Tempted Page 5

  “It’s so warm,” I hum. Much better than the chilly couch.

  Jameson blows out the candle and the darkness engulfs us.

  Now, it’s no longer a rogue spring keeping me up, but instead, it’s rogue thoughts of the sexy warm man next to me, and the reality that when I lifted the blankets to crawl in, it was proven to me that he was not kidding about being one hundred percent naked.

  Lord, help me.

  Chapter 4

  Jameson

  I can go without sleep, and thank fuck for that. Being in my birthday suit next to Jolie means I’m not getting a wink. She seems to have no trouble though, falling into a deep breathing pattern not too long after I cut the light.

  Finally, the clock hits four in the morning, which means it’s time to rise and shine. There are traps to be checked.

  I dress quickly and lace up my boots in the dark before setting off. The air smells like the most magnificent cedar and JP is already leaning against a lamppost. He’s chewing his nails and spitting the pieces into the wind.

  “There’s our man,” he claps enthusiastically as I approach.

  “What are you rambling about?” I bark, grabbing the back of his neck, pulling him down into a headlock. He struggles against me, hitting my inner arm in just the right spot to send me recoiling.

  We break away, panting. “Jolie,” he draws out her name, waggling his brows at me. “She’s fine. And her sister, Evie. Woo. Boy. What a pair.”

  It annoys me to hear him say Jolie’s name, but I let it go. “Nina says I should go for her. Seems wrong though.”

  We make our way up the narrow game trail, and I fall in step behind JP. “Fuck that. I’m so horny, Tuck’s even started looking good.”

  I belt a laugh, steam swirling in the dark morning air. “I’m honestly surprised if you haven’t already.”

  JP goes quiet for a beat. He snatches a twig and break it into pieces, throwing it back at me like confetti. “Give us something to celebrate around here.”

  “Are we that hard up?” I question. We pause, looking over at the first two traps. Both are still set in position. Damn.

  JP turns back and forth, looking to me and then at the trail ahead, as he talks. “Come on. You saw the way everyone was looking at the crew. All female. I still can’t believe it.”

  I kick at his calf with my muddy boot. “Women do all the things men do.”

  “And vice versa,” he mutters under his breath as he kicks back at me like a donkey.

  Honestly, we joke about it maybe too much. We’d be fine if our bros got together.

  “I hope we got some minks, these boots are waterlogged. I need to oil them bad,” I say to fill the silence.

  JP ignores me, blurting out what was apparently his thought at the time. “You should do it. Your body needs that shit, man.”

  “We’re back to that?” I groan as we look over the next set of traps.

  “Thank fuck,” JP rejoices as we spot our catch. “Would be nice though, having new women move here.”

  I clap a hand on his shoulder. “No one will blame you for moving away, for moving on with your life.”

  “Semper fidelis, motherfucker,” he says softly.

  “Oorah,” I whisper, our feet crunching over the leaves. A few more weeks and it will be winter. The long darkness. The infinite cold. And Jolie warm in my bed… No, not that part. I don’t get to keep her.

  “Shit,” JP shouts, breaking off at a run. Without another thought, I follow him the short distance to the final set of traps. Then I see why he ran. It’s blood bath, pieces of fur scattered around, footprints in the snow telling a gruesome story.

  “Wolves,” I conclude, looking closer at the tracks.

  JP nods. “A fuck load of them. I’m seeing more distinct tracks that I can count.”

  “Let’s follow them for a bit, see what we see,” I decide. We’ve heard rumors from other towns about a super pack that can get pretty aggressive. They cross the ice bridges in the winters that connect the islands. Or if desperate enough, they swim. Could they have been thriving here all summer undetected? Maybe.

  Pulling the rifle from around my back, it arcs around on its sling and falls into place. I hold it up as we high step it down their trail. JP does the same. My heartbeat thumps steadily as adrenaline works its way through my veins. Just like old times. Two predators on the prowl.

  The pack’s trail leads right back to the shoreline and as we get close, JP stops dead, throwing his arm out like a clothesline to halt me. “You hear that?” he whispers, pointing in the direction of a faint growling sound.

