A Touch of Magic, page 10
part #8 of True Mates Generations Series
“That’s your stepmother?”
That distasteful look come back on Silke’s face. “Don’t let Joanie hear you say that. To her, Ransom’s her only child.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. You said she married your father.”
Silke shrugged. “It’s all right. I’m used to it. Joanie wasn’t a wicked stepmom or anything, just indifferent. She made sure I was fed and clothed while I was growing up, but Ransom was the apple of her eye. Part of me thinks Pops married her so soon after my mom died because he just didn’t know how to take care of a baby. But he loved her in his way, and she cared for Pops. Anyway.” She pasted a smile on her face. “Let’s not spend the whole time talking about my baggage.”
A few more people had joined them on the loungers, and Sabrina actually found herself having a good time, though she mostly listened to everyone else’s stories. It was strange, really. A few days ago, the thought of being surrounded by so many strangers would probably have made her anxiety levels shoot up, but now, she actually felt relaxed. Perhaps it was the fresh mountain air and the beautiful scenery. It was inspiring really, and maybe tomorrow she could ask Silke if she could come out here and do some painting. It might be a nice thank you gift, too, after all the other woman had done for her.
The sun was nearly gone by the time everyone decided to start cleaning up and head back. Sabrina volunteered to put the food away, and she chatted with some of the kitchen staff as she helped them place leftovers into containers.
“Hey, you guys seen Annie?” Hardy asked as he jogged up to them, his face a mask of worry. “I swear I just turned around for a second and she was gone.”
Sabrina scanned the area and saw a flash of bright yellow by the line of trees on their left before disappearing. “Oh, I think I see her. Over there. Let’s go get her before she gets lost.” She murmured an apology to the rest of the staff finishing up the work and then signaled to Hardy to follow her.
Together, they jogged toward the direction she saw Annie wander off to, going past the line of trees and walking deeper into the thicket. Bugs chirped around them as they walked along a narrow path covered by a canopy of branches and leaves.
“There you are!” Hardy exclaimed with a relieved sigh when he spotted Annie playing by a large fallen black oak tree. Jogging over, he swooped down and picked her up, sending her into a fit of giggles. “Oh baby, you scared Daddy.” He peppered her face with kisses. “Don’t you ever do that again.”
As he held her tight, Sabrina felt a strange twist in her stomach. Probably my ovaries exploding, she thought to herself. It was just so cute watching the big biker go all soft and melty for his daughter. Her fingers were itching to paint them and capture this memory forever. Might make another nice gift too.
“I shoulda kept my eyes on her,” Hardy said sheepishly. “Thank you.”
“It’s nothing, I just spotted her, that’s all.”
His smile was warm and made him look even more handsome. “Annie’s my world, you know? I didn’t think I could do this alone. I didn’t want to at first. But now I can’t imagine life without her.”
“Oh, her mom—”
“Isn’t in the picture,” he said, his tone edgy.
Poor Annie. She reached out and tucked a stray curl from the child’s face. “I’m sure you’re doing a great job.”
“Yeah, well.” He shrugged. Annie began to squirm in his arms, so he set her down, though kept a hand around her tiny wrist to keep her from wandering off. “So are you and Ransom like—”
“Ransom?” She shook her head. Half the time she felt like an annoying gnat he wanted to swat away. “Oh, no.” And the other half? Well it felt like he wanted to gobble her up like Little Red Riding Hood.
His face lit up. “That’s great. I mean,” he laughed nervously. “Just …” He bit his lower lip. “He’s our prez. And I wouldn’t poach on his territory.”
Oh God, was he flirting with her? Had she drunk some kind of love potion in the last twenty-four hours that made all these hot men start noticing her? “It’s not anything like that.”
“Sabrina?”
She froze, her body immediately reacting to the sound of that voice. Oh, why was it that faced with two equally attractive men, her damn traitorous body only wanted one, the one who didn’t want her back?
“Jonasson.” Hardy gave the other man a nod. “Nice of you to finally come back.”
