Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Tempest
I’d searched the clinic again for the male in black, but there’d been no sign of him.
Then I’d gone back to check on Jessica. She was still unconscious, but her vitals had improved.
The Agattealia Pontella was doing something.
I didn’t know what, or if these improvements would be permanent.
I didn’t know anything, but it was all I had.
So I continued to ignore the insistent knocking on my subconscious by the Matildas and administered the potion I’d made to as many of the others as I could get to, starting with the pups in intensive care.
All started to show signs of improvement.
I pulled up short, unable to hide my surprise. “Hey…what are you…”
“Made you something to eat, peaches.” He stood, and I noticed the containers in front of him. “Not sure what you like, so I brought a few different things.”
He’d come to see me. He’d even made me dinner. My gaze slid over him. He was in worn jeans, boots, and a black, long-sleeved T-shirt that hugged his strong and muscled chest and wide shoulders. His auburn hair was tied neatly and braided down his back.
He was exactly what…who I desperately needed to see after the hell of the last eighteen hours. Gods, seeing him now made my throat tight and my eyes sting. I wouldn’t cry. I refused to.
“Peaches,” he said, and just the sound of his voice gave me belly flutters.
“You cooked for me?”
He gave me one of his quick grins, the one that flashed his pointed canines. “I’m no great cook, but I know my way around a kitchen.” He’d crossed the room and closed the door.
I didn’t know what to say. No one besides my mother and Matilda W had ever cooked for me. “Thank you,” I said, and my voice came out wobbly.
He took a step toward me.
Before he could reach me, though, I took a quick step back.
He paused, his head tilting to the side. “You running away from me, Temp?”
I realized I was still backing up and stopped myself, planting my feet. “No, I…I didn’t mean to.”
“But that was your first instinct?”
He stayed where he was, several feet away, but his eyes were locked on me, intense in a way that made me want to squirm, then I realized it was concern. I didn’t want that. “Please, don’t worry about me.”
“Can’t help but worry when you back away from me like that, peaches, like you’re afraid of me.”
After a night like last night, attending to Matilda business and dealing with a male full of such evil, then my nightmare, I was still a tad unsettled.
My body had reacted before my brain had caught up.
There was no reason to fear Fender. My first instinct was to smile, to pretend nothing was wrong, but he saw me.
Fender saw past all of that and still wanted me.
“I’m sorry that I reacted like that. I’m not afraid of you, not anymore.
It’s just that you’re so…overwhelming,” I said, and that was the honest truth, but maybe my reaction was more about how much I liked him.
A lot more than I should. “You’re tall and…
muscular, and extremely attractive, and the things you…
you did to me last night, well, they haven’t stopped replaying through my mind,” I said, again telling him the truth.
“You were afraid of me?”
I held my thumb and finger a centimeter apart and smiled. “A little bit. But in my defense, I’d never spent time with hellhounds before.”
His chest expanded. “I’m gonna come closer now, okay?”
“Okay.”
He closed the space between us and didn’t stop until I could feel the heat coming off his body. He lifted his hand slowly and cupped the side of my face, his thumb swiping gently over my cheek. “Fuck, I love these dimples.”
“I’ve never thought much about them,” I admitted a tad breathlessly.
“I have.” His fingers did another sweep of my cheek. “And I couldn’t stop thinking about you, either, in case you were wondering.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “And FYI, when you see your lover after an entire night and day apart, you should probably kiss him.”
I licked my lips, feeling nervous. “You are the expert on such matters.”
“I wouldn’t say expert, but I am right in this instance.”
“So we kiss when we come back together and when we part?” I said, my heart now racing out of control.
“Yes, and a whole lot more in between.”
I blinked up at him, breathless and off-balance and dizzyingly happy, which should be impossible with all the pain and suffering happening just beyond the break room door.
He grinned then, all white teeth. “You gonna keep me waiting much longer, baby? ’Cause I have to tell you, I’m feeling a little impatient for another taste of you.”
“Oh…right, of course.” My entire body flushed as I went up on my toes. He leaned down, sliding a big hand around my waist. He didn’t take over, though, he waited for me to take the lead. I could do that. I slid my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, and pressed my mouth to his.
