He stood as she wrestled the door closed and crossed the floor. He was going to ask why she wasn’t at the house, having dinner with Brianne and Brianne’s new love interest, but he didn’t get the chance. She circumvented his dog and walked straight into his arms, caught his face between her hands and brought her mouth to his.
Amarok told himself to set her away from him. He was determined to hold fast to his ultimatum. The relationship had to progress or they should break up and move on. But she was kissing him as if she was starved for the taste of him and, truth be told, he was starved for the taste of her, too. He’d never loved anyone so much. He kept telling himself he’d step away, but one moment passed on to the next and the passion only intensified.
She was already unbuttoning his uniform when he realized he should lock the door. Although he didn’t get many visitors, he had to protect against the possibility that someone might barge in. But Amarok couldn’t make himself let go of Evelyn for even that long. He was afraid his resolve would return if he did. So he pulled her with him.
Once no one could walk in on them, the clothes came off in earnest. Her coat and hat. His shirt. Her blouse. One shoe here and another there. She was unbuttoning his pants and unzipping his fly when he nudged her away to be able to move the stapler and a few other things off Phil’s desk so they could use it—he had too much paper on his own. Then he shoved up her skirt to remove her panties.
“I hope this means what I think it means,” he said as his mouth slid down her neck to her breasts.
She didn’t answer. She moaned and dropped her head back as he took her nipple in his mouth.
God, this was good, Amarok thought. They belonged together. Couldn’t she see that? It didn’t matter that they were from different worlds, that she was seven years older, that her emotional scars sometimes created problems. She was the one for him, the one he couldn’t live without. Some things were just meant to be.
“I need you.” She stared up at him as if those words held every bit as much meaning as he hoped. “Now. I can’t wait.”
He kicked her panties aside. He was ready. Just the thought of her could get him hard. Even if she wasn’t making a commitment, he wasn’t going to miss out on this opportunity. For all he knew, it could be the last time he’d ever be able to make love to her.
Her legs locked around him as he pushed inside her. “Yes!” she gasped. “There you are.”
He was too caught up in what they were doing to talk. From that moment on, his world shrank to sensation. The feel of Evelyn. The scent of her. The sounds she made as he drove into her. He gave everything he had to this one act as if it might make a difference, might make her stay.
When she cried out and he felt the spasm of her climax, he wished he could last longer, make her come again. But it was no use. He was barely hanging on. Closing his eyes, he stopped fighting the building tension.
As the pleasure of his own orgasm started to ripple through him, so powerfully it spread goose bumps over his whole body, he wondered if she’d try to slide away at the last second or tell him to pull out, but she didn’t. She kept her legs locked around his hips as he came inside her.
Hardly able to breathe for the frenzy that’d swept them both away, they struggled to recover as they stared at each other. “What just happened?” he asked.
Her eyes never left his. “I think I just realized that I can’t live without you.”
He smoothed the hair off her face. “You’re not leaving?”
“I’m hoping I won’t have to, not for longer than a month or two, and that wouldn’t be until April, when the baby comes.”
Already he wished he could make love to her again. He could never get enough of her. “What’s changed?”
“We have a match on Jasper’s DNA.”
*
Amarok didn’t have time to react to Evelyn’s announcement. Someone was at the door. Makita barked as the handle rattled, then a knock sounded, sending them both scrambling to get dressed.
Amarok finished first. He yelled out that he’d just be a minute while quickly replacing the items he’d knocked off Phil’s desk.
“You ready?” he murmured as Evelyn grabbed her coat from the floor.
She shot him a smile to signal that she was, and he turned the lock.
As Amarok swung the door open, his body blocked Evelyn’s view for a moment. “You’re back?”
“I have to tell you something.”
Evelyn recognized that voice. Samantha …
Since Makita was familiar with their visitor, he calmed down.
“What is it?” Amarok stepped back so they could all see one another. Evelyn got the impression he wanted to be sure Samantha knew he wasn’t alone, as if that might have some impact on what she said.
Her eyes wandered over the little things they hadn’t yet straightened—like a pencil holder Amarok had missed picking up from the floor. Not to mention Evelyn’s mussed hair and slightly disheveled clothes.
A hard glitter entered her eyes. She understood the kind of encounter she’d just interrupted. Maybe that was why she’d stopped by in the first place, because she’d seen Evelyn’s SUV parked next to Amarok’s truck out front and was hoping to insert herself in some way. “I just saw that weird guy again, the one who was lurking in the alley behind my shop.”
“Where?” Amarok asked.
She seemed sort of undecided for a second, but then she said, “He was hanging out in the parking lot of the Moosehead.”
Was? She was already preparing Amarok for the fact that he wouldn’t be there when her report was checked.
“You’re sure?” Amarok sounded skeptical. “Because no one else has seen anyone acting strange or suspicious. Only you.”
Like Evelyn, Amarok obviously had the impression that she was lying.
Samantha raised her chin to show that she was offended he’d doubt her word. “Why would I make that up?”
They all knew why, but Amarok didn’t answer that question. “I’ll check it out.”
He held the door as though he expected her to leave, but she lingered in spite of that. “You might want to go now,” she told him. “I doubt the guy will be there if you wait.”
She wanted to split them up. Evelyn could easily tell.
“You’ve made the report,” he said. “I’ll take it from here.”
“But thanks for stopping by,” Evelyn added. She knew she shouldn’t get involved, but she couldn’t help herself. Samantha was so transparent.
“Hello, Evelyn,” Samantha said, her expression hardening. “I hear you’re planning to move back to Boston soon.”
The wind coming in through the open doorway prompted Evelyn to yank on her coat. “I’m not sure what my plans are quite yet.”
“That’s too bad, because you can’t leave soon enough for me. After all, you’re the reason for the terrible trouble we’ve had.”
Samantha had never liked her, and she’d made no secret of the fact. Still, Evelyn was surprised by her venom. She opened her mouth to respond, but Amarok jumped in.
“That isn’t true.” Although he tried to step between them, Evelyn pulled him back.
“Is that why you keep leaving such hateful notes on my car?” She never would’ve come right out and accused Sam if Sam hadn’t started this, but she wasn’t going to hold back now.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Samantha replied. “I wouldn’t waste my precious time on that. Or on you. But if you’re getting hateful notes, it just goes to prove I’m not the only one who thinks you don’t belong here.”
“Fortunately, it’s a free country,” Evelyn said. “You’re not some Alaskan gatekeeper; you don’t get to decide who lives here and who doesn’t.”
At that, Samantha gave her the most maleficent glare Evelyn had ever received, except from some of the psychopaths who’d wanted to kill her over the years. “Oh, come on. You’re going to leave eventually. What would a woman like you do out here for the rest of her life? Why don’t you quit screwing around? Especially with Amarok? You’re just leading him on. I know that even if he doesn’t!”
Forever defensive of his master and whatever or whomever his master was defending, Makita growled soft and low. Amarok had just tensed and thrown his arm around Evelyn. To such a smart dog, that was all it took to signal there was a problem, and he was willing to help out with it.