Freaky by Nature (25 page)
Authors: Mia Dymond
Tags: #Mystery, #tattoo, #color, #psychic, #Contemporary, #Romance, #soldier, #snake, #seal, #Navy
“You told him about the twins, didn’t y ou?”
Cam eron nodded and giggled. “That wiped the cocky sm irk
right off his face.”
“Straighten y our legs in front of y ou.” Holly took Cam eron’s
hands and pulled her forward until her chest lowered about half
an inch.
“Ack!” Cam eron’s ey es widened. “What color am I now, Holly ?
I’m really struggling here.”
Holly ’s heart skipped a beat when she glanced at Cam eron.
She released Cam eron’s hands and blinked sev eral tim es. Ev en in
distress, Cam eron rem ained free of color.
Realization seeped into Holly ’s m ind. She hadn’t seen Cam eron
in Technicolor for quite awhile now, and the reason alm ost
knocked her ov er. She trusted Cam eron, lov ed her like a sister, and
saw past the color to her soul inside. Her pulse pounded when
another conclusion belted her. If she allowed herself to trust and
lov e Brett, his colors would fade too.
“Is it that ugly ?” Cam eron prom pted.
Holly shook her head and stood. “I’v e got to go.”
“Don’t leav e m e hanging!” Cam eron shrieked.
Holly bent and gav e Cam eron a tight squeeze. “Snow white,
like an angel,” she said before she rushed out the door.
Holly didn’t bother to announce herself once she stood in
Brett’s front y ard. She sim ply took a m om ent to gather courage.
The black truck glistened in the sun, and so did the SEAL who
waxed it. Holly licked her lips as she watched him work. Bare from
the waist up, he flexed the sm ooth, sleek m uscles of his back as he
rubbed the wax into the paint. The sam e m uscles she’d squeezed in
passion while he filled her body com pletely and lov ed her without
consequence. Firm . Strong. She ached to touch him , to crawl inside
his em brace and nev er, ev er leav e. Instead, she took tim e to
concentrate on his aura and just as she suspected, color ev aded
him .
She took a couple tentativ e steps toward him . “Brett.”
He didn’t m iss a stroke. Didn’t turn around. “Holly .”
“You knew I was here, didn’t y ou?”
“Yep.”
“Why didn’t y ou say som ething?”
Brett shrugged. “Not m uch to say .” He picked up another rag
and rubbed off the wax.
Holly snatched the rag from his hands. “Can y ou spare m e a
few m inutes?”
His tortured blue gaze m et hers and for a split second she found
herself v ery uncertain of his response. Finally , he turned to face
her and m otioned toward the porch swing with one hand. “Sure.”
They swung in silence for a few m om ents. Her body scream ed
for relief when his thigh pressed against hers, the chem istry
between them still fiery and lethal.
“I m issed y ou last night.” She placed her hand on his thigh,
fulfilling her need to touch him . A m uscle jum ped beneath her
palm .
“I m issed y ou too. But I’m not the one who ran.”
Holly gav e his thigh a squeeze. “I was scared to risk m y heart.
I didn’t want to hurt y ou.”
“Too late.”
“I thought y ou would grow to resent m e. I’m not norm al.”
Brett brushed her hand to the side and stood. “What the hell is
normal
, Holly ? Not spending the night with som eone y ou lov e
because y ou fear y ou m ight kill them ? Or how about tattooing a
snake on y our body to hide the fact it scares the life out of y ou?”
She lowered her head. “You hav e perfectly good reasons for
those fears.”
“May be, but y ou accepted those things about m e without
question.”
He slipped a finger under her chin and tilted her head until
their gazes m et. “All I ask is for the chance to accept y our
abnorm alities.”
“I’m not sure y ou understand exactly what y ou’ll get y ourself
into.”
He took her hand and pulled her from the swing. “I don’t
care.”
“I spent som e tim e with Claire and Cam eron.” The horrified
look on his face m ade her laugh. “Don’t worry . They plead y our
case.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded. “I had no right to m ake y our decision for y ou. I
thought I knew what y ou wanted.”
