Claimed by the Mate, Volume 1 (3 page)

Brad set her suitcase on a stand beside an old-fashioned Shaker-style armoire that was well over six feet tall. Her smaller bag went on the floor beside it. Inside, there was more than enough space to hang the clothes she needed to hang, and plenty of drawers along one side for all the little things.

“That's beautiful.” She ran her hands over the smooth wood, glanced around the small room, and realized all the furniture matched. Simple, solid, and very utilitarian, but also an incredible fit to the style of the rough-hewn log cabin. “Is it antique? It looks really old.”

“Some pieces might be, though I don't know which ones. Depends on whether Trak made it, or his father, or his grandfather. Their woodworking skills are a family trait.”

He turned to Cherry and lightly rubbed her shoulder. She automatically tensed, but his warm hand quickly had her feeling about as tense as sun-warmed honey.

“Relax, Cherry. You're wound too tight for this place. You need to let it all go, relax, and just put yourself in my hands. Or Cain's.” He slowly turned her to face him and rested his hands on her hips. She felt their heat through her yoga pants and almost sighed—but she didn't even think of pulling away.

“Cain's the resort's masseur, and I swear the man has magic fingers. I have to go back to the bar, now. The ladies on the deck are probably ready for a refill. Don't be too long.”

She loved the way his voice rumbled up out of his chest. Deep and sexy, to go with those soulful brown eyes and thick, dark hair. “Tonight's all about relaxing,” he said. “A drink, a good dinner, maybe a massage later, a walk in the moonlight, or time to sit by the fire in the main lodge with a glass of good port or a decadent dessert. We're all about helping you relax so you can enjoy the peace and quiet.”

With his hands still resting loosely on her hips, his lips curved up in a smile she felt all the way to her toes. The man was dangerous. Her heart had to be hammering a million beats a minute, but he was just so … so …

Cocking his head to one side, he gazed intently into her eyes. “Now are you going to be able to find your way to the lodge? It's only about fifty yards. Just follow the path out the front door and go back the way we came. If you're not at the bar in twenty minutes, I'm going to send someone after you.”

“I think I can find the way.” She couldn't shake her gaze from his. He blinked once and she wondered what it would be like to kiss him. Almost as if he read her mind, his head lowered and his lips met hers. Shocked, Cherry gasped, her lips parted, and Brad deepened the kiss. She lost herself in the warm pressure of his lips, the minty taste of his mouth, the unexpected but welcome thrust of his tongue.

Surprise quickly faded into desire, and when he pulled her close Cherry didn't even think of fighting his embrace. No, because all she could think of was the heat and the size of the larger-than-life erection pressing against her stomach. Much too soon, he slowly, sweetly ended the kiss. Then he leaned his forehead against hers and whispered, “Eighteen minutes.”

She felt his heart pounding in his chest, almost as loud as hers. He rubbed his bristly chin across the side of her throat, sending chills along her spine. “I'm sorry you're only here for a week. That's not going to be nearly long enough.”

She didn't know what to say, could barely make her lungs work to draw each breath, but it didn't seem to matter. Brad smiled at her, and he was even better looking, if that was at all possible, when he smiled. Then he leaned close and kissed the tip of her nose and without another word was out the door and gone.

Stunned, Cherry stared at the door he'd closed on his way out. Her heart pounded in her chest and all her girl parts clenched as if she'd just spent an hour with her favorite vibrator. She might have thought he was leading her on—just playing with her—but when he kissed her she'd felt him. Brad was erect, the hard length of him pressed close against her belly, so long and solid she was actually wet from wanting him.

Guys could fake a lot of things, but she'd never known one who could fake an erection.

Chapter 3

Cherry clipped her hair into a knot on top of her head and took a quick shower. Long trips always made her feel grimy, but that wasn't the only reason. The old cliché about horny guys taking a cold shower to cool down actually made sense. Her body was on fire after Brad's kiss. The man kissed like he'd meant it. She'd only known him for what? Fifteen minutes?

How would he kiss her after a few days? After they got to know each other.

