Claimed by the Mate, Volume 1 (5 page)

He tasted of chocolate and wine.

After a moment, he broke off the kiss and rested his chin on top of her head. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her breasts felt as if they might burst from the bra she wore, and she knew the taut points of her nipples were obvious even through the fabric.

“I think you're right,” he said. “I'm tired, too. I just hate to think of you leaving.”

She laughed. “I'm only going about fifty yards, and I'll see you in the morning. Does my escort have a name?”

“This guy?” Brad scratched behind his ears; the wolf leaned against his thigh and moaned. “He may not act like it, but he's a wild wolf. We don't name them. We've all learned to recognize the ones who like to hang around the lodge, but it doesn't seem right to give them names. I'm sure they have their own.”

“I like that.” She stared at Brad for a moment, losing herself in his dark brown eyes, thinking of what he'd just said. He was telling her they had enough respect for the wolves not to treat them like pets.

She had a horrible feeling she was falling for a guy she'd only known for a few hours.

But then she thought of Cain and realized she felt almost as drawn to him after merely a few minutes in his company. She wanted to laugh at the surfeit of male riches suddenly thrust into her life. She couldn't wait to tell Christa and Steph what they'd missed by leaving early. “Go help Cain, Brad. This guy will get me back to my cabin. Thank you for the port.” She glanced away. “And the chocolate. That was amazing.”

“I'm glad.” He rested his hands on her shoulders. She had no idea what he was thinking, but she was almost certain it had something to do with kissing. The fact that he seemed to enjoy kissing her so much sent a small jolt right through her midsection.

When he kissed her again, when those talented lips molded hers and his tongue made a swift foray across her lower lip, she didn't even try to suppress her needy moan. He nipped gently at her lower lip and ended the kiss.

Tonight had been like a fairy tale, but she had absolutely no idea what to say. Brad and Cain were unbelievable, and— The wolf caught the hem of her dress in his teeth and tugged. “It looks like my chaperone wants me to go to bed.” She smiled at Brad and wished she could just invite him to join her in that big bed.

“Good night, Cherry. Sleep well.”

The wolf tugged. “I'm coming.” Laughing, she glanced once more at Brad and then followed the wolf down the steps. When they reached the edge of the forest, she looked back, hoping to see Brad once more.

The deck was empty.

Sighing, she followed the wolf along the path lit by sparkling fairy lights.

They were almost to the cabin when a second wolf joined them. He was big and dark, his coat streaked with russet and gold, and he planted himself in the middle of the trail, blocking their way. Cherry let out a startled squeak and buried her fingers in her companion's thick ruff of fur. “I really hope you're friendly.”

Her wolf wagged his tail and yipped, and the new wolf went down on his front paws as if he wanted to play. “That looks promising. C'mon, boys. Take me to my cabin, and then the night is yours.”

The porch light was on, but the cabin was dark. She opened the door and the russet-colored wolf walked in first, almost as if he was checking to make sure she'd be safe. Cherry followed him, flipped on the light by the door, and followed him.

She left the door open in case the wolves wanted out, grabbed her nightgown. and took it into the bathroom. After she'd changed and brushed her teeth, she stepped back into the main part of the cabin.

Both wolves were curled up on the braided rug beside the bed, almost as if they planned to spend the night. She sat on the rug between them and looped her arms over their backs. “Boys, I would love to have you stay with me, but I know you'd probably want out in the middle of the night, and I'm tired.”

The russet wolf whimpered and rested his chin on her knee so he could stare at her. It was unnerving, to say the least. His eyes were dark brown, darker than the chocolate she and Brad had tonight, just as dark as Brad's beautiful eyes.

She glanced at the silver and gray wolf. His eyes were green. The same color as Cain's.

No. She was just tired, and these were merely wolves. Beautiful wolves. Wolves who, somehow, reminded her of two very sexy men.

It had definitely been a long day. Cherry stood and walked to the open door. The wolves watched every step she took. When she stood by the door, she could have sworn they glanced at each other, but then both of them slowly stood.

Cherry held the door open. “Time for bed, fellas. You two need to go out.”

