A Jaguars Touch (13 page)

She’d grabbed takeout on the way back. Pizza was the food of choice lately as it was the one thing that heated up nicely or as far as she was concerned, tasted great cold. They lived far enough out that most stuff was cold before they got it back, anyway. Pizza they could deal with. Cold burgers and greasy fries, not so much. She grabbed one of the large boxes and left to search for Gideon. Finn had already snagged another box and headed in the opposite direction to look for Murphy.

Gideon was in the lab when she walked down, his shoulders hunched as he gazed at the scrolling screen of the computer. He glanced back as she entered, and she loved the way his face flushed with desire.

“I brought dinner,” she said and held out the box.

“Cold pizza.” Gideon grunted. “We need to work on your eating habits, hellcat.”

“I eat just fine.”

He shook his head. “I’m finishing up in here. I shouldn’t be much longer. You want me to meet you upstairs?”

She shook the box. “I brought the pizza to you. Figured we could eat in your room. Spend the evening hanging out. Unless you have other plans?”

“Just going over this,” he said. “And there’s nothing I’d rather do than spend the evening…” His gaze dipped to her breasts. “Hanging out with you.”

She had a feeling his version of hanging out included both of them naked. She was okay with that. It matched her idea perfectly.

“I’ll meet you in the bedroom then,” she said. “I’ll grab a shower. Finn and I spent the day walking around town waiting for the moving truck to be ready. Wasted a whole day.”

When she could have been here, with him, making the most of the short time they had left.

He nodded, but he was staring at the screen again. “I’ll meet you in there,” he mumbled, but she had the impression he was more focused on whatever he’d been reading when she walked in.

She backed out of the room, keeping her gaze on him simply because she didn’t want to turn away. There was no way it wasn’t going to hurt when he left. She headed down the hall to his room and opened the door. She tossed the pizza box on the bed and began pulling off her clothes. The thought of hot water sounded perfect right now, or as close to perfect as she could get without Gideon’s hands on her.

What if she asked him to stay? Would he even consider it when she wasn’t his mate? She hadn’t been this unsure of herself since she’d left her dad behind in the trailer park she’d called home as a child. She’d spent her entire school years trying to make him happy, to show him she was good enough, worthy enough of love. She still did when she made the trek home to check on him. She hadn’t been in a long while, though. Maybe she wouldn’t go back this time.

She wanted to talk to Gideon—open up to him in ways she never had with anyone else. Tell him about her past, about her hopes for the future. If he couldn’t stay, she wanted to ask if he’d let her go with him. She wanted to be in Oklahoma, with her friends, helping them with everything. But she wanted Gideon more.

With that in mind, she headed into the shower. She was just toweling off when Gideon walked in.

“I planned to talk,” he said, staring at her as he tugged his shirt over his head.

“I want to talk to you, too,” she said.

He grabbed her and pulled her flush against him. “Later.” He dipped his head and kissed her until she was breathless. “Much later,” he added and swept her up in his arms.

He carried her to the bed, and she noted the pizza box had been moved. He gently placed her on the mattress and leaned down over her. She moaned as he licked at the drops of water still dotting her skin. Her neck, over her shoulder, and across the tops of her breasts. One by one, he sucked her nipples into his mouth, sending an ache to settle between her thighs. He didn’t linger at her breasts, though. He moved lower, lips and tongue skating across her stomach and over to each of her hip bones where he placed kisses. His shoulders forcing her thighs wider as he settled between them.

“I was told I could have whatever I wanted for dinner tonight.” He purred against her folds. He nuzzled her and placed a sucking kiss over the spot that hid her clit from view. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather eat more.”

“Yes,” she pleaded in agreement, arching up into him.

He chuckled against her flesh and the sound vibrated along her sex.

“Gideon,” she groaned, reaching for him and locking her fingers in his hair, which she used to tug him closer.

He spread her open with one hand and took her clit between his lips. He moved them back and forth over the hard bud then flicked his tongue out and rubbed it. She moaned, lifting her knees and sprawling her thighs wider. Gideon skimmed a finger down to her opening and thrust inside. He pulled the glistening digit free slowly. His lips wrapped around her clit again, and he sucked hard. Two fingers slammed back in, and she came with a scream. Never had she come so quickly.

