by Vivian Arend
Her other line buzzed, and she was tempted to curse. “Gotta run. Love ya. Chat soon.”
She hung up and switched to answer the other call.
“Mister Borealis,” she said primly.
One of James’s brows rose. Then damn if he didn’t grin evilly and slide his hand around her torso until he cupped her naked breast.
“You know better, young lady,” Grandpa Giles scolded her.
She wasn’t ready to forgive the man. Not considering everything that was still up in the air. “Was there something you needed, sir?”
In front of her, James clicked his tongue in warning even as his smile widened with mischief. “He’s not going to like that,” he murmured.
“I don’t care—” Kaylee sucked in a sharp breath because James had shoved up the edge of the T-shirt and was now teasing his tongue over her nipple.
“Just wanted to say thank you for getting those papers signed. Contract went off without a hitch because of you. Damn smart woman.”
Kaylee’s brain was rapidly turning to mush as James upped his game. Nibbling now before closing his lips and pulsing softly.
She fought for some sort of response, made easier because James’s grandfather was laying on the BS way too thick. “It was nothing, sir. Only took a moment of my time, and then the rest of the evening was mine.”
Oh my God, it felt so good. She jammed the free hand that wasn’t holding the phone into James’s hair, trying to drag him to the other side because only half her body was pulsing, and that really wasn’t fair.
It took a moment for her to realize that on the other end of the line, Grandpa Giles had gone silent. “Only took a moment. Well, that’s good. Glad there wasn’t any trouble. Sometimes that James needs a little extra help.”
James seemed to be multitasking just fine at the moment. He’d shoved the shirt up over both her breasts, cupping them together so he could more easily switch from one side to the next.
Kaylee slid until she was straddling his thigh, needing pressure on other parts of her body.
“Oh, James was fine. Very independent. Or at least it seems that way to me. He and I always end up arguing about the stupidest things.” Like how he shouldn’t be messing with her while she was trying to have a grown-up conversation.
“But he wasn’t feeling well. Summer fever… Or something.”
Oh, really? It was almost as if he’d known James might be teetering on the edge of mating fever. And now the old goat was fishing for information.
Tough luck. Kaylee not only didn’t feel like informing him of any details, she was rapidly losing all interest in the entire conversation. “James? Feverish? Definitely not. When I left his apartment Friday, he was in tip-top shape and just as annoying as usual.”
“Ahhh.” Grandpa Giles seemed confused.
Okay, it was a lie, but it was none of his business and he deserved to suffer a little.
“Sorry, need to run. Glad your meeting turned out well, Mr. Borealis.”
She hung up, tossing her phone onto the couch so she could reach down and haul James’s lips up to hers.
He kissed her for a moment, his smile clear as their mouths connected. He pulled back just far enough to keep dragging his fingernails gently down her back, rocking her over his thigh in an intimate, sensual tease. “Poor Grandpa Giles. He’s probably freaking out right now, trying to figure out what the hell’s going on.”
“Poor Grandpa Giles, my ass. The man deserves to suffer a little,” Kaylee said bluntly. “Did you order enough food to feed an army?”
“I did.”
She slid a hand between them and wrapped her fingers around the thick length of his cock pressed against his thin sweatpants. “How long do we have before the supplies arrive?”
“An hour,” he told her proudly. “Which gives me plenty of time to ravish you.”
She attempted to look as if she were seriously considering his comment as he rose to his feet and carried her toward the bedroom. “I suppose that’s enough time for a modest ravishing. We’ll have to save the thorough ravishing for later.”
“A brilliant plan.”
The modest ravishing was followed by massive amounts of food, and then a thorough ravishing.
The next day’s schedule was pretty much the same, although when Grandpa Giles tried phoning James, he didn’t bother to answer.
By the time they lay in bed six days after the storm had rolled through, Kaylee felt well used and very, very content.
James lay next to her in the bed, stroking his fingers over her belly. He pushed up on one elbow and watched his hand as he caressed. “I think we’ve reached the beginning of the end,” he warned. “I mean, I still want to do terribly dirty things to you, but it’s no longer a dire need… Well, that’s not right. The compulsion to get down and dirty with you is just as strong, but it’s…”
He made a face, and she laughed. She knew what he was trying to say.
James rolled her on top, draping her sated limbs over his rock-solid chest. “Fuck it. This is coming out all wrong because there’s nothing that’s changed in terms of how much I want you. But I can tell the fever’s abating.”
She sighed. “It’s been lovely. I suppose at some point we have to get back to reality.”
His grin said he agreed. Then his expression softened, and he took a deep breath. “So. Do you feel…different?”
Kaylee opened her mouth and prepared to rip out her heart.
12
K aylee had been thinking hard about this very thing. While she hadn’t had very much time to go online, considering how busy James had kept her, Amber had forwarded her a bunch of links. Kaylee had stolen moments to pore over the data in the hopes she could figure out what she should be looking for, trying to figure out exactly what mating was supposed to feel like in the my God, this is really happening stages.
