Her hands would reach out and touch him, he was sure she wasn’t aware of what she was doing. There was a soft caress to his arm or a gentle pat on the back of his hand. It was like she was reassuring herself that he was real. Every time she did that her mind drew a little closer to his. Soon she would be able to mentally communicate with him.
He changed positions in the car trying to make it easier for him to sit since his dick was rock hard and rubbing painfully against his jeans.
Chapter Thirteen
They were sitting in Declyn and Safire’s living room; Fire insisted.
“This is beautiful” Sage was looking around a bit awestruck the difference of just this room to the apartments they used to live in was incredible
The room was large and comfortable. They had gone with wood floors with some well-placed rugs to give it that comfy feel. The furniture was big and soft. It made her want to curl up in a ball and stay a while. The walls were painted the lightest of blue that enhanced but didn’t overwhelm the room. The best part of the room was that everyone looked comfortable, and they looked like a family.
“Someone has great taste.” She smiled at Fire.
“Thanks, Declyn let me go wild and do anything I wanted, and this was the result.”
She cut her eyes at Declyn, he stayed silent, but he wore a smile that said it all.
“Alright,” Fire stood up. “We have a problem. I have no idea how or when it started. Anyone have any thoughts?”
Deja stood after Fire sat, she didn’t say anything, but she was staring at Cait. Breaking eye contact, she started to pace while everyone stared at her.
“I have a thought.” Deja shrugged loosening the tension in her shoulders. “When I first stumbled onto this compound the world seemed normal. Drug dealers, prostitutes, people going to work every day. Everyone was still falling in love, getting married, having children, and then there were those that were doing things we never thought of like making pacts with the devil, etc.”
She walked over to the window and looked out. “The world was as it should be or at least as we have come to know it. Then I turned into a dragon? I think it is some kind of dragon hybrid. What if the world changed when I did?” She went and sat down by Enzo, who immediately started running his hand over her back trying to comfort her.
“Don’t get me wrong I’m all for letting Deja take the blame for whatever is happening in our world, but I think that by placing blame, we are missing the bigger picture.” Cait flashed Deja a smile before she rolled her eyes at her. Deja taught her how to do that.
“Then what do you think is happening?” Declyn asked her.
“Alpha, I know you want my theory, but I still need to wait for confirmation. Having said that I can tell you this, we are the catalyst for what is happening. I’m sure most you have figured that out by now. Here’s what we don’t know. Why? What is it about us that caused this to happen? Will it only happen with females or if a male walks into our compound will it happen with him?”
“How many of our females are unmated? I only met Minx.” Jessie looked at Declyn.
“She is the only unmated female in our compound,” was his reply.
“Why? She’s nice and attractive, no one male was interested in her?” Fire asked him.
“She keeps to herself. I doubt many males have gotten close enough to her to think about her being their mate.”
“I have a different question. If this is happening here, is it happening in the Thalian compound?” Deja looked around the room as she spoke.
The Thalians were the other group of aliens that crashed landed on the Earth when they did. They had been in a battle when their ship passed through some kind of rift in space that brought them here. It was their final battle with the Thalians that caused Deja’s first change. Now they had taken care of their issues, but with everything happening in their compound, they had little time to see what the others were up to.
“That’s a good question I will send an emissary to them for an exchange of information. Anything they know could be useful.”
“This is all good but what about the shadow things? What are they? Why are they targeting me? How do we kill them?” Sage was tired, it was in her voice for all to hear.
“Jasper and I have been working on this.” Chase gave Sage a smile. “We came up with three theories. One, they are native to Earth like the humans and have either been dormant or staying low key.”
“Two,” Jasper picked up. “They are aliens that have recently come to the Earth, or three. They are aliens that have been on the Earth for years but were dormant.”
“Four,” Sage said her frustration getting the better of her. “My ex-wants to sacrifice me. Sacrifice that means tying me down to some insane circle and making me hurt until I’m too dead to feel anything. So, excuse me if the talk of theories and whether the aliens are natural to Earth or from outer space doesn’t exactly thrill me.”
Jasper went to reply, but Caden was up and shaking his head. Jasper sat in his chair with hooded eyes.
“Sage is right. We need to solve the problem at hand before we can solve the overarching problem.”
Caden was standing next to Sage asking her with his body and his eyes what she wanted to do next.
She pulled at a strand of her red hair watching as the curl in it straightened all the way out and bounced back after she let it go.
“We’re mated,” she said softly as if it was finally beginning to sink in.
“We are.”
“I should go home with you.” Being with him would be her new home if he wanted her. What if he only mated her to save her life because he thought no one else would ever want him?
Her eyes jerked away from his. What if he was only being polite? Maybe this mating thing can be undone. He could have anyone, but he settled for her.
Caden took a step backward when she refused to look at him any longer. He should have known better. Why would such a beautiful female want to be stuck with him?
