As soon as they reached the bedroom, she sat on the bed to pull off her boots, but he crouched before her and pulled them off for her. She loved his tenderness and helpfulness. He yanked off his boots next. She stood up from the bed and began stripping off her clothes, her sweater going first, his after that.

  Then he wrapped his arms around her in a wondrous, loving embrace. “You saved me not only from death in the swimming pool but a lonely existence that I hadn’t even realized I’d had,” he said, looking down into her eyes with his beautiful blue-eyed gaze.

  She smiled up at him, hugging him back. “Being with you has been the best thing ever for me. I was just as lonely, only I wasn’t fully aware of it because I’d had my family around me so much of the time. All my life, actually. But I needed to find my own mate.”

  “I’m glad you chose me to be the one.” He cupped her face and kissed her. “I couldn’t be luckier than that.”

  She kissed him back, their tongues teasing, tangling, tasting each other’s, their hearts already beating harder, the heat filling her blood. She knew it wasn’t that she had to shift, though for a moment she had worried about it. But no, it was all due to Dylan, the wolf and man who could make her heart sing with a whispered word, a sigh, a smoldering smile, a lingering gaze.

  “I haven’t been into hugging people much,” he said quite honestly, as if that was a shortcoming of his.

  But she’d found him totally huggable, and he’d sincerely returned the affection when her family or others in the pack had embraced him. She realized it was probably because he hadn’t been around other wolves that much, no family, friends who were wolves. It was understandable that he hadn’t been hugged all that much or felt the need to hug anyone else. Not until he arrived in the wolf pack of Silver Town, all well meaning and welcoming.

  “Does it bother you?” she asked, determined to let him know just how much his hugs meant to her.

  He smiled. “No. Truly, it’s been amazing. But I love hugging you the most. I just wanted to tell you it’s something I haven’t experienced in a long time. Since my parents died actually.”

  She hated that he hadn’t had them in his life, and she was all for making it up to him. “Well, as long as you’re all right with it, you’ll have a ton of wolves who will give you hugs. Me most of all.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  “Good.” She was glad he liked the affection because she was certainly the one to show it. Then she began kissing him again while she tried to unbuckle his belt. She unzipped his zipper, and he removed his pants and worked on her skirt button.

  But then, as if he changed his mind, he moved her to the bed and laid her down, lifted her skirt up, and pulled off her tights. He removed her panties and tackled her bra, slipping it off her and tossing it aside.

  Then he hurried to tug off his boxer briefs, but she was still wearing her skirt! He slid his hand up her naked thigh, teasing her. She wanted his fingers stroking her in the center between her legs now. But she had to admit this was erotic, and she felt a hint of naughtiness while not being able to see where his fingers were traveling as his mouth latched onto a nipple and sucked.

  She loved when he did that. It made her nether region tingle with need even more than it had been. But his fingers were moving too slowly for her, and she wanted to guide them just where she wanted them to work their magic.

  But then he was caressing her short, curly hairs, searching for the right spot, and she was barely breathing in anticipation. He moved his mouth to her other breast, and she was concentrating on the sensory nerves in her nipple that were jumping with excitement at his touch when he began to stroke her between the legs. Oh, she was in heaven.

  He was totally a keeper. She had no doubt in her mind about that. She arched against his fingers, wanting faster strokes, harder, yes, there, perfect. She clutched at his arms, not realizing she was doing it until he moved his mouth to kiss hers and his movement clued her in. She moved her hands over his back, sweeping down his muscles, realizing just where they were taking this. It wasn’t just making love to another person. This time, they were taking it all the way. This time, they would be one for life.

  But his strokes were stealing her thoughts and all she could feel was the core of her rising up to respond to his intimate touch, their pheromones swirling around each other in a mating dance of their own, the overwhelming love that enveloped her until she cried out with orgasmic delight. She truly was glad she was alone with him in the house now!

  Then his heated, passionate, ravishing kiss gentled. He pulled his mouth away from hers, her hands gently grasping his neck, wanting to pull him close for another kiss, but she waited to hear what he had to say. To see if he was going to kill her with the announcement that they should wait a bit longer.

