Her overall scent of oranges tinged with a blend of vanilla and cinnamon floated to his nose, tempting all his senses. He could sense his animal rising as he watched her.
She wore a bright red oversized sweater and black pants that hugged her legs. Her breasts and hips were small but perfectly proportioned to her frame. He could almost feel her breasts in his palms. He knew he was being rude, but he couldn’t stop staring. She faced him with a puzzled look and Micah shook his head.
“I’m sorry. My mind wandered. What did you say?”
“I asked how long you’d lived here.”
Olivia couldn’t help but notice the way the light behind her caused his eyes to shine. They were the darkest brown she’d ever seen and though he had his dark hair pulled back into a braid, she knew it had to be much longer than her own.
“I’ve owned the lodge for nearly ten years. It is where I call home now.”
Olivia moved away from the window, hoping the shivery feeling in her spine would stop, that its cause was the cold air and not the man standing in front of her. She wasn’t promiscuous, but looking at Micah made her want to rip her clothes off and launch herself at him. Made her want to drag him down to the floor and ride him until they were both spent and gasping for air.
There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he’d catch her if she did decide to jump him. The man was seriously huge. Well over six feet, probably closer to six and a half feet tall with yummy broad shoulders and a massive chest. Shoulders that a linebacker might envy. Olivia assumed Micah benefited from being an avid outdoorsman.
His hair shone that glorious dark brown-so deep and rich it probably looked black in certain lights. Still, variations of color shifted through his hair, making her want to touch it to see if it was as soft as it appeared.
The shirt hugged him so close that he might as well not be wearing it. Every muscle stood out, deeply defined. She dragged her gaze back up to his face, snagging on his mouth. Sensual lips, perfect for kissing, pursed slightly at her perusal. She finally raised her eyes to his and saw an answer to the heat filling her body.
He felt the attraction just as deeply as she did if that look could be taken seriously. Her brain froze. One thing she knew for certain. No way could she ever sleep with him or anyone for that matter. She couldn’t trust herself-couldn’t trust the monster who lurked in her.
“So, ten years. What did you do before you opened the lodge?” Determined to gain her footing, she dragged a standard interview question out of her subconscious. Breaking eye contact with him took more willpower than she expected, and breathing had to be seriously overrated right now.
“I was in the Army.”
She waited for him to elaborate, but he simply stood there, watching her. She had the feeling if she moved too quickly, he’d pounce. Olivia turned her head slightly so that she wasn’t tempted to keep staring at his face-or his body. Glancing outside, she noticed it had started snowing again. She latched on to the safest, most inane subject known to man.
“How long will the snow last?”
“We may be in for a blizzard.”
She knew he’d moved closer, she could feel him. No, that wasn’t quite right. She could smell him.
He smells like warmth, like summer sunshine, like cookies. Cookies?
Olivia shook her head slightly.
She must be hungry, though she’d never been much for breakfast. As though he’d read her mind, he moved toward the stove and away from her. As weird as it seemed, she almost missed his closeness.
“There are biscuits left from earlier this morning and I’ll make you an omelet. Will that set you up for breakfast?”
“Actually, I’d really just like a cup of coffee. I’m not much of an eater in the morning.” Olivia moved toward the round oak table in the center of the kitchen. “Would you rather I went into the dining room?”
“No.” He glanced at her briefly, a faint color highlighting his cheeks. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so abrupt. It’s just that since you’re the only guest right now, I hoped you wouldn’t mind taking your meals in here. With me.”
It was her turn to flush with color as a sudden and not entirely unwelcome vision of stretching him out on the counter behind him and nibbling her way from his toes to his luscious mouth hit her. “Not at all. Really, though, don’t go to any trouble for breakfast.”
“Miss Decatur-”
“Olivia.” She interrupted him quickly, wanting to hear him say her name.
He smiled briefly and she knew she was in serious trouble. That look turned the lust she already felt right up to molten lava explosion time. She wondered what he would say if she just asked him to strip down so she could let her lips do the walking.
