“Hell yeah, if Asher’s out to get his wife, taking Orwell down would be a bonus.”
Amelia took a spoonful of chili. “This is really good.” She was glad they’d sent it along with Gavin.
“It is. We can do some fishing tomorrow and, if we catch anything, have it for one of our meals.”
“Works for me.” She hadn’t gone fishing in eons. Certainly never with a hot wolf. “Do you think that the questioning about affairs made Conrad supercautious about who he might be seeing?”
“Maybe. He seemed cautious about revealing anything. Then again, he may have nothing to reveal.”
Amelia figured it could go either way too. She finished her chili.
“Maybe if Conrad is being secretive about his interest in Cheryl, he waits until everyone goes to sleep.”
Amelia had thought that too. In the dark of night, no one could see what they were up to. But they’d have to be awfully quiet. “Could be. I wonder what’s going on with Orwell? I mean, Mindy was all over him until you arrived, but he moved away from her once he learned she planned to ask for a divorce. It made me think he was not as into her as she was with him. Maybe he was trying to cool it with her. Maybe the notion she’s getting a divorce doesn’t appeal to him. He separated from his wife recently, so why jump into another relationship?”
“I agree with you there. I know if I had ended a marriage as a human, I wouldn’t want to commit to another woman right away.”
“Not unless she was the right one for you, and you knew because you’d been seeing her for the last six months.” Amelia raised a brow.
Gavin smiled. “As a human, possibly. Particularly if I were the kind of man who couldn’t live without a woman for any length of time. It’s hard finding the right woman when we’re wolves and there aren’t any wolves around.”
“True.” She sighed. “What if Heaton didn’t cause the trouble with the plane?”
“Who else do you think could have done it?”
“Maybe our company’s competition. Maybe they have some connection with Asher Michaels, and he hired them to disable it. They got the schedule from Heaton, who didn’t know why they’d even ask, except maybe to cause trouble for us. But nothing this bad. And Heaton was mad that my dad fired him, so he’s not that upset the plane went down.” She hated to think it might be their competition. Though if they could prove it, that might be a way to put them out of business.
“But he seemed concerned you went down with it.”
“Right. And his attitude that he didn’t have anything to do with the sabotage may be because he really didn’t have anything to do with it. Then again, even if he did it, he wouldn’t want us to believe that.”
“Possibly.”
“I wish Theodore hadn’t brought up the downed-plane business in front of the group. Though I guess if anyone in their group is a target, it’s good for them to know. They might even have come up with some ideas after we left, or maybe they will in the morning, after they’ve slept.” She really had mixed feelings about that.
“I agree.”
“Where did you find Theodore?”
“He was sitting on the shore, trying to read a map, frowning deeply. I called out to him, and he looked up, startled. Seeing it was me, he jumped up from the ground and began yelling and waving his hands as if he was afraid I would continue past his location and not come to his aid. Poor guy. He was extremely grateful when I told him I had found his group and would lead him there. Of course, then he worried about you. I explained you were setting up camp and then going to bed while I searched for him.”
She could just envision Theodore sitting there, trying to read the map, perspiration beaded on his forehead. “He’s a sweet man. I bet he was grateful. I sure was. It appeared Lee was too.”
“Yes, she seemed to be. He was afraid he’d be stuck alone in the dark on an island and fending off the bears and wolves and moose.”
“I thought Conrad looked unsettled about the plane incident. Maybe he was worried his wife might have paid to sabotage the plane. I was thinking we could go back as wolves to see if we can hear any noise coming from his tent,” she said.
“Return there as wolves? Sounds like a great idea.”
“You know, Conrad might just be worrying about the fact that the plane went down, which may not have anything to do with him feeling guilty.”
“You’re right. Anyone could feel that way. Are you ready to go on your second PI spy mission?” Gavin asked.
“I sure am.”
They quickly banked the fire, cleaned the plastic container, and set it with the other food items high in a tree. Then they stripped in the tent and shifted.
Leaving the tent, they headed out to the river. As they swam next to each other, Amelia didn’t think she’d ever done anything as interesting, different, or clandestine.
Chapter 13
Once they were on the shore, Amelia and Gavin shook the excess water off their fur, then ran through the woods to reach the campsite, carefully listening for any sign that anyone was out in there. The camp was quiet. No one was making a sound, and the campfire was cold. A lantern was on in one of the tents. The wolves prowled around the tents, sniffing for scents to learn who was staying in which one.
Each of the men had a tent of his own. Cheryl and Mindy were staying with the CEO in a larger blue tent.
Gavin smelled that Mindy had been sleeping in the green tent with Orwell. Not now, but maybe they’d get together later. Or maybe the discussion earlier about insurance policies had made Orwell or Mindy—or both—decide it was better to keep their distance.
He hoped Amelia was all right with sitting around on a job like this, listening during the surveillance, possibly for hours. It could be a long wait for nothing. He should have mentioned that to her first, but he suspected she would have come with him no matter what, rather than be left behind. He was glad she was with him. And truly, the idea of snuggling with her while they waited and listened appealed.
