Chapter 25
It was a shame our tent didn’t have a skylight so we could stargaze. After sex, Krys had gone out to retrieve something from the car while I straightened out the blankets and sheet. Then I lay on my back and laughed at my failed plans.
When our wolves had gone out for a run earlier, I shifted back first. I waited in the tent, uncertain if his wolf would stay out the whole night.
To pass the time, I planned my seduction.
First, I’d lie on my stomach to give him my best view when he returned.
Then I’d cover myself and suggest an innocent game of truth or dare.
Even with all the green lights he had given me at the club, nothing was certain.
People changed their minds all the time, especially when it came to me.
Instead of a seduction, I’d fallen asleep.
The fact that Krys initiated everything left no doubt in my mind that he wanted it—that he wanted me.
The harness was a brilliant idea, though.
I jumped when the zipper sounded and Krys stepped through the opening.
He closed it up behind him. “I gave your ghost an eyeful.”
Krys was still naked—we both were. That was how we slept.
I offered a lazy smile. “If I’m lucky, she ran off screaming into the woods.”
He slapped my leg after sitting down. “You good?”
Better than good, but I played it cool. “You tell me. I only have one request.”
“What’s that?”
“Next time, put your boots on.”
His eyebrow arched. “You’d like that?”
“It’s fucking hot. Especially with your new accessories.”
“No, I meant about there being a next time.”
That was a loaded question. I propped my head in my hand, curious about what was in the bag. “What’s in there?”
“I’m ravenous.”
Our cooler contained a few drinks on ice so we wouldn’t have to trek through the darkness in search of the water pump.
Krys unrolled a plastic bag with a hard flick of his wrist. “Tak’s jerky. I swiped a few bags from the pantry before we left.”
“You’re a bad boy. I’d give my left kidney for a bag of cookies.”
Krys moaned when he chewed off a bite.
My hunger overruled my sweet tooth. “Gimme some.”
He tossed the bag before reaching inside the ice chest and pulling out two water bottles, each dripping. A mischievous look came over him before he held the bottle over me.
I shouted when it dripped onto my chest, icy water sluicing down my ribs. “You’re sleeping in the wet spot,” I said matter-of-factly.
He dipped his head and licked a rivulet off my belly.
After fluffing my pillow, I bent my knees and opened the bag to gnaw on a piece of dried meat. It hit the spot. In fact, everything about this evening hit the spot.
Krys got cozy to my left and pulled the sheet up to his waist, one arm tucked behind his head. He had taken off the harness and collar earlier, but a few red marks remained. They didn’t seem to bother him and would probably fade by morning.
I swallowed a bite of meat. “It’s weird being outdoors and not hearing our packmates.”
“Yeah.”
“I keep expecting Catcher to poke his head through the door.”
Crickets chirped out of unison. The delicious night air filled the tent, but the smell was different than home. I couldn’t put my finger on why either. We were alone, and it made me uneasy without the protection of our pack.
After finishing his stick of jerky, Krys let his hand drop between us.
“What happened earlier?” I asked. “When you walked out of the tent while we were in the middle of things.”
“I got turned on is what. I needed to cool down. It’s stuffy in here.”
I mustered up the courage to have a real conversation and ask personal questions, hoping it wouldn’t make him feel cornered. “You’re not much of a lovey-dovey guy, are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“No judgment. I’m only saying you’re not as physical as I am.”
After leaning up and gulping his water, he pulled his sexy long hair out from beneath him and flipped it over the pillow. “I’m not wired that way. It’s not about you. I’m like that with everyone.”
“You don’t think they want your affection? They do.” I gripped his hand. “We all want snuggles with Krys.”
“Maybe I need more practice. I like touching, but… I don’t know. It’s hard initiating it when I don’t know what the other person wants from me.” He wiped his goatee and mouth. “Have you ever tried singing? I mean on a stage and shit.”
Suddenly my appetite vanished, replaced by years of bitter memories. I tossed the bag of jerky aside. “There’s no law against fame, but the authorities don’t like it. It’s not like it used to be. Now there are cameras and video, so your face will never be forgotten.”
“You could just say it’s your doppelg?nger. Everyone has someone they look like.”
