Pursuing Paige (8 page)

He kissed her and
rolled her onto her back, lying on his side beside her. “I need a
bath.”

“I don’t care.” She
threaded her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“You’re a brave
woman.”

“I was worried about
you, Kaiden. You were gone two days, but it felt like forever.
Don’t go away again, okay?” She only had a little over a week left
before she went back to her own reality. She didn’t want to lose
any more time with him.

“Now that I have this
injury, I won’t be returning to the woods. I can’t say I’m not
pleased about that.” He lowered her head and kissed her again,
sending waves of need radiating through her. Then he whispered
against her mouth, “There’s nowhere else I want to be right
now...or for the rest of my life.” He paused, and when he spoke
again, his voice trembled. “I’ve never known anyone I would take
over the seclusion of the deep forest. But, you....
you
,
Paige. You change everything for me. Because of you I’d rather be a
man than a wolf.”

She opened her eyes,
the moment ruined. Those words were too tender, and hit too close
to emotions she couldn’t acknowledge. Pushing away from him, she
struggled to her feet. “I admit to feeling oddly close to both of
you and if that’s the mate bond, then so be it. I also admit to
being confused by level of caring.” She paused. “But none of that
changes the facts and the
fact
is that I have a life back
over the rainbow, one I’ve worked hard for. I also have a
sister—”

“She shares the genetic
Lycaon link. She’ll be over here at some point.”

She set her hand to her
hip. “So everyone is telling me, yet no one seems to know who her
mates are. You and Jarek knew I was your mate, right? You watched
me through the veil when you could. Rafian and Lucas knew who
Kaitlyn was. Well...who are Caroline’s mates?”

Kaiden remained silent
for a moment. “We’ve asked around, but we don’t know.”

“Right. The possibility
she may never be pulled over, or the possibility that she might be
pulled into another Lycaon village far from here is too much for
me.” She paused. “It might be acceptable for Kaitlyn since she’s
drunk the Lycaon Kool-Aid, but not for me.”

Kaiden pushed to his
feet, displaying his body in its full glory. She tried not to
stare, but it was hard. “Lycaon Kool-Aid?”

“I just mean Kaitlyn is
fully Lycaon, committed to her mates and this way of life. She’s
not thinking of Caroline.”

“I think she would be
dismayed to hear you say that. I’ve spent a lot of time with your
sister and she’s very concerned for Caroline.”

She crossed her arms
over her chest and looked away from him. “I have deep,
inexplicable, irrational feelings for both of you, but that doesn’t
change anything. At the end of these two weeks, I’m going home,
Kaiden.”

He stepped toward her
and placed his hands on her shoulders. She refused to look up at
him. “Then we have some time to change your mind.” He placed a
finger on her chin and lifted her gaze to meet his. “And I play
dirty, Paige. I will use every trick in the book to seduce your
body, your heart, and your mind. You belong here with us. You just
need to see it.”

It was wrong that those
words made her shiver, but it did. “Oooh, threats. I’m so scared.”
She smiled and tried to calm the beating of her heart.

“Only a threat of the
nicest, most carnal kind.” He leaned down and pressed his mouth to
hers, parting her lips and snaking his tongue deep within.

The sound of footsteps
behind them made her jerk away. It was Jarek. She couldn’t help but
feel a twinge of guilt, which was stupid.
They’d
put her in
this situation and was encouraging every mind blowing second of
it.

“How is Alisa?” asked
Kaiden.

Jarek rubbed a hand
over his tried looking face. “She’s fine. I showed her the bathroom
and extra bedroom upstairs. She’ll take a shower and get some
sleep. She wanted sleep more than food, even though she needs that
too. Tomorrow morning we’ll find her some clothes and settle her
into the guest apartment.”

“Guest apartment?”

He nodded and pointed
at the barn at the edge of the property. “We keep it for Torrent.
He lives there part of the time, to be closer to the edge of Lycaon
territory.”

“We need to find her
people,” said Kaiden.

“If she has any.” He
paused. “Did she tell you her story, Kaiden?”