  I nod and gesture forward with two fingers. We move quick, but quietly, to keep our advantage. It’s still dark out, the only light is a small beam from our red headlamps.

  “The tents,” JP whispers right as I see it… our guests, the camera crew… with more than a dozen wolves are surrounding their tents, growling, poised at the ready, closing in. It’s quiet, but I imagine the women are still in there, at this hour. Fuck.

  JP and I know just what to do. With a little nod of agreement, we silently break away from each other, moving around the outside until the pack is between us. Then we step forward and make our presence known.

  “Not today, fuckers,” JP barks, gun in position, pointed at the wolf closest to the tents. We’ll give them a few chances to scatter before we light them up.

  They’d look beautiful, if it wasn’t for their bloody coats and snarling expression, posted up and ready.

  “Get on, now,” I say, belting a loud whistle that gets their attention. I really don’t want to have to kill a bunch of overgrown dogs, but I absolutely will if it’s to protect someone in need. The wolves slowly look back and forth from us to their apparent leader. A silent communication that would be awe worthy, utterly majestic, in another circumstance.

  We both step in closer, picking our targets.

  “Last chance,” JP booms, and follows it with a series of aggressive dog barks, then we all pause a beat. The dogs versus the wolves. There’s got to be irony in there somewhere.

  “Have it your way, then,” I say calmly as I squeeze the trigger and a loud blast fires out into the silence. I aim right next to the big wolf, because I cannot stress enough how much I don’t want to have to kill one. I’ve killed enough for a lifetime. Only what I need to eat, or to trade to survive. That’s my rule.

  The sound rips outs, the gun roughly smashing into my shoulder with the force of the shot. I hit an inch to the left of the wolf’s right foot. Exactly where I aimed, because I’m a marine-trained sniper.

  The wolf jumps up and back in shock before spinning faster than a heartbeat and bolting off, the pack just as hastily following.

  I flip the safety back on and spin the gun in its sling so it’s hanging over my back, taking a half breath of relief before calling out, “Is everyone okay?”

  The sound of four zippers fills the air and the crew peek out of their respective tents at me and JP. Their eyes are wide, and their expressions scared. Rightly so.

  “You didn’t kill it, did you?” Evie gasps, looking right to JP.

  He rushes over to her in two steps, taking a knee in front of her. “It was trying to kill you,” he argues, while the woman looks around him for clues.

  “It was just a warning shot,” I assure them all. “But it’s a big pack. That probably wasn’t all of them. We need to visit the idea of getting you all indoors for the rest of your stay.”

  “Pack me right the fuck up,” Chloe says with a nervous laugh.

  “Do we really need to impose like that?” Naomi grimaces.

  Beth steps out of the tent and stretches. “Wouldn’t be a bad idea, just to be on the safe side.” She adjusts the gun on her hip. “If they’re offering.” She leans back in the tent and grabs a black bag and a camera. “Maybe we should take our morning bathroom break together.”

  “Good lord, why did I say yes to this assignment?” Naomi groans as she stumbles out of her tent, foot catching on the lip of the entrance.

  “That’s the million-dollar question,” Chloe beams.

  “We can come with you, for extra protection. Or, you are welcome to use my bathroom,” I offer.

  “If I had a bathroom I’d offer it up, but I’m happy to stand guard,” JP adds, reaching a hand out for Evie. She takes it and he pulls her from her tent.

  “Beth’s got us. Thank you, though,” Evie looks at their joined hands and blushes as she pulls away.

  “We need to talk to Nina, get this figured out. I have to bring her these mink anyway.”

  JP watches Evie walk away with the film crew toward the woods. “I hate them out there alone.” He frowns.

  Interesting.

  “They seem okay. They’re professionals, after all,” I reason.

  “What if your woman was out there?” He gives me a got you look.

  A deranged sound like a strangled laugh bursts from my throat. “I don’t have a woman.”

  “Keep telling yourself that.” JP nudges me.

