Chasing Seth (18 page)

Instead, Seth chose to tilt Kasey’s tear-stained face to his and kiss him unhurriedly. He kept it a simple kiss, just lips lightly brushing over lips, but it conveyed more emotion than passion. He followed the traces of tears to Kasey’s eyes, pressing a kiss to each lid before drawing back. “All right now?” he asked gently.

Red-rimmed dark eyes opened to gaze at Seth in slight surprise. Kasey lifted one hand to lovingly trace the lines of Seth’s lips as he studied his mate. He knew his pup had to be dying of curiosity about his crying, but he was sure if he revealed the truth of how much he needed Seth, how much he wanted to handcuff him to the bed and never let him leave, it would scare his gun-shy lover. Seth might have let him inside his body, but it didn’t mean he’d let him inside his heart.

Chapter Nine

“I’m sorry,”
he murmured in a strained voice, his throat raw from holding back the gut-wrenching sobs he’d wanted to let out.

“For what? Everyone has emotional moments, Kasey. It doesn’t make you any less of a man.” Seth shifted underneath him, but when Kasey went to move off him, he embraced him tighter. “No. Stay.”

“But I’m heavy,” Kasey said tenderly, secretly thrilled his mate wanted him to remain. He collapsed into Seth with a sigh and closed his eyes again. Truth be told, he hadn’t slept much while he’d been holding Seth in his arms because he hadn’t been able to stop looking at him. It would take time, but he knew he could earn Seth’s love. The only thing terrifying him was that he wouldn’t have the time he needed, and Seth would leave him before he could invade every dark corner of his pup’s bruised and battered heart, tying him to him irrevocably.

“No, just right,” Seth replied, running his fingers through Kasey’s hair. He hesitated for a moment, but curiosity stabbed at him viciously. “Will you tell me why?”

Kasey didn’t respond right away. He couldn’t decide how much he should say. He hadn’t cried since he was a little kid when he’d scraped his knee on the sidewalk one day. It showed how far beyond his defenses his true mate had gotten. Maybe a slightly edited version of the truth would be the best way to go, he decided. “Many of the wolves I have known in my life never found their true mate. They lived their lives and found others to share it with, but a piece of their soul was still missing.”

His voice hitched, and he had to swallow to keep talking. “I thought I’d end up living my life that way. Without ever knowing the warmth and touch of my true mate. Until I met you. None of the others in my pack have ever made my heart beat with so much longing that it would surely leap from my chest at the merest brush of their hand on mine.”

Seth’s hand in his hair stilled, and Kasey closed his eyes, praying his words didn’t cause his pup to panic. Too late to take them back now, and he couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out. “You do that to me, pup. From the moment I felt your fur beneath my hands, the warm weight of your body as I carried you. When I saw how frightened you were of me, lying here with you is more than I could have ever hoped for. I'm so afraid you're going to decide I'm not worth fighting for, that you'll believe I'm like that bastard and want nothing more than to hurt you, that you'll leave me in a place so dark I won't be able to breathe.”

As Kasey spoke, Seth’s eyes widened further and further. His heart clenched at the sheer agony in the man’s voice. When the words about believing him to be similar to Taggart were followed by fears of Seth leaving him, Seth made a whine of pain in his throat. He clutched at Kasey, hard, and shook his head. “You’re nothing like Taggart,” he said fiercely. “Even when you were angry, you were nothing like him, Kasey. You are so much more than him. Kind, gentle, caring. He was never and will never be any of those things.”

Running his fingers over Kasey’s dark brow, Seth studied the tanned features of his lover. Tiny lines of strain around the edges of Kasey’s mouth and eyes stood out starkly, and he wondered what it cost Kasey to appear so vulnerable. “I can’t promise I know what the future holds for either of us, and despite the fact that you’re cocky, stubborn, and a pain in my ass, I… I like you.” He rushed on without giving Kasey the chance to say anything when the dark-chocolate eyes suddenly opened to stare at him intently. “And I want to give it a chance.”

The silence after his declaration stretched on for what felt like forever, and Seth had begun to twitch in discomfort when Kasey’s eyes started to twinkle in amusement. One corner of his firm, sexy mouth lifted in a half-grin. “A pain in your ass, is that right, pup?”

