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Wild Invitation

Wild Invitation

Titel: Wild Invitation Kostenlos Bücher Online Lesen
Autoren: Nalini Singh
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grinned.
    Shoving his hands over the bristling roughness of his scalp after the soldier left, Cooper stared moodily at the view outside his window. While the majority of the den was underground, his office was located on the highest level, tucked into a natural curve of the mountain. The glass was treated so as not to reflect, but it afforded him a good view of the main path up to the den. Bathed in sunshine today, the land beyond was verdant with trees, until you’d never know the Mojave desert sprawled just beyond the distant ridgeline.
    He liked being able to keep an eye on things from here, but the lack of windows in the main den didn’t bother his wolves—they loved coming home to a snug den, a place where their pups were always protected. Added to that, the tunnels were wide and bathed in simulated daylight and moonlight depending on the time of day, the air-filtration and temperature-control mechanisms fine-tuned to create an effortless transition between the outside and inside.
    SnowDancer’s scientific arm had been responsible for the original development of the technology, but it was the highly trained systems engineers who maintained and calibrated the interconnected systems on a day-to-day basis. Each could handle most of the minor issues that cropped up from time to time, but they all had their specialties. Grace’s expertise was in the simulated natural light so important to the pack’s well-being.
    His hand fisted, his scowl returning at the reminder of how she’d trembled under his touch. Yes, he could be scary—hell,it was an asset when it came to protecting the pack—but he didn’t want to scare Grace. He wanted to pet her, hold her, learn the intricacies of the smart, sexy woman who handled her high-tech tools with the care and elegance of a surgeon…and made him wonder how she’d use those same hands on him. Because he most definitely wanted to coax her to strip off the workmanlike coveralls that drove him wild, and breathe his fill of her scent as he explored those incredible, dangerous feminine curves with his body, his mouth.
    A curl of wood falling to the floor.
    He realized his claws had shot out, carved grooves into the wood of his desk. “Great,” he muttered, retracting them into his skin. “If you’re trying not to scare a woman, learn to keep your fucking claws in, Cooper.” Shoving back from his desk, he strode out of his office, taking the steps that led down into the main core of the den two at a time.

Chapter 3
    BETHANY CAUGHT HIM just as he reached the bottom. “Coop, I need to talk to you about the juveniles.”
    “Whatever they’ve done,” he growled, continuing on toward the exit, “handcuff the lot of them and put them in the brig. I’ll spring them in a few years when they’re full-grown adults.”
    “Funny.” The short, curly-haired maternal female, her mouth bracketed by laugh lines that told of a life well lived, said, “Some of us remember when you were the worst of the lot. Wasn’t it a pink ribbon? Or did you sport the purple and Riaz the pink?”
    Wincing, he halted. “You have the memory of an elephant, Aunt Beth.”
    “It comes in handy when I need blackmail material.” Dimples dented her round cheeks, a mischievous expression in the dark, dark eyes that marked them as kin. “Which, in this case, is unnecessary. The juveniles have been good.”
    “Did you drug their soup?”
    She threatened to pull his ear—probably would have if he didn’t top her by over a foot. “About fifteen of them joined up to clear that invasive weed that somehow made its way into one of the streams. Spent the whole weekend at it, and as of today, the weed is history. It’d be nice if you could swing by.”
    “I’ll do it now.” He glanced at the small comm screen set into the den wall, saw it was almost midday. “Kids had lunch?”
    “I took them a couple of baskets.” Bethany patted him on the chest. “With enough for a big, strong lieutenant.”
    “Sometimes I think you take me for granted.” Leaningdown, he kissed her cheek, the scent of her inciting a keen protectiveness.
    It was Bethany who’d taken him in as a grieving, angry sixteen-year-old, enfolding him in love. What she hadn’t done was attempt to reverse the sudden adulthood that had been shoved on him that cold, rainy night—because some things couldn’t be changed, and the loss of his childhood had been a permanent one.
    “However,” he added when she stood on tiptoe to smooth

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