“What did you think of us? The team?” Finn asked, his voice low and husky.

“I was too busy giving Hunter a hard time about the missions you all were going on after you left the Navy.”

“Paul swore up and down you favored him,” Finn persisted, “because you were always giving him a coy smile.”

“That’s not true. I didn’t pay any attention to him.” She felt her cheeks heat. Had everyone believed Paul’s teasing?

“Allan said you blushed whenever he caught your eye.”

She shook her head. “Not me. Ever.” When Finn didn’t say anything further, she looked over her shoulder at him. “Well, what did you say to the other guys about me?”

Finn smiled reminiscently. “That only I stood a chance with you because only I riled you so that you’d speak with me. Sure sign of love. I knew it was only a ploy to get me alone.”

“Yeah, right. So that I could have my wicked way with you? I’m sure they believed it as much as you did.”

For a long moment, he said nothing but caressed her neck and shoulders with his large hands. And then he chuckled. “If they didn’t before, they’ll believe so now.”

***

Later that night, as Finn relaxed with a sleeping Meara in his arms in the guest bedroom, he thought about the fun he’d had with her on the beach. Cooking the steaks and shrimp and watching the surf with the breeze in their hair had made him feel as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Like when he’d been a young man just out to have some fun.

He’d wanted to kiss her and hold her close, and he finally had allowed himself to do so, despite knowing Paul had to be watching them. He had tried to keep it just a sweetheart’s kiss, nothing too sensual, but with the way she’d leaned back in his arms and tilted her face up for more, he couldn’t help himself. He could never get enough of her.

Hunter would be on a rampage for sure as soon as he arrived.

After thinking how much he had enjoyed being with Meara, Finn closed his eyes and slept for a short while until Anna yanked open the guest bedroom door and said in a rush, “Hunter just drove into the driveway in case you want to make yourself presentable and… put some distance between you and Meara.”

Finn was torn between staying with Meara and seeing to Hunter.

“Stay,” Meara coaxed. Her voice had a sultry, sleepy quality as she tightened her arm around his as if intending to keep him in the bed with her by force if he thought otherwise.

“We’re sleeping,” Finn said firmly to Anna, tucking Meara tighter in his arms. “Close the door on your way out.”

“It’s your funeral,” Anna said cheerfully.

“I won’t let him kill you,” Meara whispered to Finn as the door clunked closed.

“Good.” He kissed her hair, the sweet fragrance of her shampoo tantalizing him. “I don’t care for funerals.”

He really didn’t think he could fall asleep, what with Hunter’s impending arrival, but as soon as he heard voices, he knew he couldn’t doze again.

“Where’s Finn?” Hunter asked gruffly from the direction of the living room.

“In the first guest bedroom on the right down that hall,” Anna offered.

“And Meara?”

“She was afraid of the dark,” Anna said very seriously.

“She’s with Finn?” Hunter asked, his voice irritated but with a hint of surprise.

Meara moaned. “She would have to tell him I was with you,” she said quietly to Finn.

He squeezed her in a warm embrace. “Good thing you’re afraid of the dark.”

“I’m not. And Hunter knows it.”

Finn shook his head. “We’ll have to come up with another story then.”

Meara sighed. “I’ll protect you.”

“Hmm.” Finn kissed her head and snuggled close with her. “Not to worry.”

Anna said to Hunter in a cheerful voice, “The master bedroom’s free if you want to sleep in there.”

“That’s all right,” Hunter said with dark promise. “I’ll just wait to hear the good news when my new brother-in-mating wakes to tell me.”

Finn let out his breath in a heavy exhale. This wasn’t going to be easy, because hell, he wasn’t even sure he knew what he was going to say to Meara’s brother when the time came.

***

When Finn finally decided he’d had enough of a rest and it was time to face Hunter, he left Meara to sleep longer in the bedroom or to hide away from Hunter while he had to deal with him. Finn took a shower, dressed casually in jeans and a plain blue T-shirt and a pair of sandals, and then walked down the hall to the living room to see a brooding Hunter.

He was the only one of the SEAL team who had let his hair grow long, and the windswept coffee-colored strands hanging to his collar softened his stern look. But his eyes, normally dark brown, were nearly black as he waited for Finn to make an appearance. His gaze had been focused on the front picture window but quickly shifted to Finn as he approached.

