Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
“Jane?”
A kiss brushes my neck, and I smile, lifting my head to meet Vaden’s sated gaze. “Tarzan.”
I don’t know how much time has passed, but I’m sore in places I’ve never been before, and we’ve made love multiple times.
He grins. “I like that nickname.”
“Why?”
“Because no one ever gave me one before,” he admits. “I’m glad it was you.”
He looks so genuinely happy, I can’t help but kiss him. “I never had one either.”
He brushes the hair back from my face. “How about a bath?”
“Why a bath?” It does sound good, but I’m honestly not thrilled about the idea of moving from this bed ever again. That likely has everything to do with the person I’m sharing it with.
He kisses me. “You’re going to be sore, Jane. We should have stopped after the first time.”
“Should we?” I ask, kissing his throat, something I’m learning he likes a lot.
Earlier, I’d been dozing on my front when I felt him hardening against me. I’d wiggled, he’d groaned, and just like that, he was sliding into me again. There was no pain that time. Just pleasure as he thrust into me until we climaxed.
“Yes,” he groans. Then he rolls onto his back, fisting my hair as he tilts his head back. “Shit, you have to stop kissing me like that, baby.”
But he’s urging me toward him, and his cock is hardening as I trail kisses over his throat. I straddle him, rocking back until he slips into me again.
A soft groan rumbles from his chest.
His eyes flutter open, burning as they roam over me, while his hands stroke up my sides, cupping my breasts as I ride him slow and deep.
As my stomach clenches and I gasp, he turns me onto my back and takes control, thrusting deeply until we both climax.
He drapes himself over me, still panting. “Fuck. That wasn’t meant to happen.”
Yawning, I let my eyes drift closed. “Sorry. My fault.”
I feel him smiling against my neck. “I didn’t say I regretted it. You are going to be sore if we don’t stop.” He keeps saying that, and even though we keep making love over and over, I still want him again.
“I don’t mind being sore,” I say, fighting sleep.
He kisses me, then slowly pulls out of me. “Wait here. I’ll run a bath for you.”
He has no shame whatsoever about being naked.
I watch him get up from the bed and walk over to the bathroom.
I thought he would at least put on his shorts, but he doesn’t have a problem walking around in the nude.
Must be a shifter thing because no one seemed the least bit embarrassed trailing into the kitchen while my cheeks were hot as I stared up at the ceiling.
Closing my eyes, I burrow into sheets that smell of Vaden, feeling deliciously sore between my legs.
The bed dips. “Uh oh, no sleeping allowed,” Vaden whispers against my lips.
I stretch and yawn. “Was I falling asleep?”
He scoops me into his arms. “You were. Legs around me, baby.”
“I like those kinds of orders,” I tell him, happy to comply.
He looks pleased. “Then I’ll keep giving them.”
He carries me into the bathroom, and I take in the full, bubbly bath before turning to him. “I thought you were joking about me falling asleep.”
I must have actually fallen asleep for him to have done this.
“I let you doze until it was full, but you’ll be less sore later.” He steps into the bath, carefully sitting with me straddling him, face-to-face.
I let out a contented sigh, my head resting against Vaden’s and my arms draped over his shoulders as the warm water soothes my sore muscles.
“Good?” he asks.
“Amazing.”
For the next several minutes, we soak. It’s quiet in the cabin, and through the small bathroom window, I can just barely hear the wind whipping through the trees. Being here with Vaden feels like we’re in our own paradise.
“Does it hurt?” I ask.
He runs a hand up and down my back. “Does what hurt?”
“Changing into a wolf.”
“Depends. The more dominant a shifter, the faster they can change. Alphas can change in seconds.”
I lift my head to meet his gaze. “What kind of shifter are you?”
Savannah said Vaden was dominant. He’s possessive and overprotective, and he can change into a wolf in seconds, so he must be an alpha shifter.
“Beta. Dayne is an alpha and more dominant than me.”
“Then why do you two argue if he’s more dominant? Can he punish you for it?”
He kisses my forehead. “If it concerns you, I don’t care how powerful the shifter I’m arguing with is. Your safety comes first.”
“Could he order you to stop arguing?”
“We’re not pack. At least, not yet. An alpha can only really order his pack mates. He can beat me in a fight, but he can’t order me not to fight, if that makes sense.”
This is all so fascinating, and I’m surprised how fast it’s becoming normal to me.
“It does. But you didn’t tell me whether it hurts or not.” And because he so neatly sidestepped that question, I can’t help but think it was intentional.
He looks away, stroking my hips in a way that can only be designed to distract me from a question he’s reluctant to answer. “If I shift fast, yes, it does. It’s over fast, so it’s worth it if it keeps you safe.”
“The shift by the lake was fast,” I remind him. One second we were kissing, and it was romantic and perfect. Next, he pulled me to my feet and told me to run. Seconds after that, he was a wolf. It was… surreal to say the least.
“Uh huh.” He kisses me, long and deep.
I lean back, narrowing my eyes at him. “Are you trying to distract me, Vaden Rowe?”
The hip stroking didn’t do it, but that kiss absolutely fried my brain for at least three seconds.
His hungry eyes are on my mouth. “Is it not working?”
“No.” But I feel his cock hardening between us, and that is definitely distracting me. I lift my hand to his face, cupping his jaw. “I don’t like you hurting because of me,” I say quietly.
His eyes soften, and he turns my hand and presses a kiss in the center of my palm. “Any pain from protecting you will always be worth it, Jane. Always.”
“I never thought I’d have this,” I admit.
“A man who likes to growl and give orders you don’t like,” he teases.
I smile. “No.” My smile fades. My feelings for Vaden aren’t just growing; they’re swallowing me whole. I think about him constantly, and I’m genuinely terrified that something will happen to him because of me. I’ve never been this afraid of losing someone since my parents gave me up.
“You look sad, Jane,” he says quietly,
“I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t lose me, Jane. I’m not going anywhere.”
“When I was little, my parents loved partying more than they loved me,” I admit. “They didn’t plan to have me, and when I was eight, they decided I was too much trouble. So they gave me up.”
Opening up about a rejection I never recovered from isn’t easy, but I want Vaden to know what scares me. I want him to know me, to see parts of me I wouldn’t show anyone else, and not just because he’s opened himself up to me in ways no one else has before.
“You had no one?” Vaden looks devastated by it.
I shrug as if I didn’t wish for a family every day I was in foster care. “It wasn’t all bad, but I always knew it was temporary. When you want a place to belong, and a home that will always be yours, temporary isn’t enough.”
He urges me against his chest, wrapping his arms around me. “You’ll always have me, Shelby. Maybe Dayne will eventually have enough of arguing with me and tell me to leave. Maybe you’ll want to see more of the world. But from now on, you’re not alone. You’ll never be alone again.”