7
The house looked pretty good, Zach thought. It still needed some work finished, but they were working on that when they could. He had all his appliances bought—they were in the big barn still in the boxes—and he had picked out the carpet colors a while back. He wondered if Tisha would want something different. He wondered, too, if it would be only the carpet that she wanted changed.
“Do you cook?” He told her he could make a good grilled cheese and ham, but nothing else. “So why did you put in this big kitchen? I mean, I hate to cook, and even I think this is really big.”
“My family.” She looked at him. “We hang out in the kitchen when we’re all together. Last week we were at my aunt’s house, and with us growing all the time—you know, adding more family to us—we barely fit in that one now. I thought when they come over, I wanted us to have room.”
“You’re all very big men.” He nodded, thinking of the way she’d looked at his cock yesterday, and had to take a slow breath to calm his cat. “What kind of counters are you having put in?”
Counters? It took him a few seconds to get his head back on the subject at hand. “I had a hard time considering that. I thought granite, but I heard that it’s so overdone that it’s sort of a standard now. I wanted different. So when we had the counters put in the Burner house, Jacob, my contractor, suggested we do concrete. I guess you can have it colored to match just about anything.” She moved around the room, picking up the tile that he’d chosen before setting it back down. “If you don’t like anything, we can have it changed. It’s not up yet, so we can—”
“To be honest with you, Zach, I have no idea what I need to do. I feel...I guess you could say I feel really lost right now.” He didn’t say that he did too, but waited on her. “I thought you were just showing me this house because you built it. Do you really want me to move into your home?”
“No. It’s what I hope to be our home. If you want the Burner house instead, that’s great too. I’m thinking we can rent this one out or something.” She shook her head. “Or just let it sit. Seems a waste, but I can do what you want.”
“Don’t do that.” He asked her what she was doing. “I don’t know, but it feels like you’re pressing me to do something I’m not going to do.”
“What is it you think I’m making you do? See this house? If you remember correctly, you’re the one that suggested we see it. I was willing to watch you sit at your dad’s home and take care of you.” She growled. “I don’t know if you know this or not, but I find that incredibly sexy when you do that. So does my cougar.”
He thought she said something like he found everything sexy, but he wasn’t going to ask her to repeat it. Zach was pretty sure she’d tell him something else, and that it wouldn’t be nearly as complimentary. When she started to trip up, he moved quickly, not only keeping her from falling, but helping her to one of the many chairs that seemed to have migrated from the deck into this room.
“I talked to Burt about you.” He knew that. Burt had told him everything she’d asked and what he’d told her. “He told me that you have a copy of my hospital records, as well as a personal background. You could have asked me instead of snooping around behind my back.”
“I never even opened the envelope that he gave me.” He sat on one of the wire spools that he’d been using for a table on the deck the last few weeks. “And if he didn’t make it clear, I will. I never asked for the reports on you. I don’t need them to tell me anything about you. I know firsthand.”
“You can’t know my medical history.” He nodded. “Okay, smart ass. What kind of meds are they giving me, and what do they do to me?”
“I know what they do to you, but not much else. You’re on pain medication, I have no idea the name brand, but it puts you out quickly. I had to look that one up…I had no idea that drugs could affect a human so fast. But it said that you could be just the kind of person that doesn’t take a lot of medications in the first place, and that might be why you’re so affected.” She didn’t say anything as he continued. “You take a low dose of vitamins right now. I don’t know what either, but you’re worried that you’re not eating well and take it just in case.”
“You can read my mind.” He nodded. “So what am I thinking right now? And if you tell me it’s about sex, then I’m going to know that you’re lying.”
“Right now your emotions are too high for me to get clear. But I do know what you’ve been thinking about. You’ve been thinking that I’m going to be disappointed in you because of what happened to you. You want to like me but are afraid of me hurting you. I promise you right now, I won’t on either of those things. And I’ll never leave you. There is some fear about being able to use the stairs should you live here. The master suite is on the ground floor, so that gives you plenty of time to get better before you have to tackle those. And you are thinking about sex. With me. And if you’ll be as big a letdown as you were to other men.” Zach moved off the spool as he made his way to her. “When you kissed me yesterday, all I could think about later was if there was that much passion in your kiss, you might well kill me when we come together. And that the way you tasted, the way your body felt in my arms? It was wonderful. More than that, it was spectacular.”