“Olivia.” The sound of her name on his lips had another shudder going through her body and this time she knew the cause to be the man standing in front of her. She dragged her attention back to him, only to find him looking at her again as if he could read her thoughts.
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That’s not a myth or something parents made up. Gareth said you were interested in winter sports. If that’s true, and you plan to go outside with me later, you’ll need all the energy your body can store.”
“Okay,” she laughed, giving in gracefully, she hoped. “Okay. An omelet would be great, thank you.”
He nodded as he set a cup of coffee in front of her. After offering her cream and sugar and watching her doctor her coffee until it resembled dark milk, he turned back toward the refrigerator and started pulling covered containers out.
“So, you’ve been here for ten years and before that you were in the Army. But you don’t live here year-round?”
“Not yet. I hope to change that, starting now.” He glanced over his shoulder at her and then went back to chopping things. She couldn’t see exactly what he was doing.
“When did you open the lodge for business?”
“Six years ago. I had to do extensive repairs to the original building and then I wound up adding the third floor. The cabins have been added as funds became available for them. I think Gareth showed you a couple of them?”
“Yes. They’re lovely. Did you do the decorating yourself?” She watched the muscles in his back and shoulders move. The man was truly gorgeous.
“No, I had a professional decorator friend come in to do the cabins. As for the main building here, well, some of it was dictated by what already existed, the rest I just wanted to be welcoming.”
“You’ve succeeded.” Whatever he was cooking started to smell really good. Olivia sniffed appreciatively then picked up her coffee. “So, you opened six years ago. How long are you open?”
“The lodge is open year-round. Only four of the eight cabins are centrally heated, so they’re the only ones used during the winter months into spring. The others are used in the summer and fall.”
“Eight? I only saw seven.”
He nodded briefly, glancing at her again. “The eighth is actually Gareth’s. He built it pretty much on his own. When I need to be away, he’s in charge of things. I have a married couple who also come in to help out when we’re full.”
“You must trust him a great deal.” She glanced down as he set a plate in front of her. Shaking her head, Olivia laughed as she looked up at Micah. “There’s no way I can eat all that!”
He’d piled her plate with an omelet stuffed with onions and peppers and what she thought might be ham and then put a heap of fried potatoes on the side along with two fluffy biscuits.
“Try.” Micah sat down at the table with her, putting a matching set of salt and pepper shakers on the table. Olivia shook her head but picked up her fork.
“I won’t need to eat again for a week. Do you feed all your guests like this? I’m surprised you don’t have to roll them down the drive.”
She laughed but the laughter died when she looked up to find his dark brown eyes focused directly on her face. The sheer beauty of his features caused her breath to catch. She wondered what it would be like to just run a finger or her tongue over his sensual lips. She made herself take a breath as she refocused on what he was saying.
“They get enough exercise to make it worthwhile.” He grinned briefly, showing his teeth before his face went back to its customary impassiveness.
Olivia dropped her eyes to her plate and cut off a small bite of omelet. After tasting the first bite, it seemed as though she couldn’t get enough. With Micah sitting there beside her, telling her more about the amenities of the lodge in winter, including snowmobiles, cross-country skis, snowshoe trails, ice-fishing huts and dogsledding, she managed to eat about a third of the omelet.
Finally, she pushed the plate away, sure she wouldn’t be able to move for at least an hour and wanting nothing more than to curl up and take a nap, preferably in Micah’s lap. She raised her gaze to meet his steady one. He nodded as he got to his feet and cleared the table.
Though she offered to help, he insisted that she just sit. She was content to do so, sipping her coffee as she watched him. Micah was one beautiful male animal. He just oozed sexuality. Olivia laughed at herself.
Check your hormones, Olivia Marie!
As soon as he’d finished cleaning the kitchen, he turned to her, tossing the towel he’d just wiped his hands on over his shoulder. “So, are you ready to go for a walk? Skiing? What would you like to do?”
What a leading question.
Shaking her head briskly, Olivia smiled. “A walk would be lovely.”
“What size are you?”
“Excuse me?” She bristled immediately. He moved closer, touching her shoulder.
