Sunshine's Kiss (14 page)

“Love you, sunshine,” Jesse whispered.

Sam didn’t reply, but he did reach for Jesse’s hand and twine their fingers together. For now, that would be enough. It was more than enough. Sam wasn’t running screaming from the room. He was staying and even reaching out. Jesse had to believe that the words would come in time, as Sam grew more comfortable being mated to a Lycan.

Jesse glanced up when the office door opened. His arms tightened around Sam until he saw Sarah walk through the door with a tray of tea in her hands, Jake following right behind her. He leaned down and nuzzled at the top of Sam’s head.

“Hey, sunshine, your mom brought tea.”

Sam sat up and glanced toward the door. He chuckled a little and leaned back against Jesse, whispering, “You know I hate tea, right?”

“Yeah?”

Sam shook his head. “Can’t stand the stuff. I never could.”

“Does your mom know that?”

“Nope.” Sam tilted his head back to look up at Jesse. His eyes were full of mischief. “Are you going to tell her?”

“Do I look stupid to you?”

Sam grinned. His hand curved around the side of Jesse’s face. “You look gorgeous to me.”

Jesse blinked in shock. He drew in a deep breath and tried to shove his instant arousal back down where it belonged, which was basically anywhere Sam’s mother wasn’t. “Okay, would you prefer something else?”

“Well, I prefer tequila, but bad things happen when I drink tequila, so I’ll settle for some juice or something.”

Jesse frowned. “What kind of bad things?” Did this have something to do with Desmond?

“My clothes come off,” Sam said, like him being naked was no big deal. “And I get frisky.”

Jesse opened his mouth and then every thought in his head faded away to be replaced by an image of Sam drinking and stripping and—Jesse snapped his mouth closed and moved Sam around on his lap until his hard cock wasn’t being crushed beneath Sam’s ass.

“I’ll get you a bottle for your birthday.”

“Yeah.” Sam winked. “But then it would be a birthday present for you, not me.”

Jesse could feel the smile on his face growing larger. Sam was starting to come out of his shyness and the mischievous man underneath was shining through loud and clear. Jesse was thrilled and desperately wanted to get to know this new facet of Sam’s personality.

“Fine, I’ll buy you a bottle of tequila on my birthday.”

Sam smirked, his eyebrow quirking up. “Then what are you going to get me?”

“Lube.” Jesse grinned wickedly. “Lots and lots of lube.”

Sam rolled over onto his back and squinted up at the ceiling. He hated mornings, he really did, but he loathed early mornings even more. There was just something wrong with having to get up before ten o’clock in the morning. No matter how many blow jobs he got from Jesse first thing in the morning, he still hated mornings.

It should be illegal.

Really.

Jesse seemed willing to let him have a couple of extra hours of sleep in the mornings, leaving him tucked into bed while he saw to the ranch. And that right there might be part of the reason Sam hated them so much. He didn’t like sleeping alone.

No matter how secure the house was or how many times Jesse assured him that Nate was right outside the door, Sam couldn’t get past waking up to some stranger standing at the end of his bed, threatening Jesse.

In the days since the incident, there hadn’t been a sign of anyone on the ranch that wasn’t supposed to be there. There hadn’t even been any more trouble from Desmond. Sam felt like it was the calm before the storm.

He knew Desmond just a little too well. If the man had taken the time to drive all of the way to Wild Card, he wasn’t giving up trying to get to Sam just because Jesse had kicked his ass. He’d be back. Sam was positive of it.

Sam jumped when someone suddenly knocked on the bedroom door. He swallowed hard and sat up, pulling the blankets up around his chest. “What?” he called out.

“Your mother is about to put breakfast on the table,” Nate called through the door. “Get to moving. I’m hungry.”

Sam opened his mouth to argue with Nate about moving anything this early in the morning when his stomach suddenly rolled and tried to rebel at the thought of food. He slapped a hand over his mouth and shot from the bed, running for the bathroom.

