Hare Today, Bear Tomorrow (Mating Call Dating Agency #1)(21)
She felt her chest tighten slightly, and tried her best to keep from acting like a lovesick puppy. Before she knew it, Garnet was shaking with a chill that started in the deepest parts of her core and radiated outward until the sensation curled her fingers into her palms, and the tiny hairs on the back of her neck against her skin.
The two of them were silent as they made their way out of Le Chateau and back to the long, black Cadillac that brought them. The driver was dutifully waiting, and as soon as he saw them appear from the door, took the Bluetooth thing out of his ear and rolled down the window. “You guys ready to go already?” he had a smile on his face that told the pair that this wasn’t his first rodeo with Mating Call dates.
Stacy grinned, and Garnet smiled despite her lingering misgivings. Who was this girl who was willing to trust someone based on two dates and a lot of talking and not much else? She shook her head, pretending it was a deflected chill that sent a shiver through her body. Climbing into the car after he opened the door for her, some of her lingering fear began to collapse. There was still a tiny shred of worry clinging to her nerves, but feeling this man sit beside her; feeling the warmth from his body and the beat of his heart when she touched his bared wrist with her fingertips, she started to think that maybe, just maybe, this was real after all.
“What happens when the world goes back to normal? When we’re not on this weird, whirlwind vacation and we have to keep living in the normal universe?”
Stacy stared at her for a long moment, his face reflecting the cool white of the streetlights they passed underneath in a slow, patient rhythm. “I don’t think we need to worry about that. Right now we just take things a day at a time, but Garnet?”
He kissed the side of her neck softly, nuzzled her curly red hair and gave her another quick peck.
“You’re really gonna ask me to keep my head on straight with you doing that?”
Stacy laughed against her skin, sending tendrils of excitement snaking up her back. “It’s how you’ve been making me feel since the first time I laid eyes on you. Life won’t ever be ‘normal’ again. Normal for me is lonely, it’s waiting and it’s always seemed like it was just passing me by. Now, though? I feel alive. If this is the new normal, I can’t wait until we’re both old, gray and yelling at kids on our lawn.”
“If you’re willing to put up with my,” she paused when Stacy kissed her again behind the ear, and cupped his face with one of her trembling hands. “Mmm... if you can put up with my haphazard tooth brushing, I promise I’ll only nag you a little about the laundry.”
“Deal,” he whispered. “But only if you promise me one thing.”
“Yeah?” she let another trickle of pleasured laughter trickle out of her lips as Stacy curled his fingertips against the sensitive skin on the nape of her neck. When her bear traced the line of her jaw and then trailed his lingering, fluttering kisses down into the hollow of her throat, Garnet grabbed his hair, getting fists full, and grabbed his free hand, pushing it against her sex. “What do I have to promise?”
Her breathing was already harder, heavier, thicker with desire and the swirling pleasure this beautiful creature made her feel. He moved his fingers in such a way that they were massaging her sweetest place. She drew a quick breath, gritted her teeth, and laughed as a tiny, teasing orgasm shook her briefly.
“You have to promise me that you’ll never change. You’ll always be just who you are and nothing more or less.” The heat from his breath prickled Garnet’s skin down the front of her shirt, and only seconds later, she felt her nipples harden. They rubbed sweetly against the fabric of her bra as they stiffened. Garnet closed her knees, gripping Stacy’s hand between her thighs, relishing the tension.
“You can’t ever change either,” she breathed as he pressed against her again with the back of a thick finger. “You have to keep making me realize that every day is the best day of my life.”
“Tall order,” he whispered against her throat before kissing along her collarbone. “But I’ll give it my best shot.”
Back up her neck he kissed, hovering in front of her lips for just a second. “Deal,” she said again, then grabbed the back of the big bear’s head and forcing him against her, his muscled chest against her aching nipples when he turned to face her. His kiss enveloped her, and for the last few seconds of the car bumping along the road, the two of them seemed to melt together, two bodies becoming one.
“Thanks,” she heard Stacy say to the driver, as he pulled away. “Really appreciate the ride.”
Garnet felt like she was floating as he helped her out of the car, held her hand tight in his, and led her up the stairs and then to the elevator leading to their penthouse. She felt like she was floating in a warm, comfortable sea, where the only waves were soft, gentle ones that brought her closer to the sun for a moment and then receded.
For once in her life, Garnet decided to just let herself be happy, after so long without it, she figured she deserved a little taste.
8
“My God,” Garnet whispered. “This shower is ridiculous. I don’t even care about the bathtub.”
She turned the mutli-spray system on, watching the water bounce off the mosaic accent running around the middle of the stall. There were three heads in the wall at either end, and then a rain-style head that sprayed a gentle, but substantial, mist over the entire enclosure. “I want to live in this thing,” she said without realizing Stacy had come up behind her.