He chuckled. “No, but it’s going to be a long morning if there’s another woman in this room I’m supposed to give skiing lessons to.”
She giggled. The tinkle of her voice made his cock hard. Thank God for layers of ski clothing. “Good point.” She held out her hand, a dainty small hand with pink polish on her nails. “Laurie Hamilton.”
He enveloped it in his, surrounding it with his larger one and holding it tight. He had no desire to let her go, so he pulled her fingers up to his cheek and closed his eyes, inhaling her scent as everything about her surrounded him.
“It’s true, isn’t it,” she whispered.
He looked back at her, confused. “What’s true?”
“You and your brothers. You mate in threes.”
He nodded. “Yeah. But how can you tell?”
She shrugged and glanced around. “I can sense it. I feel the pull toward you, but there’s a piece missing.”
“Are you sensitive like your sister, Melinda?”
“Not sure yet. I’ve had a few weird vibes lately since arriving in this section of Montana—or more specifically on tribal land. I wouldn’t expect to feel anything so intense here in Cambridge.” She shuddered. Her gaze still searched the room.
Zach took a deep breath. “I can’t feel him. Can you?”
She shook her head and returned her gaze to him. “No. Is that weird? I mean, how are we supposed to…” Her voice trailed off. He couldn’t blame her. What was she supposed to say?
“Apparently it happens sometimes. We’ll figure out who he is soon. Otherwise our lives will be tortured.” He cringed, imagining days on end with this sweet woman at his side without claiming her. Or maybe he could… But no, it wouldn’t really be a claiming without the third mate taking her at the same time. Otherwise, it would just be sex. Could they have sex without their mysterious third partner?
She chewed her bottom lip. “This is surreal.”
“You’re not kidding.” That was an understatement.
She pulled her hand out of his grasp. “You were going to teach me to ski.” She was adorable with her head cocked to one side, fighting a grin.
“I still am. What else do we have to do? Besides, if we’re going to spend our lives together, you’re gonna need to learn to ski. And love it.”
She scrunched up her nose. “So much pressure. I only signed up for a morning on the bunny slopes, not a lifetime of black moguls.”
“Lucky you. Two for one.” He glanced down at her ski boots and then crouched to his knees at her feet. “I see you made great headway getting the buckles closed.”
“Yeah.” She straightened her legs in front of him, wiggling her feet back and forth so the buckles flopped all over the place. “I wasn’t sure what I was doing.”
Zach straddled one foot, set it flat on the floor, bent at the knee, and popped each lock into place. He did the same with the other boot. “There. I assume you already got the skis too? Are they outside?”
“Yep. Although I fail to see how anyone knows whose skis are whose in all that mess.” She waved her hand in the direction of the dozens of skis propped up on wooden racks against a breathtaking view of the slopes visible through the giant wall of windows.
He stood and took her hand to pull her up next to him. She was even smaller upright. Maybe five foot two at the most. Which shouldn’t be surprising since Melinda was also tiny. So was Joyce, their mother. And Mimi, their grandmother. That was where the similarities stopped, however. Laurie was nothing like her sister, her mother, or her grandmother in complexion and hair color. Even her eyes were a distinct green she didn’t share with her female family members.
He’d met her father, Gene Hamilton, before also, though he didn’t remember the man being light skinned or redheaded.
Before grabbing his goggles, hat, and gloves, he reached for her pile, which she’d tucked next to her on the couch. “Cute.” He held up a pink hat and gloves, seeing a pattern that matched her nail polish. “You couldn’t find pink ski clothes?” he teased.
She laughed. “I’m sure I could. These are Melinda’s clothes. I only have my own accessories. I mean, what if I hate skiing?” She pursed her lips.
“Laurie, if you hate skiing, we’ll have a more serious problem than the color of your equipment.” He handed her the pink gloves and tugged the hat over her head. And then, before he could stop himself, he leaned in and kissed her lips gently.
It was hard to pull away, and he gripped her shoulders as he did so, in part to remain steady on his feet. She tasted fantastic, like sunshine and the mint of her toothpaste. Like a new beginning. Like the rest of his life.
“We’d better get outside before I change my mind about teaching you to ski.”
