They ended up on the bed, all skin and muscles and legs and arms, never-ending kisses and tongues and hands. Stroking and kneading, passionate longing claiming them both.

  For a moment, he paused on top of her, his hands on the sides of her head, gazing at her with lust and—dare she say it?—love. Then he took a deep breath and kissed her again.

  She kissed him back, tonguing him for entrance, and he gave way, took her in, and held on with his lips in a sexy way, sucking, making her even wetter down below.

  She ran her hands over his back, and then he changed position again. This time, he was behind her, his hand reaching between her legs and stroking her. His body was angled over hers so he could still kiss her. This was better than nice.

  He kissed her neck and back and stroked her and every erotic nerve he could reach. No man had ever pleasured her like this before. She was thinking he was really a keeper!

  He was rubbing his body against her back, his erection swollen with readiness. She placed her hand over his and made him rub her nubbin harder, faster, eager for completion. She felt the momentum building, the anticipation driving her crazy, their arousal making it all the steamier. The orgasm was just beyond reach, so close, so far. If only she could just grab hold and ride it to the moon. Then she shattered and cried out, feeling awash with pleasure.

  Max pulled her over on her back and smiled down at her, his gaze filled with lust. He kissed her mouth and played with her breasts, skimming his hand over the nipples, teasing them with delicate sweeps of his hand. She didn’t want to let go of the earth-shattering moment, wanting to remember it for always, just in case it never happened to her again.

  But then she pushed him on his back and climbed on top of his legs. She took hold of his rigid arousal and then smiled as she began to stroke him, thinking just how beautiful he was lying against her pillow, her bed, and she would remember this always.

  * * *

  Max was so grateful it had come to this with Becky. He had hoped they could continue to make love to each other as they got to know one another. He swore she’d never climaxed with another guy before, and she seemed thrilled. Seeing her sitting on his legs, her own spread for his viewing pleasure, her breasts beckoning him to mold his hands around them again, he settled against the mattress, feeling the overwhelming need to climax as she continued to ply him with magic, one stroke at a time. She smelled divine, of musky woman and she-wolf, and he vowed to bring her to climax again—tonight, later.

  But for now, he was caught up in the way she was stroking him, taking him to the top and bringing him to orgasm. She continued to milk him, and he wished they were further along in their relationship when they were mated, and they could go all the way. Yet this was great too, and he would be ready to do it again soon.

  When they were finished, he climbed out of bed. “Man, Becky.”

  “Yeah, wow, Max.”

  He smiled. “I’m going to shower. Do you want to join me?”

  “No, another time.”

  He smiled at her, leaned down and kissed her, and headed for the shower in the master bathroom. He thought she wanted to build up to all this. But someday, he hoped, he would shower with her and make love to her in there too.

  He washed himself with her tangerine body wash, since his toiletry bag was still in the guest bedroom. Then he joined her in bed, and she was smiling at him, looking pleased, beautiful, sexy, and like she’d had a good romp. He wouldn’t mind going another round with her later. When they both wanted to. And they did.

  * * *

  As to Pamela, she had dropped the issue of the wolves, to Becky’s surprise, and when she had tried to talk to Pamela further about it, her boss had dismissed it as silliness on her part.

  For two weeks, Becky and Max worked and played and made love, while Max searched for Christopher and she continued to do her job. Then Max learned Christopher was now living in Green Valley, to his astonishment.

  “Christopher is in Green Valley, working as a librarian,” he told Becky over the phone.

  “What? He’s no longer an investment counselor?” Becky sounded disheartened by it. “I’d kind of hoped he really had waited to be with her all this time and that he was doing well financially himself. Though we would still have the wolf issue.”

  “Right, but remember, that doesn’t necessarily make him a bad guy.”

  “He might not want to share where he’s working with her, believing she wouldn’t want to be married to someone who wasn’t in a higher income job.”

  “Correct. He might be embarrassed to tell her the truth. And if she knew that’s what he did, he might be afraid she’d really think he was after her for her money, since he probably doesn’t make that much on his own. But with this information, I can learn about his income, investments if he has any, and who he might be seeing.”

  The next morning, Max went to see Christopher at the library to learn what he could from him in person. When Max arrived there, he went inside and saw a tall, strawberry-blond-haired man sitting behind a desk, looking just like the picture on Christopher Anderson’s driver’s license. “Hi, I’m Max Browning, and you’re Christopher Anderson?”

  The man smiled at him. “I am. What can I do for you?”

  That was when Max smelled that the man was a wolf. Hell. “I know an acquaintance of yours, and she was under the impression that you were in Europe as a financial advisor of some sort.”

  His expression turned dour. “Yeah, well, no longer.”

  “Pamela?”

  “Yeah. There’s nothing between us.” He took a deep breath. “You’re like me, and you know nothing could come between us, if you know what I mean.”

  “Okay, but you couldn’t tell her you weren’t interested in her any longer?”

  “Listen, when we were young and dumb, I had the idea she could be mine. But it couldn’t happen because we’re not the same. Did you know about the accident she had when she was young? The near drowning incident?”