By the time he raised his head from the toilet a few minutes later, Jesse was squatting beside him, holding out a wet washcloth and a glass of water. Sam grimaced and rinsed his mouth then wiped his face down.

“Are you okay, sunshine?”

Sam groaned and leaned into Jesse’s chest. He could hear the concern in the man’s voice, but he didn’t really have an answer for him. He’d been feeling not so good for a while now but had put it down to all of the excitement he had experienced over the last few weeks.

Now, he wasn’t so sure. Getting sick to his stomach seemed to be occurring more frequently. If he smelled something wrong, or ate something, hell, sometimes if he just sat up too fast, he was running to the bathroom. Other times, he felt like he could conquer the world. It was an odd contradiction.

Sam didn’t complain when Jesse lifted him up and carried him to the bed. He was constantly arguing with Jesse about being carried everywhere, but this time, he needed it. His legs felt like rubber and the rest of his body just wanted to melt away.

“Is this a Lycan thing?” he asked as Jesse gently laid him down on the bed and pulled the covers up to his chest.

When Jesse stretched out beside him, Sam turned into his body and snuggled as close as he could get without climbing under Jesse’s skin. He would if he could. Jesse made him feel safe. And strangely enough, Jesse’s natural scent seemed to settle Sam’s stomach.

“You’re not Lycan, remember?” Jesse said as he stroked his hand through Sam’s hair.

“Could it be catching?” Sam glanced up at Jesse. “Are you contagious?”

Jesse chuckled. “No, Sam, I am not contagious. I have to bite you to make you Lycan.”

“You bite me all of the time.” He did. It seemed to be a regular part of their sex life. Not that Sam was complaining. He’d grown to like being bitten by Jesse, even anticipate it. But still…

“That’s a claiming bite, not a transforming bite, remember? I explained this to you a couple of weeks ago.”

Sam dropped his head back down to Jesse’s chest and cuddled in until it felt right. “Explain it again.”

“When I bit you here”—Jesse’s fingers trailed over the bite mark on the back of Sam’s neck, Jesse’s favorite place to bite Sam—“I claimed you as my mate. If I bit you on the shoulder, then it would be a transforming bite, one that would make you Lycan like me.”

“I’m dying then, right?”

“No, Sam, I wouldn’t allow that.”

Sam wanted to pout. He really did feel like crap. He’d been feeling that way on and off for days. And if he wasn’t tossing his cookies, he was sleeping, which took him right back to that whole morning thing.

“I feel like I’m dying.”

“I think you just probably caught some sort of bug or something.”

“Maybe I should see a doctor.”

Jesse’s deep sigh was very impressive. It was enough for Sam to look up, curious as to what had caused it.

“You can’t go see a doctor for something like this, Sam. You—”

“Why not?”

“Do you remember me telling you about how I share my DNA with you when I bite you?”

“Yes.”

“What do you think would happen if some doctor got a hold of your blood?”

“But what if I get sick or injured?” Sam asked as he sat up and pushed against Jesse’s chest to put some space between them. He could feel panic starting rise inside. “What if I need to go to a doctor, Jesse?”

“Sam, baby, it’s okay. The more time we’re together, the more resistant you’ll become to human diseases. You’ll grow stronger, healthier.”

“And if I break something?” Sam snapped. “What then?” He waved his cast in the air between them. “How am I supposed to get this thing taken off if I can’t see a doctor?”

“Sam.”

Sam almost pulled away when Jesse reached for his injured arm, almost. But if he had learned anything over the last couple of weeks, he had learned not to jump to conclusions where Jesse was concerned because he was most likely wrong.

“I didn’t mean you can’t go see a doctor to get your cast off. You just can’t allow one to draw your blood. That’s all.”

“Then why didn’t you say that?”

“I was trying to when you freaked out on me.”

Sam’s eyes narrowed. “I did not freak out.” Jesse just stared until Sam rolled his eyes. “Okay, maybe I freaked a little, but it wasn’t that bad.”

