God, he felt good. Not to mention he smelled delightful, of the fresh spring air, masculine, his body warm and strong. And he made her feel feminine and wanted. She hadn't danced with one of her kind in a very long time, not like this. She hadn't expected it, not his gentleness. Probably figured as a human she'd break. Especially as nervous as she'd been to come here in the first place.
Dancing with him like this felt so right, while she knew it was a big mistake. Ignoring that little voice that told her to thank him nicely and return to her place and say good-bye, she continued to dance with him. Song after song.
The band was kind enough not to pause in between songs. They never took a break either; they just kept on playing while Leidolf and she kept on dancing. She could have danced until the sun came up, and she thought if Leidolf had asked it, the club would have stayed open until then.
Despite trying to block the feeling, deep down she realized a part of her was missing out on life because of her obsession with studying wolves and lecturing about them. It was easier in some ways to work all the time than to deal with her past.
Even so, she knew this had to end. She finally lifted her head and with a faked sleepy voice said, "They're probably ready to close about now, don't you think?"
At a quarter past three, she noted no one had left, everyone wanting to please their leader, probably dying to tell the rest of the pack what he'd been up to with the redheaded wolf biologist all night.
"Maybe another half hour," Leidolf said.
She smiled and kissed his cheek. He returned the smile and dipped his head to kiss her lips, but she quickly pulled away and took his hand. "Everyone needs to go home. I need to get my sleep. My tires have to be fixed by now."
She swore she heard him groan, but she caught him bowing his head slightly to the band and to some of his people as he walked her out of the dance room.
"Thanks for asking me to dance," she said softly.
"I thought you couldn't dance." He pulled her under his arm and held her close as they walked outside into the brisk chilly air.
"Just didn't want to." More to the point, she didn't want anyone like Leidolf to sidetrack her from her life's work, although he'd had more of an effect on her already than she wanted to admit.
He gave her a light squeeze. "Glad you changed your mind."
She could tell from his husky tone of voice that he was more than glad. Now for the tough part. Sleeping at the B&B was not part of the plan. She had planned on going straight to where she spied the wolf, parking her truck, and tracking her. How was she going to get rid of Leidolf when he took her back there without clueing him in to what she was up to?
Chapter 3
As soon as Leidolf drove Cassie back to her place from the Forest Club, he knew something was wrong. She was quiet on the way there, which could have been due to the late hour, but it was more than that. She seemed apprehensive, chewing on her bottom lip, sighing, concentrating on the passenger window. At least she wasn't sitting rigidly against the door like she'd done previously. He guessed sharing a meal and dancing the night away with him had cured her of whatever fears she had of getting close to him.
He really wanted to stay the rest of the night with her. And he had hoped that as much of a connection as they'd made, she'd want the same thing. Instead, she was distancing herself from him again.
"Here we are, Cassie," he said, parking beside her truck.
She jerked her head up, and he realized she'd fallen asleep. He guessed she wasn't a night owl and was just overly tired.
"Want me to carry you inside?"
She yawned and stretched, then pulled a key card out of her satchel. "No. Thanks for everything, Leidolf. What do I owe you?"
He frowned at her, not comprehending. He hadn't intended for her to pay for the meal at the club.
"The tires." She cast him a tired smile.
"Nothing. They shouldn't have been flattened in the first place." He hesitated to open his door, not wanting her to flee into the inn. "Can I see you tomorrow? For breakfast before you leave?"
"I don't eat breakfast, and I'll be long gone by then. If you have a business card and I'm in town again later, I'll give you a call."
The brush-off. It shouldn't have mattered. She was human. He couldn't have had any kind of long-term commitment with her. It did bother him. He didn't know why. Maybe because he hadn't been with a woman in so long, and she seemed so perfect. Just to spend the rest of the night with.
He noted one of his men watching the truck from the distance, hidden in the woods. Good. Elgin had given the word to make sure no one ruined her tires again while she remained here.
"'Night, Leidolf." She seemed to want to kiss him, her gaze shifting to his mouth, her tongue sweeping over her lips as if in preparation, but when he leaned over to kiss her the way he really wanted to, she opened her door and headed for the inn.
Watching her hurry up the flagstone walk, he knew he should leave it be. Let her go. Then again, he could come by in a couple of hours and try to see her one last time before she left for good. Maybe she'd change her mind and share a bite of breakfast with him anyway.
He rubbed the whiskers appearing on his chin. Hell, he needed to give her his number in the event she left before he could see her again in the morning, just in case she did return to the area and wanted to visit him. He opened his door, slammed it shut, and hurried toward the inn, telling himself he had the most honorable of intentions. Even though he was dying to kiss the vixen good night, no sweet and unassuming peck on the cheek like she'd given him. Truly, that simple sign of affection had stirred him up all over again.
Like a wolf on the hunt, he picked up his pace as the door to the inn closed shut behind her.
Cassie's heart raced as she ran through the hallway, heading for the kitchen and the back door that led out to the herb garden. As soon as she reached the kitchen, she heard the front door open. Leidolf. Had to be him. Coming to say good night? Hoping for an invitation to stay the rest of the evening, maybe. At least, she figured, he wanted a kiss. And she would have given it to him, if she hadn't worried she was getting herself in deeper trouble.
She opened the kitchen door with a squeak, just about giving herself a heart attack as he stopped before the door of her room and called out in a low voice, "Cassie? It's me, Leidolf." He didn't say anything for a moment. "I forgot to give you my number."
Feeling bad that she had to leave him without further word this way, she exited the house, shut the door, and slipped behind some shrubs in the event he heard the squeaking door and came to investigate. He didn't. Yet she had a job to do, and being with Leidolf or any other lupus garou wasn't going to help her get it done.
She waited until the front door shut. When Leidolf's Humvee roared to life, she remained where she was until he drove off. Then she raced around to her truck, unlocked the door, and threw in her briefcase. She'd change out of her dressy clothes after she parked in the woods. Now was the time to find the little red wolf.
As soon as she got on the road, she thought she was being followed. She glowered at the headlights behind her. She'd picked them up close to the B&B. Surely, Leidolf hadn't been watching and waiting for her to sneak off.
She considered the height of the headlights. Looked like a pickup truck. She tapped her thumbs on the steering wheel. Someone was probably guarding her truck so no one else tore up her tires. Either that, or it was Alex. She groaned.