After they checked out all the tents, they lay down under the trees in the brush and waited to see what would happen next. They were curled up together, heads raised, listening.
A couple of hours later, Amelia was snuggled next to Gavin, her head resting on his back as he listened, enjoying the wolf closeness they shared. He never imagined being on a stakeout like this with a beautiful wolf and sharing the space as one.
Someone began moving about and Gavin perked up his ears, twisting them this way and that, pinpointing the location of the rustling. Carrying a flashlight, one of the women was leaving Lee’s tent. He squinted his eyes to identify which one it was in the dark. The woman was Lee. He frowned. What was she doing? Hopefully not walking into the woods to relieve herself close to where he and Amelia were lying down.
Nope. She made a beeline for Conrad’s tent, trying to step quietly on the leaf-and-twig-littered ground so she wouldn’t disturb anyone’s sleep. Gavin’s enhanced hearing was something he loved about being a wolf.
Lee slipped into Conrad’s tent. They were having an affair? Never having suspected it, Gavin wondered if she’d brought Cheryl on the trip as a cover.
“Lee, please, I don’t want to do this,” Conrad said as she entered his tent.
Gavin couldn’t have been more surprised. Was Lee sexually harassing Conrad? Gavin had to admit he never would have thought it, not after what Conrad’s wife suspected was going on.
“You want that promotion, don’t you?” Lee said, her voice hushed and annoyed.
“What if Eleanor believes I’m having an affair? What if she’s the one involved in the downing of the plane?”
“She wouldn’t be. How would she suspect anything? You haven’t done anything wrong. Yet. Besides, I doubt she’d try to kill you. Unless you have a life insurance policy with a double indemnity clause. Do you?”
Amelia nudged Gavin wit
h her nose, and he realized she was awake and listening in on the conversation.
“No. I won’t do this.”
“Your loss, Conrad.” The flashlight moved toward the opening of the tent, and then Lee left the tent and headed back to her own.
“Crap,” Conrad said softly, though the wolves heard.
Gavin and Amelia waited around for another hour. Then the northern lights brightened the night, the greens and purples stretching in colorful bands across the inky black sky. A loon called to its mate; a timber wolf let out a beautiful howl, and a little one answered.
Everyone seemed to be sleeping, and Gavin wanted to take Amelia back to their camp and enjoy the spectacular light display.
He nudged her to let her know they were done for now. She licked his face, and he licked hers back, ready to enjoy the star-filled night, then curl up with her in his sleeping bag. They loped through the woods and back to the river, swimming across to the other side. Once they reached the shore, they shook off the water and ran toward their campsite.
Everything was quiet there, no indication anyone had found the camp. At least not camo man. Heaton was another story, if he hadn’t left with the seaplane. Everything was still at their camp, and nothing seemed to have been touched. No smell of bears either, which was a good thing.
They moved into the tent and both shifted.
“Let’s get dressed and enjoy the light display,” he said.
“We could just be wolves.”
“It wouldn’t be the same.” Not when he wanted to wrap his arms around Amelia and snuggle.
They quickly pulled on clothes, and then sitting outside on the beach, he wrapped her in his arms. They looked heavenward. “Corona Borealis,” Gavin whispered against her cheek, the black sky brimming with sparkling stars.
“Beautiful,” she said, snuggling against him.
“I’ll say. Before I was a wolf, I’d go on a trip like this, and my portages meant getting to the lake or river on the other side of the island, doubling back if I had to so that I could carry another load. When I glided across the lakes or rivers, I’d see moose, bears, loons, eagles, beavers, anything I could observe from the water. On a portage, all I did was check my bearing and count my steps. At night under a star-filled sky, we’d talk about the past, about cases we’d worked on, just all kinds of things, but I never looked up and saw the beauty of the night.”
“But now?”
He hugged her tighter. “I enjoy every bit of the walk—the trails, the rocks, the flora, the hills, the birds all around me. Warblers, waxwings, orioles. Before that, I didn’t notice. I’d only hear my own heartbeat pounding and think about the wolves and bears that could be watching my every move.”
“Which they still could be.”
He chuckled. “Yes, but now I’m one of them. One of you. Maybe not a royal like yourself. Sitting here with you makes stargazing truly enjoyable.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “Do you believe in fate?”
“That we’re meant to keep crashing in planes together?” Amelia lifted her mouth to his, and they kissed under the stars and the dazzling lights, out in the wilderness, two wolf shifters making the most of this, providence or not.
Gavin figured they shouldn’t have dressed, because as soon as they began to kiss under the stars, he wanted to move into the tent. He helped her up from the beach. She entered the tent first, and Gavin followed. As soon as he was inside, he caught her in his arms and kissed her again. “How do you feel about your first night of surveillance?”
“If this is the follow-up critique, not bad,” she said, running her hands over his chest.
He wanted them both bared to each other. “I want to take this further between us. Not all the way, but—”
“Taking baby steps?” she asked, her chin tilted up, eyeing him as he was studying her back, her expression lustful.
