She quivered under him. “I hear the words, but the pictures are not registering properly yet.”
“I understand. And I’m not pushing but need you to know I really love this kind of thing. The wilderness, and the small towns. The ability to shift and be completely wild within five minutes of leaving my house—if you’ve only experienced that kind of freedom while on a holiday, maybe you can’t understand, but this is home for me.”
She rolled belly up, and his wolf trembled to control the howl of delight that wanted to escape. Then she wiggled around and licked his muzzle, and he was even more floored.
“I have no home. No place that calls me to be there on holidays and special events. You are my mate, and while I want to have conversations about what’s happening in our life, I’m too damn happy right now to try to figure out things I should complain about. I’m a wolf, Jared. I like dirt under my paws and the sun warming my fur. If you want to live in the North, I’m good with it. If you want to take me to expensive places in Europe, I’ll just have to grin and bear that.”
She was all soft against him and he stared over the water contently. They watched the action for a good twenty minutes, Jared enjoying every one of the deep breaths he took that allowed more and more of her scent to fill his head.
“Too funny. Look.”
Keri patted a paw toward the main street.
“Paws suck as fingers. What are you trying to show—wait a minute. Is that Chad sucking face with someone?”
Keri wiggled with her laughter. “Oh wow, it’s Eden from housekeeping. She’s been all over his ass from what I heard. Chad was complaining about her to Tony between trips a while back, and Tessa mentioned it was happening this trip as well.”
Jared examined the near-to-sex-on-the-street happening up against the back wall of the side street. “He doesn’t seem to be complaining anymore.”
He was getting a little turned on. It had nothing to do with Chad—ick ick and triple ick—but everything to do with the fact he was picturing putting Keri into that same position up against the wall and doing a little enthusiastic sun-worshipping himself. “Is your wolf happy? Shall we go grab a quick lunch?”
Keri was on her feet and racing down the path to where they’d hidden their clothing. “I say skip lunch and we can have sex until it’s time for your shift.”
Even as they sprinted down the hillside, he couldn’t believe his incredible good luck. He loved being a wolf. Loved having a mate.
And lunchtime trysts with his mate? Oh yeah…he was sure he was going to love those too.
Chapter Eleven
Tessa wrinkled her nose as she accepted the handful of jewelry Keri passed over. “It just doesn’t make any sense. I had a couple of the best noses on the ship go through all the crew quarters, and it’s impossible to figure out from scent alone who’s been stealing and hiding things. And when they were only hiding it on Jared, it was one thing. But now that it’s spread to you?”
“That’s why it’s got to be a plant.”
“It’s driving me crazy how they’ve managed to stay one step ahead of me.” Tessa offered another piece of chocolate.
Keri turned it down flat. “How the caffeine in that stuff doesn’t make you crawl the walls, I’ll never know.”
“Who says it doesn’t? I’m actually half-comatose normally.”
Keri blew a raspberry then rose to her feet as Jared approached.
“May I interrupt?” He kissed her cheek and Keri sighed like a lovelorn schoolgirl.
Tessa raised a brow. “You seem capable of doing anything you put your mind to. Including mucking up my well-running cruise.”
Jared shook his head slowly. “You’re doing a great job. Everyone is giving glowing reports, the visitors and the staff, so relax and enjoy the final day.”
Keri watched as Tessa visibly relaxed. “Really?”
“Of course. There’s nothing but praise for the cruise, as usual. And the only mention I heard of anything weird with the jewelry were a few women I passed who were raving about the ship’s ‘cleaning service’, whatever that is.”
Tessa bounced. “Wheee! It worked.”
“What you up to, girlie?” Keri asked, sneaking into Jared’s arms for a quick hug.
“I had this brainwave to have the items cleaned before returning them, and made up these little cards ‘complimentary sparkles to make your trip shine’… Well, the card said it better than that, but you get the idea. Like there was a reason for things to be slightly out of place. I guess it worked.”
Keri snickered. “Only on a shifter ship, I bet. I wouldn’t try that one on a human vessel. I think they’d be a little more suspicious.”
“Totally.” Tessa nodded. “Shifters are fun to work with—as long as nothing is gone for good, they’re cool. I’m still upset I can’t figure out who’s taking things in the first place. We’ve got all kinds of shifters working the ship, so it’s not as if I can get any of the Alphas on board to make demands until they find out who it is. Besides, that’s the opposite side of what I want—this isn’t a witch-hunt, and it’s not supposed to be an inquisition either.”
“If everything is in place by the end of the trip, and there are no outstanding complaints from passengers, is it even an issue anymore?” Keri really didn’t want it to be an issue.
Tessa paused. “I can’t just sweep it away, Keri.” She stared up at both of them and shook her head. “I mean, I know you can’t be the thieves, because, hello, you’ve been handing items over to me as fast as you find them, but it still looks bad. And if we can’t point to the guilty party, there’s bound to be someone who will suspect you, even afterward. Or suspect me of covering up your guilt.”
It was too true. “Then we have to look faster. We have a few hours until we make dock. You don’t need me for anything else?”
Tessa shook her head as she unwrapped another chocolate bar.
Jared waved a hand. “I’ll help as well, but first, I wondered if you’d gotten any response to that message I sent to my pack.”
The cat’s grin grew again. “Oh yeah, there was one. Pretty brief, just that he’d meet you at the dock. Someone named Keil signed it.”
A shudder shook her mate, and Keri squeezed him a little tighter. “Jared? You okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah, but I guess we’ll be introducing you to my Alpha sooner than later.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry, he’s cool, only there’s a long overdue discussion that needs to happen. Keil took over as Alpha after my folks left town, so he’s not aware of a few things.”
“Are you in trouble?”
“Hell, no. Just…” The buzzer on his waist belt went off and Jared sighed. He checked the screen and stepped away from Keri’s side. “So much for helping you look around for the last few hours. Someone decided the shuffleboard lanes would be a great place to dump a couple of bottles of bubbles. There’s no one available from housekeeping. I have to go clean it up.”
He dropped a kiss on her cheek and turned.
“Wait—I’ll go with you.” She stepped in time with him as he pulled up next to a maintenance closet and opened the lock, dragging out a well-stocked cart. Mop and broom handles stuck out above the edge of the neat basket section. “I have no ideas other than sitting and staring at people anyway. I’m sorry, some troubleshooter I’ve been for us.”
“It’s going to be fine. Really.”
Keri yanked her hair back and secured it with a ponytail holder. There was a light breeze again, this time pulling off the land, and with the ship’s forward momentum, it was enough to make the flags on the railing snap and crackle, their bright colours adding a happy twist to the blues and greens of the surroundings.