Return to Kadenburg (12 page)

Fourteen

A
s the morning light flooded the bedroom, Presley
groaned in protest. She was not ready to wake up just yet. She was warm,
comfortable, and wrapped in the arms of an amazing man. She smiled to herself,
sighing happily as she rolled over to snuggle closer to him.

“Morning,” Lorcan murmured.

“Morning,” She responded, opening her eyes to see that
he was staring at her. “What time is it?”

“Late, actually,” He replied as he rolled over and
glanced at the clock on the night stand. “Nine seventeen. Got somewhere you
need to be?”

She laughed gently, burying her face against his
chest. “No.”

“Good. I think my mom is waiting for us to get up so
she can feed us.”

Presley bolted up in the bed, clutching the blankets
against her naked chest. “What do you mean?” She asked frantically, pressing
her palm against her forehead. “Oh my god! You mean she knows we’re in here
together?”

Lorcan smirked, his eyes roaming over her face as he
quirked a brow. “Would it be such a bad thing if she does?”

Presley hid her face behind her hands, shaking her
head. “She’s going to think I’m a hussy,” She replied in a muffled voice.

“Hey,” Lorcan said sharply, gently curling his fingers
around her wrists before tugging her hands away from her face. “You are
not
a hussy. You are so far from being something like that, Pretz. Do you hear
me?”

She stared at him with wide eyes. Was he actually mad
that she said that? She couldn’t be sure. It was hard to read his expression.

“Do you think you’re a hussy because of what we did
last night?” He asked quietly, his expression softening.

Presley dropped her gaze to her lap, frowning. “Well,
I mean….Don’t you think it’s a little questionable given that I had a boyfriend
this time last month and now I’m here with you?”

“No,” Lorcan replied quickly. “No, I don’t think it’s
questionable at all.”

She tilted her head to the side, unsure of how to
respond to him as the corner of his lips twitched and relaxed.
Is he
seriously that upset over my comment? Why?

“Don’t ever call yourself that
again,” Lorcan said in a lower voice. “I mean it, Presley. There’s no set
time frame one must follow between one lover to the next,” He seemed pained to
even think about the possibility of her being with someone else, but it quickly
passed as he licked his lips. “The ways of the ursithropes work differently
anyway. Even if you were in a committed relationship with someone else right
now, the moment we kissed that night would’ve changed everything. You’d go
crazy from your attraction for me. You’d leave him to be with me. That’s just
how it works. Once you choose an ursithrope-that’s that. Even if you were
married to a human….you’d be filing divorce papers at this very moment to be
completely mine.”

“I would?” Presley asked, her eyes darting back and
forth between his. “Isn’t that a little insane?”

He chuckled gently. “Not really,” He shook his head.
“Our love is more powerful than anything else in the world. Once you chose
me…..the rest was history. And besides…..” He lifted her hand to his lips,
kissing over her knuckles gently as he kept his eyes on hers. “I don’t
necessarily think it’s right for a woman to be called something so derogatory
when men do the exact same thing and are hailed as heroes.”

Well, that was shocking; and a little infuriating.
Presley found herself
despising
the thought of Lorcan being with another
woman. Of course, that was ridiculous. There was no way that Lorcan
hadn’t
been with other women before. That was just nature. Sex was a completely
healthy, normal thing for people to experience. Still…..

“Hey now, none of that,” Lorcan murmured, leaning in to
kiss the tip of her nose. “They didn’t mean anything to me.”

She relished in the wave of heat caressing her skin as
his lips found hers, returning his kiss with just as much gentleness-until a
thought struck her. She pulled away quickly to stare at him.

“I didn’t say anything,” She blinked.

Lorcan chewed his lower lip for a second. His eyes
sparkled as he grinned and ran his fingers through his hair. “And that’s
another part you’ve not been taught yet,” He stated as he leaned back on the
mattress and stared at her. “Close your eyes.”

“What?”

“Close your eyes,” He repeated with a chuckle. “Just
do it, please?”

