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I m glad to hear it. I packed a few things with me to stay for a couple of nights at your place.

I only brought my clothes with me to Oyster Bay for while I am on the mission because the rental house was completely furnished.

I put most of my stuff in storage until I figured out where I was going to permanently retire.

When is Noah moving into your place? she asked.

Tomorrow morning. After we have breakfast, I ll go to the rental house with him and pack my stuff up to bring it over here.

I sure hope this works out. She was still worried Noah might give Ethan a hard time.

She didn t think Noah would leave Ethan in the lurch if Kroner or his other cohorts were gunning for him though.

Noah still had his reputation to maintain as a great DEA agent, and he was new at the job so he had to prove to the boss that he made the right hiring decision.

Not to mention that if Ethan was injured or killed during the operation, Leidolf would look into it himself to make sure that Noah hadn t had anything to do with it.

If you feel like you need your own personal space or it s not working out between us, I can always move back to the DEA rental house, Ethan said.

She smiled and leaned over and kissed his cheek. No. You are going to work out beautifully. When I said I hope this works out, I was referring to you and Noah working together on the mission.

We have a job to do, and if he s as dedicated to his work as you say he is, we won t have any trouble.

I sure hope not.

Truthfully, I doubt he ll want to have me, Leidolf, and the rest of the pack on his case.

Okay, I m feeling better about all this. I was worried you would be staying at the other house, and he would slip away to try to start up a romance with me again.

That s not happening.

No, it isn t. But he might not believe that until he sees it for himself. I was worried I wouldn t be as much of a help to you in taking these guys down since I don t have a badge. I guess this leaves me out of working with you on the case.

Yeah. It s better this way. I don t want you getting hurt and I m glad I ll have Noah as backup. Are you ready for me to grill the steaks?

I sure am.

Once the food was done, they opted to go outside on the back deck to eat.

She hadn t thought she would have companionship like this, so she was glad that she had furnished the deck for company with two couches and two chairs, a coffee table and a table with four chairs.

The patio was covered, so when it rained, they still could sit outside.

It was just perfect for watching the sunset and eating meals out here, especially when the weather was really beautiful.

They sat at the table and started to eat their steaks, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes.

This is delicious, Charlene said. I m so glad that you offered to cook the steaks.

Me too. I love grilling steaks, but I can make us grilled chicken, brisket, you name it.

It all sounds great to me. After dinner, let s just find something to watch on TV. She didn t have a fancy grill, but she figured if things worked out between them, that would make for a nice investment.

Yeah, what appeals to you?

Oh, some kind of a survival show? I always think of how it would be if one of our kind went on a trip like that and turned wolf to catch our food, were protected from the biting bugs because of our double wolf coats, could drink the water without boiling it or purifying it, take care of poisonous snakes with a chomp, chase off wild boar and crocs, or take them down to cook up and eat.

He laughed. That sounds good.

They finished eating and cleaned up. Then they settled on the couch and started watching a show where a man and woman who didn t know each other but had some survival skills worked together to survive for twenty-one days to see if they could do it—naked.

Poisonous snakes, fire ants, biting insects, ticks, mosquitoes, bad water, hot sun, and cold nights, constant rain, and crocodiles or alligators—depending on the area—plagued them. As wolves, they could deal with any of those situations without any problem.

We ought to sign up for a challenge like that, Ethan said with his arm around Charlene as they cuddled on the sofa.

She laughed. Yeah, but they only do it with people who don t know each other. You have to also film what you re doing while you re out there.

Right, but we would do that when we were in our human form and then we would turn off the cameras for the night and sleep as wolves.

Yeah, we would make it without any issues then. And they would be amazed at our toughness. But these are just reality shows so they have a production crew close by to check on them. I m afraid we would be outed.

We ll skip that challenge then. He kissed her and once they finished the episode, the couple making it through the Amazon jungle on their own for the allotted time, bug-bitten, their bodies starved and dehydrated, Ethan turned off the TV. Are you ready for bed?

I sure am. She rose from the couch and helped him up. He grabbed his bags, and she led him to her bedroom. She couldn t believe she was doing this with Ethan already, and yet it just felt right.

***

Ethan was letting Charlene take the lead here because he wasn t sure how far she wanted to go.

Just to curl up and sleep together? Have unconsummated sex?

He would be happy to do either with her, but he wanted her to make the choice.

He set his bags on the floor out of the way, wondering if she was going to dress in nightclothes and if he should just wear a pair of boxer shorts.

She didn t give him much time to think about it as she began to tug off his T-shirt and then tossed it on the floor.

He smiled. Okay, so they were going to get naked, and he figured they were going to be intimate with each other. Though not all the way because for wolves that would amount to a mating for life. He slipped her shirt over her head and smiled at her leopard bra.

Wild, huh? That s me.

He laughed. Yeah, I knew that the moment you bit me when I was armed to the teeth, ready to arrest you—though the fact you were a wolf meant I had to do something else, truly.

He ran his hand over her bra, squeezing her breasts gently, enjoying their softness in his grasp.

Then he leaned over and kissed her mouth.

She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a searing kiss on the lips, then delved deeper, her tongue ravishing his as if she had held back long enough.

