CHAPTER SIX
Gray
Not only was I a creeper, I was apparently a dirty old man because when the goddess had pulled the sleeve of my t-shirt up to bare her shoulder, my cock pumped to life.
Shit.
I was brutally aware that there was nothing beneath that blanket over her lap. And nothing under that thin shirt because I could clearly see the outline of her nipples as they began to harden.
Are you cold?
I could have cheerfully punched myself as those words flew from my mouth. I regretted them even more when she looked down, turned red, and crossed her arms over her chest.
Then the kitten began to squeak, saving me from saying something even more stupid just before the goddess got dizzy and fell into my arms.
Her skin was damn soft under my hands as I lifted her from the counter. I’d gotten a concussion during one of my many fights as a teen, and it had been no joke. I couldn’t walk straight for a couple days. Her entire body was still wobbly, but she was doing her best not to show it. It made me like her even more. She’d just gone through hell, yet she was brave and cracking jokes.
Just like Jessica.
The thought shut down my brain. It felt like an ultimate betrayal for just thinking it. No one could be just like Jessica. No one.
“Come on.”
Her brow furrowed in confusion at my sudden change in mood, but she didn’t say a word as I carried her to the couch. Needing desperately for her to be covered again, I stalked back into kitchen to retrieve the blanket, then made sure all of her was completely covered.
Using the kitten as an excuse, I’d left her again. Now here I was, the hissing little spitball trying to take a huge hunk out of me.
“Ungrateful feline.”
Putting the kitten back into the box I’d stuffed some towels in, I carried the entire thing into the kitchen and looked around for something to feed it. I didn’t have cat food, or shit… litter. How the hell did one care for these crazy animals anyway?
In the living room, the goddess was trying to stand, undoubtedly drawn to the noise coming from the box. “Stay there, I’ll come to you.”
Back in front of the fire, I sat the box at her feet. “Oh my goodness. How cute!”
But the moment she reached for the furball, she got a swipe of claws in return. She ignored it and caught the little hellion while Maggie whined with worry. After a minute, the demon settled on her lap, although it looked like it would bolt the second she let go.
“It’s okay, little guy,” she cooed, making soothing little noises. She cocked an eye at me. “Guy?”
I shrugged. “Just found him or her outside after finding you.”
She smiled at me, and damn, my cock noticed it too. “Maybe you’re the one who deserves the Purple Bark.”
She was fucking adorable. “Right now, I’d settle for a Kittens for Dummies manual. I have zero idea how to take care of one.”
“It’s probably hungry. We should see if we can get him to eat.”
A trickle of blood appeared on her forehead. “We should probably get your wound superglued first.”
She reached up, frowning when her fingers came away red, then pressed the gauze I handed her to the reopened wound. “If you’ll get me a little bowl of milk and maybe a medicine dropper or something, I can take care of one problem, then we can take care of the other.”
I pushed to my feet and went to gather the kitten supplies. I called to Maggie, planning on giving her some dinner, but she wasn’t about to leave the goddess’s side, her head planted firmly in her lap next to the occasionally hissing kitten. “Traitor.”
A few minutes later, I was back with a small bowl of milk and dropper. And just like that, the kitten transformed into a loveable ball of fluff as he licked at the dropper frantically. He was definitely a he, I could see now that he was on his back, his claws clamped down on the plastic tube as he guzzled.
It was kind of cute. Not just the cat, but the way the goddess smiled and laughed down at him. Maggie too. She seemed like she was nearly bursting with pride that her adopted brother was going to be okay.
Foster brother, I reminded myself. This was only a temporary situation.
When the kitten was full and back in his box, I scooted the ottoman closer. “Lean forward,” I told her and parted her hair so I could see better. Very carefully, I squirted a thick glob of superglue into the cut, then held the wound together while the glue did its thing.
Her breath was warm on my face as I held her head in my hands, the damp strands of her hair curling around my fingers. “I’m Zoe,” she said after a hard swallow.
Zoe.
The name fit her somehow. She didn’t look like a classic Elizabeth or Katherine. As rocking hot as her body was, she didn’t look like a stereotypical Barbie or Amber either. On the days I’d glimpsed her sitting on her deck, I’d wondered about her name, even made a few passing guesses. I hadn’t even been close.
“I’m Gray. Gray Maddox.”
She smiled, her green eyes wandering over my face. They weren’t bright green like a jewel, but softer, lighter, with specks of yellows and browns and blues sprinkled in. And when they fell to my lips, the pupils blossomed, eclipsing the green meadow.
I felt it too.
I felt the tug between us, the unseen string that wanted to pull us together. And it seemed so familiar. Known somehow. Like I knew her, and she knew me.
Which was ridiculous.
And wasn’t.
From the first time I’d seen her, I hadn’t been able to look away. Not because of how beautiful she was. That would have been obvious. It wasn’t just an attraction. It was the feeling of sinking into a warm bath, or sitting in front of a blazing fire. Of coming… home.
“There, I think it’s sealed correctly.” I let her go, watching the wound to make sure it stayed closed. When it did, I tended to the deep scrapes on her face, neck, and arm.
“Thank you for everything.”
I nodded and kept dabbing antibiotic ointment to the skinned places on her neck. When her hands wrapped around my wrists, I stopped and looked at her. Just looking at her this close was like a punch in the gut. So damn beautiful. Almost too beautiful. Too perfect. And for a brief moment, I wondered if that had ever caused problems for her. If people ever took the time to look beneath the surface to see the lovely, funny, brave woman dwelling within.
