Gabi sighed softly, slowly opened her eyes and smiled up at him as if he had just made her the happiest female in the world.
A perfect match for him then.
She proved just how perfect she was as she slowly turned her face towards the window, her pale eyebrows drawing down as her eyes narrowed. She pushed away from him, took hard steps past him, and yanked the cabin door open.
“Scram. I see you near Storm again and you’ll find out that while I might be human, my claws are just as sharp as yours.”
Storm turned in time to see Taya glaring at Gabi as she swept away from the cabin.
He shifted his gaze to his fated female and wanted to grin as she turned towards him with an innocent look painted across her beautiful face. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one feeling territorial.
A hint of colour touched her cheeks, she grabbed the cloth and glared at him. “Don’t give me that look. I’m tired of the women in these parts looking at you like you’re a bloody buffet and they’re starving.”
His grin stretched wider.
She whipped the cloth across his ass. “That’s enough out of you.”
He schooled his expression but the moment she turned her back on him to wash the cloth out in the sink, he grinned again, because damn, having Gabi jealous over something regarding him made him feel like a king.
“I think we should get that suite as soon as possible.” She stared out of the cabin window. “Because I want you away from all these women.”
Storm nodded in agreement. “Not as much as I want you away from the males.”
“You think people here will ever stop looking at me as if I’m about to stab them in the back?” She looked over her shoulder at him.
He sighed. “I’ll make sure of it. We just need to show them that you’re innocent.”
She shook her head at that. “I’m not sure they’ll believe me.”
A deep sigh escaped her and her gaze drifted back to the world beyond his cabin.
“You all know more about Archangel than I do. That name wasn’t mentioned in anything I read on Alexander’s computer… I don’t think anything he did was sanctioned by them. I snooped in Alexander’s financial records on George’s computer once and found a lot of the sums of money going out of it matched with figures I had seen in Alexander’s files. The only time I heard Alexander mention Archangel was during a phone call once. He didn’t sound happy, and he mentioned that name.” Her solemn blue-grey eyes came back to meet his.
He didn’t want to push her, felt like a bastard to pick this moment to question her about it, but now she was opening up to him, finally talking to him, he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “Can you remember what he said?”
Because he was beginning to get the impression that Alexander had been working alone, looking for revenge on Storm’s family and his pride, and willing to take out any non-humans he met along the way.
She frowned, and then nodded. “Something about them shutting him out… that he had a right to work with them because of his father and grandfather. He was angry. Upset.”
Sounded as if Archangel hadn’t wanted to work with him, which was strange, because he figured them for an organisation that wasn’t picky about who it employed and Alexander had struck him as the sort of male who was right up their street anyway. He had a hard-on for killing anything non-human judging by what Gabi had told Ivy.
Although, Archangel had grown more selective about their raids after what had happened to his pride and others. There had been a period of at least two decades where the hunters had actually stuck to targeting more dangerous members of his world, ones who were liable to attack humans. All that was changing again now. They were up to their old tricks according to the shifter grapevine, had recently launched an assault on a tiger pride in Scotland.
“What about your mother?” He felt like a bastard all over again as a flicker of a frown danced on her fair eyebrows and her blue-grey eyes held a hint of anger.
“She has nothing to do with them, but she knows they exist. I remembered her saying that word to Alexander when I was little and he was talking about his father. I went to ask her about Archangel, and she told me she didn’t know any details, and it was better that I didn’t know them either.” Little Bird heaved another long sigh. “She told me she got sick of trying to avoid getting involved, never liked what Alexander’s father was doing and told him not to tell her anything about it. She buried her head in the sand… and to be honest… I can’t blame her. I wish I never… no… I can’t wish that…”
She stepped towards him, lifted her hand and smoothed her palm across his cheek, her eyes soft with affection.
“I can’t wish it because I never would have met you.”
He kissed her for that, and for opening up to him, telling him everything he needed to know. When he snaked his arms around her waist and tried to pull her closer, she clucked her tongue at him and pressed her hands to his bare chest, stopping him.
“Your wounds,” she whispered breathlessly, not sounding as if she really wanted him to stop.
“They’re healing… just a little kiss… it won’t kill me.” He brushed his lips across hers and moaned at the sweet taste of her and the way she instantly opened to him, her mouth fusing with his again.
Damn, he wasn’t sure he would ever get enough of this female.
His female.
Fire swept through his blood, heated him to a thousand degrees and had him aching to take things further than just kissing.
She pressed against his chest again, another soft sigh escaping her, one he could easily decipher.
She was going to keep stopping him until she had finished tending to his wounds and was sure they were on their way to healing.
So he eased back and did as she wanted, stood there waiting for her to take care of them. It wasn’t exactly a chore. He was absolutely certain he would never grow tired of her coddling him.
He watched her as she kneeled before him and finished cleaning his thighs.
