“Don’t move,” Summer hissed out of the side of her mouth, not daring to turn her head even the smallest bit.Mårten’s body was pressed up against hers as they lay on their stomachs together, hidden in the long grass.Mårten never even blinked an eyelid in response, just kept staring through the waving fronds.He was good at this; she had to give him that much.Her muscles were so tense from lying still for so long, they were almost cramping.But he lay calm and motionless, cool as a cucumber.
Summer refocused on the small forest clearing just in front of them.This was the moment she’d been waiting for.Three days of preparation and tracking, following false leads, biding their time patiently beside a small lake or hunkered down behind a copse of young birch trees watching a trail for fruitless hour upon hour.Three days of wondering if Petar’s information had been wrong, and he’d sent them on a wild goose chase.But then today they’d spotted the fresh footprints in the mud, and she knew he was really here.
Jacob’s friend, Petar, knew how badly she’d wanted to capture a photo of a wolverine in the wild and had sent her a message a few days ago telling her one had been spotted near his home town of Jokkmokk.After a quick deliberation, Summer decided she might never get another opportunity like this and when Mårten had also elected to come with her, the deal was sealed and they’d driven the two hours out from Luleå to start the search.Petar had taken them out to where the animal had last been seen, helping her track it for the first day, showing her the signs she needed to look for before he had to return to work the next day.She owed Petar more than one drink when they got back to town tonight because he’d just made it possible for her wish to come true.
Slowly, ever so slowly, she used her thumb and forefinger to readjust the focus on her telephoto lens, moving the camera a few millimeters to the right so that a dark head filled the middle of her viewfinder.
The wolverine stared directly at her, its coal-black eyes alight with a mixture of intelligence and watchfulness.God, he was so beautiful.His fur was thick and wiry, a blend of rich dark-brown and chestnut, and his small ears flicked forward and back.He was an adolescent male, probably yet to mate, on the move, looking for females.It wasn’t unheard of to find a wolverine this close to Jokkmokk, but Summer knew she was extremely lucky, nonetheless, as their preferred habitat was to the north, in the untamed mountainous regions, away from all habitation.Not many people had seen this rare animal in the wild; the largest member of the weasel family, with a reputation for being fierce and tenaciously strong.
The click of her shutter as she took the photo sounded incredibly loud in the silent woodlands.The animal froze, its entire attention directed to the small clump of grass where she and Mårten were hiding.
Blast!He was going to run.Summer took a burst of ten more photos, knowing she might lose her subject at any second.The wolverine stood up taller, sniffed the air and then bared its teeth, turning to slip back into the undergrowth without a trace as she clicked and clicked in a frenzy to capture her target.Then the animal was gone, leaving nothing but cold air in its wake.But even though she’d had him in her viewfinder for less than twenty seconds, Summer was left with a feeling of complete elation.
“Oh, my God, he was stunning,” she said, at last turning on her stomach to look at Mårten.
“Yes, he was.”The look on Mårten’s face told that he was just as awestruck as her.
“Do you know how extremely lucky we were to see him?”She exhaled the words on a sigh of delight.“There are less than 700 individuals left in the wild, and we just saw one of them.”She couldn’t keep the grin off her face, even as she carefully tucked her brand new Nikon back into its protective bag.
“I do know,” he replied.“I’ve lived my whole life in this country and never had the privilege of seeing one.Until now.And if it weren’t for you, I probably never would have,” he added, rolling onto his side with a groan as he stretched out rigid muscles held immobile too long.
Summer stared at the spot where only a few seconds ago the wolverine had stood, reliving every moment.Then, her joy turned suddenly to worry.“God, I hope I got at least one good image.We need to get back to town so I can download them all.Quick, come on.”She went to push herself up to her knees when Mårten’s low growl and his hand on her waist stopped her.
“There’s no hurry,” he said into her ear, pulling her down onto his chest, nuzzling his lips against her neck, his short beard tickling her skin.It was late September, and while winter was still a month or more away, there’d been a significant change in the weather over the past week, with temperatures dropping quickly.And out here in Jokkmokk it was colder still, so on Mårten’s suggestion, Summer was rugged up in a thick puffer jacket and a knit cap, with warm thermals underneath her jeans.
No, she guessed there wasn’t any hurry to get back; they could enjoy their moment of triumph for a little while longer.So, in spite of the cold and the fact the light was fading, and they should probably make their way back to the main path before it got dark, she let her jubilation at finding the wolverine bubble to the surface.
The whole experience had been extra special because she’d got to share it with Mårten.He looked so endearing, lying there with his knit cap slipped sideways, almost covering one eye, tufts of silvery hair protruding from the exposed side.Those full lips puckered into an inviting grin as she continued to stare down at him, his silvery gaze darkening as he considered her.He was so damned good-looking, and she was so damn much in love with him.Could hardly believe he was hers.