“Did you know there’ve been a few immortals who became huge icons? They had to fake their deaths, and now they’re in hiding for a few centuries.”
“What about singing in clubs off the beaten path? I’m not talking about the big time.”
I straightened my legs beneath the cool sheet.
Lacing my fingers across my stomach, I remembered my past attempts at chasing fame.
“You don’t see a lot of ghosts at concerts, but there are always a few.
Sometimes they’re following a person. Other times they’re hunting Gravewalkers.
When I’m staring into a sea of faces all at once, I can’t tell the living from the dead.
Singers have to connect with the audience, you know?
Eye contact. That’s not even the worst of it. ”
After a long silence, he turned his head to look at me. “Then what is? Don’t shut me out. I want to know.”
“I once had a psycho with a missing jaw attach himself to me. He was a pathetic waste of molecules. I was singing at this club, living the dream, and he got onstage and shouted in my ear during the entire performance. Because he didn’t have a jaw, it was impossible to understand what he was saying.
I couldn’t think straight. I forgot the lyrics, missed the notes.
Then the crowd turned on me. Someone threw a beer bottle at my face. ”
Krys rolled over and rested his arm on my stomach, his chin propped on his hand. “If anyone ever hurts you, I’ll rip his soul out of his body.”
A promise that should’ve terrified me or even summoned a joke rendered me speechless.
No one had ever said something like that to me before, including my own mother.
Krys saw himself as the prince of darkness, but light that came only from a pure heart shone in his pale blue eyes.
A cruel twist of fate made him untrusting and tough, but he used that to shield the people he loved.
His protective nature called to my wolf.
I touched the two lines between his eyebrows before tracing my finger down his nose and lips. He had a stern brow, but his lips were as soft as satin. When I considered how he had suffered alone, I wrapped my arms around him.
“You don’t have any construction jobs this week, do you?” he asked.
“No. Why?”
“Well, I rented out this property for two nights. How about we let our wolves run all day tomorrow and then I take you out to dinner?”
My eyebrows arched. “A date? Are you asking moi out on a date? I’ll have to check my schedule.”
“Is that so? If you’d rather stay in a motel tomorrow night, we can look around after dinner and see what’s available. Then get an early start after a shower and shave.”
I locked my fingers behind my head. “I’d rather shower before my date, and this place doesn’t have one. The water in that tub is too cold.”
“Fill it in the morning. The sun will heat it up.”
“I didn’t bring any soap.”
Krys sat up. “Speaking of, have you been using my soap at the house?”
My cheeks heated. “What makes you ask that?”
His eyes narrowed, and he cupped his hand over my groin area. “Seems about the right size for the indentation.”
Oh God, he knows.
I swallowed my embarrassment. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Krys rocked with laughter. “No wonder you took long showers. You were masturbating with my soap, you little shit.”
“I can’t use the shower gels. Some of them are exfoliators. Ask me how I know.”
“I don’t wanna know.”
“Had you bothered to get closer to me, you might’ve smelled the sandalwood.”
His eyebrows gathered. “Sandalwood?” Krys fell onto his back and erupted with laughter.
Annoyed, I shot up. “What’s so funny? I like the creamy texture better than the new green stuff you bought. Besides, you’re the one who preached not long ago about doing it either in the bathroom, bedroom, barn… What was the other one? Oh yes. Your motorcycle.”
“That’s not it.” He wiped his face while smothering a clipped laugh. “The sandalwood isn’t mine. Atticus leaves a bar up there for when he needs to take a shower because Joy’s using theirs in the cottage.”
I draped myself over him. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” I reached for the lantern and switched it off, plunging us into darkness.
After a stretch of silence, he said, “You’re not my plaything. I get why you said that at the club, but that’s not how I see you.”
I wondered if letting him take the lead was setting me up for disappointment. This was more than sex or physical attraction, and if I let him take the reins of my heart, then what?
“Anything you want to ask me?” he said.
“Are you a big spoon or little spoon? Or are you the potato masher that sleeps all by himself in the drawer?”
He coaxed me onto my side and snuggled against my back. “Big spoon. Definitely the big spoon.”