Werewolf Wedding(15)

He kissed the side of my face, just under my ear. The warmth sent a shock of excitement down me, once again puckering my nipples underneath my bra. The gentle rasping of my sensitive skin against the fabric was hard to ignore, especially with the other of his huge hands sliding along my belly.

“Want?” he asked with a smirk. “Of course I want that... but we have to save something for next time. If I give in all at once, you won’t have any reason to want another date.”

I curled my fingers in that wonderfully shaggy hair of his and could have just about killed him... if the thought of mystery wasn’t so obnoxiously damn awesome. “I don’t think,” I began, trilling softly when he kissed my jaw twice and then my neck, “that I’ve ever had a guy not want me to pay him back for something like that.”

That was met with another smile that could have peeled the rind off an orange. “You’ve never had one like me.”

He wasn’t asking, he wasn’t suggesting, he was telling. And he was right. Words didn’t seem like they were all that appropriate, so instead of yammering, I just curled up into the crook of an arm and kept languidly playing with his hair. “So, you’re saying there will be a next time?”

“I’m saying there will. After all, I still have to model for that statue,” he whispered, kissing me again. “And you still have to tell me what my brother said.”

My eyes shot open. “Your bro—but how? How did you know? I wasn’t trying to lie or anything,” which was true, “I just... how did you know?”

Jake laughed under his breath. “Let’s just say that after long enough dealing with Dane, I’ve got a good idea of the things he does. But I want you to know that nothing he says or does is true. There’s always a kernel of reality in his bullshit, but rarely more.”

I opened my mouth, but he hushed me with a kiss. “But that can wait until tomorrow. Right now, there’s another thing I want to show you with my tongue.”

And show me? Oh my God did he ever show me. But what struck me the most wasn’t the second mind-boggling climax, or the huge amount of meat he was capable of devouring, or even the way he made my whole body seem to twist with his words... it was that he made me feel, for some reason that I can’t really explain, partially because I hadn’t asked him why, but he made me feel special.

As we finished our beer and sat down to binge on some House MD episodes, I slid my hand into Jake’s, and for a second, I almost believed that a girl like me could get a guy like him. Which, I realize, sounds pathetic. That’s not how I mean it though. We’re just two creatures from different universes – him some kind of high powered businessman, and me? Just a sculptor with a decent studio, a nice-ish house... but shit, I’m no billionaire. Not even close.

“Why?” I finally worked up the courage to ask, as House was grumbling about how much patients lie.

“Huh?” Jake looked over at me with a lazy, half-sleepy look on his face. I’m kind of weird, I’m the first to admit it, but seeing him let his guard down like that? Looking at me without any kind of pretense, without a practiced grin or some super-sexy wink or anything... it made me feel like maybe he did actually like me, though damned if I knew why. That would be why I asked, I guess.

“Why are you here?”

“Because you had a panic attack when you were hot wiring your car,” he said simply.

“Right, but I’m looking for something a little more emotional than that. I mean, why did you come in the first place? You could have just called and said you were coming in for the statue tomorrow.” I looked at him, studying his face for any clue of what he was thinking.

“Because,” he started, before trailing off and sucking his bottom lip between his teeth.

The fact that I made him, apparently, nervous, was pretty cute, I’m going to just come out and say it. “Because...?” I poked him in the side with an elbow. “Come on, you big, strong man, what’s got you all scared?”

He looked back at me, eyes burning into my soul. “Because you caught me in a way I don’t think I’ve ever felt. The way you laugh, the twinkle in your eyes...”

“But what?” I asked, sensing something else hiding behind his words.

He shook his head. “But nothing. You asked, I told.”

Again with the finality. But I went with it. After all, there wasn’t any reason to push this guy that I’d known for exactly one week, and dated one single time – if this could even be considered a date. Instead, I decided to just enjoy it. In this life, who knows how long anything’s going to last?





-7-


“I’m really not into salads.”





-Jake


––––––––

“Do we really have to do this again?”

Jake sighed heavily, wiping the sweat out of his eyes. Leaning over the stove and stirring a massive pot of mac and cheese, he had his KISS ME I’M A WOLF apron on, and a handful of panko crumbs. He liked to be prepared when he was cooking, even if it was a little comical how prepared he was.

“Well,” his mother, Greta, said. “You do in fact have to cook it all before you can bake it. Otherwise it’ll be—”

“Mom,” Jake sighed for the eighth time, “you know what I’m talking about.”