“I see.” Why in the world were they having this conversation? “And so, you can sit there and tell me how you can never find a guy who doesn’t want a family and I’ll sit here and tell you I don’t and you get to tell me I’m wrong?”
She looked taken aback. “Mine is a medical condition!”
“So is mine.” He stared at her until she squirmed and looked away. She could never fully understand what happened when a wolf shifter went mad from some kind of genetic anomaly. It was just too gruesome to imagine. If Titus hadn’t seen it for himself, he wouldn’t believe it either.
She set her wine glass aside and stared at him for a long moment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to invalidate you or anything.”
“It’s okay.” He wasn’t sure what was going to happen. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to happen. He needed to walk away. He’d gotten information from her on her lawsuit. He’d discovered something personal about her that he had no business knowing. It was time to go. He stood up. “I should leave. You need to get some rest I’m sure. And I probably need to get some as well.”
She stood up too. “I wish you would stay.”
“Here in your wine garden?” he teased. “No, thanks. I can’t believe you can sit this close to the fire when it’s easily still eighty degrees out here.”
Kylie gave him a droll stare of amusement. “It’s not eighty degrees.”
He was about to tell her it damn well was eighty degrees when she stood on tiptoe and kissed his lips.
The touch all but rooted him right there to the patio. It was so unexpected and so innocent! For a moment he was almost sure he’d imagined it. But no. She was right there in front of him so close that he could smell her again. She was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Casual clothes that would take no time at all to rip off. He could see her naked, right now. Bent over a lounge chair with her legs spread so he could take her and make her his. That was the image his brain painted in this moment. One kiss and he was nearly out of his mind with lust.
“I’m sorry.” She looked embarrassed. “I don’t know why I did that. Maybe I was just moved by your story.”
Titus swallowed back the words he wanted to say and nodded. “That’s all right. I hope you sleep well, Ms. Overton. I promise you’re safe for tonight. I’ll make sure of that.”
She gave him a funny look and then nodded. “All right. I’ll hold you to it.”
Titus forced himself to leave. He even forced himself to exit the fence and walk at least a dozen yards down the hill before he shifted into his wolf form and went sprinting through the woods to take what he hoped would be a very cold swim.
Chapter Eight
Kylie was pretty sure she was the stupidest woman alive. That had to be the reason she had just totally embarrassed herself in front of her neighbor. Actually, embarrassed herself wasn’t really enough of a description. She had thrown herself at him. Kylie might as well have taken off her clothes, laid down on the lounge chair, and begged Titus Holbrook to make love to her.
She felt a tingling between her legs at the thought of the phrase make love. She had gone too long without a man and it was starting to show. She was acting as though every single guy who was even nice to her was totally interested in having a relationship, or at least screwing. And that just wasn’t true.
It didn’t take long for Kylie to go inside and grab another bottle of wine. She had cases and cases of the stuff thanks to her job even though she wasn’t really much of a wine drinker. It did make a good gift though. And no doubt that’s why most of her so-called friends liked to hang out at her place. Kylie brought the bottle back outside to the patio and set it alongside her glass beside the jacuzzi.
She felt restless and hot, as if her entire body was thrumming with tension and something else. Lust. It was lust. Plain and simple. She fidgeted as she undressed herself until she was naked behind the big privacy fence in her backyard. This wasn’t the first time she’d gone into the spa naked. but it was normally a treat better saved for those long, lonely winter nights.
Tonight she didn’t care that the balmy air was probably hotter than the water. That was good. Kylie slipped into the jacuzzi and felt the cool kiss of the water on her skin. She reached up and wrapped the rubber band around her hair more firmly in place to hold it above her head. Then she sank all the way to her chin and closed her eyes.
The first image that appeared in her mind’s eye was Titus Holbrook in his house yesterday—naked, except for that tiny scrap of fabric he called underwear. She could see him sliding that last scrap off his backside, the fabric pooling around his feet until it was kicked aside. Then the slow glide of his muscular body into the jacuzzi water. She could picture all of this. The wine was probably helping.
