by Ruby Shae
His brother left the garage without another word, and a minute later, they watched his truck roar out of the driveway.
***
“Oh my god,” Audrey said. “What was that about?”
She used one of the towels to brush away the excess liquid from his chest, and then she grabbed his shoulder and pulled, indicating he should bend down. He followed her commands without a word, and she dried off his hair, face and neck.
“That was Declan being an ass.”
“I hope you’re planning some sort of revenge,” she laughed. “I squeezed those lemons by hand.”
Tad laughed, and for the first time in years, it felt good. Something inside of him snapped, and he reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head.
Audrey stepped closer with the towel and patted his damp skin while taking in the hideous recessed lines shredding the right side of his chest and shoulder.
Her arousal slammed into him even stronger than when they’d shaken hands, and he swayed from the scent of it. She grabbed onto his damaged bicep, and helped steady him, and that’s when he noticed her rage. It was buried deep under her desire, but there was no denying she was angry.
“What happened?” she asked, examining the marks.
“You’re not the only one betrayed by a lover.”
Her head jerked up, and her eyes met his.
“Is she dead?”
Shock filled him, but his face remained a blank mask.
“Yes.”
“Good,” she said, looking at his chest again. “You know you don’t have to hide, right?”
“Most people, especially women, don’t like looking at them.”
“Fuck them,” she seethed. “I may not know the details, but I know that you’re a warrior. You survived the unthinkable, and that’s something to be proud of. The right woman won’t care. Hell, she’ll probably think they’re sexy.”
Declan had said similar words many times, but they hadn’t meant anything until now. His brother had been right about his mate…not only had she stuck around, but she seemed to like his scars.
“That’s what Dec said,” he whispered.
“Smart man,” she mumbled back.
“Yeah.”
Her acceptance ignited feelings he hadn’t felt in years, and the onslaught nearly crippled him. The idea of kissing her warred with sending her packing, and he had to get away so he could think with a clear head.
“It’s been a really long day, and thanks to Declan, I’m really sticky,” he said. “I’m just going to turn in for the night. Do you mind closing the bays and locking up for me?”
“Not at all,” she said. “What about the stuff in the truck?”
“Leave it. I’ll take care of it in the morning.”
“Okay,” she said, taking a step back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you.”
Tad left the shop, and made a beeline for the house. His cock had been swollen since she’d touched him with the towels, and he needed a cold shower more than his next breath.
What you need is to go back and get Audrey!
Maybe, but he’d have to settle for the shower.
The thought of claiming his mate—and letting the past go—still scared the shit out of him.
Chapter Four
Tad ducked his head under the ice cold water, and rinsed out all of the shampoo.
When he’d made it to the house, he’d taken the stairs to the master bedroom two at a time, and stripped out of the rest of his clothes in record time. The sweet smell of the lemonade surrounded him as he’d made a pile on the floor, and thoughts of Audrey filled his mind.
Hell, who was he kidding.
She’d been on his mind since she’d walked into Declan’s bar almost two weeks ago. Though he tried to keep his distance, she was addicting, and he found himself thinking about her more often than not.
It was one of the reasons he’d started joining her for dinner.
Aside from the fact that her cooking saved him a nightly trip to the diner, and filled the house with amazing, delicious aromas, he’d claimed to accept her nightly invitations based on convenience, but his intentions had been purely selfish. He’d just wanted to get to know her better.
Admitting the truth was hard, but necessary, if he ever wanted to take Declan’s advice and let the past go. Somewhere down deep, buried beneath all of the pain and heartache of long ago, was the desire for a mate.
It was one of the reasons he’d tried so hard with Cindy. Since finding a fated mate was rare, he’d decided to build a life with his ex. It would have worked, too, if she hadn’t been a shifter hating psycho.
Warnings blared in his head, but they were unfounded.
Nothing had given anyone the impression Cindy was anything other than a loving woman. Hell, his Itan had even accepted her into the clan before their mating, and the ruler’s brothers had easily agreed to his decision. If the Abrams’ family couldn’t smell her innate disloyalty, then how could he?
The answer was simple. He couldn’t.
No one could.
His ex was like a needle in a haystack, and he was the one poor soul out of millions who got pricked. The odds of it happening again, especially with a fated mate, were nearly impossible. If he wanted to be happy—truly, unequivocally happy—then he had to accept Audrey into his heart.
If she agreed to be his mate, she wouldn’t betray him.
After twenty minutes in the arctic-like water, his overheated skin had finally begun to cool, but his cock remained in a semi-hard state. Semi-hard he could do. In fact, anything other than rock hard and throbbing was a welcome relief.
He dried off, and climbed into bed completely naked. The soft cotton sheets felt good on his skin, and he welcomed the way the top sheet seemed to mold against his body.
He heard Audrey moving around in the kitchen, and his bear urged him to get up and join her for dinner. He couldn’t. Not tonight. He needed figure out his next step, and he couldn’t do that sitting across from her.
