Savage Instinct (9 page)

“I wouldn’t call that cooking music.”

“Oh?” she said, looking at him from the kitchen.  “I like
this ‘cause it makes me want to move.  Got to love a good beat and this is
classic from the 90s.  I was raised on this.”

“So you’re a 90s brat?”

“Yep and proud of it.”

“I’m 80s.  Born in the 70s,” he said.

She gave him a once over and turned on the stove to reheat
the soup.  “I figured as much.”

“Don’t you have any other stations?  Some country or rock? 
Lynard Skynard?”

Nydia made a face and stuck out her tongue.  “You sound
like an old man.”

He laughed.  “I take it that’s not your style?  I think
I’ve been insulted.  No, I know I’ve just been insulted.”

She chuckled and scooted back to the radio.  “Nah.  You’re
just elegantly aged like a good Scotch whiskey.  How about this?” she said,
switching to a throwback station.  Marvin Gaye came through, singing a soulful
tune.

“Better,” he said, leaning back on the arm of the couch and
propping his head on his hands.  “You can’t go wrong with Marvin.  He always
puts me in the mood.”

“I bet he does.”

“Watching you cook puts me in the mood too.”

She laughed and eyed him.  “For what?”

“For eating delectable things,” he murmured, winking and
rubbing his hands together.

“Like chocolate?” she asked, a smile hovering at her lips
as she flipped his pork chop.  She sprinkled lemon pepper on it and turned on
the hood exhaust to pull the air out.

“Sure.”

“Hot chocolate?”  She glanced back at him and felt his eyes
like a touch roam down her backside.

“Even better.”

“Too bad I don’t have any of that in the house then.”

He laughed.  “It’s a damn shame.  I’m practically starving
over here.”

She turned and pinned him with her stare.  “I want you to
know I was most definitely not referring to myself when I made the offer.”

He raised his hands, palms up.  “Wouldn’t dream of that. 
I’m surprised you’d even suggest that I would think that.  Besides, I don’t
think there’s a person alive that doesn’t like chocolate.”

Nydia chuckled.  “This is almost done and then you can
satisfy that hunger that’s been gnawing at you,” she said, scooping soup into
two bowls to cool down.  She pulled the pork chop out of the pan and placed it
on a plate.

“Not so sure it’s going to do the trick for all my hunger,
but it’ll suffice for now.”

She scurried about, setting the small white table that sat
on the opposite side of her kitchen with forks, spoons, and a knife for him, and
paper towels.  She returned to the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of tea.

He perked up from the couch, his eyebrows raised.  “Is that
sweet tea?  Damn you know the way to a man’s heart, sugar!”

“Mama always said you fill a man’s belly with good food and
you’ll fill his heart.”  She shooed at him and poured two cups, slanting her
eyes towards him.  “I forget Southern men are incorrigible flirts.”

He grinned.  “Part of the charm, ma’am.  You still
resisting me?”

“Of course.  Good girls don’t make nothing easy.”

He arched a dark eyebrow.  “You’re right about that,” he
said with a laugh.

Chapter
Nine

Nydia heard Aiden chuckling as she barricaded her door for
the night.

“You afraid I’m going to come in there and ravish you while
you sleep?” he yelled from the living room.

Obviously, he thought he was being amusing.  “Shut up and
go to sleep!” she yelled through the door.

The man had plenty of gall.

Nydia jerked with annoyance, dressing for bed and feeling
her neck and back muscles tense with every move.  So what if she didn’t quite
trust him?  What she did in her room and her house was her business.

Crawling beneath the cool cotton sheets, she willed herself
to relax.  Her eyelids acted like loaded springs, refusing to shut.  Was she
imagining noises coming from beyond her bedroom door?  And she’d never noticed
the shapes and images scrawling across her ceiling before….

Nydia growled, forcing her eyes to shut and her mind to go
blank.  Her determination to shut out Aiden’s nagging, amused voice only seemed
to increase her inability to go to sleep.

She flipped onto her stomach, covering her head with a
pillow.  Maybe she could just suffocate herself to sleep?

He had to be on the mend, despite acting like a baby about
being hurt.  If he wasn’t ready to leave by Monday, she was going to grow a
spine and force him off her couch.  He’d already take up her extended weekend. 
Guilt and empathy could only allow this to go on for so long.  Plus, she was
tired from the stress of the past few days and all she wanted to do was give herself
over to peaceful slumber.

