Page 19 of Secret Shifters Next Door

New tears tried to well in my eyes as I smiled. “Thank you. I really needed a friend. I’m glad I met you, Emily. You could have brushed me off as some crazy lady crying on the street. You have no idea how grateful I am that you took the time with me.”

Emily squeezed my hand. “Girl, I got you.”

The lunch was fantastic. My hunger had returned by the time the food got to us, and I devoured the burger and chili fries. After I’d wept like a baby, it tasted like the best thing I’d ever put in my mouth. By the time we were done, I felt a thousand times better. Outside, I hugged Emily and passed her my phone number.

She typed it into her phone. “I’ll text you soon. Maybe we can get together again?”

“I would love that,” I said, then headed to my car.

Driving home, my mood was much improved from what it had been when I’d left for the doctor. I felt so much better that when I saw Tate in his yard as I pulled in, I didn’t even feel the urge to cry. That was a win in my book. I parked and checked my email on my phone before getting out of the car. Casually glancing up, I saw Tate watering his garden. My gaze lingered onhim as he moved the hose back and forth across the flowers in the bed. He was as lean and muscled as he had been the last time I’d seen him. He must work out like a maniac.

Without realizing it, my gaze started sliding up and down across his body. Before long, the pregnancy hormones running roughshod through my body sent my mind to a place I didn’t want it to go. It was easy to remember how it had felt to slide my hands across the muscled back as he thrust into me.

I blinked, and the horny thoughts morphed into irritation. Without thinking, I was out of my car and walking toward him. There was enough time for me to ask myself what the hell I was doing before I stepped up onto his lawn.

He glanced up, surprised, and nodded to me. “Hey.”

“Hey? Do you even own a shirt? Christ, I’ve got young impressionable girls over there. Do you think it’s appropriate for them to see you walking around half naked?”

Instead of answering me right away, he went back to watering his flowers. He did that for several seconds before turning the hose off and looking at me.

“This is my house. I own it, and the land it sits on. If I want to sit on my porch butt ass naked and drink a beer, I will.”

My mouth dropped open. The thought was horrifying. At least I told myself that even as my body betrayed me, and there was a warm tingle between my legs. Keeping myself composed, I went to speak again, but he cut me off before I could start.

“Don’t worry,” he said, giving me a placating look. “I’m not an exhibitionist or a nudist. I wouldn’t do something like that with kids around. Give mesomecredit.” Tate looked at me and grinned slyly. “Now, if you wanted to see me naked again, I think we could work something out.”

The tingle between my legs turned into a pulse, and I hated the way my body reacted to him. His eyes smoldered and burned into me. Tate was looking at me differently than he had the lasttime we’d spoken. It was almost like he could read my thoughts. He stepped forward and brushed his fingers across my arm. Trying to hide a pleasurable shudder, I stepped back and turned to walk away.

“Just remember your shirt next time, Tate,” I called over my shoulder as I hurried back home. I didn’t trust myself to stay that close to him.

He called to me as I mounted the porch steps. “Come knock if you ever change your mind.”

Closing the door behind myself, I leaned against it and took a deep breath. I was fucking horny. I’d wanted him so bad. After everything that had happened, all he’d done and said, I still wanted to fuck him. What was wrong with me? My skin was on fire. I needed to cool down, and get my mind off what I was thinking about. I needed a cold shower. It would cool me, and maybe extinguish my libido.

In my room, I stripped my clothes off and jumped into an ice cold shower. My breath caught in my chest as I adjusted to the freezing temperature. But even as I put my head under the cold spray, the same thoughts flipped through my head like a picture book. I suffered the cold as long as I could before cranking the knob back to warm. In seconds, steaming hot water coursed over me. I shivered at the change in temperature.

Still, the thoughts persisted. The way his tongue had felt inside me, his strong hands kneading my breasts. I let my fingers glide up my skin and gently pinched my nipples. A deep sigh escaped my lips as I circled my nipples, the skin puckering and getting firm. I thought of Tate’s throbbing dick brushing against my clit before he slid into me. My pussy was wet just from remembering it.

My right hand grazed across my stomach and then across the hair between my legs. I could feel the heat there. I let out a trembling breath, and for an instant, I tried to talk myself out ofit, but my body’s needs overwhelmed my mind’s hesitation. As I caressed my clit, my breath caught in my throat. The small bud was engorged and more sensitive than it had ever been. I circled it, still imagining Tate fucking me.

I could almost hear him gasping for breath as his cock slammed into me. I slid two fingers into myself and whimpered. My legs nearly buckled as I moved them in and out, the movement making my palm graze over my clit. With my free hand, I tugged at my nipple, almost hard enough to be painful, which increased the pleasure between my legs. Sucking in shallow breaths through my nose, I worked my fingers faster and faster. A groan escaped my throat as my hips worked in concert with my fingers.

I sank to the shower floor, afraid I would slip and fall. My mouth dropped open on a moan as I spread my legs, my fingers thrusting into my pussy as my other hand worked my clit. I was still imagining Tate’s flexing muscles above me, his tongue flicking across my nipples as we fucked. The orgasm came hard and fast, almost pulling a scream from my throat. I jerked and bucked my hips, hands still working. It went on for several seconds, powerful contractions radiating across my body. I collapsed and rested under the hot spray of the shower.

The warm glow of the orgasm faded, and I shook my head at myself. What the hell was wrong with me? Fantasizing about Tate was stupid. There was no way this was going to work. I’d just uprooted my girls’ lives. Dragged them halfway across the country, and now this was what life was. Living across the street from my baby’s father, and he didn’t even know. A small part of me was pretty sure this was the most depressed and broken I’d been since Sam died.

I didn’t cry in the shower—I, at least, had enough pride to not turn myself into that cliché. Instead, I dried off and pulled ona robe. I settled into the chair in my bedroom with a book and tried to think about anything but Tate.

NINE

TATE

The day before Harley had accosted me in my yard and berated me for gardening without a shirt. It had been weird, and it should have pissed me off, but my dragon had calmed my temper. Hell, I’d even flirted with her. My cock had hardened when I watched her walk back to her house. My dragon had nearly purred like a cat. I was thinking about how ridiculous the entire thing was when my phone rang.

“This is Tate,” I answered.

“Hey, are you free?” Miles asked, his voice almost vibrating. He sounded more nervous than I’d ever heard. “Can you get here? I think I found something about Harley. Something you’ll want to see.”

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