Chapter 67 Chapter 67
You look like shit.”
Gage spun around to see Cooper leaning against the fence, watching.
“It’s been a long week.”
Cooper looked at his wrist to check the time, he wasn’t wearing a watch. “Since when do we work in the moonlight?”
Glancing back at the backhoe he’d been pressure washing he shrugged. “Just trying to get caught up.”
Cooper came over and stood beside him. “And since when do we spit shine the rigs?”
Gage dropped the sprayer on the ground as his chin hit his chest.
“You can’t avoid going home, son. She’s still going to be there.”
Gage turned off the compressor and glanced at him. “That’s the problem.”
“I figured.” Cooper looked around the yard for a minute before looking back at him. “You have a fight?”
Picking up his shirt, Gage wiped his face off. “I don’t know what the hell you’d call it.”
Cooper chuckled. “Give me the word to define it then.”
Gage squeezed the back of his neck trying to ease some of the tension. “Clusterfuck.”
Cooper laughed, which should have pissed him off, but he found himself smiling.
“It’s a fucking mess, Coop.” He threw up his hands. “I kissed her when we went for that walk.” He rubbed a hand across his forehead. “The heat shocked both of us, but I thought…” He shook his head. “I thought…”
“She’d do an about-face and come running into your open arms?” Cooper had a huge smile on his face.
“You don’t have to say I’m a fool. I know I am.”
“This is Kelsey we’re talking about, Gage, have your hormones made you forget that?” Tucking his hands in his pockets, he stood there waiting.
Feeling awkward, Gage sat on the wheel of the washer tank. “She’s in her cycle, Coop. Not full blown, but…”
“When?”
Gage looked down at his hands resting in his lap. “I was checking around the house…” he realized he didn’t need to give him a play by play, “I found her pressing her chest and face against the counter trying to put out the fire.”
“Shit.” Cooper yanked his hat off and rubbed a hand over his head before jamming it back on. “Did you just leave her there like that?”
Gage noted how strained the older man’s voice was. He was glad it was dark sure even he would blush before the end of this conversation. “No.”
Cooper’s head snapped up, his eyes boring into him.
Holding his hand up, he shook his head. “Not like you’re thinking.” He sighed. “I helped her out and threw myself in a cold shower.”
Cooper nodded but didn’t comment.
“She…” Gage lifted his hands, “demanded answers and…” he closed his eyes. “I gave her all the wrong ones. I’m pretty sure she hates me now.” He leaned back against the water tank, trying to cool off, as he’d been trying to accomplish unsuccessfully for hours.
“I doubt she hates you.” Cooper finally said quietly. “She’s just pissed you’re the main cause.”
Gage snorted. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
Cooper shook his head. “No. I doubt anything I say will do that.”
“You’d be right there.” Gage started to wind up the hose. “I don’t know what to do, Coop.”
Cooper watched him silently for several minutes. “It’s a lonely fucking existence without your mate, Gage. When you know who it is, but can’t have her.”
Gage’s eyes snapped to him. That sounded as if he’d lived it.
Cooper shook his head when Gage was going to speak. “You’re going to see her through her cycle, whatever she wants…”
“I…”
“Don’t say you can’t, because I know what every bloody cell in your body is telling you.”
Gage closed his mouth.
“Whatever she wants, you’ll be there for her.” Cooper said softly.
“I don’t know if I can do it without marking her.”
“You’ll manage.” Cooper gave him a hard look. “Because you already know anything she agrees to when the heat has her won’t mean a damn thing when she’s thinking clearly.”
Gage blew out a breath and nodded. Any male from his clan knew that, most learned it the hard way.
“Be what she needs, Gage. When it’s all settled down, she’ll come around.”
“You can’t know that, Coop. What if…” he couldn’t say it.
Cooper rubbed his jaw and gave him a lopsided grin. “She’s been mooning over you for years. She’s just rebelling right now because we dumped a shit load on her and she needs to fight back, whatever way she can.”
Gage’s legs gave out and he flopped to sit on the wheel. “How do I not mark her?” He asked, his voice shaking.
Cooper blew out a breath. “Dig deep. You can’t until she consents…”
“I know that. I just…” he dropped his head into his hands. “Fuck.”
