Fourteen

Nessa hesitated on her way out the door of the garden cottage. She was already late getting breakfast started for Ig and Bry, who would be finishing their dawn training and starving before too long. But for some inconceivable reason, Gaius had decided to show up early that morning, and the sounds of power tools and hammering had thrown her off.

She wasn’t ready to see him again. What the hell had she been thinking, spending the entire weekend with him? She’d probably given him entirely the wrong idea. And now she’d have to face him and deal with the consequences—the inevitable cold, growly dismissal.

Bracing herself, she let out a sigh and pushed through the doors, stalked across the garden, and in through the open door to the construction zone that would soon be her kitchen in Ig’s big house. It wasn’t until she stepped in that it occurred to her she could’ve easily walked around the house the long way to get to the lower level.

But it was too late. Gaius saw her and immediately turned off the saw. “Morning, Ness,” he said with a smile and a wave.

“Hi! Morning!” she chirped. “I’m late, gotta go.” She hurried past him without a glance back. If she didn’t hang around, she wouldn’t have the opportunity to say something dumb that would set him off and make him stop liking her.

After breakfast, she sat with her meal planning notebooks, struggling to focus. The damn dumbwaiter carried every single sound down from the new kitchen, and along with the rhythmic sound of Gaius hammering, she couldn’t help but picture his muscles flexing. At first it was just the image of him wielding his hammer like the pro he was, but eventually the image of him above her, pounding into her with rhythmic precision, was the thing that got stuck in her head.

“Hey, Ness. Ready to go tear out some vines?” Levi said, popping his head through her door.

“God, yes.” Nessa hopped up and followed him out the door. At least Levi’s constant chatter would distract her from thoughts of the big bear.

She managed to avoid seeing Gaius for the rest of the day. The hammering sounds stopped around mid-afternoon, signaling that he’d probably finished for the day and gone home. She went about the rest of the evening meal prep in a better frame of mind, now that the distraction of his work wasn’t bombarding her.

She accepted Ig’s invitation to sit with him and Bry for supper and entertained herself listening to their banter about the recent banquet and their various conquests. Ig was ahead this year on their annual bet to see who’d bed the most female fans during the off-season. She felt sorry for the pair—when they finally met their actual mates, their dragons would have nothing to do with the bet anymore.

Still, they were two of her closest friends, and sharing a bottle of wine and chatting with them made her feel somewhat normal, and at least sane again. There was no harm in enjoying a weekend of fun with Gaius, so she just needed to get over her sense that she’d left something unfinished with him.

It was probably just a side-effect of all that amazing sex. She wanted more, but she’d survive without it. The man wanted something different, or else the matchmaker would probably have matched them up already. She had both their details, and had for some time.

“You’re looking unusually broody tonight, Nessa,” Ig said, pulling her out of her reverie. “Is the kitchen not coming out the way you’d hoped?”

“What? Oh, no. The kitchen’s fine. Gaius is . . .” She sighed. “He’s fine.”

Ig and Bry exchanged a glance, then Ig said. “I didn’t actually ask about Gaius, but that’s good to hear. He seemed more energized than usual this morning when he started. Guess retirement’s starting to agree with him.”

Bryer chuckled and took a swallow of his wine. “That’s good. Maybe the old grouch will finally finish that house of his. He ought to get it done if he’s hoping to bring a mate home soon.”

Nessa frowned and shook her head. “No. I think he’s right to wait. I mean, he should want to build a place his mate would want to live in, right? How’s he going to know what that is without knowing who she is first?”

Ig sat back with an indulgent smile. “You don’t think I plan on remodeling this place whenever I find a mate, do you?”

Nessa scoffed. “You two aren’t even close to retiring. By the time you do, the place will probably be due for a remodel. Which is fine, as long as you keep the kitchen, because I plan on using it for a long, long time.”

“Or he finds the perfect mate-slash-chef by then,” Bryer said. “Besides, doesn’t your mom have the matchmaker hooking you up with a clan leader the very second there’s one worth snagging? I swear, every time I see Mrs. Baxter, she goes on about something Gerri Wilder told her. It all sounds like mystical bullshit to me. After all the females we’ve been with, you’ve got to think our odds of finding our mates are getting bigger—the pool to choose from definitely isn’t growing. I don’t think that matchmaker has anything special going on that we can’t tap into ourselves.”

