Finding Pride (Pride Series) (22 page)

Even when the evenings started getting warmer; it was still cool enough that she’d taken to using the hot tub almost every night to relax. She still had trouble sleeping through the night and found a nice glass of wine helped her sleep better, not to mention how they helped her sore back.

She thought about building an overhang on the deck, so that when winter came, she could sit out in the tub and enjoy the snow.

Todd had little time over the last few weeks. Finally he had some free time to swing by the cemetery and visit Matt. The rain that day had yet to let up, and he had forgotten his rain coat. Instead, he stood with his sister’s bright green umbrella and his favorite leather jacket hunched over the black tombstone of his best friend.

Todd had been trying to slowly reach out to Megan, to make her more comfortable around him again. He felt like such a failure in showing her the kindness she deserved. One thing was for sure, he still felt justified in looking into her ex. Whenever he was around her, he tried to never bring up the subject.

“Well Matt, I don’t know if you’re watching over us, but I hope you are okay with Megan and me. I didn’t expect to find her, to feel this way about her. She went through hell Matt, and I mean to show her things can be good, and if it’s alright with you,” he waited a beat, listening for.. something, anything. “I love her, more than I can bear. I mean to marry her Matt, and I hope to God you’re good with that.”

When Megan woke up, it was to thunder. She knew she wouldn’t get any outside work done, so instead, settled in to complete some of the paperwork she’d been putting off.

About half way through balancing her check book, she heard a loud boom come from the back of the house.

The storm continued to rage outside and had actually built up to be quite loud. It had been lightning and thundering for about half an hour now. Thinking the noise must be a tree branch hitting the house, she ignored it, but when it continued, she got up and walked through the house to the kitchen back door. Looking out the window, she couldn’t see anything except rain streaming down the glass.

When she turned her back on the door she heard it again. Boom, boom, boom. Three in a row, it sounds like it was coming from something hitting the door. She reached over and grabbed the nearest item as a weapon. Fumbling for the handle she unlocked the dead bolt, and slowly opened the door. When there was about two inches exposed, something large and black darted in the door and ran under the kitchen table.

Megan let out a quick yelp and slammed the door shut, jumping again when lightning flashed and she caught her reflection in the glass doors. Taking a deep breath she looked down at the wooden spoon she held as a weapon. Tossing it into the sink, she grabbed her broom and slowly walked to the table.

“
Okay,” she said to herself and the animal now hiding under her table. “A cat or a rabbit, maybe a squirrel, or some other harmless animal, please let it be a cat.”

She could see wet paw prints on the floor and could hear a low moan. It had looked larger than any cat she’d ever seen. She was thinking a raccoon, please don’t be a raccoon. Did they have raccoons here? Was it a skunk? She’d seen black and white but the thing was so wet, it was hard to tell what it had been.

She slowly reached for the table cloth, pulling it up a few inches until she could lean over with the broom in one hand and table cloth in the other.

Just then, there was a loud boom from outside and the lights went out.

“Great! Just great! There’s a wild animal in my house and now I have no lights.” She walked over to the drawer that held matches, candles and a flashlight. Fumbling around in the drawer she found the flashlight. Clicking the button she was relieved to see the light.

Walking over, she pulled up the table cloth quicker then she should have. Below the table she heard a loud hiss. “Okay, that rules out a skunk, I think. You must be a cat.” She pointed the light at its green eyes. It was huddled in the corner farthest from her and hissed again when the light shone on it.

“Well, if you had knocked nicely, I would have let you in. You must be cold, poor thing,” she said. Leaving the table cloth up, she walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out the milk. “I’m afraid I only drink two percent, but I bet you don’t mind.” She pulled out a bowl and poured milk into it. Setting the bowl down and sitting next to it on the cold floor. She grabbed the hand towel off the oven and put it in her lap.

It took about one minute for the animal to crawl out from under the table and scamper over to the bowl. It started lapping up the milk quickly. It was larger than most cats, but it was rail thin, its hair was matted and soaked through.

Slowly she reached over and started to pat it. The cat looked up briefly then continued to lap up the milk.

Megan reached down and started rubbing its hair dry. When the milk was gone, she could hear a loud purring sound coming from it. Then it walked over, climbed up on her lap and started to bathe itself, purring the entire time.

“Well, I guess I could use a mouser around here,” she said looking into the cats eyes. It had no collar or tags on. “Because I don’t know if you are a female or male, and I don’t think it would be very nice of me to check seeing as we just met. How about I call you “Boomer”?” she said scratching its head.

The cat gave a loud meow and head butted her, rubbing its face against hers, all the while continuing to purr.

She sat there for a while, when the lights flashed back on, the cat flicked its tail and walked off, starting to explore the room. Megan made a mental note to ask Todd if there was a good veterinarian in town. She would also have to get cat food and a litter box.

She’d been enjoying the quiet of the house, but she did feel lonely. She was glad that she now had someone to talk to. As she walked back towards her office, the cat bounced along with her, running in between her legs and flicking its tail.

