Chapter 295 Chapter 295
Deacon stood there and looked around in the early morning light. He was stiff and sore from his marathon last night—not to mention getting so little sleep. He’d meant to go in and stretch out on the couch but instead had sat in that chair and stared at her form in his bed, until the birds started their day. Giana was here and in his bed. He clenched his balled-up shirt in his hand. Many fantasies had occurred in the last five years of just that, although in them he wasn’t sitting in the porch just looking at her. His groin tightened and his animal hovered at that thought. He looked down at the front of his pants. Now he was going to have to wait for that to go away before he could go for a quick run.
“Is there a method to produce hot coffee in there?”
He flinched as if someone had just stabbed him. He’d been so lost in his own head he hadn’t heard the door open. Holding his shirt in front of him, he turned to her. “There can be coffee.” He started to grin and the muscles in his face forgot how when he saw her. Her hair was mussed, she had those sleepy, sexy eyes and was wearing nothing but the long shirt she’d slept in.
Gia sent him a soft look. “I might need a pail full to keep moving today.”
He frowned, “you didn’t sleep well?” The need in his body settled, and his mate’s care took precedence. “The bed isn’t the greatest.”
“The bed was fine,” she brushed the hair back from her face, “my mind wouldn’t shut down.” She glanced at the ground for a second, “the last few days have been—”
He nodded, “yeah, settling after the adrenalin surges can be hard, you’ll get used to it.”
She looked up at him, those alluring eyes moving over his body like a caress. “About that coffee, and uh,” she blushed, “a bathroom?”
He jerked as if she’d smacked him, then pointed to the small outhouse behind some trees. “Sorry.” He frowned, “I have to get a permit for sewers and I, uh...”
Gia shook her head, “it’s fine. I’m sure I’ll survive it.” She offered him a smile, a real one, “I love your little escape here, and having a polished marble bathroom wouldn’t quite fit.”
She was nothing like he’d imagined. Her being here, he expected disappointment and pouting because it didn’t fit her pampered life. It was amazing she liked his place, but also bad, so bad, it made staying away from her harder than ever. “I’ll go get that coffee started while you,” he motioned in the direction of the building again. Stopping, he nodded like an idiot and walked by her quickly.
That was smooth, like a rockslide. He stared at the percolator and watched the water drip down through the filter at the top. She may find his place quaint and peaceful, but the idiot that owned it was an entirely different matter.
“Deacon, your property exudes calm as I’ve never felt before.”
Calm? The emotions plaguing him right now were anything but calm. He added more water from the kettle. “It just felt right when Calum brought me to look at it.” Setting the kettle back on the stove, he turned to her. “I slept here a few nights before he helped me make the arrangements to buy it and they were the best nights of sleep I’d ever had.”
“I can see why.” She went over and sat on the small couch and pulled her legs up under her. His pulse started beating stronger when she pulled the sleeping bag over and covered up her bare legs
She smiled at him, “this is the first break I’ve had in a few weeks.” She ran her fingers through her hair, moving it off her face. He wanted to go over and touch it. “I was determined to show Amari that I was right for the job.”
He cleared his throat, hoping his voice could be found as lust coursed through him. “Amari is a force of her own.”
“You know Amari?”
He shrugged, “our paths have crossed a few times when she was transporting or moving people around.” He grinned, “she does not like delays.
“I enjoyed getting to know her. She’s from an Alpha family too and I wonder if Jesse put us together for that reason.”
He dragged his gaze from her mouth and turned to find some cups. He only had two cups, so it wasn’t going to be hard, but he couldn’t stand there and look at her any longer. “He may have.”
“She was great. She’s so strong and steady it helped me see that this was what I wanted to do.”
He poured a cup and then looked at her, “I don’t have milk…”
Gia smirked, “black and mean is how I like it.”
He smiled. “That’s good because I only know how to make it that way.” He took the cup over and set it on the small table beside the couch. Going back, he poured himself one, not that he needed it to feel alert. If he were any more alert, his heart would explode. Taking it, he went over and sat at the table. Looking back over at her, he froze, she sipped the coffee and closed her eyes in a silent appreciation for a moment. He forced air into his lungs. She looked so fucking beautiful even just drinking coffee. Looking down at the mug in his hand, he stared at the black liquid in it. He was in so much trouble right now. Calum better call them back soon, like right now kind of soon.