“I’m serious.” The words were a harsh whisper as they circled around the emotion clogging her throat. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”
My cock stirred, like it was raising its hand with several suggestions on repayment. I ignored the primal part of me that wanted to sink into her warmth, batter our bodies together until we were both shattered.
Then a tear fell.
Damn. I hated to see a woman cry.
She wasn’t crying. Not really. She was still in the aftershocks of the near calamity, and she couldn’t have stopped the tsunami of feelings from crashing into her eyes and spilling over if she tried.
I brushed the tears away with my thumbs, and she gave an embarrassed laugh, her hands still on my wrists. The pull between us grew stronger, and I knew she felt it too. Her breathing changed, and her lips opened, drawing my eyes down to how plump and lush they looked. She had a wide mouth, full lips that seemed pillowy soft. And they were drawing me in like a siren’s call.
Her nails sank into my skin, the slight bite of pain pulling me back into the present. I jerked away, then up to my feet, shoving both hands through my hair.
I couldn’t do this.
She was vulnerable, alone with a complete stranger, grateful to be alive. And I was… what? What was I? I didn’t even know anymore.
“Are you hungry?”
She blinked at the question but didn’t respond. Instead, she wrapped the blanket more tightly around her, curling her legs onto the sofa.
“I’ve got different kinds of soups, stews. I can make an omelet.” I was rambling, so I stopped looking at her and headed into the kitchen, pulling the pantry door open.
I’d been away from people too long. Except for the occasional call to my attorney or the visit to Pop’s to pick up a few supplies, it had just been me and my dog for the past two years. I didn’t know how to act in polite company. My conversational skills had grown rusty. So had the synapses in my brain.
“Gray?”
I nearly jumped out of my fucking skin when she said my name from right behind me and covered my surprise by grabbing a couple cans of soup. I turned to find her leaning heavily against the counter. “Chicken noodle or vegetable beef? If you’re vegetarian, you’re out of luck around here.”
“I’m not, and I’m not hungry just yet. I was just wondering if you might have a pair of shorts or something I could put on.”
My attention dropped to the blanket she was holding around her waist, and I couldn’t stop from thinking what was beneath it. Nothing. Just her.
When I pulled her jeans and panties off earlier, I’d forced my eyes and mind somewhere else. But my fingers had felt the soft skin, the lean muscles just under the surface. The curve of her ass.
With a desperation I thought was long forgotten, I wanted to push those thighs apart and find her with my mouth. I wanted to suck on her clit and fuck her with my tongue until she was no longer able to scream.
“Gray?”
Fuck, man. Pull it together.
I sat the cans on the counter. “Sure. Let me see what I can find.”
Grabbing a battery-operated lantern, I turned it on bright and headed to the bedroom. A bit more steady on her feet, she still used the walls for balance as she walked like a cat behind me, padding so softly across the wood floor that I only felt her presence as she followed me into my bedroom.
Heading straight into my closet, I pulled open a drawer containing my sweats and began riffling through them. I pulled out a navy pair and held them up.
We both laughed.
I wore an x-large tall, and these looked like a sleeping bag in front of her small frame. Tossing them aside, I pulled open another drawer containing my athletic shorts.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Zoe fingering my flannel robe. The same robe Jessica bought me the Christmas before her death. A part of me wanted to scream for her to stop touching it, but another part — a larger part — wanted her in it.
She’s gone.
Yes, Jessica was gone. Her body was gone, at least. But wasn’t a human being more than just muscle and skin? Her spirit remained, and it was that presence that kept me trapped, shackled to the past as surely as if manacles were wrapped around my ankles and wrists.
How did you move on from someone you loved so much? From all the hope and possibility that love provided in your life?
When they died, how did you just move on? Pretend they didn’t exist?
I’d spent the past two years trying to answer those questions.
As I watched Zoe stroke the soft material, I thought that maybe letting another woman wear something so precious might be a start.
Opening another drawer, I grabbed a pair of flannel sleeping shorts. There was a drawstring that could be pulled tight. I held them up. “How about these for now?” I nodded at the robe. “With one of my shirts and that robe, you should be warm enough.” I thought of handing her a pair of socks but worried that, with her concussion, she could more easily slip and fall on the wood floors.
God. She was incredible looking when she smiled.
Noticing that the t-shirt was damp from washing her hair, I yanked open my t-shirt drawer and pulled out the first one I came to, then pressed everything into her hands. “My bathroom is through here.” She followed me out, and I started going through the bathroom cabinet. “New toothbrush.” I tossed it onto the counter and kept digging. Floss. New tube of toothpaste. Nothing else that a woman would need or want. I opened another cabinet. “Here is any medicine you might need. For pain. Stomach. Just about anything you—”
I stopped when her hand rested on my arm. “This is perfect, thank you. You’ve been more than generous.”
That pull again. Pulsing and circling around us with a terrifying strength.
Warmth climbed from my balls to my cock, and I stepped away from her. “I’ll give you some privacy. Soak in the tub, use the shower, anything you need.”
She smiled, holding the clothes to her chest. “Thank you.”
I turned toward the fireplace that warmed both the bathroom and bedroom on the other side of the wall. “I’ll toss some additional logs on the fire, make sure you stay warm enough.”
She nodded, then winced, her fingers moving to her temple. “Okay.”
Shit. I needed to leave this room. I was staring and fucking rambling again. With a burst of willpower, I walked out, shutting the door behind me.