Chapter 17
Lucian
Cara thinks we’ve been having too much sex.
I say there’s no such thing—especially not between us. Most days I can barely look at her without getting hard, and I know it’s the same for her because her scent changes. The moment her sweet fragrance of arousal meets my nose, I’m fucked.
It’s interrupted my focus in class several times, and usually over the tiniest things. Taking off or putting on my glasses. When I’m leaning against the desk to give a lecture. Even when I have to rein the class in after a particularly wild day.
No wonder we fuck so often.
But I’ll respect her request to have a sex-free evening where all we do is talk and get to know each other.
Even if it kills me. It might be good for us.
I’m running out of ways to hide my knot, and that’ll be a tough thing to explain before she knows everything.
The last thing I need is her insisting I go to the ER.
“What’s next?” Cara asks as she rolls the last gnocchi with her fork.
Maybe cooking together wasn’t the best idea. Seeing her in an apron, her long blonde hair haphazardly thrown in a bun while she pays expert attention to her task, makes me want to toss her on the island and have my wicked way with her. Screw dinner. I’d rather feast on her.
“Lucian?”
Right. She asked me a question. “We just need the water to boil, then we can throw them in.”
She dusts her hands off, looking pleased at the batch of cheesy gnocchi we made together. “Let’s throw the bacon on now, and please tell me you like it crispy. Floppy bacon really shouldn’t even be considered food.”
I laugh. How the fuck can this woman be so beautiful even while disgusted? “Oh, crispy for sure.” I get a pan and place it on the stove while she grabs the bacon from the fridge.
When it’s finally in the pan, she wraps her arms around my waist and stares up into my eyes. “Well, you know my life story. Disappointed mother, no siblings, no pets aside from the studded horse. What about you? Have you always wanted to be a teacher?”
“Not always, no. In fact, I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.”
“And how does one discover they want to teach mythology?”
“Honestly? I have no idea. My mom thought I’d do well with teaching in general. I enjoy it as long as the students put in the effort.”
“Oh, I’ve noticed,” she says with a deadpan expression, making me chuckle.
I drop the first batch of gnocchi into the boiling water while Cara stirs to keep them from sticking. “The mythology aspect came later, but I do love it.”
“Your mom was right, you know. You are good at it. Though, you might try embarrassing your students a little less.”
“I’ll consider it.” I toss her a smile, and we fall into a comfortable silence as we both focus on our tasks. I flip the bacon while she scoops out the first round of gnocchi and drops in the last batch.
“Your mom sounds pretty supportive. What about your dad?”
“She is. My dad died when I was young. Young enough that I don’t really have memories of him, so she raised me all on her own. Well, mostly. Her friends all pitched in to help. I’m an only child, but I was basically raised with our neighbors, so in a way it feels like I’m not.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your dad. The rest sounds incredible, though.
My parents split up the day before I was born.
Talking about my father is a sin, according to my mother, so I never really learned what happened between them.
My mom was busy with the family law firm, so my grandmother and live-in nannies raised me.
It’s probably why I wanted a pet so badly—just to have a companion. ”
“I’m sorry you were so alone. Did she ever remarry?”
She stirs the pot absentmindedly. “No. Sometimes I wish she had, if only to take the focus off me. Her expectations were suffocating. They still are, even as an adult.” She laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “What about your mom? Any hot single dad neighbor to grab her interest?”
I smile. “Maybe. There’s one guy I think she might be involved with, but that’s just speculation. She’s too devoted to her work.”
Cara empties the pot of boiling water, sparing me a glance over her shoulder. “Oh?”
“She’s a vet. I swear she’d live at her clinic if we’d let her.” I want to tell her that my mother would love her, but I keep it to myself. I set the now-crispy bacon on a bed of paper towels and drain some of the grease before adding the diced chicken.
“Wow. It takes a strong person to be a vet. I don’t think I could handle it. The first animal I couldn’t help would kill me.”
“You’re stronger than you think, Cara.”
Her eyes flash to mine, softening as she smiles. “Well if, God forbid, something ever happens to my Cooper, I’ll take him to your mom.”
“Hopefully you’ll never need to take him to the vet. Have you told your mom about him? She hasn’t tried to ship him off to the stud farm yet, has she?”
