Chapter 13
She looked down and swallowed hard.
"I'm sorry." Thunder wiped his brow.
She gave it nod. "I understand."
He smiled, his big thighs straddled the dead deer, making it look small in comparison. The poor thing's head was at a strange angle. It took brute strength to kill an animal of that size with only his bare hands. She'd offered her knife to him it was still in the sheath in the front of her jeans but he'd refused. He said he preferred to kill with his hands.
"We need to eat," he added.
"I know. I feel bad for the poor thing. It might have been pregnant or someone's mom or someone's dad. I don't know if I'm going to be able to eat it."
Thunder laughed.
"What's so funny?
He jumped to his feet, moving to just below where she was sitting. "This is a female." He pointed at the deer. "She wasn't pregnant and she wasn't lactating. I could scent each individual animal. There were four in the group that were pregnant and one with a calf. There was a young male who will be chased from the herd soon, as he is reaching s.e.xual maturity. There was only one other male. There were two other females that were also not pregnant. This is the older of the three. Her meat will be tougher but at least she has had more of a life."
"Show off," she smiled. "I'm glad you let the younger animals live. That's really sweet."
"I did it for you. If it was just me, I'd have succulent meat for dinner."
She laughed. "You talk such s.h.i.+t."
Thunder opened his arms. "Whenever you're ready."
"Seriously?" she raised her brows. "You're going to catch me?"
He gave a nod.
"That's really showing off. I think I can climb down." She glanced at the route in question. It looked a lot worse from up here than it had on the way up.
"Just jump already. I'll catch you," Thunder said. She looked at him. "Do you trust me, Tammy?"
'Yes," she half groaned. "I do."
"On three then."
She gave a nod.
Thunder counted down. On three, she slid from the branch and Thunder caught her. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"
She shook her head. Thunder kissed her on her nose and put her down. Then he hoisted the carca.s.s onto his back. "Stay close and let me know if you can't keep up," he gave her a wink.
Such a show off. Tammy rolled her eyes at his retreating back. What a back it was. She'd never tire of looking at his a.s.s either. Thunder stopped walking. "Stop checking me out."
"I... it..." she sighed. "Fine," she huffed. "It's just that I thought I saw something walking on your back. A spider, or a bug or something."
Thunder laughed. It was a rich, deep sound. "There are a lot of those in the wilderness."
"There sure are." Her eyes were back on his a.s.s. She was a pervert. A total pervert. Thunder had turned her into one. She'd never found a guy more attractive. Not even Chris had had this effect on her. It excited her but it also scared her. Terrified her, but Thunder was right. She needed to be brave.
Tammy bit the last piece of meat off of the stick she was holding and threw it into the fire. "Oh my gos.h.!.+" She leaned back against the tree behind her. "That was the most delicious meal I've ever had. As in ever. I swear..." She looked over at Thunder who had just taken a bite out of one of the chunks of meat on his make-s.h.i.+ft skewer. "You could take me to a fancy French restaurant and feed me five courses of food that look more like canva.s.ses than meals and I would still prefer old-age deer."
Thunder chuckled. "It didn't take much to convince you to eat it."
"Are you kidding me, just hearing the fat sizzle as it dripped in the fire and smelling that wonderful scent of cooking meat... there was no way I could say no."
"Even after watching me gut it and helping me cut it up?" He smiled and took another bite.
She grabbed her stomach. "Don't remind me. I didn't love that part of the whole thing."
"You did well, Tammy." Thunder threw his stick into the fire and rubbed his hands together. Then he turned his eyes on her and her breath froze in her lungs, despite the heat of the fire.
"What is it?" Her voice had turned husky. Not now voice. It isn't what it looks like.
"I'm trying to remind myself why we need to wait. We're next to an open fire, under a blanket of stars and you're the most beautiful female I've ever seen."
"You are too charming for your own good." Her chest still tightened at his words. He looked so sincere. "Um... we need to wait because we might not be allowed to be together and I'm a scaredy cat." Her voice had dropped about a hundred octaves. Okay, maybe not that many but close. "Because we're being stalked by a crazy guy, maybe even right at this very minute." She tried to look into the darkness that surrounded them but couldn't see a thing.
Thunder chuckled. "I am on my guard. Cloud won't get to within a half a mile of us. My senses are restored and I'm almost at optimal strength. You cut him with a silver blade, he will not be faring nearly as well. I think we have a day or two before we need to worry."
"Well that's one less thing then," she tried to smile but her muscles felt tense. Even the ones on her face.
Thunder looked really serious. "s.e.x would be a really bad idea."
"Yes, it would."
"When I asked you earlier if you were still afraid, you said you were getting there. How are you feeling now? Any changes?"
Her heart beat a little faster. Was he suggesting...? "I wish I could say differently but I guess I'm still a bit afraid. More open to the idea of something but not quite there."