“Nydia?” Aiden called from behind her bathroom door.

“Just a minute,” she said, feeling groggy and drunk and
confused.  Hadn’t she blockaded her door?  She thought she remembered doing
that before getting into bed.

The room glowed blue with the light of her alarm clock. 
Through the slits of her blinds, the security lamp that stood sentinel over her
house streamed lines of mellow light across the walls and carpet.

“Nydia,” he called again, beckoning her to follow the sound
of his voice.

She stumbled out of her bed, wondering again when and how
Aiden had gotten into her room when she thought she’d barricaded it.  Light
limned the door.

Her legs felt heavy, almost immovable, as if sticky pads glued
her feet to the floor.  Walking as if through water, she reached the bathroom
door.

“What do you want Aiden?” she asked as she pushed the door
open.

Inside, Aiden lounged in the tub, puffs of steam rising
around his chest and arms.  His head swiveled towards her as she entered and a
welcoming smile curled his lips.  His skin glistened, accentuating his
muscles.  He extended his arm and crooked a finger, beckoning her forward.

Nydia’s feet moved of their own volition, carrying her
toward him.  She slowly walked across the small room, hardly daring to breathe,
let alone think.

Her breath caught in her throat when she got close enough
to the tub she could almost see his cock through the water.  If the bubbles
parted just the right way, everything she’d imagined would be revealed.  Nydia
felt lightheaded.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” Aiden whispered, reaching to
take her hand.

Nydia allowed him to grab her wrist and pull her closer, he
tugged her toward him, rising in the tub, angling his head to meet her mouth. 
She parted her lips on a breathy sigh, feeling her pulse race out of control.

His breath tickled her lips.  She could almost taste him,
she was so close….

The alarm went off.

It took a few moments for Nydia to grasp what was
happening.  The dream dissipated in the clear light of morning.

Nydia punched the pillow, groaning, feeling her body achy
and wanting something more.

Of course she’d been dreaming.  Cracking her eyes open, she
could see her dresser in front of the door, just as it had been the night
before when she’d pushed it there.

She groaned again, closing her eyes and willing the dream
to return, but it wouldn’t.  Why was it dreams ended right when they started
getting good?

Nydia sat up, feeling disgusted with herself.  She wasn’t
attracted to Aiden.  He wasn’t her type at all.  She’d always dated blondes,
not scruffy looking brunettes.  Plus, he was more than likely off his rocker
with the crazy, unbelievable details of his story and how he’d been injured. 
How much of his psychosis had she enabled by encouraging him with tending his
wound and allowing him to remain on her couch until he recuperated?

She promised that she would never be caught doing anything
like kissing him in real life.  Save that crap for dreamland….

Maybe it was because her body missed Richard and she’d just
filled in the blanks since he’d been gone?  It didn’t help that Aiden loved to
walk around nude, or partially nude, and her mind was filling in the blanks of
her desire.

She got out of bed and headed for the bathroom to perform
her morning ritual before going into the rest of the house to see what Aiden
was up to.  Maybe after breakfast, she’d get a shower and think about her next
step in vacating the houseguest from hell.

***

When Sunday morning dawned it found Aiden still lying on Nydia’s
couch.  His pack would be returning any day now, and as soon as he could get
word to them, he was out of here.  Until that time came he had to keep her
thinking that he was in pain and unable to care for himself.

Continuing the charade when he felt perfectly fine ate at
Aiden’s conscience.  Not only did he dislike continuing to lie to Nydia and
deceive her about his condition, but he disliked her thinking that he was so
weak.

He wanted her to see him as strong and virile as he really
was, not the invalid he was forced into pretending to be.

He should have been concerned about his desire to be seen
in a different light through her eyes.  Pride.  Damned pride and he couldn’t
help it.

The woman was sexy as hell.  Any other time or place, he’d
have had her wrapped around his body, fucking her senseless.

He wasn’t sure what he liked about her best.  Physically,
she was the ideal woman.  Her skin had a warm mahogany glow to it that stirred
his blood.  Nice tits that looked like they’d fit his hands and mouth perfect. 
When she wore shorts, he could see her long, lean legs leading up to a nice
round ass, and imagining them wrapped around his hips while he thrust into her
warm and willing body had kept him up too late at night.

