Craving More (15 page)

“Not
until you hear me out. We need to talk about you thinking this is a one off
thing—some fun and games. I told you I wanted more so imagine my shock
when your brother came home telling me our relationship was over when we
haven’t had a chance to really start. Granted, he didn’t know I was the
mystery man
that screwed his sister then
blew her off, but that isn’t the point.”

“We
don’t have a relationship Jett. From what I can tell you just like to sneak
around kissing me and feeling me up. In my book that does not make us a couple.
And you did blow me off. I haven’t heard from you in days.”

He
nuzzled her neck and snorted. “You didn’t seem to mind my kisses or groping
before.”

She
wiggled beneath him, growling. He felt the sharp tips of her tiger claws dig
into his arms. Damn she was really pissed.

“The
point is you weren’t at all interested in letting anyone know you were at the
bakery to see me. Coming in first thing when we opened and knowing no one else
would be there. Then the first sign of life from MJ or a customer and you’d
bolt out the door. All I could think was that you were ashamed to be seen with
me. Then you didn’t show up Friday. No phone call or anything. I haven’t heard
from you in days.”

“I
called. You just kept hanging up on me.” In his mind it sounded a lot better
than when it came out. He thought it would lighten her mood but by the grinding
sound of her teeth, it didn’t.

“That’s
because it’s close to midnight and I was asleep you idiot.”

“But
I called,” he said weakly.

“Four
days after the fact. I don’t think that counts since you’re drunk and I don’t
want to hear your excuses. You blew me off. I got the message. You’re not
interested.”

He
looked down into her face, saw the anger get washed away with pain and hurt. It
killed him to know he’d hurt her again. His chest ached and his heart dropped
into the pit of his stomach.

“Please
kitten just hear me out,” he whispered. “I really do have an explanation. I ran
into my psycho ex-girlfriend after work Thursday. I freaked out a bit, got a
little paranoid. She seemed normal enough but she didn’t used to be. I didn’t
know how she would take it if she knew I found someone, so I stayed away.” He
dropped kisses onto her cheeks and nose.

Corrine
quit squirming beneath him. He was oddly thankful, not sure how much more he
could take without the beast in him taking over. With his dick cradled against
her core he could feel the heat of her seeping through his jeans. He was stiff
and aching, dying to thrust into her welcoming body. She may not know it but
was only egging him on with each move she made.

Now
with her lying beneath him still as can be, he could concentrate on why he was
there. They needed to talk.

“What
do you mean, she didn’t used to be normal?”

“Promise
me you won’t hop up off this bed the minute I’m off you. I can’t think straight
with you under me.” To prove his point he pressed his hips against hers. The
erection he’d been ignoring prodded her pelvis. “I want you to know that this
thing between us is more than a one night stand.”

Corrine
gave a quick nod affirming her agreement. Rolling to his side he propped his
head on his hand, keeping the other arm around her middle. He tunneled his finger
inside her robe, rubbing circles with his fingertips against the smooth skin of
her bare belly.

Damn I hope she’s naked under this
thing
. The thought rolled through
his head before he could stop it. He swallowed hard, gaining a modicum of
control.

Staring
at the glow of the computer he told her the story of Macy.

“I
met Macy when I was growing up. She’s from the Larsen founding family. We’d
always been around each other.
Sorta
pushed together
by our parents in hopes of a great family merge.

I
was never that interested in her when I was young. I had better things to do
than hang out with a girl. She, on the other hand, said she was madly in love
with me since the first time we met and was planning our life together.

We
went to the same private schools but never dated. I was into sports and she was
Miss Popular
.

 
When it was time to go to college I
wanted to break out of my shell. Picked a state university. I was surprised
when she followed along. I was sure she was going to take her parents up on
their offer of a year in Paris. I was wrong.

At
first it was nice having someone I knew around. In a way she reminded me of
home. I dated random women off and on the first couple of years at college.
That’s where your brother’s stories come in. We definitely did some wild stuff
back in the day.”

Jett
looked down to see Corrine’s full attention on him. Her hand was on his chest.
Just having her touch him of her own free will was comforting, making it easier
to talk about his past. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.
A small smile tilting her lips.

“My
junior year I was buckling down. My parents warned that I needed to stop
playing and starting planning. They’d put up with a lot of my free will so I
did what they asked. I knew they wanted me to try and make a go of it with Macy
so I did. It was easy to fall into a relationship with her. She was around all
of the time.

Almost
two years into the relationship things started to go bad. I knew it wasn’t
going to work. She swore it would.

She
was spending every minute of every day with me, completely foregoing her
classes and following me around instead. She moved herself into the apartment
without invitation, started rifling through my mail, checking my emails and
going through my phone to see
who
I was talking to.

At
first I didn’t care. She was always ready for down and dirty sex and having her
right there whenever I wanted was handy.”

Jett
looked at Corrine when she flinched. “I’m sorry kitten. I just need you to know
what happened. Where my head was.”

“I
understand. Please go on.” He was surprised when she leaned over and kissed
him. Nothing consuming like the kiss in the bakery the other day. The kiss he
went to bed reliving every night. This was a sweet, gentle kiss.
A show of support and affection.

He
cleared the emotion clogging his throat. “The more she intruded on my life, the
creepier it got to have her around. I couldn’t hang out with my male friends
without her asking a million questions. And heaven forbid I made friends with a
woman.