Presley sighed, doing as he asked. She closed her eyes
and lifted a brow. “Okay…..”

“Now clear your mind.”

She waited a few seconds, tapping her fingertips
against her knee. “Okay. It’s clear.”

This is so ridiculous. What is he on about?
She wondered, waiting for his next instruction.

“It is not clear,” Lorcan laughed. “You think I’m
crazy.”

“I do not!” She argued with a smile. “It’s clear, I
swear it.”

“No, it isn’t. You think it’s ridiculous.”

Presley’s eyes snapped open and she stared at him. He
was grinning from ear to ear, looking gorgeous as he rested his head against
his arm.

“Wait a second,” She blinked. “Are you insinuating you
can hear what I’m thinking?”

“I’m not insinuating anything. It’s common knowledge,
Darlin’,” He gazed at her lazily, another smile playing coyly at his lips.
“Just close your eyes and concentrate.”

“No way,” Presley muttered, feeling absolutely silly
for entertaining the idea.
Just remember, you can turn into Smokey the
bear. Nothing is impossible at this point.

Lorcan snickered.

“Shut up!” She laughed. “I’m going to try it now.”

“Okay,” He replied. “I’m waiting.”

Capturing her bottom lip between her teeth, Presley
closed her eyes again and attempted to clear her mind. It was actually sort of
amazing how quickly the fog of worries and thoughts dissipated. She relaxed,
allowing her mind to wander. How would she know if it worked?

‘You look absolutely beautiful when you’re trying to
concentrate.’

Her eyes popped open and she
met Lorcan’s gaze. Her mouth fell open, but no words escaped as she tilted her
head to the side.

‘Can you hear me?’
She asked in her mind.

He nodded slowly.
‘Loud and clear, Pretz.’

“No way,” She repeated in disbelief.
“This is weird.”

‘Is it really that weird? We can turn into Smokey
the Bear, remember?’
He chuckled, flashing another brilliant smile as he
shifted on the bed and rested a hand against his ripped stomach. God, the
muscles he possessed……

‘Presley Goult, you’re undressing me with your
eyes.’
His voice swam through her mind, causing shivers to race down her
spine as she blushed.
‘I’m already naked, Darlin’.’

Her face was on fire as she
pulled her gaze from his and stared at her hands instead. She giggled
sheepishly and wrinkled her nose.
‘Stop it.’

‘Or what?’
He
challenged.
‘Don’t you like being in my head?’

‘It’s weird. It’s going to take some
getting used to.’

‘You’ll get used to it. Everyone
eventually does.’

“How is it possible?” Presley
asked as she found her courage again and lifted her eyes to meet his. “How can
we do that, Lorcan? We weren’t able to before.”

Lorcan straightened up, leaning in to push her hair
away from her face before stroking his fingertips over her jaw. “Do you not
remember last night?” He asked teasingly.

Oh, she remembered last night. If there had ever been
a night that could be called magical, orgasmic, and unforgettable; it was last
night. Goose bumps appeared on her skin as her heart sped up. Her mouth went
dry at the thought of Lorcan’s body covering every inch of hers, bringing her
to heights she never knew could exist. The color flooded her cheeks as she
smiled shyly. “I don’t think I could ever forget,” She admitted.

“That’s why,” He stated as the pad of his thumb traced
over her bottom lip. “We coupled, Pretz. You gave yourself to me and I gave
myself to you. We’re connected.”

Maybe it was supposed to sound strange to her, and a
week ago she would’ve been laughing in his face for sounding crazy; but the
truth was, she accepted it a lot easier than anything else thus far. She could
honestly believe that ursithropes experienced a love beyond human
comprehension. She believed that once connected with one of her own, she could
trade thoughts. It was like the veil had been torn away from her eyes, and
everything became vividly clear; she was an ursithrope; a child of Urseth. She
had been given the opportunity to live in two very different worlds simultaneously,
and the man gazing at her loved her unconditionally and more deeply than anyone
else ever could.