“Yeah.” Cooper turned away and then paused. “Gage?”
Raising his head, he looked at him, but Cooper didn’t turn back.
“Take it slow.” Cooper stood looking into the darkened path that lead to the house. “She’s all I have left of Katie.” With that he walked into the shadows.
Gage stared into the dark that had swallowed him whole. Cooper had sounded so lost. Had Kelsey’s mother been his mate? Why the hell had she been with Phillip then? Gage swallowed the knot in his throat. If he fucked this up with Kelsey, he’d end up with that hollow look in his eyes that Coop had. He didn’t know how he knew that was what happened, but his gut said it was dead on.
“Gage?”
He almost growled, hearing Blair’s voice in the the darkness. That was twice tonight someone had gotten close to him without sensing them near. He turned and watched Blair walk toward him. His movements were stiff.
“You all right, man? I got the drop on you.”
Gage smirked, he’d hoped Blair wouldn’t notice, but should have known better. “Yeah, my head’s just a fucking mess right now.”
Offering a sympathetic smile, Blair came over and leaned against the water tank. “I can relate.” He cleared his throat. “Sorry about earlier…”
Motioning with his hand, Gage interrupted him. “Don’t be.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I get it.” He sighed. “At least I do right now, which could change without notice though.”
“Everything okay?
Gage studied his best friend for a moment. He guessed Blair was in was just as hard a place as his own. “Not by a long shot.”
“It’s been a while since you worked yourself to exhaustion to avoid Kelsey.”
Groaning, Gage nodded. “Yeah. I’d hoped I was done with that.”
Picking at the cap on top of the tank, Blair nodded slowly. “What’s going on?” He rolled his eyes at him. “That kept you out here until midnight?”
Surprised, Gage hadn’t realized he’d been that long. Sighing, he rubbed at the back of his neck, the exhaustion was finally registering. “Kelsey’s hit her cycle.”
Blair tensed, “Fuck.”
Smirking, Gage nodded. “Yeah that’s my take on it too.”
Blair stood there, suddenly tense. “You want to bunk in with us?” He seemed to stop breathing.
Gage blew out a loud breath. “I don’t think I can just leave her to suffer…”
Nodding, Blair stared off into the darkness. “I get that.” He ran a hand over his face. “I don’t want to, but…”
“I’m sorry…”
Glaring at him, Blair straightened and started to move away. “Don’t be. Fuck, you found your mate. I…” He shook his head. “I’ll live through it. Somehow.” Turning, he stood facing the gate. “Get your ass home, Gage.” He took two steps and stopped, letting out a long breath. “She has to think it’s her idea.” He gave him a sober look over his shoulder. “Don’t say I never gave you anything.” Snapping around he walked away, stripping off clothes as he went.
Then from just outside the fence, a large sleek white tiger turned and studied him with pale eyes that glowed in the dark. With a low chirruping noise, he spun off and was gone into the night.
Exhaling a breath, he didn’t realize he was holding, Gage scanned the yard once before turning to go home.
Should have joined the fucking army when I turned eighteen, he growled inside his head. Then my life would have been a walk in the fucking park. Facing bombs and bullets sounded a helluva lot better than the mess I’m sinking in here.
Gage picked up his pillow and pounded it between his hands, trying to reshape it. The day had gone without incident. Kelsey hadn’t avoided him, but had been cold toward him. Cold enough that Gage was sure if he looked closely there would be frostbite. He twisted the pillow again then dropped it like it was to blame for him flipping around in bed. Tossing the pillow against the wall, he ripped the sheet off his body and grabbed a clean pair of jeans out of his dresser.
Yanking them on, he went out into the hall. Maybe a few shots of whiskey would settle him down enough to get a few hours of sleep. Grabbing the banister, he froze when a whimpering noise came to him.
He looked at Kelsey’s door. What was she doing awake? He’d checked on her after his run. If things kept going the way they were, he’d soon have to learn how to work in animal form. She’d been sleeping soundly.
He listened at her door. Soft, tantalizing sounds were coming from the other side. Quietly, he opened it a few inches and peered in.
