Chapter Six
Garren sat up quickly, pulling his robe across his lap from where it had fallen open when he'd thrown himself on the bed. "What are you doing here?" he asked her, his voice sharp.
"I couldn't sleep. I thought maybe we could...talk," she said quietly, staring down at her folded hands. "So what did you mean by a clue? A clue to what?"
"A clue to understanding the minds of women," he snarled. "What else?"
"If it is that difficult," she said, her shoulders stiffening, her back straightening, "don't bother on my account." She turned, ready to storm from the room.
Garren watched her, knowing he should just let her go, but he couldn't. He couldn't let her hate him. "Wait," he called as her hand touched the door of his bedchamber.
"What?" she said, not turning around.
Before she could move he was there, fast with the speed of the beast, silent with the grace of the great predators, his hands coming to rest on her shoulders holding her gently.
"Don't leave yet," he whispered, coming up behind her and letting his body press up against hers for just an instant. He wanted to groaned from the way she felt, soft and rounded, her body pressing against his, her head on his shoulder.
"Why?" she managed to whisper.
"Because I don't want you to go," he said quickly, letting his hands slide down her arms, running them with a tender touch over her long, slender fingers before twining around them. He held her there with just the light touch of his palms against her own, the sensation of his fur brushing between her fingers, and nothing more.
"I don't want to go, Garren." Her head tipped and she looked at him from over her shoulder. "Ever," she added the truth of her emotions in the clear
blue of her eyes.
He clenched his eyes shut; amazed at the way that one single word could send the blood rushing to his groin and his heart pumping with joy. "Then stay with me for a while, help me ward off the night," he whispered, his breath tickling her ear, his lips caressing the soft skin under it.
He felt her nod more than saw it and, letting go of her hands, lifted her gently into his arms, carrying her against his chest, against his heart. He sat her on the edge of the bed, tying his robe tighter around his lean waist before joining her, sitting so close that their knees touched.
"You are so beautiful, Brenna," he whispered, his huge hand coming to her cheek to cup the fragile skin, feeling her heat, her life against his palm. "I used to dream about being able to touch you, to hold you like Nathaniel does to Melissa. But then it got so painful..." he growled, his fingers brushing over the soft gold of her hair.
"Why?" she asked him breathlessly, staring into his eyes.
"I couldn't have you," he whispered. "What man could take something as good and kind and pure as you are and lead it to a beast? I couldn't ask you to love me like that, like what they have. I had to give you a chance to find a man," he almost spat the word for the thought of someone else touching, kissing, just being with, his Brenna tore a shaft of pain through his soul that felt as if it would never heal.
"I don't want just a man," she whispered, moving closer. "I want you, you who are so much more than any man could be to me."
"No," he said, shaking his head in denial though his heart was singing. "No, what you feel is gratitude, Brenna. I took you from a hell not of your own making and gave you a place of safety. What person wouldn't feel thankful? It's easy to mistake that for love."
"So I don't know my own feelings or thoughts?" she growled, her voice growing husky and doing an amazing imitation of his ire. "I'm a confused girl who has no idea about what she wants?"
"I didn't..."
"Yes," she interrupted, pulling herself away from his hand. Her own came up, her finger pounding against his chest, emphasizing every point she made. "You did say that, many times. Every time I've ever told you how I feel, or tried to tell you, you tell me that. I'm not a child, Garren. After last night I cannot believe even you could doubt that."
He watched a blush stain her cheeks at the mention of what they had done the night before. His body reacted predictably, his cock stirring and straining under his arm that he laid across his lap.
"I don't doubt..."
"Yes," she interrupted him again. "You do. I love you, Garren. It's not gratitude; it's not some childish infatuation. It's love, strong and enduring. It comes from here," she said, holding her fist to her breast. "And here," she held it to her forehead. "And here, too," she finished softly, her hand pressing between her thighs, cupping her own sex.
Emotions swamped him, emotions he'd held at bay for so long they seemed almost too powerful to contain. He stared at her for a single moment before grasping her arms and yanking her against him, his lips crushing down upon hers.
It was a punishing kiss, one that held every bit of emotion that Garren had felt as he'd watched her grow and fell in love with her, with her beauty and her goodness and even her irrepressible mouth. He waited for her to fight him, for her to push him back, to struggle against what he was inside. He waited for her anger, for her loathing because he didn't know how to kiss a woman; he didn't know how to love. All he knew was how to be the beast.
She didn't. Instead, her lips softened, parting under the fury of his, inviting his tongue between with a soft sigh. Her hand rose, her palm sliding across his cheek and into his hair, holding him to her as if afraid he would pull away.