The Complete Mackenzie Collection Read online

  Mary drew back a little, her blue eyes slightly shocked, feeling slightly excited, and also slightly embarrassed because she was excited. How was it possible to feel both scandalized and excited?“ Wolf Mackenzie!” she said, her eyes going even larger. “You said…that word!”

  His hard face looked both tender and amused. “So I did.”

  She swallowed. “I’ve never heard anyone say it before. I mean, not in real life. In movies—but of course that isn’t real life, and in movies it almost never means what it really means. They use it as an adjective instead of a verb.” She looked perplexed at such an inexplicable grammatical oversight.

  He was smiling as he entered her, his black eyes shining. “This,” he said, “is the verb.”

  He loved the way she looked when he made love to her, her eyes languorous, her cheeks flushed. She sucked in her breath and moved beneath him, taking him completely into her and enveloping him in her sweet heat. Her hands moved up to the back of his neck. “Yes,” she agreed seriously. “This is the verb.”

  If their first lovemaking had been fierce, since then he had been teaching her how sweet it was when the pleasure was protracted, when the caresses and kisses lingered while tension slowly coiled within until it was so hot and powerful that it exploded out of control. His hunger for her was so strong that he tried to put off his climax for as long as possible, so he could stay inside her and feed that hunger. It wasn’t a hunger for sex, per se, though it had a strong sexual base. He didn’t simply want to make love, he wanted—needed—to make love to her specifically, to Mary Elizabeth Potter. He had to feel her silky, fragile skin under his hands, feel her soft body sheathing him, smell her unique scent of womanhood, forge ancient bonds with each slow thrust and acceptance of their bodies. He was a half-breed; his spirit was strong and uncomplicated, his instincts close to those of his ancestors of both races. With other women, he had had sex; with Mary, he mated.

  He wrapped his arms around her and rolled onto his back. Startled, Mary sat up, accidently assuming the exact position he’d wanted her in. She gasped as the motion forced him deep inside her. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing,” he murmured, reaching up to place his hands over her breasts. “I’m letting you do the doing.”

  He watched her face as she considered the situation and was aware of the exact second that her excitement and arousal overcame her discomfort with the unfamiliar position. Her eyelids dropped again, and she bit her lower lip as she moved gently on him. “Like this?”

  He almost groaned aloud. That slow movement was exquisite torture, and she quickly got into the rhythm of it. He had thought to prolong their lovemaking by changing positions, but now he was afraid he’d outsmarted himself. As old-fashioned as she was, she was also astonishingly sensuous. After a few minutes he desperately rolled again and put her under him.

  Mary linked her arms behind his neck. “I was having fun.”

  “So was I.” He kissed her briefly, then again, their lips lingering together. “Too much.”

  She smiled, that secret, womanly little smile she used only with him, and the sight of it made him burn. He forgot about control, forgot about everything but the pleasure that awaited them. Afterward, sated and exhausted, they both dozed.

  At the sound of a vehicle, Wolf rolled out of bed, instantly alert. Mary stirred sleepily. “What is it?”

  “You have company.”

  “Company?” She sat up and pushed her hair out of her face. “What time is it?”

  “Almost six. We must have gone to sleep.”

  “Six! It’s time for Joe’s lesson!”

  Wolf swore as he began jerking on his clothes. “This situation’s getting out of hand. Damn it, every time I make love to you my own son interrupts us. Once was bad enough, but he’s making a habit of it.”

  Mary was scrambling into her own clothes, wishing that the circumstances weren’t so embarrassing. It was hard to face Joe when it was so obvious that she and his father had just been in bed together. Aunt Ardith would have disowned her for so forgetting her morals and sense of proper behavior. Then she looked at Wolf as he stamped his feet into his boots, and her heart felt as if it had expanded until it filled her entire chest. She loved him, and there was nothing more moral than love. As for proper behavior—she shrugged, mentally kissing propriety goodbye. One couldn’t have everything.

  Joe had deposited his books on the table and was making a pot of coffee when they entered the kitchen. He looked up and frowned. “Look, Dad, this situation is getting out of hand. You’re cutting into my lesson time.” Only the twinkle in his ice-blue eyes kept Wolf from getting angry; after a moment, he tousled his son’s hair.

  “Son, I’ve said it before, but you’ve got lousy timing.”

  Joe’s lesson time was even more limited because they had to take time to eat. They were all starving, so they decided on sandwiches, which were quick, and had just finished when another car drove up.

  “My goodness, this house is getting popular,” Mary muttered as she got up to open the door.

  Clay took his hat off as he entered. He paused and sniffed. “Is that coffee fresh?”

  “Yep.” Wolf stretched to reach the pot while Mary got a cup from the cabinet for Clay.

  He sprawled in one of the chairs and gave a weary sigh, which turned to one of appreciation as he inhaled the fragrant steam rising from the coffee as Wolf poured it. “Thanks. I thought I’d find you two here.”

  “Has anything come up?” Wolf drawled.

  “Nothing except a few complaints. You made some people a little nervous.”

  “Doing what?” Mary interjected.

  “Just looking around,” Wolf said in a casual tone that didn’t fool her at all, nor did it fool Clay.

  “Leave it alone. You’re not a one-man vigilante committee. I’m warning you for the last time.”

  “I don’t reckon I’ve done anything illegal, just walking around and looking. I haven’t interfered with any law officers, I haven’t questioned anyone, I haven’t destroyed or hidden any evidence. All I’ve done is look.” Wolf’s eyes gleamed. “If you’re smart, you’ll use me. I’m the best tracker you’re going to find.”

  “And if you’re smart, you’ll spend your time looking out after what’s yours.” Clay looked at Mary, and she primmed her mouth. Darn him, he was going to tell!

  “That’s what I’m doing.”

  “Maybe not as well as you think. Mary told me about a plan she’s got to use herself as bait to bring this guy out in the open.”

  Wolf’s head snapped around, and his brows lowered over narrowed black eyes as he pinned her with a gaze so furious it was all she could do to keep her own gaze steady. “I’ll be damned,” he said softly, and it was an expression of determination rather than surprise.

  “Yeah, that’s what I said. I heard you and Joe are escorting her to and from the school, but what about the time in between? And school will be out in a couple of weeks. What about then?”

  Mary drew her slender shoulders up. “I won’t be talked around as if I’m invisible. This is my house, and let me remind all of you that I’m well over twenty-one. I’ll go where I want, when I want.” Let them make of that what they would! She hadn’t lived with Aunt Ardith for nothing; Aunt Ardith would have died, just on principle, before she would have let a man tell her what to do.

  Wolf’s eyes hadn’t wavered from her. “You’ll do what you’re damn well told.”

  “If I were you,” Clay suggested, “I’d take her up on the mountain and keep her there. Like I said, school will be out in a couple of weeks, and this old house is pretty isolated. No one has to know where she is. It’ll be safer that way.”

  Enraged, Mary reached out and whisked the cup of coffee away from Clay, then dumped the contents in the sink. “You’re not drinking my coffee, you tattletale!”

  He looked astounded. “I’m just trying to protect you!”

  “And I’m just trying to protect him!” she shou