“I know what I want for dessert.” She stroked the short hair at the nape of his neck and his gaze grew heated as he looked down at her and stepped out onto the deck.
“You do?” Lowe rumbled. “What’s that?”
“More of this.” She lifted her head and kissed him again.
His grip on her tightened, drawing her closer to him, and he groaned as his tongue tangled with hers.
He broke away from her and breathed against her tingling lips, “Sounds good to me. I want to spend all afternoon and evening kissing you.”
She shivered at that, the thought of lazing on the couch just kissing him warming every inch of her. She wanted more, but he was right. She was in no condition to take things further and the sensible part of her was finally making its voice heard, told her that taking things slow was the right way to go.
So kissing him would have to be enough for her.
For now.
But as soon as her leg was feeling better, she would let the wild side he had awakened in her out to play.
She would have all of him.
Chapter 12
Lowe was in heaven as he woke with Cameo tucked against his side. He looked down at the top of her head and sifted the fingers of his left hand through her hair, stroking from the dark roots to the blonde tips as he absorbed the feel of her sleeping with her head on his chest, curled close to him. The moment she had settled against him last night, he had wished he had removed his long sleeve white T-shirt so he could feel her skin against his. He wanted to be under the blue covers with her, nude and pressed against her, but when she had gotten sleepy last night, laying with her on top of the covers while she was beneath them seemed like the most sensible thing to do.
He didn’t want to rush things.
Which was a change.
With Cameo, he wanted to take his time and savour everything, and he certainly felt as if he had done that yesterday.
A day that had looked as if it was going to turn out bad, had ended up being one of the best days of his life.
Spending the afternoon alone with Cameo in his cabin had been blissful. They had spent most of it making out on his couch, had lazed together and watched some TV shows on his tablet, and then she had fallen asleep in his arms.
Lowe feathered his fingers over her shoulder and angled his head away from her so he could watch her sleeping. She looked so peaceful, as if in his arms was the place she wanted to be most in the world. It was the place he certainly wanted her to be.
Gods, if all he could do was kiss her and hold her like this forever, it would be enough for him.
Someone knocked on the door.
Lowe growled low in his throat, careful not to wake Cameo, the calm he had felt evaporating as he sensed not one but three people on his deck. None of which were Knox. He could feel Saint though.
His alpha had come to talk with Cameo just as he had threatened.
He growled again as he slipped his arm out from beneath her and waited, making sure she was still sound asleep, and then eased from the bed. Saint would just have to wait until she’d had enough rest. She needed her sleep right now. He felt sure her leg was getting better, but she was human and it took time for them to heal. Sleeping would give her the time and rest her body needed to get stronger again.
Lowe padded across the loft floor to the staircase and paused there, looked back at her as she burrowed into the pillows and curled up. An ache throbbed deep in his chest, a need to go to her and shuck his jeans and T-shirt and slide into bed behind her. He wanted to draw her to him and hold her while she slept, her back pressed to his front.
He forced himself to head downstairs instead, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he went.
When he opened the door of his cabin, he wasn’t surprised to see Holly tucked close to Saint, her black weatherproof clothing blending with his and her fall of onyx hair spilling from beneath a violet woollen hat.
He was surprised to see the other female who stood just behind the couple—an olive-skinned beauty with rich brown eyes flecked with gold and glossy raven waves tumbling around the shoulders of her oat-coloured jacket.
The doctor from Cougar Creek.
“Saint came to me this morning and mentioned someone was injured.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, her dark gaze cautious as she glanced past him into the cabin. “A human. Can I see her?”
Lowe nodded and stepped back, more than happy to let her into his home. “I wanted to come and ask you for help, but I wasn’t sure how well it would go down.”
He still wasn’t sure. One glance at the clearing had him wondering if this was a good idea. Yasmin and Holly weren’t the only ones who had come from Cougar Creek to Black Ridge this morning. Flint stood near the firepit with Knox, huddled down into a navy jacket and matching scarf, with his dark woollen hat pulled low on his forehead. The cougar male didn’t look happy about being at the Ridge, was scowling in Lowe’s direction, and Lowe had the feeling the only thing stopping him from closing the distance between him and his mate was Knox.
“Ignore him. He’s grouchy because I insisted on coming. He hasn’t got the message yet.” Yasmin looked ready to roll her eyes as she glanced at her mate.
“Message?” Lowe frowned at her.
Yasmin looked at Saint and Holly. “We’re family now.”
He looked at his alpha and could see in his dark eyes as he gazed down at Holly that something had happened between them.
“Congrats?” he said, pleased for Saint and for Holly too.
“Thanks.” Saint grinned at him and then down at Holly, tightened his arm around her shoulders and drew her to him for a brief kiss.
It was good to see Saint happy and he was glad things with Holly had worked out.
Some immortals went their entire lifetime without finding their fated one.
He looked up at the ceiling, to Cameo where she slept soundly in his bed, that feeling flowing through him again, one he wanted to draw into focus. Right now, it came and went, and he wasn’t sure whether she was his mate or not. If he took the next step with her, he would know without a doubt, but she was in no condition to be intimate with him.
Even when she had given him looks yesterday that had said she wanted to be.
“Follow me. She’s resting upstairs.” Lowe led the way up to the loft bedroom, Yasmin hot on his heels. He got the feeling she didn’t want to linger and upset her mate any more than he already was. Lowe couldn’t blame Flint for feeling protective of her. Cougar Creek and Black Ridge had never gotten along, but hopefully the mating of Saint and Holly would go some way towards repairing the rift between the two prides and would be the start of a new day for them, one where they would be friends rather than foes. When he turned a corner in the staircase and noticed the heavy black bag Yasmin was carrying, he held his hand out for it. She waved him away and he shrugged and looked down at Saint, where he stood in the kitchen. “Don’t suppose you’d put some coffee on?”
“No problem. I could use some myself. Didn’t get much sleep last night.” Saint smiled up at him, the smirk of a very happy bear.
Holly slapped his chest and he growled and kissed her again.
Lowe left them to it and carried on up the stairs, crossed the loft to the bed and gently stroked Cameo’s hair from her face. “Wake up, Cameo.”
She murmured and her nose wrinkled.