  By the time we get to Nina’s, the sun is rising and my stomach’s growling. “Smells like heaven in here,” I say as she opens the door.

  At the blast of cool air, she pulls the blue apron strings tighter around her stomach, as if that will help. “Come on, beggars. I got egg sandwiches ready for everyone.” She steps aside, letting us pass.

  I hook up our cache outside the door. “Any chance you can render these today?”

  She gives me the universal are you shitting me look, just as Miles rounds the corner, mid-way through closing his belt. “Morning.”

  JP nods, having already stuffed an egg sandwich into his mouth.

  “How’s the log mover coming along?” I ask. He has this somewhat insane system of slides tha
t will supposedly move wood down the hill to his front door. I might try making one myself if it works.

  Miles’s face lights up. “I’m so close…” he groans. Meanwhile Nina stands behind him, making a neck chopping motion, presumably to threaten me for getting him started talking about it again. He is a man obsessed with no longer moving logs the hard way.

  “Hey, we should talk about that wolf pack. We saw them this morning… surrounding the tents.” I pause and let the information sink in. The room goes quiet as Miles and Nina process the information.

  “Then it’s true,” Miles’s face sinks as he instinctively puts a hand on Nina’s belly. I feel a little twinge of something at the sight of it. It’s not my old crush on Nina, which fizzled out the moment she introduced me to her half-sister, and I fell head over heels for a girl my own age. No. I think it’s something else. Something I don’t want to admit.

  “Mean little fuckers,” JP adds as he takes a second sandwich off the top of the pile.

  “The film crew should stay indoors. If we each take one, it won’t be much trouble. Of course, I know which one you’ll volunteer to shelter.” Nina grabs a sandwich and shoves it into my hand before I can protest. “I’ll talk to them this morning. We’re meeting in… shit, five minutes.”

  “We’ll head over to the greenhouse and meet you two there,” I say conclusively, grabbing JP by the neck, before he can swipe a third sandwich, and steer him out the door.

  “I think little aqua-eyed one should stay with me and Tuck,” JP muses as the door closes behind us.

  “Her name is Evie.” I shoot him a warning look. “How is it that I’m a gentleman, yet I grew up feral in the woods, and you are a slimeball, and you grew up in normal civilization?”

  “There’s probably a correlation somewhere.” JP laughs, just as he trips over a little root in the ground. He takes a stutter step and recovers. “All I know is I’m going to hook up if the opportunity presents itself.”

  I think over his words, over my own missed opportunity. I could have just said yes. Kept kissing Jolie. Fuck, it felt so goddamn good to have her mouth on mine. Not sure I’ve been that hard in a long fucking time, and just from kissing her. I couldn’t even get into it, do it properly. She was immediately unsatisfied with me, and who could blame her? It must have been like kissing a dead fish for her. I thought I wanted to go for it. I told myself I did. I brought her home with me, mind fully set on it, but then the second our lips touched, all these memories and thoughts came rushing into my mind. Doubt and regret and fear took over.

  That’s what pisses me off most. I’m a marine. I shouldn’t have doubt or fear. At all. Ever.

  Fucking hell. If I just could be more like JP and not care as much… fuck anything that walks. I remember that from back in the day, when there were women around, before my whole squad moved to the remote island of Port Providence for me. He was the most successful with women, and we always marveled at it.

  Maybe my shot isn’t lost though. There could still be a chance Jolie will be interested. And even when her ankle heals, because of the wolves, I’ll have her around a little while longer. That last thought makes me smile wide. It’s not even because of the possibility that she might give me a second chance. Just her presence, the way the sweet scent of her fills my space… it feels like a reward.

  Though some sex wouldn’t hurt. I can just see her now on the back of my eye lids, that smooth olive skin that stretched for miles… hell. I need to settle down or a stiff breeze is going to send me over the edge. My pants are getting too tight as my mind wanders. I have to dig my fingernails into my palm to keep myself under control as we approach the greenhouse.

  JP and I shuffle through the door and find a big group waiting. The five women from the film crew are already in attendance, eating bowls of instant oatmeal and drinking coffee.