He knew his expression had to mirror hers. “Hell, no way.” He slid his hands under her shirt and cupped her naked breasts, his mouth claiming hers. If they hadn’t had to be cautious about a mating for life, he was sure they would have made love to each other already.
She had nice-sized breasts that fit perfectly in his large hands. He massaged her soft, warm breasts and felt her nipples pebbling against his palms.
Then he freed her of the sweatshirt and slid his hands down her waist until he reached her jeans. He slipped his hand under the band, molding his fingers to her ass and pulling her tight against his burgeoning arousal.
“Hmm,” she said, lifting her head to kiss his mouth as she rubbed her mound against his stiff cock.
He was about to pull off his shirt when she began working on his belt buckle, hurrying to unfasten it. He was amused that she was removing his pants first, getting to the meat of the matter, instead of removing his shirt like he’d done with her. He was going to yank off his shirt, but he liked feeling her undress him, just as he was enjoying undressing her.
He kissed her hair, loving the silkiness, breathing in the tantalizing hint of a floral fragrance scenting it before she unzipped his pants. She drew them down, his fully aroused cock springing free, her cheek brushing it as she leaned down to help free his feet from his jeans.
Her touch made his cock jerk, and he wished he could bury it in her hot, slick heat. For now, he wanted to show her he was the only wolf for her—like animals courting in the wild, making all the right moves to prove to their ladylove they were well-suited.
Her heart was already racing as much as his was. Their pheromones were bouncing off each other’s, telling each other they were more than interested.
She brushed her hand over his cock. Tease. And then he pulled off her jeans, trailing kisses down her belly. She moaned, her fingers curled around strands of his hair. She rested her hands on his shoulders to steady herself while he pulled off her jeans.
Then she was helping him out of his shirt, tossing it aside, and running her hands over his bare chest. Everywhere she touched him, his skin sizzled. He did the same to her breasts, cupping, weighing, molding his hands to them and loving the heat between them.
Once they were both naked, he pulled her down to the sleeping bag and covered them because, despite how hot her touches made him, it was cool in the tent and he’d felt her shiver.
They began kissing again, her body half covering his, her breasts settled against his chest, her mouth pressing kisses against his cheek, his jaw, and then his throat. He swept his hands down her back, then cupped her buttocks and squeezed. He wasn’t sure if it was the wolfish half of his nature that felt so attuned to her, never having had the opportunity to experiment with a she-wolf, but he sure as hell felt she was the one for him. He was driven to have her, to make this permanent between them. Was he crazy to feel this way? Or was there something to their wilder animal half that allowed them to recognize the truth?
When she ran her hand over his arousal, he moved her against the sleeping bag so he could kiss her breasts and take this further. Not all the way, but…further.
He drew his fingers down her belly to her curly hairs, found her erogenous spot, and began to stroke her. He breathed in her delightful, musky scent of sex and desire. He was circling her feminine nub, then stroking, and her heels dug into the sleeping bag. She was so tense, breathing through the sensations, that he was certain she was about to climax.
If he could have, he would have plunged his cock into her then, but instead, he sank a finger between her legs, as deep as he could, and she cried out. He kissed her mouth and rubbed his cock against her leg, swirling his finger inside her still. She stroked his back and ass as he continued to move against her, until she pushed him onto his back and took hold of matters. With the perfect grip, she stroked his erection and had him coming in record time.
He groaned and relaxed against the sleeping bag. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and pull her close and sleep.
“Come on, let’s go out and wash off in the lake under the stars.”
He felt bone-tired, but he agreed. They both headed outside and hurried to the water, got in, and washed each other off. Then he swept her up into his arms and carried her back to the tent. Inside, they quickly dried off and slipped into the sleeping bag. He pulled her into his arms and thought about the stakeout tonight, hoping she hadn’t minded it too much. He guessed it was like her wanting him to not be afraid of flying. He wanted her to like the kind of work he did.
“So you didn’t mind the stakeout too much?” At least not while she was snuggled up next to him as a wolf. He sure liked it.
“No, I didn’t think anything was going to happen, but I was glad to be there with you. I…might have drifted off for a moment. I wasn’t making little woofy noises, was I? I hadn’t thought of that.”
He chuckled. Now that would have caused a stir. “No, you were quiet.”
“Thank goodness. As soon as I heard Lee making her way to Conrad’s tent, I was all ears. At first, I even had the idea she was worried about the plane situation and was seeking his advice. I was sure shocked to learn she was making the moves on him, and he was rejecting her.”
Gavin wholeheartedly agreed. “Only this time, maybe because of the plane incident? Worried his wife might be the one responsible? Or has he been rejecting her for a while? His wife did say he’d acted strangely when he returned home from one of these team-building excursions last year.”
“Either situation could be the case.”
“From what she said, he’s not played along with her, even when he could get a promotion out of it,” Gavin said. “That says something for his character. If I had to base this on what I saw tonight, and he isn’t having an affair with someone else, which could be his real reluctance to have one with Lee, I’d say he’s clean.”
Amelia shook her head. “Here I figured Cheryl was seeking to elevate her position. In Mindy’s case, I believe that’s what she was up to, but Orwell’s backing off.”