Free Dreaming of the Wolf by Terry Spear

she watched Jake pull on his shirt, hiding that beautiful chest of his, and asked, “If you’re truly game, how about ice skating?”
    “Ice skating?” The arch in Jake’s brows and in the tone of his voice made it sound as though ice skating wasn’t a choice he would have ever considered making.
    Alicia didn’t know what to think of him. One minute he was acting like he couldn’t get enough of her, and the next, she could feel him pulling away. Yet his words didn’t fit his actions, as if he was fighting his own feelings.
    Well, as she’d told her mother, men and relationships never worked out well for either of them. And certainly with Alicia’s plans to return Mario and Danny to prison, starting a relationship could be a deadly business for the unsuspecting guy. She couldn’t do that to Jake. She sighed and pushed her hair behind her ears.
    After he tucked in his shirt, then tugged on his vest, he walked over and put his hands on her shoulders, his thumbs rubbing them and heating her body all over again. A small quiver of need started tingling in her breasts, making them swell, and then moved lower in her belly and even lower between her legs.
    He kissed her lips gently but with real meaning. It was the kind of kiss that meant she wasn’t getting rid of him anytime soon.
    So much for ice skating deterring him.
    Although she still felt he was sending mixed messages. Either he was the master of deception, or he really was fighting with himself over making something more of their relationship. While he was pulling away from her, she was all set to keep this from going too far. But how could she push him away when he kissed her like he loved every inch of her and wanted her for keeps? And when she was afflicted with the same damn desire?
    Some part of her told her she deserved a chance at real love, at real happiness. That she couldn’t screw this up if it was meant to be. But the sensible part of her said she could lose him to violence, and there was no way in hell she was losing someone else she cared about like that.
    “I’ve never ice skated before. So you’ll have to teach me how to do it. And I’ll try not to embarrass you too much,” Jake finally said, his thumbs still doing a sensual number on her shoulders.
    Genuinely surprised he’d be game, she laughed a little. She thought of him as cool and collected, never ruffled. The notion of him falling on the ice had never crossed her mind. But again, she figured that ice skating would be one activity where the bad guys wouldn’t bother with them. So Jake would be safe, she was certain.
    “I’ll try to help you. But you can hold on to the railing if you need to. That’s what many of the beginners do.”
    He shook his head. “Where you go, I go.”
    “Even if I’m doing figure eights?”
    He grinned at that. “I think I’ll opt for staying in the upright position and watching.”
    ***
    By spreading their feet on ice and with the fur that protected their pads, wolves were very adept at maneuvering on ice. But as a human, Jake had never ice skated, and if Alicia hadn’t suggested it, he most likely never would have. They agreed to drop by her hotel room so she could change clothes. A business suit on ice wouldn’t work out.
    He hadn’t planned on doing anything but waiting for her to change clothes while he called his brother, Darien, to let him know he’d be a little later arriving home than expected. But the hotel room had one large bed and a bathroom, and Jake’s eyes were riveted on that king-sized bed as if it were the most functionally beautiful piece of furniture in the world. Alicia had slipped out of her suit jacket and gun with holster, hanging them over the back of a desk chair, and pushed off her walking shoes. She entered the bathroom to clean up, shutting the door behind her.
    The shower turned on, and he was still thinking about that bed and what he and Alicia could do in it together when his cell phone rang. He jerked it off his