She slid his suspenders off his shoulders, pulled down his zipper, and then began to take off his pants. He helped her, and then she pressed her body against his aroused one. He felt divine beneath her. “God, I love you,” she said.

  “I don’t know how I managed without you,” Derek said, his voice husky with desire.

  “Me either,” she said, smiling before she kissed him again on the mouth.

  He chuckled. “I love you with all my heart.” Then he slid his arms around her back and unfastened her bra. She felt free of confinement until he moved her onto her back, and he covered her breasts with his hands, placed a knee between her legs, and kissed her mouth.

  He started to kiss her breasts. And she loved the way he licked her nipples, making both tingle and ache, and that made her nether region throb even more for his intimate touch. She reached down to relieve him of his boxer briefs. Then he was slipping the scrap of lace and silk panties off her bottom.

  His beautiful eyes were filled with lust, looking at her with love and admiration and hunger—definitely hunger, as if he wanted to memorize this moment for all time and didn’t want to rush this. He slid his hand over her belly and then lower, through her short curly hairs, and then he connected with her nubbin. He began to rub her in the most pleasing way.

  Oh, sweet, yes! She was so glad she was keeping him for her own! His finger was working magic on her when he speared her mouth with his tongue and deepened the kiss. She moaned softly, loving the way he was stroking her, the way he was kissing her.

  Then she kissed him back, combing her fingers through his silky hair. He stole her thoughts with his heady strokes on her nubbin, and she felt the climax coming, climbing, peaking, and then it hit hard.

  “Are you ready?” he asked, his voice thick with lust.

  “Yeah. I am.” She was so glad to do it.

  He pressed his stiff erection between her legs and pushed home. He forged forward, and she loved how he filled her to the max. Her heart and his were pounding like crazy, the blood rushing to her head. He captured her mouth, his body moving against hers in a mating dance.

  He was so well built, his body perfect against hers, and she rubbed her foot against the back of his thigh, her hands sweeping down his arms. Then he was coming in a heavy groan, releasing, pumping, kissing her. He drove into her harder, faster, and continued to thrust into her until he was spent.

  “Oh, baby, I love you,” he said, hugging her tight against him.

  “I love you, Derek.” He was too good to be true.

  He sighed. “You’re amazing.”

  “So. Are. You.”

  He finally pulled out of her and cuddled her in his arms. “Life will never be the same again.”

  “That’s a good thing. A wonderful thing.” Now they had to tell everyone, and she needed to move in. Whoever would have thought she would mate the wolf who had taken her to the gala because he’d been dumped by his human date!

  Chapter 25

  Snuggling with Kate that night, Derek couldn’t believe that he and she were mated wolves now, and he couldn’t love her more. He had been hoping for this ever since he took her out to their first social engagement. He’d loved how she had shown her wolfish possessiveness over him, kissing him to claim him in front of Brenda, showing a natural instinct when a wolf was intrigued with another, just like he had been intrigued with her and had been from the start.

  He had known beyond a doubt that Kate was the wolf for him. He was afraid he would have had to work for months to convince her of it, but when she said she had wanted to mate tonight, he couldn’t have been more ecstatic. He hoped she didn’t mind telling the world first thing tomorrow morning about it because he wanted everyone to know they were getting married. In the wolf way, they would be lifetime mates after they had consummated love, but humans wouldn’t understand it was a forever deal with them, no marriage license needed. So they mated, or to the humans’ way of thinking, were engaged to be married, and when they had time, they’d plan their wedding.

  “Let’s get married in Hawaii,” she said.

  “You mean use our free excursion trip for that?”

  “Sure, but we’ll be there for longer, for a honeymoon too. Everyone we would want to attend can afford it. We’ll just try to plan it for when Aidan and Holly’s babies can travel and before Lexi is too far along to fly and everyone else can plan some time off to do it,” Kate said.

  “Rafe has a plane we can use to take the lot of us,” Derek said.

  Kate smiled. “That’s perfect. And if anyone wants to shift while en route, they can.”

  “Yeah, like Holly, if she’s still nursing her babies.”

  For a little bit, they were quiet. She was running her hand over Derek’s stomach in a gentle caress, and he was running his hand over her bare arm.

  “Love you.” She kissed his chest and then nestled her head against him.

  “Love you too.” He kissed the top of her head. He felt on top of the world, and he knew just what it was like for his good friends who were all mated wolves.

  They finally fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  The next morning, Derek found a wolf nuzzling his back instead of a woman cuddling up to his backside. He chuckled, turned, and ran his hand over Kate’s furry head. He was always amazed how pretty she was whether she was ready for the beach, swimming in his pool, or hiking in a park. When she dressed up for the social events, she was gorgeous. In her fur coat, she was just as beautiful.

  “Man, you’re beautiful.” He kissed her. “All right, wolf run now.” He could take a hint.

  He shifted, and she jumped out of bed. He leapt off the bed on her side and raced after her, expecting her to go to the dog door in his bedroom.

  She raced out of the bedroom instead, heading for the only dog door she knew about in the kitchen!

  Will waved at them from the living room. “Morning.”

