Cade (9 page)

Breathing hard, he desperately tried to regain his control, feeling it slowly slip from his grasp with every new button Gemma slid from its fastening. Cade almost lost it when he finally glimpsed the smooth streak of silky flesh revealed to him under the shirt that now gaped open. She only had a pair of skimpy white panties on underneath, and the sight made him as hard as steel. His arousal strained against the zipper of his jeans as his gaze travelled hungrily up over the firm smoothness of her stomach to the gentle curve of her breasts barely visible to him. His eyes caressed her perfect, naked flesh, desperately wishing it was his hands, not his eyes. He needed to taste her with an urgency that was all-consuming. His
wolf
howled and clawed at him, demanding to take what he considered his. It didn’t make any sense. She was
tiger
and he was
wolf
, and they could never be together. There could never be anything between them, and to even entertain the idea was sheer stupidity. Gemma let the shirt slide down her shoulders, revealing herself to him inch by inch. Cade stopped breathing, tightening his grip on the doorjamb as he fought the urge to go to her. He had seen her naked before—had seen her shift from woman to
tiger
. But this was different. What she was doing was just for him, not the basic, primitive need to shift. He needed to feel her in his arms, against his mouth. He needed to taste her—all of her. He needed to be inside her, leave his mark on her so that no one other than him would ever dare touch her. 

You're wolf, idiot. Fucking wolf.
But his mind didn’t want to listen. No matter how much he knew that this wouldn’t work—it couldn’t—his body didn’t care. And most of all, his
wolf
didn’t give one shit that she was a
tiger
. There was something different with Gemma. Something that was more than anyone he had ever been with before.  He wanted to possess every part of her and make her his. He wanted to mark her and claim her as his potential. It was utter madness, he knew that. But he couldn’t fight it. The ache inside him twisted and demanded he go take what was his. His breath came in ragged and short as he watched her in all her naked perfection, the roundness of her full breasts as they came free of the fabric. His erection strained painfully against his jeans as he imagined cupping her breasts in his hands and sucking them into his mouth. Gemma’s lips parted, her breathing turning ragged as if she could read his mind. She stepped forward and that was it. His self-control snapped. The wood under his hands cracked. He let go of the doorframe and moved towards her.

The door to Stephen’s room swung open and Gemma gasped. Cade backed out of the room fast, the swift reflexes of his
wolf
a gift he was ever so grateful for in that moment.  He pulled Gemma’s door shut behind him and turned to walk away.

“Cade?”

Heart hammering in his chest, he hesitated for a minute before turning to face Stephen. He knew that his face was flushed, and the heat emanating from his every pore had little to do with his fever right now. His
wolf
prowled inside, growling. It had been denied what was his, and it was not happy. “Hey,” he croaked, running a hand through his dishevelled hair in an attempt at composure.

Stephen frowned at him, his eyes narrowing. “Are you okay?”

Cade fought the guilt that came rushing to the surface. He imagined the betrayal Stephen would feel if he knew what Cade had almost done. The anger. This was Gemma’s brother …
his
best friend. He trusted him with his sister. He trusted him not to be having fantasies of her naked, and he definitely trusted him not to be considering sleeping with her. “Yeah. I’m fine,” he finally said, looking anywhere but at his friend.

“Everything okay with Gemma?” he asked, cocking his head to one side.

Cade stared at Gemma’s door, hoping to god that his expression was not giving him away.  “Yeah,” he said absently. “I’m just heading to bed.”

Gemma let out the breath she had been holding on a tremulous sigh. She stared at the door with disbelief, her entire body shaking. Arousal still coursed fiercely through her veins, Stephen’s sudden appearance not having dampened it one bit. The discarded shirt still lay on the floor, Gemma having been terrified to move and pick it up. Discovering that his little sister had just tried to seduce his best friend was not something Gemma was pursuing. She had no idea what had come over her—or where she had found the nerve to do what she did.  What must he think? Fucking Stephen’s best friend and she just took her clothes off and practically invited him in. Yet, he was coming. They would probably be lying on this bed right now had it not been for Stephen. That thought alone made her shudder inside with forbidden excitement. Her stomach clenched at the memory of Cade’s gaze on her, the hunger in his eyes.

She scooped the shirt up from the floor and plonked herself down on the side of the bed. This was all wrong—all so god damn wrong. What was wrong with her? But inside her, nothing felt wrong. Cade felt right. Her
tiger
was drawn to him—it didn’t see his
wolf
as different to her.

She heard Cade go downstairs after saying goodnight to Stephen, disappointment washing over her. She realised that she had quietly been hoping he’d come back. But god, that would have been crazy. Stephen might have heard them. She shuddered. If he had caught them … She wasn’t so sure she wanted to think about that. Stephen would never understand. And he’d never accept it.

Gemma brought Cade’s shirt to her face, breathing in the smell that was so distinctly Cade; a scent that seemed to have imprinted itself onto her soul. It went so deep that her
tiger
had wrapped herself contently up inside it. She was tempted to scream into the shirt, frustrated and disappointed. But between a
tiger
and
wolf
in the house, screaming her lungs out into a shirt would mute the sound as much as if she had screamed into a loudspeaker.

She slipped the shirt back on and curled up on his bed, pretending it was Cade wrapped around her instead of just his shirt. 

Stop it. Stop it.

A light rapping on the door had Gemma nearly jumping out of her skin. She knew without a doubt that it would be Stephen. It was custom for him to say goodnight to her and her sister at home before they went to sleep. Like it was his job to make sure they were both in bed before he went himself. She could understand the need to check on Evie—she was just a little girl—but Gemma was almost twenty. She wished he’d stop being so over-protective.

