Simon’s mouth gaped a little.
“Wait, didn’t you know Douglas is alive and well? He is, and your story doesn’t match his at all.”
After that, Simon wouldn’t speak any further with them. They left the interrogation room to speak with Wayne, but Lydia intercepted them first in the hallway.
“I have to talk to you. I know I told Miles I was coming to speak with Kira, and I am, but I wanted to say how sorry I am for her involvement in all this. She had a rotten father. Not that it gave her a reason to kill her husbands. But she never really had a good father figure. When Miles called and sounded like he believed her sob story, I wanted to come up right away. I really like him, and I don’t want to see her get out and then go after him next, because she’s truly a black widow. She feels no remorse for what she’s done. Yet she can turn on the tears when it suits her. She just wraps guys around her little finger without any effort. And every time, they fall for it. No mother ever wants to give up their child this way, but her killing is an obsession.
“When you and Vaughn left my house, I was going through everything, trying to find anything that would tie her further to Brutus in a more intimate way. I told you I thought he might be her lover. But I didn’t know for sure.” She handed Jillian a picture at Kira’s first wedding. “You see, he’s there in the background with Kira. They’ve got their heads together, and she’s got her hands on his shoulders, kind of intimate for someone who just married her first husband.
“I’d never seen him before and really hadn’t noticed it. The photographer, a family friend, had been taking a photo of a group of people dancing. Who would really look at people in the background? Anyway, I thought it could help show they knew each other more intimately from the beginning. While you were talking to Gaston’s brother, I had a talk with your brother. I think Miles is having a hard time believing Kira was at the root of all the ‘accidental deaths,’ but he needs to.”
“Thanks, Lydia. I think after he sees all the evidence, he’ll realize the truth of the matter.” Jillian wondered if Kira would still try to convince each of them how innocent she was.
But first, they went in to see Wayne. He was lying in bed, still recovering from the gunshot wounds. He had an IV but was handcuffed to the bed, looking pale but angry.
All Jillian wanted to know at this point was why he nearly killed Douglas.
“Hell,” Wayne said. “I came to see Kira and tell Douglas what she and Brutus were up to. That they tried to eliminate Miles, and they tried to murder me to get rid of their competition. Douglas was sure I was involved in the shooting and was turning on my friends. He threatened to kill me. He tried even.”
“With his bare fists?” Vaughn asked. “And then you were so scared, you took off your clothes, shifted into a jaguar, and tore into him? If you didn’t know, Douglas is recovering and told us his version of the story. We were just curious what you would come up with.” Turning to Jillian, Vaughn said, “Unless you have anything further to ask him, I’d rather just let the JAG take care of them. They can determine what his punishment will be for attempted murder.”
Jillian nodded and slipped her arm around Vaughn’s waist. She wanted to finish questioning Kira and then see Douglas. Demetria and Everett headed their way to speak with Wayne.
“Kira will only speak with Miles,” Demetria warned.
“That’s fine. She can talk to the JAG at headquarters and deal with the consequences.” Jillian and Vaughn walked into the last interrogation room and were surprised to see Lydia sitting in there holding on to Kira’s hand. Lydia was sobbing.
Kira was stony-faced, rubbing her mother’s back. “I guess it’s kind of humbling to know my own mom has turned against me.”
Jillian could see Kira had no remorse, even when her mother did. Kira was just coldhearted. Jillian hoped Miles knew what a phony the woman was.
“Did you even really care about Brutus dying?” Jillian thought Kira might have faked caring that he had died too. Wouldn’t she have been angry at Jillian for killing him? Now, Kira didn’t show anything but a sort of numbness, like she didn’t know what to do when her partner in crime had died and left her alone to face the jury.
They tried talking for a few more minutes with Kira, but she clammed up. They left and saw Miles waiting with one of the officers. He just shook his head. “You must think I’m foolish for believing Kira.”
Jillian hadn’t thought anything of the sort. “Not at all. She had everyone fooled. Only her mother seemed to know the real Kira.”
