Redeemed (13 page)

It was funny how she thought of him as her ex considering they’d never been officially married by human standards. A lot of shifters did marry in the human way in order to blend in with the world. Damon had never asked that of her.

Her gaze traveled down to the low jeans that rested at Evan’s hips. The denim hugged him perfectly as though he’d worn the pair forever. She swallowed around the lump in her throat when she found herself staring at his package and jerked her gaze up toward his face. His perfectly chiseled jawline showed the faint sprinkling of hair from lack of shaving. He had closed his eyes and she stared at his lids, watching the way they danced around as his eyes moved beneath them. His mouth was shut, but in a loose peaceful expression. She had the urge to run her finger over his lips and memorize their texture.

And then she switched to craving the feel of those lips against her own again. He wouldn’t have to compare to Damon in that department. She couldn’t remember one instance when he’d touched her face, except with the back of his hand.

She leaned forward, learning his face while he rested his eyes. His breath mingled with her own, the faint mint from last night’s toothpaste doing very little to cover his scent. A scent she would know always and forever. Even in a crowded stadium she would be able to identify him and hunt him down.

He licked his lips then and she moaned, startling herself and then flinching at her indiscretion. When she let her gaze flick to his eyes, she found him staring at her. How long had she ogled his lips?

He didn’t move or give any hint to what he was thinking and somehow that gave her the strength to blurt out her next sentence. “Would you mind kissing me again?”

He stared at her and narrowed his gaze the tiniest bit, still as a statue. Nothing in his expression gave away his emotions.

Too many seconds went by and she felt a flush rise up her face. She jerked back and sat facing away from him, lowering her head toward her lap and wringing her fingers in front of her.
So stupid
. “I’m sorry. That was a dumb idea.”

Evan slowly sat next to her. With calculated moves that gave her no reason to freak out, he grasped her shoulders and lay her back onto the mattress. He hovered over her, his brow furrowed more than a moment ago. Was he mad?

“Baby, you can have anything your heart desires at any time. You just shocked me, and it took me a second to pull my wits together. I want to be sure you make choices with your head and your heart every step of the way. I would kick myself if I thought I hurt you because you let the mating instinct overrule your good sense and sped toward the claiming at a pace you aren’t ready to handle in your mind or in your heart.”

He set a hand so lightly on her chest between her breasts. The blankets had fallen down to her waist and the only thing covering her was the T-shirt half of her pajamas. The warmth from his palm calmed her. Every time he touched her she calmed. The effect was the exact opposite of what she would have expected.

In her experience with human or shifter contact over the last several months since her rescue, she could barely tolerate the slightest grazing of skin—even from her own family.

But Evan… Evan could do no wrong. Instead of sending her heart into a racing dither, he slowed the pace with a touch.

She relaxed into the bed, calm, her thoughts not racing at all. She focused on only one thing—his lips.

“Ask me again.”

She lifted her heavy eyes from his mouth, confused for a moment. And then it dawned on her. “Kiss me, Evan.”

Without taking his gaze off hers, he lowered his entire frame over her until his lips grazed hers in the slightest of kisses. Slow, steady, he consumed her with barely noticeable contact.

A millimeter at a time he let himself lower until all she knew was his perfect mouth in a sweet kiss that rivaled the one from last night. He nibbled her lips, not releasing her gaze.

And suddenly her calm became a storm. The perfect storm. Her comfortable relaxed body came alive and she wanted more. She wanted to know everything about this man who’d stolen her soul. She grabbed his biceps with both hands and pulled him closer. He resisted, but she managed to deepen the kiss. She let her eyes close against his piercing stare and tipped her head to one side so she could get a better angle on his mouth.

As though her tongue had a mind of its own, it reached out instinctively to lick the seam of Evan’s lips. He startled, but only for a second. A normal person probably wouldn’t have noticed, but Ashley wasn’t normal. She was a shifter, and she was sensitive. Alert.

More alert than ever in her life.

His taste matched his scent, a deep male flavor that was all Evan with a hint of mint. When his tongue came out to tease her own, she heard a slight high-pitched moan that startled her.