She swats my arm playfully. “No and no. He’ll be my little secret for as long as I can manage it. Besides, she’d have to pry him from my arms or send me away with him.”
That last comment has my mind racing with possibilities. Keep it together, man. Shaking the pan to flip the chicken, I ask, “How did you find him again?”
“He saved me.” Her smile turns wistful, and it makes my hound internally wag his tail. “In more ways than one, I think. He’s too well-behaved not to have an owner, but I put up flyers and no one has contacted me. At this point, I’m not sure what I’d do if someone ever did.”
“I’m sure he’d stay with you. It sounds like you have a strong bond.”
She adds the gnocchi to the pan while I pour in the cream and seasonings before covering it. “I like to think so.”
We set the table, and I pour us each a glass of wine while she plates the food. It feels like we’ve been making dinner together forever instead of just tonight. Is it because she’s my mate that we’re so in sync? I wish I could talk to her about it.
But I don’t.
The food is delicious, and the moan that escapes her lips after taking the first bite nearly has me coming in my pants. I think she knows it too, because she gives me this adorable, knowing smile when she catches me staring at her.
My naughty mate.
By the time we finish eating, I’m ravenous. All I want to do is swipe the table clear, lay her down on it, and devour her. I think she’d let me, but I’m determined to do as she requested and keep today sex free.
“I have to go feed Cooper. Want to come with me?”
Inside, my mood plummets, but I keep the emotion off my face. Fuck, I hate that I’m lying to her, but I haven’t decided how to tell her—or if we’ll tell her—about the whole hound thing. Eventually I’ll have to, but not now. It’s too early in our relationship to scare her away.
I’m a fucking coward.
I take our plates to the sink, wanting to avoid eye contact as I say, “You go ahead. I’ll clean up down here.”
“Are you sure?”
I fucking hate how dejected she sounds.
“Yup. I’ll meet him another time. I promise.”
“Okay…” Her steps are slow as she heads to the door, and I hate myself for making her feel this way. “I won’t be long.”
“I’ll be here,” I tell her, jogging to her side to place a kiss on her lips. She kisses me back, but it’s not the fevered, passion-fueled kiss we usually share.
She exits my apartment and heads toward the elevator.
I wait until she rounds the corner before racing in the opposite direction toward the stairwell.
Shit, shit, shit. I forgot the key! Turning around, I rummage through my jacket hanging just inside my apartment until I finally find the key and head back to the stairs.
I’m not going to make it.
As I’m inserting the key in the lock of her apartment, I hear the elevator doors open. I barely have time to get inside, tear off my clothes, and shift before she’s walking through the door.
“I swear I locked this,” she mumbles, confused. Then she sees us and grins. “Cooper, my perfect pupper!” My hound races toward her, licking her face as she ducks down to hug us. “Are you hungry?”
We’re the furthest thing from hungry, but the contented rumble that escapes our chest tells her otherwise.
She moves to the kitchen, opening the pantry to grab the dry dog food. “I was really hoping you could meet my friend tonight, but it didn’t work out. He promises to meet you soon, though. And when you do, I don’t want any growling or biting, alright? He’s not like Brad, so you can’t eat him.”
My hound lets out a whine that she mistakes for hunger.
“It’s almost ready,” she says, adding a few bits of chicken to the cup of dry dog food. She places the bowl on the mat near my water dish, then sits with her back against the wall while I eat. Or pretend to eat. This tastes terrible compared to the food I just had, and even my hound agrees.
“I’m sorry you’ve been alone so much today. I promise tomorrow will be all about you, alright? We’ll do something fun together. Maybe a walk around the pond, if it’s nice?”
My hound moves forward, pressing his nose to her arm.
She smiles, and we forget about the food entirely. We sit next to her. She wraps her arms around us in a tight hug, and we stay like that for several minutes.
“I should go. Do you need anything else before I leave?” My hound shakes his head, making her laugh. “Sometimes I swear you can understand me.” She kisses our head and we follow her to the entryway.
I’m shifting before the lock even engages. I throw my underwear on, lock the door again, and nearly trip down the hall while I put the rest of my clothes on. Jumping down the flights of stairs saves me a few seconds, but when I open the door to my apartment, she’s already inside.
Oh, shit.
“Is everything all right?” she asks, concerned.
I swallow. Fuck, fuck, fuck. What the hell do I tell her? “Absolutely. Sorry, the front desk called about a package.”
