In his time staying with Reardon and Brandy, dinner time had been the one shining moment in each day. The food was a far cry from what he’d been accustomed to scrounging for in Ireland as a wee lad, on the battlefields with the army, and on that blasted island where Flidae had first sent him.

Silver Moon Wolf Sanctuary food was divine. Meredith did a great deal of the cooking and everything that woman brought to the dinner table was incredible. Jaemus was convinced she could season a worn leather boot and it’d taste like a feast fit for royalty.

Her lasagna was no different, and while he savored every bite tonight, his focus on food wasn’t what it usually was. How could a man concentrate on filling his belly when a woman like Nika Skarvinski sat in such close proximity? The sprite’s body was on display in that black, sleeveless top and flowing skirt, and Jaemus praised the gods for giving him eyes to enjoy her beauty. The moon jewelry she’d decorated herself with added enough sparkle to mesmerize him. His fingers couldn’t stop thinking about releasing her hair from that neat knot at the base of her neck. They hummed with a need to bury themselves in the soft, chestnut tresses.

Other parts of his body wanted to bury themselves in places too. His tongue, his arousal. In her mouth, her hot, wet center. More than once tonight, Jaemus thanked the gods he was seated at a table and his lower body was covered by the length of table cloth. Otherwise, Dylan would have gotten an up close and personal education about the male sex drive.

And the scent of Nika’s attraction to him drove him wild. He’d smelled it as soon as he met her on the path by the front door when she’d arrived. It was torture knowing she wanted him that bad, but he had to wait until they didn’t have an audience.

While Jaemus dined on Nika’s mouth right now, he rejoiced that everyone had left. It was just him, Nika, and an empty house. The possibilities spun around in his head until he wanted to try every one of them.

Settle down.

He had to pace himself. He’d already engaged in relations with Nika today. How many times was she willing to allow him to ravage her in one day? How much was too much?

A small, pleading noise sifted out from her as he consumed her lips. Maybe too much wasn’t going to be a problem for them tonight.

Nika’s hands wrapped around his waist then traveled up to grip his shoulder blades. She raked her nails against his T-shirt, and he suddenly couldn’t stand that thin fabric standing between them.

Reaching back, he broke the kiss for a millisecond to rip his shirt over his head and toss it to the kitchen floor.

Nika hummed her approval and her hands were instantly on him again, her fingertips skating over his flesh in a way that made him shiver in her grasp. A sexy smirk played at the corners of her mouth as she realized what she was capable of doing to him with a simple touch.

“You unravel me, sprite.”

The glint in her green eyes ignited something inside Jaemus. Never had a lass gotten to him so quickly, so completely. He needed Nika to… to breathe. She’d cast a spell over him or something. A powerful spell.

“I’d like to unzip you, Wolfman,” she ran her hand over the bulge in his jeans, making his knees nearly buckle, “but I haven’t heard Brandy, Reardon, and Dylan leave yet. Have you?”

He cocked an ear, using his wolf senses—senses he didn’t want to have—to listen. Voices from outside reached him and he puffed out a breath. “No, they’re still out front.”

“I believe Reardon said about twenty minutes before they left, right?” Nika turned around to face the sink, but she pressed that lovely bottom of hers up against him, moving in a way that made him rock solid. “That’s enough time to wash these dishes as promised.”

“And play with soap bubbles as promised?”

“Uh-huh.” She leaned her head back and kissed under his chin.

He bent to pick up his shirt, but she quickly grabbed it from him.

“No one told you to put that back on. Be a shame to get it wet… or soapy.”

“Just looking out for my shirt, are you, sprite?”

“I’m considerate like that.” She grinned and turned the hot water on to fill the sink.

In a few moments, bubbles rose up in the sink and Nika’s arms were covered in them up to her wrists as she scrubbed. Jaemus stood next to her, drying each dish as she handed it off to him, but his mind was not on drying dishes. Gods be damned, he couldn’t think about anything besides getting Nika naked again.

When she passed the last fork to him, he let out a sigh. “Thank the heavens that’s it.”

“Impatient much?” Nika scooped up a handful of bubbles and blew them at him so they landed on his bare chest.

“Only when it comes to getting my hands on you.” He used the towel in his hand to wipe the suds away then reached in front of Nika for his own palmful of foam. Eyeing her breasts beneath her black top, he dotted each of them with white bubbles.

“Those don’t need washing, Jaemus.” She grabbed the towel to dry her hands and collect the suds off her shirt.