“I haven’t ever been any good at sex.” He told her that it was because she’d not had the right man in her life. “Are you saying that you can change that? I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’re right on this. I know you’d like to think you’re always right, but you’re not on this.”
“What a shame. Perhaps I can prove it to you.” He watched her face, the emotional storm that she was having. “We can smell you.”
“We?” He nodded. “You mean your cat wants to have sex with me too? Oh no you don’t. I will not...that’s just sick.”
“I agree.” He wanted to laugh at her expression. “What I meant for you to know was, while he’d never want to have sex with you, he would enjoy lapping at your wet pussy until you came. Fucking you with his tongue. It’s longer and thicker than mine, and rough. I’m betting that if he were to come forward right now, he’d bring you so many times, you’d be weak with it.”
“No.” But they both knew that her no wasn’t as strong an objection as it had been before. “Besides, I’m still healing. I mean, it might be months before I can have sex with anyone, much less with you.”
“I understand.” He did too. Zach might not have read her file, but he really could read her mind. Thanks to Susie. “So long as you don’t rule out that it could happen. We’re mates, as you know, and I need you.”
He and Susie had been exchanging blood, all of them had, so that if anything happened to any of them, they’d be able to find each other. Also, they’d be able to talk, each of them, on a different path, but also as a group. But when he’d bitten into Susie’s tiny wrist, he’d gotten a lot more than he’d bargained for, than either of them had bargained for. Something had transferred between the two of them.
Since then, she’d been teaching him how to filter out all the thoughts of everyone and listen to a single being. It had been much harder than he’d thought it would be. But with Tisha, and here in this house alone, he could hear every single one of her doubts and thoughts.
“You’re too nice, anyone ever told you that before?” He laughed and told her not recently. “Well, you are. I keep expecting you to be pissed at me. Or at the very least to give up.”
“I’m not giving up on us, Tisha.” He pulled her to him, not giving her any time to object to his kiss. And when he lifted his head, his heart rate was going fast as he could hear hers beating. He thought about pulling away, leaving to give her time, but he wanted to.... No, that wasn’t it…he needed to prove to her that she was desirable to him. That he needed her too.
There were no beds in the house. Barely enough things finished to be calling it a home. But he knew that there were firm walls, chairs that he could use, and if all that failed, there was the deck. Zach had a moment of clarity as he realized what he was thinking.
Instead of forcing her hand, which what he was about to do, he set her down on the floor, but didn’t let her go. Kissing her, giving her as much passion as he was feeling, he looked down at her.
“Right now, at this very moment, I’m having a hard time being a nice guy.” She smiled at him. “If you knew what was going on in my head right now, you’d be running in the other direction.”
“No. I don’t think so. I’m excited about having sex with you, but it saddens me to no end to know that you’re going to find me lacking.” He just shook his head. “Zach, for as much as I think this is a mistake about us being mates, a major one at that, I do want you to take me. Maybe then I can have a great memory of you and me together, and you’ll understand what I’m talking about when I said I’m not very good at sex.”
Picking her up in his arms, he took her to the woods. If she thought that this was going to be a good memory for her, he was going to give her one she’d never forget. But as far as it being the only time with this woman, she was sadly mistaken. Tonight was going to be the beginning of something pretty amazing.
~~~
The woods were dark, thick with trees and undergrowth too. She knew that in a few weeks, less if the weather was any indication, the trees would be bare and the ground would be bright with their fallen leaves. It would be a glorious sight, one she knew she’d miss if she moved back to her home.
As soon as Zach set her down on her feet again, she looked up at him.
“Do you trust me?” She nodded. “Good. The first thing I’m going to do is beg you not to run. If you do, then this will only be fun for one of us. And it won’t be me. I’d very much like for you to strip down.”
“I can’t run that—naked? Out here, where.... Well, what if someone came along?” He grinned at her and told her his cat would take care of them. “You mean, he’ll come out and kill them?”
“No. Now, if you would be so kind as to be naked for me, then I can see that glorious body of yours.” She was suddenly shy. No one but the hospital staff and her doctor had seen her since she’d been released. “Don’t do that, Tisha. I’m aware that you’re hurt and how badly. I want to see you. All of you.”
