Chapter Ten
Myra
List for office supplies, check. List of furniture for the cabin, check.
List for kitchen supplies, check. Tapping my pen against the table I think about what else I need to make a list for.
I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but it’s escaping me at the moment.
Today I’ll swing into the thrift shops in town to see what I can find off of my lists.
Who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky and find an actual bed.
The air mattress is functional but not much could be said for comfort level.
Sipping the last of my coffee I stand to get in the shower to start my day when I hear the rumble of a vehicle coming up the driveway.
Rushing to the front window I peek out and see Dax’s truck making its way up the drive.
“Shit! What is he doing here?” Looking down at myself I realize I’m running around in nothing but my panties and an old band T-shirt from before Steven.
Running into the bedroom I grab a pair of leggings and shimmy into them just as there is a knock at the door.
Glancing in the bathroom mirror I screech at the sight of myself.
My hair is going in all different directions, and I try to pat it down the best I can when I hear Dax yelling from the front door.
“Myra! Myra, are you alright? Myra, open the door!” His voice sounds urgent as the door rattles.
“I’m fine, be right there!” I yelled back at him, rushing toward the door, before he could knock it down.
“Jesus woman, you scared about five years off my life.” Dax rushes out, clutching his chest, his breathing labored as I open the door. As soon as he sees me, his eyes rove over me, desire sizzling over my skin at the hunger in his eyes.
Why does this man affect me so damn much? It’s not just because he’s fine, he is, but that can’t be the only reason. I’ve seen tons of fine men over the years, none of them have affected me like he does. There is something else about him that keeps making me want him.
“I saw myself in the mirror and well.” I motion toward myself like it explains why I screeched.
“Well what, you realized how fine you are?” He teases with a smirk.
“Oh yeah, I’m looking mighty fine right now with my hair looking like a rat's nest, my face naked, my ratty t-shirt, and workout leggings. I’m positively radiant.” I say with a laugh.
“I’m sorry my brain shorted out when you said naked.” He says, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Oh my God, really! That’s all you heard?” I choke out.
“Woman, if you saw you the way I see you, that wouldn’t even be a question.” He grits out, a growl in his throat, reminding me he’s not entirely human.
“I’m sure you say that to all the girls.” I snark back at him shaking my head.
“No, never said anything like that to any other woman. I’ve said many other things to get in their pants, but nothing like that.” He says matter of factly.
“Oh really, and what do you say to the women you typically hit on?” I ask, venom lacing my voice.
Why am I asking him? It's really none of my business. But there is a twisted part of me that needs to know. Maybe to prove that he’s the charmer I accuse him of being, to give me more ammo to avoid his advances.
“Actually, I had an epiphany yesterday while at the grocery store. I’m not the hitter onner, but the hitted onner. I don’t know that onner is a word, but.” He says with a shrug of his shoulders, like he’s come to some grand conclusion that is supposed to make things better.
“So, women just throw themselves at you is what you’re saying.” I scoff at him in derision. Of course they do, why wouldn’t they. The man oozes sex appeal from every pore of his being. It would be impossible for any straight woman with two eyes to ignore that fact.
“Well yeah, so you see I don’t hit on women, like you think I do, they hit on me. I just never turned them down before. Until yesterday that is.” He states as though this should make me happy for some reason.
“And yesterday you what? Decided that suddenly sleeping with every woman who throws themselves at you wasn’t worth it anymore. What changed for you to come to this grand epiphany?” I taunt him with a laugh.
“You. You changed everything Myra.” He says earnestly. There is no mischief in his eyes, no smirk upon his lips, and no charm oozing from him, only honesty.
He’s telling the truth; I’m the reason he turned down this woman in the grocery store.
My heart thuds quickly against my chest with his answer.
Does he know what he’s doing to me? That he’s breaking down my walls one brick at a time, and it’s scaring the shit out of me.
I can’t let him in, no matter how much my heart wants me to.