“Yes, it’s rough. Her
Lycaon parents were probably spies. They died without being
discovered, leaving her to be adopted by Magica parents. Her
adoptive parents eventually found out she was Lycaon, but they
protected her secret. At least, up until she was revealed.”

Paige jumped into the
conversation. “So her parents were some kind of Lycaon sleeper
agents?”

“Sleeper agents?” asked
Jarek.

“Were they living among
the Magica, pretending to be Magica, with the intention of popping
up one day, exposing their true genetic origins, and hurting the
Magica in some way.”

“No,” answered Jarek,
“They weren’t ever supposed to
hurt
them. They were there to
spy on the Magica for our benefit, to warn us of upcoming
attacks.”

“Why did the Magica
have Alisa in the woods?” Paige asked.

“They were trying to
force her to tell them where the Lycaon villages are,” answered
Kaiden, “but, of course, she doesn’t know.”

“Let’s let Kaiden rest.
I’ll dress his wound, he can have a shower and get dressed.” Paige
arched an eyebrow. “Not that I’m not enjoying the view, but he
looks dead on his feet. I’ll fix him something to eat and he can
tell us the rest over a meal.”

“Sounds good to me,”
answered Kaiden.

They all went in and an
hour later, Kaiden was down in the kitchen enjoying a bowl of the
stew Jarek had made the previous day. “It’s not good out there,
Jarek,” said Kaiden between mouthfuls. “There are more Magica
Hunters than I’ve ever seen before. Something is going on.”

Jarek rubbed his chin.
“Maybe Alisa can shed some light on it when she’s better
rested.”

“We were hunting the
Hunters, taking them out day and night, still more came.”

“It sounds like they
suspect they know the general area of the territory,” Paige
added.

“They’ve known the
general area for many decades,” Jarek answered. “They can’t
pinpoint the villages because of the magickal shields in place, but
it sounds like they’re feeling pretty lucky they might one of these
days. That tells me the shields might be failing.”

Jarek met Kaiden’s eyes
and they seemed to communicate something between only the two of
them. Kaiden tore his gaze away from Jarek’s and stared down at his
dish. Then he dropped the spoon into his bowl with a clatter and
pushed it away.

“What’s wrong?” asked
Paige.

Kaiden pushed away from
the table. “I’m exhausted. I need to go to bed.” Leaning over, he
gave her slow, lingering kiss on the lips, then rose and walked
away.

“It’s late. We all
should get some sleep,” said Jarek as they watched him retreat
upstairs.

“Okay, seriously, what
was that about?”

Jarek pulled her into
his arms and pressed his lips to the top of her head. “We’re
concerned about you.”

She wrapped her arms
around his waist and laid her head to his chest. “I can take care
of myself.”

They stayed twined in
each other’s arms for a long time before he answered her. “We know
you can, but the curse of a Lycaon is never wanting their mate to
need to.”

* * * * *

Kaiden slid his mouth
down the curve of her breast and fastened his warm lips over the
taut nipple, flicking it back and forth with his wet tongue. She
arched her back and moaned as he teased it, radiating pleasure
through her. His hand slid between her thighs while she eased her
palms down his muscular, smooth back and upper arms. Her mind was
lost in a swirl of bliss.

Paige woke with a
start, her body humming from the dream. She rolled over, panting.
It had seemed so real. Waking without Kaiden in her bed almost
hurt.

Jarek had wanted her to
sleep with him and she’d wanted that, too. But having Kaiden home
changed the dynamic in the household, probably more for her than it
did for them. They’d been expecting an arrangement like this, after
all. But it was all new for her and she wasn’t sure quite how to
deal with wanting two men at once...and being able to have
them.

Needing to look at
Kaiden, to assure herself that he was, in fact, back in the house,
alive and well, she slipped from her bed. Finding her robe, she
slid it on as she left the room. Kaiden’s room was just down the
dark hallway.

She pushed the door
open and found him sprawled across his bed, the sheet twined around
his waist and his chest bare. Moonlight glowed on his skin, giving
it a magical silvery sheen. She let out a breath. There he was,
safe and sound. The wound he’d sustained in the woods looked much
better. Lycaon healed quickly.

