All Kitten Aside: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Paranormal Dating Agency Book 11) (10 page)

TWENTY-TWO

Andi sat on Kasen’s sofa, wondering what happened to him. Should she go home? Something weird was going on. Her shifter smell picked up chlorine, mud, and blood.

Kasen appeared in the doorway to the living room. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He held out a glass of wine. “Here, this is good.” He sat next to her. She realized something was different about him.

“You changed your clothes?” Why would he have done that? Just because she tried on and threw off six different outfits before settling on the sundress with cardigan-type sweater…God, if that wasn’t the hardest decision she’d had to make in a month. Business was easy. Love, she wanted to run screaming from.

“Yes. I have to admit that the door locked when I came out to get you. I went around back to get the extra key and had…issues. I got a little mud on my pants, so I changed.”

She wondered if the chlorine was from a pool, and the blood—part of the “issue.” But he admitted, actually admitted, that he’d done something silly by accidentally locking them out. Would he really be a man to admit all the idiotic things men do? That warmed her insides. Or was it the wine?

His smell was divine. Just sitting next to him got her hormones riled. Her heat was almost here. God, what she would do just to sit on his face for an hour.

Kasen cleared his throat and abruptly stood. “C’mon, sweetheart. Let’s go to the kitchen. You’re smelling way too good not to eat. And you’re off the menu.”

What did he mean
off the menu
? Did that mean no sex? She shouldn’t be having sex with him anyway. That’d be leading him on, and she didn’t want to do that. Then why the hell was she here? She gave a mental sigh. She was so tired of debating with herself. Her head said one thing and her heart said another. Which should she listen to?

“Hey, babe, help me load the basket?”

“What basket?” She looked around and saw the red and white checkered picnic blanket and woven carrier. How wonderful. Something personal, yet not too intimate. She loved it. The sun would set in a little while and they could watch it together. The romantic in her peeked out. All the romance books she’d read over the years could be reality. As it was, Kasen reminded her of the heroes she read about in Bianca Sommerland’s romance books. That almost made her giddy. Almost.

She grabbed the basket and stood next to Kasen and the fridge. He loaded in various small trays with cheese and veggies. Who would eat that stuff? A rabbit. She’d eat the rabbit, then. She was a carnivorous cat. Next came potato salad, pea salad, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese—holy shit. How much did he think she’d eat? Then came red meat. Filet mignon cut into shish kebab-sized bites. T-bone strips, and a small roast?

“Kasen, how much are we going to eat? This basket is getting heavy, even for a shifter.” She laughed.

He straightened from bending over for the fridge. “Sorry, I didn’t know what you liked, so I got it all. There’s more—“

“I think this will do quite nicely, unless the whole pack is stopping by.” A smile tugged at her lips.

He winked and her pussy reminded her she wanted sex. “Nope, just you and me, baby. Talking and sharing.”

* * *

Picnic blanket splayed under an old live oak tree, Andi lay back and moaned. “Kasen, I ate too much. I’m gonna die.”

“I’m right behind you, baby. But damn, the fillet was delicious. Second best thing I’ve ever eaten.” He rubbed his belly.

Curiosity wouldn’t kill this cat, so fuck not asking. “What’s the first?” His head turned toward her. The want and desire in his eyes made her girly parts tingle. “Oh,” was all she could say. He quickly looked away.

She had a feeling after his “off the menu” comment earlier, he’d got it in his head that they weren’t having sex tonight. We’ll see about that. In a little bit. She was too stuffed to move.

“More sharing time.” Andi grinned at him. He playfully groaned. “Okay, this is the lightning round. I say the item and you spit out the answers as fast as you can. Just back and forth. Got it?”

“Sure, have at it, beautiful.”

She scrunched her nose and her eyes suddenly lit. “Favorite color.”

He licked his lips, and she bit back a moan. “Blue.”

“Morning or night,” she mumbled.

“Night.” The word came out growly. Oh, lord. She needed to get laid.

“Favorite number.”

His right brow shot up as he looked at her. “I don’t have a favorite number. Who has a favorite number?”

She giggled. “Just say one, quick.”

“All right, twenty-two.”

“Twenty-two? Why that one?” she asked.

He threw his hands into the air. “You said pick a number, woman. And I did. Twenty-two happens to be a very popular number. Emmet Smith in football wore number twenty-two. Roger Clemens wore twenty-two. Amazing baseball pitcher.”

“All right, I get it, already. You ask me something now.”

He gazed over the slow moving water several yards from them. He really was playing hard to get—pretending not to pay attention to her. She’d fix that.

She turned toward the water, too. This was a wide section of the river, fairly slow flowing also. During summer, she imagined kids would come up to the little beach and splash around the rocky edge. With the slow current, it was probably safe to swim out a distance before needing to turn back. They had a similar spot in the pride’s river.

