He laughed at her!
Luna gave him a shove to the middle of his back and he barely moved.
“Water hog!” She yelled at him, ducking beneath his arm and finally finding the hot spray of water. Before he knew what was happening, she pushed her shoulders straight into his chest and sent him stumbling against the shower stall wall. “My shower, you…wolf! I was here first!”
Surprise filled his face even as he grinned down at her, laughing.
She realized she really didn’t mind when he lathered up the sponge and began dribbling it over her neck and shoulders. Or when he seemed to take a lot longer than it normally took her to clean her back and behind.
And she had absolutely no idea how she ended up held against the wall, clinging to him, kissing him and screaming his name as he moved his cock in and out, fast and slow, all the while the water streamed over them. His hands gripped her ass tightly, holding her in place as he sunk onto the wide built in bench, her head on his shoulder and the steam from the shower matching their ragged breaths.
“Sage Terrence…all these years I have never had a shower quite like this one.”
“I’m an indulgent mate,” he teased, kissing the full bow of her mouth, both of them sighing in the sweet contentment. “And you’re a wildly delicious little cat. Mine.”
Luna slipped from his lap with a little groan, sweeping the wet pale hair from her face before framing his face with her hands.
“I’m going to forgive you for being a water thief,” she announced with a benevolent smirk and kissed him, his palms once again on her ass. “I’m leaving the shower now.” She waited, slanting him a look with one brow raised.
“And?”
“You gotta put me down and remove your paws from my butt.”
“I like your butt,” he returned but slowly, very slowly, slid his palms until she could take a wobbly step back.
“I’ll make some breakfast.” She said when she found a towel and wrapped it around her as she went to the bedroom looking for clothing.
“I don’t have time for breakfast!”
“Toast and coffee!” She called back, her snarl matching his. “And you would have had time for breakfast if you had taken your own shower and not mine!”
“Coffee…a vat of coffee…” Sage watched her through the frosted glass of the shower doors and pushed himself to his feet, quickly finishing what should have been a fast shower. Then his hands had wandered to the woman slippery and scented with soaps she’s just bought the day before. Now a few girl things dotted his shower and his bathroom. Not to mention his bed.
He was half into his jacket when she brought the thermos of coffee and slice of toast to him. The half swallowed little giggle broke from her lips when he tore into the toast and kept him smiling all the way into the office for his meeting with the team he had assembled to investigate the problem with school security. Not to mention the meeting with the merchants association about the rash of vandalism. He had an idea about that one and set Callie on it once he was in his office. She wanted time in the field and this was a good starter problem for her to deal with.
****
Luna watched him drive off, idly chewing on the corner of her lip.
She hadn’t really lied to him.
She had promised not to shift and run on her own. So there was only a little bit of guilt plaguing her at the moment.
He hadn’t asked about her wandering the town on her own. She had the comfortable hiking boots on, adjusted her pant legs over the tops and pulled the new jacket she bought from the laundry room. She tapped pockets, phone and wallet in place, as well as a cute key ring she’d bought for her first ever house key.
There wasn’t any wind today and the rains of the night before were gone. The middle of October was bright and shiny, making her squint as she watched the sun peek over the hills to the east. She loved the vibrant colors filling the hillsides around Devil Hills, reds, golds, palest amber and fiery bursts of flame varied from tree to tree.
She let her mind drift to Sage with a sigh. She knew he worried. But there were more people watching her in this town that she’d ever had in her life.
What they saw was a young woman bopping to the music playing through her ear pods as she ambled down the wide streets to the main section of town. She had a list in her pocket, the top item being some clothing. She found the little sexy shop that Lily recommended and stood before the display. She felt a hint of heat on her cheeks when the woman came up to her, offering to help.
Luna lifted one pair of panties from the display table, her fingers immediately on the half inch red heart sewn into the elastic band at the back. She lifted another pair and found the same thing. She picked up a dozen different colors and went to the register, squirming a little at the growls she could hear inside her head when she wore a pair and let Sage catch a glimpse of her behind.
An hour later she stood outside the clinic entrance, the questions inside her demanding answers. She argued with herself off and on all morning. She bit the corner of her lip and strode inside, her head up and a polite smile in place. A world with no secrets, she thought, where everyone stared and whispered when she was in the area. After spending most of her life shrouded in secrets, she discovered it didn’t bother her and she offered bright greetings to anyone willing to share.
“Good morning,” the receptionist looked up at the movement, freezing in place instantly. “Just a moment, please. I’ll be right with you.”
Luna had opened her mouth to speak before the single finger raised to stop her. She watched the younger woman rise and disappear down the hall. Moving very quickly. She looked behind her and leaned over to peer into the mirror. She still looked like her. Nothing too scary or unsetting, she was sure. Although she was positive she was glowing after the night she’d spent with Sage learning about the world of being sensual.