He could enjoy kissing her all day. He slid his hands around her back and fumbled to unfasten her bra.

He felt it release, and he pulled the straps down her shoulders, off her arms, and then was able to caress her naked breasts.

Full, luscious, making his arousal twitch with growing need.

She quickly toed off her shoes and he slid his off so he could unfasten her pants, then pull them down.

He smiled to see her panties matched her leopard bra.

She eagerly unfastened his belt and unzipped his pants, then tugged his pants down his legs until he stepped out of them.

He yanked off his socks before she could free him from his boxer briefs.

They d already seen each other naked before they shifted to run as wolves, and of course when he d seen her leaving the shower when he d raided her home, but this experience was more intimate while they were undressing each other.

Once she pulled down his boxer briefs and he kicked them aside, he began kissing her again, wanting her to know it wasn t just all about the sex, but about showing the feelings he had for her, the admiration, caring, protectiveness…

which made this all the more powerful to his way of thinking.

He slid her panties down her legs, and she maneuvered out of them.

As if she was afraid that he was waiting for her to take him to bed, to assure him that this was what she wanted too, she broke free from the kiss, pulled the covers aside, climbed onto the bed, and patted the mattress next to her.

Come on. Let s do this, she said.

He smiled. Hell, yeah. He climbed onto the mattress, hoping he didn t look like too much of a hungry wolf and would cause Charlene to change her mind, but truth be told, she looked just as ravenous.

As soon as he was next to her, she rested her leg over his hip, exposing herself to him, telling him wordlessly what she wanted—at least he hoped—and he began to stroke her inviting clit while kissing her mouth with exuberance.

Their hearts beating wildly, she was kissing him back.

She pressed her leg hard against his hip, her body tensing as he stroked her.

Her hand was free to tweak his nipples and she moved her mouth to them, kissing and licking one and then the other.

He felt an incredible rush of heat and passion that he d never experienced before.

Then she moved her mouth to his again, her tongue licking his lips and then tonguing him, her fingers combing through his hair, making him feel divine.

But then she was stopping, tensing, holding her breath, ready to shatter, he suspected. She closed her eyes and breathed out. Oh, oh, yes, don t stop, keep going, yes, there, aww, Ethan.

He continued to stroke her for a few seconds, inserting a finger and feeling the tremors from her climax reverberating still deep inside her, and she smiled at him. Wow. My turn.

I m ready.

She began to stroke him, kissing his mouth, their pheromones shouting to each other that they were so right for each other. Their hearts were still pumped up, the adrenaline shooting through their bloodstream, and he hadn t felt this good, free, and spontaneous, in a long time.

She continued to stroke him with finesse. She was just irresistible to him.

He was trying his darnedest to hold back, to enjoy her touch longer. Her strokes were doing him in, but before he could stop, he was coming. He exploded with climax, feeling on top of the world.

She smiled at him and kissed his mouth. I could just send you to the shower to wash off, or I can come with you and clean you up, she said.

He laughed. How can I resist an offer like that?

They headed to the bathroom and started the shower, stepped in, and began soaping each other up. Now this was perfect. He d never washed with a she-wolf in the shower. Never in the bathtub either, and she had one of those oversized ones that would be perfect for two.

For now, this was wonderful. Soaping each other up, kissing, laughing as she slapped suds on his chest, and they bubbled up and she poked them to pop the bubbles.

He did the same to her, concentrating on the ones collecting on her nipples, which had her laughing hilariously.

This was more than just sexy. It was fun too.

Then they got down to the business of washing up each other s private parts, and rinsing off, then toweling each other dry.

I ll be in bed in a minute. I need to dry my hair, or I might get you all wet, she said.

Truthfully, I don t mind at all. All I care about is that you and I are together like this. What a beautiful night.

Oh, I agree.

I ll take care of drying your hair for you.

This was the first time he d ever dried a woman s hair for her.

He loved doing it for Charlene. Everything he did with her came so naturally.

He already felt such a strong bond with her.

He combed his fingers through her hair as he dried it, thinking how glorious it had felt when she had combed her fingers through his hair while he was stroking her to orgasm.

Hmm, that feels really great. I m going to have to have you do that every night, a great head massage.

He laughed. I loved it when you did it to me.

I m so glad. You looked like you were loving it. Then she and he went to bed, and they immediately cuddled with each other. This is so nice.

Yeah, I agree. I m so glad that you asked me to stay the night.

Me too.

Then they got quiet, and he thought this was truly the best night he d ever had.

***

Ohmigod, making love to Ethan had been monumental and sleeping with him was so nice. They woke a couple of times, kissed each other, and fell back to sleep, cuddling.

She hadn t even thought once about Noah coming here to have breakfast with them in the morning. She was glad for that. If Ethan hadn t been here with her, she might have.

She kissed Ethan and hugged him as he kissed her back and he said, Hmm, so special.

This is the nicest night ever.

Yeah, I agree. Tomorrow we can watch the sunrise, then we ll have breakfast?

I would like that. I hope that Noah won t be a problem when he comes for breakfast, she said.

He won t be.

She sure hoped Ethan was right about that.