He lapped at her, tasting the cream that spilled from her while his fingers kept pumping. He kept licking and sucking at her, keeping her body tightly strung as the orgasm flowed through her. Finally, she dissolved into the bed in a boneless heap. She watched through slitted eyes as he stood and finished scrambling out of his clothes. He had the most magnificent body. She’d never get enough of looking at him.

He grabbed her feet and tugged her toward him until her ass hit the edge of the bed. She automatically lifted her knees to grasp his sides and held tight as he dropped his hands down beside her shoulders. His cock nudged her then glided through her folds, bumping against her clit. He took her lips with his, tongue thrusting deep and giving her a taste of herself. His cock slid along her sex again and again until he eased back enough for it to lodge at her opening. This time, he pressed it in and once the head breached, he thrust hard, filling her channel with his shaft.

They both groaned and clung to one another as he rode hard and fast between her thighs. So good. Perfection. That’s how he felt inside her, as if she were always meant to be his, and he hers. She nipped along his chest, sucking and biting at him. She wanted to bury her teeth in his flesh and mark him like the hellcat he called her.

He returned the favor, and she felt the sharp graze of his teeth, quickly replaced by his lips then back to his teeth as if he couldn’t prevent himself from using them on her. He scraped her neck once then again. His cock pummeled her sex, and she screamed as another orgasm washed through her. Another scrape along her neck, and he turned his head and buried his face in his bicep. She heard the muted rumble of a growl and felt the vibration in his chest as he came.

“Gideon.” She crooned his name, her arms wrapping around him as he collapsed against her. She soothed her hands up and down his back until he moved, pushing back up and pulling away from her.

“I’ll be right back,” he said and disappeared into the bathroom.

He came back out moments later with a warm cloth. She took it from him and cleaned herself before taking it back to the bathroom. He was sitting on the bed waiting for her when she came back out.

“Hungry?” he asked and held up the box of pizza.

“Famished,” she said, grabbing his T-shirt from the floor and dragging it over her nudity before joining him on the bed.

They ate in silence. When she was done, she lay on her side on the bed, head propped up on her arm and watched him polish off the rest of the pizza.

“I don’t want you to go,” she blurted out before she lost her nerve.

He paused to look at her then set the rest of the slice in the box, scooped it up and tossed it to the floor.

“You said you wanted sex,” he reminded her, but his voice was soft, questioning.

“I believe I said we were just about the fucking,” she stated, a small smile tugging at her lips. “And believe me, it’s been the best sex of my life.”

“Is that why you don’t want me to go?” he asked.

“No. I mean the sex is good, but I wouldn’t ask just for that,” she said. She sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees and hugging them to her chest as she faced him. “I didn’t have an ideal childhood. My mother died when I was born, and my father’s spent every day since reminding me of that.”

“You don’t have to tell me this,” Gideon told her.

“I want to. I’ve never wanted to tell anyone, but I do with you.”

“Tell me.”

“I spent my early childhood hiding from him. He had a hard hand, and he didn’t mind using it.”

“Your father hit you?” Gideon said and he practically vibrated with anger.

She shrugged. “I was good at hiding. As I got older, I took up sports. I played everything and anything. Turned out, I was an all-around athlete. Luckily, the school had a scholarship program available for kids who couldn’t afford the fees or equipment. I qualified.”

“I bet you were a knock-out in high school,” Gideon said.

She snorted. “I was all long legs. I was fit but nothing like I am now.”

He reached out and stroked a finger down her shin. “I like your legs.”

“Thank you,” she said. “My junior year, my coach took the track team on a fieldtrip. We went and watched a physical training exercise by Marine recruits. My coach was a retired Marine. I remember being awed as I watched them. That was true athletics. I looked at one of the other girls and told her I was going to join. She laughed.”

“I can’t imagine anyone laughing at you,” he said.

