Page 43 of The Gift
“Yeah. I knew as soon as you told me that Reno had taken blood, that he’d know. I’ve seen you guys, read all the information you provided too, so I knew if Reno knew, you’d all know. If I was awake and coherent, I would have refused. But that’s neither here nor there now.”
“Are you upset with Carmen?” I watch her as she focuses on driving, her brows tip slightly as she thinks on my question.
“No. I’m lucky to have friends like her.”
I wait, helping her change gears before dropping my hand down and squeezing her leg.
“I’m going to nag you about not taking whatever fucking tabs you took that day.”
“Yeah, I threw them out. Got a different type in. Don’t ask me not to take them, Koda. I like having you around,” she says softly.
“Bails, you got to do you. As long as you let me do us, too. Us meaning me and you, and you getting to know my pack.”
“Really?”
“Shit yeah. You didn’t get the subtle signs… my purr not loud enough for you? Or my scent not obvious enough?”
She smirks. “I guess I missed those.”
“I’ll remind you again as soon as you finish filming today then.”
“That might work,” she teases, though it turns into a different tease when I drag my finger over her panties real quick.
Then I put my hand on her knee, open up the windows to let out our scents and let the radio distract us for a few miles.
“What does it feel like to you?” she interrupts.
Turning in my seat to face her, I say, “Honestly? I look at the colour of the sky and think, shit I should have shown that to Bails. I feel possessive, constantly turned on but also weirdly at peace while teetering on the edge of asking you to move in with me.”
“Not too soon?” She bites her lip but it doesn’t hide her happiness.
“I’m a big believer in vocalising intentions. It might be too soon but imagine if you never knew.”
“Bullshit.” She laughs as she stops and starts reversing into a carpark on the road out front of her place.
I join her laughing. The minute she finishes parking though, I nab her face in my hands and press my lips to hers, pulling away to confess a little more. “Whatever we do, we do your way. But you being you, and me being me, Bails, I can’t help sending those signals out to you. I’m sure you can scent what you do to me. If I really wake up that side of you, I don’t think any tablet is going to be able to douse that monster. I need you to know, if you need me to go, I’m gone.”
She pulls away from me, resting her head back and staring at the ceiling of her car, “Not sure what I want yet. But that is not an option. For the first time, I’m wondering what the hell I’ve been so scared of.”
“I’m here to chase those ghosts away, not become another one. You hear me?”
She closes her eyes and I think I’ve pushed her too far, before she taps her finger lightly over her chest, “I feel you, probably more than hear you. All of you.”
“That’s ’cause we’re a proper designed pack match, Bails.”
She turns in her seat, looking straight into my soul. “I know.”
She changes me. Just like that.
Bailey
“A-team are fucking on point today. Amazing food all day, drinks… we should get them to do catering for all our field shoots,” Carmen says around another mouthful of food. She’s not wrong about the food, it’s divine.
“You want me to put a saddle on you too?” I deadpan, glaring at her and her loud chewing.
Carmen continues doing what she knows pisses me off, eating with her mouth open again. I curl a lip up in distate, it’s truly disgusting watching her. “You act like a horse, I’ll treat you like one, Neddy.”
“As long as you whip my ass with a crop, I don’t see any issue.” The nag winks at me, making us both laugh. And then thankfully, she starts eating with her mouth closed.