“You’ll need warmer clothes, specifically long underwear. I keep a stock here for all my guests, there’s a closetful on the second floor. You’ll need to find your size and dress in layers. It’s the key to keeping your body temperature regulated in extremely cold weather.”
“Oh.” Smiling sheepishly, she met his eyes again. “A medium-unless they run big. Then I take a small.”
“I’ll let you decide.” He slid his hand down her arm, squeezed her hand then released her to lead the way out of the kitchen and up the main staircase. Olivia couldn’t help but watch him move. He was the most graceful man she’d ever seen in her life. And the way his jeans hugged his butt had to be nearly criminal.
“Here’s the closet.” He opened a door and stepped aside. She moved forward into the walk-in closet and laughed. It looked as though it held every possible color and size of long underwear. Each shelf was neatly labeled with the sizes it contained.
She glanced to the other side and laughed again. Those shelves held bathrobes and bathing suits. Men’s, women’s and even a few children’s sizes graced the shelves here. Vibrant colors and enough variety of styles to satisfy even the most hard-to-please customer.
“Bathing suits?” She tipped her head back at him.
Micah nodded. “Some people don’t realize we have a sauna and whirlpool. When they come for the winter, they’re pleasantly surprised, but usually unprepared. Of course, I have no objection to nudity in the sauna. It just depends on who else is here at the time and what their feelings are. I’m sure you’d look good in nothing.”
Olivia’s breath jumped out on a gasp. Had he really said that? He reached around her and pulled a couple of neatly packaged sets of long underwear off the shelf. “Try these. Just leave the ones that don’t fit in your room and I’ll take care of them later.”
Leading the way back out of the closet and down the hall toward her room, he spoke over his shoulder to her. “I’m going to go upstairs and finish dressing. I’ll meet you in the main room in thirty minutes.”
“Micah?” When he turned, she smiled. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Remember, layers. The long underwear, cotton, wool or flannel shirt and pants if you have them, at least two pair of socks, wool is best. I have hats, gloves and scarves downstairs in another closet.”
“You really are prepared, aren’t you?”
“I try to be.” He nodded at her again then turned and moved quickly up the stairs leading to the third floor. Olivia entered her room, the packages of long underwear clasped to her chest.
“What an interesting man. But really, Olivia Marie, you must get control of your hormones. Attacking your host is not a good idea.”
She stepped over to sit on the edge of her bed. Laying the packages down, she thought back to Micah’s sauna comment. Surely she’d misheard him since he hadn’t done or said anything even remotely suggestive after that. Her hand slid down her side and she shivered. What would his hands feel like against her skin?
They’d be rough more than likely. Would he run his hands over her breasts, lingering on the undersides? Or would he concentrate his touch on her nipples? Would he squeeze hard or barely cup her breasts?
Her nipples pebbled at the thought as she cupped herself letting her fingers pinch the hardening tips slightly. Heat pooled in her belly as she slid her shirt off. Olivia traced a hand down her stomach to slide into her jeans. She plucked at the lace of her panties, imagining Micah’s hands there instead of her own.
With a slight moan, she undid the buttons on her jeans to shimmy out of them. Lying back on the comforter, Olivia snaked two fingers to her clit. The warm flesh throbbed in answer to the soft pressure. With her other hand plucking at her nipples, she began to circle her fingers on that swollen, damp spot between her legs.
Images of Micah nipping her breast raised her hips off the bed as she stroked harder and faster then slid her fingers inside her warm body. She let her fingers become his cock as she stretched to thrust into herself. Moving her fingers faster in and out of her pussy, she imagined his dark hair falling forward, stroking lightly across her shoulders as his gorgeous brown eyes held her gaze. Sliding up to stroke across her clit again, pinching it lightly before moving her fingers back down.
In her mind it was Micah sliding two fingers inside her. The heat and slickness as she gripped her own fingers made her breathe harder. She wondered what his cock would feel like. Rotating her hand so she could fit a third finger in, Olivia lifted her hips, thinking only of Micah fucking her.
