“You can have it back, but it’s soggy. I’m gonna hang it over the chair in the kitchen and the sleeping bag, too, so the ceiling fan can dry them over night.” He nodded and finally let her have the pillow. He watched as she removed the pillow from its case and then balanced it across the back of one of her kitchen chairs across from where she’d draped the sleeping bag. She turned the fan to high and returned to him in the living room. She stepped behind him and moved the throw pillows on her couch to the floor, “You can go get dried off in the bathroom if you want to. I’ll get the couch ready for you.” She didn't look up to see him nod his head, but he was sure that she noticed him leaving the room for her bathroom. When he came back into the living room with a towel wrapped around his waist, she had made up the couch for him with a fresh pillow and blanket. She was half sitting, half lying on the pillow, and she stood when he entered, a deep flush working its way up her chest to her cheeks.
“It’s all ready for you,” she managed to stammer. “If you need something else, just let me know. Sleep well, Daniel.” She wouldn't meet his eyes and rushed back to her own bedroom, her mind going so fast that her thoughts could barely keep up. “Oh fuck, Oh fuck, Oh fuck!! The man is huge, fucking gorgeous with muscles and beautiful tawny skin for days, and he was hard. As. A. Rock. Yes… there!” And he was sleeping on her couch. She pulled the door to, but not quite closed and jumped into her own bed. She heard Daniel slipping under the blankets and getting comfortable on her couch.
Then she heard his voice, “Avaleigh, thank you. I don’t ever remember feeling- I mean it’s just-,” he was having trouble putting his thoughts into words, and she thought for a moment that he had given up, but then, “This is the most precious gift, love. I’ll never forget that you offered me shelter in your home.”
It seemed a little overkill to her, so she tried to play it off, “It’s just a couch, Daniel.”
“No, it’s not. It’s trust. Without trust, there is nothing. Good night, love.”
And damn it, if he wasn’t right. She wouldn't have invited him into her sanctuary, her home, if she didn't trust him. She trusted him. How the hell had that snuck up on her?
Standing on the porch to the main house, Kaid watched as Avaleigh opened the door and brought Daniel into her home. He smiled sadly to himself as he turned to go back inside. He knew she didn't like storms, and now he also knew she wouldn't be needing him to help her through them anymore. Bear whined a little in his head, “Miss ours,” he thought at Kaid. “She’s not ours,” Kaid thought at him. “Could have been,” Bear thought back at him, right before he sent Kaid a perfect image of his big furry butt, as he turned his back on Kaid and curled up to nurse his own loneliness deep in the back of Kaid's mind. “I’m trying to do the right thing, Bear.” Bear didn't answer him. Perfect, Kaid thought, even my damn Bear is deserting me.
Sometime later in the night the storm increased, and the thunder raged. It woke her from the best sleep she remembered having in a long time. The lightning struck nearby and took out the electricity and that combined with the roaring of the rain on her roof sent her screeching into her living room where her subconscious seemed to remember that Daniel was sleeping. He sat up as she came rushing into the room, and he could see her clearly standing just inside the archway. Now, she was not quite sure of how to proceed. She put her hands out to try to feel her way around as she moved into the room, and he realized that she had no night vision, so he coaxed her toward him. “I’m here, love. It’s okay, just a little power outage.”
“I hate storms. I know it’s silly, and that makes me even more irritated, but I just can’t help it. I hate storms,” she repeated, “they make me a nervous wreck.” Still sitting on her couch partially covered by the blanket, he reached out until his hand brushed hers and waited just for a second to be sure that she wouldn't pull away. Then he pulled the blanket back with one hand as he gently lead her to him on the couch with the other. Just as her legs bumped the couch, another loud crack of thunder sounded, and she jumped in his general direction, landing in his lap and wrapping her arms around him. He didn't know who the powers that be were that had sent this storm, but whoever they were, he sent up a silent little prayer of thanks as he wrapped one arm around her, while he used the other to pull the blanket up over the both of them. He laid back on the couch, shifting her to lay atop him with her head on his chest as he settled the blanket and his arms over and around her. She snuggled in, and he’d have sworn he heard a soft little sigh. He kissed the top of her head, “I’ve got you, Avaleigh. You’re safe. Sleep, love.” And she did, straight through the night, thunder and lightning be damned, she never heard another sound.
