Chapter 74 Chapter 74
Kelsey sat there staring out the window. The house was quiet and she didn’t want to go down the stairs and wake anyone when the steps creaked. She wasn’t sure when she’d fallen asleep, only knew that she woke to silence and darkness. Gage must have brought her up, because she’d been far too exhausted to make it on her own.
After he’d made her eat two sandwiches, still shocked that she was able to eat after a steak dinner, they’d sat on the porch and waited for Devin to return.
Gage didn’t relax, even after learning the guys hadn’t picked up the strange scent again. That’s the last thing she remembered.
It was so dark outside, but she was able to see and hear things she knew she wouldn’t have before, and with her newly improved senses she knew it was oddly quiet out there tonight.
Glancing at the clock, she sighed. Why was she awake at three in the morning? Kneeling by the window, she rested her arms on the ledge and inhaled deeply again. Other than trees and dirt, she couldn’t smell anything out of the ordinary. She wondered if she’d scent more if she was in her cat form.
Grinning, she shook her head. The fact that she’d shifted still had her mind reeling. She’d been a large orange tiger that could run faster than her first car could go downhill; at least it felt that way. And, to her delight, she’d climbed that tree she used to stand beside and wish for a way up. Much to everyone’s surprise and displeasure she’d done it. She was a tiger shifter. There was no denying any of it now.
Glancing over her shoulder, she looked at the clock again, so restless it was unnerving. You would think after everything that had happened, she’d be unconscious deep in an exhausted sleep. She’d had sex with Gage, was no longer a virgin. Add in the tiger part, and the night had been one of many firsts. Sighing, she looked at the door; she really didn’t want to stay in her room right now.
Gnawing on her lip, she stood and took a few steps toward the door. Her mind wanted to remember everything that happened, and as hard as she tried, she couldn’t stop it. What she’d done with Gage had been something else. Too bad she couldn’t hold onto a lot of the feelings, being lost in the heat blurred her memories, the only part she regretted. For too many years, she’d wondered, daydreamed, and fantasized about what it would be like to be with Gage in that way and she had been robbed of the emotions.
A twinge of heat moved through her and she stiffened; after assessing it was just good old lust and not her cycle, she relaxed. It excited her to realize she wanted Gage without the pull of the shifter thing. Picturing him naked made her smile, his body was much more perfect than she’d dreamed it would be. He was so fit, in all the right places, and she hadn’t thought he would be as patient as he had been. Not that she was complaining, but she had to wonder if things would have been different if she hadn’t been consumed by the heat at the time.
Thinking about this was just making her antsy, not to mention turned on. Biting her lip, she stood there and stared at her closed door. What would he do if she went to him when she wasn’t out of her mind with animal heat?
Taking a deep breath, she exhaled and decided she was now going to find out. Not knowing when the cycle was going to consume her again, she wanted just one thing to be in her control.
Stepping out into the hall, she moved toward his door, careful not to make the floorboards creak. Devin and Rayne were downstairs in the guest room, but she still didn’t want to alert anyone to her movements.
Turning the doorknob, she opened the door and went in, closing it behind her just as quietly. When she turned toward the bed, Gage bolted upright.
“Kelsey? Are you all right?” He inhaled deeply and then looked her up and down.
She didn’t have to ask what he was sniffing for, he’d know better than she what her body smelled like. “I couldn’t sleep.”
Moving to the side of the bed, he swung his legs over the edge, pulling the sheet over him as he did. “What’s wrong?”
No doubt he could sense her nerves, as her heart tried to pound out of her chest. Swallowing, she took a few tentative steps in his direction. “I was thinking, so much happened tonight…” She watched his shoulders stiffen.
“It wasn’t the way I wanted things to go…”
“I know. I wasn’t blaming you.” She let her eyes roam over all the skin the sheet didn’t hide. His chest and abs were so toned, not overly muscled, but more than enough to stir her awareness. She watched his chest rise and fall as she stepped in front of him, close enough to reach out and touch him. He continued to sit there, tense and immobile, as if he was waiting to find out why she in his room in the middle of the night. “I woke up and couldn’t help thinking…” biting her lip, she looked up his nakedness until she reached his eyes, “wondering…” she didn’t know how to say it.
