“Yes, he was badly injured. And so were Paul and Allan.”
“But… but not you.”
“No. Listen, I can’t really discuss it. Only that I’m sure this has to do with a traitor in the ranks.”
Her eyes grew huge. “Not among the members of your SEAL team.”
“No. We’ve been like brothers. We’re all lupus garous. Someone who…” He shook his head. “We don’t know anything for certain. Suffice it to say, I’m staying here to protect you. Paul’s watching his own back since he prefers it that way. We’ve got friends protecting Allan. One of your pack members will be there to watch out for Hunter and Tessa, and Hunter will ensure he gets more coverage while he’s on the island. As soon as I can get through to him, I’ll call him again. But it would be too easy for whoever this is to target you and wait until Hunter returns, while using you as the perfect little hostage. Hunter would expect this of me.”
Finn knew there’d be trouble, as defiant as she always was with him, as soon as she stubbornly lifted her chin. “I don’t expect this of you! I’ve got two weeks to find a mate.”
“Think of it as a vacation. Two weeks away from Hunter’s rule, just taking it easy.”
“So I can be under your rule? No way. I’m not taking it easy while Hunter’s out of my hair. I’ve got the resort to run, and that’s just what I’m going to damn well do. Once the meal is done, I’ll take it to Joe and eat with him over there. You can…” She motioned to the front of the house. “…go back to wherever you came from.”
“All right.” His face turned hard as he gave up trying to reason with her. “Then I’m coming with you. I’ll eat Joe’s portion of the dinner, and you can share your portion with him.” He gave her a derisive smile. “Take it or leave it. If you don’t want my offer of protection, I’m packing you off to Hawaii, and I’ll wait here for the assassin alone. I’m sure it would be a safer bet for you anyway.”
She ground her teeth. “If you think I’m going to mess up their honeymoon… well, no way. Besides, what if whoever this is follows them there?”
“That’s a distinct possibility. And the reason I sent your pack mate to Hawaii to watch out for Hunter. As for you, I could send you to your uncle in Florida.” Finn was serious, too. Although he’d accompany her there if she decided she wanted to go to the Sunshine State.
“Ha! You’re not sending me anywhere. And I’m going to do what I had planned on doing while Hunter is away. You can’t tell me what to do!”
Hell. He sighed. “What if one of the men you’ve leased the cabins to is the assassin?”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “Okay, so we investigate each of them before they get here. You’re the expert at that, aren’t you? You must have a way to access personal records, and then once everyone looks all right, that’s the end of it. Once we’ve eliminated them as suspects, I’ll go about my business.”
Considering they were lupus garous and records were changed over the years to hide their longevity, that would be the problem. Finn had known as soon as he learned Hunter was gone that this was one mission he shouldn’t have signed up for. “Even this Joe Matheson could be one of them.”
Her eyes widened and she looked in the direction of the blue cabin. “No.”
“You don’t really know a thing about him, Meara.”
Pop! Pop!
“Shit!” Fearing gunfire, Finn lunged for Meara, shoving her to the carpeted floor as his body slammed into hers and losing his towel in the process.
Finn was planted firmly on top of Meara on her carpeted bedroom floor, listening for any sound that could mean danger as her heart and his beat at an accelerated pace, although she was barely breathing. He could tell by the expression on her face as she watched him that she also was listening for any sounds of an intruder.
Finn’s towel was now draped across her pelvis, and he was naked again. But she was fully dressed, so no big deal. Except no matter how hard he tried not to think about the way their heated bodies were pressed together, he couldn’t help becoming aroused.
“Gunfire?” she whispered, keeping very still.
“Might have been. Or not. Could have been a car backfiring.”
“Way out here?”
“Maybe one of your other guests arrived.”
Meara squirmed underneath Finn, and he fought groaning out loud as she pressed dangerously against his rapidly growing erection. “Well, let me up then. If you’re not going to check it out, I will.”
He knew Meara was headstrong. If he hadn’t been worrying about her safety or what she might do that could put her at more risk, Finn would have already left the house and searched the area. He was rethinking the situation about either of them staying at her place, though. Looked like the money he’d paid and strings he’d pulled to move the renters out of his home farther south had been a good bet. He’d never thought he’d be taking Hunter’s sister there alone to safeguard, rather that he might be moving both Hunter and Meara in.