Frigid air nipped at her nose and bare fingers, but she ignored the chill as she lowered her head to kiss Mårten firmly on the lips.These past three months had been the best months of her life.She loved living with Mårten in Sweden.It was a much simpler life here, but she was so happy, it felt like a small miracle.Because she’d never dreamed she could ever be this happy.Living in Mårten’s small cottage suited her immensely, she’d decided.
After she’d been released from Nikki’s care and her burns had healed enough for her to travel, Summer had flown down to see her family, to explain the whole sordid situation in detail and assure them all that she was now fine, and there would be no more danger for any of them.And to tell them the truth about how Marco’s death had affected her.Had turned her into a recluse, afraid to really live.Her parents had been shocked to hear how badly the trauma had impacted her, but none of her sisters seemed terribly surprised.They had seen beneath her veneer of self-sufficiency and her eldest sister, Jasmine was especially glad to hear when Summer told them about Mårten.So happy she’d been brought to tears when Summer announced she was moving to Sweden.But they were happy tears, delighted as she was to know that Summer had finally found love.
Summer had left her family with a promise that she would bring Mårten back to meet them all soon, perhaps for Thanksgiving.
Her friends in Seattle had been shocked at first to hear that she was moving away.She’d invited them all out to dinner at her favorite little cafe right before she flew down to see her family, deciding it would be better to get it over with and tell them all at once, asking Mårten to join them once she’d broken the news.
Bianca had tried to talk Summer out of such a rash move to start with.But then she’d laid eyes on Mårten when he arrived and her mood had changed, deciding that the way he looked at Summer waspanty-melting, and perhaps Summer was right to take the chance at love with such a hot—if not slightly serious for her liking—Swedish cop.
Mayte and Serena had both squealed with delight when she’d haltingly told them she was in love, nearly deafening her.And Trent had told her to“Go for it, girl.”embracing her in such a giant hug, it left her with tears filling her eyes.Then when Mårten had arrived fifteen minutes later, Trent had also embraced him in another of his enthusiastic squeezes, wiggling his eyebrows in delight over Mårten’s shoulder at Mayte and Serena, who were waiting their turns to get in on the cuddle-fest, clearly approving of Summer’s choice.
Summer was still mortified that she’d missed Josie and Mark’s wedding—even though she had thebest excuse ever, as Mark put it—but her friends had both been delighted that she’d found someone and wouldn’t stop hinting that she would be next on the list to get hitched, and they couldn’t wait to travel to Sweden for a summer wedding.And while Summer acted horrified at the thought, on the inside she was surprisingly unperturbed by the idea.
She missed her friends; she would be the first to admit it.But they had all promised to visit when they could get some free time, and Summer was due to fly back to Seattle in October to help Nikki complete the project she and Tammy Pittman had started on the orca whales, and she couldn’t wait.
And now she was making new friends in Luleå.Summer really liked Mårten’s police partner, Aurora, and they had become good friends over the past months.She often invited Aurora to dinner, along with a few of Mårten’s other friends.They would sit outside on the porch and drink wine as Mårten and the men grilled salmon or chicken, talking quietly together; there was something about Aurora that Summer found appealing.They had similar values and laughed at the same jokes, and she was easy to be around.The policewoman was younger than Summer, but that didn’t seem to be an issue, as And while Summer was trying to break her need to always be in control, she could understand that in Aurora’s field of work a lack of spontaneity and recklessness might be a good thing to help keep her safe.
Mårten had confided that he thought Aurora might have been sweet on him for a while.Summer didn’t disagree—it’d take a hard woman not to be a little starry-eyed around this irresistible man—but as soon as Mårten revealed Summer was coming back to live with him, Aurora had cooled her enthusiasm, becoming completely professional around him, making it clear, to Summer at least, that she would not be a threat.Aurora clearly had strong morals, and lusting after a man who was rapturously in love with another woman was not something she would ever do.
Thinking about Aurora, Summer lifted her head, breaking the kiss so she could stare down into Mårten’s clear-blue eyes, a question on her lips.
“What?”he asked, his hungry gaze never leaving her mouth.
“I was just wondering how Aurora is going today?You haven’t had a single phone call from her?Should we be worried?”Aurora had one bad habit, and that was she would call Mårten constantly, peppering him with questions.She was a rookie and still on probation, and paired together with her need to be a stickler for the rules, she didn’t like to make a decision without first consulting Mårten.Which drove him mad at times.Summer knew that Mårten and Aurora were working on something big, but neither of them would give her the details, and Mårten had probably had to push the boundaries with his boss and Aurora to get these few days of leave approved.It was a little odd that Aurora hadn’t been in touch with him even once today.
“Why are you thinking about Aurora?She’s the last thing on my mind right now.In fact…” He rolled her over so that he was on his knees, pulling her up to a sitting position next to him.“I have something I want to ask you.”He tugged her up, so they were both standing, leaned in and kissed her achingly tenderly on the lips, pulled his gloves off and tucked them into his pocket, then dropped to one knee in the dirt in front of her.
What the hell…?