None of it seemed applicable. “I don’t think so. I mean, I feel like I know you better—and no making a smartass comment about that—than I did a week ago. I feel closer to you. But in terms of any mystical magical woo-woo… Nothing.”
“It’s okay. It might take time to kick in.” He sounded so confident, the same way he had when they’d been trapped—ha!—in the elevator.
No. Wait…
He sounded even cockier than that. Something was up. “Why? Do you feel different?”
“Oh, no. No, no, no, no. Nothing yet.” Then of all things, he started to straighten the sheets around them. Fussing for no reason.
Oh. My. God. Kaylee pushed up to a sitting position and stared at him. “You do. You do feel something.”
“It’s okay if we don’t talk about it right now,” James began before she raced to cut him off.
“Please don’t,” Kaylee begged. “I can’t tell if you’re teasing, or if you’re trying to not disappoint me, but I can’t take it.”
A rumble escaped him that sounded as if he were ready to go into battle. James scooped her into his lap. He rubbed a hand over her back as she hid her face against his chest. His voice went lower, his arms a protective shield around her. “I’m not teasing, but I don’t want you to feel pressure. Mating takes both of us accepting our fate, and I don’t want you to feel as if you were forced into being with me.”
Great. So, she had a shot at forever with the one man who’d always had a piece of her heart, and yet now, when she had just begun to hope, something was so screwed up inside her that she was going to miss out on being with him. “I don’t feel forced. I want to be with you,” Kaylee insisted. “You’re my best friend.”
James nodded slowly. “Which is why we should give it a little more time.”
“But you feel something?” she whispered, frightened for him to straight-up answer. Frightened that he wouldn’t.
His lips pressed to her temple. “Yes. I feel something. Right here.”
He grabbed her hand and pressed it against his chest. Under her fingers his heart beat, strong and sure.
“I don�
�t know how to describe it other than potential. Like a seed that’s been planted but needs more sunlight to grow. Or a treasure chest that will open as soon as we turn the key, and everything I’ve ever needed will be inside.”
His words were poetic and beautiful and made something inside her long even harder. “Then I should have the key.”
Kaylee closed her eyes and tried everything she could barring rubbing her hands over her own body. She was sore in all sorts of lovely places, and she had no idea what she was looking for.
Not true. She knew exactly what she was looking for—a future with her best friend. No matter that she was probably going to muck things up for him at some point, she was selfish enough to want what she wanted.
She wanted him with all her heart.
Didn’t she?
James lifted her chin and stared into her eyes before opening his mouth. He was about to do something big and heroic, and she didn’t think she could handle it.
Distraction, now. “We need to count our silver linings. I mean, you lived up to your part of your bargain and didn’t try to avoid the fever. So your brothers and grandpa have to be satisfied, no matter what happens between us.”
She turned toward him and had to forcibly untangle their legs, because the thought of moving away seemed wrong—it wasn’t a magical, mystical connection, but a really deep longing lodged in her gut.
“I want you to be my mate,” James said.
“I know.”
But the truth was they weren’t in control. Fate was.
Kaylee pushed aside her fears. Obviously, fate knew better than James did who would be good for him going forward, and if she wasn’t it, she would force herself to be happy for him.
“This isn’t over,” he growled, frustration in his eyes as his fingers clung to hers. “We aren’t done.”
“What if we’re not mates—”
James twirled them and had her pinned to the mattress in a matter of seconds. Both he and his bear stared down. “Answer truthfully. Do you want to be with me, Kaylee Banks? As more than a friend, as more than my lover. Do you want me forever?” he demanded.
“Yes.” The answer came instantly. It wasn’t something she had to think about.
His lips curled. “Then there isn’t anything we need to worry about. Maybe the mating instinct will kick in sometime during the next few days. Heck, maybe it’ll take a little longer for it to arrive. But it doesn’t matter, because I choose you, got it?”
She tipped her head, astonished that he just kept giving and giving. Shame snuck in. “I’m sorry.”
James brushed a strand of hair off her forehead, tucking it behind her ear. “It’s not your fault that the mating sign hasn’t shown up.”
“It’s not that. I’ve just been so stupid this past week. I mean, between moments of absolute brilliance, of course.”
She succeeded in pulling a laugh from his lips. “Tell me one of your brilliant moments,” he teased.
“Getting into bed with you. Fooling around in the shower. And on the hall side table. And on top of the dryer.”
“The dryer was especially brilliant,” he agreed. He kissed her softly. “Then what are you saying sorry for?”
“For not grabbing hold of the amazing truth you’ve been telling me ever since I showed up here that first night, soaking wet.” She cupped his face in her hands and stared into his eyes. “You’ve told me a dozen ways that you want me. I’m not used to hearing it, but that’s going to change. I’m going to change. Down the road there are still things I’m not going to be able to do, and we’re going to have to figure out workarounds, because I don’t want to cause you any trouble or your family—”
“Except for Grandpa Giles. We can cause him trouble.”
She rubbed her thumb along his cheekbones. “Definitely trouble for Grandpa Giles, but everything else we’ll figure out together. That’s what I’m saying sorry for. For not catching on to that sooner.”