Kylie poured herself another glass and drank it down. Alcohol and jacuzzies did not mix. Kylie didn’t care though as she floated in the zero gravity cocoon of the water and let her mind wander. She wanted to sink into oblivion, which was so much better than reality. The feel of her dream lover’s body against hers. The glide of his skin. The taste of his mouth. The…
“Hey now, sweetheart, that’s not a good way to rest for tonight.”
His words! He was talking to her. Kylie wrapped her arms around Titus’s neck and felt the warmth of his chest against her cool skin. He lifted her from the water. Droplets coating the both of them as he stepped out of the jacuzzi and onto the steps leading back down to the patio.
He was looking down at her. She looked up at him. She touched his face with her hands. So handsome. Had anyone ever been this handsome? And then she kissed him because it was a dream and she could do whatever she wanted. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him long and slow and hard until she was straining against him and he was kissing her back. She lightly flicked her tongue across his lips until they parted. Then she slid her tongue inside his mouth to mate with his.
He tasted intensely erotic, a mixture of spice and male domination. He set her down on a lounge chair. Kylie didn’t care. It didn’t matter. She would make love to him there if he wanted. It could be just as much fun as the water, really. Maybe more.
She felt his body. His shoulders were bare. She dug into the hard flesh with her nails, scoring his skin lightly as she drew her hands down his back and across his ribs. He hissed and deepened his kiss, plunging his tongue into her mouth and staking a claim on her soul. She reveled in the passion and the unbridled lust between them. This was down and dirty and real just like she wanted it. Everything her dream lover should have been and more right there between her legs and covering her body.
Kylie undulated against him. She lifted her head and bit his shoulder when his lips traveled from her mouth to her neck. He licked the column of her throat. She bent her head and licked the salty sweat from his chest. She wished this could last forever. That she could be in this perfect dream for the rest of her life.
“Please,” she moaned softly. She arched her back and lifted her breasts into the air.
He didn’t seem to need any more invitation. His lips caressed her nipples. He sucked and licked until they were hard and thrusting into his mouth to beg for more. She squirmed and whimpered and shoved her fingers through his hair. She pulled him closer and begged for him to continue. She needed more. So much more. All of him. Everything he had to give her and she wanted it now.
Titus’s hands were everywhere. He caressed her back and cupped her bottom and pulled her into the curve of his body as they writhed together on the chair. No. On the ground. They were on the ground. Maybe. It didn’t matter. He undulated against her even as she pushed against him. She needed more still. More than his mouth on her breasts. More. More. More.
His hands began to touch her hips and her backside. He used his lips to tease her neck and to kiss his way back to her mouth even as he kneaded the flesh of her sides and took hold of her hips in order to push himself against her.
He was wearing shorts. How odd. She didn’t want him in shorts, but this was her d
ream and if she wanted them gone, she would simply make them go away. But the thought didn’t last long because he lightly drew his fingertips across the short curly hair of her mound and Kylie forgot how to breathe.
She lay on her back, legs spread slightly apart, knees drawn up, feet planted on the ground waiting for the moment when he would finally touch her. The moment. The one thing she had been waiting all her life for.
Titus kissed the inside of her thighs, lingering over each delicate inch of flesh as he tickled and tormented her. He lightly stroked her with his palms and then laid the flat of his right hand against her mound. She gasped. The anticipation was making her crazy. She whimpered and panted and then finally, his fingers lightly spread her sex and he gave her everything that she wanted.
Kylie pushed herself against him. She held tight as he carefully touched her and stroked her on her way to completion. Her mind was full of images. Titus in the water. Titus’s smile. The incredible way he smelled. His kisses and his low, sexy voice. This was her man. Her lover. The only one she ever wanted. And when she finally reached that peak, she cried out his name over and over again. The sound of it rang in her ears and made her want to weep with the fulfillment she felt in that moment.