“Well?” She wriggled some more. “We’re not going to continue to lie here and do nothing, are we? I believe in being proactive.”
“Quit moving, Meara,” he ordered tightly. Hell, the woman was hot, particularly pinned beneath his body, and her squirming around was making him even hotter than he already was.
Her eyes widened as she undoubtedly felt his rigid arousal. “How could you be thinking about stuff like that at a time like this?”
“I’m not thinking of anything of the sort. Just quit wiggling.” At least he tried not to think of her wriggling beneath him and how hard it was making him. He grabbed the towel and got to his feet. “Haven’t you ever heard of friction? That’s all it is. Nothing more.”
Friction, his ass. From the moment he’d seen her, remembering just how hot the woman was, and how she seemed so interested in the way he looked, had made him hard. But he hadn’t meant for her to know how little control he had over his physical reaction to her.
She snorted. “I know a man doesn’t need much encouragement, but give me a break.”
He managed to control a smile. When he tossed the towel aside to shift, aware he was fully erect and that Meara was staring at him in… well, he wasn’t sure about her reaction. Amusement? Wonderment? Maybe a little of both. And it wasn’t helping.
Not liking that he seemed to have so little control over his libido when he was around her, he growled, intending to go look for the assassin, and summoned the urge to shift.
Chapter 4
Once Finn had shifted into his wolf form, he cast a long, hard look at Meara, as if he was trying to tell her to stay put. He was a beautiful, big gray wolf with a tan face framed by fur in a mixture of browns and black, giving him a distinguished appearance.
Exasperated, Meara waved her hand toward the wolf door. “Go. Protect me, oh hero of mine.” She couldn’t help it if her words sounded faintly sarcastic. She’d never gotten herself into a bind she couldn’t get herself out of, given enough time. And she didn’t feel this would be an exception.
Finn hesitated and even looked a little surprised.
She smiled, liking that he seemed a bit unsure for the first time since she’d met him six years earlier. Not that she had seen much of him since Hunter and the rest of the team had left the Navy. Most of the time, Finn would come to the door, usher Hunter outside for a super-secretive conversation, and then vanish without a word. Hunter would make arrangements with his sub-leaders, leaving shortly after that with duffel bag in hand.
Sure, she’d seen all of them together when they were still members of the SEAL team, but they were mostly part of the background. The guys aimed a few sly smiles in her direction, but none of them ever spoke to her except to greet her by name. They had remained subdued, standoffish, and secretive.
So she really didn’t know Finn well, except that she’d had words with him on more than one occasion when the team returned from a mission. She was angry that he was always getting Hunter involved in something that could prove fatal. They had left the Navy once their commitments were up. Enough was enough. Hunter had done his duty for God and country.
Finn would listen patiently to her tirade and cast Hunter surreptitious looks as though commiserating with him for having a sister who couldn’t leave well enough alone—and that had irritated her to no end.
Then Finn would depart and, several months later, turn up for another secretive mission, and they’d do what they intended without paying her any mind… again. She hoped that Hunter would give up the clandestine operations all together, now that he was mated.
But God, Finn had a body that wouldn’t quit. If there was a werewolf calendar, he could be featured on every month—and women would be even more apt to buy it if he was featured for an additional couple of months the following year. A natural Scandinavian blond with hazel-green eyes, he was a real looker.
She thought of him without the towel, the way he had been drying his hair so innocently, acting as though he’d forgotten to cover himself in front of her. He’d only done that to pretend he’d been her lover the night before. And she had been determined to pretend right back that his nakedness had no effect on her, not wanting him to think he’d not only shocked but intrigued her. No matter how much she told herself she shouldn’t, she couldn’t quit giving his physique a few gaping looks. Even though she’d tried damn hard to refocus her gaze on his. But the way that his mouth curved up and his wickedly darkened eyes smiled back at her meant he knew the truth. She couldn’t get her fill of him.
“Go. I mean it. I’ll stay here,” she said to Finn, nearly forgetting what he should be doing.
Seemingly reassured that she’d stay put, Finn loped out of the bedroom, and she went for her rifle.
As soon as Finn made certain the house was clear and no one was lurking inside, he used his nose to push through the wolf’s door to check the perimeter of the house and its surroundings. Outside, he smelled Joe’s scent coming from the direction of the blue cabin. Finn raced through the woods to the first of the cabins, circling around the outside, but he didn’t see or hear any signs of life. Where was Joe?