Undercover Wolf

Chapter 12

Quinn watched—and listened—every moment while the EMTs worked the men over and before they were whisked away in the ambulance. Nothing was said about Alpha Force or possible shapeshifters or even a dog attack.

Nothing was said about anything.

Since Quinn had been careful, while shifted, to keep his bite firm on Holt’s sleeve but not break skin, there would be no evidence of anything other than the two men having gotten beaten up.

He whispered quickly to Kristine to follow his lead as Chief Al Crane approached. Apparently, they were about to undergo interrogation by the local authorities rather than a fed, despite the alleged attack occurring in a national park. Not that Quinn gave a damn. That would get sorted out later by whoever was in charge.

The chief scowled in the bright headlights from the police vehicle. Idly, Quinn wondered if the guy even knew how to smile.

“You two want to tell me what happened?”

“Not really,” Kristine said lightly. “But I’ll bet you’ll ask anyway, so here it is.”

Quinn got up close and touched her shoulder lightly, preferring that she stay quiet and follow his lead. He didn’t want the two men arrested. He also didn’t want Kristine or himself in custody. He had already come up with a plausible scenario that he intended to use as their explanation.

But Kristine wasn’t about to listen to him. He almost grabbed her to shake her—but she was talking. And everyone listened to the apparently frightened but brave and beautiful woman.

“I was here in the parking lot by myself while my sweet Quinn here was off peeing in the bushes, and those two attacked me. I figured they were drunk. What they don’t know is that someone attacked me a long time ago, too—when I was a kid—so I’ve taken a lot of self-defense classes. And when Quinn heard what was going on, he rushed out. I met him in one of my more recent self-defense classes, so he knew what to do, too. And, well—I guess we got a bit rough under the circumstances. I’m fine, and as long as those men don’t try to make any claims against us for hurting them, I just want to drop it all. I won’t press charges, or anything like that. Right, darling?” Only then did she look at Quinn, a look of utter innocence on her lovely face.

He wanted to laugh. To hug her. The story he’d come up with wasn’t nearly as good.

He’d have to visit those feds in the hospital whenever they were awake and ready to talk. Make sure their descriptions about what happened were similar—or that Kristine and he laughed about anything they didn’t want anyone else to believe.

Plus, Kristine and he needed to get the men’s real story. Why the hell had they attacked her?

And what else could they tell him?

They’d also better cooperate and not press charges against Kristine or him—or he’d do more than make them look stupid to their superiors.

“That’s just what happened,” he confirmed when Crane looked at him. “I don’t think either of us meant to be so rough—but those guys deserved it. They should never have touched my wonderful wife.”

Crane looked skeptical. No wonder. But he didn’t press them. Maybe he didn’t give a damn, since, whoever attacked whom, it was done in the feds’ jurisdiction.

On the other hand, where had the local cops been that night—the ones Quinn had seen previously at the crime scene? Had they given up, or convinced their superiors that hanging out there was useless? If they had been around, things would be quite different now.

“Right,” Crane said. “Well, since you’re claiming self-defense, I won’t arrest you now, but I’ll get their version from those guys. In any case, don’t even think about leaving town soon.”

“We understand,” Kristine said.

In short order, the two of them were the only ones remaining in the parking lot—along with their car and the feds’.

“I’m wired,” she said, “after all this. Adrenaline, I suppose. But I should sleep well tonight. How about you?”

She tilted her head as she looked up at him in the near-darkness, her mouth set in a quizzical line. Adrenaline or not, he just had to kiss this amazing, imaginative, brave—and fierce—woman.

He bent down, intending only to skim his lips over hers, but suddenly he was holding her tightly. Tasting her. He concentrated on the feel of her arms around him, the sweet, alluring taste of her tongue that teased his right back, her tangy personal scent edged with the aroma of the soap from their hotel room and the few cosmetics she used.

Then there was the scent of the heat that kiss generated. Not to mention how his body hardened, suddenly becoming one massive ache of need. He pulled her even more tightly against him, reveling in the feel of her rubbing right back.

The overhead fluttering of wings from some creature of the night startled him. Only slightly, but it was enough to make him soften the intensity of the kiss, and she backed away.

Touching her lips, she looked up at him once more. “I was just about to ask how you figured we’d get those feds to play along with our little story.”