She cocked an ear to listen downstream. The current sounded like it picked up speed, which meant the channel probably narrowed. Farther down, splashing and fast flowing water hinted at becoming very rocky and dangerous. And…was that a waterfall? No way, that would be so cool to see. Their river didn’t even have white water, being too deep in their section.

He turned to her, finally coming up with his question for her. “Okay, dearest Andi, what do you do for fun? Any hobbies?”

Ah, perfect question. This was an opportunity to test his grit. His reaction to her “hobby” would show if he was a man she could live with or not. If he passed, which she seriously doubted, she’d give him a serious chance.

TWENTY-THREE

“I like to noodle.”

Kasen remained quiet for moment. Like she figured, he had no clue what she was talking about. He didn’t love the outdoors like she did. Nope, wouldn’t work between them.

He still didn’t look at her. “I caught a sixty-pound cat at last year’s state fair.”

She bolted straight up. “You so did not. I read that in the local paper.” She could not believe him. “No freaking way that was you!”

“Yes, freaking way.” He lifted his arm and rubbed a hand over it. “You should’ve seen how torn up my arm was from its teeth. Had to shift to heal it.”

“Oh,” she scrunched her nose, “you stick your arm down the catfish’s throat to catch them?”

“Of course. What’s your definition of noodling? Cooking gallons of spaghetti?”

She threw a piece of roll at him. “No, of course not. We cats have finesse and speed. We don’t have to choke the damn things.”

“So you think you can catch a bigger fish than I can? Are you up for a challenge?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s always the
biggest
with you men. Noodling is an art form of patience, technique, and availability.”

“What’s availability got to do with it?”

She turned to face him, sitting with legs crossed. “It’s not how big or long the fish is, it’s how well you catch it. Can you get it to follow a lead, nibble on your finger thinking it’s food? Can you trick the thing into virtually catching itself? That, my friend, is noodling in its purest form.”

“That’s nice and all, but that wouldn’t win you the one hundred dollar first place prize.” She laughed and he smiled. A genuine Kasen Steel smile, no arrogance, no alpha machoism, no BS. Nothing but him and her.

Then Andi remembered what she said to herself before noodling came up. If he passed this test, she would give him a serious chance. Well, he passed with flying colors. But one more pop quiz, and if he succeeds, she’d date him. All or nothing.

With a sly smile, she leaned forward, closer to Kasen. Slowly, gliding toward him, her eyes never leaving his, letting the tension build. She ran her tongue across her bottom lip, perhaps a bit of a tease, just for fun. She smelled his want, his desire. Was she “still off the menu”?

Her cheek brushed his in a slow rub. He swallowed hard. Then she whispered into his ear, as sexily as she could, “Noodle with me, right now.” She jumped up and ran for the narrow beach entry to the river.

“Hey,” he sprang to his feet. “Wait for me!” Andi stopped on the sand and removed her shoes and sweater. She hiked her dress high on her thighs and headed for the water. “This looks like a good place to fish. Is it?”

Kasen slipped off his shoes and socks, both this time, not just the one, and hurried after her. “Actually, this is the best place to noodle in this area. The water is calm enough for the fish to mate and lay eggs. When the river’s low, you can see the holes they burrow into the bank.”

Andi squealed when her feet touched the water. It was cold enough to freeze your balls off. Her cat lent its heat, keeping her warm. Much better. Thank you. Kasen came up behind her. He didn’t shiver, so she assumed his wolf did the same as her cat with regulating body heat.

“Over here.” He led her to where a big tree was halfway unrooted by the river’s erosion. Moss and grass tangled in the roots, making a nice hidey-hole. The bank side for quite a distance each direction was entirely forest to the very edge of the water. She saw where other trees had fallen in from losing their root base or simply breaking.

The water wasn’t very deep, mid-thigh to Andi. She wondered if any fish were around. It was getting closer to sunset, about the right time for them to feed. A dark shadow floated by her legs.

“Kasen, there’s a fish. If it turns around, I might be able to catch it.” Ever so slowly, Andi dipped her hand into the water, only her index finger pointing down. The fish turned her direction. Again, with slow, conscious movement, Andi wiggled her finger, barely moving the water. When the fish was near enough, her cat sent fur down her finger to float in the water as she inched it forward. The goal was to make the tip look like possible food, not something foreign.

As she edged closer to where the fish circled, keeping its distance at first, it darted nearer and nearer. Soon, it followed her finger, trying to nibble on it. She led it to the perfect position, then using feline speed and accuracy, she plunged her other hand in and wrapped it around the fish.

She lifted it above her head in victory. “Woo-hoo! Score one for beauty over brute.”

