by Reina Torres
She looked away, her gaze lowering as if she was hesitating to answer.
“Hey,” he gave her hips a squeeze, “look at me.”
Katherine hesitated for a moment but did as he asked.
He saw the way her pupils widened as she met his gaze. He felt the heat of her body under his hands, even with their clothes between them.
“You can tell me.”
She remained silent, but she didn’t look away.
“Kitten? Are you afraid of me?”
Her smile lit up his world.
“No!” Her hands lifted up and settled on his chest making his heart beat madly against his ribs. “I’m not afraid of you at all.” Katherine shook her head, her fingers curling into the front of his shirt. “The last thing I am around you is afraid.”
From deep within him, the lion purred.
Katherine’s gaze traveled down to his chest and she sighed. “I’ve been afraid of men before. It’s instinctive, you know? Some people are just… some people are dark and mean. I can feel that sometimes. I can feel those malevolent colors… energies beneath the surface.”
He was surprised, but it didn’t change how he felt about her. It only deepened his admiration. “And my thoughts?” He felt her hands release his shirt and smooth the fabric. “How did you hear them?”
Locke watched emotions play across her face as if she had a secret that she wasn’t sure she should tell. While she thought about it, his hands swept up from her hips to her waist and back again.
He felt her shudder a little and then she moved closer to him, leaned into her hands on his chest. There was a tension between them that hadn’t been there before, something coiling between them like a spring.
Her eyes looked directly into his. Wide open. Their hazel color turned glassy like a mirror as her hands pressed against the wall of his chest.
“I’m not like True,” she explained as her hands moved slowly against his chest and he felt like an idiot for wearing a shirt. If he had left it off, he could feel the heat of her skin against his.
Then again, if his shirt had been off, it would have been nearly impossible to keep from loving her.
“True has her magic, but my family only has our hints here and there.”
He felt her fingers trace his collarbone on one side of his chest.
“Some call it a legend, but magic users like True’s family- the people who took her, they roll their eyes at the idea of someone from a nobody family getting close to magic. Pretending some kind of a connection.”
As he watched, Katherine leaned forward and laid her head on his shoulder in the same place as she’d pressed him against her. A slow inhale and then a sigh became silence.
He didn’t want to say anything and disturb her.
If she fell asleep against him, he’d be fine.
He’d enjoy it.
In fact, what he wanted more than anything else right at that moment was to let her fall asleep in his embrace. He wanted to hold her in bed. Watch over her until morning.
And then do it all over again.
Protecting her. Loving her.
Whatever it took to make her safe.
“I feel safe right here.”
Her words echoed through him.
Even as her hands gently stroked his chest, he couldn’t relax against her touch. He was still trying to understand.
“If you figure it out,” she chuckled and he felt those vibrations all the way down to his cock, “let me know. I don’t understand how it works either. I’ve only had this connection with three people. First, it was my grandmother. She’s the one that told me the stories. When I met True, I could hear her thoughts too. And now you.”
Slowly, as if she dreaded the movement, Katherine lifted her head and looked straight into his face. “I guess I should ask if you’re afraid of me now.”
He couldn’t stop himself.
Locke wrapped his arms around her luscious body and stole her breath with a kiss. He wanted more but held back. Now wasn’t the time to overwhelm her. He wanted her to feel safe with him. He wanted her to look to him for help and trust that he would be there for her.
There was a whole life ahead of them for more.
He smoothed his hands down over her back and settled them back on her hips as he leaned back to speak. “Does it feel like I’m afraid?”
She rocked gently against him and they both drew in a breath as her heat rolled against his erection. “That’s not fear.”
“No.” Locke saw the glint in her eyes and laughed. “No, it’s not.”
He also saw her start to yawn which she covered as quickly as she could.
“And now, it’s time to put you to bed.”
She didn’t have time to pout as he stood up, lifting her easily with him. He shifted his hands to her backside, palming every voluptuous inch that he could reach.
He carried her straight into her bedroom and didn’t let go. The two of them nestled together on top of the sheets, as Katherine whispered something to him as he combed his fingers through her loose curls.
Smiling, he used his free hand to rub up and down her arm. “You won’t be cold, kitten. I promise you.”
“Hmm?” She cuddled up against him sighing against his skin. “How do you know?”
He felt his lion bleeding into his eyes, moving ever closer to their mate.
“I’ve got heat enough to share.”
He growled under his breath as she wrapped her arm around him and slid her hand into the back of his jeans, pressing her palm against his lower back. The woman was tempting, incredibly so.
Snuggling closer to him, her eyes slowly drifted closed. “Yeah,” she sighed, “plenty warm.”
Locke smiled and let his own body relax just a little more.
“You know…”
He roused a little, his focus on the gorgeous woman in his arms. “What?”
“I could really get used to this.”
Locke pressed a kiss to the top of her head and felt his lion purr. “I hope you do, kitten. I hope you do.”