“I began training the next day. I quit sports and started a fierce regimen. My senior year, I talked to a recruiter, started showing up for PT with them once a week. There were a bunch of us that did. I worked my ass off. I turned eighteen in March and officially enlisted. Graduated in May and was gone in June.”

“You liked being a Marine,” he said.

“I loved it,” she told him. “I always thought I had to take care of myself. That’s what my dad taught me. Don’t need anyone. Don’t depend on anyone but myself.”

“And now you have a different family,” Gideon stated.

“I do,” she agreed. “It’s funny. I bitch and grumble and snarl at them. Yell and get in their faces. But I’d do anything for any one of them. I dropped everything I was doing and hauled ass to get here when Reno called and said Tah needed me. They needed me. I thought I was doing them a favor. Coming in to take care of things. But you want to know the truth?”

He nodded, and she saw in his eyes that he already knew.

“I needed them. I came because I was on my own, feeling incredibly lost. And they threw me a fucking lifeline. One call and suddenly everything was okay. I get here and Tah’s shifting into a lion, and I don’t fucking blink. Because he’s family, and I need him. I need them all. I’ve just been too damn stubborn to admit it, as if by saying so I’m opening myself back up to the same type of rejection I got from my dad.”

“They love you, too,” Gideon told her. “I’ve seen it. There’s nothing they wouldn’t do for you.”

“I had a moment when you first arrived, when I thought I was done. I was going to walk away and not look back.”

“Because of me?” he asked, appearing upset.

“Yes and no,” she said. “I was mad as hell at you. God, I wanted to ring your neck.”

He grinned. “You definitely came across as a hellcat when you approached me.”

“I thought you hated humans then I found out it was just me.”

“So you were going to leave because you thought I didn’t like you?” Gideon asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“No,” she said and smacked at him. “I was going to leave because Tah ordered Murphy and the rest of the guys to keep me away from you. I thought Tah didn’t trust me anymore. That a stranger meant more to him because you’re both shifters, and I’m human.”

Gideon shook his head. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s what fired me up and sent me searching you out. It’s what led to this, the two of us in bed.” She took a deep breath. “It’s what led to me asking you not to leave or if you have to, to let me go with you.”

“You want to go with me? You just said this pride was your family,” he reminded her, looking a little shell-shocked.

She moved until she was sitting up on her knees in front of him. “I know I’m not your mate. And someday, you may meet your mate. But until then, I don’t see why this has to end, why we have to end. If you can’t go to Oklahoma with us, then let me go with you.”

He shook his head, and her heart felt as if it were breaking in two. He didn’t want her for any longer than the time they’d had.

“I have to go look for Thomas,” he said.

“I know,” she agreed. “I knew that’s what you were planning to do.”

“I can’t ask you to go with me,” he said. “I have no idea where I’m going, or what I’ll find.”

“I’m a Marine,” she reminded him.

“I can’t believe you’d give family up for me,” he said.

She opened her mouth and closed it. She’d almost told him she was falling in love with him. But that didn’t happen in the short amount of time they’d been together. So she bit her lip and kept the words to herself.

“I would,” she said instead.

“Until I found my mate,” he added. “Then what? We’d just go our separate ways?”

She bit her lip again, not sure what to say. It didn’t help that her heart ached at his words.

“Stop that,” he ordered and ran his thumb over her lip, freeing it from her teeth. “Why would you agree to something like that? Would you really just step aside and watch me go to another woman?”

He sounded hurt at the idea, but what choice would she have? None.

“Once you find your mate, you won’t want anything more to do with me. We both know that,” she said.

“I think you’re wrong,” he told her.

“We have four mated pairs in this pride,” she reminded him. “I’ve seen how it works. They’re very possessive of each other. No other man or woman would ever stand a chance.”

“Come with me,” he said and held his hand out to her.

“Where?” she asked, standing and watching as he snagged his jeans and jerked them on, though he left them undone.

“I want to show you something.”

He tugged her out of the room and down the hall, back toward the lab where he’d been when she’d first come down. He urged her onto a stool and stood beside her, pulling something up on the computer screen.