Nodding, she pulled her sweater off. After dropping it on the ground, she paused to watch Zach take off his shirt. She wondered if he would leave the hat on, the kind that seemed to be worn by all the men in this family, and decided that she’d think of him this way, later in her memories of this night. But when he reminded her to hurry, she turned her back to finish up.
When she turned around, she held her blouse to her belly. It was healing, but not even close to being well. She also knew that she’d be scared too, very badly, but she kept telling herself that she was alive, and that was what counted. Zach was standing in just his pants, but they were opened all the way and his shoes were off. The hat, she was happy to see, was still there. He tilted it back enough that she could see his eyes. They were dark with need.
“You remember, I can read your mind.” She did, and thought of all the things he might do to her. “Christ woman, you might kill me yet. Drop the shirt, baby. It’s time.”
“I don’t know.... You’re so beautiful, and I’m...well, I’m not whole.” He kissed her, taking the blouse from her fingers and dropping it when he stepped back. “Don’t look at me.”
“I think you’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.” She looked at him through watery eyes. “Now, don’t run, remember that.”
Then he was gone. The cat, a big beautiful cougar, sat down on his ass and stared at her. Tisha knew realistically that it was still Zach, but he was also sort of scary like this. Reaching out her hand to touch his head, he moved closer to her and purred.
“You’re so soft. I don’t know why, but I thought you’d be stiff.” Zach’s laughter entered her head. “Can you talk to me like this?”
I can. I didn’t want to tell you that I’ve been stiff for days without giving you time to get used to me. The cougar in me, he loves you. Tisha rubbed him behind the ears, asking Zach if he could feel that too. Not the same way. I know that you’re touching him, that he is enjoying it, but I really don’t know what you’re doing.
“I’m assuming that you’ve done this so I’d know not to be afraid of you. To be honest, I thought I would be. You know, you’re so different than you are as a human.” She moaned when the cat licked her thigh. “You should come back now.”
Not yet. The cat’s big head pressed her back. And when she fell, gently really, against the tree, she started to stand up when he licked her pussy. He loves the way you smell; the way you taste.
Tisha wasn’t sure that she answered him, or that she could have if she tried. The way his tongue touched her, took her, made her feel something that she’d never felt before. Desired. Needed and sexy. When he nudged her legs wider apart, she did so willingly. And when he lapped hard at her clit, she felt her body implode, then explode with the power of her release.
Come again. Let him get his fill of you.
She screamed that she was coming again. Even as one release was winding down, another more powerful one took her to newer heights, only to drop her down again and again. And when his mouth moved up her body, to touch his amazing tongue to her wound, she let him, even going so far as to pull the gauze off that had been replaced only that morning.
When he seemed satisfied with whatever he needed to taste, he made his way back to her pussy. Her legs were weak, her body spent, but she didn’t want to stop, she wanted more and more, as much as he’d give her. And when Zach asked her to lie down, to spread out his shirt and lay over it, she did so without hesitation.
The big cougar moved with her, licking the cuts that hadn’t been covered…the wound to her leg, the cuts above her cast on both her legs and her hand. She wished she could have removed that for him too. Tisha wanted to feel him lick those wounds as well. And when she was down on the shirt, the cat moved between her legs and brought her twice more before Zach was there.
“I’d love nothing more than to eat you myself.” He sat up on his knees, holding his cock in his hand as he looked at her. “You’re so beautiful. And all mine.”
“Please, I need you.” He didn’t move, fisting his cock as he watched her. “Zach, please, just once, I need you.”
“Never just once, love. You’re all ours.” He asked her to say it, to tell him that she belonged to them. “I need to hear you tell me that you’re my mate and that you will never leave me.”
“You’ll tire of me.” He told her never. “I want to be your mate. I would love to know that you’re going to love me forever. But I’m afraid. So very afraid, Zach.”
“I won’t ever let anyone hurt you again. I will love you forever.” He moved over her body, not quite touching it, but she could still feel his heat. “I need to hear you say it, Tisha. Tell me you’re mine.”
His cock was there; she could feel the thick crown of him as he moved just enough to tease her. She was ready to beg him, to tell him that she would love him forever if he took her, when it occurred to her that she did. She loved him. Tisha loved the big man and his cat.
“I love you. You belong to me, and I to you.”
