Chapter Four

The laughter started quietly, then it began to explode out of Gabe in uncontrollable waves. He released the woman he’d just come into. She sat up, and he curled up on his side as big belly laughs—with not a single ounce of real humor—rolled out.

He levered himself to sitting, but he couldn’t even catch his breath from the hysteria pouring out of his mouth and sending tears down his cheeks.

“Sam? What’s so funny?” Her long black hair streamed down over her shoulders and a crooked line of concern etched between her fine dark brows.

As suddenly as it had started, the laughter faded away, leaving him drained and wondering what came next. “God, you are so beautiful.” And she was. The more he looked at her the more stunning she became. And the more it hurt. “Why the hell did you have to be so confused?”

“I don’t understand.” She wrapped her arms around her bare torso and stared at him.

“No, you sure as hell don’t.” He propped himself up on his elbows and stared at her, the pain and disappointment nearly cutting him in half. “You smell like wolf, but you aren’t a shifter and you aren’t from Windy Gap. You must be a spelltalker because you’ve sure put a spell on me.”

“What are you talking about? I’m a dreamwalker. You know that. And you know I’m from Smokey Top.” Her lips pursed together. “Sam, what’s going on?”

She wasn’t a spelltalker, so there was no witchy reason why he’d taken one look at her and fallen as fast and hard as if she’d been his for decades.

“Sam?”

His brother’s name washed over him. “Christ, stop calling me that. I’m not Sam. I’m Gabe.” He examined her face for some form of recognition. None came. Sitting so close he could see the thin line of light gray in her very unusual eyes, but despite his revelation, she looked just as confused as ever. “I’m Sam’s identical twin, Gabe Wulfric.”

She went slowly white, and her hand rose to her mouth. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“That’s flattering.”

She shook her head from side to side. “No, that’s not what I meant. I’m sorry.”

He gave her a minute to let it sink in while he tried to sort out his own emotions. The scent of sex still lingered in the air. Even with her mouth—the mouth he’d just finished in—dropped open in shock, his cock twitched at the sight of her sitting there naked in the field beside him. God, he wanted her again. And this time he wanted all of her.

In the back of his mind, his wolf sent out an answering call of desire. He squashed what that might mean and focused instead on her words as she began to speak.

“I don’t understand. We’ve been texting for a month. Why didn’t Sam tell me he had a twin?” She shook her head. “God, can this day get any worse?” Her cheeks had gone from sheet white to dull red, her obvious embarrassment cutting even more deeply than her words.

His defensiveness kicked into high gear. “You’re the one who seduced me.”

“Maybe you should have said no.”

“Are you kidding?”

Said no. To her. As if he would. As if he could.

He sat all the way up, folding his legs underneath him. “The woman of my dreams walks up to me and says she wants me here and now and I’m supposed to say no?” He snorted. “Right.”

“I’ve never been in your dreams.”

“Don’t be so literal. I’ve never dreamed of you specifically, but if I had, it would have gone down exactly like this.” She raised an eyebrow, and he shook his head. “Okay, the ending would have been different. You would have declared your undying love for me and we would have run off into the sunset together.”

“I’m sorry for the mistake.” She pulled her t-shirt over her head and grabbed her pile of twisted shorts and panties, trying to sort them out as she stood up.

Her pussy was eye level with him as she finally got her panties untangled from her shorts and slid them on. His cock did more than twitch; it rose to half-mast. Damn, why did she have to be so attractive? Why did she have to be exactly the kind of woman he would have beelined for in a bar? Why did the genes he had in common with his twin have to rule everything?

But most of all—why hadn’t he seen her first? The initial pain of her rejection deepened into an ache and settled right in the center of his chest.

“I hope you’ll let me sort this out with your brother before you say anything. I think it should come from me.” She pulled on her shorts and zipped them up and all he could think of was how to get them back down. “Well?” She put her hands on her hips. “If you’ll just say okay, I’ll be out of here. You’ll never have to see me again.”

Never see her again. Both he and his wolf wanted to howl.

“Damn, I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that.”

“You want to tell Sam?” The worried crease between her eyes smoothed away. “Thank you.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” He stood up, letting his wolf play the dominant. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you walk away from me like this. You may have thought I was Sam, but we have something. You and me. I can feel it right now, drawing us together. And I’m not going to let that go.”

She didn’t back away. His wolf sent waves of approval. She had spunk—another mark in her favor. As if she needed any more.

“I thought you were Sam.”

“I don’t doubt that. But the chemistry we have is between us. Gabe and…” He stared at her. “I’m sorry, what’s your name?”

“Really?” Her eyebrows shot up. “We have this chemistry, you and me, but you are only just now realizing that you don’t know my name?” She stepped closer to him, challenging him. She poked a finger at his chest. “You don’t know my name. You don’t know the first thing about me.”

“I know this.” He reached out and pulled her in, crushing his mouth to hers. This kiss was hard and demanding. He needed her to understand what they had. Before it was too late. She resisted for a few seconds, then she softened and kissed back, giving just what he’d taken. Waves of desire washed over him, and he didn’t want to stop. He wanted to take her back down to their bed in the grass and prove to her who he was so she’d never mistake him for Sam again.

But he let her go when she pulled back. He had seconds to note her lips were pink and swollen and her cheeks flushed before her hand shot out and slapped him in the face.

“How dare you?”

He rubbed his jaw. “We just almost fucked, and now you slap me for a kiss?”

“That was before.”

“When you thought I was Sam?” He moved back in, crowding her with his body. “Did he kiss you like that? Like he couldn’t live without you? Like he hungered for you even after having you again and again and again?”

Her pupils flared. “I—”

“Did he?”

She backed away, scooping up her sneakers and socks. “I can’t do this.”

“Wait.” He stalked after her, stopping just short and stretching out his hand. “Give me a chance. Get to know me. You owe me that.”

“I don’t owe you anything.” She moved back several feet, her expression guarded.

He dropped his hand to his side. “Maybe not. But you owe it to yourself. Before you do anything stupid, make sure which brother is the one you have this connection with. I’ll make you a bet, it’s not Sam.”

A flicker of confusion passed over her face.

“Have dinner with me tonight.”

She shook her head. “I need some space. It’s been a crazy day.”

“Okay, tomorrow night. Dinner. Get to know me. Give me a chance.”

She lifted her eyes to the sky and blew out a large breath. “Okay. Dinner tomorrow night. Pick me up at six. I’m staying in the last guest cabin on site.” She walked away, taking the path back into the woods.

A surge of joy punched through him. He pumped his fist in the air. In the back of his head his wolf answered with a howl. “Hell yeah! I have a date with—”

Damn, he still didn’t know her name.