“I was talking to Douglas after I heard some of the things these jokers said.” He managed a dark, humorless laugh. “He’s doing much better. Martin, my new boss, wants me to go with the prisoners and the USF agents to take them to Dallas.”
“We’re staying here with Douglas until he’s back on his feet,” Jillian said, thinking afterward she should have asked Vaughn, but he squeezed her shoulders in agreement.
“And a wedding,” Demetria said, joining them.
“Always the groomsman,” Howard said.
Everyone smiled.
“And our wedding after that sometime. We’ll talk about it after you get back from your honeymoon,” Jillian said, thinking how they were all members of the USF now, mostly married. “We’ll have to work to get Howard married off next.”
He raised his hands in a sign that said, “Whoa, not me.”
Demetria and Jillian laughed.
That afternoon, after a farewell-for-now steak dinner, they said their good-byes.
Vaughn and Jillian intended to stay at the guest house at Leidolf’s ranch until Douglas was well enough to return to Colorado and Vaughn’s and his pack. Jillian’s too now. They’d spent time talking to Douglas, who was enjoying the nurse’s care so much that Vaughn wasn’t sure he’d ever want to go home.
Vaughn and Jillian finally arrived at the guest house for the night. They were ready to fix dinner, sit down, and color some more of their pictures before they retired to bed for some more loving. To their surprise, they found a bottle of chilled champagne, fresh filet mignons, and a note that was like Santa’s Christmas list congratulating them, listing signatures from Douglas, Everett, Demetria, Howard, and Miles—even Martin, their new boss—as well as everyone in Leidolf’s pack. Below that, all of Vaughn’s pack members had signed off.
A bouquet of a dozen red roses, and airfare and a cabana rental for Hawaii, courtesy of Jillian’s parents, were sitting on the table. And more: a luau and scuba diving excursions from Douglas and Miles. Vaughn’s pack leaders gave them cabin rental and airfare to one of the smaller islands during their stay there for saving Douglas’s life.
With tears in her eyes, Jillian kissed Vaughn. “I love your pack already.”
“I love your family already.”
“Even my dad?”
“I think he approves of me, and hell, any father that approves of me marrying his daughter is a first-rate father-in-law.”
She laughed. “Come on, let’s unwind a bit before we eat dinner.”
He thought she intended to color on her pages, since that was meant to help reduce stress. Instead, she drew him toward the hallway and the bedroom. Unwinding this way? He was ready!
Vaughn swept Jillian up in his arms and carried her into her bedroom. “Who would have ever thought we could end a mission like this?”
Jillian smiled.
Then he set her down on the bed, as gently as before, because no matter how hard-charging she might be in her duty, she was his sweet mate and he had every intention of treating her like a wolf goddess.
“Wait.” She stripped off his shirt and left a trail of kisses down his chest, making him groan in anticipation.
She smiled and licked his navel, then unfastened his belt.
“Okay, first things first.” He wanted to take it slow and easy with her, to prolong the pleasure, but it was like taking one bite of a toffee-chocolate ice-cream bar and trying to resist another.
He quickly rem
oved his boots and then hers. Socks next, and she said, “Agreed, better.” Then she was unbuttoning his jeans and jerking down his zipper.
He was glad he wasn’t the only one eager to make love. She pulled down his pants and kissed his fully aroused cock on the way down.
He growled and kicked his jeans aside, then began stripping her—shirt, jeans, leaving just a pair of black lace panties and bra. She was so sexy and all his. He hoped she never changed her habit of wearing beautiful lingerie, as much as it turned him on.
“Beautiful,” he whispered against her mouth.
She smiled against his lips. “Just as you are.” She pulled off his boxer briefs and led him to the bed. “Lie down.”
He raised his brows. She smiled. “I’m going to give you a massage like you did my feet and my shoulders. It was wonderful.”
He’d never had a massage before. He imagined that with her touching him, he would soon be in trouble.