The next morning, she woke to a poke. Then another, a prodding to her ribcage. Then a rumbled, “Stop poking her. She’s sleeping.” She turned her head, still laying on Daniel’s chest, and came face-to face, only inches apart mind you, with Mav.
“Of course,” she said.
Mav grinned at her, “Glad you’re up!” he announced, “I was afraid I’d wake you.”
“You did wake me,” and she gave him as much stink eye as she could muster while she was still wrapped in Daniel’s arms, and her face was stuck to his chest.
“Oh. Well, as long as you’re up. Could you cook us breakfast? Goldy is trying, and if it wasn't for the two skillets he’s already thrown out the back door, I might have trusted him to feed me, but, no, just can’t do it. So can you come cook, or what?” Mav followed up his explanation with the brilliant smile that he bestowed upon whatever female he had chosen for a little alone time.
“That smile doesn't work on me, Mav,” she mumbled as she tried to lift herself off of Daniel.
“Sure it does, you’re female, it works,” he smiled smugly as she struggled to free herself from the blanket. All of a sudden she realized two things, one-Daniel had allowed Mav to poke her, “You let him poke me. Isn't your beast supposed to be able to prevent that?”
“Hey, I held him off for almost 45 minutes. I finally had to give in — he was just too pitiful,” Daniel answered her honestly.
And two; Daniel was the reason she couldn't untangle herself from the damned blanket, “Will you let the damn blanket go, so I can get up?!”
“Nope, not gonna happen with another male here. Nobody sees what’s mine, but me.”
She didn't even bother to argue with him. She just looked at Mav, “Go stop Goldy from ruining another of my skillets. I’m on my way.”
“You got it, darlin’,” and he ran off, slamming her door behind him as he raced away to do what she asked, screaming at the top of his lungs, “Goldy, Ave says she’s gonna kick your ass for messing up her skillets…” his voice trailed off as he went.
She returned her attention to the male she was currently using as a bed. “Good morning,” she smiled at him. “Morning,” he rumbled back.
“Thank you for holding me last night.”
“Thank you for letting me hold you,” he replied. He ran one hand down the arch of her back and let it come to rest just at the top of her ass. The movement made her curl her hips ever so slightly, but it was enough for her to feel him. He was huge, completely naked and still rock hard, pressed against her mound where her thighs met, and against her lower abdomen, and against her belly button. Huge, fucking huge. His hips moved ever so slightly in response to hers, and she couldn't help the soft moan that escaped her throat. He moved the other hand up to clasp around the back of her neck, under her hair, and he brought her down to his lips, slowly, giving her time to pull away. She didn’t, so he lifted his head the last little bit to bring his lips into contact with hers. They were warm, almost too warm, and soft, so soft but insistent and firm as he nipped and nibbled at her lips. His tongue came out to just barely swipe at her bottom lip, asking entrance. She could feel his heart pounding against her chest, seemingly in perfect time with hers. She didn't even hesitate — she opened just enough to allow him in, and he took total control. Moving his other hand up to help him
angle her head just where he wanted it. Sliding his tongue against hers, tasting, teasing, claiming her mouth as his. She was so lost that she had no idea that she’d wrapped her hands in his hair and was holding him against her just as fiercely as he held her. He ravaged her mouth, showing her, with just his kiss how much pleasure he could give her, just how loved he would make her feel, just how much she owned him. And as he wrapped a hand around her waist and turned her back to the couch, easing himself on top of her, parting her legs with his knee, Goldy burst into the room. “Damn it, Baby Girl, it ain't my fault those damn skillets ain't cooking right. They’re defective. I’m doing everything I’m supposed to, and the damn things just keep sticking!!! I’ll buy you some more in town today, but I’ll make sure these new ones are the good kind, not that cheap shit that just ruined the breakfast I was making.”
