Vivian Arend - Wolf Games

“No, I had more than enough at supper. I just need to think for a bit. Thanks for asking the comedy duo to shut up. I haven’t been around a lot of people for a while and their constant yattering was getting to me.” She stretched lazily and he enjoyed the way her T-shirt pulled tight over her breasts, the display making his mouth water. She might be a little thing, especially compared to him, but her breasts were full and distracting.

She curled up next to him, her hip touching his and he smiled. There was no way to ignore the physical pull between them. He wasn’t even interested in trying to act as if it wasn’t there. He’d go as slow as she needed, but he wouldn’t back down. For the next thirty minutes he pretended to stare at the puzzle clues all the while looking over every inch of her body. She was going to be his—to care for and love and be with for the rest of their lives. The whole idea of fated mates didn’t bother him one bit.

Jared yawned, a loud juicy sound that made Erik laugh. Time to round them up. “Hey, good job today, everyone.”

TJ waved lazily, tucking away the mouth organ and letting out his own yawn. “It’s the altitude, I swear it is. I’m heading to bed. Early morning I assume?”

“On the trail by seven please.”

Jared nodded. “I’ll turn in as well. I need to spend some time talking to my eyelids.”

Erik wondered what the hell was up as Jared gave a direct look at Maggie as he spoke and she laughed.

It took a long time for the boys to crawl into the tent, and organize their sleeping bags with all their goofing off. The grumbles and laughter slowly died away, and Erik relaxed. Finally. Time alone with his mate.

The two of them sat silently, the small noises of the forest at night continuing. Here in the southernmost part of the Yukon, the sky insisted on staying bright, but it wasn’t midnight sun by any means. There was a beautiful pink glow rising from behind the eastern mountain and Erik shuffled back down to rest his head on the log they’d rolled over to sit on.

Maggie looked at him for a long moment before sighing. “It’s no use, is it?”

“What?”

She touched his arm hesitantly and a thrill shot through him. Oh hell-o. He kept his hands behind his head and watched as she wiggled closer, resting her head on his chest. Her short bouncy curls tickled his chin and her breath warmed him. “I can’t deny I’m attracted to you. My wolf likes you too.” She sat up to look into his eyes. “I just can’t…”

“I’m not asking you to. Not yet. You told me to wait, I’m waiting.” Shit, crap and merde, he was waiting.

“Where were you born?”

Erik wondered where the remote was. “That was a quick change of topic.”

She snuggled against him and his wolf preened at the attention. “I just thought maybe if we learned a little more about each other, it would help.”

He nodded slowly. Made sense. Didn’t seem like they were going to be passing the time with any other distracting activities.

“Lavrentiya. Small coastal village on the Bering Strait.”

She paused. “I guess that explains why you speak Russian. When did you come to Alaska?”

He told her about his childhood and moving around until the family finally settled in Sitka. “The rest of my family is still there. I’d love to take you to meet them. When this is all over.”

“All over?”

“The Games.”

“Oh.” She nodded. “That would be…nice. I guess.”

“What about you? I know your family went through some tough times, so let’s not talk about that now. Tell me your favorite colour.”

Maggie snorted. “You’re really not what I expected, you know that?”

“Why? Because I want to be able to buy you sexy underwear in your favorite colour?” Her jaw dropped and he grinned. “Damn, you’re fun to tease.” She wiggled her nose and he wondered what was going on behind those beautiful eyes of hers.

He grabbed her hand. He’d done more handholding in the past few days than in his entire life before. “I was thinking about your fainting issue while we were on the trail. You said it’s a chemical imbalance?”

She nodded. “It only got bad this past year, and obviously I can’t shift to wolf for her to be able to heal me.”

Yeah, that part. He wasn’t even going to try to touch that issue yet. Soon, but not tonight. “I think it has to do with you not shifting and avoiding wolves. We give off so many pheromones, all the time, it helps maintain a delicate balance. Now that you’re around pack, even a few of us, you should feel better.”

Maggie stared at him. “That’s why I came north to rejoin the pack. Missy insisted being around her family would be enough to heal me.” She looked down at where their joint hands rested in his lap. “How did you figure it out? Do you have training in chemistry or something?”

“Nope. PhD in Slavic languages.” She gasped in surprise, her eyes widening and he laughed at her expression. “With a master’s in Classic Literature.”

“But…you work with Keil as a wilderness guide.”

He shrugged. “When he looked into starting the company, he knew his brother would be too young to be a real help for a number of years. I offered to partner with him until TJ is able to take over.”

“But why, if you have all this education…”

Maggie wrinkled her brow and he smoothed the skin on her forehead with his thumb. “He’s my best friend. I’m currently tutoring a half-dozen students online, so I’m still using my skills, but it would have been very selfish to let his dream die when I could help him.”

Her bright eyes examined his face closely, as if she was trying to see if this was some kind of trick to impress her. “You’re a very complicated man, Erik Costanov.”

He shook his head. “I’m as simple as they come. I believe in the golden rule, and I try to live by it.”

She knocked him off balance by crawling across his legs and straddling him, her butt resting on his thighs. He lay very still, afraid to scare her, but savouring the sensation of her weight on top of him.

“What are you doing?” There, that managed to come out sounding reasonably intelligible. Damn, he spoke seven languages and right now English didn’t seem to be one of them. His tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth.

She wiggled a little closer and he bit back a groan. Her hot core now rested against his groin and his cock rose like new bread in an oven. “I want to kiss you.”

Hallelujahs rang in his brain. Holy freaking exclamations of jubilation, rejoicing and unending glee broke out in a full chorus. But when he spoke, he delivered a measured, “Okay.”

She leaned forward and brushed her lips over his, and the electric sensation he’d felt before when they kissed buzzed through his torso and up his spine to his brain. Before he knew it, he’d buried the fingers of one hand in her hair, moving her the way he wanted her, while the other wrapped around her body to pull their torsos together. Her sweetness filled his senses, tantalizing his taste buds with the desire for more. Eager noises rose from her as their tongues brushed.

The night remained warm, and they both wore only shorts and T-shirts. Having a barrier between them was torture. He broke off their kiss, sat with her still straddling him, and whipped off his shirt. Her eyes bulged for a second before she reached down to caress his abdomen, the fleeting strokes tormenting him even as he savoured his mate finally, finally touching his skin again.

“Please take off your shirt.” His voice cracked, he needed this so much. He closed his eyes against the disappointment of her saying no, then the rustle of fabric hit his ears. When he looked again, she still wore her bra, but the creamy smoothness of the rest of her skin more than made up for that small disappointment. He touched her reverently, stroking from her hips up the gentle indent of her waist until he covered the swells of her lace-covered breasts. She sucked in a gasp as he rubbed his thumbs in small circles over her nipples, the tips beading to tight points that stabbed his flesh through the fabric. “You’re beautiful.”