She was twisting in her sleep, discomfort plain on her face. Thinking it was a nightmare, he stepped into the room when the scent of her heat hit him, catching him off guard. His nostrils flared, his body hardened in an instant.
Kelsey moved her legs as if she was trying to run, kicking the sheets off her body. He watched it slide to the floor and stood frozen in place. She was wearing one of those little baby doll nighties, her body barely covered in soft white material. He wanted to be that material rubbing over her skin.
Christ. He tried to swallow, his mouth suddenly so dry he could barely breathe. She gasped and then squirmed some more, he realized she was sensing him near and it only made it worse.
He continued to stand there, his eyes roaming over every inch of her skin. His cat, that he’d thought he’d exhausted, was rubbing against him trying to entice him him to go over to her, the scent was so fucking intriguing.
He should just let her suffer and maybe she’d stop being so pigheaded. Taking a deep breath, he knew he was being a dick, every instinct was telling him to take care of her, to fill all her needs and she was in serious need right now.
Moving toward the end of her bed, he was unable to take his eyes from her. The bottom of the nearly transparent pajamas she left little to the imagination. His heartbeat pounded rapidly, so powerful he could feel it in his throat, when he realized she wasn’t wearing underwear.
Moving like a cat preparing to pounce, he lowered to his knees and rested his hands on the mattress. Christ, how am I going to touch her without going too far? She made a needy mewling noise in the back of her throat and he swore he heard the zipper on his jeans break apart, he was that hard.
Her legs started moving again, unconsciously, moving to rub herself. Christ. Shakily, he reached out and gently clasped one of her ankles. She stiffened, stilled, simply waiting. He looked up to see her eyes were still closed. Was she awake? Taking hold of her other ankle, he held her legs still. With a needy moan, she flexed her legs trying to move them to no avail, he held them tight.
The edge of her gown rode up further and he couldn’t look away. He’d only intended to touch her, to comfort her cat with a bit of contact, but now he was looking at her swollen pink flesh open to him, so wet he could see it from where he knelt. He knew he was going to do more than comfort her.
Inhaling, he tightened his grasp and flexed the muscles in his arms, pulled her toward him until she was almost hanging off the bed. Reaching under her legs, he held her hips and blew on her dripping folds.
Please don’t hate me, he prayed as he leaned forward and stroked his tongue over her. She stilled completely, but didn’t attempt to move away from his touch, so he did it again. His eyes rolled back in his head at the sweet, potent taste of her. Doing this for her wasn’t going to be a sacrifice in any way.
He pulled her thighs wide so he could bury his mouth in her flesh. Her hips lifted and thrust against his mouth as he applied more pressure. Her panting was increasing with each move he made.
Lifting his head, he straightened to pick her up off the bed. He still didn’t trust she wouldn’t claw him up. Lifting her legs bringing her hips completely off the bed, he nibbled along her inner thigh, making her gasp each time his teeth lightly marked her. It took all his restraint not to sink them in and mark her fully.
He plunged his tongue inside her and kept on until her breathing was an erratic mix of moans and gasps. He gently nipped at her engorged clit until she was thrashing around on the bed, pulling at her gown until her whole body was bare. He watched her breasts bounce with each movement, his own hips rocking into the end of the bed, driving him even more crazy for her.
When she started to make soft squealing noises, he knew he wouldn’t be able to continue much longer without climbing on top of her and making her his. Grasping her nub with his lips, he sucked until she was shaking and louder than he’d ever heard a woman groan. It was killing him slowly.
When her cries quieted, he lowered her, licking at her with long strokes, wanting to take the taste with him. She lay there completely sated, her entire body bared to his eyes, watching him with glazed eyes. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
Reaching, he pulled the sheet up and across her body. With stiff movements, he got up and looked down at her. “Get some sleep, honey.” He whispered, his voice so hoarse with lust it was unrecognizable.
He didn’t look at her again as he left the room, pulling the door closed softly.
Stumbling to the stairs, he almost missed a step that would have landed him at the bottom in more pain than he was already in.
The pain of his erection was so bad it actually burned, and he couldn’t see calming it down, no matter what he tried. His body wanted its mate; no substitute was going to cut it.
With a curse, he headed for the back door. He’d have to run this off, even though he doubted the effectiveness of the only option he could think of.