A SEAL Wolf Christmas (24 page)

In a tangle of legs at the ice-skating rink, Alicia laughed out loud as she found herself on her butt on the ice again with Jake. His eyes were bright with laughter as he pushed her hair out of her face and grinned at her. She hadn’t laughed this much in forever.

“I haven’t fallen this many times in an hour on the ice since I was a little girl. And I was a
lot
lower to the ground then. But then again, I haven’t had this much fun in years.”

And she meant it. She had applauded every wobbly bit of success Jake had accomplished. And when they’d fallen, she’d laughed and enjoyed his good-humored responses. She wasn’t the only one who was interested in Jake, though. From older teens to college-aged women, he had their undivided attention. She was certain they wished they were entangled with the hunk on the ice instead of her and laughing their heads off. She had to admit, they looked fairly risqué at times with his leg wedged between hers and her short flare skirt thrown back, exposing the panties of her leotard.

If Jake hadn’t had such a difficult time staying on his feet and keeping from tripping Alicia up, she figured he would have been more hot and bothered in an intimate way by their close proximity. But he hadn’t let on, and for that, she was grateful.

Two of the women watching him with hungry, desirous gazes had been bold enough to come to speak with him when he told Alicia he wanted her to demonstrate how she did the figure eight and other ice skating maneuvers. She hadn’t wanted to leave him for a second, and now she knew for certain what a mistake that could be.

Even though she had wanted to chase off the voluptuous blond and striking brunette, she concentrated on her performance and gave Jake the show of her life as if she were trying out for the Olympics while he stood propped against the railing, smiling at her with admiration. She loved him for it because no one had ever cared how she skated except for her mother and her grandmother. But this was different, seeing the look in his eyes as she skated for him—a sexual attraction, a feral desirous look in his gaze—and his lips curving upward as if he was thinking sinful thoughts about some of her sexier moves.

When she was through with the last jump, she skated back to Jake. He pulled her into his arms, holding her tight, and gave her a kiss that could have melted the ice. It certainly warmed her from the tip of her cold nose to her cold toes, and he made her feel special all over again.

“You’re beautiful, you know?” he murmured against her ear.

His two new fans gave her simpering smiles, but their smiles were designed to get his attention. He ignored them, thankfully.

She smiled up at him.
He
was beautiful and fun and the best thing that had ever happened to her. “You make me feel beautiful.” She leaned against him, loving the heat and hardness of his tall body but knowing they needed to skate or leave. Before they got kicked out of the rink for too much sexy cuddling. “Do you want to ice skate some more?”

“I need to drop by the art gallery and sign some consent forms. And it’s past time for lunch. If you’ve had enough fun and are ready to go. I’m afraid watching you skate is getting harder and harder for me.” He cast her a wickedly salacious grin.

She chuckled, wanting to check out his package, but… what the heck. She glanced down at his crotch, saw the rigid bulge in his stone washed jeans, and was ready to ease his discomfiture anyway that she could.

“All right.” She gave the women a smile that said, “He’s mine, so hands off,” and then skated slowly to the exit with him so that he could keep up with her. “You were gathering quite a fan club.”

“I was the only male on the ice, and I looked a bit needy,” he explained.

“You looked anything but that. I think the idea of you getting tangled up with one of them was more what they had in mind.”

He laughed. “I wasn’t interested in getting tangled up with anyone else, believe me.”

Once Finn had shifted into his wolf form, he cast a long, hard look at Meara, as if he was trying to tell her to stay put. He was a beautiful, big gray wolf with a tan face framed by fur in a mixture of browns and black, giving him a distinguished appearance.

Exasperated, Meara waved her hand toward the wolf door. “Go. Protect me, oh hero of mine.” She couldn’t help it if her words sounded faintly sarcastic. She’d never gotten herself into a bind she couldn’t get herself out of, given enough time. And she didn’t feel this would be an exception.

Finn hesitated and even looked a little surprised.