“What do
you
want, Holly ?”
Her heartbeat quickened. “I don’t want to be alone any m ore. I
lov e y ou, Brett.”
A cocky grin lightened his features. He cupped her chin and
looked her straight in the ey es. “Madam e, it’s about tim e y ou cam e
to y our senses.”
His lips captured hers in a soft, sweet kiss and she let the
Madame
com m ent slide.
He finally rested his forehead against hers. “I want it all.”
“All?”
He nodded. “All. You’re m ine, Holly . I lov e y ou and I want to
m arry y ou.”
A satisfied sm ile lifted her lips. “Geez, y ou don’t want m uch, do
y ou? Any thing else?”
“Actually , there is one m ore thing.”
She slid her arm s around his neck. “What’s that?”
“Can we put a pole in the bedroom ?”
EPILOGUE
Shadow rolled ov er and threw his arm across his ey es. What
the hell had he been thinking? He hadn’t been thinking.
Sonuvafreakin’bitch
, his heart ached.
And now she knew. When he gav e in to tem ptation and kissed
Claire, he told good sense to go screw itself. She tasted so good, so
right. He didn’t ev en bother to block his thoughts from her.
What
an ass
. He’d broadcast her own personal porn flick, starring the
two of them .
He sighed loudly and sat up. Now what?
Sorry, Claire, I was so ripped I didn’t know what I was doing
.
He snorted at that absurdity . Yeah, that would work. He knew
exactly what he’d been doing. And, had she not stopped him , he
would’v e done a whole lot m ore. With her and to her. Besides, she
could see right through him . Literally . He swung his legs ov er the
side of the bed and braced his elbows on his knees.
I love you, Claire. I love you so damn much, I can’t breathe
without you
.
He stood, reached for his jeans, and slid them ov er his hips. It
was tim e. Tim e he quit hiding and face her. He was a fool to wait so
long. Steele’s reaction fleeted briefly through his brain.
Not now
. He’d deal with those repercussions later.
Padding bare-chested down the hallway , Shadow stopped
outside Claire’s bedroom and braced one hand against the
doorfram e. He’d approach her like a v irgin, slowly , an inch at a
tim e. Let her adjust to what he had to say before he thrust in full
throttle. Very gently , he tapped on the door with one knuckle.
“Claire?”
He counted heartbeats in his ears as he waited in the silence.
When she didn’t answer, he shifted and knocked again.
“Claire, wake up. We need to talk.”
Cool air tickled his bare skin as he strained to hear her light
breathing, a sleepy m urm ur, any thing. Still, the silence refused to
budge. He exhaled, frustrated by her stubbornness. She knew he
stood outside the door, and she knew exactly why . Was she that
pissed off?
Too bad
.
He grabbed the doorknob. “Open the dam n door, Claire,” he
growled, “or I’m com ing in any way .”
As the seconds passed, he swore the silence cackled. His
patience broken, he cursed again, turned the doorknob, and threw
open the door to an em pty room .
###
COMING SOON:
Tightly Wound
(Claire’s story )
Other books by Mia Dymond:
Leather, Lace and Rock-Roll
https://www.sm ashwords.com /books/v iew/87 3 62
Brains before Beauty , that’s Rachel Newberry ’s m otto,
especially when her quiet, orderly life is interrupted by
international rock star, Jay don Hawke. And true to her word,
brains take center stage when she discov ers Hawke has a lot m ore
on his m ind than beautiful m usic. Targeted by a m adm an, Rachel
puts her trust in Hawke, a m ov e that m ay cost both their liv es
Outspoken Angel
https://www.sm ashwords.com /books/v iew/903 1 2
Handbags, stilettos, and spa dates — not retired SEAL Max
Sterling’s usual m .o. Until Cam eron Trem aine. Duty bound, Max
tolerates her sass and sm art m outh until she pushes too far.
Cam eron doesn’t need a bald, bossy body guard, thank y ou v ery
m uch. Especially one
oh, so
delectable as Max. Except, when
som eone decides to silence her for good, Cam eron realizes bold and
brassy go hand in hand.
***
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