Her eyes shot open as Evan pulled back. He was grinning from ear to ear.

She noticed several things at once. She was squeezing the life out of his arms. Her fingers ached. Her entire body was warmer than it should be. Evan looked pleased with himself. Her sex came to life beneath the blankets, demanding contact for the first time in years. And, perhaps most importantly, she wanted him to keep going.

“I want more.” She licked her lips.

“I know you do, baby.” He raised one arm and brushed her hair from her forehead with the tips of his fingers.

“Did I make that noise?”

“Yep.” He smiled again and gazed into her eyes in that way he was developing a habit of doing. “And it was so sexy.”

Her sex literally throbbed when he said sexy. She squeezed her legs together to hold back the ache. It didn’t work.

“Kiss me again?”

“Not on your life.” He chuckled. “I’m a good man, Ashley, but I do know my limitations.”

She flushed deeper.
Did he just turn me down?
How mortifying. She closed her eyes and moaned for real this time. Embarrassment flooded her system. She released his arms and flopped her hands at her sides, wishing he would back away from her so she could endure her discomfiture alone.

“Don’t freak out on me, baby.” He soothed her forehead with his fingers, brushing them over both eyelids as he stroked her skin. “I can smell your arousal. It’s intense and you know it as well as I do. It’s perfectly normal. The call of mates rules the body. But you could easily get carried away. Like I said, I want your heart and your mind, not just your body. And I want those parts first.”

Ugh
. Why did nature have to arrange for her to mate the only sensible man born on earth?

He chuckled. “You do things to me I never thought possible.”

I
do things to
him?
Jeez.

She swallowed. Words wouldn’t form. She concentrated on the V between her legs, unsure if she wanted the craving inside her to subside or grow. It was a conundrum.

“God, Ashley. You make me lose my mind.” He sat up, his shadow leaving her space.

For a woman who couldn’t stand anyone in her personal space or touching her, she sure felt bereft of his huge frame hovering over her.

He turned so he faced away from her and she opened her eyes a sliver to watch his back as he took deep breaths. She’d made him horny. If he was half as horny as her, he’d be hurting.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, setting a hand on his back. “That was inconsiderate of me. It won’t happen again.”

Evan jerked his gaze over his shoulder and frowned. “I hope it happens dozens of times, today in fact. I just wasn’t prepared. You caught me off guard. I need to rein in the…little head.” He cringed as he said it. “Sorry. I couldn’t think of how else to put it. Didn’t mean to be crass.”

The little head
. She doubted any part of this giant man was “little.”

He sobered before he spoke again. “I’ll be ready next time. Don’t hold back on my account. Whatever you’re ready for, I’m here for you. I’ll live. I just knew you weren’t ready for more than that kiss this morning. Am I mistaken?”

She shook her head. “That was my second kiss.”
Now why did I have to go and admit that?
Her face flamed.

Evan’s eyes widened. His mouth opened but no sound came out.

“With the exception of Paul Michaels. He kissed me on the playground in third grade. Said I was cute.” She grinned, hoping to cover up her complete mortification over the admission.
What twenty-five-year-old woman hasn’t been kissed?

He found his voice. “I’m honored. I hope I did it justice.”

“More than.”

To her startled amazement, he reached for her, lifted her with both hands, and pulled her to sit across his lap.

To further her shock, she didn’t mind a bit. She loved the way he took charge and handled her so gently.

“In that case, I shall kiss you again, this time a bit more thoroughly.” He didn’t lose her gaze as he spread one giant hand between her shoulder blades and steadied her on his lap. He took her mouth tenderly, but pressed into her, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Like a starving man, he consumed her, his tongue entering her mouth and tangling with her own in a duel that would have made her giggle if she weren’t so consumed with need. Every cell in her body came alive. Her breasts swelled, seeming heavier than a moment ago. Her nipples puckered and brushed against the cotton of her T-shirt as though it were sandpaper.

