Heart of the wolf (34 page)

"Wolf
,
look!"
The words escaped Sarah as they neared the cabin. Dawn had come and gone, and the strong morning light was now sending blinding shafts through the fir trees on Blue Mountain. Beside the cabin were several cars, among them a black Jeep. In addition, there were three state police cruisers, and another black car Sarah hadn't seen before. She saw two men in expensive suits, and two other men, in jeans and short- sleeved shirts,
who
looked dangerous and alert.

"It's Morgan!" Wolf said, coming to a halt, disbelief in his voice.
"And Killian.
And Jake."

She twisted a look up at him and saw the joy leaking into his exhausted features. "Your boss?" she croaked.

A slow grin started across Wolf's mouth as he looked down at Sarah and brought her hard against him. "
Yes,
and my team. I'll be damned," he whispered, and kissed
her long and hard. As he broke free of her lips and saw her stunned expression, he said, "Morgan must have sensed all hell was going to break loose and decided to come after I called him. If I'm not mistaken, the other guy in the dark suit is a top FBI official. Come on, honey, we're saved!"

Sarah needed no coaxing. She knew they both looked disheveled, and the blood on Wolf's shirt gave the appearance that he'd been wounded much more seriously then he had. The first to sense their approach was a cougar-lean man with black hair. He swiveled around, instantly on guard.

"Wolf!" Killian called to the other men and then trotted toward them. A quarter of a mile separated them. The rest of the men raised their heads, stopped talking and looked with amazement in their direction.

Realizing just how tender Sarah's feet were, Wolf decided to halt on the slope and give her a well-deserved rest. He watched his friend's approach. Although Killian never smiled, Wolf could see his friend's green eyes dancing with silent welcome as he trotted up to them. "We're okay," Wolf said, extending his hand in greeting.

Gripping Wolf's hand, Killian's narrowed eyes swung from Wolf to Sarah, then back to Wolf. "Thank all the saints, you're alive. We were worried. Summers wasn't talking after we apprehended him and his men earlier this morning down the road from the cabin. We figured, with the arsenal they were carrying, that they'd been hunting you."

Wolf nodded. He kept his eyes on the group of men at the base of Blue Mountain. "That's exactly what happened.
Who's with Morgan and Jake?"

Killian briefly turned his head. "State
troopers,
and FBI agent Kyle Talbot."

Relief plunged through Wolf. "Good. When did you arrive? And what the hell's happening? You said you nabbed
Summers
?"

"Morgan can fill you in on the details, but after you called him yesterday, he rounded us up. We caught the first flight out to Anaconda and rented a car. Kyle came with us. Morgan pieced things together. He figured you'd be at Sarah Thatcher's cabin, so we came up here. We met
Summers
and his men, running around like idiots with rifles in their hands, about three miles from here. Kyle arrested them, and then after we checked out Ms. Thatcher's cabin, we figured they'd been hunting you." His mouth pulled into the slightest of smiles. "Morgan said if you were still alive you'd eventually show up here at the cabin. He was right."

Sarah sagged against Wolf, dizzy with relief. "It's over," she murmured.

Wolf studied her anxiously and kept his grip firm around her waist. He glanced over at Killian. "Sarah, this is Killian, one of my men."

Killian nodded. "Ms. Thatcher."

Sarah tried to smile, but she was incredibly exhausted.
"Hi, Killian.
Thank you for coming
"

"Then Summers and his men are in jail?" Wolf demanded.

"That's right. All of them, including Sheriff Noonan."

Sarah pressed her hand against her heart, relieved. "I'm so
glad. . . ."

Concerned for Sarah, Wolf glanced at the rest of the men coming to greet them. "We're going to make some fast introductions, and then I want to get Sarah cleaned up. We both need to rest," he told Killian.

"Looks like you may need to go to the hospital," Killian warned, pointing at the rust-colored blood staining Wolf's shirt.

"Just a graze," Wolf muttered. "Right now, I need a hot bath, bed and—" he smiled down at Sarah "—this lady at my side."

Sarah fought grogginess as she emerged from the shower and wrapped herself in a thick, fluffy towel. Outside the door, she could hear the
Perseus
men talking in low tones in the living room of her cabin. It was over.
All over.
Meeting Morgan
Trayhern
and the other men had been little more than a blur in her spongy state. She remembered shaking hands, but that was all.

