Predator's Claim Read Online Free

had disappeared. Keeping an eye on the trees around them, she trudged in the snow toward her cabin in silence.
    Which made the lonely howl of a wolf ring ever clearer in the clean, country air.

Chapter 2
    A couple of days after Charlotte’s arrival, Bart hung back in the resort security office after his shift, staring out the window at the snow-covered ground. He knew he should go say hello to her. After all, they’d been colleagues for years. Colleagues would greet each other after an absence, right? And that’s exactly what he’d hoped to do the day she’d arrived. He’d headed down to the dock upon hearing the motor of Lex’s boat, ready to face the woman who, like it or not, had tormented his dreams for far too long.
    And had seen her with a man. Some good-looking, clean-cut, fresh-from-the-city man who probably had lots of fancy degrees and an even fancier wardrobe under his tailored coat. Bart had promptly shifted into his wolf and turned tail.
    He hadn’t gone looking for her since, and their paths hadn’t crossed yet. Clearly she hadn’t gone looking for him either, no doubt far too occupied with her city boyfriend. It hadn’t stopped him from feeling as if he were teetering on a very crumbly precipice.
    He stared out the window and scraped his fingernails up and down his thighs. “This is ridiculous. She’s a friend. Just say, ‘Hey, Charles. Wanna get a drink?’” They’d had plenty of drinks together before. No reason they couldn’t chat like normal people.
    Only they weren’t so normal, and neither was their friendship. From day one, it had been fraught with a sexual tension so bad it felt as if he had a spider inside his head, scratching, itching. Laying lusty eggs of avarice, just threatening to burst open his brain.
    “Oh, damn it to hell.” He yanked open the security office door and tramped outside, kicking the snow with his favorite Kodiak boots. He marched into the lodge and stopped inside the main entrance. Bart chose a quiet spot a few steps from the door, closed his eyes, and inhaled on a long breath.
    Her scent wafted on the air toward him, teasing from the hallway leading to the main floor suites. Clenching his fists, he fought the urge to fall to his knees. Her womanly perfume acted as a strong drug in his system, causing his pulse to jolt and stir and making his lips dry out from thirst. She still smelled the same: soft baby powder overlying her musky woman’s heat. Absolute decadence.
    He opened his eyes and his feet lead him down the hallway toward her. About six suites in, her perfume smacked him and he heard her softly humming as she tidied the suite. Moving quietly, he stopped outside the door and poked his head around the corner.
    Shit . How was it she looked cuter than the vision in his dreams? Wearing her sweet little maid ensemble of a black ruffled dress and a white apron and cap, she looked like a pretty doll. She’d tucked her ebony hair up under her cap, and a few strands wisped around her face. Encased in black tights, her shapely legs seemed to go on forever, despite her petite stature. She wore those lace-up granny booties she wore with so many of her outfits. For some strange reason, those Victorian booties never failed to give him a raging hard-on, and they did now.
    She wore headphones, oblivious to him as she listened to some music. With his superior hearing skills, Bart tuned into it. When he heard the song, he felt his face erupt in heat. Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”. He couldn’t mistake the driving beat for anything else. A couple of years ago, he’d made a mixed CD of his favorite 70s rock and she’d liked it so much he’d given it to her. It seemed she kept it. He smiled, and his wolf stood at attention inside him, sniffing madly, wanting her.
    He knocked on the door, loudly enough so she’d hear it over the music. She jumped and turned to face him.
    The dark pupils in her silvery eyes dilated and her lips curled up. She removed her headphones.