  “You’re—” he started to say.

  “Ready, yes, go, do it.”

  “Before you change your mind?” he asked, arching a brow.

  She gave him a slow, predatory smile. “Before you change yours.”

  He laughed and the sound of his fun-loving laughter tickled her.

  “All right.” He pulled off her skirt and centered himself on top of her and pushed in gently at first until he filled her all the way to the hilt. He held himself there. “All good?”

  “Keep going.” It was done. He had penetrated her with his sex, and they were mated wolves. But he had to find his pleasure in her too.

  He began to thrust, his beautiful body working over her, his muscles bunching up and fascinating her, the smell of their muskiness filling her with fresh need.

  Her own body was thrumming with her recent climax, and he was so hard and huge that she loved the way he filled her up. She rocked against him, but then he paused again. Was he coming too soon? But then he moved beside her so that he could come in from behind, drawing her leg over his, and he began thrusting again, only now he could reach her clit and he began to stroke her again. She didn’t think she could come again so soon. But he was so hard and this was so erotic, especially with the way he nibbled her ear, licking her neck and kissing her shoulder, stroking her to encourage her to come, that she felt the climax rising in her again.

  She placed her hand over his, moving his fingers faster, harder, slower, slower, hard, but slow, and then she was crying out again, not believing he could make her come in such a position. Then he was groaning out her name, sounding satisfied as his warm seed spilled inside her.

  For a moment, they lay there joined, perspiring, happy, tired, feeling great. He kissed her, then smiled. “Shower time?”

  She smiled. “Anytime.”

  Without another moment’s hesitation, he scooped her up and carried her into the shower. She couldn’t believe it when he began to wash her that he was hardening up at the same time. “That’s what you do to me.”

  She smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck, rubbed her body against him, and felt his erection brush up against her. “I knew you were the only one for me.”

  She realized now her house would be his house. He would be part owner of the lodge too. Their family was expanding by one. Kids would probably follow. They would have a pack within the pack of their very own.

  Chapter 18

  After Dylan and Roxie finished eating blueberry waffles covered with blueberry syrup that morning, he pulled her onto his lap at the dining table. “Waking up to you is the grandest thing ever.” He gave her a leisurely kiss on the mouth, licking the blueberry syrup clinging to her lips.

  “I love my new routine.” She licked his lips and smiled. “You taste so sweet.”

  “You are sweet.”

  “Only when I’m not riled.” She smiled sweetly with a hint of mischief. “So I have an anniversary party to manage today. You’re going in to the jailhouse to talk to Xander and Fennel, right?”

  “Yeah. I’m afraid they’re going to be released, then return to Denver. I need to talk to them before they go,” Dylan said.

  “Good luck on learning what you can from them, especially concerning where Jim might have run off to.”

  “Thanks.” He had mixed feelings about learning where Jim might be. If Dylan had more places to look, he was afraid he’d be gone for some time and miss being with Roxie. With her in it, his life had changed so much for the better. “I hope your party goes perfectly right.”

  “It will, I’m certain.”

  They cleaned up after breakfast and called her family on a conference call to give them the news that she and Dylan were mated.

  “Hey, we won that bet hands down,” Landon said.

  Blake agreed.

  “I thought you weren’t sure about me mating Dylan, Landon,” Roxie said.

  “I always knew it would happen,” Landon said.

  Kayla laughed.

  Then everyone congratulated them, including Gabrielle before she went to the vet clinic and Nate, who was getting ready to check on a client’s case of potential employee fraud. Nate and Nicole’s mother, Nelda, said, “You realize we’re adopting you like the rest of the kids, right, Dylan?”

  As if Dylan and the Wolff siblings were kids, but Roxie loved how Nicole and Nate’s parents treated them all like their own kids.

  “Yeah, I couldn’t be more delighted,” Dylan said.

  “Well, we knew it was a sure thing,” Nelda said. “We bet on the two of you both mating too.”

  Gary, Nate and Nicole’s father, agreed.

  Roxie laughed. She had never expected Nate and Nicole’s parents to bet on them too.

