forward to being with him again. She fantasized about him in bed with her, something she’d never done with any wolf she’d met passing through Daytona Beach.

  “You can get dressed in my room since my friends aren’t here yet.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

  Of course she didn’t want him to get dressed right away. She just had to get him to a nice private place to reveal her own plan. Forget thinking about tomorrow’s planned activities.

  After he grabbed his bag, they walked upstairs to the hallway and then headed to her room.

  She glanced at 202, thinking about the cats they’d found.

  “I’m glad we found the cats,” he said, taking her hand and going to her room as if they were courting already.

  “Yeah, me too.”

  When she reached the room, she used her security key card and opened the door. Then she pulled him into the room with her. She slipped her cover-up off and tossed it on a chair to the dining table while he closed the door. She kicked off her flip-flops and he removed his sandals.

  He motioned to the bedroom. “Do you want me to change in there?”

  “Um, we have to straighten some things out between us first.” She headed into the bathroom to remove her string bikini.

  He joined her in there and set his beach towel on the bathroom counter. “Do you need help?”

  She smiled. “Sure. You can untie the strings since they can be difficult to untie when they’re wet.” Just a little bit. She really didn’t have to untie all the strings either, but if he was game, then maybe he would be for all the rest too.

  “This is just like untying the ribbons on a Christmas package.” He untied the back of her bikini top, then ran his hands up her bare midriff to her breasts under her top and massaged.

  She smiled. His warm hands on her chilly breasts felt marvelous. He pressed his body against her back, his mouth caressing the side of her neck with whisper-soft kisses.

  Ohmigod, yes, this was just what she had wanted and he was doing everything right.

  He moved his hands around to her back and untied the neck of her bikini and let it drop to the floor. Then his hands were on her breasts again, his mouth hot and sexy as he kissed her shoulders and back and then the side of her neck again. She felt so incredibly needy, and she’d never thought she would feel that way about a male wolf. He had all the right moves to get her pheromones raring to go. Not to mention she could smell his testosterone spiking, a total turn-on. His body moved deliciously against her backside, his arousal eager for her stroke.

  This would be even better, she thought. That way there would be no sign that she and he had sex in her bed. Instead, they could wash the chlorine off their skin, have unconsummated sex in the shower, wash away the evidence, and dress. Now that was a plan. And that was the problem with their sensitive sense of smell. It was challenging to keep anything hidden when everyone around them also had such a keen sense of smell.

  She slipped her hands down to her bikini bottoms and was going to just pull them off, skipping the ties. It was easier than having to tie the swimsuit bottoms back on if she wanted to wear them in the pool again. But Landon was eager to finish what he had started, and he moved his hands down to untie first the right side of her bikini bottoms. She kept them from slipping down her legs by closing her thighs around the crotch. Then he untied the other and she let the bikini bottoms fall to the floor.

  “Should we shower first before we dress?” she asked.

  “Yeah. That’s a good idea.” He was letting her set the pace, and she was glad he didn’t just take charge and act like she was desperate to have him, even if she was.

  She stripped off his damp T-shirt and tossed it on the floor, then pulled him against her to kiss him. “First, I don’t… I haven’t ever done this with another wolf.”

  “Taken a wolf into a bathroom after swimming to shower with him?” The devil sparkled in Landon’s dark-brown eyes; his mouth curved upward.

  “Anytime, bedroom, bathroom, anywhere.”

  “Me either.”

  She chuckled. Then she kissed him again and he cupped her buttocks with his hot hands, making her realize her tush was cold. But the front of her pressed against his body? Sizzling.

  Their tongues slid over each other’s in a mating dance, even if they weren’t about to mate. This was more of a test to see just how compatible they could be in the affection department. And he was winning points all over the place.

  He nuzzled her lips with his, his heart beating hard like hers was. They sucked on each other’s lips and rubbed their scent over each other’s bodies. It was really an innate wolf need, and it stirred things up even hotter between them.

  He felt divine and she wanted to take this to her bed, but she didn’t want the maid service to know she had been with Landon like this.

  She slid her hands down his backside, cupping his wet board shorts clinging to his muscled gluteus maximus. And then she pressed him harder against her, wanting to feel the extent of his steel-rod erection. Beautiful. She slid her hands down the waistband of his board shorts and ran her hands over his bare buttocks. His felt as cold as hers. Now it was time to hit the shower.

  She pulled off his board shorts, watched his arousal spring free with fascination, and gave him a hug and kiss, wanting to feel his bare skin against hers.

  He ran his hands through her damp hair, kissing her right back. “You are irresistible.”

  “So are you.” Which was a problem because she had to return to Daytona Beach without him.

  She pulled away from him long enough to turn on the shower and got it just hot enough, and then she climbed into the bathtub and reached out her hand to him. She hoped the pulsating shower worked for him. It seemed to suit the romantic mood. “Join me, if you don’t mind using coconut snowball shampoo and bodywash. I know you have shampoo samples for the lodge guests, but I always save them for my friends.”