He laughed. “Your little story, you mean. It was a good one. We’ll visit them in the hospital tomorrow to express our ‘apologies’—and to let them in on what they have to say for us all to stay out of police custody. For now, though, let’s head back to the hotel.”

He opened the car door for Kristine, then went around and slid into the driver’s seat. She had her personal smartphone out and was examining the screen.

“No messages. We’ll need to talk to Major Connell tomorrow so he knows what’s going on here. I’ll send him a text now to let him know there are developments, and that he should speak with us before discussing anything with the general or anyone else.”

“You’re pretty smart, aren’t you?” He grinned at her, then returned his concentration to the twisting mountain road.

“Could be. And...well, I’m obsessing a little, too. I do that sometimes. What I’m wondering is...do I taste okay to a guy with a wolf’s senses?”

He blinked, feeling his already stiff body parts grow even harder. Was she really asking that?

And did it mean what he hoped it did?

Once more he glanced her way. She was staring at him with a gaze as heated as if she’d set the car interior on fire.

He had an urge to pull the car over immediately and prove to her how good she tasted to him. Instead, he kept driving, ramping up the speed as much as he could and still stay safe.

“I’ll demonstrate later just how good you taste,” he finally answered with a growl.

* * *

Oh, lord. Had she really asked that? It must be that her adrenaline rush from earlier, as she’d fought so hard to take control of a potentially catastrophic situation, hadn’t left her body, even after she’d spewed a fairy tale to the cops.

Not when she had previously seen, or imagined she’d seen, the tantalizing highlights of Quinn’s naked and sexy form in the distance.

And not when her own body’s stimulation had been so enhanced by his kiss.

She admitted to herself now that she had wanted him every night since they’d gotten here.

No, she had wanted him from the moment she had first begun acting as his Alpha Force aide—and seen his hard, perfect body nude.

And now...now, she would have to wait until they reached their room, despite every bit of heat from her insides flowing downward, taunting her, making her ache with need for the man beside her.

Man? Oh, yes, he was that...and more.

They reached one of the main park roads, then finally drove away from Acadia and into the outskirts of Bar Harbor. How much longer until they got to their hotel?

They spoke now and then, cracking jokes about the DSPA investigators and how easy they’d been to knock the crap out of. Good thing to think about now. It kept her mind centered just a little.

Then there it was—the charming Victorian hotel where they were staying. Quinn parked. Kristine grabbed her backpack.

Soon they were inside, after swiping their card key to get in the front door at this hour. They used it in the elevator, too, to get to their floor.

At last, they were in their room. This time, when Kristine looked at that solo queen-size bed in its center, it didn’t make her feel uneasy or defensive.

Instead, it called to her.

She didn’t remember setting her backpack down, but suddenly she was in Quinn’s arms again. His embrace now felt familiar, but what awaited her was brand-new.

“Kristine,” Quinn whispered into her ear, as his hands lifted the back of her shirt, caressed her skin, caused her to push against him even more from the front.

But she was still dressed. So was he. She stepped back, using one fluid motion to pull her shirt over her head. She looked at him, daring him to do the same. She still wore her bra, but even so she almost melted as he directed his heated gaze toward her bust.

“Your turn,” she said huskily.

“I get a lot of practice doing this around here.” His joke made her smile, but she bit her lip as she watched him remove first his own shirt, then his boots and jeans.

He didn’t discard his underwear but it did little to hide his straining maleness. She wanted to touch him but knew what he would want first. She took off all her remaining clothes, then shot a challenging look in his direction.

They were both naked when, in seconds, Quinn took her arm and pulled her against him. His skin was as hot, his body as hard as she had anticipated. As they kissed again, she grabbed his buttocks to pull him closer, reveling in the feel of his maleness against her belly, wanting to touch it, too.

One of his hands moved between them to caress her breasts, cupping them, teasing at her nipples until they hardened.

They were on the bed suddenly. His hands moved lower, lower, caressing her female center. She writhed, pushing herself against those fingers until they thrust gently inside her, making her gasp with pleasure and need.

At the same time, she touched his cock, absorbing its tantalizing hardness. She grasped it as she had longed to do before. As she had wanted to do from the very first time she had seen him naked, before he shifted.

