Surrounded by Woods (4 page)

Each of them wanted a mate for life, but in order to mate, they needed an untaken woman. But when an untaken woman was around, all logic disappeared and the need to mate drove all instincts. Forcing a mating satisfied the initial desire for a lifelong mate, but it drastically reduced the lifespan to mere hours at best. It was a vicious cycle. One that had to be carefully played to ensure a successful mating. Thomas had done it years ago with their mother, so Josh knew it was possible. He always knew he’d figure out a way to make it happen, but now with Mikaela in the picture, he wanted to make it happen without a threat to either of their lives. He couldn’t explain how he knew, but he could already tell that she had the potential to mean the world to him one day.

What’s up, brother?
Jack asked as Josh rounded the corner and found his brothers.

Nothing. Find anything?

We have some turkey over the hill.

Josh was grateful Jack wasn’t pushing his buttons like their father was.
Good. Let’s go.

They all raced over and made their kill, feasting on the wild turkey. Such a primitive instinct, to kill. Josh knew that the animal within understood its priorities: food, shelter, mate. And these priorities would be met at all cost. But the animal within was not the man without. As a man, Josh understood the delicate circumstances surrounding claiming a mate.

Understanding didn’t make things any easier.
 

After eating their fill, their languid catlike selves became too much to ignore. If they didn’t get back, they’d end up sleeping in the woods. They trotted back to the house, shifted, and dressed before going their separate ways. Josh started to pass Mikaela’s door on the way to his room, but stopped, tracing his hand along the rustic wooden door, his thoughts in a snarl. If he wanted to ensure her safety, there was only one thing he could do. On a sigh, he turned away and headed to his room. After crawling into bed, he fought sleep, searching for any other answer than the one he knew was right. When he accepted the fact that he’d have to let her go before even having her, darkness finally found him.

* * * *

Mikaela slid into her tight shorts, sports bra, and fitted tank top. She hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. After Josh got called away, she tried to ignore her aching need, but she ended up taking matters into her own hands. Not nearly as good as it had been before, but she’d figured it would ease her pent up lust and help her sleep. She was wrong. She still tossed and turned until her alarm went off thirty minutes ago. Whenever she was awake, she thought about Josh. His hands belonged to a masseur, not to a man who looked like he could defend what was his and kill to protect with his bare hands. His touch was so soothing, yet passionate. Gentle, but commanding. Never had a man brought her that close to orgasm that quickly.

After getting dressed, she wavered on whether she should wear makeup. She wasn’t one to dress up to exercise, and she’d be taking a shower right after. It seemed silly to wear it, but she almost did. Almost. She realized she wanted to wear it to look good for Josh, and that was a mistake. She didn’t need to do anything to encourage him. Remembering her resolve from last night, she scrubbed her face clean and threw her hair in a ponytail before heading out the door, smelling of soap and deodorant.

When she walked into the dining room, all eyes were on her. She just knew they all knew she and Josh had gotten busy after dinner last night. She swallowed at the thought and felt a light blush color her cheeks when she met Josh’s gaze. He smiled softly at her. She quickly looked away while she walked over to the table to join everyone.

“I didn’t even know this hour existed.” She chuckled, sitting down and eyeing the coffee before her.

The men laughed with her, easing her discomfort a little.

She took a sip of her coffee, enjoying the aroma as both a means to wake up and to brace herself for whatever topic lay ahead. She assumed no one would broach an inappropriate subject like the titillating touch of the sexy man across from her, the one she couldn’t force herself to look square in the eye, but she didn’t really know these men. She had no idea if they’d take the high road or not. God, she hoped so.

“Can you meet me in my office at nine, Mikaela?” Thomas asked. “I need to give you the old estate papers and discuss the changes. Will that give you enough time for your morning routine?”

She looked up from her coffee long enough to answer. “Nine is fine.”

“Are you all right?” he asked. “You look a little tired.”

“That’s because I am.” She smiled, taking another sip and forcing her gaze away from her coffee. She didn’t mind them thinking the only thing that bothered her was this wretched hour, but she didn’t want to take the chance on them speculating other reasons.

Her eyes went to Josh of their own volition, but now that she actually looked at him, she noticed he seemed distant, almost cold. Maybe he realized the mistake that was last night and wasn’t going to push it.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

Toby leaned over toward her. “You don’t have to meet us for breakfast in the mornings. We just like to get an early start with the trees.”

“Trees? What do you mean?” This, at least, provided a distraction.

“Cutting and prepping them for sale and planting new ones.”

She couldn’t contain her giggle, so she put her coffee down before she spilled it all over herself. “You mean you’re lumberjacks?”

Rob’s eyes cut to her. “That’s not a bad thing.”

She sobered immediately, realizing her tone was offensive. “Oh, I know. It’s just that my only visual of a lumberjack doesn’t really mesh with the real thing.” She couldn’t say that she’d thought of Josh as a sexy lumberjack the first moment she saw him. But the reality of it was that he was sexy, and apparently, he was a lumberjack. Her initial description wasn’t as farfetched as she originally thought, so she’d found it funny. She was laughing at herself, not them.

