Chapter Five
Matt held his breath as he waited for Sage’s reaction to his news about his sister. Her attitude would help him gauge how she would react to his secret.
Her brows rose in surprise. “A werewolf? They date humans?”
He nodded. “She’s his mate.”
Now her eyebrows drew together in confusion. “How can that be?”
“Apparently, shifter mates don’t have to be werewolves.”
“Did you meet him? Her mate?”
“Yes.”
“What did you think of him?”
Matt thought back to his brief encounter with the other werewolf.
“Rick is very protective of Missy. And understandably suspicious of me—a stranger just popping up claiming to be her brother with no real proof aside from suppositions assembled by a PI, the hazy memories of an alcoholic….” He gestured to his face. “And a vague resemblance.”
Also, Matt was a lone werewolf showing up without permission in another pack’s territory. That had really raised Rick’s hackles. Shifter etiquette existed. Who knew? Matt sure didn’t have a handle on the rules.
“And your sister is happy?”
“I think so. I offered to help her if she needed it.”
“That was brave. And sweet. And a bit impulsive. Basically, all things Matt,” she said with a smile.
He shook his head. “I don’t think it was brave.”
Sage scoffed. “You were planning on standing off against a werewolf!”
He shrugged. “They don’t want the bad press.” That was clear from the way the O’Connor pack had gone to great efforts to hide Meredith’s rogue behavior.
“I doubt an obsessive stalker thinks about the consequences of their actions,” she said. It took him a moment to realize that she was speaking hypothetically and not about what had happened to him. “And how do you know what werewolves want?”
“Um, I’ve overheard some things. Their Alpha would handle it if he were a problem.”
“Well, as long as she’s happy and safe.”
“She is.” Matt inhaled. “So…is that something you would consider? Dating a werewolf?” From what she’d said thus far, he couldn’t get a gauge on her opinion of shifters. Though she hadn’t recoiled in horror, her response had been polite and politically correct. Basically, taking no position at all.
“I don’t know. It depends on if I felt safe.”
He nodded.
“But I suppose that goes for any relationship with any man,” she added.
“Yeah.” So, she’d date a werewolf. But would she date him?
Whether he was safe or not was debatable.
He could control his shifts, and he no longer experienced bouts of rage.
He was the most stable he’d been since the attack.
A spark of hope filled his chest. “Sage, I—” The oven timer buzzed.
He frowned, the persistent strident noise assaulting his sensitive hearing. “Let me get that.”
***
“Dinner was only an hour ago,” Sage said as Matt joined her on the couch with a plate of leftovers. He’d eaten so much at dinner, she didn’t know how he could possibly be hungry again.
“High metabolism,” he muttered, picking up his fork.
“Did you leave anything?”
“Potatoes. And there’s lettuce in the fridge.”
Though he’d made her a salad, he hadn’t eaten one himself. “I’m worried you’re not getting your vitamins.”
He grunted. “What are we watching?” He gestured at the dark television screen.
She wrinkled her nose. “Nothing. The screen is giving me a headache.”
Matt lowered his plate. “Do you want me to get your meds?” he asked, half rising before she could respond.
“Sit. I’m fine. I just want to relax, listen to the rain fall—” Her voice and the gentle patter of rain hitting the house were suddenly drowned out by the loud roar of a motor.
“Somebody needs a muffler.”
Sage shook her head. “I think he likes it that way. That’s Mrs. Lewis’s grandson. He lives with her sometimes when he has no where else to go.” Barking followed the dying engine. “And he brings his dog,” she added.
Matt finished his food and set his plate aside. “All right. No screens. How about some music?”
“I don’t know….” She ordinarily loved music full of bass, but at the moment, she worried a thumping beat would turn the minor ache in her temples into a full-blown pounding migraine.
“Don’t worry. I got you.” He pulled out his phone and soon strains of The Cello Song filled the room.
She smiled. “I love that.”
“I remember.” He held out his arms and she swiveled, her back to his chest, and he held her close.
Sage closed her eyes and relaxed. She inhaled and snuggled closer. “You smell good,” she murmured.
Matt rested his chin on top of her head. “And you smell fantastic,” he said, giving her a squeeze. He held her with one arm and continued to eat with the other. It wasn’t long until the playlist of classical music lulled her to sleep.
***
Matt listened to Sage’s even breathing for several minutes, content to hold her sleeping form in his arms. When the music on his playlist stopped, he eased her onto the sofa. He took his plate to the kitchen and washed and dried it.
Sage was still sleeping when he returned to the den. He scooped her up, pausing when she opened her eyes. “Matt.” She smiled and patted his chest before drifting off to sleep again.
He carried her to her bedroom and slid her into bed. Bending, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. He didn’t linger lest the temptation to join her become too strong. Instead, he returned to the den. He checked the doors and cut off all the lights.