The tension in the air became thick as molasses. Cross came up beside her, his shoulders and back stiff. “Hardy,” he said curtly. Then he turned to Sabrina. “I went to the cabin and you weren’t there. I’ve been looking all over for you. I didn’t think you’d leave.”
“Why wouldn’t I? Am I some kind of prisoner?” she bit out.
His jaw tightened. “That’s not what I meant. I was worried about you.”
“If you were worried about her, then you shouldn’t have left her alone,” Hardy interjected.
Cross’s eyes flashed—no, they glowed. “Was I talking to you, Lone Wolf?”
“Listen here, Jonasson,” Hardy said. “You’re on Savage Wolves turf. You don’t get to speak to me that way.”
“What the hell are you doing out here with her?” Cross growled.
“Oh, for God’s sake, Cross! Please, stop,” she said. “I—”
She sucked in a breath as Cross looped his arm around her and everything went cold. A shiver ran through her as her surroundings shimmered away, and she found herself inside the cabin. “Damn it, Cross, what did you do that for?” she roared at him.
“Why were you alone with him in the woods?” His hand gripped her arm tight.
She wrenched away from him. “If you stopped and used your head for one second, you would have realized we weren’t alone! His kid was there with us. I saw Annie wander off by herself, and so we went after her!”
His face fell. “I didn’t mean to be so gruff. I was worried about you.”
“Well, you know what? Hardy was right. If you were worried about me, you wouldn’t have left.”
“That’s not …” He let out a sound of frustration and scrubbed his palm down his beard. “I had to take care of a few things. To find the people trying to hurt you.” He reached out to touch her shoulder. “And of course, you’re not a prisoner here. I just thought you wouldn’t want to leave. With your … anxiety and all.”
How did he know about that? “Well, it was a nice day, and I’ve been cooped up far too long. And Silke insisted I come to this party, and seeing that she’s my host, I couldn’t say no. Everyone was nice to me,” she said in a soft voice. “We were all having a nice time.” Until you ruined it.
She didn’t have to say that out loud, but it was obvious he understood what she meant from the way his shoulders went taut. “Just say the word, and I’ll bring you back to your precious Hardy’s company.”
“My precious—” Her jaw dropped. There was a small flutter in her belly. Holy moly, was he jealous? She observed the way the scowl on his face deepened and how his fingers clenched and unclenched. Then that glow in his eyes came back, and the fluttering intensified. “If you wanted my company, well, here I am. Not like I can go away. But you leave me for a whole day without saying anything. Without telling me about what happened that day in my studio … what am I supposed to think?”
“It was a kiss, nothing more,” he said. “Friends can kiss.”
“Not like that.” Not in the way that made it difficult to forget or think of anything else.
“Think what you like.”
Part of her wanted to shrink back into that frightened, anxiety-ridden, self-conscious shell of a person she’d somehow turned into since the accident. But if she wanted answers—real ones and not the half-truths he’d been supplying her—she would have to take a step forward and take what she needed. “Fine. Kiss me again and tell me it doesn’t mean anything.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“Do it, and I’ll never bother you again. Kiss me so I can remember that it didn’t mean anything.” Blood roared in her ears, and her heart thumped loudly against her rib cage. “Unless you’re afraid that I’m right.”
He growled softly—a sound that sent heat straight to her core—then grasped her by the waist and held her tight. She clung to him, scared that she would melt into a puddle as his lips came down on hers.
Dear Lord, it was better than a memory. Better than any kiss she’d had before and probably any she would have after this. His mouth moved hungrily over hers, making her body ache for more. She felt consumed, and every thought in her brain, and every feeling in her body distilled down to this kiss.
His hands moved to her lower back, pressing her against him, her mouth gasping as she felt his hardness press against her belly. Cross wanted her. Her. It sent her mind reeling to know he desired her like this.
