Free The Covert Wolf by Bonnie Vanak Page A

key into the lock, she grabbed his arm. Smooth muscles rippled beneath warm skin. Matt raised an eyebrow.
    “I can’t stay with you. I need my own room. Besides, aren’t we supposed to be brother and sister?”
    His mouth was a grim slash. “After what happened in Forrest Plains, no way, pixie. I registered us as a couple staying together. I’ve agreed to let you stay on this op and I’ve been charged with your care and protection. What I protect, I don’t ever desert. Got it?”
    The door swung open. He gave her a gentle but firm push inside.
    “My care? Says who? I don’t report to the navy.”
    “You do now. Did from the moment you agreed to this assignment. As senior officer, I’m pulling rank, Miss McClare.”
    A huge bed dominated the room, boasting a hand-woven Indian print bedspread. Fine art prints of southwestern landscaping hung on the terra-cotta walls. In the corner sat a small, distressed wood writing desk. The guest suite was expansive, comfortable and stylish.
    Her anxious gaze swept the interior, looking for any place, even a balcony, to find solitude.
    Nothing. Except the bathroom.
    Panic constricted her throat. Sienna struggled for control. As he tossed the luggage onto a bench and unzipped his duffel, she darted into the bathroom and locked the door.
    Gripping the sink, she stared at her reflection. Breath wheezed in and out of her lungs.
    I am Fae. I am Seelie Sidhe.
    With every ounce of power she possessed, Sienna concentrated, willing away the Draicon glamour to resume her natural Fae form.
    The air shimmered for a moment. Nothing. I have to do this. I must. I am Seelie Sidhe.
    Sienna directed a blast of pure power at the mirror image. The glass wavered for a moment, and then cracked in half. Stricken, she stared at the shattered image of herself.
    Draicon still.
    “Sienna. You okay?”
    Blinking hard, she willed the image to change. Nothing. Please, she thought desperately. I am Fae.
    A fist pounded on the door. “Sienna, answer me now, or I’m coming in there. On the count of five.”
    Finally, the image wobbled. Pale skin replaced sun-darkened skin, her eyes grew larger and greener, and the telltale pointed ears returned.
    She unlocked the door just as he kicked. Matt tumbled inside, but recovered in a graceful roll. He stood, jamming a hand through his thick hair.
    “What’s going on?”
    Sienna fingered her ears with a relieved sigh. “Nothing. Can’t a girl have her privacy to put on her face?”
    She swept past him with a regal sniff. A very Fae sniff.
    * * *
    As they made their way toward downtown Santa Fe and the busy city square, Sienna paused to window-shop. The flowered print dress flowing down to her ankles resembled vintage hippie. So did the way she’d coiffed her hair, pinning it up and jamming a flower in the locks. Sandals adorned her feet.
    Even glamoured as a Draicon, she looked Fae, Matt realized.
    They spent two days in Santa Fe, touring the sights downtown and scouting out the area to defray suspicion. Each night he spent squeezing his six-foot-plus body onto a sofa the size of a tin can, letting her have the king-size bed. What kept him more awake was the delicious scent wending through the air. Lilacs, forest and sweet female. Last night Sienna had fallen into a deep sleep, one hand curled beneath her pink cheek, the other splayed on the pillow. It would have taken so little to crawl into bed with her, coax her awake with a slow kiss, watch desire flush her skin as she opened her slender arms to yield to him….
    He’d cursed and rolled over instead.
    This morning, after a hot breakfast of omelets and buttered toast, they shopped once more. They resumed touring downtown, casually making their way toward Tim the Fae’s store. Matt hated this. The big, bad navy SEAL side of him wanted her out of this op. Having Sienna with him made her a target.
    The Draicon wolf hated it, as well. The primal wolf in him wanted to haul her pretty ass over one shoulder, march