“Be right back.” She returned minutes later with a bottle of lotion and began using some on his feet. He closed his eyes as she worked the muscles, and he didn’t believe he’d ever felt anything so divine.
“You next.”
“Think you can last?”
He chuckled. “Maybe afterward.”
“Deal.”
She worked on his legs, massaging until she got to his groin and pelvis. He was already so hard, he couldn’t stand it. He flipped her over and began kissing her. “I can’t take it.” He didn’t mind admitting she had him just where she wanted him. He kissed her mouth again, long and deep and passionately. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, and he was thanking God she hadn’t been hurt today, that tonight he and his mate could celebrate the end of the case and their union all over again.
He licked her mouth and kissed her again before he parted her legs and began to stroke her. His touch was gentle but insistent, all his senses on high alert as he studied the way she reacted to his touch. The way she dug her fingers into his hips and drew in shallow breaths, the way her heart beat wildly. He smelled their mutually heated arousals, a total turn-on for wolves, and knew that every bit of his fondling was sending her that much closer to the moon.
Just as she was on the verge of coming, he penetrated her and thrust as deeply as he could manage. She settled her legs around his as he pumped into her.
Vaughn loved her, couldn’t get enough of her, and needed this after she took down two of the jaguars. She was a crack shot, and he couldn’t have been any prouder of her. She was good at her job, but that didn’t mean he’d worry less about the outcome in a volatile situation.
He slid in and out of her white-hot heat, loving how responsive she was right before she tightened her hold on him and cried out. He soon followed her into oblivion.
For a long time, she kept her body wrapped around his as if she didn’t want to let go of him, and he didn’t move off her because he loved being the center of her world for just a bit longer.
But then he rolled over on his back, taking her with him so he was still inside her, stroking her back in loving caresses.
“Did you want me to massage you more?” Jillian rested her chin on his chest, her hands stroking his face, loving that she still was holding on to him.
“Later. Don’t move a muscle.”
Vaughn began to stir inside her, and she smiled. “You are a wolf with an appetite.” She knew massaging a few muscles would be the perfect scenario for a hungry wolf.
“Hell yeah, for you.”
“Then let me help it along.” She began licking his nipple, knowing just what her wolf mate loved the most. What a way to end a case and begin the rest of her life with that growly SEAL wolf who had intrigued her, irritated her, and made her fall in love.
Vaughn knew being with the she-wolf would alter his life forever, but in one hell of a good way as he made love to her, slept with her, grilled steaks, shared an ice-cream bar, and made love all over again.
Next up, Hawaii. Training with the JAG would have to wait.
Epilogue
Jillian sat under the shade of an umbrella on the beach, drinking her Blue Hawaiian and watching Vaughn as he raced from the aqua waters across the hot sand to her lounger. His tanned muscles were glistening with water, and he was wearing just a pair of aqua board shorts. He’d insisted she get an aqua bikini to match.
They’d been in Hawaii for only the morning after the red-eye flight, and both of them couldn’t wait to hit the beach. In an hour, they were going snorkeling, then to a luau tonight. Later, by moonlight with a view of the ocean and the tropical-forest-covered mountains and with the colorful parrots all tucked away for the night, Jillian and Vaughn would be running as wolves in the lush vegetation where no one would ever be the wiser.
“I’m glad Douglas and my brother are coming next week to scuba dive with us. Douglas is doing so well, Miles said, that he’s really looking forward to the trip,” Jillian said.
“I thought he might even be bringing Sally with him, but he said he appreciated her nursing care while he was injured, but there was nothing more to it than that.” Vaughn sat down on the lounger next to Jillian’s. “I’m sure Miles and Douglas will have fun. Do you need more suntan lotion?” He raised his brows.
She laughed. “I’m so slick now, I’ll never be able to shower all of this off…for days.”
He laughed. “You’re slick all right. Hot, wet, and totally wild. And all mine.” He pulled her onto his lap, and they watched windsurfers sailing across the waves. “Besides, I will love soaping you up later and washing it all off.” He motioned to the windsurfers. “Want to try that?”