  Nina and Miles manage to pop in just behind us. Tucker is behind them, and he quickly falls in place next to JP, per usual.

  When JP and I retell our morning run in with the wolf pack, my boys are quick to agree with our recommendations that the film crew stays indoors.

  JP steps forward without missing a beat. “Me and Tucker will make a spot. Evie, would you like to stay with us?”

  I watch Jolie’s eyes go wide as she stares down JP. Evie shrugs, unfazed. “Okay, thanks.”

  Beth interjects, “We’ll talk about it, as a group, and get back with you. Thank you for the offer.”

  Once everyone else has a place to consider, and thankfully no one tries to take Jolie from me, the leader of the film crew explains their goals for the day, based on what she’s heard folks are planning to do. Unfortunately, that means their crew will be staying with us while we do some logging. It’s dangerous, hard work, so I get why it will look good on film, even if I wish we could work sans audience today.

  But at least I’ll have Jolie with me, where I can keep an eye on her, so that’s good.

  I can’t shake this feeling that she’s in danger. She wasn’t even in the tents this morning, but still. It’s stupid, and I will regret it when she leaves, but for now… for now maybe I’ll just be a fool and let myself pretend she’s mine.

  Chapter 5

  Jolie

  “Okay, so what do we really think about these sleeping arrangements?” Naomi asks in a tone that tells us she doesn’t approve.

  “I’m already staying at Jameson’s, and I can tell you, it’s a hell of a lot better than sleeping in a tent. But, Evie, you should stay with me and Jameson. I don’t like you with those two guys. They look like they’re going to eat you alive.”

  “I’m going to politely refuse your offer, sis.” Evie pats my forearm. “Besides, they’re cute enough. It’s an adventure.”

  Beth backs her up. “She’s an adult, Jo. And I’m down to stay with West, even if he is the human equivalent of a pinecone.”

  “Fine,” I relent, folding my arms across my chest.

  “Mine’s about as cuddly as a cactus,” Chloe adds about her partner, Henry, who was voluntold by Jameson to take her in.

  Naomi groans in defeat. “I guess that means I’m on my own. I’ll move my tent near Miles and Nina’s, but I’m not staying with any of the dogs.”

  “The dogs? Did we wake up in 1995 or something?” Evie laughs.

  “That’s what they call themselves. They’re former marines from the same squad. Didn’t anyone actually talk to the guys they filmed so far?” Naomi shakes her head.

  We all nod in agreement. Evie uses a drone, and we hold cameras. It makes sense she might not have caught that detail, because she’s not supposed to be interviewing. She takes it on the chin and shrugs.

  Chloe passes a handwritten page to each of us. “I was thinking that actually might be the most interesting angle to take, so I wrote out some questions you can ask the guys, to get them talking. That way, we can see from their different perspectives why they came out here. Did you know only Jameson is from here? His friends all came here a while after they were discharged. There’s got to be a good story there, and that’s what you’ll all find out.”

  With our plan in place, we situate our gear and hurry to meet the guys before they head up to the logging site.

  Evie and I fall into step as we make the hike up the hill. “Are you sure you’re good?”

  “Stop asking.” She shuts me down. “Speaking of whether we’re good… what’s happening with you and Jameson?” she pumps her brows at me.

  I nudge her shoulder, hard. “Nothing. Not a damn thing.” Unfortunately.

  “JP and Tucker are hot though. Kind of feral…”

  The look on her face as she reflects on her new housemates tells me I should worry, but I’ll try to respect that she’s an adult. Even if it takes everything I’ve got.

  We walk in silence for a few beats until a thought occurs to me. “Oh, I submitted our applications for that other nature show.”

  “Thank fuck for that. I can’t do another episode of the hoarder show.” Evie’s shoulders give a little shake with the memory.

  She’s not wrong though. It really is the worst job. We both stripped down before we got back in our car that day, threw our clothes in the nearest bin, and drove home in our underwear. “Never again,” I agree, even though I can’t make that promise, because I’ll do what I have to when it comes to making rent.