The kiss he gave her was sweet and tender. “Apology accepted, Banks. Now, I feel as if I’ve had a sudden relapse. I just can’t hold myself back any longer.”
Kaylee squealed as James dropped between her thighs. An instant later he had her stripped, his mouth over her sex, and was eating greedily. She clutched the comforter with both hands, fighting for control, but there wasn’t much of a chance considering who she was dealing with.
One determined bear who wasn’t going to give up on them.
She closed her eyes, and for the rest of the night, pleasure overwhelmed her.
James grinned at her over the breakfast table the next morning. “I need to go into the office to do some planning for the Canada Day celebration. I should be able to get off early this afternoon to help you grab your stuff.”
Kaylee paused. “What am I grabbing to go where?”
He picked up their dirty plates off the table and stacked them in the sink. “Funny one, Banks.”
“No, I’m serious,” she insisted.
“We need to get your stuff so you can move in with me. I mean, you don’t need to bring everything. Definitely not too many clothes. Forget all pyjamas as you’re never going to need them ever again, but the rest of your stuff—”
Kaylee took a deep breath and mentally did a check. She’d promised to seize the future with him with two hands, and while her initial reaction was this is going way too fast, was it really?
Sort of. But she could work with that.
“What I’ll do is pack a bag with the things I need for the next while, but I’m keeping my apartment. Not because I plan to run away again, but just because.”
James shrugged. “You’re paid up to the end of the month, so I suppose there’s no real rush. You probably have to give a month’s notice, so if we plan on doing the big stuff at the end of the summer, does that give you time to wrap your brain around this?”
The tension eased out of her. “Thank you for understanding. That sounds really good.”
“I can give you a ride to your place later,” he offered.
Kaylee shook her head. “I need to head there this morning to pick up my cameras for the shoot this afternoon, and I’m meeting Amber when she’s done with work today. Just for drinks.”
He snorted. “I bet she’s got a million questions. She’s going to talk your ear off, but I can hardly blame her. Chances are my brothers will do the same when I touch base with them.”
She wasn’t going to pretend. “It seems a little weird for us to be doing what we’re doing, considering there’s nothing official between us. The mating thingamajig, I mean.”
“Then it’s weird. So what?” He tapped her on the nose. “Do me a favour and drop my clothes off at work? I need to stretch and run for a while before I head in. I haven’t been very nice to my bear, keeping him locked away this entire week.”
She grinned. “Our animal sides knew we were more interested in being human to deal with all that ‘sex stuff.’”
He echoed her grin. “Damn right.”
Kaylee stroked her hands over his chest, just because she could. “Now that we’re a little more balanced, my cat looks forward to going for a run with you.”
He caught her fingers and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Come with me now,” he offered.
Kaylee shook her head. “I have that appointment I need to make, but soon.”
“My bear likes running with you.” A sharp nip at her knuckles as heat flashed in his eyes. “He likes your pussy too.”
She snorted. “You’re terrible.”
He is terrible, but kind of cute, her cat agreed before vanishing once again.
Fifteen minutes later they were downstairs. Kaylee stood beside her truck as James stripped off his layers. So reminiscent of a week earlier, but so much had changed.
He waggled his brows as he folded his pants then stacked them with the rest of the clothes in her outstretched arms. “Quickie?”
Kaylee laid the clothes on top of the hood of the truck. “Is that really what yo
u want me to be talking about with my girlfriend? How fast off the mark you are?”
He was still laughing as he kissed her. His lips hardened, and his grasp grew possessive, and she was left breathless when he pulled away and shifted. The swirl of lights and heat were close enough they brushed her skin, and she felt as if she’d been kissed everywhere they touched.
Then the massive bear that was James paced around her, heavy paws landing lightly on the concrete as he stroked his side against her like an overgrown kitten.
She reached out and tangled her fingers in his fur impulsively, petting as he rumbled in pleasure. He walked away with a lumbering grace, and she watched him go, part of her thinking it all had to be a dream.
13
J ames took the long route to get to work and didn’t feel one bit guilty. He figured he was still off the clock until he stepped through the doors, and his wild side needed a little fresh air.
Didn’t mind being cooped up so much, his bear informed him.
The bastard had a gloating tone in his voice, and James chuckled even as he responded as usual.
Shut up.
What? You had fun, I had fun. Just saying.
He’d never doubted that the wild side of him would be content with Kaylee around, but as they bashed through the trees and splashed through the creeks, he paused. He didn’t want to assume, so he officially posed the question. “Do you know why Kaylee doesn’t feel the mate connection yet?”
Nope. Maybe it’s the cat thing. His other half was far more pragmatic. You keep her, though. I like her.
That made two of them.
As strange as it seemed, that bit of reassurance did a lot for the concerns that had been lingering in the back of his brain. James grabbed his clothes from where Kaylee had left them in his unlocked car.
Five minutes later, he was strolling through the back corridors of Borealis Gems, peeking in the windows and waving at familiar faces.
Everyone waved back, some smiles turning into outright smirks. Seemed news had travelled fast, and everyone knew why he’d been MIA for the last week.