His tongue licked against the seam of her lips, plundering her mouth as she opened up to give him access. He practically devoured her, and her overstimulated mind couldn’t process if she could smell or taste his chocolatey scent. Fingers thrust into her hair, giving her a gentle tug, and the desire in her core flared.
“Cross,” she moaned as his mouth moved lower to kiss her jaw, trailing down to her neck. He nibbled on the skin, his tongue leaving scorch marks in its wake. She wanted to touch him, and so she did. Her hands slipped under his shirt, feeling the warm skin over his taut muscles, kneading them until he moaned aloud.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured against her neck.
“For what?” She was dizzy and lightheaded.
“I’m sorry I can’t control myself around you. Sorry I couldn’t pretend you didn’t mean anything to me.”
His confession made her chest ache, and she wondered if it mirrored his feeling. “I knew it,” she breathed. It was there. That spark of something between them. “But I wish I could remember. Why won’t you tell me more about what happened?”
“It’s for your own protection, Sabrina,” he whispered. “Can you trust me on this? Just this one thing?”
That feeling in her chest was back—the one that told her he wasn’t going to hurt her. It was telling her to trust him. Maybe she should listen to it. For now, anyway.
“All right.” Pulling away from him, she grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the bed. “Please, Cross.”
His eyes turned dark. “Sabrina, you don’t know what you’re asking.”
“I do.” She moved back until she felt the bed behind her, then pushed herself up. “I want this.”
“You’re not ready, Sabrina,” he said. “And I’m not a saint, I won’t be able to stop.”
“I don’t want you to stop,” she said.
“Sabrina,” he said with a sigh as he folded her hands into his. “We haven’t … I mean, before your accident, we didn’t get a chance to make love.”
A curious feeling bloomed in her chest at those last two words. Make love. Not sleep together, not sex, not fuck. Love. “You’re right.” She rubbed her temple. “I do want to remember.”
There was a strange look on his face, but it was so fleeting she didn’t have time to process it. “And if you don’t, that’s all right too. You shouldn’t feel pressured.”
Perhaps the past should stay in the past. And it was time she moved forward and make a new life. And something new with Cross instead of clinging to what they had been, she should look forward to what they could be. “I still want you.”
He took in a sharp breath. “Me too.”
“Then come here.” She pushed herself back farther on top of the mattress. “I just need to touch you.” There was an urge driving her to get her hands on him. She desperately wanted to know what his skin tasted like. “And I need you to touch me. We don’t have to do … anything else.”
Cross looked like he was battling with himself. And he was slowly losing. Releasing a soft growl, he slipped his shoes off, climbed into bed, and crawled toward her, like a predator approaching its prey.
A thrill of excitement rushed up her spine as she stared into his face, her body going hot all over as she read the expression of pure lust there. He crawled over her, covering her with his big body, making her feel small. She closed her eyes as his head came down, capturing her mouth again in a soft, slow kiss.
His hands moved lower, one cupping her breast through the sundress and the other reaching down, skimming over the soft mound of her belly and lower still to cup her between the legs. She gasped as the heat of his hand seemed to penetrate the layers of clothes. His mouth suckled on hers harder, driving his tongue deeper into her, like he was a man dying of thirst.
“I need to taste you,” he growled against her mouth. “Let me taste you.”
She nodded, liking the way he seemed both polite and savage at the same time. He didn’t waste any time as he moved lower, pushing her dress up to her waist. He frowned as his finger touched the edge of the one-piece swimsuit she wore under the dress. Yikes, she’d forgotten about that.
“I’ll take it off.” She fumbled for the buttons on the front of the sundress. “I—oh.” Suddenly, she couldn’t feel the spandex on her skin. Feeling around her torso, she realized that it was gone. “How—” His hands slipped under her ass, and he pulled her forward, sending her body jerking when his mouth touched her damp, naked pussy lips. “Cross!”