Heart pounding, she stayed quiet, hoping he’d go away. She didn’t want to speak to him tonight. The guilt on her face would give her away completely. She took a deep breath as she snuggled deeper into the bed—Cade’s scent was everywhere. Teasing her, torturing her. She choked back a frustrated sob. The door cracked open and Stephen peered in. Gemma closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.

“Gem?” he whispered. “Still awake?”

She rubbed her eyes and mumbled something that she hoped was inaudible to him.

There was a pause, as if he were deliberating saying something. For a long moment, she was sure he knew—that somehow he had realised what had happened. She held her breath. “Goodnight,” he said finally, and Gemma sagged in relief.

“Goodnight,” she whispered back, but knew it was going to be anything but good. As soon as he had pulled the door closed, she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling.

What was she doing?

Cade tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable, and knowing full well it had nothing to do with the couch he was lying on. He rolled onto his back with a frustrated sigh, his eyes wide open as he stared at the ceiling. His mind was tired—more than tired—it was downright exhausted. But he couldn’t get over that mental hump and off to sleep. There was something stopping him, and he knew that that something was upstairs, lying in his bed.

Rolling back onto his side, he stared out of the window and into the night, trying to ignore the sexual frustration in his body. He hadn't bothered to close the curtains. That would have meant moving even more books and he just didn’t have the energy or the mind to do it.

He wondered if the
Humans
were still searching for the boy outside and how close they were to them. God knows what destruction they would wake up to in the morning. Of course, if the boy was caught, every single fire would be blamed on him, and he would have to be punished for those, too.  It was all the more reason why Cade would never hand him over. He couldn’t. No matter what. 

If
he was caught … It wasn’t even an option. He wouldn’t be. Cade vowed it.

The clock on the cluttered mantel displayed just after three in the morning, and Cade was still wide awake. He closed his eyes tight, desperate to just drift off, but then images of Gemma filled his mind—naked, beautiful.

“For god sake,” he cursed, slamming himself onto his back again and kicking his frustration out at the blanket that was around his legs. He snapped his eyes shut again. “This time, just fucking sleep.” He listened to the sound of his own breathing, hoping that it would calm him enough. Breathing slowly and steadily, he focused on the rhythm, and finally felt his body start to relax. He started to drift, the tension gradually easing away. Soft, delicate hands cupped the sides of his face, rousing him. His eyes fluttered open and he stared up into beautiful, green eyes that haunted his nights and days. He lay absolutely still, afraid that this was an apparition that would fade any minute. God, she was so beautiful. He dared to touch her, his hand sliding up along the soft skin of her arm and up to her face. She turned her cheek into his palm and closed her eyes with a small sigh. His eyes fell to her parted lips, his heart speeding up at the thought of tasting them. Softly, he slid his hand to the nape of her neck, gently tugging her down. He heard her soft gasp, her heart as it began to thud loudly in her chest. Her long hair fell down the sides of her face like a curtain as he pulled her down. He lifted his head so that their mouths were inches apart, their breaths mingling. He closed the distance between them and heard her sharp intake of breath just before his mouth captured hers. Her lips were warm and moist, and he groaned from the pleasure of the taste of them. He deepened the kiss, forcing her lips open so that he could sweep in. She moaned into the kiss and spread her hands over his chest, the contact snapping all control. He growled, the kiss turning fierce and desperate. Tangling his fingers in her hair, he tugged her down so that he could feel the full weight of her as she balanced herself against his chest, holding her head in place as he ravaged her mouth. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted more. His other arm came around her, pulling her even closer in an attempt to satisfy some infinite longing inside that was insatiable.

She dragged her mouth from his, panting. “Wait, Cade,” she whispered, barely an inch from him. Her eyes searched his as if seeking the same answers he was to what was happening between them. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, shaking her head.  Disentangling herself from his arms, she got up and ran from the room before Cade could do anything.

He blinked, his breathing erratic and uneven. He stared at the spot where Gemma had just been.

Had he been dreaming?

Chapter Thirteen

Gemma’s chest constricted so tightly that she was sure any moment she was going to have some kind of heart attack. She held her hand to her chest to try to calm it down and ease the pain inside. Her heart thudded against her ribs, making her gasp for breath. She stared at Cade from where she stood at the foot of his garden path. He was talking to Stephen as they decided on their next course of action now that he and Gemma would be leaving. Her heart wept from it. Her
tiger
was in mourning and she sure as hell was not going to get through the next few hours away from him. He was like a drug to her system. 

Her lips still tingled with the memory of his lips against hers. His mouth, his kiss, it had been just as hungry as her own—more so perhaps. She could have drowned in it and stayed there for all eternity.

Neither of them had mentioned the kiss that morning, but he had watched her with a hot look in his eyes—one that said he was thinking about it. She loved her brother, but she had cursed the fact that he was there. She’d have given everything to have been alone with Cade. It was evident to Gemma from the dark circles under Cade’s eyes that he hadn't slept that much, either —probably as much as she had herself. She didn’t know if she had done the right thing pulling away from him. Hell, she didn’t know if she had done the right thing going to him in the first place, but she’d had to. Once the idea had lodged itself inside her mind, she couldn’t keep herself upstairs. She hadn't meant to kiss him. She had just wanted to sit with him a while, an unfamiliar longing inside her for contact—unfamiliar because she was
tiger
, not
wolf
.
Tigers
did not have that profound need for touch that
wolves
did. But her
tiger
seemed to forget that when she was around Cade.

She had cursed herself as she had run back to her room. How far would they have gone? Had she just thrown away her only opportunity? Would Cade be more on guard now around her … try and keep his distance?