“Why are you here?” I ask suddenly, changing the subject quickly and he smiles knowingly at me.
“Oh, yes. You distracted me, I almost forgot. I brought you a present. Now, before I give it to you, I need you to understand a few things first. I had this great idea to bake you my mom’s famous chocolate chip cookies.
Well, they’re not really famous, but they should be because they are fucking amazing.
Well, they were when my mom made them, me not so much.
I used to bake them with her before I became a teenage asshole.
That’s why I was at the grocery store, to get all of the ingredients.
” My heart melts listening to him explain what he’s done.
This man is full of surprises, and another brick goes flying off my walls.
“That’s very sweet of you.” I say, leaning against the door frame, with a mushy smile on my lips.
“Well, I’ve watched Chase cook for Alia, and she eats that shit up.
Not just the food, but the fact that he cooks for her makes her light up like a Christmas tree.
Clearly chicks dig a man who can cook for them.
” I roll my eyes heavenward. There he is, the true Dax, the one I knew was in there all along.
Pushing away from the door frame I’m about to tell him to go fuck himself when he reaches over and picks up a plastic container.
He fiddles with the plastic container, looking nervous for the first time since I met him.
“Well, I can’t really cook so well, and after trying to bake I realize I can’t bake so well either. But Chase always taught us it was the thought that counts so here.” He thrusts the plastic container at me, looking rather sheepish in the process like he’s embarrassed.
I clumsily take the container from his hand, almost dropping it twice, causing Dax to reach his hands out to stabilize it.
By the time I have it firmly in my hands we are both laughing hysterically at how painfully uncoordinated I am.
Holding the container up to the light all I see is black and brown globs of something inside.
They hold no resemblance to cookies, at least not any cookies I’ve ever had before.
“Thank you?” I offer hesitantly as I set the plastic container on the kitchen counter.
“You’re welcome. They’re not pretty. I know that I’ll get better at making them.
For you, I’ll get better at making them, for you.
” He says with a genuine smile and my heart flutters in my chest. His charming smile is nice, his flirty smile is sexy, but his genuine smile is so much better.
It’s softer, less like he’s trying to fool someone into believing him, it’s pure, and one more brick goes flying from my walls.
My willpower against him is slipping by the second and I find myself wanting to spend more time with him.
“Do you...Would you...” I can’t seem to find my footing to ask him inside.
“Yes, I would like to take you against the wall, or the door, or even the bed. Whatever you’re willing to give me.” He whispers against my ear, sending chills rippling down my spine. More bricks fly into outer space as my walls practically disintegrate at the vision his words bring me.
“You shouldn’t say things like that to a woman you barely know.” I only halfheartedly complain toward him.
“Does it feel like I don’t know you? Does it feel like we barely know each other?” His gravelly voice is like a caress against my skin, heating my body as I shake my head.
“But we do, barely know each other. We’re strangers, even if it doesn’t feel that way.” I tell him in a whisper, not wanting to disturb our moment.
“Our bodies may be strangers, but our hearts and our souls are not. They have known each other since the dawn of time, their destinies intertwined.” He moves closer, his hand reaching up to gently touch my cheek.
“You’re dangerous.” I say breathlessly. There should be a giant flashing neon sign over his head that says ‘DANGER’ in bright red. Maybe if there was, I would be able to push him away. But there is no sign over his head and my restraint is faltering by the second.
“Not to you, never to you. To the rest of the world, yes, but never to you.” He says as he lays his lips softly against my temple.
My body hums with desire at his simple touch.
How can a simple touch set my body on fire?
How can it make me want more? He must have placed some kind of shifter spell on me to want him.
Even inside my own head I can hear the lie I’m trying to make myself believe.
He rubs his cheek softly against mine, a sound like a purr emanated from his throat and my whole-body leans into him, but he pulls away.
My body feels cold without the feel of his body next to mine.
“Chase says I have to be patient; I’m trying to be patient. I really am, but you are my greatest temptation brought to life.” He makes a pained sound, stepping backwards off the porch and confusion fills me.
