ridiculously feverish body temperature of werewolves.
“Dear Gwen, I know there are parts of our world that you do
not understand, but—believe it or not—there are parts we don’t
understand. As a human you see thoughts and feelings like air that you cannot
hold. To us, they are things— real things —like the chair that you sit in.
And yet they are mysteries.”
He nodded his dark, shaggy head as if he’d just explained
the secret of the cosmos.
“Go on,” Gwen urged.
Sergei shrugged. “Your mate had a nightmare and he is
concerned for your safety. And so I am here to watch over you until he
returns.”
Gwen raised her eyebrows and nodded. “Oh right—a nightmare.
Of course.”
Fucking werewolves.
* * * * *
If an alarm went off, Gwen missed it, but in an instant,
Sergei had sprung to his feet—sending his chair clattering across the worn wood
planks of the kitchen floor—and Jezebel and Bob had bolted to the cabin door.
“Alex has arrived!” Sergei announced.
No shit?
Gwen reached into the front of her shirt and nudged her
breasts toward center—enhancing her cleavage—then pushed back her chair and
stood. The three weeks every month that Alex spent in L.A. filming The Dog
Talker always left her restless and she couldn’t wait to get Mr. Big TV
Star back into her bed.
The anticipation of being in his arms again trumped everything,
and the stuff that had transpired that day quickly receded into the background.
Gwen was already cooking up ways to convince Sergei to gather up his psycho
little mate and call it a night when he jerked open the front door to welcome
his alpha.
A ball of electric energy gathered at the base of Gwen’s
spine and her lips tingled as she leaned fetchingly—she hoped—against the
table. She concentrated on jutting out her chest and making her mouth look
irresistible.
Alex breezed into the cabin with the purposeful air of an
alpha wolf. He gave Sergei a slight nod of acknowledgement then grabbed Gwen
and pulled her into an unabashed kiss. She giggled when he buried his mouth
against her neck and growled. Alex had worked his way almost to her earlobe
when Gwen opened her eyes and looked over his shoulder.
Standing in the doorway, a stringer of fish in his hand, was
one of the most beautiful men—hell one of the most beautiful people—Gwen had
ever laid eyes on. Glossy, jet-black hair framed brown skin. Big, dark almond-shaped
eyes sparkled. High cheekbones begged to be touched. And those full lips!
Then he smiled and Gwen was sunk. The shiver that passed
through her was not from her lover’s touch.
Alex must have felt too because he pulled back from Gwen then
turned to follow her open-mouthed stare.
Before proper introductions could be made, Jezebel started
snapping and snarling at their handsome visitor. Gwen gasped when the dog
lunged. Sergei’s hand shot out and caught the golden retriever’s collar just
before she made contact.
Sergei knelt down and locked Jezebel in his stare. The dog
whined, then trotted across the room and flopped down on the rug in front of
the fireplace. She didn’t move from the spot, but Gwen could hear the low,
rumbling growl coming from her chest.
Sergei stood, brushed off his jeans and nodded to the
visitor. “Hello, kitten.”
Throughout the commotion, the man in the doorway had
continued to smile at Gwen but turned and nodded at Sergei’s greeting, then
passed him the stringer of fish. “What’s up, big dog?”
He strode toward Gwen, arm extended. “Good to see you again,
Miss Chaney.”
Again? If she’d ever met this guy, she would have
remembered. She accepted his handshake and cocked her head to one side. “I’m
sorry. I don’t remember—”
“I’m Tommy Longtree,” he said, broadening his incredible
smile just enough to make Gwen go weak in the knees.
She realized their hands were still clasped, but she just
couldn’t seem to let go. “Hi, Tommy. I’m really sorry about Jezebel. She’s
usually very
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