“Yeah.”

  He rested his hands on her hips and kissed each of her bare shoulders. Then he kissed her mouth and pulled her close, hugging her. He sighed deeply as if she were the most precious person to him. He was that to her.

  Their lips met, slowly this time, gentle and maybe a little hesitant. But she didn’t want hesitant. Didn’t need gentle. She opened her mouth to him, telling him to explore her like she wanted to do with him.

  She hadn’t remembered just how glorious he was until now. And it all came back in a rush to her. Every delectable inch of him. And oh God, his lips. Lips that were magnificently hot and manly and perfect for kissing.

  He slid his hand between her legs again and began to stroke.

  His touch was slow and methodical and meant to make her beg for harder and faster. He continued to stroke her, making her wet in anticipation. “Hmm,” she moaned. She could get used to this. Forget anything else.

  He stroked faster, moving against her again, making her arch against his fingers, making her want harder, faster. He understood her unspoken need, speeding up his strokes on her nubbin, pressing the sensitive, swollen flesh harder. Her climax hit, crashed over her, hurtled her toward the moon and stars. She cried out, unable to stop herself.

  He moved between her legs as if he wanted to thrust his arousal in her, and she wanted it, too, the ache between her legs making her want to take this all the way. It was as if her sex was calling the shots and all her previous control vanished. She didn’t care. She wanted him as deep and as fully as she could take him.

  But he just rubbed his cock against her mound, not entering her, teasing with every stroke, kissing her passionately again. His hand was in her hair, alternately caressing and pulling, his eyes closed as he breathed in her scent as she was breathing in his—spice, maleness, the great outdoors, the piney woods and fir trees, musk, and sex. Not to mention a whole lot of wolf.

  Her legs parted wider, a dangerous business she couldn’t seem to help. She pushed him back so she could stroke him next. She took hold of his erection and began to move, up and down, up and down, her lips pressed against his at first. Then she moved her mouth to his jaw, savoring the feel of his stubble, then down to his neck, shoulders, kissing his pecs and nipples. She didn’t let go of his erection, continuing to work on him like he’d worked her. She took one nipple into her mouth and sucked. He groaned, and his arousal jumped in her hand. She smiled and moved her mouth to the other nipple.

  She tugged on it gently with her teeth and then sucked on it and his erection jumped again, as if doing that to his nipples created the most pleasurable catalyst. Her breasts rubbed against his belly, the friction on her nipples making her feel the need to climax all over again.

  As she picked up the pace on his erection, she felt his whole body tense. Loving that she could tell when she needed to change the firmness of her hand on his arousal and speed up or slow down the pace, she attributed that to their heightened sense of smell and touch, the way they could detect even the smallest changes. She licked a nipple and blew on it, then did the same with the other. He groaned again.

  She smiled the smile of one who knew she held the power and would have no problem wielding it. She ran her free hand over his shoulder, moved her body over his so that her leg was inserted between his, and began to rub her clit against his leg. God, he felt good.

  He lifted his leg a little to make a deeper connection, but then his face tightened, and she figured he couldn’t hold on any longer. He exploded all over his stomach, the orgasm cataclysmic.

  “Holy hell,” he growled. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” She continued to rub against his leg, moving faster and faster, riding him hard and shaking the bed until her body clenched again, her second orgasm exploding in a burst of sensation. He pulled her close, their hearts beating frantically, completely in sync. Between the two of them, there was no way Sheri hadn’t heard the racket they’d made. Elizabeth knew her friend would be happy for her.

  “Do you want to shower together?” David asked, his voice still rough with climax.

  She chuckled. “You better believe it.”

  Chapter 8

  David didn’t want to get up. He just wanted to hold on to Elizabeth forever. But he finally released her, and they got out of bed.

  “Shower or tub?”

  “Showering is quicker. Then we can lie down for a while, have lunch, and see the woods? Can we run in them during the day?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Yeah, we sure can. And then we’ll have dinner with the rest of the pack after everyone gets off work tonight.”

