by Reina Torres
“It’s so good to talk to you.”
“You too, girlfriend.” Katherine sighed. “I need you, too. I’ve got some shit about to hit the fan at work, and I’d tell you all about it, but I need to go and get ready for a run.”
“Run?” Now that was something new.
“Yeah, yeah… don’t call in the sanitarium. It’s been something I’ve been thinking about trying. One of the guys from the law firm on the floor above us says that he’s going to take me along tonight and see if I like it. He promises that it’ll help clear my head. I just hope I don’t end up on a stretcher.”
They shared another full-hearted laugh and said their good-byes before Katherine hung up. Still laid out on the bed, True dropped the phone to the coverlet at her side and enjoyed the little bounce it made before it came to rest against her ribs.
She couldn’t see herself asking the Winters. And definitely not Locke. He cared for his friend, that was obvious, but sometimes his humor got the better of him, and Xavier wouldn’t like being the joke.
Sighing for what felt like the thousandth time that day, she realized that if she wanted to work things out, she was going to have to get the answers from Xavier himself, and the likelihood of that happening was about a million to one. If he had his way, they probably wouldn’t see each other for months, if not years.
“Go ahead,” she groused to her ceiling. “Feel sorry for yourself. See if that helps.”
A knock at the front door startled her and True sat up on her elbows and stared out the open doorway. She couldn’t see the front door from that vantage point. Getting up from her bed, she headed into the open living area of the cottage. It wasn’t a perfect vantage point, but there was enough of a gap between the curtains that Celeste had put in to see who was standing on her porch.
“No way.”
Once he’d seen movement inside the cottage, Xavier knew that he’d been heard. He still didn’t think this was a good idea, but his panther had thoughts of his own. If he hadn’t gone down the mountain to her cottage, he had a feeling that his panther would have kept him up all night and then some with incessant howling.
Xavier knew he could be a world class ass, but so could his panther. Whether he’d learned it from the cat or vice versa, they were both masters of their craft.
Looking down at the bottle in his hand he let out a breath. Bringing alcohol probably isn’t the best idea.
It’s a peace offering.
But women like flowers and stuff like that.
She creates drinks. His stubborn panther was barely keeping his tone civil. Stop scowling before she locks us out and calls Aaron.
Stop scowling. Yeah, that was easy.
Not.
Swearing under his breath, Xavier’s hand clutched the bottle so tightly he swore he was just one second away from crushing it into a thousand stupid pieces.
And then the door opened. “Hey.”
He had his words planned out.
He’d said them a couple of times on the way down the mountain, but the instant she’d opened the door and he’d seen how she looked, his brain went… his brain went…
He had no fucking idea.
Didn’t the woman wear clothes?
She wore full length pants, bless him, but her top. Or what stood in for it, was skintight with tiny straps stretched over each shoulder holding the fabric tight to her lush curves.
And the color of it was just a shade or two away from the color of her skin. Peach and pale like cream, he knew that it would only take one flirtatious comment to make her blush.
But Locke was the one who could flirt. He could flirt with a potted plant and it would probably pop right out of the soil and climb the lion like a tree. Him? He had no skills to make her feel at ease, or him for that matter.
How long he’d stayed silent, he didn’t really know, but he saw True shift a little and hold tightly to the doorknob in her hand. Her other hand lifted to tuck her hair behind her ear, and the movement made the fabric of her top stretch across her breasts.
Before his panther could let out an appreciative purr at her appearance, Xavier spoke.
“I came by to bring you this.”
Smooth.
He held out the bottle and waited for her to tell him exactly where to stuff it.
“Is this…” she looked down at the bottle in his hand and then lifted her gaze back up to his, “is this from your still?”
He saw the change in her expression after he managed a nod in response to her question. When she reached out her hands, he set the bottle in them and watched as she lifted it up and held it into the light coming through the open door.
The bottle itself was plain, clear, with a ceramic stopper.
“Can I open it now?”
He heard the slightly breathless tone in her voice, and it stirred an unfamiliar feeling in his gut. There really wasn’t a simple description of the sensation. It wasn’t hungry or angry. The feeling was complex, unsettled, but not a negative feeling.
“Sure, it’s yours.”
The smile she gifted him with made his heart pound hard against his ribs.
“That’s such a sweet gift. Thank you.”
As she got her finger under the metal bar holding the cap down, she gave him a furtive look, and his panther sat up inside of him, crouching on all four paws, his tail swishing back and forth in slow, deliberate arcs.
The audible pop made her shoulders tense the littlest bit, but she seemed pleased with the surprise.
“Honestly,” her voice was a trembling near-whisper, “ever since I saw your set up, I’ve been dying to try what you were making. I could tell at a glance that you know what you’re doing.”
His panther nearly preened at the compliment, but he fought down the urge to show it on his face. He just couldn’t let go so easily. It was hard enough to do this. To see her.
Alone.
To smell the scent of her soap on her skin, the delicate scent of her perfume mixed in with the fresh, clean sent of her moisturizer.
