Whoopsie Daisy

by C. Sunrise

  “The clothes are just outside the door when you’re ready,” Kace says as he gently taps on the bathroom door and then walks away.

  I open the door and grab the clothes—a pair of Kace’s jogging pants and one of his hoodies. No bra or panties, but I would be concerned if he had brought me those things. His clothes are pleasantly warm on my chilled body and they smell so good—good enough to ignore how huge they are on me. I roll down the top of the pants two times to make them fit better and head out to the living room.

  “Thanks for the clothes,” I say as I hop onto the couch and watch Kace start a fire in the massive, stone-covered fireplace.

  “Sorry I didn’t have anything in your size.” He turns and smiles. “On second thought, I kind of enjoy seeing you in my clothes.” With a wink, he turns back towards the fire.

  “Easy there, cowboy,” I warn as I roll my eyes. Kace responds with a low chuckle. “Do you need a hand with anything?”

  “Nope,” he replies as a flame grows amongst the logs. “I’m good. You just sit back, put your feet up, and relax.”

  A kettle whistles in the kitchen and Kace walks over and takes it off the stove.

  “I thought you said Blaze’s house was your house,” I shout over to him. “Do you have two houses?”

  “More than two, actually.” He continues fiddling with something in the kitchen as I once again admire the craftsmanship of his home. “This one is my house, though. No one else is allowed to be in here unless I invite them.”

  “What, are you like a billionaire or something?” I ask, hoping he’s not that gang-leader I had imagined he was during our first date. “How and why do you have so many beautiful houses?”

  Cupboard doors slam shut and seconds later, Kace comes walking into the living room with a tray holding two mugs filled to the top with hot chocolate and marshmallows. He places the tray on the oversized ottoman and sits beside me.

  “Your hot chocolate, Madame.” He smiles and rolls his hand towards the mugs. “And to answer your questions, no, I’m not a ‘billionaire or something’, but my family and I don’t have to worry about money.”

  I nod, my curiosity about the mysterious Kace piqued. I wait for him to continue, but in true Kace fashion he seems to need a nudge to spill details about himself.

  “So, are you going to tell me why you’re rich?” I squint my eyes. “Or is that one of those ‘if I told you I’d have to kill you’ situations?”

  “No, Kitten, I won’t have to kill you.” He chuckles and I relax. He explains that his family is a powerful business family who has made several smart business decisions. They own the resort in town and many others around the world. Several of their resorts cater to wealthy clients, particularly Royals.

  “Bel is a manager at the resort and she never mentioned you or your family owning it,” I state and bring my cup of hot chocolate to my lips. I let out a quiet moan as the warm liquid heats me up and pleasures my taste buds.

  “We keep things under a business name and try to keep our identities private or at least out of the public eye,” he says, before sipping from his mug.

  I giggle and point at the marshmallow moustache left behind—secretly waging an internal battle between wanting to clean it off his face for him and wanting to know more about him. He slowly runs his thumb across his lip and then into his mouth, licking it clean. My eyes burn from not blinking.

  He smirks and continues as if he hadn’t just given me an eyeful of lady-porn. “We like our privacy and don’t want the attention. Also, because of our position as Primes and, more specifically, as Hunters. Kind of like your parents.” He tilts his head slightly, observing my reaction.

  “Wha… What do you mean?” I ask, feigning confusion.

  “Come on, Kitten.” He reaches over and grabs my free hand. He rubs his thumb along the back of my hand as he speaks, turning me into putty. “I thought I would have earned your trust enough by now for you to at least be honest with me. I know your parents are Royals, or at least your father is.”

  My body tenses. Internally, I’m panicking, but his touch is keeping me calm.

  Damn you, magic fingers… I wonder what else you could do for me. Or to me.

  “You don’t have to say it out loud if you don’t want to,” he says with a smile. “I can read your body language like a book right now.”

  I close my eyes and slowly release the breath I was holding.