  “Do you have any cases you need to take care of?” Elizabeth watched as he turned on the hot water for the shower and they walked in together.

  “I do, but nothing that needs to be taken care of right away. While I was gone, the others took care of anything that needed to be handled more quickly.”

  “Oh, good.” She lathered up, then ran her hands over his chest and down his stomach, feeling each and every muscle along the way. “I wasn’t really thinking about your job or that your partners would have to take care of your cases when you left them to come for me.”

  He began soaping her up too. “They will forever be indebted to you for helping us out, so think nothing of it. This has always been in the plans.”

  “Okay, good.” She kissed his jaw as he ran slick fingers over her breasts, kneading slowly, softly. He brought his mouth down to hers, continuing to rub in gentle circles. This brought back beautiful memories too. A hotel bathroom, sure, but him, her, making love to each other? Oh, yeah.

  But not this time. This time it was just sharing the space with each other, soaping each other up, doing a whole lot of fondling and kissing in the privacy of his home, and then rinsing off and leaving the shower.

  ***

  They wrapped up in fluffy towels, then raced each other to bed, dropping the towels as they dove in. That’s what Elizabeth remembered about him too. Just how playful he could be. She was ready for a well-deserved nap with him.

  Naked with David was especially good. She laughed at the thought of Sheri purposely leaving all her night things behind. It’s like she knew just how Elizabeth and David felt about each. That’s not to say Elizabeth wouldn’t eventually need some, especially if she wanted to slum around the house before she dressed. But right now? No pajamas was good.

  They snuggled, having fitfully slept on the plane. She wasn’t sure she could get more than an hour’s nap, which would probably be all she needed, then they could eat and run, and after dinner, return to more of this, but still be able to sleep tonight.

  “I want to see your workplace too,” Elizabeth said.

  “We can go over there after we return from running, if you would like.”

  “Yeah, I would.” Because she had an idea. For a job, actually. A job with him. Something important to help the pack out.

  ***

  Elizabeth woke to the aroma of hamburger meat browning and what she thought was spicy taco seasoning. She smiled and kissed David’s chest. He smiled down at her and ran his hand through her hair. “I think Sheri’s making us lunch because she’s hungry.”

  “I am too. Are you?” he asked.

  “Yeah. We missed breakfast. Let’s go.” Elizabeth got up and opened one of her suitcases while David dressed. Sheri was right. She had grabbed everything out of the drawers and crammed them into Elizabeth’s suitcases, but she was glad she didn’t have to go shopping right away.

  She found her underwear and T-shirts in one suitcase, among other things, and her shorts in another. She pulled on a pair of olive drab shorts and a floral peach-and-green top to match, then found her sandals and slipped those on.

  David straightened up the bedsheets and then they walked down the hall to the kitchen.

  “Good afternoon. I feel so much better, being able to sleep in a comfortable bed. Really sleep. I hope I didn’t disturb you, but I was starving,” Sheri said, looking more rested.

  “My home and everything in it is yours,” David said. “And lunch smells delicious. Thanks.”

  “Well, I found you had all the ingredients for tacos, so I made them. Though I had to look up a recipe,” Sheri added.

  “That works for me.”

  “Works for me too. We’re going for a wolf run after this and then David’s going to show us his office building,” Elizabeth said.

  “I would love to see where the guys work.” Sheri filled the taco shells, adding picante sauce, lettuce, and shredded cheese to the meat mixture, and set them on plates.

  “Both Sheri and I were working in dress shops as salesclerks,” Elizabeth said. “I’m really not interested in doing that if I can help out with your business instead.”

  “Yeah, me too, if you don’t think we would be too much underfoot,” Sheri said.

  “Do administrative work?” David brought glasses of water to the table, and they all sat down to eat.

  “Right. That would work,” Elizabeth said, lifting a taco. She took a big bite, breaking the shell in half.

