Free Winter’s Wolf by Tara Lain

the undergrowth. “You leaving us, Thane?”
    “Gonna look around. I’ll catch up with you.”
    “Don’t get lost.”
    Winter flashed those ice blue eyes. “Yeah. Right.” That quick, he was gone.
    Ollie stayed on Matt’s heels for the next hour as they slogged through the dense foliage. A few booted footprints showed in the loamy soil, but they could be from hunters.
    “Hey, Partridge.” Matt turned back to Ollie, who pointed to a spot on the ground. “Look.”
    Half covered by dirt, a small plastic baggie lay under a bush. Matt hunkered down by it, gloved his hand, and picked it up gingerly. White powder clumped in the bottom of the plastic. Matt shoved it in an evidence bag.
    Ollie watched over his shoulder. “Looks like somebody dropped it.”
    “Yes. That’s what it looks like.”
    “I’ll see if I can find more.” He sounded pretty enthusiastic as he scampered off into the brush.
    Matt sat on a log and pulled out the packet again. He opened it with his gloved hands, sniffed, and put a little on his tongue. Heroin. No doubt about it. Convenient.
    Ollie rushed back to Matt. “I found one more. Want to come get it? I don’t have gloves.”
    “Sure.”
    The second baggie proved just like the first and got its own evidence bag. Matt straightened up and looked around. Light faded quickly at this time of year so far north. “Shall we head back?”
    Ollie shook his head emphatically. “Too late. We need to stay the night.”
    Shit, do not get excited about that idea. “So what are we doing about a place to sleep?”
    “I figured since we all brought sleeping bags, we could stay here. That way we can nose around again in the morning.” He smiled. “There could be more of the heroin. See, I told you there were drug processors here.”
    “How do you know it’s heroin?”
    He raised his reddish brows. “I assumed.”
    Matt stared at the lean, homely face. Who was telling the truth? Ollie or Winter? Maybe they both thought they were. “Okay. Let’s get our stuff from the car. We can pick up Thane’s.”
    When they got to the SUV, Winter was leaning against the car. Matt nodded. “Ollie’s suggested we stay in the area tonight so we can look around more in the morning.”
    Ollie had popped the lock on the car, and Winter didn’t respond. He just opened the hatch he was leaning against and pulled out his sleeping bag, then tossed Ollie’s and Matt’s to them. “There’s water this way.”
    Ollie pulled a good-sized cooler from the trunk, and Matt picked up his sleeping bag. The marshal certainly came prepared to stay.
    Matt turned and followed Winter. Do not be staring at that tight butt in those jeans. Trouble was, nobody could see where his eyes were as they walked single file, so he didn’t have embarrassment to curb his wandering gaze. His foot hit a root; he stumbled forward, tossed both sleeping bags, and landed smack on Winter’s back. Somehow the big man managed to spin around and catch him before they both went flying into the trees. “Gotcha.”
    Heat spread up his cheeks. “Sorry. That was real sure-footed of me.”
    Winter grinned but didn’t let him go. “You must have been distracted.”
    Damn. Did the man have eyes in his ass? Matt forced himself to pull away from Winter’s grasp, but every handhold felt like it had been branded in heat.
    “Yeah. I was just thinking about the heroin we found.”
    Winter raised an eyebrow. “Heroin?”
    “Yes. Two bags seem to have been dropped.” He glanced back at Ollie, and Winter followed his gaze. “Ollie found them.”
    “I see. Are you sure it’s heroin?”
    Matt screwed his mouth to the side. “FBI, remember?”
    Winter’s gaze heated. “I can’t forget.”
    Suddenly Matt was back in the woods behind the Way Station staring at Winter’s perfect cock. His lips opened; then he clamped them shut.
    Winter blinked and started walking again.
    Matt followed, keeping his eyes firmly planted on the ground. Did he smell water?
    They