“Yeah, I’d love to. Sometime during our vacation. After that long trip to the islands, we might need a nap before we go to the luau. Right now though? I’m ready to be a fish.” Without warning, she dashed off his lap and raced to the surf. He waited, and she was disappointed he hadn’t taken chase, but as soon as she reached the water’s edge, he scooped her up and spun her around.
“That makes two of us,” he said and then carried her into the waters where the two wolf shifter agents played, swam, kissed, and hugged. In a couple of weeks, they would be in training, and after that, they’d have another assignment.
The case they’d just finished was now in the hands of JAG headquarters as the agency determined what to do with Kira, Simon, and his brother Wayne. Jillian suspected Simon would be incarcerated for a while, even if the JAG learned he had nothing to do with Wayne trying to kill Douglas. Simon still had fired rounds at Jillian. As to Wayne and Kira, that was another story.
For now, being wolves in love in the tropical paradise was all that mattered. The rest of their world’s problems could wait until another day.
Read on for a sneak peek of Book One in Terry Spear’s new White Wolf series
Coming soon from Sourcebooks Casablanca
Prologue
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Minnesota
Two years ago
Clara Hart felt like she was being followed. She and her four friends had trekked through the wilderness, stopping for lunch and setting up the two tents for the afternoon, then exploring a bit more before making dinner and sharing stories around the campfire. She hadn’t been camping in years. Even then, she’d only gone as a Girl Scout. She didn’t think her adoptive parents had ever camped out. They preferred ritzy resorts—fine dining, the best of accommodations.
Except for the eerie sensation that they were being watched, Clara was having a ball.
“Hey, see anything?” Eleanor asked, teasing her as Clara peered around at the woods again.
“Nope.”
Fisher laughed. “You’ve been saying something’s following us for miles. When was the last time you’d been camping again?”
Clara threw her camp pillow at him. He grabbed it and threw it back to her. “You know,” she said, “it could be a bear or a cougar. Be sure to take something to eat in your tent tonight so the rest of us won’t have any worries.”
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Smiling, the redheaded guy shook his head. “You’re paranoid. As noisy as we’ve been, nothing would come near us.”
Maybe she’d watched too many scary movies. Fisher was probably right. But Clara couldn’t quit checking out the pines surrounding them, just in case he wasn’t.
“She’s just getting psyched to write her next romantic suspense novel set on a camping trip with friends,” Fisher said. “And everyone dies, except a man and a woman who hate each other’s guts and fall in love over the ordeal.”
He was the total geek of the bunch, a computer wizard, but he’d taken up canoeing and hiking when his girlfriend said she was dumping him if he didn’t immerse himself in the real world every once in a while. The twist was that she had to work and he had to come without her on this trip.
“Why don’t you write real stuff?” Charles asked.
Eleanor slapped his shoulder. “I like her books. You just keep writing them. Ignore Charles. He wouldn’t know a good book anyway, if he ever read any.”
Later that summer night, the full moon was bright and the stars were sprinkled across the darkening sky as Clara and her friends were ready to settle down in their tents. She closed her eyes, but she couldn’t sleep. She lived in the suburbs of Houston and was used to hearing doves cooing and blue jays fighting over suet in the feeders in her backyard during the day. At night, everything was quiet out where she lived.
Here in the wilderness, she listened as a wolf howled off in the distance, its song eerie and beautiful. An owl hooted nearby, and a breeze whipped the pine and fir branches around, making her feel as though Bigfoot was walking through the forest to join them.
Eleanor and Melanie appeared to be sound asleep in their tent. Clara wished she could be too. They planned a couple more canoe trips and several more hiking excursions over the next few days, so she needed to be well rested. Her exercise was usually limited to a gym, so though she was in great shape, hiking on uneven terrain made her aware that not all her muscle groups had been getting a good workout. Until now.