Chapter 40

 

Kelsey sat there staring out the window. The house was quiet and she didn’t want to go down the stairs and wake anyone when the steps creaked. She wasn’t sure when she’d fallen asleep, only knew that she woke to silence and darkness. Gage must have brought her up, because she’d been far too exhausted to make it on her own.

After he’d made her eat two sandwiches, still shocked that she was able to eat after a steak dinner, they’d sat on the porch and waited for Devin to return.

Gage didn’t relax, even after learning the guys hadn’t picked up the strange scent again. That’s the last thing she remembered.

It was so dark outside, but she was able to see and hear things she knew she wouldn’t have before, and with her newly improved senses she knew it was oddly quiet out there tonight.

Glancing at the clock, she sighed. Why was she awake at three in the morning? Kneeling by the window, she rested her arms on the ledge and inhaled deeply again. Other than trees and dirt, she couldn’t smell anything out of the ordinary. She wondered if she’d scent more if she was in her cat form.

Grinning, she shook her head. The fact that she’d shifted still had her mind reeling. She’d been a large orange tiger that could run faster than her first car could go downhill; at least it felt that way. And, to her delight, she’d climbed that tree she used to stand beside and wish for a way up. Much to everyone’s surprise and displeasure she’d done it. She was a tiger shifter. There was no denying any of it now.

Glancing over her shoulder, she looked at the clock again, so restless it was unnerving. You would think after everything that had happened, she’d be unconscious deep in an exhausted sleep. She’d had sex with Gage, was no longer a virgin. Add in the tiger part, and the night had been one of many firsts. Sighing, she looked at the door; she really didn’t want to stay in her room right now.

Gnawing on her lip, she stood and took a few steps toward the door. Her mind wanted to remember everything that happened, and as hard as she tried, she couldn’t stop it. What she’d done with Gage had been something else. Too bad she couldn’t hold onto a lot of the feelings, being lost in the heat blurred her memories, the only part she regretted. For too many years, she’d wondered, daydreamed, and fantasized about what it would be like to be with Gage in that way and she had been robbed of the emotions.

A twinge of heat moved through her and she stiffened; after assessing it was just good old lust and not her cycle, she relaxed. It excited her to realize she wanted Gage without the pull of the shifter thing. Picturing him naked made her smile, his body was much more perfect than she’d dreamed it would be. He was so fit, in all the right places, and she hadn’t thought he would be as patient as he had been. Not that she was complaining, but she had to wonder if things would have been different if she hadn’t been consumed by the heat at the time.

Thinking about this was just making her antsy, not to mention turned on. Biting her lip, she stood there and stared at her closed door. What would he do if she went to him when she wasn’t out of her mind with animal heat?

Taking a deep breath, she exhaled and decided she was now going to find out. Not knowing when the cycle was going to consume her again, she wanted just one thing to be in her control.

Stepping out into the hall, she moved toward his door, careful not to make the floorboards creak. Devin and Rayne were downstairs in the guest room, but she still didn’t want to alert anyone to her movements.

Turning the doorknob, she opened the door and went in, closing it behind her just as quietly. When she turned toward the bed, Gage bolted upright.

“Kelsey? Are you all right?” He inhaled deeply and then looked her up and down.

She didn’t have to ask what he was sniffing for, he’d know better than she what her body smelled like. “I couldn’t sleep.”

Moving to the side of the bed, he swung his legs over the edge, pulling the sheet over him as he did. “What’s wrong?”

No doubt he could sense her nerves, as her heart tried to pound out of her chest. Swallowing, she took a few tentative steps in his direction. “I was thinking, so much happened tonight…” She watched his shoulders stiffen.

“It wasn’t the way I wanted things to go…”

“I know. I wasn’t blaming you.” She let her eyes roam over all the skin the sheet didn’t hide. His chest and abs were so toned, not overly muscled, but more than enough to stir her awareness. She watched his chest rise and fall as she stepped in front of him, close enough to reach out and touch him. He continued to sit there, tense and immobile, as if he was waiting to find out why she in his room in the middle of the night. “I woke up and couldn’t help thinking…” biting her lip, she looked up his nakedness until she reached his eyes, “wondering…” she didn’t know how to say it.

His chest expanded as he took a deep breath, awareness lit his eyes. “Come here,” he wove his fingers through her hair and pulled her toward him. “I’m glad you came to me.” His lips brushed over hers, so lightly she shivered with need. “I’ve been laying here driving myself crazy,” his mouth moved down over her jaw, “walking away from you when I put you in bed took all my restraint.”

Everywhere his mouth touched caught fire; it felt like lava moving through her veins. “I don’t want your restraint now,” she whispered, dizzy as his masculine scent filled her senses.

He paused, his lips against her ear, “What do you want, honey?”

Running her hands up over his shoulders, she felt his muscles clench under her touch. “I want to be with you when it’s my choice.”

He let out a ragged breath and she couldn’t be sure if it was relief, but then his mouth moved back to hers, his lips close but not touching hers, “Let me show you how it was supposed to be.” He didn’t wait for her to respond before his mouth took hers in a kiss so sensual and consuming it made her head spin.

His tongue stroked over hers slowly, as if he was memorizing her mouth, her taste. She felt his hands move to her waist and pull the pants she still wore down over her hips. Deepening the kiss, he pushed the material down her legs. Kelsey grasped his head, not wanting him to stop kissing her as she stepped out of them.

Gage hands molded to her skin as he moved up the back of her legs until coming to rest on her hips. Tearing his mouth away his hands moved up over her ribs, she made a sound of frustration, not wanting him to stop.

Lifting her shirt up, he pulled it over her head and tossed it on the floor. She felt self-conscious being exposed, but the way his eyes caressed her kept her standing in quietly. If he didn’t touch her soon, she was going to collapse on the floor in anticipation.

His hands slid down her arms, leaving her shivering in awareness when he grasped her wrists, pushing her arms behind her pinning them together in one of his large hands. With a feather-light touch, he ran the back of his free hand over her shoulder, trailing it slowly to her breast. Her nipple puckered tighter, almost painfully, as he lingered. She gasped and closed her eyes, focusing on the sensations his touch created.

“You’re so beautiful, I feel like the luckiest man on earth.”