Page 9 of Mated to the Pride

God, was she ever beautiful!

I let go of her hand, fighting off the urge to lean closer and kiss her. This was too much, too fast. I didn’t want to overwhelm her or make things awkward for the rest of her time here. I scratched the back of my neck, smiling down at the table.

“Anyway, you’re welcome. And now you’re going tohaveto let me take care of the dishes.”

“Oh, come on!”

I gave a big exaggerated shrug and stood up from the table, picking up the rest of the plates. “For all I know, this was your plan all along. I’m onto you, Dorsey.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said. She was looking at her hand. I made my way to the sink. When I looked back at her, I could see that the back of her neck and the tips of her ears were all a bright, bashful pink.

Jessica

Icould still feel Stone’s touch on my hand, both under and around the bandage. It was more pronounced than the pain — the dancing, electric tingles that reminded me exactly where our skin had come into contact. My heart was pounding, and I couldn’t help but feel self-conscious as I said my goodnight and headed to my own room.

Had he noticed, I wondered, what effect he had on me?

As I settled into bed for the night, setting my alarm ready to wake up and make breakfast, I could still feel my heart going at hummingbird pace in my chest. I couldn’t settle down. Was it normal to feel this way about somebody you’d only just met? I’d never been a head-over-heels kind of girl. Even worse, I had to be honest with myself.

It wasn’t just Stone that set my pulse racing.

Blake’s ‘oh-so-serious’ persona sometimes cracked into a soft smile, and I could feel myself melting every time I saw it. Preston still didn’t speak much, but there was something intriguing and appealing in his dark eyes. Hale was so charming that it intimidated me, and I could feel my tongue tying up around him.

It was frustrating. Here I was, a fully grown woman, and I was acting like a flustered teenager over these four men. I could barely settle down to rest without thinking about the way Stone had looked at me. It felt like he was about to kiss me.

Whether it was true or not, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. I imagined him just on the other side of the wall beside my bed, and swallowed hard.

If I didn’t ignore the heat beginning to pool between my legs, things were quickly going to get out of hand.

* * *

In the morning, when I finally dragged myself out of bed, I didn’t feel a whole lot different. As I heard Stone getting his morning shower and head out to greet Blake, I realized in a jolt that they’d be leaving within the hour. Sure, Preston and Hale would be coming back — but for the better part of the day, there wouldalwaysbe at least two of them out there in danger, trying to complete their mysterious government task.

I couldn’t help but feel afraid for them. Of course, they were more than capable of looking after themselves, but I was attached to them now. I couldn’t imagine how I’d feel if anything should happen to any one of them.

“You know where you’re going out there, don’t you, Blake?”

“Hm?” He looked up from his maps, jolted out of a train of thought. “Sorry, Jessica. Jess.”

“I just don’t want you all to get lost, or stumble into some trouble, or… anything like that.”

Blake smiled, folding his hands together. There it was — that rare flash of softness. “We’ll be fine; this is not our first rodeo. You don’t need to worry about us.”

“If you say so.”

He nodded to my hand. “Stone was telling me about your hand. Maybe it’s us who should be worrying about you…?”

“I swear I’m not completely incompetent,” I insisted, hiding the wounded hand with the other one. “It was hidden in the water, and I feel really stupid about it, and-”

“I’m only teasing you,” said Blake. Now that he said that, I could see the lightness in his eyes. Maybe he wasn’t all seriousness after all. It would just take a little time for me to learn how to read his body language. “How does it feel this morning?”

“It’s not so bad,” I lied, flexing my fingers. “I’m just going to have to give up on the hand-weights for a few days, I think.”

“That’s probably for the best,” he agreed. At that, a damp-haired Stone walked into the room, a towel flung over his shoulder. I felt my ears burn red and rushed to the counter to bring his breakfast over.

“Hey, morning, Stone,” Blake continued. “I was just looking at the route. Considering the good visibility today, I was thinking of diverting us to make sure we’re not left too open across the valley…”

I felt grateful for the excuse to be silent, giving them the space to discuss more important plans. This wasn’t like me, but I didn’t trust myself to have an eloquent conversation with Stone right now. The dreams I’d had last night were one thing. Having to see him look like that in person was quite another — and it didn’t help that Blake was equally easy on the eyes.

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