  “This is cause for a family celebration. A night at Sam and Silva’s tavern for a dinner out or a family dinner at home?” Kayla asked.

  “I opt for a night out,” Gabrielle said, Nicole agreeing.

  “All right. As soon as we can schedule it, that’s what we’ll do.” Roxie was thrilled everyone was so welcoming to Dylan.

  Then everyone said goodbye, though she’d see her siblings in a few minutes. She kissed and hugged Dylan. “They love you like I love you.”

  “I’m glad for that. As much as Jim is a menace to society, I do have him to thank for helping bring us together.”

  Smiling, Roxie shook her head. “I would have loved if it had been in a different way. Like running into you in the pool while you were wearing swim trunks—the right attire.”

  “Yeah, that would have worked for sure.” Except he would never have been swimming in their pool for recreational fun. Not when he had a job to do.

  When Roxie walked inside the lodge, Dylan drove into town, eager to learn anything more about Jim’s whereabouts from Fennel and Xander. Dylan arrived at the jailhouse, and Peter and CJ greeted him, both holding on to mugs of coffee.

  “We just fed them,” Peter said.

  Dylan took a deep breath of the aroma at the lounge of the sheriff’s office. “It smells like someone had ham and cheese omelets.”

  “Yep. We treat our prisoners right.” Peter took a swig of his coffee.

  “Did you get anything more out of them?” Dylan asked.

  “No. We’ve been monitoring everything they’ve been saying to each other, though we have them separated so they can’t see each other. They were talking about the weather, seeing their families, wishing things had turned out differently, but no specifics.” Peter motioned with his coffee mug in the direction of the cells. “Who do you want to talk to first? We’ll move him into the interrogation room.”

  “Xander.” Dylan hoped he had changed his mind about keeping mum about the whole thing. Dylan wasn’t sure Fennel knew anything more, but he was going to question him too.

  CJ walked into the cell block. “You have a visitor.”

  When Xander saw it was Dylan, his whole posture sagged as if he thought he had a friend coming to see him and was feeling more upbeat until he realized Dylan was about to interrogate him.

  “Come in here and take a seat, Xander. Do you want some more coffee? What about you, Dylan?” CJ asked.

  “Yeah, that would be good. A teaspoon of sugar, lots of milk or cream for me. Thanks, CJ,” Dylan said.

  “Me too,” Xander said.

  After CJ brought them their coffees, Dylan took a seat across from Xander. Dylan knew CJ and Peter would be watching and listening in on the conversation through a one-way mirror, unless they had to leave for something that required their immediate attention.

  “All right, so you know that Jim took off with all your luggage and Eddie’s car and left the two of you stranded,” Dylan said.

  “You know, you and the others have been all over me about all this,” Xander said.

  “Right. But what we need to know is where Jim might have gone to. If he figured his grandfather’s cabin was too hot and we’d be looking for him there, where else could he have gone?”

  Xander huffed. “So Jim must have figured that and told us to rendezvous with him there anyway.” He was holding on to his cup of coffee with his good hand, the other bandaged. He was looking into it as if he could find the courage to tell them the truth or maybe a way to get himself out of the mess he was in. “Okay, if I tell you some other locations where he might have gone, what if he tries to kill me? Or Fennel even, thinking either one of us or both of us had told on him?”

  “If we can locate him, we’re taking him into custody.”

  Xander let go of his cup and ran his hand through his hair. “The sheriff told us the DA said we’d get a deal if we testified against Jim.”

  “Yeah, but we need to locate him and take him into custody.”

  “All right.” Xander cupped his coffee cup again. “There are four other places we used to go for hunting that you might not know about. They’re not that far from Jim’s grandfather’s cabin. About fifteen to twenty miles.”

  “He owns several?” Dylan was kind of surprised because when he’d checked property records for Jim, he hadn’t seen anything other than Jim’s palatial home in Denver. And he already knew about his grandfather’s cabin.