“I’m with you,” Nessa said. “If I was meant to be with any of the eligible heirs out there, she’d have hooked us up by now. Maybe we are all lost causes.”

Ig and Bry laughed and toasted to being lost causes. Nessa went along with it, but her chest hurt at the reminder of her conversation with Gaius that weekend. He was an amazing, talented, caring man. There was no way in hell there couldn’t be a mate out there for him. No doubt the matchmaker would call soon, and Nessa wanted to make sure she was well out of the picture by then, because she didn’t think she could handle it when it happened.

She let Ig’s housekeeper, Ren, finish cleaning up after supper and said goodbye to her friends. Out of habit, she wandered up the interior staircase from the kitchen to the first floor, still buzzed from the wine and itching to see today’s progress on the kitchen.

The scent of fresh paint hit her nostrils as she exited the stairwell, and she stopped short when she encountered a wall that hadn’t existed that morning. The kitchen was now blocked off from the rest of the house, the wall and swinging doors in place, and the wiring for light fixtures in what would become the dining room dangling from the high ceiling.

She pushed through the doors and was instantly awash in a cascade of comforting colored lights. It was sunset, and though the kitchen faced east, the lights were designed to mimic the changing tones of the sky at the different times of day.

She marveled at the interior. The counters and cabinets were finished and painted, the tile floors installed and cleaned. Gaius’ tools were still strewn about, and there were a few obvious areas that weren’t finished yet, the dumbwaiter being one of them. It still sat mockingly in the wall, clearly untouched and waiting for her to give Gaius the go-ahead. For whatever reason, he’d neglected to cover it back up, and she guiltily recalled her insistence that he allow her to cook for him as a remedy for his old arena injuries.

She should just get over her reticence to see him. They’d had one fun weekend. And what of it? They were adults, and should be able to behave like adults around each other despite that past, because it was exactly that: past. She’d probably never forget it, but it was ridiculous to dwell on it.

She trailed her hand across the smooth, marble countertop that stretched along one wall. The choice of materials was deliberate, and exactly to her specifications. She had solid wood chopping block counters in one area, stainless steel in another, and marble here, all to serve different culinary purposes.

Wandering around the corner, Nessa found the door to what she knew was the new pantry and opened it. She let out a gasp when she found the interior completely finished with rows upon rows of shelves outfitted with rolling rails.

The door to the cooler was set into one wall. The cooler hadn’t even been there that morning—how the hell had she missed the big contraption being delivered?

The rest of the equipment had yet to arrive, but with this installed, she could start planning more long-term meals and canning summer fruits and vegetables.

She stepped back out of the cooler and shut it behind her, beyond thrilled at the amount of work that had been completed in a single day.

“You like?” a deep voice said, making her jump.

Gaius stood in the pantry doorway, leaning against the frame. He looked like he’d just showered, and even smelled like the woody-scented soap he kept on a little stone ledge by his waterfall.

“Hi . . . I thought you’d gone home for the day.”

“I did, but there was something I forgot to finish.”

Nessa laughed. “Are you kidding? You did so much, all in one day! You’ve more than earned a break.”

“That may be,” Gaius said. “But this is something that would keep me up if I didn’t come back down here and take care of it.”

His gaze raked over her with a lazy heat that left her entire body warm in its wake. Her breath caught in her throat when he took a step toward her, and she instinctively backed up, only to find her backside flush against the inset counter along the pantry’s back wall.

“Oh? W-What is it? You need my help?”

“I do.” With a slow nod, he closed in on her in a few more steps, crowding into her space, his sweet, clean aroma inundating her senses and sending a flood of warmth into her core. He braced both hands against the edge of the counter behind her, caging her in. “This is something that absolutely cannot be done without you, in fact.”

He leaned down and brushed his lips along her temple, breathing in deeply as though inhaling her scent into his lungs. Nessa let out a shuddering sigh at that brief contact and reflexively pressed her hands to his chest, though she wasn’t sure if she wanted to push him away or drag him close.

“You smell so damn delicious. I can’t help but remember a little promise you made me the other night . . .”

“I know. I’ll have a menu prepped for you tomorrow. You’ll love it, I promise.”

He let out a growl that came from deep in his chest as his lips trailed down her cheek and settled against her jaw just beneath her ear. “The thing is, I think you’re my cure, Ness. I felt no pain today, and the only thing that changed was having you in my bed for two nights in a row.”