“What do they need then?” Jaemus had several ideas he’d been thinking about since he’d seen Nika with the wolves upon her arrival tonight. Part of him had worried she might not come because of the way he’d stormed out of the trading post earlier. He’d been so concerned his brother would be upset about him getting a job and making plans to move out—which he had been—that Jaemus hadn’t considered how his hasty exit would affect Nika.

Of course she’d think he was mad. Maybe he had been. A little. But one glance at her and Daisy interacting with the wolves and Dylan dissipated his anger like morning mist over a lake. How could he be mad at her? She’d given him a job, a place he could turn into a suitable shelter, a round of lovemaking he couldn’t forget.

And now she was offering more of that.

And he was accepting.

“Has it been twenty minutes?” Nika asked. “Are they gone?”

Jaemus closed his eyes for a moment, tuning his heightened ears. “I don’t hear them talking out there anymore.”

“Oh, like you have superhuman hearing or something?” She chuckled and lightly slapped his chest as if he were being silly.

I wish I was being silly. He wished he were a regular man. That was what a lass like Nika deserved. A true man. Not one with a beast lurking under the surface.

Send her away. He told himself to shut up and kissed her instead.

She leaned into him, her hands immediately going to the zipper on his jeans. As she made him forget his name with a kiss, she slid her hand into his pants to run her fingers over his hardened length.

Now he’d forgotten so much more than his name.

A growl rumbled out of him, and he feared he’d shift right there in the kitchen. Even if he wasn’t half wolf, Nika could unleash something primal inside him. He wanted to give himself over to it but knew he couldn’t. He had to remain in control enough to keep the beast at bay. Nika would run away if she knew what he was. What woman would willingly give herself to a monster?

Brandy.

But had Reardon found the only woman who could accept that werewolves existed? Was she the only female alive eager to be a werewolf herself?

Could Nika…

Jaemus shook his head as he took a step back and looked at her.

“What’s the matter, Jaemus?” Nika’s voice was raspy with need and it plucked strings inside him that vibrated out to his fingertips and toes.

“Nothing, sprite. Everything’s perfect.” He came closer and nibbled on her earlobe. “You’re perfect.” As a human. He had to stop letting his mind wander to making her like him. That was selfish thinking, and selfish thinking—by Reardon—was what had gotten him changed into a werewolf and banished by Flidae. He would do nothing to bring the goddess’s wrath down on him again.

Or on Nika.

He reached down and put his hands on the backs of Nika’s thighs, lifting her to carry her off to the guestroom Brandy had given him. The kitchen was far too public a gathering space for what he was about to do to her.

Nika wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms tightening around his neck as she held on like a small creature gripping a tree. He was happy to be that tree. Her breasts pressed against his chest and he couldn’t wait to strip off her clothes and give each of them his undivided attention.

After she leaned over and grabbed her purse off the counter, Jaemus climbed the stairs with ease. Nika was barely a weight in his grip, her delicate frame feeling a bit too light for someone of her height. She’d said money was tight. Had that meant she’d skipped meals? Thinking about the way she’d devoured Meredith’s lasagna, that was probably the case. His heart hurt over the fact that Nika had done without food.

His protective instinct kicked in full throttle. He made a promise to himself right then he would be the ultimate Wolfman for her show so money would never be a concern for his sprite. He wanted her every need to be met.

Every need.

He was all too happy to attend to her needs right now. The noises coming from her let him know her needs, her wants, her desires matched his. He set her on the bed in the guest room, berating himself for not straightening out the bedclothes before taking her in there. He supposed it didn’t matter. The plans he had for her would only muss them up again.

“Sit there.” She pointed to the armchair in the corner of the room and gave him a little shove as she dropped her purse to the floor.

He rather enjoyed the semi-rough treatment. When she slowly slid her skirt down her long, shapely legs and stepped out of it, he couldn’t take his eyes off the show. Her black top came off next and he became enchanted by the way her lace purple bra displayed her amazing breasts. He made a move to get up from the chair, but she shook her head.

“I didn’t tell you to move, did I, Wolfman?” She wagged a finger as if scolding him. “I watched your show this afternoon—you’re super-fantastic-absolutely-wonderful performance—and now you must watch mine.”

Hardly a punishment. She was gorgeous. Jaemus couldn’t look away if he tried. Didn’t want to.