And the things that happened between her legs weren’t describable. Wetness, heat, tightness. She squirmed against his thighs, unable to dispel the consuming ache that built and built until she thought she would burst open from a simple kiss.

How the hell was the connection of their lips sending fireworks down to her sex?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing had prepared her for this moment. Everything they said about mating was true. Any doubt she may have held about the validity of Evan being her true mate fled the room. She’d never felt an inkling of this rampage of sensation flooding her body.

She squeezed her thighs together as Evan continued to devour her mouth. She wanted more. She reached into him deeper with her tongue, mimicking what her pussy demanded below. Her clit throbbed and she knew the tiny nub was no longer protected by its hood. It brushed against her panties as she squirmed.

Her palms grew damp with sweat where she grasped the material of her pajama bottoms. She couldn’t move them. She had no idea where else to put them, and besides her brain cells were occupied commanding her pussy into action and sending her blood to her sex.

As Evan tilted his head the other direction to provide her with a new angle, she became increasingly aware of another factor. His erection was pressing into her thigh, huge and as obvious as a freight train.

Part of her screamed to reach out and touch it, learn it, feel its strength. The rest of her concentrated on the enormous size of his shaft. She’d heard no two men were alike. She knew rationally that some were larger than others. But from the force of the bulge at her leg, she had to doubt the masculinity of her previous jackass of a partner.

She both longed to see his erection and feared the first time he entered her with it.

She felt like a teenage virgin dabbling precariously close to second base.

And considering the cold calculated way all her previous sexual experiences had been, most of them from behind, doggy style, she felt she almost owned that virginal status.

This time it was Evan who moaned. He released her mouth, leaving it swollen and puffy. She didn’t have the energy to lick her lips. He set his forehead against hers and held her gaze. He seemed to constantly judge her through her eyes. And he was always dead on. He read her soul through the depths of her pupils with incredible accuracy, never missing his mark when he analyzed her feelings.

“I love you.” His words startled her. “I know it’s absurd and quick and we barely know each other, but I know how I feel, and I don’t want to waste a moment of my life pretending anything other than that. Life is too short and filled with crazy twists and turns. If anything happened to either of us today, I’d want you to have known how I felt at this moment. I love you, Ashley.” He kissed her lips again, a gentle peck to solidify his words.

She had no idea what to say.

And he didn’t ask anything of her, not even with his eyes. He wasn’t disappointed and didn’t need reciprocation. In fact, he kissed her nose, her cheek, her ear. He nibbled a path around her face as though he’d won the lottery.

“I have to get home. I have an assignment. I’m in the middle of a job.”

“What is it?”

He held her away from him and frowned. Finally he spoke again. “I won’t always be able to tell you what I’m working on. It’s usually confidential. And this project is no different. But I have a lot of papers to dig through and they will be arriving at my house at ten. It will take me a few days to organize the material before I have to hit the road again.”

Deflated was the only way to describe how she felt. Her shoulders sagged against her will and all the air ran out of her lungs. He was leaving?

“Come with me? To my place.”

She lifted her face, inhaling oxygen back into her lungs. He wasn’t blowing her off after all.

“I’d really love to have you by my side, at least in my home, while I work. Would you mind?”

She found her throat, dry and cracking, as she tried to speak. “Of course.”
Thank you, God
. If he had walked out the door at that moment and left her sitting on her bed, a complete hurricane of emotions, she might not have survived the day. “Let me take a quick shower and grab some things.”

He set her on her feet and held her steady in front of him before releasing her. Reluctance was the emotion she read on his face, a slight dip that happened between his eyes every time he was unsure of something.

As she turned toward the bathroom, she let herself smile. She weighed less than she had yesterday, her chest lighter and floating above the ground, making her steps seem to hardly touch the floor.

When the doorbell rang at ten o’clock sharp, Evan steadied his little mate with a touch to her leg. She lay on the couch curled into herself, reading a book, or pretending to. The sound of the doorbell had stiffened her entire frame and he ached deep inside at what Damon had taken from her. “It’s FedEx,” he whispered as he kissed her forehead. He patted her thigh and stepped past her.