Why wasn't she freaking out? She never kissed men she didn't know. Actually, they never kissed her. But Brad did. And damn it all, he kissed her like he meant it.

The shower helped, though the minute she got out and thought of him she flushed hot all over again. “Oh. My.” Fanning herself, Cherry stared at the woman in the mirror. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes sparkled, and she could swear her lips were swollen from kissing. She'd never, ever reacted to a guy the way she did to Brad, but then she'd never had a totally hot guy kiss her just minutes after meeting her.

Who was she kidding? She'd never had a totally hot guy kiss her. Ever.

She really needed to get her act together. She added some lip gloss, unclipped her hair, and brushed it out so that it fell in thick waves past her shoulders. Wrapping the towel around herself, she opened the suitcase she hadn't had time to unpack and dug through it, looking for clean underwear and her favorite knit maxi dress.

She wanted to look as good as possible, but she was too tired to stress over it.

A strange noise had her spinning around. Something had clunked against the cabin door—not quite a knock, but someone was obviously out there. Cherry glanced at the little clock beside the bed. Brad had left a little over twenty minutes ago.

He wouldn't really send someone after her, would he?

Heart thudding, she wrapped the towel tighter around herself and opened the door just a crack.

An absolutely spectacular silver and gray wolf sat on the front step. He raised his head and whined, stood, and pushed at the crack in the door with his nose as if he had every right to come inside.

Cherry didn't think. She merely stepped aside and let the wolf into her cabin. He walked past her and straight to the bed, where he stopped, turned, and, if she didn't know better, posed for her. He really was beautiful, and obviously friendly. She felt absolutely no fear of the animal—in fact, she wanted to pet him but wasn't sure if she should.

Holding her towel tightly between her breasts, she studied the beast. He appeared to be studying her right back.

“Did Brad send you?”

The wolf looked at her, tongue lolling, and yipped. Then he planted his butt on the little rug beside the bed and stared at her suitcase.

Talk about Mr. Obvious, but if that wasn't an answer—she couldn't wait until she told Christa and Steph about her visitor. “Okay, already,” she said. “I'll get dressed.” She almost dropped the towel, but then she took another look at the wolf, at the way he watched her out of those perceptive evergreen eyes, and she blushed. Again. He seemed much too intelligent for an animal, that direct stare, his obvious responses to her questions.

She'd read that wolves were really smart.

But not this smart.

Still, did she want to strip down in front of him?

Absolutely not. Instead, she tightened her towel around herself, tucked the end in between her breasts, and unpacked her cotton knit dress with a pattern and fit that disguised her extra weight. She laid it out on the bed and quickly pulled her underpants on under the towel.

She took a quick glance at the wolf.

He was staring toward the window, totally ignoring her, which made her feel really stupid. He was an animal. There was absolutely no reason at all for her to feel embarrassed being naked in front of an animal.

With that thought in mind, she dropped the towel on the floor and reached for her bra.

The wolf whined. She turned. He'd moved. He stood beside her, his green eyes focused on her breasts. Cherry yanked the dress up and covered herself. The wolf dropped to his belly and covered his eyes with both front paws.

Stunned, Cherry watched him. Then she turned away and set the dress aside, quickly slipped into her bra, waited a couple of seconds, and spun back around. His head was up, eyes wide open.

The moment she turned, his head went back to the floor and his paws covered his eyes.

“No one will ever believe this. A peeping wolf?” Definitely too bizarre for words. She pulled the dress over her head. “Go ahead,” she said. “You can look now.”

The wolf sat up, mouth open in a big doggy grin while she slipped her feet into comfortable sandals and grabbed a soft shawl in case the weather turned cool. She wasn't sure what got into her, but Cherry went to her knees in front of the wolf so that she could look at him eye to eye. “I'm not sure what your game is, big guy, but I like you. I didn't want to come on this trip with my sister and her friend. I think they tricked me into coming because I'm not really comfortable in new places, but so far this has been the best time I've ever had. Though you, my friend, are a bit of an enigma.” She stood, and then shook her head. “Great. I can't believe I'm having a conversation with a wolf. Maybe
I
have
been working too hard.”