She let one bra strap fall off her smooth shoulder followed by the other one. With a quick flick at her back, the bra tumbled to the ground to join her top and skirt. Tracing a finger along the waistband of her matching purple panties, she teased him by gyrating her hips a little, as if slowly dancing to a tune only she could hear. The silver moon on her necklace slithered between her breasts and he grew envious of how close it was allowed to be.

He wanted to be close. Now.

“Sprite.” The word came out on a hoarse growl, a warning that he couldn’t take much more of her teasing. The beast in him was ready to leap at her. His fingers tightened on the arms of the chair where she held him prisoner with only her heated gaze.

“Do you want me?” She pushed her panties down until they hit the floor with her other garments. Totally naked aside from the jewelry and her sexy sandals, she was every fantasy Jaemus hadn’t yet imagined. He’d always been an admirer of women, but Nika was… she was…

Your soul mate, warrior wolf. Flidae’s voice rattled around in his head.

Soul mate? He’d heard the term before from Reardon and Brandy, but never gave it any thought in relation to his life. He didn’t live in a way that could accept a woman on a permanent basis. He traipsed around foreign lands, killing for riches. How would any woman give her heart to a man like him?

This one will.

Jaemus squeezed his eyes shut, willing Flidae to leave him. He was prepared to enjoy Nika. He was not prepared to think about soul mates and forever and true love.

Consider it, warrior wolf. Then Flidae was gone.

“Hey.”

Jaemus met Nika’s concerned gaze. “Aye?”

“Why are you closing your eyes through my show?” She gestured to herself. “I realize I may be out of practice here, but I’m doing the best I can.”

“Gods, sprite.” He reached out his arms and she stepped into the circle of them. He pulled until she straddled his lap. “You are doing an exceptional job.” Grabbing her hips, he settled her more completely on his throbbing erection. “Feel that? That’s all for you. You did that to me.”

Nika’s cheeks pinked, and she was irresistible. He couldn’t have walked away from her even if Flidae offered to take away the werewolf inside him.

Soul mate indeed.

Ignoring that voice, Jaemus descended on Nika’s mouth then moved on to her breasts, pebbling her nipples and gently biting her flesh until she wriggled on his lap.

“I can’t wait any longer, Nika.” He stood and carried her to the bed. “I must have you.”

“Take me.” She flipped over to her belly then got to all fours. With a sly look over her shoulder and her bottom up to him in invitation, he nearly went unconscious with wanting.

The scent of her arousal was more intoxicating than anything he’d ever smelled in his thirty-seven years.

“Do you have…” What had she called it? “A… a condom?”

“Purse.” She pointed to the floor by her clothes.

He retrieved the packet, tore it open, and sheathed himself. With an arm around her waist, his hand flat to her smooth stomach, he thrust into her from behind, enjoying every moment of her throaty sighs.

Jaemus had always thought paradise was just a word, something someone somewhere made up. He was so wrong.

Paradise was being with Nika Skarvinski.

****

Being full of Jaemus McAlator was like nothing Nika had experienced before. True, she hadn’t spent a great deal of time with men over the past few years. She certainly hadn’t done much dating. Trying to survive took up most of her focus. Trying to keep Robert at bay and hang on to her father’s legacy in the trading post had been her main goals.

Shit. I have been missing out.

As she spasmed around Jaemus’s hardened length, absolutely loving the feel of his naked and muscled body pressed up against her bottom, she realized she hadn’t been simply missing out on the company of a man.

No. This man. Jaemus. He brought out feelings in her that she’d never unleashed with anyone else. Had she known he was out there… existing and so sexy… she would have actively searched for him.

But he’d found her, hadn’t he? He’d crashed her Wolfman Show, just when she needed him to. He’d saved her. On so many levels.

He found his release seconds after she did and they collapsed to the bed, the tousled sheets embracing them.

“Better than chocolate cake right there, Wolfman.” Her breathing was still off, as if she couldn’t find her normal pace, as if her body was permanently aroused around Jaemus.

“Cake is good, but…” He lightly bit her neck then licked the sting with his skilled tongue. “You, Nika, are addicting.”

“Like maybe you can’t get enough of me?” She turned around in his arms so she faced him and drew circles on his pectorals with her index finger. How much did he work out? Muscles bunched… everywhere.

“Never enough.” He rubbed his nose along her throat then down to the valley between her breasts as if he were making her scent a part of him. Why was that so erotic?

Jaemus spent a few moments making her breasts super happy then rolled to his back beside her. He slid his arm under her and pulled her close to his side.