Her hands fisted in the sheets as he licked at her, the filthy sounds of his tongue lapping at her setting her cheeks on fire. Looking down and watching his head between her thighs sent her into the stratosphere, and she let out a scream as his tongue thrust into her. That only made him grip her ass tighter and lick at her faster. Her hips bucked up at him, trying to get as much of his tongue inside her, the need clawing at her. Pushing her hips down, he lay a hand on her to keep her still as his mouth found her clit.
“Nngghh!” It was unbearable, the pleasure that spread through her as he sucked on her nub. His fingers began to probe at her entrance, and when he thrust one inside her, she couldn’t stop the wave of the orgasm that washed over her, sending her body into convulsions. She peaked, then was tumbling over the edge. The edges of her vision seemed to brighten as she fell and finally, her hips settled on the mattress.
She opened her eyes when she fully regained the feeling in her body. To her chagrin, he was still between her legs, looking up at her with those intense blue-green eyes. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and for some reason, that gesture sent a pulse to her pussy. Maybe she should have thought this over. Despite the intense orgasm he just gave her, she still felt hot and needy.
He rolled over behind her and gathered her to his chest, then pushed her hair aside to kiss the back of her neck. “You taste so good.”
She turned around to face him and pressed her mouth to his neck, licking at the skin. He tasted so masculine and warm. Her hand moved lower, over the thin fabric of his T-shirt that barely hid the rock-hard muscles of his abs, then down to the buttons on his jeans.
“You don’t have to,” he whispered. “We can just lay here like this.”
“But I want to,” she said. “Please, let me touch you.”
With a deep sigh, he reached down and unbuttoned his fly. “I might not last … it’s been too long.”
“Too long?” The words sent hope fluttering in her chest. “You haven’t—”
“Not since I met you,” he confessed. “Sabrina!” He moaned as her hand slipped under his briefs and grasped him.
Jesus. He was so large and hard in her palm. Her fingers wrapped around his shaft, holding it firmly. His hips jerked forward, and he shrugged his pants and briefs down lower. She gripped him tighter, moving her hand up and down his cock.
He let out a strangled groan that sounded like her name. A hand thrust into her hair, tangling tight in her locks as he threw his head back. His breath came in short gasps. She looked down, watching with fascination his enormous cock in her hand, the tip purple and angry. A soft cry of surprise escaped her mouth when his hand closed over hers, increasing the rhythm.
“Sabrina,” he cried out, then bit his lip as his body spasmed. His hot come spurted from the tip of his cock, painting his stomach. He gave a last shudder before his body relaxed and he closed his eyes.
He released her hand, and she let her arms fall to the sides, unsure what to do next. One eye opened, then the other until he was staring at her with a grin. “Thank you.”
“Uh, welcome?” That sounded weird, but from the blissful look on his face, it was probably the right thing to say.
He wiped his hand and stomach on his shirt, then waved his hand over them. She barely blinked when she felt something soft on her skin. Pajamas had appeared on her body; fur lined too, and he had matching bottoms. She snuggled against him, burying her face in his chest.
“We’ll make love when you’re ready,” he said, stroking her hair.
There it was again. Those words. Clearing her throat, she nodded and said, “Are you going to leave tomorrow?”
“Only for a short while.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be back, I promise.”
She believed him. And she supposed that would have to be enough for now.
Chapter Seven
“Well, you’re in a good mood,” Silke said as they drove in her utility truck. She had come by around noon and invited Sabrina over to lunch at the lodge. Cross had left early in the morning, but he did wake her up with a kiss and a quick goodbye. Seeing as she would be alone anyway, she accepted Silke’s invitation.
“Hmmm?” Sabrina turned toward her. “Am I?”
Silke slid her a sly look. “Does it have anything to do with the fact that you disappeared with Cross after the barbecue?”
Warmth crept into her cheeks. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Oh, who said anything about kissing?” Silke laughed. “But seriously, if that smile on your face is any indication, then I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you.” She released a sigh of relief. “Silke, you and Cross … there’s nothing there, right?” The moment the question came out of her mouth, she regretted it. He told her he hadn’t been with anyone since they met, and she should really trust him.