  They both woofed at him, low woofs though because they knew if Will was up, Cliff was sleeping.

  Then Derek and Kate were outside and racing across the pool patio and down the steps. Derek shifted so he could unlock the gate, open it, and then stepped outside the gate while she ran into the sand. He locked the gate and shifted. They ran down the beach, the wind in their fur, the sound of the waves lapping at the shore. It was dark out still, the sand and white caps on the waves seemingly illuminated with their wolf vision. He never saw anyone on the beach this early, and he hoped he never would.

  It was the perfect place to get a wolf workout in the evenings after it closed or early in the morning—or both.

  He usually ran with one of the guys, but running with Kate was even better. Her tongue was hanging out, and so was his.

  They had run on the sand in the cool early morning sea air for about two miles when they saw a patrol officer on the beach with a flashlight.

  Great! Derek and Kate did a swift turnaround and raced as fast as they could back toward his home and safety. They were so far away from the officer that Derek didn’t think he could see them in the dark when the beam of the flashlight didn’t carry that far. But he didn’t want the officer to see where Kate and he ended up either—opening the gate to his estate. Especially when he had to get naked to do it. Then he could be charged with being on the beach after it was closed, being naked on the beach, and having a dog on the beach, and the dog wasn’t even a dog but a wolf.

  He unlocked the gate, they headed inside, and he shut it, the lock clicking automatically. Then he shifted into his wolf and ran up the stairs with Kate.

  He was glad they hadn’t gotten caught. He and she rested their paws on the wall and looked down at the beach. They could see the patrol officer way off down the beach, his flashlight poking into the darkness. He couldn’t have seen them, and Derek was glad for that.

  Kate turned and licked Derek’s face. Then she went over to the outdoor shower, and he joined her, shifted, and turned on the water. She shifted, and they washed in the shower and then both went for a dip in the pool.

  Now this was the life. A good wolf run—they hadn’t been caught—and a swim with a naked woman in the pool? Yeah, it couldn’t get better.

  “I wonder if someone alerted the police that they’d seen dogs running on the beach,” Kate said, her arms wrapped around Derek’s neck while he treaded the warm pool water.

  The stars were beginning to fade, the moon still full, clinging to the early morning sky.

  “Anything’s possible. Or someone just started to patrol the beach, maybe to catch fishermen trying to set up before first morning light. Other beaches are open twenty-four hours for that purpose, but not this one.”

  “That’s good for us—as wolves.”

  “I agree. We’ll have to see about running at night though.”

  They swam for a bit, got out of the pool, and grabbed terrycloth robes out of an outdoor closet, and she smiled. “Wow, now this is living.”

  He smiled at her. “I never expected to be wrapping up my wolf mate in a terrycloth robe here anytime soon.” He helped her into hers and cinched the tie for her and then put one on too. They went through the bedroom door, and he pointed to the wolf door there.

  She laughed. “Here I went all the way through the house to the kitchen door to go outside.”

  “Yeah, I was surprised when you tore through the house. Then I realized I forgot to tell you about the one in my bedroom.”

  She laughed again. “I’m sure Will got a kick out of it.” She hurried to dress in a shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes, ready for him to take her to the lake on a pedal boat ride. She was always a ray of sunlight.

  He sat on the bed, ready to make love to her again—skip the trip to the lake and pedal boating.

  “Time to go.” She came over and kissed him on the cheek, but he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight.

  “We could go just a little later.” He raised his brows and smiled.

  “No way.” She squirmed out of his arms, hurried off down the hall, and then returned with a beach bag in hand, floppy hat on her head, and wearing a pair of sunglasses. She always looked so bouncy and eager to try out something new with him. “We need to tell everyone we’re mated.” She looked like she wanted to howl it to the world!

  He pulled on his board shorts and then sat on the bed again. “I’m all for it.” He reached out his arms for her. “Let’s call everyone on speakerphone.” She sat on his lap, and then he made a conference call to the whole pack.

  ***

  “Hey, hope everyone is up for the news”—though Kate suspected Aidan and Holly might have had a sleepless night with the new babies—“but Derek and I are mated.”

  Whoops and hollers—the loudest from Derek’s staff since Will, Cliff, and Maddie were just down the hall from them in the living room—sounded over the phone. A few howls rent the air, and then that was all they heard.

  Kate and Derek laughed, then added their own howls to the mix.

  “We all told you so, Derek. That Kate was the one for you,” Rafe said.

  Derek kissed Kate.

  “Yeah, I knew more would come of this,” Lexi said. “Then there will be jet-setting all over the world—”

  Kate laughed and snuggled against Derek. “I’ll be there for the business, Lexi. Don’t you worry.”

  “In your capable hands, I’m worry free.”

  “We’ll take out the yacht and celebrate,” Rafe said. “It’s comfortable enough for Aidan and Holly and the babies, if they think they can manage, and we’ll have a whole staff to cater to our needs.”

  “Ohmigod, yes!” Kate said, and Derek agreed.

  Holly and Aidan said they would love it. Even Maddie piped in and said she was coming. She might not like camping in the woods, but she loved to boat!