His cock replaced his fingers in her imagination pounding into her pussy. Olivia groaned softly. She wanted to wrap her fingers in that long black hair to pull him down for a kiss. It would be a long, hot, wet kiss where their tongues tangled together. Her other hand plucked at her nipples-one and then the other-sending frissons of pleasure that met the ones from her pussy in a molten pool in her belly.
Her heels thrummed the floor once, her hips pistoning against her fingers then Olivia muffled her cries of pleasure by turning her head into the pillows. Gasping, she let her body shudder back down to earth. A soft stroke across her clit as she withdrew her fingers from her own body caused another shiver to trace across her skin.
A moment passed then she remembered what she was supposed to be doing. With a soft curse, she jerked herself upright to rip open the long johns and get dressed.
Someday, Olivia Marie, you will feel a man there again. Once you learn to control the savage inside.
She changed her underwear but didn’t take time to wash anything other than her hands.
She headed back downstairs, feeling a little bit satisfied but a lot more aware. As she made the turn into the great room, she smiled. Micah leaned over the fireplace, poking at the fire. His jeans accentuated a very well-made ass. Olivia could only dream of what it might be like to be bent over in front of him.
Micah waited patiently near the fireplace. He stoked the fire and pulled the screen closed when he heard Olivia coming down the stairs. He grinned briefly at the picture she made, realizing how often he’d smiled since she walked downstairs this morning. He moved closer to the long couch and picked up the gloves and hat he’d left there.
She’d followed his advice, dressing in several layers, but he could still distinguish her scent. His eyebrows went straight up when he took a second whiff. Olivia emitted the scent of a recently satisfied woman. He allowed an internal smug male grin. She was definitely letting him know she was interested in him in a very specific shifter way.
A female used her scent to drive the males crazy. Still, he had to ask her who her Pack was before he could go there. Micah avoided Pack politics at all costs, but he couldn’t afford pissing off her family. If she had a family.
If she was Packless-that brought on a whole new set of problems. Knowing that many shifters who lived outside Packs didn’t advertise their abilities, he couldn’t come right out and ask if she was a shifter. He thought he’d be able to steer the conversation exactly where he wanted it to go without embarrassing either of them.
“Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be. Exactly how cold is it out there?”
“The thermometer says eight below. With the wind chill, it’s probably more like fifteen below. We won’t stay out long, just enough to get some fresh air.” She gaped at him and Micah chuckled softly. “As long as you don’t have any exposed skin and you’re dressed in layers, you’ll be fine.”
Olivia nodded as she tucked her camera into a padded carrier. “I learned the hard way the first time I did any cold weather photography.” She stuffed some small disks in her shirt pocket.
“Cold kills the batteries,” she said in response to his curious look. “So I always keep extras on me. The closer they are to my skin the warmer they stay. And warm is good.”
Micah’s breath caught.
Lucky batteries.
What I wouldn’t give to be one of them, snuggling up to those luscious breasts.
He handed her one of the wool hats he’d pulled out of the downstairs closet.
“Here, try this on.”
I need to distract myself from this female before I pounce on her.
The cherry-red-colored one had drawn him just because of the color of her lips. She pulled it on, tucking her hair up under it, making sure her ears were covered. Micah moved closer, wrapping a matching scarf around her neck. He let his fingers trail across her jaw, pretending not to notice her own swift intake of air.
Olivia’s eyes seemed to double in size and he realized he still held the ends of the scarf. He dropped them and stepped back, pulling his own wool hat on. His knuckles tingled from grazing her soft skin.
She tucked her hands into the red mittens he handed her and they stepped out onto the porch. Micah pulled his fingerless gloves on then took two pair of snowshoes down from the rack by the door.
“We need to be down on the walk to do this. You don’t want to try to navigate stairs in snowshoes.”
Her smile warmed him from the inside out, shooting straight to his cock. Micah sent up a prayer of thanks that they were outside in the cold. The bitter temperatures were going to be his friend. He knelt in front of Olivia.