  “Yeah, and she thought a shifter had saved her.”

  “Yeah, a shifter had saved her. So she loves wolves. She loved me, though she didn’t know I was, um”—he spoke more softly—“one. Like I said, I was young and dumb. I wasn’t in her social class, and that wasn’t just because of how much money my parents made. It took a lot of time for me to get over her, but I finally realized that I couldn’t do anything about it. We’re just too…different. I couldn’t…turn her. For years, I’d considered it.”

  “Okay, so you need to tell her it’s not going to work out between you. You need to meet with her, tell her—”

  “What? That I lied to her because of what I am? I can’t. You know that. It’s better if I just don’t say anything.” He frowned at Max. “Who are you anyway?”

  “A private investigator she hired to find you.”

  “To tell me it’s over?”

  “Yeah, if you weren’t who you said you were or you were seeing someone else, I figure.”

  That made Christopher smile. “Well, then you’ve done your job.”

  “No. She needs to hear it from you. We have another issue though.” He explained a little about their pack and Becky.

  Christopher’s eyes widened. “Are you certain?” He sounded a little uplifted to hear the news.

  “Yeah, I’m certain.”

  “What if I spoke with her?” Christopher asked.

  It appeared Christopher still loved her. “She apparently doesn’t know about you. And I’m not talking about your job situation,” Max said.

  “Right.”

  “You weren’t waiting for her because of the money, correct?” Max didn’t want to help an opportunistic wolf mate her just because of her wealth and prestige.

  “What do you think?” Christopher asked, frowning at him in annoyance.

  “I honestly don’t know. But I do know she has waited for you all these years, and she still wanted to see you before she decided if it would work out between the two of you. She wouldn’t have hired me if she hadn’t wanted to find you. She could have just moved on, but she felt she had to make things right between the two of you first.”

  “And discover if I had waited around just to get her money? I didn’t, you know. It was the…other issue. That’s something you can’t explain away.”

  “What about you? Have you been seeing anyone else? You’re not part of our pack here.”

  “I just moved into town last weekend and started this job. I didn’t realize there was a pack located here. But no. I haven’t been dating anyone.”

  “Well, it’s a great pack, so I’ll make sure you can visit with the leaders and—”

  “Learn what’s expected of me?”

  “They’re very open-minded, but I’m sure they’ll offer some advice about the lady in question too.”

  “All right. Thanks. Sorry I’ve been kind of brusque. This has been a sore spot for me for so long—”

  “Because you love her?”

  Christopher nodded. “I tried dating other women, but no one held a candle to Pamela.”

  Because she is an heiress?

  “It’s not about the money,” Christopher said as if he knew just what Max was thinking. “I know that’s something everyone will believe no matter what I say about it.”

  “That’s true.” Max wasn’t going to sugarcoat it, but he suspected Asher was going to lose out before he even had a chance to speak to Pamela if she still loved Christopher too.

  Max wanted to go with Christopher to speak with the pack leaders, to learn what they all had to say, but he suspected Christopher couldn’t just take off from work. Maybe at lunchtime, if Christopher could go with him and if Max didn’t have lunch scheduled with Pamela and Becky. Then he wondered if he could get the lunch switched to dinner and meet with the pack leaders and Christopher at lunchtime.

  “I was meeting with Pamela for lunch to discuss what I’ve learned about you.”

  Christopher looked saddened by the prospect.

  “I think you need to speak with the pack leaders first, so I’m going to propose to Pamela that we have dinner instead, if she’s free. At lunchtime, you and I can meet with Ryan and Carol, talk about the best way to handle this, then have dinner with Pamela this evening. You will have to meet us there too. What do you think?”

  Christopher’s expression brightened, then he looked glum again. “What if she doesn’t believe me when she learns I don’t make that much money but I still don’t care anything about the inheritance?”

  “I think her reaction to you and the way you respond to her will tell all. Are you free for lunch and dinner?”

  “Yeah, I am.”

  “I’ll have to make sure the mayor doesn’t have anything planned for lunch also.”

  “All right.” Christopher looked hopeful, but then he frowned again. “What if Ryan doesn’t think I should do it? Or he thinks I should call it off?”

  “Let’s just see how this all goes. Who knows? She may be over you. I don’t want to sound harsh, but we just won’t know until we’re there.”

  “Okay, let’s do it.”

  “Oh, one other thing, I talked to your parents on the phone. They were against you marrying Pamela.”

  “They were my adoptive parents and didn’t have any clue that I was a wolf. They’d raised me since I was two in Kansas City and moved with me at that time to Mountain View. I had to sneak out to run as a wolf whenever I had the chance. Not that the phases of the moon force me to do anything, but it’s just in our blood. I never met any wolves there while I was growing up. But my parents felt that Pamela was just leading me on and never planned to marry me because I didn’t have the kind of money she had.”

  “Okay, gotcha.”

  After he left Christopher, Max called Pamela. “Is there any way we can get together for dinner? I’m still looking into the situation and should have more information by dinnertime.”

  “I have a dinner with a couple in town.”

  “Okay, can we switch it to tomorrow then? Lunch or dinner?”