Tails and heads down, the two of them slowly walked out the door.

The russet one glanced her way as he stepped onto the front porch. She heard him sigh. The other wolf was right behind him. Cherry waited, watching as they faded into the forest.

She closed and locked the door but left the porch light burning and crawled into the big comfortable bed. The big
lonely
bed. But she couldn't get her mind off the wolves. That was just too weird for words. The feeling they were more than they appeared would not leave her.

She picked up the romance she'd been reading.
Dying Room Only
—not a sexy title, but the werewolf and vampire heroes in the story were two of her favorites. Actually, the werewolf was her favorite, but she loved the ménage fantasy. Funny, how she loved stories where two sexy men fell in love with the woman. She didn't even have one.

She stared at the cover for a moment, at the wolf standing beside a woman with his amber eyes glowing, and thought of her two wolves. Yawning, she set the book aside. It had been a very long day. Dreams were about all the excitement she could handle tonight.

They did not disappoint. Dreams so graphic, so real, that when she awoke she was actually surprised she didn't have four legs and a tail. She'd spent the night racing through dark forests and moonlit meadows with the two wolves—wolves her dream self knew as Brad and Cain in their human form.

It might have been a bizarre night of crazy dreams, but the sense of running beneath a full moon with the granite mountaintops gleaming silvery beneath its light, the steady thunder of wolven feet racing beside her along the hard-packed, shadowed trails, had felt so real.

They'd even howled, all of them standing on a hilltop, howling at the moon. She'd awakened with tears on her cheeks, overcome by a sense of belonging.

She'd come awake a number of times throughout the night, sometimes breathing hard, as if she'd truly been part of a small pack of three, the two familiar wolves on either side. The last time before dreamless sleep finally claimed her, Cherry awoke sprawled crosswise on the big bed with pale moonlight slanting across her body.

It was only a quarter moon. In her dreams, the moon had been full, hanging directly overhead. That slice of moon left her sighing in relief. She hadn't run as a wolf. No, that had all been the result of an overactive imagination, thank goodness.

Relieved, yet oddly disappointed, Cherry straightened out on her bed, punched the pillow a couple of times for effect, and finally rolled over and went back to sleep.

Chapter 5

Monday

Cherry was actually disappointed when she finally crawled out of bed, dressed, and realized she'd be walking to the lodge without her wolf escort. They'd certainly been busy last night, escorting her through her dreams. There weren't any wolves at the lodge to greet her, either, but Christa and Steph were on the deck having coffee, the sun was barely peeking over the tops of the pine trees, and it was an absolutely breathtaking morning.

“Good morning. When did you guys get here?”

“About five minutes ago.” Christa held up her coffee cup. “Coffee's inside, and it looks like Trak's cooking breakfast.”

“As long as it's not me. Morning, Steph.” Cherry and Christa both laughed when Steph merely grunted. She was most definitely not a morning person. Cherry opened the door and walked into the lodge. Trak was visible through the pass-through window, standing at the stove in the kitchen with an apron tied around his trim waist, and the dining area was filled with delicious smells. Inside, the lodge was like an old-time café, with a bar for a quick meal or drinks, and a big pass-through window into the kitchen. A couple of small tables were placed by windows at one end, and there was one long table in the middle, where they'd eaten last night.

There was no sign of the other three women, but Brad smiled from behind the bar. “Good morning, Cherry. Coffee?”

Cherry nodded and took a seat on one of the barstools. “Yes, please. Good morning.”

“You're up early.”

“Blame the day job. I'm usually in the office by seven.”

Brad handed Cherry a big mug of coffee, black, just the way she liked it. Then he propped his elbows on the bar with his own steaming cup between his hands. “What do you do in the day job?”

“Statistics and market analysis, which sounds really high-tech and boring, but it's not.”

He laughed. “Yeah, but what do you
do
?”

She was used to this part of the question. “Figure out what ads work best for companies and why. I research algorithms and how to optimize ads, create methods for measuring the effectiveness of ads, that sort of thing. Essentially I try to help people use the most effective advertising for a particular product. It's fun. I love my work.”

Brad just laughed. “If you say so. How did you end up doing something like that?”

