by Kyle, Celia
She dove into Harding’s kisses, accepting and giving them in equal measure until her breathing came in heavy, gasping pants. And still their mouths remained connected.
Yes, the bear urged. Mine.
That single word had her ripping her mouth from Harding, and she scrambled over him, diving for the far corner of the room. She curled into a ball, holding her knees close to her chest. He remained reclined on the bed, his eyes closed and chest heaving before he finally looked at her.
His pale blue orbs met her gaze and darkened beneath her perusal, his cat receding. “You okay?” His voice was hoarse, and the bulge at the juncture of his thighs proved that it was due to suppressed arousal. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
Tess shook her head. “It was me. I…” I have a box of memories of you and I want you… “I’m sorry.”
Harding’s grin was tipped with desire. “I’m not.”
She glared at him. “That can’t happen again.” She couldn’t get involved with anyone, him in particular. Or rather, shifters in general.
“Uh-huh.” He sat up, bare feet coming to rest on the ground.
“I mean it.”
“Uh-huh.” He stood and moved toward her, crouching down until they were eye level. “You keep telling yourself that, sweet. In the meantime, I’ll keep kissing you. If you tell me no, and mean it, I’ll leave you alone.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and she fought the urge to nuzzle his palm. She opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off. “I can scent you, Tess. I know when you’re lying. Don’t ever forget that.”
Tess huffed. “I don’t want you kissing me, Harding.”
“Liar.”
She wasn’t gonna tell him he was right. Really. Stupid cocky jerk. Instead of telling him to go take a flying leap off a cliff, she kept her mouth shut.
“So, do you want to tell me what happened in my head? Who’s decided that I’d be better off gone?”
“Um…” Right. She knew there was something she was supposed to have been doing. Something about the person attacking Harding. A person who felt like Millie yet was decidedly male. A person she was pretty sure she knew from her present and not her past.
And it broke her heart.
40
“Ask me anything, I’ve always got the answer. Got a headache? Orgasm. Guy being a dick? Tell him to drop and give you sixty minutes of tongue-land and an orgasm. Work stressful? Orgasm. See? Told you I have all the answers.” — Maya O’Connell, Prima of the Ridgeville Pride and President and Founder of the National Maya Knows Everything Club.
Harding awakened the moment Tess stepped out of her room. He wasn’t sleeping outside her door, nor was he anywhere near her refuge, but something tied them together now. The something that brought memories of his childhood to the surface and the something that allowed him to sense some of her emotions. He didn’t for a second think the link was left in place on purpose, but he cherished it just the same.
He glanced at his clock, noting that it was just past two in the morning, and rolled from bed. He slipped out of his room and tracked Tess through the compound. He still wasn’t happy about the tension between the women, and had resolved to always be near his mate. Especially since Stone was no longer in residence and couldn’t help him keep a closer eye on Tess. There was a strain between Tess and Jackie that went beyond hatred and edged into obsessive rage.
And they still hadn’t figured out who’d attacked him.
He followed her scent past the kitchen and continued down the near-black hallway, hunting her through the compound. It took only a few more twists and turns to locate her in the living room. The low light cast by the television allowed him to see her snuggled in one of the oversized chairs, and he didn’t waste any time going to her. His bare feet were silent on the plush carpet, but he knew she sensed him nonetheless.
Her gaze remained on the TV, giving him the opportunity to look his fill. With her knees tucked to her chest, her shorts rode high, exposing her curvaceous thighs. The glimpse of her legs and pale skin had him imagining what it’d be like to have her wrapped around him. He’d sink deep into her heat while she hugged his hips.
Her tank top exposed more than it hid, the neckline low and giving him an eyeful of her abundant cleavage. Now he envisioned cupping her mounds, kneading her, and plucking her nipples before sucking them into his mouth. His cock hardened in his loose pants, and he willed his arousal to recede. He’d barely been able to get her alone since they’d shared those minutes in her room two days ago. Now, any moment he got within twenty feet of her, she ran.
He allowed himself one last look at her body, one last second of imagining them naked and tangled in sheets. He’d lick every inch of her, taste her and lap at her cream and…
Her sudden gasp reminded him that the connection probably went two ways. Shoving back his need, he resumed his travels, slowly padding closer to her. When he reached her side, she gave him her attention, eyes wide and pupils dilated. He could say that they appeared near black due to the low lighting, but he chose to believe that it was because she was just as aroused as him.
Without a word he reached for her, tugged her from the chair and took her place before easing her into his lap. He couldn’t do anything about his hardness, the way it pressed against her lush ass, but he wasn’t about to apologize for his body’s reactions to her.
“What are we watching?” He murmured against her ear, lips brushing the soft skin, and he smiled at the subtle shiver that wracked her body. At least now he knew she wasn’t unaffected.
Tess sighed and slumped into him. “You’re not going to give up, are you?”
Harding slid his hand along her biceps, noting the small goose bumps that rose over her skin. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She snorted. “Liar.”
He squirmed in his seat but didn’t say anything. He didn’t want something like the truth to disrupt his chance to have Tess in his arms. A truth that would probably send her running in the other direction. “Let’s just find something to watch.”