"You still think I'm going to hurt you?"
"You have a ton in common with my ex," she paused, watching as his eyes darkened. "Let me explain. Chris is very good-looking, he is hands-down the most charming guy I've ever met. At least, he was before I met you. I think that if he could wink and have the same effect as a wink from you, he would develop a tic he'd do it so much. Anything to be the center of attention and to get his way. I met him and fell hard, we were living together within a month. It was all too quick. It turned out he was a huge d.i.c.k. So, I clearly am a really bad judge of character. I can't trust
"I remind you of him," Thunder's voice came out sounding flat. There was an underlying anger.
"Let me finish," she turned so that she could face him. His jaw was clenched. His eyes blazing. "You're even better looking. Way more charming and without even trying. All of those things p.i.s.sed me off so badly. My attraction to you p.i.s.sed me off even more... and don't get me started on the wink. It makes me feel weak in the knees. I never thought I would ever fall for a guy who uses his eyeb.a.l.l.s as a means to flirt."
"You don't like my wink?" He looked distraught.
"I love your d.a.m.ned wink. You might be s.e.xy and charming but you're also nice. You're sweet. You care, Thunder. You're not the kind of guy who would f.u.c.k around while in a relations.h.i.+p."
"He f.u.c.ked around on you?" A muscle in Thunder's jaw ticked and his biceps bulged as his body tensed. Oh, and those muscles on the sides of his neck pulled tight as well. Not that she was checking him out right now or anything. This conversation was too important for that.
She nodded. "Yup. I left for an appointment which cancelled ten minutes after leaving the office and ended up walking in on them," she swallowed hard, still feeling p.i.s.sed off after all this time. Once thing she did notice though was that although she was still angered by his indiscretion, she was no longer upset by it. "He was f.u.c.king our PA on my desk. My d.a.m.ned desk. He didn't even have the decency to use his own. That was the kind of selfish p.r.i.c.k he was. He couldn't believe it when I ended the relations.h.i.+p." She exhaled sharply. "In the end, he agreed that we would continue our working relations.h.i.+p. I helped build that agency," she tried not to sound bitter and failed. "We had a good thing going. I was about to be made partner in the business, or so I navely thought. I don't think he ever intended to give me that partners.h.i.+p." She realized that she was clasping her hands tightly in her lap and forced herself to let go.
"What happened? I have a feeling it wasn't good. He changed the lock on the door or fired you."
"Worse." She felt the humiliation flood her body. "I was arrested the next morning for theft and taken to the police station in my pajamas. They put me in handcuffs."
"What did the f.u.c.ker do?"
"He staged a break-in at our offices. Made it look like I was the one who had broken in... or let myself in as was the case. You see, he and I were the only ones with a key. Whoever had trashed our offices let themselves in. Moreover, the security guy on duty swore that he saw me arriving and leaving three quarters of an hour later. Chris must have paid him off. The footage from our CCTV cameras had been mysteriously deleted. The police were suspicious because of the open and shut nature of the case but there was nothing they could do about the overwhelming evidence against me."
"What happened? You said that you were arrested for theft, what was supposedly stolen?"
She clenched her teeth. If she saw Christopher in the street, she would probably end up being arrested for a.s.sault. She knew without a doubt that she wouldn't be able to stop herself from punching him in the face. "Five thousand dollars was missing from the safe. He and I were the only two people who knew the code for that safe and I sure as h.e.l.l didn't steal a cent."
Thunder growled low, his eyes were glowing slightly.
"I was lucky enough to have the charges dropped," she made her voice sound overly light. "But first, I had to agree to pay the money back and pay for the damages."
"I hope you told him to go and f.u.c.k himself."
She shook her head. "I wish, but I didn't have a leg to stand on. My lawyer advised me to take the deal. She said I would end up in jail if I didn't."
"Motherf.u.c.ker."
She nodded. "I've never met a bigger d.i.c.k in all my life." She choked out a laugh. "Although in his case it's about this big." She put up her pinky finger. "In that regard, you guys have nothing in common."
Thunder didn't so much as crack a smile. "Yet, I remind you of him."
She widened her eyes for a second. "Weren't you listening to a thing I said? Chris had a couple of really good qualities. Not many, but a couple. You have those qualities and it's what made me nervous of any kind of relations.h.i.+p with you." She squeezed her eyes shut. "It sounds really stupid saying it but I was afraid. I still am, although not nearly as much. You are nothing like Chris in ways that count. You're too sweet, too kind. You have a fantastic sense of humor. I enjoy being with you..." She paused for a second. Be brave, Tammy. Be brave dammit. "I would like nothing more than to see where this goes. To take a chance and risk my heart on us... on you... but we need to take it slow. I rushed head-on once and it was a mistake."