Not particularly sleepy, he examined Sage’s bookshelf in an attempt to find a light read. His night vision was excellent, and he didn’t need lighting to read the titles. Sage’s tastes ranged widely. Classical novels, romances, science fiction, and mysteries nestled side by side on her shelves.
Matt decided on a romance and carried it back to the guestroom. He wasn’t a big fiction reader, but he was interested in finding out what Sage considered to be romantic.
The floral cover flap hid a painted classic bodice ripper featuring a brunette clinging to a half-dressed man with flowing black hair.
Frowning, Matt ran a hand through his blond curls.
They were longish, but he’d never let his hair grow beyond its current length, his curls brushing the back of his neck.
Had time permitted, he’d have visited a barber before showing up here.
Now he rethought those plans. Would Sage like him with hair down to his shoulders?
Sighing, he flipped to the first chapter.
He was quickly captivated by the story about a woman trying to end a feud between two families.
Her well-intentioned meddling only made her enemies.
The hero, a loner, was contracted as her protector.
Not a loner by choice. But an orphan. Matt empathized with his lonely plight.
No matter what he did, he seemed to always end up alone… .
Despite the risqué cover, there wasn’t as much sex as he’d anticipated. A third of the way in and a single bodice hadn’t been ripped. Instead, he learned way more about horses than he’d expected.
When his eyelids began to droop, he put the book on the night table. As had become his habit before falling asleep, he extended his senses to catalog his surroundings, taking in the smells and the sounds.
He filtered out the mundane hum of electronics such as the refrigerator and the air conditioner. Sage’s house and yard were empty with the exception of the two of them. The faint sound of her even breathing soothed him and soon lulled him to sleep.
As often happened, he dreamt of Sage. Sometimes, it was of their life together as a couple. Many times, it was prurient. And so, it was tonight.
He was in Sage’s bed, just as he’d been last night.
Only in his dream, no distance existed between them.
He curled around her from behind, clinging to her as if she were the most precious thing in the world to him.
His hands eagerly coasted her body, learning the curves he’d lusted after for almost a decade.
He filled his hands with her pert breasts and tugged on her tight nipples while she writhed against him, a heady mix of her sugary natural fragrance and that of her arousal perfumed the air.
Unable to resist any longer, he ran his palm down her belly, over her mound, stopping only when his fingers encountered the slick curls guarding her slit.
Groaning, he parted her folds. He’d barely touched her when she moaned and begged. “Please, Matt! I want you, now!”
Practically trembling with desire, he shoved down his pajama bottoms and—
Barking from the backyard jolted him awake. Matt scowled at the dark ceiling. It sounded as though the dog was in Sage’s backyard. Was the dog really that loud? Maybe his sensitive hearing was making it seem closer? Just as he was about to climb out of bed and check, the barking ceased.
For several minutes, he strived to fall asleep, but the more he tried, the less drowsy he felt.
It didn’t help that he was half hard from the dream.
He gave his cock a quick punishing squeeze.
He’d learned after sliding out of Sage’s bed the previous morning that he could get an erection, but relief wasn’t in the cards.
Trying during his shower had only exacerbated his discomfort.
Sighing, he decided to check on Sage. What he really needed was to shift and go for a run.
It offered a release of sorts. The wild side of him needed that outlet.
It had been too long. He didn’t like giving in to it, but if he didn’t, he grew temperamental and short-tempered.
It was just another adjustment he’d had to make since the attack.
He ran a frustrated hand over his jaw. The stubble there thickened with his body’s demand for the shift. He couldn’t go. He didn’t have keys to Sage’s house, and he wouldn’t leave her home alone with the doors unlocked even if her neighborhood seemed like a haven for the elderly.
Sage slept on peacefully, undisturbed by the barking, confirming his earlier thought that his enhanced hearing had made him more sensitive to the disruption. Was it bad of him to wish she had been awakened so that he’d have an excuse to join her in bed?
To burn off nervous energy, he went through the house rechecking doors and windows. He peeped out the windows but saw nothing of concern outside. Just empty wet streets highlighted by streetlamps, the occasional breeze ruffling foliage.
When he returned to the guestroom, Sage stood in the hallway rubbing her eyes. “Is something wrong?”
“No. I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”
She shook her head. “Bad dream. Will you…?”
Matt smiled. “You want me to sleep with you?”
Sage heaved a sigh. “Yes, please.”
Holding her without claiming her would be torture, but he would never miss the opportunity to be close to her for the world. Claiming her? Where had that thought come from? It sounded archaic….
Yet…so right that he swayed on his feet.
Sage giggled. “Whoa! You’re really sleepy.”
“Yeah. I am.” He extended his hand to Sage. “Take me to your bed.”