  He smiled and took her hand and joined her in the bathtub. “Coconut snowball shampoo works for me. It sounds like a mixture of you being from Florida and me from the snow country.”

  She laughed. “It does.”

  Though Gabrielle realized if he smelled like coconut instead of chlorine when he went home tonight, his sisters would know something more was going on between Landon and her. Then again, anything he used would clue them in that he’d showered before he returned home.

  It couldn’t be helped. She wanted him. And she knew he wanted her.

  She settled her arms around his neck, and he slid his hands down her sides until he reached her hips and pulled her snug against his body, the warm water sluicing down their skin. She thought of soaping up his glorious, muscled body first, but then they would have to clean up again, so she went right to kissing his mouth and rubbing her body against his hard erection and chest.

  His mouth was hot on hers, languorous at first but then building up the passion, and she matched his actions move for move, totally in sync. He was a dream lover in the flesh.

  His hands moved to her breasts and he massaged them before kissing her throat and licking the water off it. His tongue licking her skin tickled, and she smiled and kissed his forehead. His hands were warm and strong but gentle on her breasts. Then he moved one of his hands down between her legs and began to rub her clit. She moaned with delight.

  She was already slick with need and he was making her even hotter and wetter. He tilted his head and kissed her mouth again, his tongue roaming over hers. She had to cling to his shoulders while his thumb was doing such sweet caresses to her nub. He leaned down and kissed her breasts.

  Every one of his moves pushed her sexual buttons just right, and she felt as though she were a shooting star, high above in the heavens, reaching a place of no return. Her body craved his, wanted the sexual fulfillment of him penetrating her feminine sheath with his rigid erection.

  The climax hit, and she shattered, falling from that high place of pure enjoyment. He muffled her cry with a well-placed kiss, and she kissed him back and then smiled up at him. She hadn’t considered that he would make her cry out in pleasure when they were in the bathroom in her room at the lodge. The walls weren’t all that thick!

  Now it was his turn, and she hoped she could do as great a job on him as he had done on her. She slid her hands down his chest and reached out to touch his erection, but as soon as she took a firm hold and began to stroke him, he cupped her face and kissed her.

  What a beautiful way to end the day.

  * * *

  Landon had no idea he would end up in Gabrielle’s bathtub in her room, both of them pleasuring each other. He was kissing her mouth, trying to enjoy the sweet taste of her, but her stroking his cock was garnering most of his attention. She was soft in all the right places, her breasts and bottom, her mouth—so kissable.

  He had envisioned being with her like this, pleasuring her…well, not quite like this—he was a wolf after all—but nothing he could imagine would have readied him to feel the heady experience of just how wonderful being with her could be. And unwrapping her like a Christmas present had made it all the more titillating for him.

  Their tongues laved over each other’s and he felt the end coming, but he wished it was just the beginning. He was too aware of the time quickly approaching when she would leave for home.

  The shower water was still hot as it poured down over them, but she was making him even hotter as she continued to stroke him. And then he came with a groan of pleasure, and he kissed her again, feeling intoxicating delight that he wished he could experience with her forever.

  The soap regimen began as she poured bodywash on her hands and started soaping him down and he did the same for her. He was in heaven. Silky skin made even silkier with every soapy stroke. Then she quit running it over his skin and leaned against him and began rubbing her body against his, beautiful breasts, mons, thighs. Man, she was a wild wolf. Using both his hands, he rubbed her silky shoulders and leaned down to kiss her. He didn’t want this to be the first and last time they would enjoy each other’s company like this. He didn’t even want to leave her tonight. He wanted to see her for every minute of the day and night until she left. And he already knew he would miss her terribly when she was gone.

  After kissing and cleaning each other up, every inch feeling like they were getting ready to have sex again, he began soaping up her hair. He felt like he was on an island paradise with the mermaid wolf of the sea as he leaned down and let her soap his hair also. Her fingers massaged his scalp in a loving way, and he felt like he could collapse in her bed and pull her into his arms and sleep the night away with her.

  Then they rinsed off and grabbed towels and began drying each other off.

  She smiled up at him. “Well, I hadn’t expected to do this, just saying, but I’m glad we did.”

  “Yeah, I feel the same way.”

  She hung her towel up on the rack. “I’m worried the maid service would know you slept with me if you stayed—”

  “It doesn’t bother me.”

  “Hmm, what if they talked to the whole pack about it?”

  “They won’t tell. I promise.” They would be fired if anyone in his employ did.

  She sighed. “Well, I don’t want you to go home tonight, but your sisters will know that you stayed with me and—”

  Landon smiled. “They’ll know I’m doing my job in trying to convince you that you belong here with us.”

  “With you.”

  He smiled even more. “Yeah, well, that much is true. I’ll just text them and tell them I got hung up at the lodge and I’ll see them tomorrow.”

  “Oh, I can hear all the conjecture now.”

  “My sisters would know something was up when they smelled your coconut fragrance on me.”