  David handed her a napkin. “I’ll tell you right now, all of us would welcome the help in the office. Filing? Answering the phones? Even doing some searches would really be great.” He sounded enthusiastic. “You’ll see a lot of routine stuff, but sometimes we do something that can really make a lot of difference in some people’s lives and in a good way.”

  “Good, because I think I speak for both Sheri and me in saying we’re ready to do something more with our lives.” She took another bite. “Sheri, these are so good. I didn’t realize how hungry I was. Thanks.”

  Sheri smiled. “You’re welcome. And I would love to do something like that, really help someone, you know?” She tucked a scoop of loose taco filling back in the shell and crunched down. “Oh,” she said, swallowing hard and grabbing her glass. “And as soon as we saw the lake, I was ready for a swim. How is the water? Is it warm enough to swim in as humans?”

  “In summer, yes.” David reached for his third taco.

  “What about as far as anyone seeing us swimming out there as wolves?” Sheri asked.

  “We own most of the property around here. We have No Trespassing signs all over,” he said. “We haven’t had any trouble so far.” He held up his latest taco. “I think you used the same ingredients I always do but somehow yours taste better than anything I’ve ever made.”

  “Some say the food tastes better if someone else makes it.” Elizabeth took another bite.

  “I don’t know. I always love my own cooking,” Sheri said.

  David and Elizabeth laughed. After they finished, David cleared the dishes before Elizabeth could help. “I’ll get the dishes if you ladies want to unpack a bit. Half the drawers in the dresser are yours, Elizabeth, and the same thing with the closet. I have a ton of hangers in there for you too.”

  Elizabeth smiled. “I will take you up on that.”

  “Sorry your bags are such a mess,” Sheri said, as they walked back down the hall. “I packed in a hurry.”

  “I’m glad you did it so I didn’t have to go out shopping right away.” She stopped and gave Sheri a spontaneous hug. “Thank you for everything,” she whispered.

  Sheri squeezed her in return and whispered back, “Guess I was right about the pajamas, eh?”

  Elizabeth laughed as they headed to their respective rooms, ignoring the blush that raced up her cheeks. Apparently Sheri had heard them after all.

  Sheri somehow finished before Elizabeth did and came to help her hang some clothes. David joined them.

  “Hey, I’ve been meaning to show you the garden,” he said. “You can landscape the rest of the place however you want. Or we can do it together. I can do all the hard labor. Or we can hire professional landscapers to do it. Everyone in the pack would love to help out too. They’ve been giving me a hard time about it because I’ve cleared the weeds out of the flower beds every year but never planted anything.” He shrugged. “I wanted it to be your space to do as you pleased.”

  Elizabeth gave him a big hug. “I love you and thanks.”

  “I’ll help too,” Sheri said, not one to be left out of things.

  Elizabeth smiled. “When we have time, we need to go plant shopping. But I’ll have to see what works down here. It’d be different than Yellowknife.” She pressed her lips together, then added, “I can plant roses in memory of Grandma.” Tears unexpectedly stung her eyes, and David, then Sheri, both wrapped her up in a hug.

  After a moment, he said, “Let’s go have a look,” and led them out to the empty garden plots. “Good dirt too,” he said, toeing the ground as if he needed her to know how much work he’d put into the garden. Her garden.

  She pulled him close and gave him a quick kiss. “They’re perfect. I love them.”

  He’d raised part of the beds so she could actually sit on the stone seating and work without stooping or bending. Owen had recommended that because sometimes he had to weed Candice’s flower beds and he wanted it to be a less backbreaking task for the both of them.

  “Okay. Are you ready to run as wolves?” David asked.

  “Oh, yes, absolutely.” Sheri raced back to the house.

  David chuckled. “She seems enthusiastic.”