  With a few more congratulations, they ended the call to have breakfast before heading out to the lake.

  Will and Cliff would follow them and would sit on shore while they pedaled about the lake.

  “You’re doing all the pedaling, right?” she asked as Derek pulled on a T-shirt and some waterproof sandals.

  He laughed. “Yeah, sure.”

  She figured he would too. Anything to make her happy. She was so glad she had chosen him to be her mate.

  After he was dressed, they headed to the kitchen where Maddie was making them breakfast.

  The dogs were outside after having eaten their breakfast and were chasing each other around the yard.

  Maddie gave Kate a hug. “I told Derek he should have hired you as his bodyguard, and then when this happened, he could have hired Will.”

  Everyone chuckled. Kate loved Maddie and hugged her back. Then Maddie hugged Derek. Will and Cliff hugged them too. It really was a family affair.

  “Because you are going boating this morning, I baked egg boats for breakfast. I didn’t realize it would be a celebratory feast, but just having you here, Kate, makes it so anyway. You’ll love the quiche, baked into a crusty, toasted baguette instead of a pie crust. The egg filling made of eggs, cream, cheese, pancetta, and green onions is poured into the hollowed-out baguette and baked until the eggs have set and the baguette is toasted. Salt and pepper to taste. Mimosas are the drink of the morning in addition to coffee and tea,” Maddie said, serving up the food while Cliff made the mimosas.

  “Wow, that looks divine,” Kate said, thinking she was going to have to do a lot more exercising to wear off the extra calories if Maddie kept making such delicious meals.

  Once Derek and Kate finished breakfast, they headed to the lake.

  “I brought us chilled bottles of water and suntan lotion in my bag,” Kate said.

  “Maddie packed us a picnic lunch while you were grabbing a couple more things. I told her we were eating at the marina for lunch, but she thought I should take you there tonight and so”—Derek motioned to the back seat—“we have lunch we can eat at the park if you would like.”

  “Oh, that will be super!”

  He smiled. “Good. I didn’t expect her to take over my dating plans.”

  Kate laughed. “Well, they were both good plans.”

  Chapter 26

  Derek loved how enthusiastic Kate was about doing anything different. He wouldn’t have even suggested it with any of the girlfriends he had dated before. He actually hadn’t done anything like this since his youth. Which was part of the reason he loved her and had wanted to mate her. Her passion was contagious.

  After they arrived and parked at the boat rental at the lake, they checked in. Will and Cliff parked nearby.

  “I’m sorry,” the boat rental manager said, “but the two-person pedal boat you had reserved had to be pulled out of service. A four-person pedal boat is available instead. The family who had reserved this one called to say they couldn’t make it, so we kept this one for you, if that’s all right with you.”

  “Oh, sure,” Kate quickly said, taking Derek’s hand to tell him that she was fine with it.

  He was glad she was so easygoing. He could imagine Brenda having a conniption if she had even wanted to do this. Brenda had thrown a fit before when he couldn’t get preferred seating at a restaurant one night, and he never took her there again.

  Wearing life jackets and with Kate’s bag containing sunscreen and bottled waters in hand, they climbed aboard the pedal boat and began pedaling out. She was pedaling just as much as he was, and they were a good way across part of the lake where others were paddling in kayaks and canoes in the expanse when they saw three people riding on an electric pedal boat. What was the fun in that? At least Derek thought the whole point of riding on a pedal boat was to self-propel it and get some exercise.

  But as he and Kate watched the electric boat pass them by, he thought the stern where the younger woman was sitting was starting to sink lower and lower into the water.

  “That doesn’t look good,” Kate said, confirming what he suspected.

  “No, it doesn’t. Let’s pedal faster if we can and get as close to them as possible so if anyone’s injured, we won’t have as far to reach them. If the boat sinks, we’ll be saving them.” Normally, he would have kept his distance from another boater, but it looked like this could be turning into a rescue mission.

  “I agree. If they can’t swim, we’ll need to bring them to our boat and fish them out of the water.” She looked back at the electric boat and frowned. “It’s really sinking. There’s no doubt about that.”

  The woman sitting at the stern started to move portside before she ended up sitting in the water as the bottom continued to fill up with water.

  “She’s going to capsize the boat. She’s tipping it on the port side already because of the older gentleman sitting there already. They’re losing their balance,” Derek warned.

  Then what he worried would happen did. The whole boat flipped over, sending Derek’s adrenaline into overdrive. “Stay with our pedal boat,” Derek said before Kate dove off their boat to rescue the people herself. He stripped off his T-shirt and kicked off his sandals, leaving his cell phone and car keys with Kate. “Keep pedaling toward the capsized boat. I’ll try to rescue anyone who needs my help.”

  He dove into the water and swam toward the boat, where he couldn’t see anyone emerging from the water. He was afraid they might have been knocked unconscious by the boat when it flipped over. Then he recalled what Kate had done as a living earlier—she had been a lifeguard. Maybe he should have continued pedaling to draw closer to the sinking boat while she rescued the survivors!