Somehow, he managed to survive the slow, arduous process without his body getting the wrong idea again, probably because he was thinking about how he was going to whisk her away to the city, shower her in gifts and champagne, and everything she could ever want, and over the course of a few weeks as they came to know each other better, he would gradually break things about a mating to her. Slipping it into the conversation here and there was far more appealing than having a big talk about it. Way more his style.
“I’ve never been to Vancouver.” She rose to her feet and frowned at the wounds on his side, assessing them. “The shopping had better be good because I’m in the market for new clothes, and a pair of shoes.”
He grimaced. “I’ll return your shoes before we go anywhere. Can’t have my Little Bird hurting herself. And whatever you want, you get. I’m going to pamper you like crazy.”
She smiled at that. “I think you’re the one who needs pampering.”
Her eyes lifted to his again, sparkled at him like stars, and he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her again. She foiled his plans by moving away, heading into the bathroom and coming back out huffing.
“You don’t have any medical supplies?”
He rolled his shoulders. “Rath used them all when he was shot.”
Her expression sobered, and he called himself a dick for reminding her about how she had come to be here at the creek.
He held his hand out to her, needing her to come to him, because he was afraid he was going to lose her, even when he knew he wouldn’t, that she wasn’t going to leave him because of the things he had done or because of what had happened to her bastard half-brother.
Gabi placed her hand into his and he drew her towards him.
“Sorry,” he murmured, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
She shook her head and smoothed her palms over his pectorals, stirring that fire again and making things difficult for him. Here he was trying to be comforting, caring, and she was t
rying to get his motor revving again. He caught her hands to stop her and sighed as she turned her head and rested her cheek against his chest, right over his heart.
“Can we get out of here? I just want to be alone with you now… away from here.” Her words were soft, a bare whisper that tugged at his heart and had him pressing a kiss to her hair.
Storm nodded and wrapped his arms around her. “I could use some of that myself.”
He felt her smile.
“So tomorrow?” she murmured.
He pressed another long kiss to her hair, lingering with his lips against the golden strands.
“One suite with a view, and a big bed, and some sort of hot tub whirlpool whatever the fuck sort of fancy bath goes inside a room, coming right up.”
And a lot of pampering.
All the pampering she could take because she deserved it after everything she had been through, and for somehow coming out of it all in love with him.
He still didn’t quite believe it.
But he would spend every day of his life proving himself worthy of her love.
And showing her how deeply he loved her too.
Starting with a stay in a suite with a view, and a big bed.
CHAPTER 16
It had been fifteen days since Storm had walked Gabi to his car at the trailhead and taken her away from Cougar Creek, leaving the security and running of the gathering in his brothers’ hands.
Fifteen days of sheer fucking Heaven.
Little Bird had come to life the moment they had reached his car, her eyes lighting up with surprise at the sight of his black Maserati Levante SUV. She had looked to him for an answer to a silent question, and he had spent the first half of their drive down Highway 1 explaining everything about the business he ran. Turned out she hadn’t quite figured him for a man of money, or someone with a head for business, but he let her off with a gentle scolding and a few rounds of teasing.
When she had asked where he usually lived, he had surprised her again by mentioning the penthouse apartment he owned in Toronto, where his business was based.
And when she had said she thought he lived at the creek, he had laughed his ass off and explained his rocky relationship with mountains and wilderness shit. He was a city cougar through and through.
They had ended up bonding over that, admitting everything they couldn’t stand about wilderness living, from bugs to collecting water, to limited power and a lack of phone and TV reception.
Turned out Gabi was a city bird.
At the end of their long drive, he had pulled up outside the Fairmont Pacific Rim, where he had booked a suite with everything he had promised on Rath’s satellite internet. It had cost a small fortune to get the suite for a month, but fuck, it had been worth it when the hotel staff had opened the room and Gabi’s eyes had lit up again.
He had left her in the room, enjoying a long, deep soak in the bath with a view, while he had gone and grabbed some supplies for both of them, including some sticking plasters, bandages and other medical necessities. Gabi had helped patch him up and they had lounged together sharing a bottle of champagne on the outdoor terrace, watching the sunset and enjoying the view of the mountains and Stanley Park.
After that, it had been a blur of shopping, sightseeing, relaxing and indulgence.
The only thing that wasn’t Heaven was the fact Gabi insisted on paying for her own shopping, food and other things. She had given in to him a few times, but she was making it damned hard to pamper her.
Storm pulled a face at that as he towelled off and listened to his Little Bird singing in the shower where he had left her washing her hair.
Tomorrow, he was going to buy her presents, and she was going to accept them without putting up a fight.
A grin stretched his lips.
Although, sometimes when she put up a fight, he found it hard to complain. He gave as good as he got, and it always ended in a serious make out session regardless of where they were. He had lost count of the number of people who had given them disgusted looks as they had kissed each other’s brains out in the middle of a store or a restaurant.