Tess elbowed him. “You’ve been following me like a puppy. I wanna know why.”
He grunted. “If I’m anything, it’s a kitten. But I definitely haven’t been following you.” He ignored the tang of the lie on his tongue along with the roaring protest that came from his lion.
Tess turned focused on him, or rather, his nose. Then she flicked the tip. “Does your nose grow like Pinocchio when you lie?” She rubbed the tip with her finger. “It doesn’t look longer. Maybe it depends on the size of the lie.” She thumped it again. “Lie to me.”
“Tess…”
She ignored the warning in his tone. “Come on, you can do it.” Another flick. “Lie to me.”
Harding dropped his head back and fought to control his body. The woman didn’t realize what she was doing by taunting him. Since she’d been avoiding him, the cat was on edge. Now she was teasing him with her impish smile and lush body. Damn it. His lion urged him to get closer to Tess and strip her bare until they were skin to skin. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if that’d be enough. He wanted to crawl inside her, become one with her in every way possible.
“Harding?” Poke. Poke.
“Fine.” He raised his head and focused on her, gaze intent on those sparkling green eyes. “You’re the most hideous woman I’ve ever seen. I can’t stand being in the same room as you. I hate each and every one of your curves.” While the lies flowed from his lips, he let the real truth shine through. He knew without a doubt that his lion was peering through his eyes, orbs glowing the palest blue with the beast’s presence. “I don’t know how I’m managing to suffer having you in my lap. The last thing I’d ever want to do is kiss you again. Or strip you down and run my hands and lips over every inch of your body. And I most definitely don’t want to make love to you.”
All the color in Tess’s face vanished. “Harding, that’s not funny…” She squirmed, tugging against his hold, but he refused to release he
r. Not when he finally had a captive audience. She was right: he had been following her, hunting for an opportunity to get her alone and talk to her. God, he’d turned into one of those men who wanted to talk.
“Lemme go.” The words came through gritted teeth.
“No.” He couldn’t have suppressed the snarl if he’d wanted to. He wrapped his other arm around her, holding her close. She continued to struggle, grunts and growls accompanying her wriggling. “Look at me, Tess.” He shook her ever so slightly, conscious of his superior strength and her semi-humanity. Well, her temporary semi-humanity. “Look. At. Me.”
She finally gave him her attention, a hint of tears swimming in her eyes, and his heartbeat stuttered. Letting go with one hand, he brushed aside an errant strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear.
It’d taken him two days to get her alone. Two days of hunting and cursing when yet another problem was brought to his attention. Thankfully, his head was no longer battered by whomever Tess had banished, but he needed to remember to ask Tess about who’d been inside it. Later. Right now, he had other more important things to deal with. Namely, his mate’s growing tears.
“You asked me to lie, and I did. Period.” He searched her features, looking for any hint that she accepted his words. Nothing yet. “I conned your bedroom key out of Stone so I could be with you. I kissed you because I want you. I follow you because I can’t stand being away from you. And more than anything, I want to make love to you, Tess.” A tear escaped and slid over her cheek. He brushed it away with his thumb, a bit of his heart breaking at how upset he’d made her. “That’s the truth sweet. Every word. If you don’t want to hear it, I won’t say it again.”
Tess sniffled. “Okay.”
“Okay, what? Okay you believe me or okay don’t say it again?”
“Okay, I believe you, but I don’t think I can hear it again.” She took a deep breath, her breasts straining against her small top, and he forced his gaze to remain intent on her face. “Someday, you’ll find your mate and I’ll be barely a memory. Once things settle, I’ll hunt up a nice town where no one knows me and have a nice, boring life. I’m not meant to be with a shifter, Harding. Ever.”
There was a hard finality in her tone and his lion roared in displeasure, clawing at him and demanding that he overpower Tess. She was his mate. She would be with him. That nice town would be Ridgeville.
Sensing the overwhelming pain that seemed to wrap around her body, he swallowed the words and simply nodded. “Okay, sweet. Let’s watch some late night TV for a while then.” She pulled away from him, moving as if to stand, and he tugged her back to him. “Lemme just hold you, okay?”
“Harding…” She whined.
“Just a little.”
With a grump, she settled back against him, wiggling into place once again, and he smothered the moan that built in his chest. She had to feel his cock beneath her ass, his length fully hard and trapped between them. Yet she didn’t pull away. That action, or lack of action, gave him a spark of hope.
Maybe she wasn’t as unaffected. Maybe…
The TV glowed in the darkness, images changing as she flicked through the various channels. Every so often the rapid flick from one to another would pause and Tess would smack the remote against her palm. “Damn thing.” Another few shows sped by and then it stopped once again. “It hasn’t worked right since I whacked Jackie with it.”
Harding stiffened. “When was that?”
She pointed the remote at the TV. “Huh?” More shows passed by. “Yesterday maybe? She was being pissy.”
“About what?”
Tess shrugged. “Same bitch, different shit.”
“Uh-huh.”
Her flippant response worried him, and he made a mental note to talk with security. He knew cameras were set up within the common areas of the compound. Actually, they were in every room, but Stone had the ones in the private rooms turned off. The women had gone through enough. They didn’t need a bunch of men spying on them like Freedom had.
