Andromeda's Fall (Shadowcat Nation) (12 page)

Jaxon
snuggled deeper into the warmth of his cocoon. He’d been dreaming of Andie, of
holding her in his arms. He didn’t want to let the dream go and willed it to
continue. As he shifted position, his hands discovered a strip of smooth, soft skin.

Mmmmm…
I’m still dreaming. I hope it doesn’t stop anytime soon.

His
trailed his fingers lightly over her back. Andie purred and arched into his
caresses. He slid both hands up under the hem of her shirt and, unhindered by a
bra, glided his fingertips over the expanse of her back. He could feel the
toned muscles underneath and kneaded a little, receiving another soft purr from
her. The sound shot straight through his body.

He
moved his hands up to her shoulder blades, then down around to her sides where
he cupped her rib cage. He let his thumbs brush the underside of her breasts
with feather-light caresses meant to tease. He had dreamt of her every night
since he met her, but it’d never felt so real, so tantalizing. Andie hitched in
a breath, and he smiled.

His
entire body felt heavy and awkward, but he didn’t care. This was too good.
Reaching down, he clasped her hips and shifted her so that she sprawled
completely on top of him, her legs falling on either side as he lay on his
back. Those same hands at her jean-clad hips urged her to rock into him just
slightly.

Jaxon
groaned as her sweet full lips started trailing butterfly kisses up along his
neck, along the underside of his jaw. She paused to rub her cheek against his
scruff. Drowsily he leaned into the caress.
God, this feels so good
, his
sluggish mind thought.

“Jaxon,”
Andie whispered. “Kiss me. Please.”

She
didn’t have to ask twice. He took her lips in a kiss so fierce he felt her
tremble. Or maybe that was him. He wanted to possess this woman wholly – mind,
heart, and soul. But at this moment, her body took top priority. This felt so
real. And yet it felt like heaven… like a dream.

His
hands started kneading and pressing her hips, urging her to rock in small
motions along his now hard length.

She
shuddered. “Oh,” she breathed into his mouth. The small moan and the building
tension urged them both into a rhythm. “I don’t want to hurt you,” she pulled
away from his kiss to whisper hoarsely.

He
wasn’t sure what she meant by that. “I’ll be in pain if we stop, darlin’. Just
press that gorgeous body down on me a little harder.”

When
she did, he couldn’t hold back his moan. “Just like that.”

Her
mouth hovered above his, tempting him, and he leaned up and pulled her full
lower lip into his mouth, where he ran his tongue along it in sweeps.

Andie’s
breathing changed, and he knew she was close. So was he. A small moment of
disappointment shot through him. He’d wanted their first time to be skin to
skin in a long session where he took the time to cherish every inch of her
body. But this was just a dream, and it felt too damn good to stop. Usually
around this moment, he’d wake up. Dream Andie never stuck around for the end.
He really hoped this dream let him finish for once.

“Oh…
oh,” she breathed.

“That’s
it, baby. You feel so damn good.” He thrust up hard as he helped her increase
the pace. Jaxon moaned his release into her mouth as Andie shattered above him,
the sound of her cries sweet in his ears.

Sated
and satisfied, Jaxon closed his eyes, savoring the dream for as long as he
could before the blackness claimed him once again.

*****

Andie’s
first clue that Jaxon had passed out again was his suddenly lax hands that
dropped away from her body as his head lolled to the side.

She
pulled back and saw that his eyes were shut.

“Um,
Jaxon?”

No
answer. Not even a flicker of an eyelash.

“Jaxon
Keller, don’t you dare pass out on me after the most intimate moment of my
life.”

Nada
. Concerned, she
felt his pulse and then moved off him and checked his stitches. Seeing that
everything appeared to be fine, she shook her head and heaved a sigh. “Frickin’
morphine. Figures. Well, don’t think
I’ll
be bringing this up first,
mister,” she muttered.

She
lay back down beside him, her mind filled with what had just happened. She
must’ve dozed off. She was usually so vigilant when on watch, but the fight, on
the heels of her cross- country journey, must’ve really taken a toll.