Five
Katherine woke up the next morning feeling better than ever. It certainly didn’t hurt that she was warm… all over.
Normally she fought all night long to regulate her temperature. Blankets on. Blankets off. Blanket wrapped around her like a burrito. If she was lucky, she’d manage to wrangle it into a configuration that didn’t leave her sore and aching the next morning.
But laid out in her bed with a warm, vital man wrapped around her?
Oh yes, this was just right.
Her thoughts tickled her, and she started to laugh.
Katherine tried to stifle the sounds, but that didn’t work well, especially when the scruff on Locke’s jaw brushed against her shoulder and made it impossible to lay still.
Locke grumbled beside her in bed and pulled her closer, until she was spooned up against him, warm and happy again.
She let her hands smooth over his forearms and enjoyed the play of his muscles under his skin.
Movement behind her caught her attention. How could it not? This was the first time in her life that she’d woken up beside a man.
“Are you always this cute in the morning?”
The question certainly caught her off guard. She tried to turn around to answer him, but Locke held her in place. She managed to turn her head a little bit in his direction. “You think I’m cute?”
It was his turn to laugh. A grumbling chuckle that sent shivers down her back. “I think you’re cute. I think you’re beautiful.”
She felt something brush up against her neck, his lips.
Katherine gasped out loud when she felt his teeth graze against her tender skin.
As she struggled to control the frantic speed of her heart, she felt him speak against her neck. “So damn sexy, too.”
For a second, she wanted to ask him to say it again.
She could count on zero of her fingers the number of times someone had said that to her I her li
fe. She didn’t even get cute. Well, not from guys. Other women thought she was cute and adorable. Quirky? Sure. Eclectic. Odd. Retro. Throwback. All of those things.
“Sexy?” She blinked back tears that started to gather on her lashes. “Don’t joke with me, Locke. It’s not nice.”
“Nice?” He scoffed. “Ask Xavier. I’m not nice.”
She wanted to laugh with him, but she just wasn’t sure.
So, she held still, barely moving while she tried to understand what was happening.
“Katherine?”
She swallowed against the lump in her throat, but it didn’t budge.
“Katherine, look at me.” He loosened his hold on her, but he didn’t let her go. “Turn around and look at me, Kitten.”
That turned her head.
The rest of her followed after. “Why do you call me kitten?” She focused her gaze on his face, waiting for his answer.
His smile was enough to distract her. Slow and lazy, she wanted to chase the movement of it across his lips.
With her tongue.
His smile widened. “I think I know where your mind is, kitten.”
Her breath caught in her throat. Why did he have to say it like that?
Why did it have to sound like he was purring?
“Locke?” She hesitated, unsure if she wanted an answer to her question and needing it all the same.
“You still want your answer?”
She bit into her lip, hesitating, but she nodded, wanting to know.
His smile deepened and felt her heart leap in her chest.
“Curiosity, hmm?” His laughter was soft. “I call you that because it seems to fit you. I’d like to have you curl up in my arms. I’d like to think it’s going to be my life’s pursuit to make you purr. And, I’m hoping, at some point,” he leaned in closer, “that I’ll feel the bite of your claws.”
She watched his eyes as his gaze moved from her face and down to her chest.
Katherine tensed for a moment, waiting to see his reaction.
His lips parted and his eyes darkened.
Locke’s gaze was fixed on her chest and she closed her eyes.
This couldn’t be real.
A man like Locke. Handsome. Protective. Sexy as hell. He had options. So many options. Why her?
She hated this. This crushing self-doubt. Did she want to be a woman who could have a man like Locke?
Of course!
“Kitten? What’s wrong?”
He wanted an answer. She just couldn’t give him one.
She didn’t want to tell him that what she was really thinking. What she was really feeling? Who wants to be someone like that?
“Katherine…”
Wouldn’t he just leave well enough alone?
Or just leave?
Katherine felt the slightest of touches on her cheek. Fingertips along the curve of her cheekbone.
Why did he have to be so… Tender? Sweet?
Like candy or buttery pastry. Delicious and off the menu for her.
His fingers traced the same arc again, this time lingering even longer.
“Katherine, open your eyes.”
She looked at him and found her heart melting along with the rest of her body. His eyes were full of genuine concern. Katherine could feel it inside of him. Through him. Slowly moving into her.
When he turned his hand and brushed his knuckles along her cheek, she leaned into his touch. The more contact with him, the more she found that she needed it.
Give her a few days and she’d likely be hanging onto him like a monkey on a palm tree.
Not that she’d argue too much about that if he was willing.
Oh god, please let him be willing.
“Don’t hide your eyes from me.”
His words poured over her like honey, his touch electric against her skin.
He could have asked for anything at that moment and she would have given it to him.
“You don’t need to look away.”
She shook her head before she could stop herself. “It’s easier, Locke. It makes it easier to forget that I’m… me.”
His brow furrowed as he worked his hand around, behind her neck. “Don’t say that, kitten. I don’t want you to forget who you are.”