She lifted her head and met Goldy’s eyes over Daniel’s shoulder. “Could we maybe continue this a little later?”
“Sure, Baby Girl. Go get dressed and I’ll show you why those fucking skillets ain’t working right. Ya’ll can finish this later,” he gestured between Avaleigh and Daniel.
“That isn't quite what I meant,” she mumbled as she started pushing Daniel up, so she could extract herself. “Good morning, Goldy,” Daniel rumbled as he wrapped the blanket around her as she got up off the couch and went into her room to get dressed.
“Morning, Dan. Good Lord, that thing don’t make you pass out when it gets like that? I’m surprised you can get any woman to bend over for that thing — it would likely split them in half.” She just shook her head to herself as she got in the shower, and Goldy launched into his explanation of how he knew that women really didn't like dicks that big, but, of course, that was Goldy. He knew more than anyone about anything, anyone and anywhere, even if it was all in his head. We’d all just gotten used to him. We tuned him out and let him ramble. He was a good man, with an even better heart — he just loved to brag even when there was nothing to brag about. She always kind of thought maybe it was because he was lonely at heart. He had no one to share his life with, to have his back, so to speak. He had us, sure, but it wasn't the same as a Mate, a woman who would share your every thought, every idea and dream. And he was older than the other guys, so maybe it was harder on him than the rest. He’d been alone longer.
When she got out and made her way into the living room, it was just Daniel waiting for her. He smiled and came to wrap her in a hug. Avaleigh hugged him back, albeit a little stiffly, resting her hands on his waist. She was just feeling a little awkward. She had practically pasted a sign over her forehead that said, “Come and get it,” just a little bit earlier, and she wasn't even sure she was ready for this. He seemed to know this, though. He cupped the back of her head and held her against his chest as he kissed the top of her head. “No rush, love. As fast or as slow as you want is exactly what we’ll do. No more, no less.” He kissed her head again and took her hand to lead her across the clearing to the main house.
Chapter 15
As they walked into the kitchen from the back door, there were men in different stages of dress and undress all over the room. They all stopped to look at Avaleigh, Bane with a raised eyebrow, looking back and forth from Daniel to Avaleigh. “What?” she asked.
“Anything you want to share?” Bane questioned.
“Nooooo, should there be?” she shot back at him, looking from him to the others.
Kaid came into the kitchen then, “Stop your crap, guys, give her a break. Go get dressed, so we can get going — we don’t have a lot of time.”
“I’ll throw some breakfast together real quick,” she told him. He just looked at her and nodded before going back into his room.
“Thank fuck! I think I might be starving over here!” Mav added.
She threw some scrambled eggs and sausage patties with biscuits on the table real quick. “Sorry about the canned biscuits, guys, I overslept,” Avaleigh said as she sat. Mumbles for answers was all she got except for Kaid, who hmpfed to himself at her words. She noticed, but if anyone else did, they didn't say anything about it. After a few minutes she said, “Kaid, I was thinking that maybe you could stay home with me today?” He stopped mid-chew as his eyes flew up to meet hers. He looked back and forth between Avaleigh and Daniel, then to each of the guys, before looking back down at his plate, “Can’t today, Ave. Got things I need to finish at the site.”
“No, you don’t, Kaid. You finished your part day before yesterday. You just been going with us, so Daniel could have some alone time with Avaleigh. Remember? You said that in the truck yesterday morning,” Bam told him.
Kaid put his fork on his plate, sat back and placed his hands on his thighs as he regarded Bam, who was smiling at him, innocently. At that moment Avaleigh wondered for the first time, if maybe Bam's observances weren’t so innocent after all, or if maybe, just maybe, he was fully aware of his perfectly placed comments and the demeanor with which he delivered them and how that persona kept him from being called out on his deliverance of said comments. But there he sat, waiting for Kaid to acknowledge his good memory and thank him for the reminder.
“Yeah, Bam. I remember,” Kaid said, and he shook his head slowly to no one but himself.
“Good, then you can stay with Avaleigh today, and we will take Daniel with us,” said Bam as though he had finalized everything. And if it weren't for the stiffening of Daniel beside her, she would have thought that he had indeed finalized everything.
