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“It’s pretty late.” Lachelle silently ordered her hands to keep to themselves, but the foolish things disobeyed. She found herself flattening her palms on his chest and feeling his heart beat. Longing overcame her and muted whatever words she had been about to speak.
She stretched to her toes and kissed his lips. He held so still, he could be a statue. Her heart broke, feeling like he rejected her. With a sharp growl, he tore her off her feet and encompassed her in a hug that took her breath away.
She clung to him, loving him with everything inside. Her questions went unanswered, but she refused to ask them at the moment. All that mattered was being held in his arms.
His lips brushed her cheek and settled against her neck. The pulse there felt like it would jump out of her throat. He licked the spot, setting her on fire. With each change in her temperature and her emotions, he responded with a growl of frustration.
She pulled back to look into his eyes, but with so little light she couldn’t read him. “You don’t have to be frustrated,” she said. “We can be together if you choose to be with me.”
He said nothing.
“Gerard, why won’t you talk to me?”
He ran a thumb over her lips. She assumed it was to silence her or to keep her from asking questions. Turning her head, she smacked his hand away. He set her on her feet, and she backed up. He started to turn but stopped and grabbed her hand to drag her closer.
“You can’t have me and push me away at the same time,” she told him. “No one can have it both ways. And if you think you’ll have me and her—”
“No.”
“No what? I can’t read your dang mind, Gerard!”
He released her. A chill ran deep into her bones. He disappeared as Roxie had done, leaving her alone. Anger, hurt, frustration, and every emotion in the book ran through her being. She stomped back to her cabin and slammed the door. Only afterward did she worry someone might be disturbed. So be it. Being a positive person, she decided tomorrow would be brighter, one way or another.
Chapter 6
“Clean up time,” Janessa called.
Bannon looked up from the pile of toys in front of him and frowned. “No cleanup.”
Janessa raised her eyebrows at her son. “Excuse me? I think you better check that attitude, little man. I said clean up. Time for your nap.”
Tears filled his eyes, and his lip wobbled. He was so cute, Lachelle wanted to give him any- and everything he asked for. “Oh, come on, Mommy. Let him stay up. If he’s not sleepy, it shouldn’t be a big deal. Plus we were having fun flying our planes around.”
Her older sister rolled her eyes. “You’re not the one who has to clean all this mess up once the game is over. And every time Bannon gets grumpy, you decide it’s time to go.”
Lachelle laughed. “So?”
“So, take responsibility, miss. This boy is a handful. You’ll learn how it is when you have your own.”
“Doesn’t look like I ever will.”
“I hope you will!”
“You’re trying to curse me, aren’t you? You want my baby to be so grumpy he drives
me crazy.” Lachelle teased her sister, knowing her attitude annoyed her. Janessa was right that Lachelle got moving when Bannon cried, but she didn’t see how cute he was. And tears—shoot, Lachelle was so close to them all the time, she couldn’t risk her and Bannon both sitting in the middle of the floor having a pity party.
“Don’t be silly.” Janessa started tossing abandoned toys into the toy chest. Bannon kept getting them back out and throwing them on the floor. He was a stubborn one. “No one’s trying to curse you. Why would I wish something bad on my future niece or nephew?”
“Speaking of that, has Bannon showed any signs yet?”
“‘That?’ You mean signs of the shifter? It’s not a bad thing, Lachelle.”
“With the way the world is right now, it is. Here we are hiding from it all, but our family is back there in the thick of it.”
“Mom and Dad are fine. Declan has guys watching them to be sure. For some reason no one has thought to drag them into the middle of this mess yet. Let’s hope it stays that way.”
“And sweet Harrison is fine.”
