18. Cuddles & Cautious Hope
Chapter eighteen
Cuddles the one who called Shasta for help, I think. Though I wasn’t really in the mood to be cordial while I was there so I don’t know much about her,” I say offhandedly. Hearing something behind me, I turn to see Shasta coming down the hallway into the living room.
She must have heard part of that because she adds, “Joaquin had a pretty visceral reaction to Jessa while he was there. However, it’s not going to be easy to win her over. She’s been burned a lot. I will say she did ask about him while I was in the office with her, so the interest is there.”
Laken cocks his head to the side and growls, “Give me a list, Shasta, I just want to talk to them.” He smiles. It’s not a nice one either. Laken is one of my Enforcers for a reason. He enjoys making people scream and the more blood the better. Him and Joaquin are our go-to for ‘interrogations’. Yeah, that’s what we’ll call it.
Shasta blanches. Then, she swallows and says, “Not my place. Ask Jessa and let me know how that works out for you.” She then laughs maniacally, heads to the kitchen, and opens the cabinet I was just rifling through. I watch as she pulls out a berry flavored tea and make a mental note that this was the first one she picked after a very stressful day.
I’ve got a lot of bullshit to make up for. Women aren’t hard to please if you pay attention. So, that’s what I’ll be doing from now on.
Laken laughs and heads for the front door. “I’ll see you all later. I’m meeting Joaquin for dinner.” He shuts the door quietly behind him as he goes.
Some of my guys are downright scary. Laken is one of them. He looks like a computer geek, but he’s probably the one you have to watch out for the most in the whole Club. Shasta looks over at me and raises a brow.
“Yeah, he’s…a great person if he loves you, but if he doesn’t…well, we’ll just leave it at that,” I say with a nervous chuckle.
“I was picking up a lot of that energy from him. Jessa is a sweet person too, but like I said, she’s been burned a lot. Family, relationships, some of her friendships. She doesn’t trust easily so they are going to have to really chase her. I don’t know how well she’s going to like that. Should be entertaining to watch, but I will zap the shit out of them if she gets hurt. It will make what I did to you earlier look like child’s play.”
Looking back at what happened at my parents place tonight I realize that she wasn’t even hitting me with her full magic. Shit. I gulp and look at her a little panicked. She smirks. She has on some pajamas that are…well, they are basically underwear and a barely there tank top. This must be what Kadi was talking about when he said you couldn’t really even call them pajamas. Groaning to myself, I shift my dick a little in my pants.
She may actually be the death of me, either by electrocution or blood loss from it all rushing straight to my dick. I stalk towards her and a look of panic crosses her face before she realizes I’m not out to get her, or at least not in that way. Wincing, I mentally punch myself in the face because it’s my fault that she’s still a little scared of me.
When I reach her and place a hand gently on her throat, I feel her pulse fluttering wildly under my fingers. Pushing her against the counter, I drag my nose up the length of her neck. Gods, she smells like citrus and sunshine. She whimpers and I tilt her head farther to the side to get to my bite mark. I lap at it a little. It needs a bit more of my healing saliva before it’ll fully heal. Kadi’s is already healed so I know he did the same.
Seeing both of our marks on her makes my dick even harder, but it’s been a very long day for all of us. As much as I would love to be balls deep in her again, we all need sleep. I tilt her head back, lean down, and capture her lips in mine. She winds her hands around my neck and pulls me closer to her, devouring my mouth with hers.
Groaning, I pull away from her and look into her chocolate brown eyes. Gods, she really is beautiful and I’ve been such an ass. “Hey, listen, I’m sorry. The way I’ve treated you is horrible and I promise I’m going to make it up to you. I know we already talked, but I’m telling you again because I want you to know I’m taking my groveling seriously. As much as I would love to bury myself in you again, we all need rest. As your mate, I have to make sure you get what you need, especially after the way things have been so far. I can say words all day long till I’m blue in the face, but you need actions and I’ll give them to you because you deserve no less than my very best as your mate.”
She tears up a little, and then nodding, she buries her face in my chest and clutches me to her. I hurt her badly. I’ll kick myself every day for the rest of my life for making her fear me. But if anyone else ever hurts her, like that douche canoe Logan, I will rip them to shreds with my teeth and then feast on them.
Kadi enters the room just then. I forgot to take his clothes to him so he’s in nothing but a towel. He walks over and envelops both of us in a hug. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. We’ll figure all this out and then work on what we need to. Don’t beat yourself up over a bumpy start. It’s all good now and that’s what really matters.”
I know he’s right, but it seems my favorite thing to do is castigate myself. I’ve been doing that for way too long, though. Time for a change. I walk over and grab the duffle, rifling through it until I find a pair of shorts for me and Kadi both. I toss him a pair and then take mine to the bathroom to take another quick shower since I had to put these nasty clothes back on after the last one. When I come back out, Shasta is seated at the bar and Kadi is making BLT’s.
She has her toes perched on the side rails of the stool, face flushed from laughing. I don’t know what they were talking about before I came in but I see the bond between them shining brightly. They both smile at me when I walk in.
“Kadi is giving me shit about wanting BLT’s again. Apparently I can’t live off them, which is ridiculous,” she says, rolling her eyes.
Laughing, I reach out and pluck her from her stool, seating myself on it before putting her in my lap. She screeches and wraps her arm around my shoulder as I settle her. Nuzzling her neck I say, “Well, you do need a balanced diet if you plan on having two mates. You definitely need some more meat than just bacon in that diet.” I wag my eyebrows at her suggestively and we all laugh.
I can get down with this kind of life. Maybe letting go of the past won’t be as hard as I thought it would be if this is what it will be like every day. Shasta plants a big sloppy kiss on my cheek and I close my eyes in gratitude that I was able to pull my head out of my ass enough to give this tiny witch a chance.