Once their stay at the hotel finally came to an end, he wasn’t taking her back to the creek. Gabi had offered to take a look at her brother’s computer again to see whether Alexander really had been involved with Archangel or whether he had been cut off from them as she suspected. Storm had decided to go with her when her mood had faltered, turning sombre, and he had realised she also meant to tell her mother what had happened to Alexander. As little as he wanted to be around the woman who had been married to the man who had killed his parents, he needed to be there for Gabi, wanted to be there for her to lean on if she needed his strength to keep her going.
He slipped into one of the white terrycloth robes, tied the belt around his waist and strode through the suite to the bedroom. He rounded the enormous bed to what had become his side, bent and pulled open the draw on the bedside table.
Stared at the black velvet box that sat alone in it.
Blew out his breath.
It was one order of business he had taken care of straight after their arrival, heading to a store nearby that specialised in diamond rings.
He reached for the box, stopping halfway when he noticed his fingers shaking. He focused on his hand to stop it from trembling, and snatched the box, brought it up to him as he straightened and flicked it open with his thumb.
Storm stared down at the platinum ring.
Was it too soon?
He wasn’t asking for a mating. Not yet. While Gabi now knew everything there was about the process of mating, and what it would mean for her, it was still too soon for her to have made her decision.
He was just asking for her hand, like a man, because he wanted her to see how much he loved her, that even if they weren’t mated, he wanted them to be married—bound in a way she understood and one that was familiar to her.
“What’s that?”
He practically dropped the damned box as her voice came from behind him, fumbling with it as it flew up into the air.
When he caught it, he looked across at her where she stood on the other side of the bed, her hands paused mid-way through tying her white robe and her blonde hair hanging in tangled waves across her shoulders.
Her enormous blue-grey eyes were locked on the one carat princess cut diamond ring.
Her heartbeat was off the scale.
Her hand edged up to her mouth, shook there as she stared at the ring, and whispered, “Is that what I think it is?”
Was it too late to hide it behind his back and pretend it was nothing?
She didn’t look as if she would turn him down, but what did he know?
The thought that it was too soon and she might reject him struck him silent and he could only stand there staring at her like a fucking idiot.
But then her eyes lifted to his, and her happiness hit him so hard he almost rocked back on his heels.
Storm sucked down a breath, twisted towards her and rounded the bed, stopped right in front of her and dropped to one knee, his heart in his throat as he looked up at her.
Tears lined her lashes as she looked down at him, threatened to fall as he lifted the ring from the box and presented it to her.
He had never been great with the romantic shit, was liable to mess it all up if he tried, so he kept it simple and sweet.
“Marry me?” He held her gaze and shook as he waited for her to respond.
She stared at him for what felt like an eternity.
And then she nodded.
Grinned so wide her tears fell.
He stuck the tip of his thumb through the ring so he didn’t screw up by losing it, shot to his feet and cupped her cheeks as he claimed her lips, and kissed the breath from her as her happiness flowed through him to collide and mingle with his own. She threw her arms around him, and he wrapped his around her waist and lifted her, holding her against him as she kissed him back.
She smiled against his lips
as he twisted so his back was to the bed and fell onto it with her. She landed on top of him.
Her kiss slowed, growing heated as she settled her legs on either side of his hips and planted her hands above his shoulders, hemming him in. As if he wanted to go anywhere. He had never been happier than where he was right now.
She kissed him deeper, tangling her tongue with his as he clutched her waist, his fingers pressing into the soft terrycloth, pinning her in place above him.
He didn’t resist when she finally drew back, drank his fill of her as she smiled down at him, her eyes shining with the happiness he could feel in her.
He smiled and held his hand up, popped the ring off his thumb and waggled it. “You’re missing something.”
She held her hand out to him, and he grimaced as he slipped the ring on her finger and found it was a little big.
“We’ll get it adjusted,” he grumbled as she lifted her hand.
She didn’t seem to care as she admired it, or as she slipped it off her finger and placed it on her middle one. It fitted that one perfectly.
“We’ll get you a ring while we’re there.” She dropped to her elbows and kissed him again, peppering his lips with them. “So all the women at the creek will know you’re mine.”
He liked the sound of that.
He had never been one for jewellery, but he would wear a band for her, to show the world that he was spoken for.
That someone had stolen his heart and claimed it as her own.
He rolled so she was beneath him, and he was wedged between her thighs, groaned as she wrapped her legs around him and had him aching for her. He kissed her softly, keeping things slow between them, savouring this moment because it was special, one to remember and one he didn’t want to ruin.
He wanted it to be perfect.
Gabi made it difficult to keep a tight grip on his desire when she pressed her hands between them and slipped them into his robe, stroked her palms over his chest as she kissed him and swept her fingers across his nipples. He groaned and pushed off her, fought free of his robe so she could touch more of him and tackled hers as she did as he wanted, running a light touch over his chest and stomach, her gaze heated as she tracked her hands with it.
Captured by her Cougar (Cougar Creek Mates Shifter Romance Series Book 2) Page 13