It took a great deal of strength not to bury his face in the space where her neck curved into her shoulder. He could spend hours just inhaling her.
The first indrawn breath over the mouth of the bottle brought a little shiver to her shoulders. “Nice clear scent. I’m surprised you put in other flavors. I just can’t tell the whole story from a quick sniff.”
She started to step back.
“I should get us some glasses-”
He stopped her short, his hand gently wrapped around her arm just above her elbow.
Xavier could feel the fluttering pulse of her blood through his firm touch of her skin.
True tipped her head down and looked at his hand. He wasn’t quite sure if he’d made a mistake, but feeling the warmth of her skin under his had his own pulse throbbing through his veins.
“I… I, ah…”
“Go ahead.” He heard the gentle encouragement in his voice and wondered where it had come from. It certainly wasn’t what people expected of him, but the sound seemed to please True, gentling her smile. “Take a drink.”
From the look in her eyes, he thought he understood where her mind was going. How could he tell her that she was right? That he wanted her to take her first taste straight from the bottle.
That the thought of her lips wrapped around the cool, clear, glass neck of the bottle had the most amazing effect on his body. He’d been hard as a rock since he’d thought of her that morning, and the ache he felt while he was alone, missing her tasting at the Majestic was just the tip of the punishment for his baser needs.
Then to watch her make the decision and bring the bottle up to her lips, it could have dropped him to his knees as his cock thickened against the worn denim of his jeans. The subtle strength of the fabric felt like it was caressing and cradling him, making the situation worse.
True tipped the bottle, and with Xavier’s preternatural vision, he watched the liquid contents within the glass dip and spin as the li
quor fought itself to be the first to touch her tongue.
He couldn’t argue or complain, he wanted to touch her tongue even more. He wanted her to touch him with that tongue. To taste his kiss, and tangle with him in an intimate embrace that would leave them both shaking with need.
Xavier saw it when the first drop fell upon her tongue. She hadn’t been expecting the touch at that moment and her eyes had been fixed on him. Her eyes flared open for a moment and then narrowed as her focus turned inward.
He could smell the surprise in the scent from her body and even though he’d let go of her arm, it was as if he still had a hand on her skin, enjoying the soft kiss of warmth from her skin against his.
When she lowered the bottle, and set the cap back on top, she didn’t lock it closed. He didn’t have to wait long for her to speak, which was good because he wouldn’t be able to talk around the thick knot of something that felt like emotion in his throat.
Or maybe it was just plain lust because even before she opened her mouth, he heard the soft hum of sound in it. “That is heavenly,” she told him. “The flavors are blended beautifully. I’m guessing your mash has a higher concentration of barley than rye.”
She didn’t even look at him, so it wasn’t a question so much as a statement, and she was right.
Lifting the bottle back to her plump lower lip, she pushed the ceramic stopper back and took another sip of the liquid. This time his eyes were focused on her jaw and cheeks and he swore he could tell that she was passing the alcohol over her tongue back and forth.
The image raging in his head was the use of that talented tongue on something solid instead of liquid.
Xavier was so hard from just the sight of her tasting the alcohol that he wasn’t sure he’d manage to keep his mind on the main reason for the visit.
When she lowered the bottle again, he saw the wet slick over the generous curve of her lip.
A moment later, her smile tangled with her laughter and made him dizzy with need.
“Oh, and there’s something about the sugar.” Her eyes narrowed as she mulled over the puzzle. He wanted to help her and stepped closer to tell her what she was searching for, but she stopped him.
Her free hand on his chest, the other wrapped loosely around the neck of the bottle he’d given her, her mind must have clicked the puzzle pieces into place. “Sorghum,” she nodded, and her lips curved in a secretive smile. “You use sweet sorghum and-”
The words were lost in his mouth as he covered her lips with his.
Nine
His kiss tasted like sweet barley on her tongue, a cool heat, wet and delicious. Heady. The taste of him filled her head with all kinds if images. Fire, heat, flames… or maybe that was just because of the rough scratch of his tongue against hers. The friction of his hands on her arms, and then her back and down to her ass.
Holding her steady as he rubbed against her, hard muscle against her breasts, the push of his erection from her thigh to her belly.
How fast did shifters get hard anyway?
What the hell did it matter. Especially when he thrust his tongue in her mouth was a preview and a promise of what his body could do inside of hers.
Xavier’s lips dipped down to her chin, and she managed to mumble a few words, “The bottle…”
She felt his smile against her cheek, and then she saw the smirk it really was as he backed her up toward the dining table, with his hands pressing her against him in all the right ways.
True set the bottle down and then used her hand to brace herself on the table. “What happened?”
He paused, his mouth hovering just above her mouth with all the delicious heat of his body warming hers. “I was tired of fighting.”
“Fighting me?”
“Fighting myself.” It only took a moment for him to sit her down on the table and nudge one of the chairs away with his foot. He stepped in between her legs and she was almost embarrassed that she’d instinctually opened for him. “I was going to keep away from you, but I know I can’t do that anymore.”