As she pulled on her cotton gown and donned her robe, she heard the men leaving. Glancing out the bathroom window, she saw Morgan and his men climb into the black Jeep. The FBI agent stood talking with Wolf for a moment before he got into his dark sedan. With a sigh, she opened the door and stumbled toward the bedroom. What she needed was Wolf to hold her. The need to be in his arms was overwhelming.

Sarah pulled back the covers and lay down. Before she could even pull the sheet over her, she fell into a deep, spiraling sleep.

Wolf rubbed his eyes. They were burning from lack of sleep. His steps echoed through the cabin. Spotting the bathroom door open, Wolf moved slowly toward the bedroom door. At the entrance, he hesitated, a slight smile tugging at his mouth. Sarah lay on her side, curled in a fetal position, her hands beneath her cheek. She was
fast asleep. Just the soft parting of her lips stirred him, made him want to love her as he'd never
loyed
another woman.

Quietly he tiptoed into the room and pulled the sheet and blanket across Sarah's sleeping form. Her hair, still damp from being recently washed, framed her face. Gently Wolf touched her cheek and felt the velvet firmness of it beneath his fingers.

Forcing himself to move away from her, Wolf knew he desperately needed to bathe before joining Sarah in bed. As he left the room and closed the door, nothing had ever seemed so right to him. He was drained in a way that left him weaving across the floor to the bathroom, and he knew he'd be lucky to make it to bed and gather Sarah into his arms before he keeled over from sheer exhaustion.

The impertinent chirp of an upset robin outside the raised bedroom window awakened Sarah first. Evening light filtered in the window, telling her it must be close to nine o'clock at night. She'd slept a long time. Wrapped in a sense of being protected, she groggily turned and realized that she was pressed against Wolf's entire length. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders, and her head lay in the hollow of his shoulder. Just his soft breathing, the rise and fall of his massive chest, stirred her. Wolf was alive. She was alive. How close they had come to dying less than twelve hours ago, she thought.

Tentatively she slid her hand across the massive breadth of Ms darkly haired chest, allowing all of her senses to absorb the exploration. There was such latent power to Wolf, and yet he had been nothing but gentle and sensitive to her,
to
her needs.

Raising
up on one elbow, Sarah gazed down at Wolf's sleeping features. The beard lent his face an even more dangerous quality. She rested her palm against his heart and felt the slow, powerful beat of it beneath her hand. His hair was tousled, and it gave his face a vulnerable look. Her heart expanded with such joy that she blindly followed womanly instinct and leaned forward.

The first, tentative brush of Sarah's lips on Wolf's mouth eased him out of deep slumber. Was he dreaming again? But this was too teal. He barely opened his eyes as he lifted his hands. Her mouth was warm and inviting, softly exploring his. A groan rumbled through him as Sarah artlessly pressed
herself
to him, a signal to his spinning senses that she wanted much more than just a kiss from him.

Sleep was torn from Wolf as he eased Sarah onto her back against the bed covers. The evening light through the window was
muted ,
giving the room a quiet sense of surrender to the coming darkness. The gold of Sarah's fine, silky hair as he ran his finger through the strands satisfied Wolf even more. Her eyes were lustrous with allure, and his body hardened in response.

"Sarah. . ." he rasped, cradling her cheek
. "
Honey, wait. . ."

Sarah's hand skimmed Wolf's bearded cheek. She took pleasure in his sweetly sleepy state. There was such unexpected vulnerability in him. "We've waited long enough," she whispered.

Wolf saw the longing in her blue eyes, eyes that were drowsy with desire. Every fiber of his being wanted to love her. With his thumb, he traced her parted lips, lips he wanted to ravish. "I love you," he rasped, his heart pounding in time with the urgent throbbing of his need.

Her hands skimmed his arms, shoulders and neck like a tantalizing breeze.

She framed his face with her hands. When she spoke, her voice was low and quavering. "I love you, Wolf.
I
trust you. I was so afraid about how
I
felt toward you." She smiled a little. "I know your love can help me across whatever fears might be left." Sarah felt the sting of tears and blinked them away. She felt the massive, potent power of his barely controlled body above her, felt a fine trembling shudder pass through him as she spoke those words.