Free Wolf's Vengeance (After the Crash) by Maddy Barone

shift, and then I’ll come back.”
    “Good night,” she murmured, sleep already slurring her voice, and dropped off with her head on his shoulder, his arms holding her securely.
    * * * *
    Mel woke hours later from a sound sleep to find a warm furry body pinning her under the blanket. Her heart leaped into her throat and pounded there for a minute before she realized it must be Snake. She lifted a bleary head to try to see him better. It was too dark to see anything but the unearthly shimmer of wolf eyes, but she knew it was Snake.
    “Oh, Snake, you scared me for a minute.”
    The wolf swiped a wet warm tongue over her cheek.
    “Eeww,” she groaned, wiping the slobber away. But she laid her head down and went back to sleep, leaning into the comfortable warm bulk of a wolf.
    She woke next when dawn was only a promise in the east, barely seen through the open barn door. Her mouth opened in a wide yawn as she pressed closer to the wolf’s warmth. The feel of smooth warm skin instead of rough fur against her cheek shot her eyes wide open.
    “Snake?”
    “Mmm,” he hummed, burrowing his nose into her throat.
    She wrestled a hand from under the blanket to touch his hair. His braids were thicker and longer than her stubby one. She ran her hand down the length of his braid until her fingers smoothed over his bare spine. “Are you wearing clothes?” she demanded with a gulp.
    “Nuh-uh,” he murmured. “Just made the change a couple of minutes ago. Haven’t had time to dress yet.” His mouth touched her throat, glided up to the corner of her jaw, over her cheek to her lips, where he teased her with small, light kisses.
    Mel froze, breath trapped in her throat for a long icy moment before she realized how nice it felt. His weight felt good too when he moved his body over hers. But she was horribly aware she was naked under the blankets except for her panties, and she could feel his erection pressing against the top of her thigh. “We’re in the open,” she protested in a whisper. “People can see us.”
    “Nobody can see us. Mike’s snoring by the barn door and Stone is running a perimeter patrol. It’s just us, Mel.”
    “I don’t want to have sex here,” she hissed.
    “We won’t.”
    “But, you’re…I mean, you…” She trailed off, angry at herself for being so prudish. “You’re hard,” she finished.
    “Yeah. Just ignore that. It happens when I’m this close to you, but we don’t have to do anything about it.”
    They didn’t? “Won’t that hurt you?”
    She felt his shrug. “I’ll survive. This isn’t the right time or place. We’re in the open, remember?”
    “Right.” She suppressed a shudder of remembered horror. “I don’t ever want an audience.”
    At that he lifted his head. In the dark she couldn’t see him clearly, but she sensed him staring down at her.
    “Me, neither.”
    Relief flowed like warm honey to her belly. She wrapped her hands around his braids and tugged him down to her mouth. “Kiss me, Snake.”
    His lips were amazingly soft for a moment and then hard and demanding on hers. They kissed for what seemed like an hour before Snake buried his face against her neck.
    “Oh,” he groaned. “I’ve wanted to do that forever.”
    “We haven’t known each other that long.”
    “I wanted to do that before I ever saw you. And since I’ve met you, I’ve wanted to do it twice as much.”
    His chin had no stubble. She brushed exploring fingers over it. “Then keep doing it.”
    He went back to giving her long, hot kisses that made her breath wobble. His tongue glided over hers with such greedy demand she felt deliciously overwhelmed. No, not overwhelmed. Challenged. She kissed him back with just as much heated enthusiasm. His shoulders were broad and heavy with muscle. She learned each plane and curve of his back with desperate hands. She loved the feel of him, all of him, from his hot tongue dancing with hers, to his strong arms crushing her against him, to the