  “Yeah, I figured that too. Well, tell the family that you’re too tired to take that walk through the snow tonight.”

  He laughed and texted Kayla: Staying at the lodge tonight. See you all in the morning.

  Kayla texted back: We were about to send out a search party!

  He smiled and texted: I’m good.

  Hell, better than good. Walking-on-the-moon good.

  Kayla texted: We’ll bring a change of clothes for you first thing in the morning. Mum’s the word, right?

  Yes! Night!

  Kayla texted: Night, you clever wolf, you.

  Landon smiled since it had been all Gabrielle’s idea for him to join her in her room. He set his phone on the bedside table.

  “When my friends get here”—Gabrielle had finished blow-drying her hair and climbed under the covers naked—“we can’t do this.”

  “We could make other arrangements.” He climbed under the covers with her. “You could stay at my sisters’ and my house. We have a guest room downstairs.”

  Gabrielle curled up against Landon. “Are the walls more solid?”

  He chuckled and ran his hand through her silky, soft hair. “Nicole and Blake used it until their house was built. We couldn’t hear them from the upstairs bedrooms. So yeah, it’s more soundproof.”

  “My girlfriends will be shocked.”

  “Hey, they were the ones who haven’t joined you yet.”

  She smiled and kissed Landon’s chest and took a deep breath. “I sure was lucky for that.”

  Landon sure was too.

  Chapter 13

  In the middle of the night, Gabrielle had woken with a start when she felt a hot, sexy male body that she’d been curled up against. For an instant, she hadn’t remembered that Landon was in bed with her. Then she recalled the shower and steamy shower play with him, and then more in bed. Hmm. Forget worrying about the maid service knowing what they had been up to. Landon certainly had stamina, and she didn’t want to get up yet.

  Cradled in his arms, she wanted to sleep in all the rest of the morning. She kissed his scruffy cheek. “Hey, do you want to skip swimming? We could get room service before we go to the animal clinic.” She really didn’t feel like going anywhere first thing this morning—not after such a wild night—and she was thoroughly enjoying Landon’s company.

  He smiled at her. “Yeah, let’s do that.” He kissed her. “Are you sure you want to skip swimming?”

  She stretched out in bed and ran her hand over his head. “Yeah. Some things in life are more important than swimming, even.”

  “For a mermaid, that’s saying a lot.”

  She chuckled. “Okay, so what’s on the menu?”

  “Besides you?”

  She laughed. “We do have a vet’s appointment and”—he opened his mouth to speak and she quickly silenced him—“you can’t keep the doctor waiting.”

  He sighed dramatically. “How about a loaded potato-tot waffle—the bacon and waffle are the best.”

  “Hmm, okay, sounds good to me. I’m going to take a shower and get dressed.” She left the bed and he ordered breakfast.

  “Yeah, Minx, room service for Gabrielle. Two orders of the potato-tot waffles and coffee. Uh, yeah, she’s extra hungry,” Landon said over the phone.

  “Earl Grey tea for me.” Smiling, Gabrielle started the water for her shower and climbed in. She kept telling herself she couldn’t move away from Daytona Beach, but after a night with the wolf in her bed? She had to seriously start rethinking things.

  * * *

  While Gabrielle was in the shower, there was a knock on the door and Landon opened it to find Roxie with his change of clothes. She smiled brightly at him and handed the bag over. “You had a good night, I hope. We looked to see if the two of you were swimming this morning before the pool opened, but you must have skipped that part. Oh”—Roxie took a deep breath—“I love your new shampoo.”

  He smiled.

  They heard the cart coming with breakfast. “Hmm, breakfast in bed. You’re doing good. I better go before Gabrielle catches me talking about the two of you.”

  “Thanks, Roxie.” Running his hand over his stubble, Landon hoped Roxie had put a shaving kit in his bag.

  Then Roxie wished them both well and headed down the hall and the breakfast was served. When the waiter left, Landon said, “Breakfast is here.”

  Gabrielle came out of the bathroom wearing a towel. “I forgot to grab my clothes.”

  He smiled. “No problem there. I’ll take a quick shower and join you for breakfast.” He carried his bag into the bathroom and took a superfast shower, dried off, shaved, dressed, and joined her.

  “Ohmigosh, this is so good.” Gabrielle was sitting on the chair, wearing jeans, blue socks, and a bright-blue sweater featuring a Santa waterskiing in a swimming suit and Santa hat.

  It suited her, but he was thinking she would look better in a shirt with a Colorado wolf wearing a Santa hat. He sat down at the table. “Yeah, this is my favorite breakfast dish.”

  “Who delivered your bag?”

  “Roxie.”

  “And?” Gabrielle dunked a tea bag in a mug of hot water.

  “She noticed the coconut shampoo right away.” Landon took a bite of his waffle.

  “I’m sure your family is getting a kick out of it.”

  “Yeah, they were watching for us to come down to swim in the pool.”

  Gabrielle laughed. “We’ll just have to keep them guessing.”