Knowing she slept in her bedroom just a short distance from
him distracted him with visions of what he’d do to her, how she’d welcome him
into her bed and arms.

She was more than just a hot body.  He’d had plenty of sexy
women in his life.  The fact that she wanted to take care of his every need
wore down his normal shield against a woman’s charms.  As alpha of his pack,
he’d never needed anyone or anything.  He’d had women volunteer to be his mate,
but none seemed as giving or nurturing as Nydia and were more interested in
trying to gain a position over the rest of the pack.

He’d never cared for people who were interested in gaining
status over others.  In his mind, being alpha of the pack was enough trouble in
and of itself.  He needed a mate who would be there for him and him alone,
someone who could take care of him and his children.

Nydia’s natural, nurturing instinct was something he
liked.  Too much.

His sensitive ears pricked, attuned to her movements in her
bedroom.  He lay on the couch, listening to the sounds of Nydia moving around
her room.  He heard her feet scuff across the floor, dragging and sleepy footed
as she went to the bathroom.  The rush of water in the toilet and then the
trickle of the faucet as she brushed her teeth.

The door opened, and then she walked down the hall, rubbing
her eyes.  Seeing her sleepy face and her hair sticking up in the back made him
smile.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Aiden said.  Raising his arms
above his head, he sat up on the couch and stretched.

Spot came in from her hiding place in Nydia’s bedroom,
surveyed the room, and sauntered to the couch where Aiden was sitting.  Since
the day of the attack the animal had decided that she liked Aiden.  Spot leapt
up on the couch and started to rub against him.

Nydia yawned, watching Spot rub all over Aiden’s chest like
he’d bathed in catnip.  “Morning.  When did you two make friends?”

“Guess she liked the taste of my blood.  We’ve got an
understanding going.  I know how to treat a pussy.” Aiden looked at Nydia, mirth
in his eyes.

“Do what?” she asked.

Aiden smiled at her indignation over the comment.  “I meant
a pussy-cat.”  His eyes crinkled when he smiled.  “You need to get your mind
out of the gutter.”

Aiden rubbed his fingers over the cat’s white fur, scratching
her ears and the back of her neck.  Nydia could hear Spot purr across the room.

“How long have you been awake?” she asked, her voice husky
from disuse as she changed the subject.

Aiden thought it sounded breathless and sexy.

“It’s hard to sleep with the sun shining in my eyes.  Long
enough to hear your phone go off in the kitchen.”

She padded into the kitchen and picked up her phone.  She
groaned.

“What is it?”

“Richard.  He just won’t give up.  I said what I had to say
to him.”

“Maybe he really loves you.  Have you thought about that?”

“Pffff.  He loves himself more.”

“People fight.  They usually try to make up after.  You
haven’t given him a chance to explain or apologize,” Aiden said, wondering if
she loved her boyfriend or not…or if Richard really cared for Nydia.  His gut
hurt just thinking about it.

“Maybe you’re right.  Maybe I’ve just been stubborn.  I
might talk to him the next time he calls.  Right now though, I need some coffee
running through my veins.  I tossed and turned all night.”

“Troubling dreams?” he asked, watching her load the
coffeemaker.  Soon, the smell of fresh brew drifted into the living room,
tantalizing his nostrils.

She looked at him, a guilty look in her eyes.  “Yeah. 
Something like that.”

“You been dreamin’ about me, sugar?”

“Hah!  You wish,” she muttered.

“You can’t deny the truth forever, honey,” he said,
enjoying the sassy way she shook her head at him.  She stuck her tongue out.

“Better keep it in your mouth if you know what’s good for
you.”

“What, you going to teach me a lesson or something?”

“You just don’t know what a tongue’s good for, that, I
know.”

She blew a raspberry at him.  Grabbing eggs from her
fridge, she cracked four into a bowl and whipped them with a whisk.  “Hungry?”

“Always.”

“You think you’re on the mend by now?” she asked, grabbing
some spinach and cheddar and setting them on the counter.  “I’ve got bacon for
you.”

“Damn, girl, you’re turning me on again,” he said with a
chuckle.

She laughed and waved her hand at him as she threw bacon
into the skillet.  “You stop that.  You’d mess yourself if I took all your
flirting seriously.  You could talk a pig into a ham sandwich.  Now, you think
you can walk in here?” she asked, washing her hands.