Katherine couldn’t help the prickle of tears behind her eyes. She’d never said those words out loud before. She hadn’t even thought of telling True. She couldn’t imagine telling the one person who loved you like family that you didn’t even love yourself.
Not really, anyway.
She was a master at faking it.
She wore confidence like a second skin, but that’s as deep as it went. She put most of her energy into other people. It was rewarding. They appreciated it.
“Stay with me, Kitten. Let me hold you close.”
She started to argue with him, to put it off and keep some distance between them.
Emotional distance.
But Locke didn’t seem to understand.
His hands touched her cheeks, trailed down her neck and slowly settled on her shoulders. The way he looked at her is the same way she imagined that the looked at a fine fabric embroidered by an expert hand, or a spectacular crystal inside a geode. She felt precious.
It was all in his eyes.
“Come here.” He opened his arms. “Let me hold you together so you don’t have to do it on your own.”
She couldn’t ignore that, not when every bit of the longing inside of her wanted him.
Shifting closer, she felt him wrap his arms around her and pull her into his embrace.
It would have been enough because she’d lived on less before. So much less.
But she felt him like a magnetic pull, drawing her even closer.
His legs intertwined with hers as he held her close.
“Locke, I don’t…”
He tensed a little against her, but instead of letting her go, he held her tighter. “What, Kitten? You don’t want me?”
She almost crumbled at the tension she felt in his body. Instead of giving in she did what she loved to do, give to others.
Rolling Locke onto his back, she straddled his hips and settled down against him. He adjusted his arms to hold her tight.
Katherine laid her head on his chest and heard his heart beating a furious rhythm against her cheek. “I don’t know if I’m the kind of girl you really want, Locke. I laugh and I joke, but I’m terribly fragile inside. The last thing I want to do is make more work for you.”
“Work?” He tried to meet her eyes, but she ducked down and placed a kiss under his chin.
“Mmmhmm,” she murmured as she trailed her lips along the side of his neck and found his pulse. It was faster than it had been a moment before. “I want you to enjoy spending time with me, so you won’t change your mind.”
“Change my mi-” he went silent when she closed her mouth over his Adam’s apple and swept her tongue over it. With a soft chuckle, she lifted her mouth away and then bent back down to do it again.
When she finally sat back and looked down into his eyes, he grinned at her, his hands working their way down her back to her hips.
“Nothing is going to change my mind. Especially the way I feel about your hips.” His fingers pressed into her curves and she felt her hips press deeper against his.
Pleasure warmed her through from head to toe, inside and to the surface of her skin. There was no denying that he wanted her. He was certainly aroused by her and the way they were intimately pressed against each other.
She knew that it wouldn’t take much to strip off the remaining garments that they had on and she knew that Locke would be more than enough to satisfy her. Just lying in his arms was enough to have her skin tingling and bring a wet, hungry heat in her core.
Sure, she knew that everyone in her old life would think it was ridiculously fast. Or maybe they would just be shocked that she had anyone willing to make love to her, but fast didn’t concern her. Katherine wanted the experience. But more than
just wanting to have the physical satisfaction of sex, she wanted that completion that she knew she’d have with Locke.
She could already hear his thoughts when it took the better part of a year for her to feel True’s emotions without questioning how accurate she was.
What she had with Locke, even the bare beginnings of it, was going to grow and grow. She could only hope that it was going to be just as amazing as it was in her imagination.
He shifted his hard body under her, and Katherine felt a shiver pass through her body.
Locke’s fingers dug in a little deeper and made her feel even more secure in their connection.
“You know…” A soft moan purred through his chest and she felt it through her thighs first as his gaze traveled over her body and back up to her face. “I could stay like this all day.”
Katherine looked over at her bedside table and saw the glowing numbers on her digital clock. “I’d love to do that too, but I need to get up before the ladies arrive.”
“Ladies?” She could hear the curiosity in his voice. “What ladies?”
“True is coming with Celeste and they said a few of the other ladies in town are coming by to help me unpack.” She sat up a little and yawned. “True tells me they’re all super nice, and I’m sure they are, I just don’t know if they’ll like me.”
Locke sat up, the quick shift in position had him grab her hips to steady her. She adjusted her posture and held onto his shoulders for balance. “You’ll like them. They’ll like you. There’s no question in my mind.” He leaned closer and pressed a kiss to her lips. “In fact, I bet at least one of them will thank you for coming to their rescue.”
She couldn’t quite understand his words. “Coming to their rescue? What does that mean?”
His smile dazzled her and sent delicious ripples of feeling through her body. “They’ve all grumbled about my moods.”
“Ah, they want me to make you happy.” He nodded and she smiled even more. “Do they have a list of things they want me to do specifically.”
“If you want one, the answer is pretty easy.” Locke’s hands slid around to cup her backside and pull her closer. “You make me happy just by being here. That’s all I want, Kitten. You with me.”
It melted her and she leaned forward to take another kiss, but there was a knock at the front door.