  “Look, Kace.” I look down at our hands, watching his thumb draw circles. “I just don’t know who or what to trust; it’s nothing personal. This is all new to me, and I know there has to be a reason my parents would keep all of this a secret from me. It has to be bigger than just hoping I wouldn’t change. They seemed afraid of something.”

  My gut tells me to trust Kace, but my parents told me to not trust anyone. He seems to know a lot, and I think I would get more out of him if I were willing to do the same. He has also proven to always have my best interests at heart, regardless of what that means for him and his wants.

  “Kitten, I promise you can always trust me.” He lifts my chin up, so we are looking into each other’s eyes. “I could never intentionally do anything that would cause you harm.”

  I see the truth in his eyes. He has done nothing but be there for me since the moment we met, even during my worst moments. Even when I wouldn’t let him physically be there. Even when he saw me locking lips with his cousin.

  “I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you, that hasn’t been fair to you,” I say, briefly closing my eyes as his thumb caresses my chin. He must know what his touch does to me—the power it holds over me.

  “It’s okay,” he replies, his voice so soft and low it’s almost a whisper. “I know you were hurting and needed time to process everything. I also know that you felt hurt by those closest to you, including Bel, who happens to be my best friends’ mate. Avoiding me meant you wouldn’t run into Bel. So, I can forgive you as long as you promise you won’t do that to me ever again.” He raises an eyebrow, and his thumb stops moving.

  “I make no promises,” I say shaking my head and releasing myself from his touch. “Because my brain seems to have a mind of its own lately. Seriously, I don’t even recognise myself half of the time. My hormones and emotions are all over the place. I’m like a crazy teenager again and sometimes I just need my space to figure out what the heck is going on.” I chuckle, thinking back on all of my recent adventures on the emotional rollercoaster.

  Kace shrugs and smiles. “That makes sense.”

  He gazes at the fire thoughtfully and then turns to see the look of confusion on my face and shares his theory. He explains that because I’m twenty-five; I’m at the age where I can successfully breed. Royals, because of their importance to the balanced species, cannot breed before they turn twenty-five. Mother Nature, or whoever is in charge, determined that we don’t make smart life choices and don’t have enough control over our emotions before twenty-five and, therefore, ensuring the successful survival of our kind should not be left to teenagers and young adults. Probably a smart decision, although I know of several older adults who still make poor life choices.

  Essentially, our human hormones awaken as teenagers. So, we have the usual teenage urges and emotional experiences, but our shifter hormones awaken when we are twenty-five. Meaning, we get to experience hormonal and emotional struggles again.

  “Most of us have been shifting and letting our beasts out since we were children,” he explains. “This helps our beasts mature too. I have a theory that, because you have never shifted, your beast is caught at an earlier stage of emotional development. Our beasts often leak their personalities and characteristics into our human forms because we are all one-in-the-same with our beast and human forms. Meaning that when you are in stressful or emotionally charged situations, your beast tries to take control but does so in an emotionally immature way. Does that make sense to you?”

  “Yes,” I say, nodding thoughtfully.

  It all makes perfec
t sense. My clumsiness. My bubbliness. My awkwardness. My parents are goofy and lighthearted, but I take it all to a whole new level. The more I think about it, the more I remind myself of a young pup—bouncing around excitedly, falling all over the place, spilling food. I’ve always accepted myself and enjoy being unique, but it also feels good to know that there is a reason for it… and it’s not that something is wrong or broken with me.

  There’s a strange warmth within my body as I continue to think about the beast within and get excited to meet it.

  Do you meet your beast? How do you meet something that is you?

  “Everyone has always seen me as immature and even clumsy—like a young animal would be,” I admit to Kace, who smiles knowingly at my comment. “I’m essentially a playful puppy trapped in a woman’s body.”

  Kace chuckles and nods his head.

  “The way I’ve been acting lately also reminds me of teenage behaviour,” I continue. “Not that I’m making excuses for any of my choices and not owning up to my behaviours. So, does all of this mean I’ll turn into a little puppy when I shift?”