"You are in safe hands... I would never let anything happen to you. We can take this very slow. Slower than slow. Now," his eyes narrowed onto hers before dropping to her lips, "come here." He touched his lap. His very naked lap. "I want to touch you," His voice was thick.
"Um..." She moved closer, kneeling next to him so that they were facing one another. "I thought we were going to wait. You wanted to be sure..."
"f.u.c.k being sure." He pulled her onto his lap. "I won't let Cloud or Blaze or anyone else take you away from me. Just let them try. I'll fight for you." He pressed his lips to hers. Soft, warm and insistent. She pushed herself against him, thread her fingers through his hair.
He felt wonderful, glorious, amazing. "Are you sure about this?" She could hear the hesitancy in her voice.
"Yes." He kissed her again. "Do you want me, Tammy? I sure as h.e.l.l want you."
She pulled back so that she could look into his eyes. They'd almost died today. There was no way she wasn't doing this.
She nodded, looking down at his lips. Such kissable lips. "Yes." A sigh.
"Good." His hands cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and she moaned. So did he. Oh s.h.i.+t! She remembered something important, something she would sooner forget. He didn't need to know. He would never find out. She had to tell him. Tammy pulled back.
"What's wrong?" His eyes were glazed over. They were so filled with desire that she was tempted to ignore the voice inside her head but she couldn't.
"There's something I have to tell you."
"You can't wait to scream my name?" He smiled and tried to kiss her.
"No, that's not it." She moved back so that he couldn't reach her. "It's really important."
"You," he gripped her hips, "enjoy multiple o.r.g.a.s.ms?"
"I've never had a multiple... no, that's not it. It's really serious, Thunder."
"Serious," he frowned. "Mmmm..." Then he grinned. "You have a really small, really tight p.u.s.s.y and you're afraid I'm going to hurt you?"
"You need to be serious."
"I am being serious. You are small and tight but I will fit... I promise. I'll hit both your G-spots and you'll love every minute. I'll make sure of it."
She frowned. "Women only have one G-spot."
He shook his head and made a sound of disgust. "Human males have no idea what the h.e.l.l they are doing. Then again, most of them don't have the tools to reach that second one." His gaze dropped back to her lips.
She was speechless for a moment. Her mouth opened and closed. She really wanted him to prove that she had a second G-spot. h.e.l.l, she'd be happy if he proved she had just one of the things. She sighed. "I need to tell you something really important. I'm a really bad person and I'm so sorry. I feel terrible." She felt sick to her stomach.
"What are you talking about?" He cupped her cheek with his big hand. "You're not a bad person. Not even close."
"I am. Once you hear what I have to say you won't want anything to do with me."
"I seriously doubt that." He put his hand back on her hip and gave a squeeze.
"I'm just as bad as the woman from the last hunt. The one you sent packing."
She saw his lip twitch but he thankfully didn't laugh. "Not a chance. I don't believe it."
"I am." She felt her eyes sting but blinked away the tears. Tammy looked down and spotted his very long, very thick erection. Oh G.o.d! She quickly looked up at the sky. Wow! The stars were amazing. Time to man up and confess. She looked at him dead-on. "I'm also a money grabber. The only reason I agreed to be in the program was for the money. I'm so sorry." She covered her face with one hand. "I haven't been able to find work in my industry. Not after what Chris did. Everyone believes him. They think I'm an office wrecker and a thief. I can barely make ends meet. I cleaned out my savings paying the b.a.s.t.a.r.d back for money I never stole," she sobbed. "I joined the program hoping to make a quick buck. I never once thought I'd meet a great guy, that I would meet you. I was..."
Thunder shook beneath her. His body jerked and vibrated. She was too scared to look at him. He was so angry he was shaking.
"Tammy," his voice sounded strained.
She had to face him. She looked up. His eyes were twinkling and he was smiling... scratch that, he was laughing. He was laughing hard.
"What's wrong with you? I just told you how I used you for money... cash. I wasn't here to fall in love or to find a mate. I was here for the daily allowance I was promised. I'm just like that other girl."
"You are nothing like her." In a quick move that had her breath catching, he turned her so that she was on her back and so that he was between her legs. Every delicious inch of him. This was no time for noticing things like the fact that his hard-on was pus.h.i.+ng against her c.l.i.t.
"I am exactly like her. I'm a horrible person."
"Are you here for the jewelry?"
"What jewelry?" His eyes were beautiful. His mouth, oh that mouth.
"That's my point exactly." She wanted to say something but he put his finger over her mouth. "I have lots of jewelry."
"Dragon s.h.i.+fter men wear jewelry? That's really strange but I guess I can deal."
He frowned deeply. "No. They are family heirlooms pa.s.sed down from my mother and grandmother. They will belong to my mate one day."