Not that she could imagine that kind of passive-aggressive behavior from Drew. For all his sneakiness, he wasn’t subtle enough for that type of hostility, she thought with open affection. No, he was more likely to yell at her, and if that didn’t work—now that they were intimate—strip her naked and try to win by drowning her in pleasure. Those kinds of dominance games, she understood and welcomed.
Cheered up by the realization, she pressed a kiss to the part of him closest to her mouth. He stirred but didn’t rouse. Dropping another kiss on his skin, she pushed gently at him. He made a rumbling sound in his chest, the vibrations causing her nipples to tingle, pressed as they were against his muscular form, but he didn’t let go. She bit him on the jaw. “I need to get up.” When he still didn’t move, she pushed harder.
Grumbling, he loosened his hold enough that she was able to wiggle free. He immediately sprawled over the space she’d vacated, his face on its side, hair all rumpled. She couldn’t help it. She reached over and nuzzled a kiss into the warm curve of his neck. Another grumble. “Not a morning person,” she said, nipping provokingly at his ear—that got her a sleepy snarl. “I never knew that.” It was a half-wondering statement. She’d thought she’d known everything about him, but she hadn’t known this.
Startled, she kissed him one more time before trying to find a T-shirt. She finally located the one she’d been wearing the night before hanging over the limb of a tree branch. How it had gotten that far up, she had no idea. Standing on tiptoe, she’d just snagged it when she heard an appreciative wolf whistle.
CHAPTER 24
Smiling, she pulled on the T-shirt and glanced over her shoulder. A drowsy-eyed male—a definite wolf—watched her with obvious sensual intent. “Indy.” It was an invitation.
It was very, very tempting to go to him. So tempting that it made her wolf back off in sudden wariness. “Give me a second.” Heading into the forest, she walked down to the stream to throw some water on her face, her fingers trembling as she thrust them through her hair. This, with Drew, it fit none of the parameters of what she knew. For a woman as used to exercising control over all aspects of her life as she was, it— “I knew you’d be here doing this.” A hand closing over the back of her neck, a kiss dropped on her parted lips before Drew bent down to throw some water onto his own face.
Dressed only in a pair of khaki cargo pants, he looked oh-so-touchable.
“Doing what?” Rising to her feet, she curled her fingers into her palms. This inexorable sensual pull she felt toward Drew, it unsettled her—more than unsettled her, if she was honest. She was used to holding the reins in her dealings with the opposite sex.
Shaking his head in a way that was distinctly wolfish, he curved one hand around her calf, looking up with those wonderful, changeable eyes. “Worrying about all the things that could go wrong. Enjoy the moment, Indy. Enjoy what we are—”
“If you think I can do that,” she said with a wry smile, some of her tension dissipating, “you don’t know me.”
He squeezed her leg. “Yeah, that’s why I decided to haul myself awake at this ungodly hour and come rescue you.”
“It’s at least a couple of hours past dawn.” The forest was awash in the chatter of birds, the sky a pale azure with shimmering undertones of gold and pink that presaged a brilliant day.
Drew made a face, eyes on the play of sunlight dappling the water. “A couple of hours past dawn? Are you insane? Noon is when rational people wake up.”
Laughing, she leaned lightly against him as he moved his hand over her leg in a lazy caress. “How do you function when you’re on night watch or the early shift?”
“I function fine. I just prefer to lie in bed if at all possible.”
“You sure you’re a wolf?” she teased. “You sound like a big ole lazy cat to me.”
He grumbled low in his throat. “I’d throw you in the pool for that, but I’m feeling too mellow after the way you worked me over last night.”
“You’re not the one with bruises on your back.”
An unrepentant smile. “You don’t have any—I checked already.” Rising when she made as if to push him into the water, he slid his hands under her tee to cup her naked bottom. “Hey, Indy?”
Surprised by his oddly solemn tone, she looked up. “What is it?”
“How come you’re avoiding touching me?”
She glanced down at her hands to see that she’d clenched them into fists again. Groaning, she pressed her forehead against his chest. “I’m sorry.” He didn’t deserve this.
A kiss on her temple, strong hands petting the globes they’d palmed. “Have you had enough after only one night?”
She almost fell for that mournful voice—but the fiend’s eyes were dancing when she looked up. “Very funny.”
He squeezed the flesh he’d been stroking. “Freak-out, huh? I told you, I kinda expected it.”
Wrapping her arms around him, she nodded. “I’m not used to being this . . .” Close to addiction.