Jesse chuckled and drew Sam back to his chest. Sam sighed and snuggled in. He really did like being cuddled up to Jesse’s broad chest. Sometimes he thought it was the safest place in the world.

“So, what if I really am sick, Jesse?” Sam asked softly. “What then?”

“We’ll deal with it if it happens, and I do mean
if
, Sam. Thetas are very resistant to human diseases, illnesses, and pretty much anything else. I suspect it’s all of the excitement of the last couple of weeks finally catching up with you.”

Sam wasn’t convinced. He’d been getting sick for days. Yes, there had been a lot of excitement, but that was ages ago. All of the excitement should have caught up with him by now. Besides, Sam wasn’t one to freak out
that
much, at least not often. He kind of figured that learning about Lycan gave him a free pass in the freak-out department.

Maybe he was wrong.

“I’ll tell you what,” Jesse said, “if this thing continues, I’ll find someone to look at you. Maybe Cort can track someone down that knows about Lycan and their mates.”

Sam didn’t exactly like it, but he’d settle for that. He wasn’t used to not being able to go see a doctor when he needed to. That would take some time to wrap his brain around. But he also understood the need for secrecy.

“Is that why Jake is going to be a veterinarian?”

“No.” Jesse burst out laughing. “He’s going to be a veterinarian because he lives on a ranch. But that’s not a bad idea. If we can find someone that knows about Lycan, maybe they can teach Jake some stuff.”

“If you don’t know of any other packs, where is Cort going to look?”

“I’m not real sure, Sam.” Jesse frowned for a moment, his eyebrows drawing together as if giving the question some serious thought, and then they smoothed out. “How are you feeling? Are you up to going downstairs? We can talk to Cort and Rocky and see if they have any ideas.”

Sam suddenly realized that he was starving. “Yeah, I think I could eat.”

Jesse grinned and rolled to the side of the bed, reaching back to help Sam to his feet. Once he was standing, Sam crossed over to his dresser and pulled out a clean shirt. He pulled it over his head, jumping when he felt a light smack across his ass.

“Hey!”

Jesse chuckled. “It’s almost a sin to cover up that gorgeous ass.”

“Would you rather me go downstairs naked?” Sam knew the answer before he even heard the deep growl behind him. Jesse didn’t like anyone seeing him naked. Hell, Jesse didn’t like anyone looking at him too long. The man was very possessive, but not like Desmond had been.

Desmond had been obsessive. When Sam didn’t do what he wanted, Desmond tried to beat it into Sam. Jesse just clenched his jaw, took a deep breath, and tried to compromise. He still hovered over Sam, always holding him—and good god, carrying him—but he wasn’t fanatical about it.

Sam knew Jesse did it because he loved him. Desmond did it because he wanted to control him. Very different reasons. Hugely different reasons. Like, opposite sides of the universe different.

Sam grabbed a clean pair of jeans and pulled them up his legs. When he went to button them, the edges wouldn’t pull together. He frowned and tried again and again. No matter how much he pulled, he couldn’t get the edges of the denim to come together over the small gut he had developed.

Sam rolled his eyes. “I have so got to stop eating my mother’s cooking,” he whispered under his breath.

“Huh?”

“Nothing.” Sam quickly zipped his jeans up as far as they would go and pulled his T-shirt down over the gaped opening. He felt ridiculous. He must have gained a good ten pounds in the last few weeks. If he kept this up, he’d be as big as a house inside of a month.

“What did you say, sunshine?”

“I’m getting a pooch from eating Mom’s cooking.”

“A what?”

Sam growled low in his throat and spun around to face Jesse, yanking his shirt up. “I’m getting fat!”

Jesse stared for a moment then started laughing. Sam’s eyes narrowed as he watched Jesse grab the edge of the doorframe to hold himself up, tears streaming down his face as he laughed.

“It wasn’t that funny.”

“Sam, I swear to you,” Jesse said as he wiped at his face. “You are not getting fat. You’re healthy. You were too skinny when you came home. You could use some meat on your bones.”