His cock slammed forward, not just taking her breath away but giving her something as well. He gave her life, meaning, and hope. As he fucked her, gently for a bit, then harder, she wrapped her legs around his thigh, trying her best not to beat him too badly with her cast. And when he nuzzled her neck, licking the pulse she knew was pounding there, she loved that he was going to bite her. And when he did, she’d belong to him forever.
“Bite me when you come. Just...please, bite me.” She nodded, nearly cross-eyed with the need to come now. “Now, baby, now.”
His teeth tore into her flesh. It wasn’t as painful as she’d imagined, but wonderful, and when she pulled his throat to her mouth, he shifted in her arms so that she could take what she wanted. And Tisha found that she wanted his pulse too.
Licking the hard vein, Tisha sank her teeth into him, tearing through his corded muscle as she did so. His blood filled her mouth, the coppery taste of him and the essences of all of him leaving her wanting more. Sucking hard on the wound that she’d created, the wonderfully sweet and hot, blood filled her mouth again and again as she swallowed it down. Tisha saw stars dance around her vision as a climax like none other took her apart. Then things just snapped out.
When she woke she was covered up by a blanket, and there was a small fire going close to her. The stones around it were keeping it from spreading, but she sat up to get more warmth as she looked around. She was alone. Zach had left her.
I didn’t, love. I’m here. Just running to the door to get dinner. It would just figure you’d wake now to find me gone. I’m sorry about that. Truly I am. He laughed. Are you hungry? I don’t know about you, but I’m famished. I hope you don’t mind pizza with extra meat, but I ordered it before I thought to ask you. I will next time, I promise. And I have water for you and me in the cooler near the tree.
Wrapping the blanket he must have gotten for her around her toga style, she made her way to the tree. The cast was wet now, and she knew that she’d have to have someone look at it soon, but right now she was feeling too good. When she saw Zach coming back with three large boxes and a stack of napkins, she had a moment of worry that someone was joining them.
“No one is coming. It’s just the two of us.” He sat down on the rug that he’d brought too. “We worked up a hell of an appetite, and I’m hungry. I’m sure you are too.”
And suddenly, she was starved. Her belly rumbled and her fingers were shaking so much for a slice that she didn’t even bother with the napkins, but ate it like someone that hadn’t eaten in a month. And damn, it was good too.
They had three pieces each before she felt she could speak without food in her mouth. Picking up her fourth slice as he set the now empty box aside, she felt suddenly shy. And out of sorts. So instead of taking her weird feelings out on him, she ate quietly.
“I have to work in the morning. Actually, all day. I wanted to know if you like our house, or is it going to be the Burner one?” She looked at him, wondering what he was talking about. “This one here. I know that it needs some work, but I have to show the Burner house again in the morning, and wondered which one you’d prefer to live in. I’m easy either way, so long as you’re there with me.”
“This is your home.” He told her that it was their home. “What would you do if I said I’d rather live in the Burner home?”
“Buy it. I can borrow enough money to get it started for us. I’m pretty sure that Landon would cut me a great deal.” She asked him about this one. “I don’t know. As I said, perhaps we can rent it out to a foreman on one of the ranches. It’s no big deal. The house, that’s all it is. I want to make a home with you, where you’re happy.”
Happy. It wasn’t a word that she was familiar with of late. It was as if all of that had been sucked out of her the moment she realized that there was someone in the house with her that day. Then Alex had nearly killed her. She looked over at the house that was still, for the most part, under construction.
It was beautiful now, and would be more so when it was complete. There really were boxes of things in his barn to use in the house, as he’d mentioned to her earlier. Shutters for all the windows. Two sliding doors for the dining room that would make it so that a person could easily move out onto the deck that was finished. She realized then that the outer things were done…the deck and roofing, as well as windows, because of the lateness of the year. He had worked hard on this, made it his home, yet was willing to give it up for her.
“I want to live here. I know that you and I are going to have a lot of working out to do. And that we’re going to need a learning curve on how to be together. I’ve been alone for a long time. But I think, in the end, we can make this work.” He laughed and she looked at him. “You think I’m being funny?”
“No. I think you’re being you. And I love it, and you. I love you, Tisha, with everything I am. And I know that we can make this work. We’re mates.” He pulled her to him then and kissed her. “You and I are going to have a great deal of fun making that house over there a home.”
She hoped so. And if she was honest with herself, she was excited about it too. She was happy, she realized in that moment. Very happy.