Chapter 19
JESS
We were both quiet that evening on the way home. Night had fallen in the swift, surprising way it does in the autumn.
When Cade stopped the bike in front of what had been Grandpa’s place, I felt shy. We had both withdrawn after our moment out in the high country meadow. This was our wedding night, and I still wasn’t sure how to deal with that. All I knew for certain was that his touch made my body sing.
Meeting his eyes, I could see the quizzical look on his face—his eyebrows arched, that sexy mouth angled up in a cautious smile. My core clenched to the memory of that mouth on mine, those strong arms around me. It had been lovely, that passion in the sea of wildflowers.
From the way he was looking at me, I knew what he wanted and expected. No simple orgasms for either of us this time. We were about to have an entire night together. Very likely a sleepless night, with sex in every possible position.
I wanted that.
But I had to be careful. Very careful. I had almost lost control in the meadow when he’d wanted me to shift.
"Jess? What are you brooding about?"
I tossed him a smile. "Nothing. I'm just a little stiff from the bike riding. It was lovely, though. Thank you."
"My pleasure," he drawled.
Together we climbed the four steps that led to the front porch. Outside the door to the house, I fumbled in my pocket for my keys. "We'll have to have a set made for you," I said when I found the correct one, inserted it into the lock and twisted. As I pulled it out, the key ring slipped from my fingers and fell to the porch. Cade and I bumped heads as we stooped to retrieve it.
His blue eyes glinted at me. "Don’t tell me you’re nervous after what happened out in the meadow.”
"Who me?" I moved to enter the house, but his hand on my shoulder prevented me.
"Wait. Let's do this properly."
He bent and slipped one arm under my knees and lifted me. I automatically reached an arm around his neck, which brought his head down close to my face. I could feel his breath on my lips.
I giggled as he carried me across the threshold. Barney greeted us with his tail thumping.
He kept carrying me until we were well within the house, kneeing the excited Barney out of his way and finally setting me down near the foot of the staircase that led up to the bedrooms.
He stretched and arched his back to loosen it, then reached down to stroke the dog.
“So, let me go upstairs and get ready.”
Groaning, he ran a hand through his hair. "Don't take too long. I want to fuck you until your teeth rattle."
Turning, I fled up the stairs, leaving Cade at the bottom. “Come up in ten minutes.”
“Don’t think you’re gonna start giving the orders around here,” he growled. But he stayed put at the bottom of the stairs.
CADE
Well, hell. Ten minutes sounded like forever.
For the first time in my life, I had a legal right to be with a woman. Never thought I’d care, but now that it was done, I didn’t relish any delays. I didn’t want to wait one minute, much less ten.
Sitting on the bottom step, I made a fuss over Barney, patting and playing with him, throwing a soggy tennis ball that he delightedly retrieved. "What’s up with her, boy?"
Barney’s intelligent brown eyes focused on the ball in my fist. Thump, thump, thump went his tail on the hardwood floor.
I decided I’d better take him for a quick walk so I wouldn't have to worry about it later. He was overjoyed when I got the leash.
"I know there's something scary in her past, but I'm not going to let that stop me,” I told Barney as we walked. “I'm gonna figure it out and help get rid of it, whatever it is. Hero to the rescue. Right, boy?" Even Barney seemed to understand that I was mocking myself. As if I’d ever rescued anybody? Mostly what I did was mess people up.
Barney gave a little whine of agreement and found a spot to do his business.
"Good dog. I sure wish my life was as simple as yours."
We were back inside in a few minutes, but it seemed like an age before she called down to tell me she was ready.
I took the stairs two at a time.
Her bedroom was down at the end of the hall. Not Tom’s old room, but something more feminine. A good, large space, with its own bathroom. It had a queen size bed with brass trimmings. I approved.
She was waiting for me, looking great as always. Her long, dark hair was loose on her shoulders and she had put on some sort of flimsy nightgown that I intended to strip right off. Why did women bother with nightgowns or pajamas? Or sexy underwear, for that matter? While I can appreciate the aesthetics of such attire, I prefer my women naked.
I lunged into the room and grabbed her. I pushed her toward the bed.
“Wait.”
Shit, was she going to try to stop me now? I felt ragged and frayed, at the edge of my control. This chick was going to kill me. “Do not tell me you’ve changed your mind. I need you, Jess.”
“No, I haven’t changed my mind.” Her voice was ragged, too. “But there’s something you don’t know about me. And there’s something I need first. I’ll be right back. I have to get it.”
Jeez, she’d had ten minutes to get things. What had she been doing?
I sat down on the bed while she walked quickly to the other side of the room. I figured she was going into the bathroom. Some kind of birth control? We hadn’t discussed it. Maybe she wasn’t on the pill? Maybe she used something else?
“I’ve got condoms, if that’s what you’re looking for,” I said as she opened a drawer in her dresser. “Don’t worry; I’ll take care of it.”
“This isn’t something you can take care of.” She returned to the bed with an object in her hands. She sat down beside me and handed it to me. It was a circular piece of metal. I wasn’t sure what it was. A necklace? A collar?
The thing was heavy, wrought metal that looked like a combination of silver and some other metal. Iron? Steel? Maybe even bone? As I slowly turned it, trying to categorize it, I realized that it was old and beautiful in a savage sort of way. It also had a presence to it. Power. Where it was touching me, I felt a warm sensation.
“What the hell is this?”
“It’s a Highland Choker.”
“So it’s some kind of Scottish thing?”
“Yes.” She caught up her hair in one hand and lifted it away from her shoulders and throat. “Will you put it on me? You have to do it. That is, I could put it on, but you’d have to take it off. I can’t remove it myself.”
I wondered why. Did it lock automatically? The choker was closed and I didn’t see a way to open it. It looked small. Would it even fit around her neck? “How does it open?”
“Just pull it apart. When you apply pressure, it will open.”
I twisted the metal and sure enough, the two ends parted easily. She bent her head toward me. I spread the metal enough to slip it around her slender throat. It seemed to close almost of its own accord, snapping shut with a click that, for some reason, echoed in my dick.
Whoa. Was it some kind of dominance collar? Was she signaling her interest in erotic submission? Offering herself to me as my slave? The idea sent my already-heated body into overdrive. I could barely prevent myself from toppling her flat and driving my cock into her with no more preparation than this collaring thing.
“If this is some kind of sex game?” I bent to kiss her throat where the metal bound it, “I like it.”
“Not exactly. You don’t have these chokers in Montana? You don’t use them in your pack?”
“Nope.” I ran my fingers over the metal, so smooth and warm. I kissed her mouth and stroked the choker. Surely she must be burdened by the weight of it. It definitely had an aura. It felt to me like it was imbued with magic.
I didn’t even believe in magic. Except that, hell, I was a shifter, so how could I deny that some type of magic existed?
“It’s to prevent me shifting during sex. When you’re wearing a Highland Choker, it’s impossible to shift.”
Yeah, right. I didn’t know of any foolproof way to prevent shifting, so I was dubious. “Do you like to shift during sex?” Shifters did that sometimes. It was not unusual. But I preferred sex in my human form.
“No. On the contrary, I want to feel free to enjoy sex and be a little bit wild without worrying that I might lose control and shift. With the choker on, I know I’ll stay human.”
There it was again. For some reason she was afraid of shifting. That was something I needed to probe. Find out why she felt that way.
Not now, though. That could wait.
Now, if there were no more delays, I was going to fuck her silly.