Page 33 of A Lady's Heart
That was all she had time to see before Justin caught her from behind, looping his arms around her then launching into the air. Her breath stuck in her throat.
He twisted in mid-air to land on his back with her paws resting on his shoulders, using him like a giant furry sled. Faster and faster they went, snow flying up in wide waves on either side of them.
Something was wrong—that was clear—but she wasn’t worried. She should have been, but the trip was far too exhilarating and exciting, and she trusted implicitly that Justin would get them back to safety.
They hadn’t even slid to a stop at the bottom of the hill when Justin shifted. She followed his lead, changing to human as he spoke.
“We’re taking my sled. Pull on your things then stay with me. We’ll let Caden and Cole take care of our visitors.”
They sprinted across the short distance to where her things rested on the ground. Cole must have shoved them off the seat where she’d left them before he’d raced off. Mandy jerked on her clothes as quickly as possible, but she was still the last one ready, swinging a leg over the back of the sled and wrapping her hands around Justin’s waist. The buzz of the wolves’ engines was already fading, the sleds disappearing over a distant rise as they moved in hot pursuit of the intruders.
“Hold on tight,” Justin ordered a split second before they were off in a cloud of snow.
Stupid.Stupid bloody idiot.
It was completely and totally stupid for him to have dropped his guard like that, and Justin mentally kicked his own ass the entire trip back into town.
Even though the wolves were chasing their mysterious followers into the wilderness, Justin wasn’t going to take any more chances. Instead of returning directly to the shop yard, he took a different route, roaring down back alleys in a twisted path until he reached the underground parking for the safe house. He triggered the master switch on his keychain, and the door opened instantly, allowing him to drive straight in. A moment later he had everything shut down, Mandy hurrying at his side toward the stairs.
Not until they were back in the apartment with the security system armed did he begin to relax. Their little adventure had not turned out like he’d expected. So much for a relaxing snow day.
“We’re safe now.” Justin guided her down the hallway to the bathroom. “Strip,” he ordered. “I’ll be right back.
He raced to the kitchen and filled the kettle, plugging it in and setting it to turn off automatically once it was heated. He hurried back to make sure Mandy had crawled into a steaming-hot shower.
He rounded the corner to discover her standing there, fingers trembling as she held her wet shirt away from her body.
She glanced up, dark eyes like deep wells as she met his gaze. “I’m sorry, it appears I must’ve gotten the zipper on my pants stuck. We were in such a hurry, and now I can’t make it budge, and…”
Her teeth chattered so hard he couldn’t understand the next part of what she said.
Justin dropped to his knees, jiggling the zipper to try and free it from where the fabric was caught between the metal teeth, but it was no use. “You’ve jammed this beyond repair. Congratulations.”
“G-g-go me,” Mandy chattered.
Justin lifted the edge of her shirt, carrying it over her head so she was naked from the waist up. “Give me a second, and I’ll get you free.”
He caught hold of either side of her zipper. One hard jerk broke it completely, then he pulled the wet fabric away from her, peeling it down to leave her standing naked before him.
Tempting, tasty skin that he wanted nothing more than to experience all over again.
He was still on his knees before her, and she took a two-handed grip on the front of his shirt. “Oh, look. It seems I’m naked, and you’re going to be too,” Mandy warned him.
She didn’t give him time to protest. As if he would have—he wasn’t a stupid bear about everything.
Mandy jerked her hands apart and his buttons flew. She ripped the fabric down his shoulders and off his arms before the little plastic pieces had finished rattling on the floor.
They stood at the same moment. Mandy was already working his pants, and it didn’t matter that her hands were cold, they were heaven against his skin.
But when she wrapped her fingers around his rising erection, Justin swore.
“Your hands are like ice,” he complained.
She pulled another rush of pleasure/pain from him as she stroked firmly a couple of times. “I know they’re cold. That’s why I need to warm them on the hottest thing around.” Mandy hummed happily, staring down at her fingers with a sultry smile curling her lips. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a two-handed warmer before.”
Justin was still laughing when he picked her up and brought them together under the shower, the hot water insanely good after the intense cold on the sled. It made his skin tingle everywhere, but it was Mandy’s touch that flashed the hottest as her soapy hands worked up a lather over him.
“This isn’t right,” he complained. “You don’t need to do all the work.”