Jess was stepping from the exam room, his pen moving over the paper when Susan found him. She waited until he closed the file and handed it to her.
“Luna St. Germaine is here. You said to find you if she comes into the office,” she kept her voice low.
“Thank you…find Corine for me. Ask her to take the next appointment on my slot and apologize for me, I’ll see her later,” Jess watched her go off to the lounge before striding quickly to the front reception area. “Luna. Nice to see you again. Are you alright?”
“Oh, I’m good. I…I wanted to get an appointment to speak with you,” she looked around uncomfortably at the attention, unaware she was walking down the hall, his hand on her arm and guiding her. “I did not mean to disrupt your morning.”
“And have the Alpha female pack hunting for me?” Jess laughed and gestured to a chair by his desk. “I received the blood work back and was going to give Sage a call. I don’t know how to reach you…”
“Through Sage is fine,” she answered, her palm waving absently, ignoring the chair and pacing. She spun anxiously, the words bursting forth in a rush. “Am I alright? Am I normal?”
Jess was up from his desk, rounding it and taking her shoulders. He forced her to sit, the sudden loss of color in her cheeks and wide eyes worrying him. He leaned against the desk and bent forward a little.
“You’re alright, Luna,” he told her firmly. “I can run a lot of tests if you want, but each blood sample I took held less of the drugs we found the first time. I have some friends working to identify what was used, but the tests we ran and your basic vitals are all good. You’re very healthy,” Jess waited for his words to settle. “Is there something wrong? Something you want to talk about?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered, her head shaking. “Yesterday afternoon…it all seemed to…to just be there at once. All the memories. I know I can’t…I have to have the good ones and the sad ones…I just sat in the corner of the laundry room and cried and I don’t know how to stop it from hurting.”
“Time, Luna,” Jess bent in front of her. “These are things you should have been allowed to handle as they happened, but you weren’t. I don’t want to give you medications,” he saw the instant fear in her eyes. “You don’t need drugs. Just let yourself find life a little at a time. Including all the memories. And it’s okay to just sit and mourn. You haven’t told Sage, have you?”
She stared at the hands he dangled in front of him.
“I don’t want him to see me as broken,” she answered softly. “I want to be…we speak of everything and I like being his friend. His mate. I fit with him. I don’t know why or how, but I feel right with him. I feel whole. Like a woman. Alive. I don’t want him to…I don’t want to be treated like a child.”
“Talking about everything includes how you feel, Luna. Sometimes just being held while you cry is part of healing,” Jess thought of holding Lily when they killed the man who had ordered her parents death. About how long it had taken her to permit herself to mourn them.
“I never cried before,” her eyes went to his. “I remember now, crying when I was little. But…” Her head shook.
Jess exhaled slowly. “One of the drugs you had been given would have…taken away the need to cry…I doubt you would have felt much of anything on an emotional level.”
“It was like I wasn’t the one…I was watching. I was seeing someone else be punished or be lonely. It never occurred to me to cry,” she felt the anger welling inside her at the same time the hot searing tears built behind her lashes. “I hate him. I hate him and want to hurt him. I thought I didn’t…I thought I would just be glad to be free.”
This was what Jess had been waiting for. He lifted a card from his desk.
“You need to talk to someone, Luna. Someone trained to help you through this,” he held the card out to her. “Her name is Liz Chance and she can help you understand that what you’re feeling is good. Acceptable. She can help you with the anger and sadness.”
“A counselor,” she read the card and tucked it into her pocket with a nod. “When he first took me…I spoke with a counselor every week. It was before they began giving me shots.”
“We don’t think they began the shots until you’d hit puberty, Luna. In all probability, your body would have rejected them because of the changes that occur, especially in females,” Jess watched her digest the information. “We suspect one of the purist groups has been working on this formula for a while now.”
“But it’s out of me…” She said anxiously, relieved at his next words. “You said! You said it’s out of me!”
“It’s out of you,” he repeated, his voice low and soothing. “What we’ve analyzed so far says it had to be renewed every month to keep your cat hidden from you,” Jess weighed his next statement carefully. But they had to know if she’d heard anything, if she could recall anything. “We also think there are others, Luna.”
Jess had to admit he wasn’t sure how she would react.
“Others?” She repeated softly, eyes the shade of spring suddenly burned with anger. “She spoke of others. Dr. Morgan. She talked of a variety of reactions and developments. When I was thirteen, after one injection I thought I would freeze! I felt as if I’d never be warm again. She said half the test subjects had the same problem but they couldn’t isolate the cause in the serum.”
“Luna, there are people you need to speak with,” he wasn’t accustomed to the simple stare she offered. One that said she was analyzing his words, waiting for more information. “There’s an organization working to stop people like the doctor…” He paused. “And your father.”
“You told them about me.”