  Xander shook his head. “Two are cabins owned by lawyer friends of his. They rent them out when they’re not using them. They have families and I know at least one of them is in Cancún right now.” He told Dylan the names of the lawyers and an idea of where the cabins were located. “Another is an abandoned structure, but it has a fireplace, roof, walls, and windows. The inside is pretty sparse. Just about anybody uses it. We’ve met up with other hunters there, hikers even, looking to get out of the cold for the night and warm up by the fireplace.”

  Dylan suspected CJ or Peter was looking for the locations of the cabins right now as Xander told him about them. “And the fourth place?”

  “A condo at Breckinridge Ski Resort. The place is booked solid for the ski season, so I mentioned it last. Unless Jim moves in on someone who has leased it, I doubt he’d go there.” Xander gave him the address. “I mean, the only other places he would go would be to see his parents, grandparents, and a sister in Denver. But I’m sure you already know about all that, and most likely someone’s been watching them.”

  “Right.” They needed out-of-the-way locations where Jim could be hiding out. It would be too easy to catch him at a family’s residence. The police in Denver and a couple of the FWS guys there were watching the family’s homes. “Is he pretty well equipped to stay out in this weather for days on end, do you think?”

  “He’s pretty handy at wilderness survival, but I don’t believe he’ll be able to manage weeks of living in the snow without finding a place to hole up.”

  “All right. Can you think of anything else that might help us in locating him?” Dylan asked.

  Xander’s eyes teared up. “Eddie was our friend. He didn’t deserve to die. I blame Fennel for revealing the affair Eddie was having with Jim’s supposed girlfriend and not letting sleeping dogs lie.”

  “Did you know about the affair?” Dylan asked.

  “Yeah, of course. I knew about it. The guys think I’m clueless about what’s going on sometimes, but I don’t get into the squabbles. I just ignore them, trying to pretend none of it exists. I was mortified when Jim raised his rifle to shoot Eddie. I thought he was just threatening him. I didn’t think he was actually going to shoot him. When he fired his rifle, I was numb. I watched Eddie stare at him for a moment, his jaw dropped, then the firearm went off. Eddie clutched his chest, and then he went down. There was a hell of a lot of blood.

  “For what seemed like forever, none of us moved. Jim had lowered his rifle, but I–I just wanted to blend in with the snowy woods and pretend I wasn’t there, that I hadn’t seen what Jim had done. I was just in shock. So was Fennel. I knew—since he’d been the one to let the cat out of the bag—that he felt Jim would turn his rifle on him. If Jim had killed Fennel, he would have killed me too, since I would have been the last eyewitness. At least that’s what we thought.”

  Xander drank the rest of his coffee. “Then we heard the kid in the woods, and we all realized he probably witnessed the whole rotten mess. That’s when Jim told us to help him bury Eddie fast. There was all that blood on top of the snow.” Xander gave a little shudder. “It took forever to cover it all up. And Eddie too. Then Jim told us to go after the kid. We’d taken too long to bury everything so by the time we found the tent, the teen—we discovered at that point—was gone and we couldn’t locate him. Jim was frustrated and furious. That’s when he said we had to split forces and search a broader area for the kid. Of course, I worried that there’d be more of them. I couldn’t imagine a sixteen-year-old on his own out in the snowstorm that was brewing. I tell you, I wouldn’t have done anything to him if I’d found him. Just told him to get as far away from us as he could.”

  Dylan wasn’t sure he believed him.

  Xander scoffed. “Hell, the one who was in danger ended up being me.” He raised his bandaged hand.

  Dylan shook his head. “Fennel said it was up to Jim as to what you did to the boy.”

  “Hell, no. I was like Fennel, wanting to stick together, but when Jim left us, I told Fennel we needed to rendezvous at Jim’s cabin like he told us to do and forget the kid. The boy wasn’t going to survive out there, and we couldn’t find him anyway. We couldn’t get any cell phone reception at that point, so we couldn’t check in with Jim. We trudged through the snow for what seemed like hours. Then Fennel and I argued about the quickest way to the cabin. That was my stupid mistake. I was sure he was leading us in the wrong direction. I tend to get turned around in the woods, but I couldn’t admit it to either Fennel or myself.”