His words were more than civil, they were soft and almost seductive.
True let her hand sweep up from his elbow to his shoulder and felt the shift of muscles under his shirt and skin as she went. “So now, you just decide that you’re done being a jackass, and you think I’m just going to be okay with it?”
Xavier lifted a hand from her ass and reached out for the bottle, the sudden shift made her grab onto his shoulder to keep herself up right against him. He lifted the bottle to his lips and tipped it up.
Watching as the clear liquid traveled down the neck of the bottle and slipped over his lip, her lips parted, mimicking him, and nerves all over her body tingled as heat and yes, lust, settled in her body in all the right places.
Xavier lifted the bottle and then used its lip to wipe a stray drop from his skin.
True hadn’t planned on leaning into him. She wanted to step back. To put some space between her and Xavier’s hot and cold nature, but as she opened her mouth to tell him just that, her words made a liar of her intentions.
“I thought that was for me.”
She knew what she felt inside of her. The building weight of arousal in her breasts, the tingling sensations in her nipples as they tightened and pinched, hoping for his touch.
True knew she should put some space between them, but when she lifted her hips off of the table to scoot away, she arched into him and brought her body flush with his.
She was wet and knew that with his incredible sense of smell, he’d known that before she’d even realized it, and as she curled her body against him the friction only made it worse… and better.
Sitting the way she was, wearing her slacks, the plush curves of her thighs weren’t going to let him close enough to press that glorious erection where she really needed it.
And damn if he didn’t read her mind.
Xavier leaned in, pressed a kiss to her lips, and with his hands free, he took hold of her hips and canted her body just enough. Her lids closed and light burst in the darkness as he managed to nudge the length of his denim-clad erection against her clit.
Even with several layers of clothing between them she felt the sensation sear through her body. It had been too long, and if just this much was any indication, the few men she’d been with hadn’t a clue about what they were doing. He curled his hips against her again, and the increased friction of their bodies tore a gasp from her lips.
He gave her a moment to breathe, and then he drowned her in his kiss. With her lips parted, she drank some of the shine straight from his mouth, felt it burning between them as he danced with her tongue against his.
He wasn’t all that much taller than her, but it felt like he was towering over her body. His muscled arms cradling her against his larger form and still comforting her. Everything she felt had an opposite, and not quite so equal, reaction. All she knew was that every movement of their bodies made her hotter and needier for him.
And it would have been enough, before.
Back before she made the decision to leave home and venture to Mystic.
But having had her taste of independence, she wasn’t going to just let this man devour her without some kind of understanding.
Even though his tongue found the sensitive spot just behind her ear.
Okay, she let him have a moment or two there, with his cat-like growl rumbling through his chest and throat. She was going to back away from him at any moment.
Who knew that end of the day scruff could make her tingle all the way from her jaw to her toes?
“True?”
She tilted her head to give him more access. “Yes,” she sighed and clung tighter to his shoulders. “Right there.”
A quick kiss, and then his hands released her and braced on the table. The audible thump of his knuckles on the hard wood opened her eyes.
“True?”
She saw his intense green eyes roaming over her face. “Hmm?”
“When did you e
at last?”
Her gaze lowered and settled for a moment on the impressive length nestled between her thighs. “It’s been… awhile.” Oh, she felt silly revealing that to him, but it had been a long dry spell for her. Ages.
When he remained silent and she lifted her gaze back up to his, she saw the wry crook of his brow over one eye and the hard curve of his lips.
“Food, True. When was the last time you had food?”
Her eyes wide open and her cheeks coloring quickly with a mortified blush, she was gathering up the strength to answer him when her stomach growled like a wild animal, filling the space between them with the horrifying sound.
Xavier took a half step back and let his eyes roam over her from her breasts to her thighs, lingering in places that had her blush compete with other, needier parts for blood flow.
“Come.” He held out his hand and she didn’t hesitate to put her hand in his. “We need to get you something to eat.”
She slid easily down to the ground and watched as he lifted the hardwood table and set it down at the edge of the counter. It was easy to admire his strength. True had tried to move it a little so she could enjoy the view through the front window but had given up after barely moving it an inch.
He moved out of sight and came back moments later with her chair in his hands. She moved over to the table and lowered herself into the chair as he tucked it closer to the table.
It was a moment where she saw the man behind all of the control, and she liked what she saw.
Xavier made his way to the refrigerator and True was only too happy that Celeste had stocked it before she arrived. She’d been so busy with work that she really hadn’t eaten much or gone shopping to get other things for her cupboards.
A quick look in the fridge earned her a quizzical smile. “What do you eat?”
She knew what he was seeing. Partly opened packages of this and that. “I don’t really do meals,” she explained, “I kind of graze.”
“Graze?” He had moved on to a cupboard and found some pasta in a box, setting it out on the counter. “Careful with the images you put in my head.”