“Where are your shoes?”
I rub the back of my neck. “It sounded urgent, so I guess I hurried down in just my socks.”
“And the package?” She’s not buying my excuse for even a second.
“Sent back. It wasn’t for me, so I told them to return it to the original sender.” Desperate to change the subject, I ask, “Did everything go well with Cooper?”
She nods. “I feel bad for leaving him alone, so I told him tomorrow would be a Cara and Cooper day.”
“I’m sure he’ll love that. Oh, I almost forgot. There’s a surprise for us in the fridge.”
Her eyes light up, and she practically bounces with excitement. “What kind of surprise?”
“Open and see,” I tell her, washing my hands at the sink.
She does this sexy little dance when she finds what I’d picked up for dessert. I don’t even think she knows how hot it is to watch her grippable hips swaying with excitement. My hound rumbles a growl of approval that I have to cover with a cough.
Asshole.
“These look delicious!” she says as she turns with the box of toffee cheesecake sticks.
“You ate a pastry in class once that had toffee bits on top, so when I saw this at the store, I thought you might like it.”
She stares at me, eyes wide as it dawns on her. It was the third class she attended, and she sneakily tried to share her treat with Reagan. “You noticed that?”
Maybe I shouldn’t have given away just how much I’ve paid attention to her. This obsession I have knows no bounds. “I do.”
“I don’t know what surprises me more, that you remember it, or that you didn’t call me out for it in front of the entire class.” She hands me a stick before taking one for herself and putting the rest back in the fridge.
“Honestly, I thought about it.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“You were enjoying the sweet, and I didn’t want to ruin it.”
The smile that grows on her face is soft and full of emotion. “Next time I’ll bring an extra one for you.”
“Only if you feed it to me.”
She puts one hand on my chest and brings her cheesecake stick to my lips. I stare into her eyes as I take a bite. Fuck me, this woman makes me wild.
I bring my stick to her lips and watch in fascination as she takes a bite. The chocolate coating cracks, and a few pieces fall to the floor, but I couldn’t care less about the mess.
Her gaze drops to my chest, and I feel her fingers brush against the metal of my collar. To her, it would only look like a necklace or chain. Her fingers feel cold, though I know it’s only my internal fire that makes it feel so.
“You wear this a lot. It’s beautiful,” she says before taking another bite of cheesecake.
“I’ve had it for as long as I can remember. I don’t think I’ve ever taken it off. The damn thing might be fused to me at this point.”
“It suits you.” She looks up at me, a mischievous grin tilting her lips before she wipes something from the corner of my mouth. It must have been chocolate or cheesecake or something, because she licks whatever it was off her thumb.
I nearly growl as I watch her tongue dart out from her plump lips, wishing I could tangle mine with hers. So, I do what any sane man would do. I smear more cheesecake on my lips.
She laughs and reaches for me again, but before she makes contact, I grab her hand and pull her into me for a kiss.
Heat blazes beneath my flesh as her lips part for me.
She presses her body into mine, every curve fitting perfectly against me like she was made to be there.
And maybe she was. She’s my mate, after all.
Her arms wrap around my neck, drawing me downward and practically begging me to fuck her right here.
And I would, too. If it weren’t for the damn sex-free truce, I’d spread her out on my counter and eat the rest of this cheesecake off of her like my last fucking meal before burying my cock inside of her until morning.
My hound hates it when I pull back, and I think Cara does too.
“I changed my mind,” she whispers, eyes darkened with lust. “I know enough about you now.”
“Is that so?” I ask, pulling her against my thickened cock and making her gasp.
“Yes,” she whimpers, and it nearly shakes my resolve.
I step back, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “A deal is a deal.” Her bottom lip juts out, and it takes every ounce of control I have not to take it between my teeth. “At least until midnight.”
Her eyes flash to mine, where I know she reads the promise behind them. We only have to make it to midnight, and then we’ll continue getting to know each other in new ways. Preferably with no clothes.
“Now come on,” I say, leading her to the living room and the game of Would You Rather sitting on top of the coffee table. “We only have a few hours left to learn everything there is to know about a person.”
She’s unboxing the game when she mutters, “It’s midnight somewhere.”
And it’s in this very moment that it hits me.
I’m in love with Cara Montgomery.