She’d
awoken to the most delicious sensation. His hands, large and strong, were
softly stroking her underneath her shirt. She’d been half asleep, but her body
was instantly turned on. And then he’d lifted her across him, and things had
quickly escalated from there.

Andie
put a hand to her red cheeks. She hadn’t realized it was possible to… well… do
that quite like that. But my heaven, that had been the most erotic moment of
her young life. If he’d asked her again to mate and marry him at that moment,
she’d have said yes then and there just to have access to more of the same.

She
shook her head.
Get it together, girl!
An entire lifetime based on
physical attraction alone does not mean happiness or a good life.
Good thing
he passed out on you.

But
that led her to another dilemma. Would he remember this? He’d seemed lucid
enough, but the fact that he’d slipped back into unconsciousness probably meant
that he hadn’t been completely aware of what was going on.

Huh.
Like I said, he’ll have to bring it up first.

Andie
bit her lip.

Part
of her hoped he’d remember and say something, but the other part hoped he
wouldn’t. Despite what’d just happened, regardless of how blissfully incredible
it had been, she still needed to give him the chance to walk away. But knowing
Jaxon, there was no way he’d do that.

Andie
sighed. “What am I going to do with you, Jaxon Keller?” she whispered.

Andie
felt Jaxon stir long before he actually woke up. She’d managed to remain awake
the rest of the night, getting up periodically to check on the cabin and on Zac.
She had a pretty good idea of exactly how haggard she must look by now. Nothing
a good couple night’s sleep wouldn’t cure when they got out of here.

Rather
than wait for him to wake up and remember – or realize – exactly what had
happened, she hopped up and started working on getting them packed up to leave.

Several
minutes later, Andie was in the kitchen pulling out any provisions they could
use for their cross-country hike. While she worked, she listened for any
indication of a scuffle outside. All she heard was the noise of the storm
that’d blown in, just as William had predicted.

At
the sound of a throat being cleared, she looked over her shoulder to see Jaxon
rubbing his adorably messy hair.

“Hey,
sleepyhead,” she said. “How do you feel?”

Jaxon
frowned. “All right, I guess.”

“I
had to stitch you up last night, which I’m guessing you’ve already realized. I
gave you a shot of morphine, which is probably making you drowsier than you’d
expect. Don’t move too much until you figure out what your range of motion is.”

“What
happened?” he asked groggily.

“Do
you remember anything about last night?”

He
shook his head. “I remember the power going out, and we went to check on the
generator.”

She
watched his face as he searched for memories through a medicine and
pain-induced haze. She held her breath. Would he say anything about what they’d
done?

“The
wolves… What happened?” he asked.

She
gave sigh of relief and then offered him a lopsided grin. “You decided to play
hero and went up against ten at once.”

Memory
flashed in his eyes. “You got them off us with a flamethrower. And you were
naked.”

Andie
raised a single eyebrow. “
That’s
what you remember?”

“It
sort of made an impression.” He smirked and then shook his head again. “But
after that, nothing.”

She
nodded, not too surprised, and filled him in on the rest of the previous night.
She decided to leave out their little interlude. Let him broach that subject if
he ever remembered it. Maybe he’d think he’d made himself orgasm and wouldn’t
bring it up. Drug-induced haze and all that. He couldn’t be sure, right?

Suddenly
Jaxon shook his head. “Am I nuts, or did a giant polar bear chase off the rest
of those shifters?”

She
grinned and turned back to her packing. “You’re not nuts. Zac is outside right
now. He’s a very good friend of mine.”

Suddenly
two arms landed on the counter on either side of her, caging her in. She felt
the solid wall of Jaxon’s chest at her back. His warm breath tickled her ear.
“You seriously called a polar bear for help?”

She
suppressed a shiver and was really proud of how casual she managed to make her
voice despite her pounding heartbeat. “Actually, he called me to offer me more
options for my situation. And I trust that polar bear shifter with my life.”

He
rested his chin on her shoulder. “You know you don’t need to run from me,
right? Even if you don’t accept me as your mate, you’ll always have a place in
the Keller Dare.”

