She pulled her tank top on and hopped off the bed to her feet. “Well, I’m looking forward to the next time,” she said lightly, but for some reason, it sounded forced. As if she hadn’t just screamed my name… twice.
Fates, I had no fucking idea what went on in a human female’s head!
“When that pussy aches for more, you let me know,” I said. I handed her shorts to her, then pulled on my t-shirt. “Did you work up an appetite?” I’d already had my meal.
I didn’t know why feeding her seemed so goddamn important, but my wolf wanted to see to her needs. Prove I could provide for her. Protect her. Satisfy her.
“I’m starving,” she affirmed.
I looked around the bedroom. “No more spiders to kill? You need anything else from me up here? I mean for now—I’ll be back to see to that greedy pussy again, don’t you worry none.” I tossed her a wink, even though things didn’t seem quite as light as they should.
She smiled in return although a pretty blush spread across her cheeks as if she were embarrassed about how she’d behaved.
As if. She’d been hot as fuck.
She shook her head. “You’re pretty smooth, cowboy.”
Smooth? I didn’t want to be smooth. I wanted to be sincere. I also wanted her to know that I’d take care of her. In all ways.
I was going to have to make it a little clearer what my intentions were here.
“Now, I’m hungry,” she said, her hips swaying as she walked out the bedroom door. “Thanks for bringing food.”
I followed her down the stairs, keeping my gaze glued to her that pretty little ass of hers. The one she’d just let me spank pink. She’d be thinking of me every time she sat down.
That little reminder made my wolf’s chest puff up again.
We both washed up and sat down at the rickety table in her kitchen to eat. I had to adjust my dick, so it wasn’t strangled by the zipper.
“So, Red. It’s been a while. Fill me in on your life.” I unwrapped a sandwich then the other. “Turkey, roast beef or half of each?”
I flicked a gaze at her. Waited.
“Half of each,” she replied.
I rearranged the sandwich halves, so we each had both kinds, then slid one in front of her.
“Thanks.” She lifted the turkey and took a bite. I did the same, waited.
She dabbed some mustard from her lip with a finger, and I watched the move intently, imagined a little drop of my cum caught there from after her sucking me off. I stifled a groan and took a few gulps of the lemonade she’d poured earlier to try to cool off.
“The short version is that I went home after that summer. Went to college for music then onto getting my master’s. I inherited the house, and now I’m here.”
“What else?”
“Like what?”
I shrugged. “Anything. Doesn’t have to be special.” I took a bite of the roast beef.
Her lips quirked into a pretty bow. “Well, you already know I hate spiders, and I play the violin—well, played.”
I jerked my head up on alert. “What do you mean played?”
“I don’t know. I think, actually, I’m done with music. Forever. Grad school just sucked every last drop of pleasure out of it for me. I have this terrible pain behind my shoulder blade every time I play, and my stomach cinches up tight, and all I can think about is how un-fun it is.”
“Wow. I’m sorry. How long have you felt that way?”
“Pretty much by second semester of grad school.”
“You didn’t think about quitting then?”
Her brows dipped. “I did, but I couldn’t.”
“Why not?”
She lifted her delicate shoulders. “My parents hated that I went to college. I wanted to get out, and I knew college was the way to do it. They hated even more that I studied music. They wanted me to stay home, work a minimum wage job like them and contribute to the household like I had since I was fifteen. We had a huge fight when I enrolled, even though it didn’t cost them a dime. I got a scholarship and worked three odd-jobs to make it through.”
I cocked my head. “So you had to prove to them you’d made the right choice?”
She laughed, covering her mouth with a napkin. “Pretty much, yeah. Redheads can be stubborn, if you haven’t heard.”
I laughed. “I have heard.” I studied her pretty face—the splash of freckles across her nose, the warm brown eyes. Fuck, I could look at her all day.
So my mate was stubborn. I could deal with that. She’d have a red ass because of it. And she’d love it.
“You told me you came here because it was yours, free and clear. It took you, what, almost two years to show up?”
She nodded. “I was in school, then the DEA called me, and that pushed me back a bit.”
Yeah, the whole Jett Markle fiasco. Looking back, I was glad it had happened since Rob had met his mate. In a way, Natalie had helped them get together.
“Why now?” I wondered.
Yeah, that was the biggie.
She set the sandwich down, took a sip of lemonade. “L.A.’s expensive. Not a lot of jobs for a classically trained violinist.” She picked a bit of lettuce from her sandwich, sighed. This was an issue for her. A weak spot. I didn’t like the idea of her struggling, of her parents being dicks. “I wasn’t going back to living with my parents, letting them think I was going to help support them again. This was really the only place I could think of to go where I could afford the rent.”
“Why didn’t you just sell the place?” I asked, looking up at the ceiling.
“Uncle Adam left it to me. I didn’t get to see him or come here after that summer when I was ten, but… well, we had a connection. He was the one who introduced me to the violin, made me love it. Like you remembered, we used to fiddle together.” I shrugged again. “I don’t know. This place has seemed more like home than anywhere else. I just have to figure out how to make it work.”
“You mentioned a B&B,” I said, bringing up the subject carefully.
Nodding, she picked up her sandwich. “Like I told you and Nash, one of my girlfriends back in L.A. suggested the idea. It’s a way to make this place viable. I’ve got to earn income somehow. Working at Cody’s pays the bills but not you.”
My eyes widened when I caught on. She thought she was going to have to pay me for work on the house. As. Fucking. If.
“Darlin’, don’t worry about paying me none. We’ll get to that another time. I can work on this place and get it spiffy for guests, but do you really want them? I mean,” I cleared my throat. “If you chose Cooper Valley over L.A., you can’t miss big city life and a gaggle of people.”
She smiled. “Yeah, who likes people?”
I grinned. “I like you.” I wasn’t going to hide my feelings. She knew how I felt about her with every lick of her pussy, but I’d tell her, too.
Her smile fell, and her cheeks got as red as her hair.
“That got you all flustered.”
“And you?” she asked, blatantly redirecting the conversation.
“Me?” I asked, leaning back in my chair and tucking my hands behind my head, elbows out. I wanted her to know I was open to any questions she had. There would be no secrets between us.