“Oh yeah. Like a splinter that won’t come out,” Seth breathed. He would cut out his own tongue before he admitted it, but Kasey’s endearment of “pup” had started to grow on him now that he knew Kasey didn’t mean it in a condescending way but merely as an affectionate term.

Kasey’s body shook with suppressed laughter. His once again erect cock nudged Seth’s thigh. “I think I like the idea of being a splinter in your ass that won’t come out,” he teased his blue-eyed mate.

Seth choked on a laugh at his own choice of words. Very aptly put, though. He wrapped his arms around Kasey’s neck, grinning up at him. “I kind of like that type of splinter,” he purred while giving Kasey a seductive look.

If his stomach hadn’t chosen to growl right then, Seth had a feeling Kasey would have taken him again. A flush rolled over his face at the loud noise.

“When’s the last time you ate a decent meal?” Kasey asked, a frown marring his forehead.

“Uh… last night at your house.” Seth gave him a sheepish look.

“And before that?” Kasey asked as he rolled off of him and stood up, holding his hand for Seth to take.

Thinking, Seth remembered eating a sandwich for lunch a couple of days ago. And of course the steaks Kasey had made for him while he’d been in his wolf form. “I don’t remember.”

Kasey scowled at him. “No wonder you’re so damn skinny. You aren’t to skip any meals from now on, pup, or I’ll be more than a splinter in your ass.”

Seth rolled his eyes at Kasey as he swept by, moving toward the bathroom to clean up. “Yes, Dad.”

A swift swat on the ass left Seth gasping with an indignant expression as he whirled around to glare at him. “I won’t tolerate impertinence, pup.” Kasey smirked.

“I’ll give you impertinent,” Seth growled, launching himself at Kasey, who caught him easily enough.

Husky laughter rumbled in Kasey’s chest as he captured Seth’s wrists and dragged him closer to him. “I can see I’m going to have a hell of a time taming you, pup,” he taunted affectionately.

Seth sniffed at him in exasperation. “Taming me?”

“Mmm. Then again, I do so like to watch your cheeks flush and your eyes sparkle with anger. You look so damn sexy when you’re angry,” Kasey mused, walking Seth backward to the bathroom.

Being called sexy stopped whatever retort Seth could throw at Kasey. Seth dropped his gaze to the floor in a fit of shyness. “You think I’m sexy?”

Kasey halted next to the shower, cupped Seth’s chin, and tilted his head back to look up at him. “Oh, baby, you have no idea,” he murmured in an emotion-laden voice before proceeding to kiss him senseless.

Breaking the kiss long enough to turn on the water, Kasey returned to Seth’s lips, drinking deeply of his pup’s sweetness. Steam built around them, fogging the mirror and distorting their reflections as they twined together in passion. They stumbled into the shower stall and were instantly drenched in hot water, but neither noticed. There was nothing but the two of them, their hands touching, mouths clinging, moans echoing off the tiled walls. It built to a peak that both of them raced in eagerness to free-fall off the edge of.

They wound up in a tangle of limbs on the floor of the shower, panting heavily and weakly holding onto each other. Seth felt like his bones were made of gelatin, and he couldn’t have moved even if his life depended on it. Soap still clung to Kasey’s long hair, and Seth gave a shaky grin while running his fingers through it to rinse out the rest. His stomach growled rather loudly, bringing a chagrined look to Kasey’s face. “Sorry, pup, food should have come first.”

Seth lifted one slender shoulder in a careless shrug. “I’ve gone longer without food.” A stern look flooded Kasey’s expression, but Seth clamped his hand down over Kasey’s mouth just as he opened it to chastise him. “I know, I know. If I don’t start eating more often, you’re going to kick my ass.”

Kasey lightly gripped Seth’s wrist, pulling it from his mouth. “And don’t forget it, pup.”

Laughing, Seth stuck his tongue out at Kasey in retaliation.

“I have a much better use for that tongue,” Kasey growled lustily.