Slowly, she stroked it, reveling in the way it seemed to harden even more within her grip. She almost grinned as she heard Quinn’s intake of breath, followed by even deeper breathing. A growl, not feral—or at least not wolflike this time. No, this time it came from deep in his throat, sounding all turned-on human male.

“Please, Quinn,” she whispered. But he didn’t enter her. Instead, he began kissing her, breasts first, even as his caress didn’t stray from her heat. Then his mouth moved lower to follow those hands....

His tongue stroked her erotically. Her writhing before had only been preliminary to this, as she bucked gently, encouraging his every touch and taunt with that talented tongue.

He moved away suddenly, making her moan with frustration. That’s when she heard the sound of plastic. He pulled out a condom. Her breathing raspy and uneven, she smiled, then held out her hand. “Let me,” she managed to say.

He did.

And then, at last, he plunged inside her. Her eyes were open, her gaze captured by his heavy-lidded look so sensual that it helped to multiply her inevitable pleasure below.

Her need rose to a crescendo beyond anything she had ever felt before. His steady rocking motion stimulated her to rise with each thrust until she catapulted over the edge into completion, even as she heard him moan and felt him arch and grow still.

* * *

“You okay?” It took Quinn a while before he could talk, but he managed those words as he collapsed onto the bed beside Kristine.

He kept one hand on her, though, moving to her luscious, full breasts, not wanting to lose contact. Wanting to remember every inch of her skin, every moment of their incredible sexual encounter.

Wanting to experience it again—soon. Sometime after his energy was restored.

“I’m good. Real good. You?” He was gratified to hear that she was as out of breath as he.

“Yeah. We fit well together, Mrs. Scott.”

She laughed breathlessly. “You said it, Mr. Scott.” She snuggled closer without moving his hand from her chest, then rested her head against his shoulder. “I think I’ll sleep well tonight. Better than I have since we got here.”

“Don’t count on it,” he said.

He only woke her twice more that night.

* * *

Barely awake the next morning, Quinn felt Kristine stir. He reached for her, but she moved out of his range. In a moment, he heard her talking on the phone, and he opened his eyes.

Good thing she was on the military-issue satellite phone and not on Skype or some other way of allowing people on both ends of a remote conversation to see one another. Even though her back was to him as she sat on the edge of the bed, Quinn absorbed one heck of a sexy view of Kristine, naked.

His body immediately woke up. But he realized at once who she was talking to and kept still.

“Yes, sir. Those guys attacked me—apparently wanted to take me off somewhere else for interrogation...or something. Quinn was shifted at the time, in the forest, so they must have thought I was alone—or at least alone enough for them to take control of me.”

“She did a hell of a job of showing them otherwise,” Quinn called into the phone from over her shoulder.

She turned, and the movement put her lips within inches of his. But he restrained himself. Even if the major couldn’t see them, he might, with his own enhanced senses, be able to make out the sounds of a kiss.

“Quinn did great, too, sir,” Kristine put in. “Even though he was shifted, he made sure the one named Holt couldn’t taze me, then he knocked the guy unconscious. Didn’t leave any bite marks. I’m not sure what those guys’ll say about the possible attack by a wolf, but with luck and the way we handled them, I suspect they’ll doubt their own recollections.”

She spoke for a couple minutes longer, then handed her phone to Quinn.

“I don’t like what happened,” Drew Connell told him, “though it sounds like you both dealt with it as well as possible under the circumstances. But go see those guys today, like Kristine said. Then report again to me. Something’s off—way off. I’ll inform General Yarrow and see what we can learn from here, but if there’s any way of extracting information from those DSPA guys—without beating them up any more, especially now that the cops’ll keep an even closer eye on this—I want you to do it. You and Kristine.”

“Yes, sir.” Quinn flipped the phone closed and handed it to Kristine. “He wants—”

“I know what the major wants.” She smiled grimly as she shook her head. “He wants Simon and Grace found and this unofficial assignment over with. You know what?”

“He’s not alone,” Quinn responded. And as soon as Kristine had put the phone back on the bedside table, he reached for her.

It was time to move their minds—and bodies—in a much different direction. After all, it was still too early to accomplish anything else that day.

As Quinn lowered his body over Kristine’s warm, willing and inviting one and kissed her full, smiling lips as his hands started a new encounter with the taut, sexy body he wanted to memorize, he figured this was a heck of a way to start what promised to be an eventful day.