He’d been pleased she hadn’t run screaming when her beautiful blue eyes landed on his furry form. Then he’d been amused by her attempt at conversation. But it had nearly killed him when he’d forced himself to leave. The wolf had wanted to rip something bloody while Ben itched to plant a fist in the agent’s smirking face. Doing neither, Ben had made his way back to where he’d left his clothes, shifted and dressed, all the while his wolf seethed with helpless fury. Its mate was locked up all nice and cozy with another male, and it wanted blood.
As Ben lay alone in his bed later that night he tried to be logical. Mack and Josh had also touched her, so theoretically any one of them could have initiated the mating heat from that skin-to-skin contact. But neither Mack nor Josh had returned to the cabin for a deeper whiff.
The second evening only confirmed what Ben’s beast already knew. He’d stuck around after delivering Willow her medicine, playing cards, chatting, touching her every chance he could until Rome kicked him to the curb. Once again, Willow sneaked out while Rome was in the shower and Ben, finding how easily she accepted his beast’s unwavering stare, shifted. And stared. Devouring her with his eyes. Until Rome dragged Willow back inside.
Her scent was making both man and beast crazy. Ben wanted to shove his face in her neck and breathe deep. His wolf wanted to roll around in it until her lush sweetness coated its fur. But most of all, Ben wanted to bury his throbbing cock in her slick flesh, hear her screams of pleasure as he pounded out the pulsing ache inside her silken sheath.
With a groan he forced the image of Willow, naked, back arched in ecstasy as he thrust into her from behind. His mouth closing over her neck to sink his fangs in her flesh. Because that was doing nothing to cool his ardor and he didn’t want to show up at the cabin with a cock-stand.
Instead he recalled learning from Willow and Rome that she was, in effect, bait. A way to lure Valen to Woodcliff and make another attempt on Willow’s life. Nothing less would put Valen behind bars permanently. But both Ben and his wolf had other ideas. If Valen did come to town, they would do whatever it took to keep Willow safe. Which meant killing that which meant to destroy his life. Nothing less would satisfy.
Ben also found out Willow had never been skiing. He’d opened his mouth to offer to take her out for lessons when she rose and went to the sink. And she’d limped. The sight had caused a raw fury to haze over his vision. It had been Rome and his hard kick under the kitchen table that pulled Ben from the edge.
This morning he’d thought about the snowmobiles. It only held two so Catman would have to sit at the cabin while Ben whisked Willow away for some much desired alone time.
Snickering at the idea of besting Willow’s overbearing agent, Ben gunned the engine when he hit the clearing, snow spraying in long, graceful arches behind the runner as he angled toward the center cabin.
Chapter Seven
Curious at the sound of a revving engine, Willow left the kitchen table where she’d been playing solitaire for what felt like years and opened the front door of the cabin. She didn’t need to see who was behind the tinted face mask of a helmet to know it was Ben. Her heart skipped a beat before jumping into a happy dance.
Thinking herself an idiot, she pressed her lips together and waited as he eased to a stop in front of her, killed the engine, and lifted off his headgear.
The cold,crisp air felt good on her face, though she did tuck her arms around herself for warmth. Rome liked his heat and kept the cabin almost too toasty for Willow. Today she’d felt overly warm, sneaking peeks at the thermostat to see if he’d raised the temperature, but he hadn’t. She hoped she wasn’t coming down with a cold.
“Something wrong with your truck?”
“Nah.” He ran a gloved hand over his bare head. “I know you’re not up to skiing just yet, but I thought you might like to take a ride with me.”
Willow flicked her gaze from Ben to the machine and back again, nibbling the corner of her mouth to keep from screaming, hell, yeah! “On that?”
Ben’s eyes locked on the small movement. “Come on. You need a break from your jailer.” A saucy wink. “You know you want to.”
Boy howdy, did she want to. She wanted out of the cabin. Having to plaster her body all over Ben’s backside was icing on the cake. It was a win-win scenario to Willow.
Before she could answer a male voice spoke behind her, giving her a jolt. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Anderson.” Rome grumbled. “It’ll be dark soon.”
Ben shrugged. “‘Bout an hour and if you think about it, it’s a great idea. Give you both a break.”