“If you want to leave, I can’t stop you, but I can’t guarantee I won’t follow you.”
She stood up; his standing over her was making her feel small. When she looked around the room, she realized everyone was focused on her and Caden even though they weren’t looking at them.
“Can we go outside?” He nodded and led her to the door.
He started walking, and she followed him until they stopped at a house with a beautiful porch.
“Xander and I live here. The house next to ours is Cole’s, and Jessie’s, and their daughter Mia.”
She climbed the steps and sat on the top one. “I love your porch it’s so big.”
“Thanks, as twins we thought we would need a bigger more structured house to live in. That combined with the fact that we never had privacy in our previous life became the plan for our house.”
She swept her hair to the side and laid back on the porch. “What are we going to do?”
He didn’t pretend to misunderstand her. They needed to decide how they were going to proceed with each other and with the situation, they found themselves in.
“I want you to live with me. We can take each day and make decisions as the need arises. You’re my mate, and I didn’t ask you to become that just save your life. I asked because already I can’t imagine my life without you. I love your smiles, and your tears and sadness make me want to hurt whoever hurt you. I want to see you happy and feel your hands on me. Is it too soon to do that?”
“You're serious, aren’t you?” How could this have happened? She was so sure that her life was over and then out of nowhere Caden showed up. He took care of her when she was sick. That one would always have the power to overwhelm her. The only person who ever took care of her was her mom, and now that she was gone, she assumed that experience would forever be denied her.
“I’m serious Sageray.”
“Sageray?”
“There is a rift in space that they call the Sageray. It is black and deep from what we lear
ned, and no one gets too close to it. Twice a year that rift is filled with multicolored rays. I still remember my first time seeing it. I have never seen anything more beautiful until I saw you.”
And tha’st why he already had her heart. She lifted a hand to wipe at an errant tear. Everything she went through the last two years filled her mind, there were warnings, reminders to take it slow, and she pushed it all away.
Life was short, and she knew it better than most. She wouldn’t waste it pondering on things like what was love. Instead, she would revel in the fact that he made her heart beat fast, and she was wet and feeling needy. Yep, she was going to do the one day at a time thing, but that was what her life was about. She wanted to live every day to the fullest because she understood that tomorrow wasn’t promised to her.
“Let’s take it a day at a time and see what happens between us.”
“Would you like to come inside?”
“Yes.” He held out a hand for her which she took. They walked inside the house.
The door was large enough for several people to fit through. The living room was huge. If they both had mates and children, this room would fit everyone comfortably. She glanced at Caden but didn’t comment. The room screamed he had planned for more than him and Xander.
“Not a lot of furniture in here.”
“Xander and I don’t need much.” He took her hand and led her to the kitchen.
This was his room. She knew it the minute she walked in. The kitchen was situated so that every move would be efficient. It was designed with a black-and-white theme, there were hints of the lightest purple to give it color. The room felt masculine, but it also felt alien at the same time.
“Do you and Xander share the same favorite colors?”
“Black and purple. Did you know that purple is an Earth color, I never saw it before I came here?”
“Really?” She turned to look at him, but he wasn’t smiling like it was a joke.
“Really. The first time we saw the color we were both floored by how vibrant it could be or how dark.”
“What color do you like?”
The question made her stop to think. There was a time she was sure red was her favorite color then she changed it to be blue. It might have stayed that way, but Jim ruined the color for her.
“Orange, I know it’s a little bright, but when you see the sun rise or set, and the sky is painted with different shades of orange. It takes my breath away.”
He was staring at her again. His eyes were looking at her lips as they spoke to him. The more he stared, the more her nipples harden and her pussy flooded with warmth. They were just getting to know each other, she couldn’t want him this bad.
“I want to kiss you.”
Chapter Fourteen
She should say no, have a backbone and dignity. That and five dollars would get her a cup of coffee, albeit a small cup. Her tongue darted out licking her lips, and still; all he did was watch her. Go as you mean to continue Sage. She gave herself excellent advice.
Let’s take a vote, greedy spoke. Who wants to kiss him, because I do?
I want to kiss him too; fear spoke. He was the one being that didn’t scare her.
I want in on this. That voice belonged to pride, but she didn’t care about being proud right now all she wanted to do was lick his lips.
I want to kiss him too. That was caution, which meant she was about to go down in a sea of fiery darts as the voices in her head urged her to cross the distance between them and make her need for him known.
She turned to look at the alien voice. It was the only one who hadn’t cast a yes vote.
Well, what do you think?
Kiss him.
No being coy, no pleading with her just two simple words kiss him. With those words, she was lost. She walked across the floor, no hesitation, no dragging her feet. Why should she pretend she didn’t want the male standing in front of her?
She wrapped her arms around his neck because she knew she had to make the first move. She needed to tell him by her actions and her words that she wanted him, and she did. Fuck being celibate. All she could think about was being wrapped in his arms with his thick, long dick buried deep within her. If she tried hard enough, she could blame it on her near-death experience, but it would be a lie.