  “Possibly, but it’s more likely that your beast would be more like a one- or two-year-old pup rather than a little puppy,” he replies. “I’ve never heard of anyone not shifting by your age, so I don’t know for sure though.”

  “That would make sense,” I say, thinking about my experience and knowledge of dogs. “Dogs go through a second puppy phase where they can be little assholes. That’s definitely what I would have inside me—a little asshole beast.”

  I scrunch my face, realising how bad the phrase ‘little asshole beast’ sounded. Kace looks at me with his eyebrow raised and we both laugh.

  I thought I was excited about shifting before, but hearing I could have a cute, fluffy puppy hiding inside me takes my excitement to the next level.

  I love cute, fluffy puppies. Who doesn’t?

  “Can you teach me how to shift? I want to see my fluffy little beast.” I look at Kace with my best puppy-dog eyes, which, for all I know, could literally be puppy-dog eyes.

  Kace nods and then thinks for a moment before replying.

  “Let’s start slow though,” he suggests. “First, I want you to focus on your eyes. You know how they’ve been changing colour? Well, I want you to control that.”

  “How the fudge do I do that?” I stretch and scrunch different muscles in my face, trying to figure out how to control my eyes.

  “Well, think about what was happening when your eyes changed colours before.” He leans closer to me, crossing his arms. “What were you thinking and feeling at the time?”

  I think for a moment. They turned icy blue when I was with Kace or Blaze, especially if I was aroused. They turned green when I was around Percy and when I dreamed of hissing at Kace. My eyes are already icy blue now, so I need them to turn green.

  I think about Percy.

  “Anything?” I ask.

  Kace shakes his head. “Nope, still icy blue. Think harder, imagine you are back in the exact moment they changed before. Feel the same feelings. Think the same thoughts. Smell the same smells.”

  I close my eyes and picture being back at my parents’ house when I walked in with Kace on our first date and Percy came into the room. I pictured his perfectly styled hair, his now manly jaw, and how his tight fitted shirt molded along his toned body. I remember his smell. I hadn’t really focused on it at the time, but Percy had a unique smell to him—like the faint smell of lilacs and lavender, but somehow in a masculine way. I think about how strong he felt when he hugged me, how his muscles flexed around me.

  I open my eyes and look at Kace.

  “You did it!” His eyes light up with pride and adoration. “Your eyes are green.”

  I let out an excited squeal.

  I can’t believe it; I controlled my eye colour. This would have been a handy trick to learn weeks ago.

  “Now change them back to icy blue,” he commands, and I nod excitedly.

  I place my mug down on the tray and turn my body to face Kace. I take my now free hand and place it on the side of his face. His breath catches, and he smiles and leans his head into my hand. I bring my other hand up, placing it on the other side of his face. I can feel it—a brief rush of pressure in my eyes. Kace nods slightly at me, letting me know they’ve turned back to icy blue.

  I keep my hands where they are and continue holding my gaze on Kace’s eyes. I wet my suddenly parched lips with my tongue, not thinking about the consequences of this small action.

  “Kitten.” Kace growls and grabs my wrists with his hands. His breathing deepens as he speaks again. “I need you to turn your eyes back to their normal colour now.”

  He removes my hands from his face and places them on my lap. Reaching over, he grabs his hot chocolate, gripping onto the mug with both hands and then leans back, increasing the distance between us. Much to my dismay.

  I turn back towards the fireplace, not wanting to look him in the eye. I pull my knees into my chest and stare at the fire. I can’t help but feel disappointed. Rejected. But can I really blame him? I pushed him away and ignored him. I kissed his cousin. Why would I expect him to want to be with me?

  I look down at my hands as I fiddle with my fingers as the tears well up in my eyes.

  I feel so stupid. He probably only brought me here because he feels bad for me. He pities me, that’s all. I ruined my chances with him when I ran away and into Blaze’s arms. I’m so stupid. Why can’t I think before I act?

  Tears stream down my cheeks, and I wipe them with my hand.

  “Look at me,” Kace breathes.