“They don’t know your name. But they know I’ve been investigating someone who had been drugged. They’re the experts I sent your blood samples to.”
“Everyone in town watches me,” she smiled at him. “It wouldn’t be hard for them to figure out who it is, Jess. After so many years of feeling nothing, it’s almost a relief. Although, I believe some watch because Sage has claimed me as his mate. Some of the females are not happy with that, I think.”
“They aren’t like the other people, Luna. They won’t force you to do anything you’re not ready for, I promise you that.” Jess grinned. “As for Sage and the females around town, I’ve been told I was just as oblivious to them as Sage. Our town is a healthy mixture of shifters and humans. And it’s a good town.”
“Then I owe it to who I am…I owe it to my mother and grandmother to help them,” she nodded. “You can tell them. I’ll help anyway I can.” She thought for a quiet minute. “Sage won’t like it. He’s…protective. But I can be stubborn and this is important.”
“I know the feeling. A lot of the information I have comes from them. That’s why I know there aren’t any residual effects. They can’t alter your DNA, Luna,” he assured her, watching relief flow into her features.
“I’ve been so worried. Frightened that something they did would…would take me away from Sage,” she whispered, her eyes closing as she worked to let go of the feelings. “Thank you.”
“Anytime, Luna. I’ll let Seth Anderson know that you’re willing to speak with them,” he leaned back when she patted her pockets and pulled out a phone. “Even easier. What’s the number?” He wrote quickly on a pad that he’d had in the pocket of his smock.
“Oh, lord, look at the time! I am so sorry, Jess. I have an appointment to interview for a waitress job at the Wild Raven!” Luna was up and stuffing her phone into her pocket with the card he’d given her. Impulsively, she hugged him tight. “Thank you. I’ll do whatever I can to help your friends, Jess, I promise! Bye!”
****
He laughed as she vanished through the door, his head shaking. She was definitely going to fit in with the other new females to Devil Hills.
He stood up for a long quiet minute before reaching for his desk phone and placing the call. “Seth, it’s Jess.”
“Good morning.”
“I’ve just had a chat with Luna St. Germaine.”
“How is she?” He turned the desk chair, staring out into the strength of an October late morning.
“Improving. Feeling. Emotions and memories she’s been denied are returning and I think she’s a little swamped at the moment. It’s got to be unnerving to suddenly be given emotions. I think one of the saving graces is the memories finally being hers from her childhood.” Jess thought about the woman he’d just seen. “I think at the moment, she’s battling with what’s right and what would feel good, revenge being the feel good part.”
“Yeah…a drawback to humanity at times,” Seth drawled slowly. Broad shoulders shrugged inside an expensive suit coat. “I’d opt for revenge, but that’s me. I’m assuming she has a conscience.”
Jess laughed dryly. “Probably. Did you know about her before she came here, Seth?”
“Yes. We were informed several months ago. Gaudarville does his very best to avoid situations where shifters are part of the group. If they are, he delegates. He plays the political line well but keeps his distance. He used Luna as his delegate, which is interesting and more than a tad arrogant since a shifter would easily be able to figure out something was wrong,” Seth Anderson dragged one hand through the trimmed, deep brown hair. “We had our man in position to rescue her, Jess. Just a week too late. We’d only learned about her six months ago.” He didn’t try and contain the anger. “One of our members met her and Therrin Gaudarville at a fundraiser. The report she filed chilled every one of our physicians, but if we’d moved too quickly and didn’t get everything in place correctly, he might have hid her away and continued the drugs.”
“I can’t imagine getting through Gaudarville’s security was easy.”
“Not impossible, we had to find someone he didn’t know or his other bodyguards weren’t aware of,” Seth answered dryly. “Then we throw St. John into place and the girl manages to rescue herself and take out one of my best security men in the process.”
“She’s been trying since she was ten, Seth, and she gave me her number to give to you. She’ll talk to you and help you with anything she can,” Jess read off the number for him. “Give her a couple days, will you? She’s dealing with a rush of new memories right now, the key of which, is wanting her father beneath her claws.”
“Can you blame her?” Came the dry retort. “Jess, if we knew what he was doing to her, the abuse, we would have risked an international incident to free her.”
“She’s an interesting woman. I gave her Liz Chance’s card,” Jess warned, looking up to see his nurse in the hall. He held up a finger for patience. “I’ve got a patient. Oh, a little FYI, Sage Terrence has marked her and is very protective.”
“Sage? Damn, he moves fast.”
“Luna struck more than a nerve with him, Seth.” Jess recalled the look on Sage’s face when he carried her, unconscious, into the clinic that morning. “I’m not sure he was prepared for what his wolf threw into his lap.”
“When it comes to a mate, I’m not sure any of us are,” he agreed. “Christ, her father’s lucky he walked away with his throat. I’ll be the height of delicacy, Jess. Thanks.”