Lethargy set in almost immediately. She was so tired. So incredibly exhausted. She felt as though her body had slumped to the ground until it was nothing more than a puddle upon the earth. She wished she could go back to the water. Back to that moment when she could be sure she would just float forever with the lovely sensation of zero gravity. Nothing to hold her up. Nothing to weigh her down.
Titus lifted her from the ground to his arms. He carried her carefully until she felt like she was floating. Suspended against him without a single thought as to what might happen next, none of it mattered, really. She was done. Ready to sleep it off and wake up tomorrow and pretend it had never happened.
At some point, she became aware of a presence around her, near her. She was being carried into the house, perhaps she was walking though she was sure she wasn’t that drunk. But it didn’t feel like being drunk. There was no stumbling or thrashing about trying to figure out where she was going. No sick feeling in her stomach or headache either, but moments later she felt the soft cool sheets of her bed. Her mind was too muddled to wonder anymore about how she’d gotten there. It just didn’t matter. Why worry about it when she was so sure things were marvelous right now? So, she gave a little sigh and snuggled into her pillows. Moments later, she was fast asleep.
Hours later she woke abruptly and sat up with a start. Her head was pounding. Every cell in her body was dying of thirst. She looked around her room and wondered why it was she could see so clearly. Her mind was muddled. And then she realized there was someone moving about very softly in her living room. Just a rustle. A soft sound of fabric here or a creak from the couch there.
Kylie’s heart sped up and blood thrummed through her veins. She carefully flung her legs over the side of the mattress. She was naked. How in the hell had that happened? Then she remembered. She had taken her clothes off to go in the jacuzzi. Had she actually stumbled back to the bedroom naked afterwards?
Good Lord! That’s a lot of wine!
Reaching for the night gown she kept folded on a chair beside her bed, Kylie pulled it on over her head. She was pleasantly tingly beneath the hangover. How odd. And when she stood up, there was more than just a tingle between her legs. As though she had… well, she wasn’t going to think about that. Her breasts were tender, too. The satin fabric of her summer nightie felt cool and welcome against her skin. Her hair was a mess. That didn’t matter. She pulled on her wrap and padded out toward the living room to see who or what was out there.
Caution probably would have been wiser in this case. On some level, Kylie knew that she should not be blundering about when there had been a string of prowler sightings. She might be stumbling upon Hilary Allenwood going through her things. But if that was the case, Kylie was ready to give her a good beating. Hangover or not.
“Good morning.”
Kylie staggered back a step and came to a stop. She felt the urge to hide, as if she should be running back to her room and putting on a whole lot more clothing before sitting down to chat with Titus Holbrook in her living room. He’d been sitting in her armchair reading a book, which would have been fine had she understood why he was there!
“Titus?”
He closed the book and set it on an end table. Then he stood up. His chest was bare. Why was that the first real fact her brain inventoried? He was wearing shorts and sandals, but no shirt? Just the whisper of a memory drifted through her mind. Her hands on his shoulders. Her nails digging into his hard muscle and taut golden skin. She bit her lip and tried to keep herself from doing something stupid. Like swooning. That would have been dumb.
“You didn’t seem as though you were all right on your own,” Titus said by way of explanation.
His words jarred her a little. When was Kylie ever not okay on her own? “Excuse me?”
“You were floating in the hot tub more than a little inebriated.” He looked rather chagrined. It was an odd expression on his handsome face. His features were sort of guarded, as though he was trying not to say very much about this. “I happened to be doing one of my night checks of the neighborhood. I was behind your fence and I—I heard the splashing water. So, I poked my head in the gate to make sure you were all right.”
“Of course I was all right!” She didn’t actually sound all that convincing. Even to herself. “So you what? Pulled me out and brought me inside?”