What if she was sitting on your lap?
And he was rock hard again.
His cock swelled, making the fabric around him tighter, and he wanted to moan from the light teasing sensation. The soft, but firm, hold was how he imagined Audrey would explore him when she wanted to play, and he slid his palm down his covered dick and gently fingered his balls.
He wrapped his other hand around the thick covered shaft, and tightened his grip. He moved his hand slowly at first, exploring every inch of his flesh from the thick base to the large mushroom head, but it wasn’t long before he needed more.
His hands slipped under the sheet and he encircled the hard rod with both hands. One hand tightened around the thick base, and the other pumped up and down the shaft until Tad felt the familiar tingling at the base of his spine.
His dick throbbed in his hand, ready to explode, and another image of Audrey—on her knees with her mouth around his cock—appeared in his mind. The sight pushed him over the edge, and he tightened his grip and pumped harder until warm jets of come landed on his chest.
Exhausted and content, he used the sheet to clean himself up, and then placed it in the pile of clothes he’d started in the bathroom. He pulled a pair of plaid pajama bottoms out of his drawer, carefully donned the soft garment, and laid back down on the bed.
He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
***
Audrey knocked on Tad’s door again, and when he didn’t answer for the third time that morning, she slowly turned the knob and inched the wood open.
“Tad,” she called through the crack. “It’s Audrey. Is everything okay?”
When she was again met with silence, she daringly peeked through the crack and saw his still form on the bed. A trickle of alarm raced down her back, and she briefly wondered if she should call Declan.
And say what, exactly?
Yeah, probably not a good idea to call unless there was something to call a
bout. Even though she wouldn’t call herself his roommate, they were friends, sort of, and they shared the same house. Not only that, they worked together. If something wasn’t right, she should be able to handle it. At least at first.
She took a few steps into the room, and glanced around. The space was twice the size of hers, and like most master suites, it had its own built in bathroom. Another step forward revealed a long, duel sink vanity, but she couldn’t see anything else from her position.
Like the rest of the house, all of the furniture was designed in dark brown wood, and the same midnight blue color scheme accented his window, chairs and bedding. It was obvious the same decorator filled the entire home, but Tad’s room had one noticeable difference. Everything was bigger.
He slept on a raised king size bed in the center of the room, and there were two nightstands, one on each side of the bed, instead of one. There were also two tall dressers, and two overstuffed, high-backed reading chairs with a small bistro-style accent table sitting between them.
One of the dressers had three alarm clocks on top, and the monotonous clicking of three separate second hands was the only sound that filled the room. She glanced at Tad again, and when she didn’t see his chest rise and fall, she raised her voice and said his name louder.
He didn’t budge.
Audrey rushed to his side, and placed her fingers on his wrist. She willed her own heart to stop beating wildly so she could hear Tad’s, and at first her body refused to comply. She forced herself to control her breathing, and on the third try she felt a faint, steady heartbeat.
He was alive, but the fact that she could barely detect his pulse still worried her.
“Tad,” she said, nudging his arm. “Tad, wake up.”
One corner of his mouth rose in a half-smile, but otherwise he didn’t move. The smile gave her hope, and she allowed herself to really look at him for the first time since she’d walked into the room.
He slept on the right side of the bed, and the comforter and blanket were folded over on the left half, along with a few throw pillows, the same way they had been the first time she’d spent the night in his guest room.
He laid flat on his back with both arms resting by his sides, and he was bare except for a pair of thin, plaid pajama bottoms. She could see his swollen cock tenting the pants, and the image gave a whole new definition to the phrase, morning wood. It also confirmed whether or not he was as large as he seemed.
All she could say was yes…yes, he was.
She’d also been right about his abs. Eight-pack abs surrounded his belly button, but his bared chest is what held her attention. Smooth taut skin stretched over firm gorgeous pecs, thick wide shoulders, and powerful, heavily defined biceps.
Audrey sat on the edge of the bed, and leaned in to get a better look at his scars. Her heart ached at the sight. Not for the fact that he’d been scarred, they didn’t bother her, but for the pain he’d must have endured when receiving them. He’d said a lover betrayed him, but she had no clue what could leave behind marks like that.
Four six-inch lines swiped across his right pectoral, and then five long lines trailed from his neck to the bottom of his bicep on the same side. The indentions weren’t that deep, but the skin surrounding the grooves was raised and jagged.
The space between each line reminded her of the space between her fingers, and she held her hand in the air over the marks, and winced. The two were nearly a perfect match. Whoever hurt him had used their hands as a weapon.
She called his name again, and when he didn’t answer, she took a deep breath and traced the lines on his pectoral with her finger. The jagged looking skin was bumpy, but surprisingly smooth, and she moved her finger to the long lines starting at his neck to compare.
They felt the same.
When she finished the last line, Tad opened his eyes and smiled at her.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
He placed his hand on the nape of her neck, and pulled her down for a kiss.