She shook her head and pushed back against him. “It was the liniment, that’s all,” she breathed, finding it hard to fill her lungs with his big body monopolizing all the air in the room. She needed room to breathe, to think . . . because this want he filled her with was only a recipe for heartbreak when the matchmaker found him a real mate.

“I’d rather not chance it.” His lips grazed the side of her throat as he dropped one hand to her hip and squeezed, pulling her tight against him. The air left Nessa’s lungs in a sharp exhale at the rigid length of him that pressed against her lower abdomen. Every single memory of everything he’d made her feel over the weekend rushed back, as though she hadn’t already been dwelling on it all day long.

“No, you better not chance it,” she said.

His lips traced the line of her jaw and paused at the corner of her mouth. “So, you’re the boss here, Ness. What’s your recipe to keep the pain away?”

Her need for caution and distance disappeared with his subtle taunt. He wanted to tease her, but she would have none of it.

“Just kiss me, damnit.”

Gaius pulled back and laughed. “There she is,” he said, looking down at her with a wicked glint in his eyes. “Missed you, bossy girl . . .”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake . . .” She hooked her hand at the back of his neck and yanked him down, their mouths crashing together in a sweet, rough tangle of lips and tongues. Gaius’ low chuckle transformed into a groan that resonated deep in her belly. Her entire body felt heavy and swollen with need to have his hands on her, his cock inside her. She broke away from the kiss long enough to tell him as much.

“I need you inside me now,” she commanded, tearing his shirt off over his head. She raked her nails down through the dark curls that covered his tattooed chest and was gratified when he tore at the opening of her wraparound dress until her breasts sprang free. His mouth went to her nipples as he hoisted her up with both hands and set her on the countertop behind her. They tore at each other’s clothes, his hands up her skirt, yanking down her panties, her hands at his belt, tugging it free and unfastening his pants.

Mere seconds after she had his cock free, he’d hauled her to the edge of the counter and buried himself inside her. They let out synchronous moans of pleasure, and Nessa’s entire body from the tips of her toes all the way into the depths of her connection with her bear rejoiced at the fullness of their joining. This was what she needed. Oh god, how could she ever stop wanting this?

Gaius was more intense and single-minded than the first time they’d made love, driving into her with a kind of fury Nessa had never witnessed before. It was as though he were claiming her body, and her bear responded with a roar of acceptance. She surrendered to his touch because it felt too good not to, yet when he grazed his teeth over her shoulder, she pulled away, digging her heels into his ass and her nails into his back. The distraction worked—his head flew back and he let out a roar as he climaxed.

Nessa’s chest heaved, her body still alight from the pleasure left unspent. But Gaius only paused for a second before slipping out of her and falling to his knees, his jeans still bunched around his hips. He pushed her thighs wide, holding them up while he buried his mouth against her soaked folds.

“Gaius! Oh god, yes!” She tangled the fingers of one hand into his hair and braced herself on her other hand as he tongued her to oblivion. She’d been close already, but the intense flicks of his tongue against her needy clit sent her hurtling over the edge almost instantaneously.

She sat gasping for breath as he rose and swiped a hand over his beard. “Come home with me, Ness. We can do this all night.”

Her bear let out an interested little rumble, but Nessa nixed it. “We have an early start. We should get some rest,” she said, even though nothing sounded more divine than falling asleep to the moonrise, wrapped up in Gaius’ big arms.

Gaius regarded her in silence for a moment, his expression still filled with hunger, though she sensed it was for something more than her body . . . definitely more than she was willing to give. Finally he stepped close again and cradled her head in his hand. He leaned down to eye-level, his face close to hers.

“I will have you in my bed again, Ness. That’s a promise. It doesn’t have to be tonight, but it’s happening.”

Nessa swallowed and gave him what she hoped passed for a flirty smile, though it belied the tangled knots in her belly. “We’ll see,” she said, then she kissed him to break the intensity of the look he gave her.

After he left, she let out a long breath and readjusted her dress. She retreated to her cottage and climbed into bed, curling into a ball to try to banish the ache in her belly. She wanted so much to give in to his request, but she couldn’t go back there. The two nights she’d spent had been two nights too many.

It was crazy; the house was nothing more than an empty shell. There wasn’t much to be excited about. But she wanted the life it represented so badly she could taste it.

She wanted him, but he wasn’t meant to be hers. If he was, Gerri Wilder would have told her so already.