She didn’t look at him, but he sensed her new tension until it felt as if he held a rigid block of cement instead of cradling the relaxed woman of moments before. Harding stroked her arm, gently petting her until some of that tightness left her body. “You’ll let me know if there’s a problem? I told you that I’m here to protect you from people on the outside and inside, Tess.”
She nodded, but didn’t say anything, just kept flicking through the channels. He let her have her silence. Despite her protest, he’d made a little headway with her. He’d stated his desires. She may have rebuffed him, but she was still in his arms and wasn’t shying from his erection.
The remote stopped once again and a masculine groan followed by a feminine gasp brought his attention to the TV.
A TV showing lovely, late-night, soft-core porn.
And no rapid slap of the remote against Tess’s palm followed. Nope, but the delicate, sticky-sweet scent of her arousal did drift toward him, taunting him and his cat.
Which brought Harding to one conclusion: God hated him.
* * *
Oh, someone hated her. Probably God. Or else the Devil loved her. Yeah, that could be it. Now that she’d told Harding in no uncertain terms that she didn’t want him, she’d found porn. Porn that merely shoved Tess over the edge, allowing her desire to rear its ugly head. The expansion of Harding’s chest told her that he’d caught the scent of her arousal, and her cheeks heated. Damn. Damn. Damn.
She opened her mouth to… What? Tell him to stop breathing?
Before she uttered a single syllable, a soft moan and whispered words drew her attention to the screen. Oh, God. She needed to close her eyes and never open them again.
The couple was nude, the strong lines of the man’s muscles straining against his skin. A thin woman, void of any of Tess’s curves, sat on the edge of a bed with legs splayed wide. This wasn’t hard-core porn, but something that was run on premium cable, so they weren’t shown anything explicit. But she could imagine. With the way the man crouched between the woman’s thighs, the movements of his head and arms, she pictured him licking her, sucking her clit and sliding his fingers into her pussy.
Tess squirmed, body growing warmer by the second. Why now? Why did she have to land on porn while wrapped in Harding’s arms?
Part of her acknowledged that she could smack the remote and move on. Except… The devil in her wanted to watch just a tiny bit longer.
So she did.
Harding was motionless beneath her, his breathing the only hint that he was alive. His hands remained in place, firm without hurting or squeezing her. But his cock… It throbbed against her ass, pulsing and pushing. He’d been hard from the moment she was pulled onto his lap, but he thickened further with the appearance of the nude bodies.
The lithe woman slid her palm over her flat stomach, venturing higher and higher until she reached her breast. She squeezed and kneaded the small mound, occasionally pinching her nipple. A low moan filled the air, soft on the gentle breeze from the fan, and Tess couldn’t decide if it came from her or the TV. She swallowed hard. Please let it not be me.
The actress looked nothing like Tess. There were no curves or plump rolls revealing that she carried a few (or dozen) extra pounds. But she could imagine… She could imagine herself as Harding saw her: lush and beautiful. She pretended she was the woman at the end of the bed, body spread and welcoming Harding’s ministrations. He’d lap and lick her, feast on her pussy like she were the sweetest treat and then…
And then she remembered that she didn’t want him or his teasing smiles and hunky muscles. Nope. She didn’t want him, or any other man, be they human or shifter. Especially a shifter. Things could someday get out of hand, and he could bite her and then she’d Change and then…
Then they’d wonder who was worse: Tess or her father.
Closing her eyes, she raised the remote, intent on smacking it against her palm so she could change the channel. Nothing good would come of fanta
sies and what ifs. Nothing.
Harding’s thick, strong arms tightened around her. His hands shifted and stroked her until she realized that she no longer sat across his lap, but with her back against his chest. Her legs rested on either side of his thighs, leaving her open and spread wide.
No. No no no no. She wiggled and shifted, doing her best to bring her knees together. She was sure the scent of her cream filled the room enough without her baring all. Plus, she didn’t want to sit like the woman on the screen, the actress being driven wild by the actor’s mouth on her pussy. No, she didn’t want that. At all.
A low shush followed by “easy” ceased her struggles. She froze, waiting to hear what else Harding had to say. Because as much as she didn’t want him, she truly did. Bad idea or not. Claw tipped fingers scraped over the tops of her thighs, leaving pink welts in their wake. A shiver of desire snaked its way along her spine, that hint of pain merely adding to her need for him.
Tess tightened her hold on the remote and brought it down, intent on stopping this…this. Only one of those deadly hands wrapped around her wrist, holding her in a gentle immovable grasp. He traced her inner thigh with his free hand, his nails coming closer and closer to her pussy.
“Just give me a few minutes.” He grew even nearer until barely an inch separated his fingers from her heat. “You won’t let me have you, but let me pretend for just a few minutes.”
“Harding…” She couldn’t bite back her whine.
“Shh…”
So she remained quiet, kept her mouth shut while the woman on the screen rocked against her lover’s mouth.
And if Tess mimicked the woman’s movements in barely perceptible increments, rubbing her ass against Harding’s length, neither of them said anything.