Audrey knew he wasn’t fully awake, the fact that he’d called her sweetheart proved it, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she braced her hand on the mattress, and followed his lead.
His lips brushed across hers in a soft but firm caress, and her heart melted at the tenderness in his touch. He kissed her again, softly, and then slid his tongue over the seam of her lips, seeking access. She opened her mouth a fraction, and he thrust his tongue inside, fisting her hair, and pulling her closer.
She opened her mouth fully, allowing him total access, and eagerly meeting him stroke for stroke. Her skin tingled, and sparks flew from every nerve ending and raced straight to her core. Her pussy clenched, and liquid heat soaked her panties.
“You’re too far away,” he said, in between kisses. He moved his hand from her hair to her ass, and tried to pull her on top of him. “And you have too many clothes on.”
She wanted to crawl on top of him more than she wanted her next breath, but he’d mistaken her for someone else, and things had already gone too far.
“Tad, it’s Audrey,” she said, carefully.
She watched his smile slowly sink into a frown, and his obvious disappointment was devastating.
“Audrey?” He’d said her name in the form of a question, but she knew he didn’t expect an answer. He glanced around the room, and then met her eyes again. “What’s wrong? What are you doing in here?”
“You didn’t answer when I knocked on the door, and you’ve already missed three appointments this morning. Luckily, they were all drop-offs. Are you okay?”
“What time is it?”
“A little after ten.”
“Shit! I must have forgot to set my alarms,” he said, sitting up.
The rapid movement forced her to stand, and she backed up a couple of steps as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.
“Sorry about that,” he said, standing. “I’ll be down in twenty minutes.”
He raced into the master bathroom, and closed and locked the door.
Chapter Five
Audrey cringed as another wrench hit the floor of the garage. It had been three hours since the kiss, and Tad hadn’t spoken one word to her.
After he disappeared into the bathroom, she’d left his room, returned to the shop, and continued working. He’d arrived twenty minutes later, just like he’d promised, but his anger was a tangible thing that surrounded him like a protective bubble.
He marched into the lobby, glanced at the schedule, and then proceeded to do the repairs in order by appointment time. After each job was finished, he placed the paperwork on the counter next to her, and moved onto the next car.
When she’d first started working there, it hadn’t taken her long to decipher his nearly unreadable code, but he usually made sure she didn’t have any questions before he took off. Apparently, things had changed, and it was all her fault.
God, why did she have to kiss him!
Another loud clank echoed through the building, and she sighed.
They needed to talk, but until that happened, she was taking the rest of the day off.
She closed the computer program she was working in, and then shut down her computer and cleaned off the desk. There were no more appointments scheduled for the day, but even if there were, she would still leave. Tad had been running the shop without a manger before she started working there, and he could do it again. Today, though, he would only have to deal with taking payments and giving people their keys.
She walked into the repair side of the shop, and stood in the open bay opposite the one he was working in.
“The last appointment for the day just dropped off, and I’m going to call it a day,” she said.
“Fine.” He kept working, and didn’t so much as glance in her direction.
“All of the paperwork for the other cars is in the filing system on the counter, and you already know how to take payments.”
“Yes,” he grunted. “I’m pretty sure I can handle it. Believe it or not, I h
ave done this before.”
“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes. “I’ll be back in time to make dinner.”
“If you stay here, you’ll be eating alone,” he said. “I have plans.”
If you stay here…
“Tad…,” she sighed. “Don’t you think we should talk about what happened?”
He growled and stopped working, but he still didn’t look at her.
“No, I don’t,” he said, his voice firm. “Right now I’m trying to decide if I should even let you continue working here.”
Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked them away.
“Don’t strain yourself,” she retorted. “I’ll move my stuff out tonight.”
He looked up and glared at her.
“Fine!” he barked.
“Fine!”
Audrey stomped out of the bay, past the house, and into the tree line. She continued the hard and jerky pace until her anger dissolved into sorrow.
She didn’t want to leave her job, or find a new place to live, but none of that mattered compared to Tad’s opinion of her. He’d told her in the beginning that he didn’t want to be her boss because of her feelings, and she’d sworn she could control herself. Unfortunately, she’d lied.
That look though…
She hadn’t gone into his room for the purpose of kissing him. In fact, the thought had never crossed her mind. Okay…it had crossed her mind, but not in that moment. She’d only invaded his privacy because she’d been worried about him.
He was never late for work, and when he hadn’t woken up to her voice, her mind had wandered. His shallow breathing hadn’t helped matters, either, but it was the smile on his face when he did finally wake that had captivated her. She’d wanted him to look at her like that since she first saw him in Declan’s bar.
And she’d wanted to kiss him for just as long.
It was a stupid mistake, but she was wrong, and she needed to apologize.
After she made amends, she’d pack her bags and head back to the B&B, and then tomorrow she’d start looking for another job. Hopefully, Tad wouldn’t tell anyone about her indiscretion.
