Page 30 of Deception

“Not bad,” he whispered, holding her hips.

A second later, they were connected again, both of them rocking and sweating and murmuring in pleasure. Drew lapped at her nipples, flipping every switch in her on. She pumped over him, ever faster and harder, and when he tipped his head all the way back, she did the same.

“Yes,” she murmured as his thickness filled her. Filled her like no man ever had before.

“Yes,” he murmured, letting her take the lead for another glorious minute. Then he stood up with a mighty splash and drew her out of the water.

“I get the top,” he growled, laying her out along the wooden frame.

She wrapped her arms and legs around him, rising to meet his body.

“Summer,” he murmured as he slid in.

He said her name again and again, even as he pounded her into another possible high.

“Summer,” he breathed afterward, holding her close.

“Mate,” she whispered, feeling the full meaning of the word for the very first time.

Yes, he was a bear. Yes, they were playing with fire, allowing things to go this far.

And no, she’d never regret it. No matter what lay ahead.

Chapter Eight

“See you soon,” she whispered an hour later when they dragged themselves out of bliss and back into reality.

If only she didn’t have to leave the hot springs where they’d been wrapped around each other like a couple of cubs in a cozy den.

We don’t have to,her wolf had whispered.We can stay and stay and stay.

No, she couldn’t. She had to get back to Hope Springs and see what had come of the fight. She had to find Mett and figure out what he was planning.

Drew’s eyes shimmered with a mix of pure sorrow and staunch duty. “I don’t want to go, either. But we have to.”

They drew apart slowly and formed a rough plan which started with scrubbing themselves fiercely in the water. There was no way they could carry the slightest whiff of each other’s scent back to the wolf pack.

He grimaced. “I can stop in a bar on the way back and make sure I smell like alcohol and smoke.”

She nodded. “I’ll roll in every skunkbush I can find.”

Don’t leave him!her wolf howled.

She had to. They were close to finishing their mission. Close to discovering what the future course of Hope Springs was. She couldn’t let herself quit now. Not even for her mate.

“See you soon,” he whispered.

They both stood there for a long time, looking at each other. Finally, Summer shifted into wolf form and forced herself to go with a firm shake of her coat.

She hadn’t slept a wink, but fear and curiosity gripped her, and once she was out of sight of Drew, she ran like a woman possessed. Had anyone at Hope Springs noticed her absence? What had happened with the fight? What would happen next?

Drew had told her about the anonymous appeal for help they’d received at the saloon. Was there really someone committed to finishing off the Blue Blood movement once and for all? If so, who? Thomas? One of the elders? Someone else who’d been biding their time so far? Or was it a ruse?

But first things first. She didn’t even know which of the contenders won the fight for alpha position. And the longer she thought about it, the faster she moved, anxious to find out. She ran long and hard, not letting her pace flag until she crested the last rise and stopped at the view. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, lighting the lower sky with a pinkish-yellow glow. Open country stretched as far as the eye could see, and a single set of headlights marked the state highway at this lonely hour. The earth sloped upward from south to north, and ribbons of color stood out in the rocky bluffs, showing off eons of nature at work. It was beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful.

But when she focused on the dusty settlement of Hope Springs, her face set into hard lines. The place looked so quiet, so serene, but she knew it was anything but. She sniffed and caught the scent of wolf musk, even from half a mile away. No surprise there, given the way fights pumped up every male’s testosterone — not just the men fighting but those spectating, too. The arena was mostly deserted, though two torches still flickered faintly, and the last embers of a bonfire glowed beside it, still crackling with news of the new alpha to the world.

Which alpha?she wanted to scream. Who won? Logic told her it would be Thomas, but veterans like Dryver were impossible to dismiss. She shook herself again, jogged down the slope, turned a corner—

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