She stood, glanced around the cute little cabin, and realized it already felt familiar and comfortable. The wolf watched her, and if she didn't know better, she'd think he looked concerned. Maybe she did need a drink. “C'mon,” she said, snapping her fingers as she opened the door. “Why don't you show me where the bar is.”

Then she opened the door and followed the wolf outside.

*   *   *

The sound of laughter drew Cherry to the broad deck in front of the lodge. Christa and Steph were seated at a long picnic table with the three women they'd seen earlier. She glanced back to see if the wolf was still with her, but he'd faded into the forest.

Disappointed she couldn't show off her new friend, Cherry climbed the stairs to the deck.

“We were just wondering where you were.” Steph scooted over and made room for Cherry on the long bench.

“I needed a shower. Driving that far makes me feel grungy.” She sat in the vacant spot and faced the three strangers. They were each beautiful, and, as usually happened in situations like this, it would take two of them to make up one of her.

It used to bother her. She'd learned to accept she was who she was and there was no point in wishing she could be different. Not that her personal philosophy totally stopped her agonizing, but still …

Smiling, she reached across the table to shake hands with the closest woman. “I'm Cherry.”

“I'm Fred.” The tiny blonde laughed at Cherry's raised eyebrows. “Fredericka, but if you call me that I'll have to kill you. This is Suni on my right, Darnell on her right.”

“They're up from LA,” Christa said. “Suni's a costume designer, Darnell does makeup, and Fred's a hairstylist. They just finished work on a movie they can't talk about yet.”

“Wow. A secret movie?” Cherry glanced at the three.

Fred rolled her eyes. “We had to sign an agreement not to talk about it. The director's superstitious.”

“But he's really good,” Darnell added.

“And we all got paid on time.” Suni poked Darnell in the shoulder. “That's never a given in this business.”

“Hey, Cherry.” Brad stepped out of the lodge with an empty wineglass and a newly opened bottle of Chardonnay. “I was beginning to wonder if you were coming.”

She took the glass and held it while Brad poured. “Are you saying you didn't send that big, beautiful guy to my cabin?”

His smile was so damned sexy she broke out in goose bumps from head to toe. “I take it you had a visitor?”

“You might say so.” She took a sip of her wine. Brad winked and then turned away to refill the glasses for the other women.

Christa reached around Steph and poked Cherry's arm. “I wanna know more about your visitor.”

Cherry had no idea why she blushed, but it never took much to set her off. Sometimes she wondered if she were the only woman in the world who spent as much time showing everyone just how embarrassed she was.

“Cherry?” Laughing, Christa cocked an eyebrow. “Who was it?”

“More like ‘what was it,'” she said. “Did you send him, Brad?”

“I'll never tell.” He tipped the brim of his ball cap and headed back into the lodge.

Cherry called after him, “You're no help.”

He turned at the open door and made a deep bow before going inside.

“Men.” She almost snorted but bit it back in time. “I was just getting out of the shower when I thought I heard someone at the door. When I opened it, an absolutely magnificent wolf was sitting there. He just shoved the door open with his nose and walked into my cabin like he owned the place.”

“Oh! I am so jealous. I've been hoping to see a wolf.” Suni was practically vibrating with excitement. “That's the whole reason I talked these two bums into coming with me.”

“I was thinking someplace a little more, uhm … upscale?” Fred rolled her eyes. “I'm not much of an outdoors girl. I grew up in Brooklyn.”

“Where the wildlife consists of pigeons and stray cats?” Darnell checked a nonexistent hangnail.

“Pretty much.”

“Was he friendly?” Christa was leaning forward on the table. “What was he like?”

“Weirdly smart. I mean almost human intelligence. I asked him if Brad sent him to get me, because Brad had threatened to do just that if I wasn't down here in twenty minutes. The wolf showed up almost exactly twenty minutes after Brad left. Anyway, when I asked him, he yipped like he was answering me. And then when I went to change clothes, I just felt really weird with him sitting there staring at me, so I actually told him not to look.”