She nodded and then swallowed. “We could ski another day. Do you think we should be looking for our third mate instead?”
Part of him wondered if she had a point. The other part knew it didn’t work that way. Fate would reveal their mate when She was ready. And he somehow knew instinctively the other man they would spend their lives with was not in the building. “He’ll surface when it’s time. Let’s go enjoy ourselves.” He grabbed his stuff from the couch and led her outside by one hand.
She nodded toward a row of skis when they exited. “Mine are on the end.” They were so small, like a child’s skis. Then again, she was barely taller than a child and had no experience. Whoever fitted her that morning had chosen well.
“Zach.” The voice coming from behind him made him smile.
“My mom,” he mouthed to Laurie before he turned around. “Mom.” He still held Laurie’s hand. There was no sense hiding his mating. His mother would scent it immediately anyway. As would any other wolf shifter in the area.
Her brow was furrowed as she approached, and it smoothed out when she reached them. “Oh…
Oh
.” Her hand covered her mouth for a second, and then she dropped it. Her eyes went wide. “Is this your ten o’clock lesson?”
Laurie reached out with her free hand. “I am. Laurie. I’m Miles and Melinda’s sister.”
Zach’s mother smiled broader as she took Laurie’s hand. “Of course you are. How wonderful. I’m Carlie Masters. I heard you were here visiting for the week.”
Zach stiffened at her side and squeezed her hand. “I think she’ll be staying.”
Laurie continued to address his mother. “I was actually already planning to stay. I want to get to know my sister and learn more about my heritage.”
“Excellent.” His mother glanced at him. “It’s just the two of you?”
He knew what she meant. “No.” There was no hiding the fall of his shoulders. At this point, he wished that were the case. Every second in her space made him crave her more. He would give anything to lure her away from the slopes and find a quiet place to get to know her better.
Hell, who was he kidding? What he really wanted was to strip all of the bulky ski clothing off her and learn her body, find out what made her hum. His stiff cock throbbed at the thought.
Carlie nodded. “I see.” She schooled her face, sobering at the mention of their missing third. “Well, I’m sure Fate has Her reasons.”
“She always does,” Laurie responded.
“Mom, were you looking for me for a reason?” Zach wanted to steer the conversation away from the maudlin topic of their strange stymied mating.
“Ah yes.” She snapped her fingers. “I wanted to let you know that we tried to give that little girl’s parents from this morning their money back. They wouldn’t take it, and they wanted me to apologize for her behavior.”
He shrugged. “No biggie. It happens.”
His mother smiled. “Well, go ski. I’ll clear your schedule for the day. The weather looks awesome.” When she turned to meet Laurie’s gaze again, she added, “If you get your feet under you, have him take you up the east slope. The snow is perfect there today.” She hesitated a moment and then leaned in to give Laurie a brief hug. “Welcome to the family.”
Zach thought his mother’s eyes watered as she turned abruptly away.
“Your mom seems sweet.”
“She’s the best. You’ll love her.” He reached for Laurie’s skis and dropped them to the ground in front of her. “Let’s get you started. You’re about twenty-five years behind me on the slopes,” he teased.
Laurie held Zach’s hand as they slid off the ski lift for the third time. Carlie had been right. The east slope was perfect. At least as far as Laurie knew. She didn’t exactly have anything to compare it to. But the sky was clear and the sun was shining and the temperature was high enough by that time she could stuff her hat in her pocket and feel the sun on her face.
Zach held her hand tighter as they slid to the right to get out of the way of the next skiers to exit the lift. “You made it.” He beamed.
Yeah. She’d fallen on her ass the first time they exited the lift, causing the man working the lift to have to stop it until she could get out of the way. It was humiliating, but Zach didn’t seem to think so. He insisted it happened every few minutes, even to the experienced skiers.
She doubted that. But she appreciated the way he handled her clumsiness.
The second time she exited the lift, she went flailing forward until she crashed into an embankment, her arms winding, her poles dropped on the ground en route.
This third time was a charm. “See? You’re going to turn me into a skier yet.” Lucky for Zach, she found herself enjoying the sport. It was invigorating, and she thought she’d caught on fairly quickly. Zach insisted she was a natural, but she couldn’t exactly trust his praise.