“What are you thinking about?” Lorcan asked curiously
as he cupped her cheek with his enormous hand, gazing at her thoughtfully.

She laughed. “Why don’t you just read my mind and find
out?”

“Because I want you to tell me,” He shrugged.

“I’m thinking…..” She started as her eyes slowly swept
over his face. “That coming back to Kadenburg may possibly be the best
decision I’ve ever made in my life. I mean, the reasoning behind it is still
hard to deal with. There’s a lot I still need to tell you, Lorcan, but I’m
really glad I came home.”

He nodded, bowing his head as a soft breath escaped
from between his lips. “I know about what happened in Florida,” He admitted
earnestly. “I’m so sorry, Presley.”

An ache made itself known in her chest as she lifted
her eyes to stare at him. “You know?” She questioned in a small voice.

“Yeah,” He gazed at her with such sadness in his eyes.
She could feel it radiating from his strong frame as he wrapped his arms around
her. “You were dreaming about it. I didn’t mean to pry. I was just trying to
get the hang of our connection. I’m sorry if I saw something you didn’t want
me to see.”

She buried her face against his chest, breathing in
the scent she’d already become so enamored with smelling. Her hands rested
against the smooth skin of his upper back as she sighed. “I want you to see
everything,” She confessed. “I want you to know everything, Lorcan. I don’t
want to hide anything from you.”

Where in the hell did that come from? Since when was
it so easy for her to let her walls down and invite someone inside? Even when
she was with Tim, they had never had such intimate conversations before. Even
after he found out she was pregnant, they never actually had heart to heart
talks such as this.

Maybe that’s why things just didn’t work out,
she thought.
Maybe it wasn’t just about the fact I couldn’t carry his child…..he
just didn’t care about me as much as I wanted him to.

“I care about you,” Lorcan said
suddenly, pulling her out of her thoughts. “I’ve always cared about you,
Pretz. And you know what?” He pulled back to gaze at her again. “Even in a
parallel universe; if you came back home and you were carrying his baby? I’d
still love you.”

She bit her lower lip in an attempt to prevent it from
quivering as she blinked back the tears rapidly gathering in her eyes. So he
did know about the baby she’d lost, and he was being wonderful about
everything. Lorcan was perfect.

“You dreamed about it, too,” He nodded. “It’s on your
mind a lot, Presley. Even when you were just waking up, you were thinking
about your baby,” He smiled warmly.

She opened her mouth to say something else when a knock
sounded at the door. She quickly clutched the sheets against her chest as the
door inched open and Mrs. Bamey spoke.

“Are you two decent?” She asked.

“Maybe, Mama,” Lorcan chuckled. “We’ll be out in just
a minute.”

“Oh,” There was a beat of silence. “Well, good!
Breakfast is waiting for you and then we need to have that meeting. Everyone
is anxious to talk about our next step.”

“Got it,” Lorcan glanced at Presley, winking. “We’ll see
you in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” There was definitely a sense of happiness in
Mrs. Bamey’s voice as she shut the door back. Presley listened to her
retreating footsteps before turning her head to look at Lorcan.

“So she’s completely okay with us being in here
together?” She asked.

“She is,” He nodded, pushing the blankets away before
he got up. Presley’s eyes immediately traveled down his back, drinking in
every beautifully chiseled inch of his naked flesh as he rummaged through his
dresser. Did they
really
have to get dressed? She heard him chuckle as
he glanced at her over his shoulder. “Your uncle is still adjusting.”

“Oh god,” She groaned, burying her face into her
hands. “How mad is he?”

“He’s not really mad,” Lorcan replied as he pulled a
t-shirt down over his torso. The fabric strained to cover his skin, showing
off every muscle he possessed as
BAMEY 17
stared back at her. She
recognized that shirt; and that number. It was his old track and field top
from their high school days. She smiled as the memories floated through her
mind, taking her back to a simpler time as Lorcan’s mouth found hers.