“I love numbers and majored in statistics, with a minor in computer science.”

She heard the door open and Christa added, “And she's actually
Dr.
Cheraza DuBois.” Christa plopped her butt down on the stool next to Cherry and draped an arm around her shoulders, laughing. “It is so easy to make you blush.”

“You're a pain in the ass, Cissy.” And Cherry might be embarrassed by Christa's praise, but she was damned proud of that PhD, even if it ran men off, if they'd even gotten past her plus-size body. But Brad actually seemed impressed, not put off by it. Now that was interesting.

“Hey Trak,” he said, calling out to the cook. “You've got to come out here.”

Trak poked his head through the window. “Morning, ladies. What do you want, Brad? The chef's at work.”

“Yeah, I know, but do know what this lovely lady does?” And without waiting for an answer, Brad said, “She's a statistics and computers expert, and there's a ‘PhD' after her name. Her focus is marketing.”

“Really?”

Trak's eyebrows went up and he and Brad exchanged a very quick but obviously meaningful glance. Cherry had no idea what the meaning was.

“I need to get back to work,” Trak said. “But Cherry? I'm impressed. I'm going to want to hear more about your work.”

“Anytime.” That was interesting, but obviously all he was going to say, at least for now.

The door opened once again. “Where'd you guys go?” Steph wandered in and took the barstool on the other side of Cherry. “It was lonely out there.”

Christa glanced at Cherry. “What that means is, she just woke up enough to realize we weren't sitting with her.”

“I know.”

“Poor baby … are they picking on you?”

Steph's eyes lit up as Brad took her cup for a refill. “Yes. Do you have any idea what I put up with?”

He set the freshly filled cup in front of her and sighed. “I can only imagine.”

“Milk it, Steph. Go for the sympathy.” Cherry nudged Steph's shoulder, but she really loved the fact that Brad looked directly at her and winked. He'd singled her out while teasing Steph. Silly, that such a small thing made her feel warm inside.

They were all laughing and picking on Stephanie, who'd had enough caffeine to tease them right back, when the LA contingent wandered in looking for coffee, but the three of them took one of the smaller tables, all of them half-asleep and not saying much. Brad carried a tray over with filled cups, cream, and sugar. The women thanked him but kept their conversation low.

Two men Cherry hadn't seen before walked in a few minutes later. Christa poked her in the shoulder and whispered, “Are all of the guys who work here drop-dead gorgeous?

“It appears so.” These two were big and brawny and absolutely beautiful, but Cherry was surprised when she didn't feel that same little flip in her midsection that she'd gotten from both Brad and Cain. Obviously it wasn't her reaction to sexy men in general—just those two sexy men.

Steph, however, had finally come awake, tracking the two with her gaze as they stepped up to the bar beside her. “Good morning.” She smiled, and the one closer to her nodded.

The other man shot her a bright grin. “Don't mind Ronan. He's just grumpy because we were out of coffee.”

Brad set two cups in front of them. “Ladies, the sparkly one is Wils and the grump is Ronan. Behave, gentlemen.”

Ronan planted his butt on the stool beside Steph, gave her a long look, and dipped his head. “My apologies. I had a late night and then the shmuck with the pretty blue eyes forgot to stock up on coffee.”

Steph took a swallow of hers. “That's absolutely unforgivable. The fact that his pretty blue eyes aren't black is an obvious tribute to your good nature.”

Ronan nodded seriously. “That's what I was trying to explain to him.”

“You weren't very nice about it.” Wils glanced at Cherry. Easy to see where Ronan's reference came from. Wils had the most brilliant blue eyes she'd ever seen. “He turned the hot water off when I was in the shower.”

Cherry almost snorted her coffee. “You didn't?”

“I did.” Ronan actually smiled at this point. “He screamed like a little girl.”

“I'd be careful about insulting the women if I were you, Ronan.” Brad walked around the bar with a couple of large serving trays that he set under the heat lamps in the buffet counter. Trak was right behind him with more trays of food. Both Wils and Ronan went back to the kitchen and carried out baskets of rolls and bowls of fresh fruit.