He didn’t respond. He was waiting. For what? Her mind was a bit foggy. No doubt sleep and wine and too much of one and too little of the other. She pulled her wrap tighter around her body and wondered if she should just tell him she was fine and he could go.
“I’m sorry.” He spread his hands.
Kylie huffed out a little sigh and rubbed her hands down her face. Then she perched in a corner of her sofa and drew her legs up close to her body. “No. I’m the one who should be sorry. Obviously, I was a little more… stressed out last night than I thought. I just…” Kylie didn’t finish that sentence. She had been having major erotic dreams. That was becoming clear as her mind painted lots and lots of images for her waking brain to be embarrassed about. Maybe his pulling her out of the hot tub without a shirt had just set off all of those repressed feminine sex hormones she had been trying so hard to forget about.
Titus sat down on the other end of the sofa. His expression showed a fair amount of concern. Kylie wasn’t sure what drew her gaze to them, but she gradually became aware of little red lines on his shoulders. Marks that looked rather like someone had scratched him.
“Oh my God,” she whispered, absolutely mortified. “Did I do that when you dragged me out of the jacuzzi?”
He looked confused. “Did you do what?”
“Those marks on your shoulders!” She hastily leaned forward to better see him and was almost sorry she did. The marks were a livid red compared to the golden tan tone of his skin. “Look at that! It’s like I clawed you!”
“Oh. That.” He shrugged. “It’s nothing. I think you were a little—ah—you were maybe a little excited.”
“What kind of excited?” Kylie wasn’t actually sure she wanted to know. “What do you mean I was excited? I thought I passed out.”
“I thought you were.” Titus seemed as though he was trying really hard not to actually say what he was trying to say. It was odd. “I thought you had fallen into the jacuzzi. It turned out you were flailing around and having difficulty trying to get out. That’s all. So, I brought you in here. You passed out. I thought I should stay and keep checking on you because you might choke or something. You know how it goes.”
“Right,” Kylie pressed. “But what happened? I scratched you when I was flailing?”
He paused. Why was there a pause? Why wouldn’t he just say yes? What had happened? And then Kylie had the worse feeling ever. The thought
that all of those erotic dreams and the lovely alcohol-induced trip down lusty lane might actually be true. That was mortifying. Her mouth went dry and she thought for a moment that she might be ill.
“Kylie,” he said in a low gravelly voice. “You were a little out of it. That’s all.”
She swallowed and nearly choked. Probably on her pride. “Yeah. I’m sure. I was just out of it. I’m fine now, you know? You should go. I’m sure you have other things to do. Like sleep. In your house.” She hoped fervently that he would take the hint. Her nerves couldn’t handle any more of this wondering.
“Of course.” He sounded so gentle.
Titus stood up and headed for her front door. Kylie followed. The first streaks of dawn were just beginning to light the sky. She could only imagine what anyone who happened to be watching would think about him leaving her place at the crack of dawn. What did it imply? Did Kylie care? And what was she so worried about?
“Kylie, take care of yourself. All right?” Titus pursed his lips and looked as though he wanted to say more. There was a shadow of worry over his handsome face. He certainly didn’t look like a murderous werewolf. “I’m right across the street if you need anything.”
“Thank you.” She barely managed to whisper the words without squirming like a guilty child. And then she shut the door and she leaned her back against it, fighting the urge to open it again and beg him not to go.
Chapter Nine
If there had ever been an action plan or some kind of list of things that Titus was going to do in conjunction with this case, he was completely at a loss by now. By the time he managed to get back across the street to his own place, he could barely remember who Hilary Allenwood was or why he cared. His mind was too focused on the absolutely incredible moments he had just shared with Kylie Overton.
Titus stumbled through his front door and locked it behind him. He went through the motions of checking out his house to make sure there had been no intruders in his absence. A quick sniff, a cursory glance around, and then he went to his bedroom and he got into the coldest shower his pipes could provide.
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