At those words, Seth’s blue eyes shifted to the color of storm clouds. Seth hadn’t taken the initiative in any of their lovemaking sessions, but the thought of taking Kasey inside his mouth, licking and sucking him, embedded itself in his brain. He was damn sure going to put it to use later. But…. “Food first, Sheriff.”

It took a few more minutes before they both could find the energy to stand. Seth yawned and stretched, giving a small moan of pleasure as his joints popped. He frowned when he realized he didn’t have any clothing to fit Kasey. “I don’t think anything I own is going to fit you, Kasey,” Seth called to the man still in his bathroom, pulling out a pair of soft faded blue jeans and a dark green T-shirt.

He jerked in surprise when a pair of tan arms slipped around him from behind, pulling him in against a broad chest. Damn, the man could move quietly. Warm lips nuzzled into his ear. “I think you fit me just perfectly, Doc. But I have a change of clothing in the car that I carry with me in case of emergencies.”

Shivering, Seth stilled his hands, resting them on the dresser drawer, and he leaned back into Kasey. “Do you… do you want me to go out and get them?” he asked breathlessly.

“I’d rather save them for tomorrow, pup,” Kasey replied meaningfully, gently tightening his hold on Seth while waiting for an answer.

“O-okay,” Seth sighed, his heart beating faster at the thought of Kasey holding him throughout the night.

Kasey could hear the sound of Seth’s heart rate pick up, and he took Seth’s stutter as uncertainty. His smile dropped from his face. “Unless you’d rather I went home….”

“What? No. I said okay.” Seth frowned, turning around in Kasey’s arms to look up at him. “You want to stay, right?”

“Do you want me to stay?” Kasey countered.

Seth reached up to tug on a strand of wet hair lying on Kasey’s shoulder. “Didn’t I say that?”

Kasey lifted an eyebrow, his tension easing at the obvious acceptance from Seth, but not wanting to let his mate off the hook quite so easily. “I didn’t hear it, no.”

Giving Kasey a perturbed look, Seth stated it plainly: “I want you to stay.”

“Are you sure?” Kasey teased, brushing the tips of his fingers along Seth’s cheek. He liked watching the emotions playing over his pup’s face. It fascinated him to see the way his mate’s eyes changed from a bright blue to a stormy blue-gray with the change of his disposition.

Seth pushed at Kasey’s chest, heaving a strained sigh, knowing his mate was teasing him. The thought brought him up short, and he froze, his hands still pressed on the warm skin. His mate? When had he started to think of Kasey as his?

When he’d admitted to himself he was falling in love with the man, that’s when. But the realization just made him even more afraid. The closer he got to Kasey, the more it would hurt if he lost him.

“I think we should order pizza. It won’t take long for them to deliver it,” Kasey said, interrupting Seth’s thoughts.

He nodded. “That’s fine. Nick is probably ready to eat a horse. I can’t believe I forgot he was here.”

“I should hope you weren’t thinking of him,” Kasey said dryly. He pressed a brief kiss to Seth’s forehead. “Come on, get dressed, and we’ll see about ordering pizza. What kind do you like?”

“Pepperoni and mushroom,” Seth said in bemusement as he watched Kasey pulling on his clothes and covering up his delicious physique.

“Sounds good. I’ll check on your friend and call Franco’s. They’ve got the best pizza in Wyoming.” Kasey tossed Seth a grin before leaving the bedroom.

The rest of the house was dark, and after a brief scent of the air, he knew Nick wasn’t there at the moment. Somehow, he hadn’t expected him to be. He noticed a note on the bar next to the phone and picked it up to read while dialing the number he knew by heart. Ah, so Nick had gone out to give them some privacy. He wondered if it was for a different reason but shrugged it off as he spoke his order into the phone.

Seth lazily ambled his way out to the living room, stopping when he didn’t see Nick. “Where’s Nick?”

Kasey silently handed the note over to Seth. He walked into the small kitchen and pulled out a couple of plates after searching for a moment. Seth remained quiet behind him. When he turned around, he found Seth staring at the paper as if his heart had been cut out. He set the plates down and quickly made his way to his mate’s side. “What’s wrong?”

“All this time he’s been lying to me,” Seth whispered, remembering what Nick had revealed earlier. “How can he be any better than Taggart?”