“I don’t understand. What do you mean Chase says to be patient? Why would he tell you to be patient?” His words are not making a lick of sense. Who is Chase to think he has any say in who I sleep with or who Dax sleeps with for that matter?
“Well, he’s my alpha.” He says it explains everything, but I’m more confused than ever before. “Shut it, he is our alpha.” He growls out, his eyes changing from green to gold and back again.
“I didn’t say anything. And that doesn’t explain what Chase has to do with anything.” I state angrily, crossing my arms over my chest, confusion swirling in my gut.
“Sorry, I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to him.” He shrugs, like that explains everything.
“Him? Who’s him? Dax there’s no one here but us.” I ask him, even more confused than before.
“My animal, he doesn’t think Chase is our alpha anymore. He keeps telling me that we are our own alpha instead. That’s who I was talking to, in my head.” He explains, tapping the side of his temple.
“Your animal talks to you? Like inside your head, it talks to you? Like you’re two different personalities?” I ask, tapping my fingers together in front me. So many more questions race through my mind, but I don’t voice them.
“Yeah, sometimes he doesn’t know when to shut the fuck up.
Like right now. He’s telling me to claim you, but I know you need more time.
He’s also calling me a pussy for not doing as he says.
He’s a right asshole most of the time.” Dax says, his lips thinning into a grimace, as he rocks back on his heels.
More questions swirl in my head, but one stands out.
“Claim me? What the hell does that even mean? Dax, I don’t understand anything you are saying. Alpha’s and claiming and your tiger talks to you.” My voice raises an octave in fear and frustration.
“Shit, I wasn’t supposed to say that yet.
Chase is going to kick my ass. He told me to be patient, that is not being patient.
I am the worst at being patient. I’m sorry.
” He apologizes, his eyes flashing from green to gold again.
I’m learning that’s a sign that he is angry, but I don’t know what he has to be angry about.
“I still don't understand what Chase has to do with anything. You say he’s your alpha, so he’s in charge of you, but he’s not here.
So why are you so worried about what he thinks?
You’re talking about claiming me, but I don’t understand what that means.
Dax, I’m not a shifter, I don’t understand what any of this means. ” I growl out in frustration.
“Chase has everything to do with everything I do. That’s what being my alpha means.
But my tiger tells me that he is not our alpha any longer.
Which is probably why I suck at following Chase’s orders to be patient.
I shouldn’t tell you what it means for me to claim you, but as I said I suck at being patient.
” He says, giving me a self-deprecating smile.
It’s clear he’s conflicted about his brother no longer being his alpha.
While I don’t understand the full dynamics of it all, I can understand some things.
“Sounds like your tiger has outgrown your brother as his alpha. Like a child outgrows his parents. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s the natural progression of life.
Even in the animal kingdom once they reach a certain age mature males and females create their own family groups.
It’s the circle of life or whatever that Disney movie said.
” I explain with a shrug. Dax’s face lights up with excitement, a low growl rumbling from his chest.
“My tiger says it’s exactly like that!” He pulls me in, hugging me tight as he spins us around, his laughter ringing through the quiet surrounding my little cottage.
“I thought I was losing my mind. I thought that he was trying to get me to take over Chase’s territory, his ambush, but that’s not what he’s been trying to do.
He just wants his own territory, his own place to live.
How did I not see that? Shut up asshole, no one asked you.
” He sounds so relieved, like a great weight has been lifted off his shoulders.
His genuine smile is ghosting his lips as he sets me down on my feet and he tilts my chin up.
“Thank you.” He whispers against my lips before he claims them with a searing kiss.
My legs give out on me but he catches me before I fall.
His hands cupping my ass he lifts me up and I wrap my legs around him as his lips continue to devour mine.
My arms go around his neck, holding on for dear life as my body catches fire.
I don’t know why he’s thanking me, but I’m not about to complain if this is how he shows his thanks.