Thankfully, they all seemed appeased by her response. While she looked at each of the men, her gaze landed on Josh again. He still seemed aloof. Clearing her throat and looking at Toby and Jack, she asked, “So what time do you all meet for lunch?”

“We don’t,” Jack replied. “We try to eat together if we can, but usually have better luck with breakfast and dinner. Everyone is pretty much on their own during lunch.”

That was a relief. Mikaela didn’t like the idea of stopping her work just to meet up for lunch, and if they ate breakfast at this ungodly hour, they’d probably want to eat lunch just when she’d get her workday started.

They all finished eating and began dispersing. Thomas headed to his office, and Josh’s brothers gathered to leave, but they were not going without Josh. He rose and walked over to Mikaela, who was standing up and finishing the last of her coffee. The look in his eye went from clinical to heated within seconds of reaching her. Without saying anything, he leaned in as close as he possibly could without making contact and sniffed. A strangled groan escaped his lips.

“You smell heavenly, almost as good as you look,” he whispered. “If you’re avoiding wearing perfume and makeup as a deterrent for me, it’s not going to work. Your natural beauty far outshines anything you could do to cover it up.”

She pulled away from him, shoulders square. “I’m just ready to exercise. That’s all. I didn’t put any thought into how you’d take my appearance.”

She was sure Josh noticed she tried a little too hard when she said that and stifled a curse at her lack of composure. “Lucky for me you didn’t.” He leaned in closer, and her body trembled with excitement. “This is how I’ll be visualizing you when I stroke my cock in the shower after work. It’s the third door on the left if you want to come watch. I might even let you play with my balls.”

Just the thought of being alone with him in the shower caused heat to shoot to her pussy, flooding her, readying her for his penetration. How could she get so turned on so quickly by him?

His nostrils flared, and he sniffed her again, groaning louder this time. “You’re a naughty little girl,” he murmured.

No way could he tell she was turned on. No way!

Someone cleared his throat, and Josh jerked his attention away from Mikaela.

“You ready?” Jack asked.

Josh took a deep breath and nodded, his eyes changing back to that mask of indifference from earlier, but right before, she noticed a hint of regret. Then he left without another word to her.

Smooth, Mikaela. Real Smooth.
So she couldn’t control her body’s reaction to him, but she sure as hell could control what she did about it. And even though Josh had talked dirty to her right before he left, she got the feeling that he, too, was trying to control his behavior around her. The question was, why?

* * * *

Mikaela worked out, showered, and was at Thomas’s office promptly at nine o’clock. She did her best not to think about Josh, and she didn’t. Much. But at least she tried to put him out of her mind.

“Here’re the trust and will that Bill prepared for me a few years ago,” Thomas said as she sat down.

She took the papers and scanned over them. “What changes do you want to make?”

“Everywhere Eric Woods is mentioned, I want him removed.”

Eric Woods? A disowned son? No one mentioned him before. It was her obligation to make sure Thomas understood the implications of leaving a child out of his estate. “Thomas, if Eric Woods is a child of yours, he could contest this will if he’s left out completely. It’d be in your best interest to leave him something, even if it’s just your love and affection. If we don’t mention him at all—”

“He’s deceased,” Thomas said flatly.

“Ah. Well, when an heir dies before an inheritance, the law dictates how his portion is to be divvied up. If he has any children, his inheritance would filter through to them. If he doesn’t have any heirs, then what he would have received would be redistributed among your remaining heirs. A codicil isn’t really necessary unless you plan on making other changes.”

“I appreciate your advice, Mikaela, but I’d feel better if Eric isn’t mentioned anywhere in my estate. He was my youngest and didn’t have a wife or any children.”

“Well, it’s your money, Thomas.” She chuckled. “I’d be happy to charge you for the changes.”

He laughed with her. “I’m sure you would, but I do appreciate you trying to save me the money. I’d just like to have it done.”

“Not a problem.” She began to stand up.

“One more thing, Mikaela.”

Uh-oh. Was he going to chastise her for her behavior last night? If so, she had no idea how she was going to handle the situation. She took a steadying breath. “Yes, Thomas?”

“I’d like for you to look over my business forms as well. I know it wasn’t part of this trip, but since your expertise is in corporate law, I’d like to take advantage of that to make sure everything’s airtight.”

She felt her muscles relax and didn’t even realize how tense she had been, thinking he was going to mention Josh. “I can do that. Since you do not have many changes to your estate, I should have plenty of time to look over everything.”

“Great.”

Yes, it was. If she buried herself in work, then she’d have no other choice than to focus on that and not on one Josh Woods.

Hmm… Maybe that was Thomas’s goal after all.

Chapter Five

Mikaela spent the next several days with her nose in her work and her eyes off Josh. She opted out of getting up early for breakfast and spent her days barricaded in the spare office next to Thomas’s. If she worked really hard, she could get through everything in another day or two and head back early.