It was the first time I’d been the one to start the kissing, and he seemed content to let me take my time. He held still for me while I explored his mouth, getting used to him again. Oh, I liked this. I nibbled and sucked and tasted his lips. Yes, I liked this very much.
He groaned and his fingers flexed against my back.
My courage increased, and I opened my mouth under his and licked his top lip.
He groaned again and the sound thrilled me.
Fender was huge, a male who towered above me, who was twice as wide as me, and who had proven he could lift me with ease, but in this moment, he was completely under my control.
He didn’t try to push for more, he left the pace totally up to me.
I’d ended the lives of many since becoming the Matilda, wielding my magic like a weapon, but I’d never felt more powerful than I did now.
Fender was the biggest, scariest male I had ever encountered up close, and I felt nothing but safe in his arms. I licked at his lower lip, and this time I pressed closer.
His lips parted a little, and I took eager advantage, deepening the kiss.
He carefully, and slowly, lifted me, planting my bottom on the table.
“You’re addicting,” he growled against my lips. “You have no idea what you do to me, peaches, none.”
“Tell me,” I said, the words falling from my lips before I knew they were coming.
He chuckled on a shaky exhale. “You make my heart race. My stomach clenches and my blood feels hot in my veins. Your scent is like a drug. I want to run my nose up the side of your throat. I want your scent all over me, Temp, and I want mine on you. The feel of your body, so soft and sweet, makes me so fucking hard. When I finally get to see all of you, when I get to really taste you, fuck you…” He growled.
“I know I’ll never fully recover. You, Tempest, are already so deep under my skin that letting you walk away last night felt like the hardest thing I’d ever done.
And, baby, I’ve been alive a long fucking time.
” He trailed his fingers down the side of my face and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“That enough? Or you want more? ’Cause I got more. ”
I blinked up at him, shocked.
Someone said something just outside the door, and I quickly pulled away, scrambling off the table.
I’d just straightened my skirt that had somehow crept up above my knees, when Mags opened the door and poked her head in. Her gaze slid to Fender, then back to me. “Oh, hey, sorry. Am I interrupting?”
Fender leaned against the table, looking relaxed, while I struggled to recover, not only from that kiss but from all he’d just said. “Do you need me for something?”
“Yeah, a patient with a fracture that could do with your skills. I’ll see if Jack’s around.”
I leaned on the table as well, because I had to. My knees felt weak just from having Fender’s gaze on me. “He left a little while ago for an appointment.” I turned back to Fender. “Thank you for bringing me dinner, but I need to get back to work.”
“No problem,” he said. “Just promise me you’ll take a proper break and eat it.”
“I promise.” I turned back to Mags. “I’ll be right there.”
“Thanks.” Her gaze slid back to Fender, a strange look coming over her features, then she was gone.
“Sorry,” I said to Fender.
He stood and was back in front of me in two strides. “No problem, but I need to see you tonight. You want me to come to you?”
I almost said yes without thinking. “I’ll have to come to you,” I said. “But I won’t be able to stay too long.”
He frowned. “Why is that?”
“Like I said, I have pets.”
“Then I’ll come to you.”
I frantically searched for an excuse. “They’re wary of strangers.”
“They’re gonna need to get used to me eventually.”
Now it was my turn to frown. “I can’t think why?”
His head jerked back like I’d struck him, and I wasn’t sure I liked the expression on his face.
Not anger, but he was definitely frustrated.
One thing Matilda W had always said, if you take a lover, you need to set boundaries and lay out ground rules, or things would get complicated.
“I need to go help Magnolia now, but I’ll call you when I finish work. We need to talk.”
“About what?”
I headed for the door. “I’ll call you.”
He grabbed my arm. “Tempest…”
“I have a patient waiting, Fender,” I said with as much force as I could muster and pulled my arm free.
He didn’t look happy, but he lifted his hands. “Of course.”
I really hoped I hadn’t made a mistake choosing him. If he became too possessive, I’d have to end things before they even began, and I really didn’t want to do that. “I’ll talk to you later,” I said again and strode out.
Magnolia stood talking to a female in the emergency area. I couldn’t see her properly, but as I approached, I recognized the children sitting with her—and froze a moment before I got it together and forced my feet to keep moving.