  I shake my head. I don’t want him to see me like this and pity me even more.

  “Kitten, I said look at me,” he scolds.

  I don’t respond.

  He reaches over and grabs my legs, turning my body towards him. He gently lifts my chin.

  “Look at me,” he demands, and I reluctantly raise my gaze to his eyes.

  I feel the rush of pressure again as his thumb caresses my chin. A low growl emanates from him, and suddenly his lips crash onto mine.

  What the hell?

  TWENTY

  His lips feel so good against mine. Soft, yet demanding. Desperate. I can taste the hot chocolate on them. I nibble on his bottom lip, causing him to growl again.

  My lady bits tingle at the sound of his growls. I want more.

  I lean forward without breaking our kiss and push him back against the couch as I bring my legs over and straddle him. I don’t know where this surge of dominance is coming from, but I like it and he isn’t complaining either.

  He smiles against my lips, and I continue my attempt at seducing him. Dominating him. Grinding against him as I place my hands on his chest and push back to create distance, staring him deep in the eyes as my hips continue working their magic.

  “Kitten, you’re killing me,” he says and growls again and his eyes roll back.

  “Whatcha gonna do about it, Kace?” I smirk, pressing my lower body further into his lap as I continue rolling my hips.

  He doesn’t waste any time pulling me into him, forcing my chest to his and crashing his lips against mine again. There is a hunger in his kisses. They’re filled with passion, desire, and desperation. His excitement growing beneath me with every passing moment.

  I know that less than twenty-four hours ago I was in a very similar situation with another man, but I don’t care. I have needs, just like everyone else, and I’m sure I’ll lose my mind if I don’t get those needs met soon. Besides, I have dreamt of this since the moment I met Kace. It’s not like I’m running around looking for random hook-ups, not that there’s anything wrong with a woman doing that; it’s just not my thing.

  “Is this what you really want, Kitten.” He pulls away from our kiss, staring into my eyes as his irises lighten and his pupils dilate. “I need you to say it now because any more of your grinding and I won’t be able to control myself.”

  “Yes, Kace,” I co
nfirm as I kiss and nibble a trail down his neck. “I want you to take me right now. I want you to be my…” I trail kisses up the other side of his neck and nibble on his earlobe. “I want you to be my first,” I whisper in his ear.

  “Your first?” He pushes me back to look me in the eye.

  I bite my bottom lip and nod at him. He turns his head to the side and sighs. I watch as his jaw tenses.

  “Kace.” I turn his head back towards me. “I know what I’m saying, and I know what I want. I’m in full control right now.”

  I grab the sides of the hoodie I’m wearing and pull it up and over my head, tossing it on the floor behind me, exposing my chest to him.

  He looks up at my face briefly before growling and pulling me towards him, wrapping his mouth around my sensitive, exposed flesh, both of us caught in a wild state of euphoria. If this is the warm-up, I can’t wait to get to the main event. I put both of my hands in his hair, pulling his head deeper into my chest. He growls against my flesh and it vibrates throughout my whole body, causing me to clench my legs around him.

  His growls alone will be the end of me.

  “God, you’re beautiful, Kitten” he pants and holds my hips tight against his body. I moan with pleasure with the sound of his husky voice and the feel of his body tight against mine.

  I interrupt his attack to reach down and pull his shirt up, wanting to even the playing field. He leans back, taking it off, and I admire the view as my hands graze down his chest… down his rock-hard abs… to the elastic of his boxers peeking above his track pants. I tease my fingers along the elastic as I bite my lower lip. His head falls back and his body jerks as my fingers dance along his sensitive skin.

  I continue caressing his flesh, venturing under the elastic, enjoying the look of pleasure on his face and the way his body twitches in anticipation. His head lifts back up, and he pulls me closer, crashing our lips into each other again. Our tongues engage in a heated battle and I moan as his hips suddenly buck.

  He lets out another growl and stands up, wrapping my legs around his waist. He carries me upstairs and into his bedroom, bumping into some vases and picture frames along the way.