After breakfast Daniel asked her for a spare minute to speak with him outside. They walked out onto the porch together, and he turned to her there, “I don’t want you to stay with Kaid without me here, love.”
“What? Why? You have no reason to worry about my safety with Kaid. He protected me before you — he will protect me now.”
He fumbled with his hands and wouldn't look her in the eye.
“What’s the problem, Daniel?” He looked at her, but still hesitated. “Trust, remember? Last night you said I gave you the gift of trust. Give me the same. If you don’t, we have no chance. If we do this, I want no secrets. At all. Better yet, I will tolerate no secrets, no lies, no deception. All out in the open or nothing at all.”
He met her eyes, “I heard you ask Kaid to complete the claim the other day. It almost killed me just to hear the words. I don’t want you to stay here with him without me, because I’m worried you may make him the same offer, and this time he may take you up on it.”
Kaid took that moment to walk past them on the porch, and he actually smiled at Daniel a little too brightly on his way to the truck that the guys would be taking to work. “Had to get my wallet, since I’m staying here and all,” he smiled at Daniel again before he walked around the back of the house and out of sight. Avaleigh still hadn't answered Daniel. She wasn't quite sure what to say. She had asked Kaid to complete the claim, and he had refused, but ultimately it represented a lack of trust in her on Daniel’s part to question her on it. But she had certainly provoked his point of view where that was concerned. She just wasn't ready to make any promises to Daniel, no matter how hot he was. She still had so many issues, fear of his Dragon, not the least among them. So she gave him what little she could, “Your being here or not will not affect my offer to Kaid. He refused me. And for the record, I was afraid, so I was grasping at straws to try to keep everything from changing.”
“And now, love? Would you still keep everything from changing?” The guys were coming out of the house, loading their stuff in the truck. Bam was hollering from the kitchen telling her he couldn't find his lunch. “Daniel, could we just talk about this later? Please? I asked Kaid to stay with me because we need to settle a few things, okay? We need to make things okay between us.” Daniel just watched her for a moment. “Fine,” he finally said. “No secrets?” “Yes, no secrets” she answered him. He stepped closer to her and spoke quietly so that no others could hear. “He told me about your not being able to have children, too.” Her breath whooshed out
and her heart dropped. She looked up to him with fire in her eyes, clearly a challenge. Was he going to deny her now, try to tell her he was the best she could hope for because anyone else wouldn't want her because she couldn't give him a child? She was ready to fight. It wasn't her fault she was broken, and she didn't need anyone trying to make her less because of it. Then he took away all her fight with his next words. “I’m glad, Avaleigh. Glad you can’t have children. I’m a selfish son of a bitch because if you could, I would live in fear. Human women shouldn't carry a Dragon’s young. They aren’t strong enough, and it could kill them, usually does kill them. So when Kaid told me you couldn't have any, while my heart hurt because you hurt, my heart also sang because I would never have to watch you die for our young. You would be safe and live a long life with me. It was almost as though the gods knew you would be mine and made it so that my young couldn't kill you. That you could be mine with no hesitation, with no fear of losing you on my part. So see, that’s my secret. That I’m glad that you can’t have my young. Can you forgive me, Avaleigh?” He put his finger beneath her chin to make her look up at him. “You don’t think I’m broken, do you?” she whispered to him. He smiled “No, love, you’re perfect.” Bam came out of the door then, lunch in hand, screen door slamming behind him, “Found it!” He announced with a big grin, as he took Daniel by the arm and dragged him to the truck. “Please, Avaleigh, don’t offer yourself to him again. You’re mine.” She could feel Kaid just inside the screen door watching. She didn't answer Daniel with a yes or a no. “Have a good day, Daniel. Dinner will be ready when you get home.” She could see the firming of his jaw as he climbed in the back of the truck next to Bam. As they drove away, she turned to Kaid standing just inside the screen door. “You had no right to tell him that. It’s my story to tell.”
I'm Not A Dragon's Mate! Page 16