Andie
winced. “Good to know,” she murmured. “But without marriage, I put your dare in
jeopardy and risk extradition myself. Besides, we need him right now. I wasn’t
sure about your condition last night, and with the weather blowing in again,
your men couldn’t come get us here.”

After
a pause Jaxon said, “I trust your judgment. And he’ll definitely come in
handy.” He didn’t move away. Andie was tempted to elbow him back, but then
thought better of it, worried she’d reopen his injury.

“How’s
your wound by the way?”

“I
think I’ll live. Your quick work last night helped a lot, I’m sure. But I’m
probably going to slow us down.”

“Well,
we’ll deal with that.” She sort of expected him to move away. Clearly they’d
wrapped up their conversation. After a few moments, when he didn’t leave or
speak, she tipped her head slightly. “You going to let me go?”

He
chuckled. “I know. I should.”

Andie
held her breath and fought the urge to turn, wrap her arms around his neck, and
beg him to stay. And she had the insane impulse to ask him if he’d remembered
any more about the previous night. Like fireworks maybe? Instead she cleared
her throat. “Yes. You should.”

“And
yet…”

“And
yet?”

He
sighed. “I just can’t resist doing this…”

She
sucked in a sharp breath as his lips trailed softly down the side of her neck.

She
had no defense against this kind of attack. Andie closed her eyes and sank back
into his chest. Jaxon groaned at the feel of her surrender. His tongue snaked
out and tasted the small spot where her shoulder met her neck, and Andie let
out a little whimper. She’d had no idea that spot was so… well, hot.

“So
sweet,” he murmured.

He
kissed and nibbled his way back up her neck to take her earlobe between his
teeth and delicately suck at the sensitive skin.

Suddenly
his hands gripped her waist and spun her around to face him. Jaxon didn’t have
to seek her lips. She was already twining her arms around his neck and pulling
him down to her. They came together in an explosive kiss that lit Andie up like
a firecracker. If it were possible to spontaneously combust, this would do it.
The kiss was wet and deep and incredible. Andie could only focus on the
sensations rushing through her body. Nothing else registered.

With
a low growl, his hands moved down over her back end, gripped, and scooted her
up to sit on the counter, all while never removing his lips from hers. Andie
wrapped her legs around him without being asked. The intimate contact seemed to
bring Jaxon back to reality.

He
pulled back and touched his forehead to hers, although he didn’t lower her to
the ground or release her. They breathed heavily for several moments. Passion
still blazed in his eyes, but iron control hardened his jaw.

“As
much as I want to take this to its natural conclusion, I won’t do that until
you’ve agreed to be mine.”

Andie
stiffened. Her first thought was that there was no way he’d missed the evidence
of what happened last night when he’d woken up and dressed. But her next
thought was how manipulative his proposal was.

Andie
opened her mouth to protest, but before she could speak, he shook his head.
“I’m not making it a condition or trying to force your hand. I’m just saying
you’re too important to me to just casually take what I so desperately want.
What I don’t want is a one-night stand. And I also don’t want sex clouding your
decision.”

Andie
snapped her mouth shut. She closed her eyes, trying to clear the lust-filled
fog from her mind. He was right. She needed logic right now, not whatever this
crazy thing was between them.

“Now,
given what Mike told me, I’ve got a pretty good idea what Zac is about to offer
you. Don’t think that I’m going to let you go easily. I can protect you as well
as he can, and I could use you in the dare. Please don’t make a hasty decision
because of trust issues that you claim to have.”

Andie
looked away. She was absolutely sure now that he wouldn’t let this go. Wouldn’t
let
her
go. She couldn’t fight both Jaxon and herself. “I…” She took a
deep breath. “I’ll join your dare. But I need longer to think about mating
you.”

She
opened her eyes to catch his resigned disappointment. Slowly he lowered her to
the ground. Andie held in a sigh at the sensation of her body sliding down his.
She thought he was just going to walk away, but he didn’t.

Instead,
he took her face in his hands and laid a tender kiss on her passion-swollen
lips. “All right. But don’t take too long. I have a better chance of protecting
you if you marry me or someone in the dare. And don’t think I’m suggesting that
second option, because I’m not.”