  “I’ll cancel on the other couple. We’ll have dinner tonight if you think you’ll know something about Christopher. And tell Becky to join us.”

  “Okay, see you tonight.”

  Then Max called Becky with the surprising news. “It turns out Christopher is one of us.”

  Silence.

  “Becky?” He thought he’d lost the call.

  “A wolf?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ohmigod.”

  “Yeah, we want to speak with the leaders about it before he sees her. So we thought we could talk to them at lunchtime, and he’ll actually meet with Pamela for dinner. I already arranged to have dinner with her tonight and you’re to come with me.”

  * * *

  Becky couldn’t believe that Christopher was a wolf! No wonder he couldn’t commit to the marriage and he hadn’t wanted to tell Pamela where he’d gone. She suspected he hadn’t been able to give her up though, or he would have just told her he was over her.

  Becky called Pamela then. “Hi, I guess we’re not doing lunch, just dinner.”

  “You can have lunch with me, if you’re unable to have it with Max because he’s working the case.”

  Becky smiled. “I would love to.” After they ended the call, she texted Max: I’m still having lunch with Pamela.

  Max: Okay. I spoke with Ryan. We’re meeting with him at lunchtime.

  Becky: I sure hope this works out today.

  Max: Me too. I’ll let you know how it goes after we talk to the pack leaders this afternoon. Look forward to tonight.

  Becky: All right. See you at six.

  Becky sure hoped it all worked out. She wished she could be at the meeting with Max, Christopher, and the pack leaders to prepare herself for the dinner engagement. Still, maybe they would have this case resolved tonight. She hoped it was a good resolution for all concerned, and that could mean that Christopher was finally able to tell Pamela he couldn’t see her any longer, or the whole truth was going to come out. It was a scary proposition no matter what.

  She really hoped Pamela could find true love, but who knew when it would hit? All Becky knew was she had really gotten lucky on her one and only blind date.

  Then she went to the mansion and to her office. She called up Pamela and said, “How did you want me to handle the situation with your other dinner guests?”

  “Tell them we’ll reschedule. You don’t have to give them a reason. They’re good people.”

  “Okay, I’ll do that.” Becky prayed everything would turn out for the best.

  Chapter 8

  Max met Christopher at the pack leaders’ home for lunch, though Ryan had to shift a lunch engagement around that had to do with his mayoral duties. When it came to wolf business, that took priority. Carol was off, having made arrangements to make sure she didn’t have any patient appointments. She saw only wolves, so her patients understood if she had to switch appointments around when they had a pack situation she needed to help deal with.

  Both she and Ryan were sufficiently shocked to learn Christopher was one of them, but they quickly welcomed him with open arms to join the pack, first thing.

  Carol had fixed them roast beef stew that had been simmering in a slow cooker since that morning.

  “The way it works is you can join us, but you don’t have to,” Ryan said. “We don’t force anyone to join the pack. Everyone does, because we have so much to offer, but we’ve had a lone wolf or two who would wait and see, check out the events we’re having, and feel if it was right for them or not. We haven’t had anyone move on, and we’re trying to build up our wolf base here in Green Valley.”

  Christopher smiled. “You could be a salesman.”

  “Being a mayor can be like that sometimes. So you can think on it, and even if you do join us and feel it’s not right for you, you don’t have to stay with the pack.”

  “We have to tell you how surprised we are to learn you’re a wolf though,” Carol said. “I imagine Max has brought you up to speed on the business with Becky and how her mother saved Pamela as a child when she was a wolf?”

  “Yes. I was friends with Pamela back then. Not as in boyfriend and girlfriend that early on, but we were just friends in school. When that happened, it was all over the school. You know how mean kids can be. They teased her about her story. I told her that it was probably a good idea not to mention the woman was a wolf.”

  “Because you are.” Carol smiled.

  “Yeah, and because she couldn’t prove the woman was, which meant everyone just thought Pamela had made up the fantastical story. No one wants to be treated that way in school. Anyway, it brought me closer to her because she’d witnessed one of our kind shifting. But another part of me wanted to be with her, to support her when everyone else jeered her. It was so hard for me not to tell her what I was and confirm that what she saw was true. I also wanted to make sure she didn’t continue to spread the story.”

  “So what did you say to her?” Ryan asked.

  “Well, I told her anything really was possible. But that she had to remember she’d had hypothermia when the woman saved her, so her brain probably wasn’t registering things quite right. Of course I said it in a way that a six-year-old would, as my parents explained it to me.”

  “What did she say to that?” Carol asked.

  “She agreed. But even so, she said the woman was a wolf, shifted, and raced across the ice to save her. That she didn’t have any clothes on. That when the woman grabbed her hand just before Pamela went under the ice, she managed to pull her out and made sure she was breathing. Then naked, the woman ran through the snow to reach a cabin beyond Pamela’s family’s land. Pamela said she should have been frostbitten. Then the woman howled as a human, as if telling her pack she needed help. Pamela never told the paper that a man came running to help them. He was wide-eyed as if he couldn’t believe the woman would be carrying a half-frozen, sopping-wet kid, and the woman was naked.