“The important thing is to make sure they stay on.” He cupped her calf in his hand. “You have great muscles. Do you work out?”
Her smile nearly melted the snow underneath him. “No, I just walk a lot when I’m doing my shoots.”
Micah finished fastening the snowshoes on her feet. She listened attentively as he explained how to walk in them. He pulled a pair of mittens on over the fingerless gloves after he fastened his own snowshoes.
They stepped carefully into the snow, Micah holding his hand out to Olivia to keep her from falling over. She followed his motions as he led the way around the lodge. She laughed when she wobbled and he fought the urge to step back and pick her up. The idea of her body curled in his arms raised his internal temperature to thermonuclear.
“You’re doing great, Olivia. Let’s keep this short though. It takes more out of you than you know. You need to get used to it first.” A click answered him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that he was the focus of her lens. He laughed when she gave him a saucy grin.
Micah took her down the path he knew she’d run the night before. He dropped back to be beside her but nothing on her face indicated that she remembered the evening. He wondered why she didn’t say something. He knew she’d scented him that morning. Normal shifter behavior but she was anything but a normal shifter.
They walked the path for ten minutes. Olivia’s eye rarely left the viewfinder of her camera. She seemed fascinated with the way the sunlight streamed through the snow-encrusted trees. He wondered if she would show him what she saw through that lens.
Her hair lit up as the sun touched the few exposed strands. Micah imagined pressing his lips into her sun-warmed tresses when they got back inside the lodge. Glancing at his watch, he knew they needed to head back.
“Time to go in, Liv.” Shortening her name came naturally. Rarely did he feel this at ease around anyone much less a woman he’d only known for less than twenty-four hours. She smiled at him as she obediently turned around. Or tried to.
The look of surprise on her face when she stepped on her own snowshoe and toppled over had Micah roaring with laughter as he reached down to help her up.
“Laughing is not very nice, ‘Mr. I Was Born Doing This’.” Olivia’s mouth quirked at the corners belying the anger she tried to lace into her words. One hand held her camera high overhead as she accepted his hand to pull her to her feet. She dusted off her shapely rear. “So I take it you have to watch your feet when you make directional changes?”
“Absolutely, and I wasn’t born here, Liv. I grew up in New Mexico. But when I found this place, this area, I knew I was meant to be here.” He looked around, taking a deep breath. “This is my home.”
Olivia stood perfectly still, a look of such yearning on her face he almost gave in to his earlier impulse to pick her up. She definitely brought out protective urges in him. Micah moved as though to draw nearer to her and tripped on his own snowshoe. Her laughter as he pinwheeled his arms to keep his balance drew him in almost as much as her scent. He gained his equilibrium again and shelved his desire for this woman. For right now, he needed to get them both back inside.
Micah chuckled as he led the way back to the front doors of the lodge. She stumbled against him just as they reached the stairs. Catching her, he reminded himself that they were outside in subzero weather and she hadn’t given him any sign of real interest yet. Still, if only she didn’t have the scarf up over her mouth. It would have been the perfect moment to kiss this fascinating female. Instead he unfastened his snowshoes then hers and hung them back up on the rack as Olivia tried to catch her breath.
They went back into the lodge and removed their outer layers. Olivia placed her camera, still in its bag, on the table.
“Do you need to warm that up?” Micah indicated the camera but Olivia put a protective hand over it.
“No thanks. It needs to do that slowly or the condensation can ruin it. I paid too much money for that baby to screw up another one.”
Micah watched Olivia shiver. “Come on, I’ll make you some cocoa.”
“It’s really cold out there.”
He steered her toward the kitchen. “You’ll warm up soon enough. In fact, you can sit by the fire if you’d rather. I’ll bring the cocoa in to you there.” He pointed toward the living room, hoping she’d refuse and join him in the kitchen.
“That would be lovely.” She smiled up at him and Micah fought the instinct to pull her into his arms and nuzzle his face into her hair. Her eyes flashed-definite interest in a shifter. He stood perfectly still to keep from drawing her into his arms and delivering the kiss he’d thought about on the porch.