She smiled, liking that he seemed a bit unsure for the first time since she’d met him six years earlier. Not that she had seen much of him since Hunter and the rest of the team had left the Navy. Most of the time, Finn would come to the door, usher Hunter outside for a super-secretive conversation, and then vanish without a word. Hunter would make arrangements with his sub-leaders, leaving shortly after that with duffel bag in hand.

Sure, she’d seen all of them together when they were still members of the SEAL team, but they were mostly part of the background. The guys aimed a few sly smiles in her direction, but none of them ever spoke to her except to greet her by name. They had remained subdued, standoffish, and secretive.

So she really didn’t know Finn well, except that she’d had words with him on more than one occasion when the team returned from a mission. She was angry that he was always getting Hunter involved in something that could prove fatal. They had left the Navy once their commitments were up. Enough was enough. Hunter had done his duty for God and country.

Finn would listen patiently to her tirade and cast Hunter surreptitious looks as though commiserating with him for having a sister who couldn’t leave well enough alone—and that had irritated her to no end.

Then Finn would depart and, several months later, turn up for another secretive mission, and they’d do what they intended without paying her any mind…
again
. She hoped that Hunter would give up the clandestine operations all together, now that he was mated.

But God, Finn had a body that wouldn’t quit. If there was a werewolf calendar, he could be featured on every month—and women would be even more apt to buy it if he was featured for an additional couple of months the following year. A natural Scandinavian blond with hazel-green eyes, he was a real looker.

She thought of him without the towel, the way he had been drying his hair so
innocently
, acting as though he’d forgotten to cover himself in front of her. He’d only done that to pretend he’d been her lover the night before. And she had been determined to pretend right back that his nakedness had no effect on her, not wanting him to think he’d not only shocked but intrigued her. No matter how much she told herself she shouldn’t, she couldn’t quit giving his physique a few gaping looks. Even though she’d tried damn hard to refocus her gaze on his. But the way that his mouth curved up and his wickedly darkened eyes smiled back at her meant he knew the truth. She couldn’t get her fill of him.

“Go. I mean it. I’ll stay here,” she said to Finn, nearly forgetting what he should be doing.

Seemingly reassured that she’d stay put, Finn loped out of the bedroom, and she went for her rifle.

***

As soon as Finn made certain the house was clear and no one was lurking inside, he used his nose to push through the wolf’s door to check the perimeter of the house and its surroundings. Outside, he smelled Joe’s scent coming from the direction of the blue cabin. Finn raced through the woods to the first of the cabins, circling around the outside, but he didn’t see or hear any signs of life. Where was Joe?

As he made a broader search, Finn smelled that a male werewolf had been in the vicinity, but he saw no sign of the unknown wolf. He continued to search around each of the empty cabins but found nothing. The faint smell of gunfire rippled through the breeze, though. He hadn’t been wrong about that.

Thanks to my fans who make writing the books possible! When I see all the interest on Facebook once I mention a new release or share a new cover, I’m so inspired to get to work on that next book and the next. I can’t tell you enough how much it means that you are loving the wolves and now the jaguars, too!

I also want to thank my editor, Deb Werksman, for being such a great help over the years in assisting me to see a dream come true. Thanks to Danielle Jackson for being a fun publicist and keeping me straight on blog tours and giving me other opportunities to shine. And to the artists who create the covers that make the world in my books come alive.

And thanks to ELF who dropped by the RWA Conference in Anaheim and supplied me with the heroine’s favorite-in-all-the-world dark chocolate thin mints because I share that obsession with Anna!

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bestselling and award-winning author of urban fantasy and medieval romantic suspense Terry Spear also writes true stories for adult and young adult audiences. She’s a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and has an MBA from Monmouth University. She also creates award-winning teddy bears, Wilde & Woolly Bears, that are personalized and have found homes all over the world. When she’s not writing or making bears, she’s teaching online writing courses or gardening. Her family has roots in the Highlands of Scotland where her love of all things Scottish came into being. Originally from California, she’s lived in eight states and now resides in the heart of Texas. She is the author of the Heart of the Wolf series and the Heart of the Jaguar series, plus numerous other paranormal romance and historical romance novels.