“Fine. You can find me in a snowstorm. That’s a cool trick.”
“Hey, don’t think this is a one-way street. I think you’ll be able to do it as well.”
He placed her on the grassy area outside the cabin yet refused to let her out of his arms.
“You planning on proving the physical connection right now?”
He flashed a grin. “No, but you wait. When we get kinky in bed, I’ll know what you want. How hard, how fast.” One hand skimmed her shoulder and down her spine, coming to rest on the small of her back. Intimate. The airy touch of his caress sent a tingling sensation racing up her body and her nipples tightened involuntarily. TJ spoke, his voice deep and husky. “Of course that means I can totally tease you.”
Oh my God, do it now. The need to offer herself up on a silver platter was instinctive, and somewhat frightening. Time to retreat. She pressed her hands to his chest to separate them enough she could think. “Two-way street, bud? Be careful there, I might have to write you out a ticket.”
He cupped her chin with his free hand. His grasp firmed until she lifted her gaze to meet his. “Don’t. Don’t hide behind jokes right now.”
Pam closed her eyes and waited. His warm breath caressed her cheek as he brought their bodies back in contact.
“You look beautiful in the sunlight.”
She opened her eyes just as he brushed his lips against hers. His dark lashes fluttered against her skin. She stroked her tongue into his mouth, no longer fighting the delightful sensations that streaked through her body.
They stood there, kissing slowly, hands gently exploring each other’s bodies—Pam lost all track of time and slipped into a dreamy place where there were no issues hanging over her head. No need to discover if fairytales really could come true.
When they pulled apart, his smile warmed her through and through. “Well, that’s not what I had planned, but I’ll certainly take it. Stop distracting me. Your turn to hunt. No peeking while I hide.”
Pam not only closed her eyes, she covered her face with her hands, like a child afraid they would be tempted to cheat. She didn’t want to have any clue which direction he was headed. No chance she could pretend this was a fair test when it wasn’t. She hummed quietly to cover any accidental sounds he might make that would give her a direction to head. Inspiration hit and she counted out loud.
“…ten, eleven, twelve…I hope you’re hiding well because if I find you standing out in the open somewhere you have to buy me a crab dinner or something….seventeen, eighteen…or a case of beer, I could really go for a cold drink…twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five…ready or not, you must be caught.”
She opened her eyes and took a long look around. The sun sparkled on the surface of the lake across from her, the tiny ripples from the whispering breeze creating a kaleidoscope of colour and light. Out by the cabin, the porch swing shifted slowly and she watched for a moment, but it sped up, didn’t slow. The wind again, not TJ brushing it. She examined the bush, but other than natural shaking and trembling in the leaves she could see no clear hint of where TJ was hiding.
“Okay, I’ll give you this much, you’ve hidden well. Now…”
The usual procedure would be to divide the area into sectors and methodically work her way through them. She paused. This wasn’t supposed to be like a usual search, right? If they were mates, she should be able to sense him. She sniffed the air then laughed. No, she wasn’t the one with the wolf nose.
She was still chuckling when she felt it. Almost a…lightness in the air, a sense of emotion brushing past her. TJ was pleased. Admiring her? She pressed a hand to her chest. It wasn’t just her imagination. She closed her eyes once more and covered her ears. The wind in the trees faded away and all sound stilled, but the sensation increased. Oh my God, she could feel something. She twirled and ran for the cabin. The pounding of her footfalls as she raced up the stairs echoed off the low roof and she jerked open the door.
Disappointment hit her hard. She’d fully expected to find TJ on the couch. She’d felt sure he was there. Sitting comfortably, waiting for her.
Again, a tug. Like strings attached inside her heart.
She paced the cabin in confusion. He was supposed to be here.
“TJ, where are you?”
The sensation refused to go away. She checked under the bed, in the shower stall. Stepping outside, she kicked a rock in frustration before a flash of inspiration made her curse.
“You turkey.” She raced around the back of the cabin to where the woodpile was stacked into a rough façade of a staircase. She scrambled to the top where it was level with the lightly inclined roof of the attached storage lean-to, and stared at TJ. He lay flat on his back on a thick blanket, grinning at her.
“Hey.”
Deep satisfaction stole over her as she cautiously made her way to his side. “Hey, yourself. You got up here pretty damn quick.”
His shit-eating grin grew larger. “And it took you oh-so-long to find me, didn’t it?”
Holy crap, he was right. In the midst of the hunt, she’d lost grasp of the fact she had found him. Had known where he was. “Wow.”
TJ patted the blanket. “How did you do it?”
Pam settled next to him, nestling into his arms. “I’m not completely sure. It’s like I knew. But, it’s not possible…”
He nuzzled at her temple. “Hmm, you just proved it is.” His lips descended slowly to press, warm and soft, against her jawbone. He snuck his fingers into her hair and brought their mouths together, and she couldn’t be bothered to try to figure out why she’d known where he was. She’d known. Score one for the mating list. Bring on the sex.
She rolled him and crawled on top, keeping their mouths together. His tongue was doing this intricate dance inside her mouth that made the hair on the back of her neck stand upright. She took her revenge by lowering her hips onto his groin. TJ countered with a move that slid both his hands up her torso to cup her breasts and suddenly she hated Wonderbra with a passion.
One motion stripped off her T-shirt. Another released her from the confining bra and TJ growled.
“Oh yes.” He pulled her closer, catching hold of one nipple between his teeth. His fingers stroked her ribs, making her skin come alive as he sucked, switching from side to side. The slight breeze whispered past her wet nipples and they tightened even more. All around the gentle noises of nature carried on—birds chirping, the leaves rustling in an uneven beat. The slurps and moans and small cries of passion escaping their lips fit perfectly in the mix, and Pam thought she’d never been in a more beautiful place.
She pulled away to gaze at him, his ever-present smile warming her heart, the lust and passion on his face heating her soul. “As fun as this is, I don’t think the roof is a good place to make love.”
His eyes widened and he lunged upward to mesh their bodies together once more, and suddenly she found herself flat on her back under him. The blanket protected her from the ridges of the roof shingles and the sun broke out in full glory.
The light in his eyes outshone it.
“I think anywhere is a fabulous place to make love to you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. Then she couldn’t see his face anymore as he dropped toward her, his lips doing wicked things to her torso, his fingers playing her body as skillfully as he played his guitar. Oh yeah, he was talented. The simmer of desire in her belly bloomed, and oddly the roof of the cabin seemed a lovely place for a little sexual jaunt. Only…
“Did you bring a condom?” Even the question came out sounding like fuck me now. Breathless, needy. Lustful.
He rose over her. “We don’t need one, you know. I won’t carry any STDs since shifting to my wolf heals almost everything germ or virus related.”
“Almost?”
The heavy weight of his groin pressed against her center as he nestled between her thighs, and it felt so good a little bit of her brain melted.