His chest expanded as he took a deep breath, awareness lit his eyes. “Come here,” he wove his fingers through her hair and pulled her toward him. “I’m glad you came to me.” His lips brushed over hers, so lightly she shivered with need. “I’ve been laying here driving myself crazy,” his mouth moved down over her jaw, “walking away from you when I put you in bed took all my restraint.”
Everywhere his mouth touched caught fire; it felt like lava moving through her veins. “I don’t want your restraint now,” she whispered, dizzy as his masculine scent filled her senses.
He paused, his lips against her ear, “What do you want, honey?”
Running her hands up over his shoulders, she felt his muscles clench under her touch. “I want to be with you when it’s my choice.”
He let out a ragged breath and she couldn’t be sure if it was relief, but then his mouth moved back to hers, his lips close but not touching hers, “Let me show you how it was supposed to be.” He didn’t wait for her to respond before his mouth took hers in a kiss so sensual and consuming it made her head spin.
His tongue stroked over hers slowly, as if he was memorizing her mouth, her taste. She felt his hands move to her waist and pull the pants she still wore down over her hips. Deepening the kiss, he pushed the material down her legs. Kelsey grasped his head, not wanting him to stop kissing her as she stepped out of them.
Gage hands molded to her skin as he moved up the back of her legs until coming to rest on her hips. Tearing his mouth away his hands moved up over her ribs, she made a sound of frustration, not wanting him to stop..
Lifting her shirt up, he pulled it over her head and tossed it on the floor. She felt self-conscious being exposed, but the way his eyes caressed her kept her standing in quietly. If he didn’t touch her soon, she was going to collapse on the floor in anticipation.
His hands slid down her arms, leaving her shivering in awareness when he grasped her wrists, pushing her arms behind her pinning them together in one of his large hands. With a feather-light touch, he ran the back of his free hand over her shoulder, trailing it slowly to her breast. Her nipple puckered tighter, almost painfully, as he lingered. She gasped and closed her eyes, focusing on the sensations his touch created.
“You’re so beautiful, I feel like the luckiest man on earth.”
Opening her eyes, she watched him move toward her body. When he licked across her nipple, she moaned and felt her knees weaken. “So responsive,” he whispered against her breast, the breath across her nipple going straight to her core.
Releasing her hands, he gripped her waist and without hesitation had her on her back on his bed, his body covering hers. “I want to taste every inch of you,” he said before dipping his head down to run his tongue along her throat, stopping to bite her gently in the curve of her neck.
Gage growled low in his chest and heat shot through her. Kelsey caught her lip and bit down.
“Fuck,” Gage’s mouth crushed hers, his tongue thrusting inside, possessing he mouth completely. Kelsey grabbed his head, not wanting him to pull away again. Each time their tongues touched, she felt more heat pour through her. She wanted more, hotter, wanted the flames to consume her.
Shifting she moaned as his bare flesh burned into hers. Releasing her mouth, he trailed his lips down her throat in rough kisses using his teeth and tongue.
She tried to bring his mouth back to hers, but she couldn’t hold him as he dragged it from her grasp and moved down her chest. When he sucked a nipple into his mouth, her back arched, offering him more. With each pull a pulse between her legs mirrored his attentions and she began to rub against him trying to relieve the ache even though his weight held her in place and mostly still.
Kelsey’s breaths came in staggered gasps as his mouth burned her skin as he trailed down her hips and stomach. She quivered with a need she barely understood yet desperate to sate. He shifted and moved his head was between legs, she held her breath as his hot breath was brushed against her inner thighs and she shuddered, knowing what was to come.
Tenderly he stroked his tongue through her wet folds as she hissed out a breath, lifting her hips to get closer. Chuckling, he gripped her thighs and held her down on the mattress. “Not so fast, baby.” He whispered against her heat. “I plan on savoring you.”
She made a mewling noise of frustration, she didn’t want to be savored, she wanted to be devoured. Now. She tried to tell him what she wanted, but each time she opened her mouth to speak, his tongue took all thoughts away.