  “Yeah, we have to check out the new territory for sure. I can’t wait either.” Elizabeth stepped back into David’s arms, loving the feeling of leaning in to him, looking out together over the land where they would make their life, feeling the press of his big body against her back. Feeling safe. “Thank you so much for the beautiful gardens. I can’t wait to get started on them. When I needed some consolation, particularly when Grandma was asleep and after we had our Skype chats, or when I was waiting for the days to pass until the next Skype session, I would work on the garden—in good weather, of course.”

  “I’m so glad you love them. I can’t wait to help you with turning it into a showcase garden.” He rested his chin on top of her head, and she felt, rather than heard, his deep sigh of contentment.

  Sheri woofed and raced out the door while David and Elizabeth turned and smiled at each other, then went inside to strip out of their clothes. She felt the heat filling her body, every muscle stretching until she was a blur of forms from human to wolf, so quickly that they were both wolves in the blink of an eye. Wearing their wolf fur coats, they raced each other down the hall.

  David went out the wolf door first to lead the way, but it was a hot summer’s day, and the first thing Sheri did was veer off toward the lake, splash in, swim out a little way, and woof at them. David and Elizabeth woofed back, then raced out to meet her. After cooling off, they paddled back to shore, shook off, getting each other wet, shook off again, then raced into the woods, David taking the lead.

  ***

  David needed to show them the way so Elizabeth and Sheri could eventually take a run or walk on their own without getting lost.

  Elizabeth was thrilled to finally be there, running through the woods David had talked about so often, by his side like she’d always imagined. He was a beautiful Arctic wolf, his fur all fluffed out as if he was preening for her attention, but he didn’t need to. She’d had the hots for him from the day she’d first met him. For the oddest reason, she felt like they’d never really been apart. As if the connection they shared had never had to survive any distance at all.

  He was the kind of guy who was sensitive, a fighter when he needed to be, aggressively protective but only when he thought she was being threatened. He’d wanted her in a sexual way, once they had resolved things with her pack, and he was conscious of the issues that wolves faced—such as no consummated relations until they were sure they wanted to mate for life.

  She hadn’t wanted to mate him back then—not when he wasn’t sure what it meant to be a lupus garou. But from their first Skype call, he had totally charmed her. Her grandmother too, of course. And Elizabeth had the sense, even then when things were so new between them, that he would learn to embrace his inner wolf.

  She glanced around at the pristine woods and lake. Just beautiful. A red-tailed hawk flew high above, its wings stretched against the blue, blue sky. The scent of pine filled her senses and she breathed it in, looking out over the lake and listening to the breeze-stirred water lapping at the rocky shore.

  They ran for about three miles, exploring, walking, trotting, running, and then returned the way they had come. They’d smelled foxes, a bear, and numerous birds and squirrels and chipmunks. And lots of wolves. Elizabeth knew Faith and Cameron’s scents. And Gavin’s and Owen’s too. And of course David’s. She recognized Amelia’s and Slade’s scents also. But she didn’t know Candice’s, suspecting it was one of the other females she’d smelled in the woods. There were two other males and a female she couldn’t place. David had told her that Faith and Cameron had triplets, two boys and a girl—Corey the troublemaker, a girl, Angie, and the youngest triplet Nick. So she figured that was who the other scents belonged to.

  She couldn’t remember the last time she ran free like this. Had fun like this. They could run back home in the parks at night, but they had to drive and park their cars and hope they weren’t seen. To be able to just leave through the back door and run, or swim, without a care in the world? It was too good to be true. She couldn’t wait to go swimming in her human form too.

  As soon as they were back in the house, they shifted in their respective rooms and then dressed. David threw on slacks and a dress shirt rather than jeans and a T-shirt, so she slipped into a summer dress and found that Sheri had done the same, both of them thinking so much alike it was like they were twins.

  “I was thinking that after I take you over to check out the office, I might see if they need me for anything, and if you would like, you could come home and finish unpacking your things or you can just relax, look around, get comfortable,” David said. “Sheri can get settled too.”