After
a while I started to ignore her. Brush off her touches or not answer when she
called. I didn’t care for her anymore and didn’t want her around. With Sam’s
help, we slowly gathered up all of her things and moved them back to her dorm
room a little bit at a time.

I
came to the decision I needed to break it off with her. I just didn’t know how
without hurting her feelings.

Things
kept going as they had been, Macy being possessive while Sam and I moved her
stuff. Until the day I walked in on Macy threatening my little sister who had
stopped in for a surprise visit. Macy was wielding a large kitchen knife, a
crazed look in her eyes as she told Jessie if she ever came near me again she’d
kill her.

I
defused the situation by getting the knife from her and introducing Jessie, who
she should have known and recognized since we all grew up together, but I
couldn’t take any more. I broke things off once I got my sister safely in
another room.”

Shaking
his head he tried to make the memories go away. It was no use. Once he started
down this path he couldn’t stop.

“Sometimes
I can still hear Macy’s hysterical cries when I told her it was over; her
insane rambling about plans and soul mates. She kept repeating that we were the
perfect couple and I would never find anyone like her.

She
ranted and raved for an hour while I just stood there between her and the room
I ushered Jessie into. Thankfully, Jessie called our parents and quickly
explained the situation. They sent someone from the Guild to cart Macy away.

I
never filed charges or anything like that. You know how we like to keep things
within the community. Deal with it internally. Plus, there was the fact that
she’s part of a founding family. It wouldn’t look good. I just wanted the whole
ugly situation to be forgotten, to go away.

Unfortunately
it didn’t. After a few blessed months being Macy-free, she started her stalking
campaign. She left small notes on my car and under my apartment door at first,
all of them begging me to take her back. The phones calls and messages were
next. She was sorry, vowing it would never happen again. She was just so in
love with me, knew that we were meant to be together, that she lost her mind a
little.

With
graduation just around the corner I changed my cell number. I was planning on
leaving the area. It became a habit to delete any messages on the machine in
the apartment. Eventually we just got rid of the home phone. It also became a
habit to toss any stray note lying around.

The
day I graduated college I packed my car and took off. I thought she wouldn’t
have a clue where I was going since I didn’t have contact with her, she found
out anyway.

One
day she just showed up, moving into the apartment across the hall from me. She
began following me to work, waiting for me in the parking lot and never saying
a word to me directly. She left messages at the front desk and on my new cell
phone. Always the same thing—wanted to see me, we needed to talk.

How
she got my number still escapes me. It could have been the woman at the front
desk where I worked at the time because I turned her down for a date. Or it
could have been some underling in the Guild hoping to gain favor with Macy’s
family.

Yet
again I was forced to change my number, making sure only my boss had it in case
of emergencies. I told only my parents and warned them about letting the Guild
have it. Surprisingly, they agreed.

Weeks
went by. I became accustomed to her presence no matter where I went. The day
she wasn’t waiting for me as I left work I breathed a sigh of relief. I had the
fleeting thought she was finally bored and moving on.

I
went home in such a good mood. Damn near whistling the entire way. When I
walked down the hall to my apartment I found Macy leaning on my door –
I’d had enough. I knew I needed to end it once and for all. Standing in the
hall we had a long talk about her needing someone who would love her and
worship her like she deserved. I pointed out all of my bad habits, the drinking
and flirting. How she always accused me of cheating and didn’t actually trust
me. How absolutely unromantic I was, forgetting her birthday or the anniversary
of the day they met. I thought of every small thing that I could to turn her
off. Making me sound like the worst guy out there, even going as far as to tell
her I wasn’t man or tiger enough for her.

In
the end she left without a fight, agreed with what I said. I walked her to her
car, ensuring she got in it and drove off.

I
was relieved. I went inside to crack a beer and celebrate. When I opened the
door I found the place trashed. Barely anything left worth saving.

Two
weeks later I got another job offer in Cascade. Packed the few things I had
left and got out of town under the cover of darkness. Call me a coward but I
just couldn’t deal with her again.”

He
looked down into her face. Her beautiful brown eyes staring up at him. The
concern he saw glimmering in them a balm to his emotional wounds. “To have her
show up after I thought she moved on freaked me out. I started thinking about
us. What we have is fresh and new. I couldn’t take the chance she would do
something to you because of me. I admit I was scared. So I flaked on showing up
at the bakery. Didn’t call because I wasn’t sure what to tell you, how to
explain. There was also a part of me that was afraid you’d turn out like her. I
haven’t slept, dated or even been attracted to another shifter since Macy.
You’re the first one and I’m coming to believe the only one.”

“I
didn’t even think about what would go through your head. When your brother said
you thought I blew you off and was only after a one-night fling, I was shocked.
It hit me like a ton of bricks then. I’m done being scared of my past. I can’t
let some crazy bitch hold me back from my future. I needed to see you, talk to
you and beg you to actually give us a chance.”

Corrine
rose up and pushed him onto his back. Hovering over him, her eyes were narrowed
and he swore he was in trouble.

“I
can see why you went stupid the past couple of days, that doesn’t explain your
actions the past couple of weeks though. I’m not Macy and you should have
realized that by now. I never asked or expected anything from you. Not marriage
or mating or any of that. Frankly, I don’t think that stuff is for me. What I
did want and maybe I should have told you, was for you to spend time
with me and not just swapping spit when no one was around
.
Not that I didn’t enjoy it for your information. I just don’t want to feel like
a dirty secret or some plaything you can toss aside whenever you want.”