Vivian Arend - Wolf Tracks

“Sure.” He followed her, and she spun her arms out in a circle, breathing in huge drafts of the air. She looked wild and alive and vital, and he was head over heels in love.

“Race you.” She was off. TJ chased her, catching her before they lost the grass underfoot. He tackled her carefully, twisting as they fell to put her in his arms, resting on top of him. It took a second for the utter shock of having succeeded without breaking bones, his or hers, to fully register.

“Well, hello. Weren’t we here a couple of minutes ago?” Pam teased, resting her elbows on his chest and cradling her chin in her hands.

“I think we were almost here. There’s one thing missing.”

He cupped her head and lowered her lips to his. Her taste twined around him and sucked him under, the feel of his mate resting on top of him the best thing he’d ever experienced.

She responded with enthusiasm, exploring with her tongue, kissing him back with as much passion as he wished. She pulled her legs up to straddle him and her warm crotch rested on his groin. A faint movement of her hips and the contact increased. Oh hell, he was going to explode if she wiggled again.

Pam sat upright, the highlights in her hair shining red in the sun’s bright light. She grinned at him. “Well, I seem to have you at my mercy, but we probably need to be going soon, right?”

The loudening flap flap of the propeller blades reached them, and her eyes widened. “What’s he doing?”

She scrambled to the side, and her jaw fell open as the chopper lifted. The air pressure flattened them to the ground as Shaun got away. TJ waved at his friend as the aircraft rose, hovering over the field for a moment before rotating and taking off into the distance.

“What is going on? Stop it…come back.” Pam ran after the helicopter, waving her arms frantically before returning, her beautiful brown eyes wide. “He left us. What is he doing?”

TJ stood and pulled her back into his arms. “Don’t worry, it’s okay. He’ll be back.”

She relaxed. “Well, that’s good. How long do we have before he returns?”

“A week.”

Pam stared at him. What kind of…? It had to be a joke.

“No, seriously. Does he need to get fuel or something?”

“Nope, he’s got a few other things to do, but he’ll be back for us. Eventually. You want to help me carry our packs to the cabin?” TJ turned to step toward the center of the meadow.

Cabin? She grabbed him by the arm and whipped him back to face her. “You’re shitting me, aren’t you? You really just had us dumped in the bush? Are you insane?”

“Look, it’s going to be fine. Let’s grab our stuff and we can talk about it more once we’re settled.”

She bit her tongue. Seriously, the guy must not be firing on all rockets, but humouring him for a moment was the only solution. She stared around the meadow a little more intently. “Where is everything? The cabin, the food, the bathhouse with the running water and satellite TV?”

“No TV, but I do promise running water. Come on.”

He led her to the spot the helicopter had landed. There, where the grass lay low from the air from the propellers compressing it flat, sat a box and two full-sized backpacks. One of them was her own bright red pack she could have sworn she’d left safely back at the expedition van.

He shouldered his pack and the box, grinned at her and led her toward the trees.

Okay . She was going to kill him, but after she had a roof over her head. She shrugged on her pack and followed behind.

The trail led to a neat log cabin facing the lake. It was tucked in so tight she hadn’t even noticed it earlier, but now she appreciated the setting. Once she got past the part of her that wanted to take TJ apart, this wasn’t a bad place.

He stopped at the bottom of the wide staircase leading up to the sturdy wood door.

“A private getaway just for you. I know I should have checked with you first, but I needed to make things happen pretty quick. I figured asking for forgiveness would be easier than asking permission.”

She stared at him in disbelief. This wasn’t happening. Her heart pounded, blood rushing past her temples so hard her vision blurred. She wasn’t sure if it was from shock or because she was pissed off.

Pissed off. Definitely the one to go with. The man needed to be handled, and she had the touch. Pam calmed her expression and spoke softly.

“So what you’re trying to tell me is you deliberately set this up. The remote cabin, the whole ‘just us by ourselves’ thing?”

He nodded, a twinkle in his eye.

“Ahhh, that’s so…” She stepped closer and patted him on the cheek. “How incredibly…”

With one quick movement she grabbed his ear and twisted, hard. He clutched her hand and dropped to his knees. “Shit, wait.”

She glared daggers at him. “I can’t believe you’re such a schmuck. Who in the hell put you in charge of me? Did you ask? Did you even consider maybe what I signed up for was what I wanted to take part in? Idiot.” An extra twist accompanied her final word and TJ yowled through clenched teeth.

“Arghhh, I have the list of all the things you wanted to try. We’ll make it happen here, only a little more enjoyable because there won’t be crowds around.”

She let go of his ear and stomped across the porch. Unbelievable . “You kidnapped me.”

“Wait, it’s not like that.” He scrambled to his feet, patting all his pockets frantically. “Ah, fuck, I’m screwing this all up. I didn’t say it right. I meant to… I wanted to ask you if you would like to stay here. We can still call the helicopter back. Just…”

TJ tossed the pack off his back and flipped open zippers, obviously looking for something. Pam lowered her pack as well, dropping it against the side of the cabin. She wanted her hands and feet clear if she needed to kick his butt. She assumed a defensive crouch, ready to smack him to the ground if necessary.

He twirled toward her. Something dark thrust her direction and she moved instinctively, the side of her hand cracking his forearm hard enough to bruise. As he cried out, an oblong shape flew from his fingers and slammed into the door. Pieces of black plastic rained down on the porch boards, a set of batteries rolling and spinning back from the wall, finally coming to a stop against her foot.

Fuck .

Pam knelt and picked up the mangled body of the transceiver, snapped wires dangling from the case. One round dial fell to the ground and spun like a top, the echo of the whirl whirl fading until the piece tipped over with a soft plop .

TJ cleared his throat.

She pinned her lips together. Letting out a shriek of laughter right now probably wasn’t the most mature response, but…oh my God. It was a full minute before she could speak.

“That was a satellite phone?” She was proud of how calm she sounded. Not on the verge of hysteria or anything.

“Umm, right. So we could call Shaun back if you didn’t want to stay.”

Pam closed her eyes and counted to ten. Two wrongs didn’t make a right, but it appeared his mistake coupled with hers did make them stranded.

“That was our only phone?”

“Yup.”

His honest answer amused the heck out of her and suddenly most of her bluster drained away. “I’m upset with you. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still planning on getting my revenge. But in a kind of twisted way, you bringing me here is sweet. Psycho, but sweet.”

“Twisted and sweet. I’ll take it.” He gave her the most disarming puppy-dog look, and she bit her lip to stop from laughing.

He opened the door and motioned for her to enter first. She grabbed her pack, crunching a couple of pieces of plastic underfoot as she stepped inside. The cabin was bright and cheery, and bigger than she’d expected. The main area held an open sitting room with a mini kitchen on one side and a beautiful stone fireplace on the opposite wall. Two doors opened off the back, and after dropping her pack to the floor, she peeked her head into the first to find a bedroom. Damn, that wasn’t a king-size either, more like a king plus.