When she went back to the office, Megan chatted to Boomer about the house and about anything she thought of. When she sat down at the desk the cat jumped up on the couch and looked across the room at her. Megan noticed about five minutes later that it was fast asleep, curled up in a tight black ball.

The storm continued all evening, when she was making some chicken noodle soup for herself and Boomer, she heard a car drive up.

Looking out the window, she saw Todd’s car park by the garage, a dark figure sprint for the back door. She knew he would let himself in so she continued stirring the soup with the cat sitting at her feet.

“
Well, what do we have here?” Todd said shaking the rain from his hair by the doorway. He had walked in to find her bare foot in torn jeans and one of her brother’s shirts making soup with a large black and white cat wrapped around her feet. The picture made him want to be part of the act.

Megan looked over her shoulder. “You’re just in time for dinner,” she said, walking over pulling out another bowl to go with her and Boomer.

There was french bread heating up in the oven, making the house smell good.

“This is Boomer. Boomer this is Todd.” Megan said pouring soup into the bowls.

Todd walked over and scratched Boomers neck and kissed Megan on the cheek. “Where did you find this fellow?” he asked walking over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of wine pouring them each a glass.

“He found me. Came knocking on my door. He said it was too wet outside and wanted to come live with me to keep me company, oh, and to eat all my mice,” she said smiling.

“
He did. Did he? Well, I guess that seems like a fair trade. You keep him dry, and he eats the mice.” He walked up behind her, putting his hands around her.

“He hasn’t left my side, since he came running into the house. You don’t know whether he belongs to anyone around here do you?” she said as they sat at the table.

“No, the Bell’s are down the road a ways, they have dogs, not cats. I think maybe he was a barn cat, he’s well behaved though, and huge, a little thin, but I’m sure you can fix that.” Todd said when the cat finished the whole bowl, then laid down on the floor to bathe itself.

“I came over to tell you, I have to go out of town for about a week. I’m heading to California for some meetings.” He looked over the table at her, pulling her hand into his. “I really wanted to see you before I left tomorrow.”

She enjoyed his, what seemed like daily visits, but she had to admit a reprieve would be nice. She started to be concerned that she was becoming too attached.

She knew she was starting to feel something more for him, and it really scared her. She had asked for more time, but what she wanted to do was spend every waking minute with him. She wanted to fall asleep in his arms, waking up in them as well. She wanted him, day and night, she wanted him now.

They had finished their soup and she started to get up to take the bowls to the sink. But, something stopped her. Her hand was mid air hovering above his bowl. He sat very still, his hands on the table with his fingers spread out, his eyes on hers. She set her bowl back down on the table and straddled him, her legs on either side of his, caging him in.

He lost all ability to think. His hands itched to grab hold, but he left them where they were. Her inner thigh muscles contracted around him, and all of a sudden she was kissing him. The kiss continued on, growing deeper. Her hands were all over him; his hands left the table to grab hold of her waist.

“I want you.” She whispered. “I can’t stop wanting you.”

He tightened his grip, digging into her hips, he pulled her closer. Her breast pushed against his chest.

“Are you sure? Make sure Megan, because if you tell me to leave now, I’ll go… don’t tell me to go.” He whispered.

“Stay, please stay.” Megan fist her hands in his hair, pulling his face back to hers.

The feel of her, the smell of her made him go crazy.

He pushed up from the chair, pulling her along. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on. He marched them to the stairs and was up them in record time. She helped him push open her door; her shirt hit the floor as their mouths came back to each others.

She hit the bed with a small bounce and a second later Todd’s body covered hers. Her hands reached to pull his shirt from his pants to touch the skin beneath. She could feel his stomach muscles bunch under her fingers and pulled his shirt over his head wanting to feel more.

Everywhere his skin touched hers she burned, and she couldn’t get enough of it. He was making a trail of kisses down her throat, using his tongue and teeth to send shivers down her entire body.

At times, he thought he would go crazy with wanting her. Now that she was finally underneath him again, he couldn’t go fast or slow enough.

Her skin was soft and warm, his hands shook as he reached and started to pull down her pants. She helped him remove them, and then reached for his.

He gripped her hands. “Let me.” He said, pulling her hands above her head so that she was exposed for him. She had on a white chemise and he played with the strings holding it up. He let his fingers slowly wander down to the taunt nipple.

She let out a moan when he pinched them lightly through the thin material. He looked back up at her face; her hair was messed up, loose for his hands to play with. Her cheeks were pink and flushed, her eyes were closed and her mouth slightly opened tempting him to take it. He started the kiss light, he was confusing her and he knew it. When he had thought he wanted speed, he found that driving her crazy with slowness did the same for him.

He kept her hands locked above her head with one hand in a light grip as he explored her, she could have broken loose if she tried, but she didn’t. Pulling the chemise down, he let his mouth explore her, taking her into his mouth and nibbling on her nipple which stood erect for him to play with.

His hand moved lower to play with the top of the white lace, that covered the triangle of soft hair.