Walking closer to him,
she reached out and touched the hard plane of his chest. He smelled
of the soap he’d used earlier that evening. Unable to resist, she
pulled off her robe and slipped under the covers.

Kaiden didn’t wake, but
pulled her close in his sleep. She rested her head on his chest and
closed her eyes, enjoying the heat coming off his body. The Lycaon
seemed to have a higher resting body temperature than humans.

Her time with Jarek had
been lovely, but she was glad Kaiden was home. Both of the men
seemed to assuage needs within her she hadn’t known she possessed.
It was going to be very hard to leave them when her time here was
done.

Right now she wouldn’t
think about that. Right now she would live in the moment, enjoy her
time with them, and take advantage of it. She would consider this a
break from reality, a segway into the world of fantasies she’d
never dreamed would come true.

Smiling, she settled
against Kaiden and sighed. He tightened his arms around her and she
relaxed. Being close to either Kaiden or Jarek made her feel
protected and safe. It wasn’t a feeling she’d ever sought before,
but now that she had it, she enjoyed it.

Closing her eyes, she
drifted into a deep sleep.

* * * * *

Kaiden woke to
find a sweet, warm weight against his side. He stayed motionless
for a long time, afraid that if he moved she’d disappear and he’d
wake from a dream. As she shifted in her sleep, her hair brushed
his skin. His breath hitched as a shaft of sunlight caught her skin
and made it glow.

Warm happiness
filled his chest. Perfect moments like this came too rarely,
especially in his life.

She roused and
her eyes opened, her pretty gaze meeting his. She smiled.
“Morning.”

He swallowed
back the lump in his throat. “Morning.”

“Feeling
better?”

“I couldn’t
feel any better right now. Really, there’s no way. You’re in my
bed, Paige.”

Her smile
widened and her cheeks went pink. “Your wound, I mean. How is
it?”

Wound? Oh, then
he remembered. “It’s still stings, but it will be fine. Lycaon are
tough.”

“And
protective, caring, strong, and a couple hundred other positive
things.”

“Did you sleep
all night with me?”

She nodded.
“Pretty much. It was lovely.”

Reaching up, he
ran his thumb over her lips. “Not as lovely as waking up and having
you at my side.”

She pushed up
and, careful not to touch his burn, which was covered with a
flesh-colored bandage, pressed her lips to his.

He made a sound
of hunger in the back of his throat and pushed her back, pulling
her body beneath his. Her smooth, bare leg slid between his thighs
and he cursed the fabric separating them. She shifted beneath him,
her hands stroking over his skin, exploring his back and upper
arms. Never had the touch of another person felt so good.

“I want you,”
she whispered against his lips.

“I’m
yours.”

She smiled and
pushed up against him and he let her press him to his back. She got
to her hands and knees, leaning over his body to kiss him deeply,
her tongue snaking aggressively into his mouth. After she’d
thoroughly plundered, she dropped her mouth to his chin, throat,
and the edges of his bandage, as if she wanted to kiss away his
hurt.

The sensation of her sweet lips on his flesh,
her fingertips and nails raking over his skin nearly made him
insane. Kaiden’s breath hissed through his teeth and he wound his
hands through her hair in an effort to prevent himself from pushing
her back onto the mattress and mounting her like some frenzied
beast.

She laid a line of slow, deliberate kisses
from his belly button to the top of his pants, making his heart
pound. He’d fantasized so long about this. She purred somewhere
deep in her throat as she pushed his pants down just far enough
down to free his erect cock to the air. Her delicate fingers
stroked it tentatively.

He couldn’t take it anymore.
“
Enough
,” he
growled. He pushed her back onto the mattress. His fingers itched
to get her nightgown off her, but he didn’t know if he could manage
the task without imploding first. He felt such an urgency to be
inside her.

She’d wanted to taste him. She’d been about
to lower her mouth to his cock when he’d pulled her away. He was
outrageously beautiful everywhere and he made her hunger like a
starving person presented with a feast.

Denied the opportunity to put her mouth on
him, she wanted,
needed
, him
inside her right this very minute.