“Think you can make it to the bottom this time without the snowplow move?” He skied backward in front of her, wiggling his entire body back and forth in a choreographed dance that looked as natural as walking for him. She loved looking at him. His face lit up with happiness. His body was incredible. She had no doubt underneath all that ski clothing was a rock hard chest and abs she could run her hands over all day…and night.
“Maybe…” She was finally getting the hang of sliding both feet to one side or the other in order to stop. She’d even managed to stay upright almost the entire run the second time down the hill.
“I’ll take you on a longer run the next time if you make it all the way to the bottom without falling.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a threat or a promise.” She adjusted her poles and started down the hill behind him.
“I’ll even feed you lunch at the top. We have another lodge higher up the mountain. We’ll take the longer lift and stop for a while.”
“Sounds good.” Her stomach growled as if the mention of eating had awakened it. It was almost one o’clock. She was amazed by how much she’d accomplished in three hours. “Are you sure you don’t have to be somewhere else today? I know when you agreed to give me a lesson, it was intended to be for an hour, not a full day. And I’m sure you have better things to do than babysit some newbie all afternoon.”
Secretly, she hoped he stayed with her for the rest of the day, the night, and tomorrow too. But she also reasoned he had a job he was ignoring.
“Laurie, you hardly qualify as some newbie I’m forced to babysit. Besides, you heard my mom. She has things covered.” He stopped, and she plowed into him dead center. He tipped her face back before she could catch her breath from the unexpected halt. “Do you honestly believe I could simply walk away and go teach someone else to ski this afternoon? Or rescue people from slopes they had no business attempting?”
She shook her head. “No. I was just being polite.”
He smiled. “Good. Because you aren’t getting rid of me that easily. Now, let’s make our way to the bottom and take the center lift to the lodge. I’m starving.” He kissed her lips briefly and released her.
It was the second time he’d touched her mouth with his. And her entire body jumped to attention both times. How did he expect her to concentrate after that level of intimacy?
They’d immediately fallen into sync with each other from the moment they met. To anyone observing, they undoubtedly looked like a couple who’d been together for months instead of hours. And it felt as if that were the truth.
Comfortable. Easy.
Arousing.
She had tamped down her body’s reaction to him for three hours now. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold back from jumping him. Thank God the slopes were a bit crowded because if the world ceased to exist for even one moment around her, she would probably drop to the ground, feign some sort of injury, and force him to hover over her. Mouth to mouth would be the best ticket.
More kissing wouldn’t hurt her feelings at all. The two brief times her lips met his had melted her insides.
Now, shaking from lust and lack of fuel, she concentrated on the task at hand and skied down the slope in his wake as though she’d been doing so for a decade. Well, perhaps a few days, but to her it seemed she was on top of the world.
»»•««
It was one thirty before they reached the upper lodge, and Laurie lowered herself into a chair and sighed. “My entire body is going to ache tomorrow. I’m certain I used muscles I didn’t know I had.” She tugged off her gloves and goggles and set them on the table at her side. Her ponytail was a mess of tangled hair that fell across her face and down her shoulders. Her feet felt like they weighed two tons in the boots. She’d been walking with an odd gate in the ski boots that caused every step to create a double thump as first the heel and then the toe hit the ground hard.
When Zach leaned down to unlatch the buckles on her boots, she felt like a vise grip had been released from her ankles. He chuckled as he righted himself in the chair next to her. “I’ll go get us something to eat. You can rest.”
“Thank God. Because I’m not sure I could stand if there were a fire.”
He chuckled and stood. “Anything you’re craving? Anything you don’t like?”
“Nope. Surprise me.”
Zach wandered away through the crowded cafeteria while she watched his ass. His ski pants were more fitted than hers, outlining his firm butt perfectly. She’d watched it enough this morning to have his muscles memorized. And she wasn’t the least bit apologetic about it either.
The man was solid, sexy as hell, and gigantic. His dark hair, in need of a trim, hung in thick waves around his forehead. She loved the way he occasionally shook his head to one side to adjust the locks.