“All right, all right.” Kasen held a smirk as she released the fish into the water. “I’m impressed, hot stuff. It was very
ballet-like
.” His fingers wriggled in the air as his arms fluttered. She laughed. He was so cute when it was really him. He looked so much younger, so much happier. She’d make a point of coming here often when he was stressed. That was
if
they were together. Not when.

Kasen said, “Let’s see what I can do.”

To her delight, he slipped his shirt off and draped it on the roots hanging over the side. Shit. She wiped at her mouth to make sure she wasn’t drooling. Memories of his strong abs flexing and relaxing as he pumped in and out of her made her hot. The water carried away her scent, for the most part, so she was safe from embarrassment. Until she blushed, giving herself away at thinking dirty thoughts.

“I see those flushed cheeks, my sweets. In just one minute, I’ll show you what else I can do with my hands besides noodling.”

Oh, fuck. She needed her whole body dunked in the cold water. She slithered behind the mossy root curtain, to hide her face and watch him on the other side.

Kasen bent from the waist, his entire arm under the water. His shoulders and chest rolled smoothly, like a well-oiled machine. Sex machine. She chastised herself for always going back to sex. But damn, it was so freaking good with him.

His focus was intense, like he was listening for the fish, feeling the water for its presence.

A pin pricked the back of her neck and she slapped at it, figuring it to be a mosquito. Whatever it was, it was still embedded in her neck. She pulled it out and before she could look at it, her world turned dark.

TWENTY-FOUR

Kasen focused intensely on his task at hand. He was one with the water, one with nature. He felt each vibration in the water, each movement to hone in on his prey. A fish was here, a big one. Waiting for dinner to come by. He stretched out his being encasing the life around him.

His muscles tightened, preparing for the catch. Then a distant gasp barely registered in his brain. He chose to ignore it, but his wolf didn’t.

Danger and the need to protect drove through him so quickly, he almost subconsciously shifted. He jumped back and looked around, trying to figure out what happened to him. Then he saw Andi’s floating body headed downstream.

He kicked into a freestyle stroke, desperate to catch her before she reached the rough water and the falls. His insides were ready to explode with fear. He’d never been this scared in his life, and it wasn’t even about him dying. But he’d prefer to be the one to go. He wouldn’t want to live without Andi in his life.

The current flowed faster than he expected. Why did it seem so lazy when watching from the shore? As the channel narrowed, the water picked up speed. In an instant, she was farther away than before.

His wolf could do nothing to help. A four legged animal wasn’t any faster swimming than a human. Both felt helpless. Begging for strength from his wolf, Kasen was able to gain ground. He kicked furiously, driving forward. Time was running out. The rapids were approaching quickly. Hopefully a fallen tree would snag her before they got too close.

Andi slid over a shallow dip into a rockier section. No trees or logs were in the water to stop her advance. She slipped around boulders and eddies, stuck in the main current headed downstream.

He was getting closer, but with nothing to slow Andi down, he had no hope of reaching her in time. Ahead, water pushed her back onto a flat-top rock. But that wouldn’t last long with the sweeping movement dragging against her legs. But the delay let him get closer.

Reaching out, he snagged her fingers, but her hand was ripped away with a side current. He tried harder, pushing his body past physical limitations. His legs and knees smashed against boulders and debris in the water. His feet scraped and were cut from sharp rocks and sticks along the river bed shallows. He’d pay for it later, but if Andi survived, his pain would be well worth it.

The roar of water crashing at the bottom of the falls filled his ears. The water gained momentum, smoothly flowing toward the drop. He was so close to her. In one last effort, he thrust forward and tangled his hands in her hair. He pulled her to him and wrapped around her as he felt the bottom fall out from under them.

For eternity, they fell. Slamming into the pool below with such force, it took his breath away. That was fine for a second. It wasn’t like he could breathe underwater anyway. His wolf kept him from losing consciousness, driving the emotions to stay alive and save the love of his life. With Andi in his arms, he couldn’t fight the continuous press of the water coming from above. If he didn’t get out now, Andi would die.

Time passed slowly, yet in the blink of an eye. The whole terrifying journey couldn’t have been more than a couple minutes, but it took forever to live through. With determination, Kasen plowed through the water toward the bank and dragged Andi out.

He immediately began CPR, pumping her chest in a rhythmic daze. One and two and three and four and… “C’mon, cat. Don’t let her die. Bring her out of it.” He hoped her animal heard his plea, because there was nothing else he could do.

Andi’s body jerked. He rolled her onto her side and she coughed out water. Her eyes opened briefly, but rolled up after the water flowed from her mouth. He put his ear to her chest. Her heart beat and lungs expanded on their own.

Emotions so intense rocketed him, there was only one way to release. He dropped his head back and let out a howl that would carry for miles. Everyone who heard would drop what they were doing and hurry to the alpha house, including the shifter doctor.