She snuggled up to him, loving the way their bodies fit together, and before she could stop it, she fell asleep. When she awoke, a large Irish man was her blanket and boy, didn’t that beat any blanket she’d ever covered herself with in the past?

Nika stayed still so she could enjoy their closeness. His heart beat against her chest and something about the rhythm made her feel in sync with him. A wonderful feeling, especially after being so alone since Tato had died. She realized now that after her father had passed, she’d checked out of life herself.

Sure, she’d been working hard to save Maple Ridge Trading Post. She’d fought Robert off all this time. She’d put on a brave face for Carrie and Zavier. But at the end of the day, she was alone. Always alone. Daisy was great company, but she had needs a loyal chocolate Labrador Retriever couldn’t fill.

Needs that Jaemus could fill. Expertly.

He shifted beside her then stretched out his arms. When he opened his golden brown eyes and blinked sleepily at her, she… well, she fell for him. Hard. It was far too soon to be picturing waking up like this all the time, but she couldn’t clear the image—the desire for the image—from her mind.

This man could be it for her. The One.

“What are you thinking so hard about, sprite?” He knocked a knuckle against her forehead as he sat up and leaned against the headboard. The sheets pooled at his waist and Nika took in the view of his perfect chest and abs. She easily pictured him in his wolfman costume, looking equally sexy.

I’m thinking that something must be wrong with me. Or you. Because Jaemus couldn’t be as perfect as she thought. Could he? She must be crazy. And who in their right mind thought a dude in a wolfman costume was sexy?

She rubbed her eyes, hoping when she focused on Jaemus again, she’d be able to find some flaws. There had to be some. She blinked up at him.

Nope. Not one flaw.

“The longer you don’t say anything, the more curious I am about what you’re thinking.” He grinned, but something in his beautiful eyes looked… unsteady. As if he was worried she might actually find that flaw she was looking for.

“Just thinking that chocolate cake should always be followed by…” she waved her hands over the bed, “this fun activity.”

Jaemus’s eyebrow rose. “Agreed. It aids digestion.”

She elbowed him as she pulled herself up to sit beside him. The sheet followed her up, and she prepared to catch it under her arms, but Jaemus immediately tugged it down.

“Not done ogling?” Because she wasn’t. Not by a long shot.

“Appreciating, not ogling,” he corrected. A big, rough hand covered her breast and kneaded tenderly.

Nika let her head drop back to rest against the headboard. She closed her eyes, but when she opened them again, she still couldn’t find that flaw.

****

For the next two weeks, Nika kept looking, but Jaemus had only brought her total enjoyment. Thanks to him, The Wolfman Show was an incredible success, drawing in visitors, raking in money, making Maple Ridge Trading Post the Vermont hot spot it had once been under Cezar Skarvinski’s leadership. Nika felt Tato every day as she opened the post, greeted customers, sold tickets to The Wolfman Show, and watched Jaemus please crowd after crowd.

He’d been fun to observe as he renovated the barn space too. Good God, the man could wear a tool belt! He also knew how to use the tools. Broken floorboards had been replaced. The entire floor had been sanded and stained, giving it a new, shiny life. He and Reardon had taken the broken back doors off and swapped them out for a gorgeous set of rustic French doors attached with hefty, wrought iron hinges that let light into the dark barn.

It had been wonderful to watch the brothers work together. Nika had sensed a rift between them at that dinner Meredith had invited her to. Brandy had mentioned they’d had some things to work out between them, but when they’d installed those doors, they moved together like a well-oiled machine. There’d been little conversation, almost as if the two men communicated on some other level, and when they’d finished, they’d given each other a look. A familiar one. An appreciative one.

A forgiving one?

Nika had no idea what needed forgiving and she didn’t pry. If Jaemus wanted to tell her, he would.

Once the bigger renovations were complete, Jaemus filled the space with sparse furnishings, some purchased from the trading post. Though his choices were purely functional, something about the way he arranged the pieces in the barn felt homey to Nika. Almost as if that space had been waiting for him.

Just like Nika’s heart had been waiting for him.

They’d continued their flirting, fevered make-out sessions, and sexual gymnastics over the past two weeks, and each time they came together Nika craved more. Having him right downstairs from her loft apartment had been a stroke of genius on her part. It made Jaemus continually… available.