Her body was coiled and reaching for release, he kept her hovering on the edge until she gripped his head and ground against his mouth. With a strong arm across her hips, he limited her movement, lifting his head to look up her body. His eyes were heavy with lust, almost black in color. Blowing against her throbbing clit, he moved to his knees and grasped her hips, lifting her with him.
“Look at me,” he growled, his breath brushing over her pulsing need.
Opening her eyes, she looked up at him, trying to focus through a haze of lust.
“You’re mine.” His eyes held hers for a moment as if she was going to argue.
Unable to speak, she couldn’t have even whispered at that moment. She nodded.
His mouth crashed against her wet center and she cried out as her orgasm washed over her without warning. Struggling to breathe, she gripped the headboard, trying to pull from his grasp as oxygen was sucked out of her lungs. Gage held her to him, she couldn’t move while his tongue and teeth played with her body in ways she hadn’t thought possible.
Then the aftershocks went through her, one right on top of the other; like jolts of electricity. Gasping, she tried to catch her breath. She thought he would release her, but he gripped her thighs and forced her legs further apart and lowered his mouth once again. An animalistic groan torn from her lips as he teased and tormented her again with his mouth. Just as she braced to explode, she found herself lowered and flipped over on her stomach before she could focus.
Wrapping his arm around her waist, he lifted her hips off the bed, using his muscular thighs to push her legs, opening her body to him. Kelsey came violently as he thrust deep into her in one fast movement. Screaming into the pillow; she was helpless as he continued to pound into her. Her convulsing muscles clenched around him so tightly, she could feel his entire length as he slid from her and then back, filling her tightness again.
As she started to catch her breath, he shifted his weight to lean over her. A hand moved up and began to squeeze her nipple; suddenly she was feeling him everywhere at once.
She could feel his sharp teeth moving over her shoulder, and it made another rush of wetness. Growling, Gage stopped moving, his whole body tensed. With a curse, he pulled from her and flipped her onto her back.
Pushing her legs open, he slid between them and was back inside her with a groan. Kelsey was helpless to do anything as her body obeyed his every want. Clinging to his shoulders, she gasped each time he slammed into her.
He grabbed her knee and pulled her leg up over his shoulder. “You’re so hot…” he groaned against her ear, “come for me again.”
Kelsey wanted to say it was impossible, her body was spent but as he began kissing her, she started shaking in response. When her tongue brushed along his sharp teeth, she realized they were his feline teeth, and he was as out of control as she was.
Reaching down, he slipped his hand under her hips and lifted her while his movement slowed, deep thrusts bringing the heat to hit her again. Moaning into his mouth, she clung to him as another orgasm moved through her.
Gage’s thrusts were now almost bruising, suddenly jerky movements before he tore his mouth away from hers and tensed on top of her, a low, guttural moans echoing though the room, as she was clenching around him as he pulsed inside her.
She lay there, soaked in sweat, trying to catch her breath and relishing the weight of his lax body on top of her. So, she thought when some of the fog cleared, that was worth waiting for.
Lifting a bit of his weight off her, he trailed his tongue up her throat. “Was I too rough?” His voice was low and breathless causing another aftershock to run over her like a wave.
“No,” she panted. Truly she had no idea, at the time it was just what her body wanted, what she needed and hadn’t even realized. Then a thought hit her. “We didn’t use…”
Propping his body up on his elbows, he brushed hot lips over hers before raising his face to look at her. “It’s okay, honey.” He gave her a lazy smile. “You can’t get pregnant, unless I allow it,” he chuckled softly at the confused look she knew was on her face. “The males get to control something, at least.” He kissed her quickly and lifted more of his body from hers.
With a gentle thrust of his hips, he pushed against her sensitive flesh eliciting soft gasps. “And I plan on a lot more of this,” he thrust again, “before we even consider anything else.”
Kelsey wanted to ask what he meant, but he began to move in and out of her slowly. She didn’t think he could, but she felt him growing harder inside her with each stroke. Heat flashed through her. Her eyes moved to his, giving him a surprised look.
Grinning, he lowered his mouth to hers. “I’m not done with you yet, honey.” He brushed his lips against hers as her mouth opened with a silent gasp. “I’ll be gentle this time, baby, let me show you.”
Her eyes drifted closed as the sensations went through her, she was more than willing to let him do whatever he wanted.