Finn noted that Anna must have gone to bed, and Paul was nowhere to be seen.

“We’ve got a bigger problem than dealing with my being with Meara,” Finn said, broaching the subject first, hoping to get the attention off him and Meara.

Hunter scowled at him. “My sister needs a mate. You’re leading her astray.”

Finn shrugged and remained standing, wanting to get a cup of coffee before he had any weighty, lengthy discussions about Meara or anything else. “Call it the courtship phase. If we decide we don’t get along well enough, no harm’s done.”

For a brief moment, Hunter seemed taken aback, as if he couldn’t see Finn courting any woman. Maybe because Finn never had.

“You aren’t right for her. She needs someone who’ll stay with her and keep her in line, not someone who is gallivanting around the continents, saving the whole wide world.”

“What about you and Tessa?”

“That’s different.”

“Really? I suppose time will tell since we haven’t been contacted for a mission since you got hitched. Then we’ll see if you’ll go or not. Then again, maybe it’s time for me to settle down.”

Hunter eyed him suspiciously. “Are you?”

Finn shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. She sure makes a man lose his sense of what’s important and what’s not.”

For the first time, Hunter gave him a sinister smile. Then it faded. “You haven’t met my mate. You might think I’ll run roughshod over you if you upset Meara, but you haven’t seen Tessa. She’s like a wolf with a mission when she’s got it in mind to right a wrong.”

“Anna said she wasn’t all wolf.”

“Believe me, she is.” Hunter took a deep breath and didn’t say anything for a moment as if he was coming to some conclusions of his own. Then he said, “All right, so what do we have concerning this case?”

“Two assassins who were human—run-of-the-mill guns for hire. Two others that were wolves.”

“I got a look at them. I didn’t recognize any of them, but Bjornolf’s running some prints on them.” Hunter frowned. “Because of the bruised eye and jaw that Bjornolf was sporting, I asked if he’d gotten injured when he took down one of the assassins, but he said he hadn’t. Some madly jealous wolf caught him unaware. Want to elaborate?”

“No.” Finn headed for the kitchen. “I’m getting a cup of coffee. Want one?”

Hunter followed him into the kitchen. “Sure. So what did Bjornolf do to Meara that you popped him twice for it?”

Finn knew Hunter wouldn’t take no for an answer about Bjornolf’s black eye. “He kissed her without her permission. Then he said he’d do it again with her permission.”

“Hell, Finn,” Hunter said, rubbing his hand over his jaw. “His regular job is killing assassins. And you socked him over Meara?” He shook his head, but he looked half amused and half pleased.

“Somebody had to do it.”

Hunter chuckled, and Finn figured he’d gotten into Hunter’s good graces to some extent. Hunter’s phone jingled, and he lifted it off his belt. “Hey, honey. Yeah, I got here just fine.” He looked at Finn. “No, I haven’t killed him yet. I need him still. And Meara likes him. What can I say?” He listened for some time, smiled a whole hell of a lot, looked up at Finn, and then said, “I’ll tell him. Call you later. Get some sleep. I’ll return as soon as I can. Love you, too. Bye.”

Finn handed Hunter a cup of black coffee. “Was it Tessa?”

Hunter took a swig from his mug. “Yep.”

“Did she have a word for me?”

Hunter looked sternly at him. “Yep.”

“And it was?”

“If you’re sleeping with Meara, you’re mated to her. No going back on the deal. Tessa’s words.”

“Ah.”

“Tessa’s serious.” Hunter finished his coffee, walked over to the coffeemaker, and poured himself another cup. “Her words have merit. In the old days, Meara would be a ruined woman, and to be honorable, you would have to mate her.”

“If we both wanted the same thing, yeah. In this day and age? No. That’s saying Meara even wants me. She has issues, you know.”

Looking damned surprised, Hunter stared at Finn. “Oh?”

“Yeah. Nothing that she’d talk about, but deep down she’s afraid of an alpha male who might exercise too much control over her. She would never do well with a beta who would roll over and play dead at her feet, but…” Finn shrugged.

Hunter sat down on the bar stool. “Is that what her problem has been all these years? I always thought she needed a beta to boss around.”

Finn straightened and looked Hunter in the eye. “Bjornolf said he was interested in her.” Finn studied Hunter’s expression, glad to see his eyes darkening with irritation.