Yet she was frozen with indecision. How could she explain what she was doing here without him coming after her, watching what she did, when she knew in part he would be there to protect his own kind? Also, she was sure he'd keep trying to wear her down, to capitulate, and have a tryst with him. Worse, she didn't trust the way she felt when she was with him. Even throughout the day, she had chided herself for giving in to dance with him like she did. Yet it had felt so right, so good.
He left the water and stalked toward his clothes, and she knew before he dressed, it was now or never.
Then everything was decided for her.
She smelled a whiff of the female red wolf, and her work ethic kicked back in.
She whipped around in the direction she sensed the wolf, took another sniff, and analyzed the scent. It was the she-wolf Cassie had been chasing for so many hours!
Without a backward glance at Leidolf, who would inspire the world's greatest artists to create a marble likeness and could get her into really hot water if she'd fooled around with him, she raced off on the hunt again.
"Cassie!" he yelled, almost desperate, but she ignored the urge to slow down and wait for him.
Her field pack pounded against her back as she left the hunk of red lupus garou to further ponder the lake's beauty and his surroundings in solitude. Although now he wouldn't think of anything other than her and what she was doing here. She hoped she'd find the she-wolf and her pack before it grew dark, and that they were the kind she could write up in her latest journal on wolf behaviors. Also that Leidolf Wildhaven wouldn't locate her before she was done.
She wished he hadn't been a lupus garou, just a hunk of a man, who she could have spent some time with in a brief pursuit of pleasure.
What had Leidolf planned anyway? To take her in his arms? Kiss her senseless? Before he knew what she was, of course. If he'd been human, she envisioned taking him into her embrace and kissing him speechless.
Running through the woods, tracking the female's scent the best she could, she was unable to fathom why she found Leidolf so irresistibly appealing. Maybe his gallantry last night--taking her to the town hall and having her tires fixed. Or the way he stood up to Hollis, who was determined to bully her further after she finished her lecture.
But what she really loved was the way Leidolf had shared his meal with her when he knew she was dying to have some of that juicy roast tenderloin. And dancing so divinely with her when he figured she wanted to despite her initial reluctance.
Or was it something more basic--the onset of spring, the rebirth of flowers, and the time for wild animals to have their babies. The natural drive for wolves to mate, to procreate, to have their own offspring?
She realized then she'd been spending way too much time with regular wolves and had not taken enough of a break to satisfy a more primal need--quickly rectified with a romp with a strictly human type.
Her heart beating wildly, the sense of the chase renewed, she caught the female red's scent drifting from the west and paused to get her bearing. And then, the instinct to hunt filling her blood, she raced off again to locate the red wolf.
Without her express permission, her thoughts returned to the hot, naked lupus garou she'd left behind next to the ice-cold water, wishing just an inkling that he would chase after her and attempt to track her down, just like she was doing with the she-wolf. Which was just plain insane.
So when she thought she heard a branch snap close by, why did she glance over her shoulder, thinking he was coming for her? And hoping she would see that wicked gleam in Leidolf's eyes again that said he wanted her and if she was agreeable, she would be his. She envisioned his powerful body, still naked, chasing after her, formidably like a wolf on the run, ready to take her down.
In an attempt to shake loose of sinful fantasies that would only thwart her mission if she gave into them, she sprinted even faster away from the scene of temptation.
Surprised as hell Cassie had appeared here at his lake and then charged off and left him behind again, Leidolf grabbed his trousers and began jerking them on while he studied the forest where the woodland nymph had disappeared. He hadn't been able to believe it when one of his men told him she was headed back to California last night after he assumed she was staying the night at the B&B.
Thinking he'd be alone in his isolation for the day, enjoying his lake, his refuge from leading the Portland pack for a few hours, pondering how much Cassie had affected him last night, he'd never expected to see her again. Ever. If she was back, had she stayed somewhere else, or had she returned as soon as his tracker had stopped following her? And if that was so, had she spied him following her and waited to return after he did, or had she just changed her mind and come back?
If she had returned last night and not stayed overnight somewhere else, had she been in the woods for the rest of the night? Hell. What if someone else from his pack had come into this area wearing his or her fur coat and she caught the werewolf at it?
He rubbed the stubble on his chin, unable to quit watching the trees where she had vanished, feeling as though by some miracle she'd suddenly reappear. He knew she had been struggling with the notion of staying with him. If something hadn't triggered her to leave, a damnable conscience maybe or something else, perhaps the need to seek out the wolf--they could have shared a few hours of bliss or more. And then he could have learned her business.
He yanked on his shirt and breathed deeply, but the breeze was blowing the wrong way, and he couldn't smell her. Couldn't sense whether there'd been a hint of fear in her stance or not. Although he didn't think so. But more than wanting to sense what she'd been feeling, he craved her, which was a dangerous notion for a lupus garou who desired to have a mate and, even worse, was leaning toward the disagreeable notion of turning a human.
Grinding his teeth, he scowled. Hell, how could he think of doing such a thing? He'd dealt with enough newly turned lupus garous lately to know how much of a problem one could be. And here he was a royal with very few human roots in his bloodline.
Then he realized he hadn't noticed any scent on her last night, either. Nothing that would clue him in as to where she was if he found her again. She had to have been using a hunter's spray. Sure, so she could track a wolf. Most likely one of his people. He growled inwardly.
He sat down on a log and pulled on his socks and then his boots.
Her olive eyes had taken in every inch of him, no matter that he was naked, maybe especially because he was naked. Which had stirred a raging fire deep inside him, despite the frigid water. If she'd stared at his body much more, he was sure the water would have begun to boil. Yet, she had not been in the least bit embarrassed by the way his body had reacted to her fascination.
Then her expressive eyes had challenged him--an alpha leader!--to leave her alone as if she was too proud to become some man's conquest. Yet another more fleeting look had flickered across her face... a look of desire, as if she welcomed his interest, just as much as he craved hers in return.
Or was it just wishful thinking on his part?
He shook his head. If there was one thing he was good at, it was reading people. His own, and others. Cassie Roux wanted him, even if she was fighting with herself to live a little. Just like last night when they had danced.
He laced his boots in a rush.
Where was she bound in such a hurry? To locate the wolf she'd seen. Had to be. He didn't like that she was doing so, nor that she was alone. Predators in the form of bears and cougars, not to mention an unscrupulous hunter or two, could make mincemeat of the woman.