Caden drew her like he was honey, and she was a bear.
Stop thinking. The alien in her head hissed.
“Yes.” She pressed her lips against his nipping at his lower lip until he opened. Boldly she plunged her tongue into his mouth becoming overwhelmed at the taste of him. It was wild, passionate, and foreign, and she liked every bit of it.
She sucked on his tongue feeling her pussy constrict with need before it opened wide, there was a rushing of warmth trickling down her legs.
“I love the way you kiss,” she whispered to him as he drew her closer.
He stiffened for a minute his eyes leaving hers.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, Xander is going to spend the night in the apartment. I told him he didn’t have to, but he insisted.”
She understood he wanted to give them time, and she appreciated it.
“Baby, show me your bedroom.”
His amazing eyes flashed, and her nipples were so painfully tight she wasn’t sure she would make it to his room.
“Are you sure?”
“Totally.”
He wasn’t expecting this. Women were cautious. He'd learned that from watching the females around him as well as the Kur’ik females. That Sage was sure of what she wanted and decided to go after it confirmed what he already knew. She was a fighter someone who wouldn’t give up until her last breath passed her lips. It attracted him to her from the beginning.
He was a fighter like her. He never gave up, even when he thought he lost his brother his body went on autopilot taking him to Xander. She wasn’t a planner, but he liked that about her. They would balance each other out. He took her hand and led her through the other rooms. He would tell her about them later. Now he needed to see her in his bedroom looking at him with those bright green eyes.
He let her go in first when he opened the door. What would she think about his private sanctuary?
She wasn’t expecting this. His room was plain, there wasn’t a lot of him reflected in the space except for the bed. It was wide and long. One look at it told her he had it custom made. It was his only nod to comfort.
“Not much to see in here.”
“A bedroom is for sleeping, but we can always spice it up later.”
It was the ‘we’ in her sentence that had him smiling. It meant she was planning on staying around.
“After we defeat the enemy.” He stalked towards her making her take steps backward until she was trapped between him and the bed.
She waited for panic to suffocate her, but none came.
“Are you sure?” She licked her lips before biting the lower one. She needed to ask one more time to be positive that she was what he really wanted.
“Am I sure about what?” His hand was teasing one of her curls pulling on it and watching it spring back when he let it go.
“Are you sure that I am who you want?”
“Yes.”
Her stomach dipped, and a moan almost escaped her lips. His voice rang with his desire and need, but she heard more than that in it. There was a longing it sounded like a male who wanted to be loved and give love in return. She couldn’t be positive because this was the first time she ran into one of those elusive creatures.
Then there was the subtle trembling of his hand. Her warrior the one that coordinated fights with his brother, that went up against aliens with fire bombs and expected to walk away without a scratch was trembling as he touched her face. Her heart melted.
She moved toward the closet, and he backed up to give her room. She took off her tennis shoes and socks. Then she fidgeted before she pulled her shirt over her head and folded it. Walking to the dresser, she placed it on top and then rea
ched for the button on her jeans. She could feel his eyes devouring her as she lifted first one leg then the other to take them off. Ignoring him, she folded the jeans and laid them on top of her shirt. That’s when she turned around to look at him.
“You’re beautiful. I still have trouble believing that you chose to be my mate.”
“I feel the same way about you.” She walked towards him allowing her hips to sway and her breasts to do a little dance of their own. The fire in his eyes captivated her. He wanted her, and he liked what he saw. Her heart beat slowed with the knowledge that he wanted her before it slammed in her chest and began a crazy race.
“We can do this, right?” Her hands went to his chest. The tee he was wearing was sexy, but the fact that it was white was turning her on even more. She didn’t know why and didn’t care.
Her fingers traveled down his chest until she was clutching the hem of the shirt. He raised his arms waiting for her to pull it over his head. When she did, he gave a rough growl and picked her up holding her comfortably against his chest.
“You shouldn’t pick me up.” It was a token protest as her tongue came out to lick at his neck. She gave a low moan before she did it again. “I like how you taste and how you feel.”
“I like you.” He laid her down on the bed making sure her arms and legs were stretched out. His eyes caressed her face before they began to move over her body. “Your beautiful Sage. On my planet, we have a story of someone so beautiful that she captivated all who looked at her before she destroyed them with the power that lived in her fingertips. You remind me of that beauty so captivating that it’s deadly.”
Her throat worked as she tried to swallow the lump that didn’t want to go away.
“We don’t have a tale like that here. All I have is the dream I continued to hold onto even when times got bad. You’re so much better than the dream.”
He placed his knee on the bed and knelt over her, kissing her. Her hands grasped his arms as he kissed her deeply stealing both her breath and her need to think rationally.
Caden (The Wolves Den Book 4) Page 9