He appeared to enjoy the arrangement as well. They often woke up in each other’s arms, parting ways in the morning for Nika to go to the trading post and Jaemus to Silver Moon Wolf Sanctuary where he’d been aiding Reardon and Brandy with a renovation of the sanctuary’s clinic. He reported to the trading post for The Wolfman Show, and he changed things up with that performance on a daily basis. Amazingly, the end result was always a freaking homerun with the audience. Word had caught on that he was the thing to see at Maple Ridge Trading Post.

Truth be told, Jaemus McAlator was the thing period. At least that was what Nika thought. Each day made her more certain of that. She was falling for him. The Big L word all the way.

When the bell on the trading post door jingled—as it often did now thanks to Jaemus’s Wolfman—Nika looked up from the handmade wind chimes she’d been unpacking and hanging on a display.

Ugh. An instant headache birthed itself at the sight of Robert coming in. He didn’t see her right away, and Nika contemplated creeping out the delivery door at the back of the shop, but that would leave the post completely unattended as Carrie and Zavier were both at the theater doing a little landscaping around the space. Nika had begun to look for ways to throw the two teens together whenever she could. Their families might not support their interest in each other, but Nika knew there was potential for something big and right and deep to develop. If she could help that along, she would.

“Nika?”

She glanced to that delivery exit, but womanned up instead. She’d been doing a stellar job of avoiding Robert lately because she’d been… otherwise occupied. “Over here.”

Robert swiveled his head in the direction of her voice. In under ten seconds, he was standing in front of her, lips turned down as she unpacked a windchime.

“Do people actually want these trinkets?” He batted a hand at the hung chimes, causing a cacophony of jingling.

Funny how when she gently ran a finger along the hanging metal tubes, the sound was something so pleasing and calming. When Robert touched the chimes, however, the erratic clanging put Nika’s teeth on edge.

“Well, Robert, considering that in the past week, I’ve reordered and restocked this display twice,” she held up two fingers, “I’d say that yes, people do want these trinkets.”

Oh, if delivering this news wasn’t ridiculously satisfying, Nika didn’t know what was. Watching Robert’s bushy eyebrows draw together in disapproval rocked too.

I win, asshole.

“This can’t last. Soon people will grow tired of your new Wolfman.”

“See, that’s the thing. Jaemus keeps changing the show a little every time. Guests know they won’t see the exact same show if they come back. So guess what? They keep coming back. I have several families who have returned at least three times to see what the Wolfman will do next. We have regular visitors, Robert. Repeat customers.” The desire to applaud or pump her fist in the air was almost impossible to squelch. “I’ve even had people ask about Wolfman Show T-shirts and other memorabilia.”

She’d put Zavier on that endeavor, and the kid had come up with at least a dozen phenomenal designs for shirts, hats, magnets, and the like. Nika was investigating companies to make the products and working out the financials.

Because I have money to invest in new merchandise. Finally. She wasn’t desperate anymore. She was what Tato had always been.

Successful.

And she owed so much of that success to Jaemus. Fortunately, she’d made enough in the time he’d worked for her to increase his pay, but he didn’t seem to care about the money one way or the other.

“Working here has brought me so much more than money, sprite,” he’d said to her yesterday. “You’ve given me a chance to do some good, and I’m happy to do it, but getting to spend time with you is the biggest reward.”

Sigh. For such a big, alpha-looking man, he often said the sweetest things to her.

There were a great many things he didn’t say to her, though. Like why he’d shown up in Vermont in the first place, where he’d been before Vermont, what had caused that tension between him and Reardon, why he never answered questions about his Wolfman costume or let her know ahead of time how he’d be changing up the show. She knew little of his past aside from the fact that his mother had been his only parent and not a very good one. She’d finally reviewed his application form last week and the only thing she learned was he’d been a soldier—no big surprise from the looks of him—and he’d apparently served under Reardon. That may have been the source of the distance between the brothers, but again, Nika didn’t have any of the details.

And she wouldn’t beg for them. Maybe he didn’t tell her for a reason. Maybe some of these topics were difficult to discuss. Painful. Things Jaemus wanted to leave in the past. In regards to the show, perhaps he didn’t know how he’d alter his performance until he suited up, gauged the crowd, and got out there on the stage. Actors had their own processes, right? The way he exercised his craft was his own business.

So Nika enjoyed the physical intimacy she shared with Jaemus and hoped, in time, other forms of closeness would emerge. She wasn’t in a rush. She had time. She wasn’t going anywhere now that the trading post was doing so well.

And Jaemus? Well, she hoped he wasn’t going anywhere either.