Page 94 of A Wolfe in the Woods

She swallowed. “I meant what I said earlier,” she murmured. “This stuff…all of it…it makes me feel like myself again. I haven’t felt like that in a long time. This was fun.”

I lowered myself onto the arm of the chair, the lantern between us. I watched her fingers drift over her notes, the slight tremble in her breath, the spark that hadn’t dimmed since she’d started.

“I didn’t realize how much I missed feeling that way.”

“I can see that,” I replied. “You have a different energy when you’re working on this stuff. Should be the golden rule for all of us to follow our hearts in life and stop wasting time with the stuff that takes it from us.”

Blanche blinked, finally seeming to take in the stillness around us—the steady rain, the dark windows, the dead laptop. “You think the power is going to be out for a while?” There was a hint of worry in her voice.

“Power goes out all the time up here,” I said, adjusting the lantern. “Part of being this deep in the woods. Blackouts were normal growing up. We’d just light some candles and wait it out.”

“Shouldn’t you go check on May?” she asked. “She’s alone.”

“She’ll be fine,” I assured her. “Main breaker’s at the reception lodge. She’s probably working on it already.”

“But how does she…?”

I cut in gently. “It’s not like she needs light, right? She has a system. Can find anything on this property, while I can’t even find my tape measure half the time in daylight with both eyes.”

Blanche’s eyes softened as the obvious clicked. A small, self-aware laugh escaped her. Then she pivoted. Her eyes flicked to mine, darting back and forth between my irises. I inhaled a slow, deep breath, her clean scent, mingled with my own, filling my nostrils. I liked my scent on her. It made me feel…possessive. In a way I hadn’t felt in a long time.

“So…”

“So…” I repeated, my eyes catching on her collarbones. I reached forward, smoothing my thumb against it. I heard her hard swallow and tried to fight a smile, even as the air began to crackle between us.

“What do we do now?” she asked, her fingers plucking at the hem of the shirt she wore. In nervousness? Or was what excitement building?

I nearly grinned, but instead, I shrugged. “I don’t know. What do youwantto do?”

“Hmm…what are our options?”

The way she delivered it, feigning innocence, was obvious. The mischief in her tone suggested that she had something specific on her mind but wanted me to say it first. Ah. A game. Well, if that was what she wanted…I’d play.

I put on my most serious face. “How about…a thumb war?”

A spark flickered in her eyes, but she pressed her lips together, pretending to take me seriously. “Ooh, too violent,” she countered immediately. “Footsies?”

“Too dirty,” I teased, letting my voice drag over the last word as I inched closer, a mischievous smirk making it clear I was up to no good.

On cue, she shot back, “The only dirty thing here is that mind of yours.”

I grinned wider as I prowled closer, but she managed to dart from the arm chair to the couch. I followed until she was inching slowly across the faded leather. My knees dug into the cushions as I followed. “I’m shocked you’d think that of me, Miss Redfield. I’ve been nothing but a gentleman, don’t you think?”

“Gentle-manis not exactly how I’d describe you up at Cryer’s Point,” she shot back, her voice starting to sound a little breathless.

“Oh? Cryer’s Point…” My hand wrapped around her bare ankle, stroking my thumb over the little bone, making her lips part. I could feel the anticipation rising as flashes of Cryer’s Point returned to me, my tongue between her thighs, her moans echoing into the night. “And howwouldyou describe that?”

She bit her lower lip, clearly replaying the moment in her mind—our moment. A twisted grin told me everything before she had a chance to reply.

“Monstrous. Beastly. Feral. But certainly not gentlemanly.” Then, she tossed out, “Gentlemen wear tuxedos and suits…and if I recall, you wore nothing.”

“I’d call that a birthday suit.”

“I’d call that naked.”

I shrugged. “I seem to recall you ending up naked too.”

Blanche pointed a finger at me, her cheeks flushed pink. “Not my fault…you attacked me.”