The Moon Rises (41 page)

Back on the street, Gigi assessed the restaurants
which competed with Roger’s. She even went inside and tried some of the food.
The only place which didn’t make her gag was the Mexican restaurant. Feeling a
bit more confident, since she could definitely cook better than most of the
chefs on the block, Gigi left the neighborhood with three goals for the next
day - find the master, give Roger ideas to save his restaurant, and put Kyle in
his place.

Not only did Gigi get Finn’s pants off, but her
own pants were off, along with every other stitch of clothing. Having worn a
work uniform which left her almost naked, she wasn’t shy about nudity. Gigi
knew her body was nice because males were always drooling over her. Yet when
Finn watched her, drinking in all her flesh, she felt beautiful in a way she
never had before.

Finn liked her breasts. Gigi knew this much
because he kept touching and kissing and sucking and licking them. Until he
gave them all that affection, she hadn’t cared one way or the other about her breasts,
but now she loved them too.

When Gigi ended up naked in bed with Finn only
wearing a pair of boxer shorts which strained against his erection, Gigi was certain
they would have sex and she was ready with all the ideas she learned from
reading the sex book. Once Finn’s fingers slipped inside her while his mouth
latched onto her nipple and sucked softly, Gigi was lucky to remember her name.
By the time he kissed her thighs and gazed at her with a naughty smile, Gigi
had lost the ability to speak.

“Remember that I’m not going to eat you,” Finn
said with a sly look on his face.

Gigi smiled at the idea of her thinking he would
eat her, but then his tongue slid between her legs. While the younger dumber
Gigi might have been alarmed by his presence there, the older slightly wiser Gigi
just closed her eyes and enjoyed the ride. Oh, and made noises similar to what
the kittens purred when she pet their tummies.

Sweat broke out along every inch of Gigi’s body,
bathing her in electric heat. Whimpering at his every caress, she worked hard
not to sob when the orgasm overwhelmed her. She wasn’t ready for this kind of intimacy
or this much love. Finn might have been horny as hell, but he didn’t rush and
instead brought her to an orgasm twice before he finally relented and let his
tongue slide up her stomach, to her nipples, and finally settling on her neck.

“I love you,” Finn whispered, his eyes so full of
need and warmth.

Feeling peaceful, Gigi reached up to touch Finn’s
face as he slid inside her. Closing her eyes, she just let herself feel as Finn
pressed deeply, pulling out just enough to panic her, before thrusting back
inside. His rhythm felt unbearably slow and made her whimper for relief. Finn
wasn’t quite the dorky kid everyone pegged him for because the result of all
the building need was worth it.

Gigi’s made a noise which frightened the kittens
from the window where they were watching the night. Finn leaned down and his
mouth covered Gigi’s, devouring all those pleasured cries.

“Finn, it’s so good,” she muttered, ready to cry
because she wanted him to stay and for some reason she thought he was leaving.
It was an odd thought since he was still sliding in and out of her, pushing her
towards more cries of pleasure.

“I love you,” Finn whispered again, his face
calmer than she had ever seen it.

“I love you too,” she cried as she wrapped her
legs around him.

His steady rhythm sent Gigi into another climax
and her body’s reaction to the pleasure forced Finn to relent. Gigi had trouble
calming down as he leaned on his elbows over her, still deep inside her, their
sweaty bodies warm and relaxed. No matter her body’s state of bliss, her mind
raced.

“Are you okay?” Finn whispered as he caressed her
damp face.

“You love me.”

“Yes, I do.”

“I feel nervous.”

Finn frowned. “Why?”

“Don’t leave me.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Gigi nodded, but she felt her eyes growing moist.

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked, starting to
pull away.

Gigi gripped him with her arms and legs, keeping
him stuck inside her.

“Don’t leave me.”

Finn watched her as the worry on his face faded.
“Everything is okay. I’m staying the night. If you let me, I’ll stay every
night. I still love you. Nothing’s changed. We made love and it felt really
good. When you’re ready, we’ll do it again and I’ll still be here. I promise
I’m not going to leave you.”

Gigi took a deep breath and nodded. “I thought it
would just feel good in my body, but it made me love you more. I feel scared
that you’ll leave and I’ll lose this feeling.”

Finn nodded and kissed her softly then with more
heat. “Let me go just enough so I can get off you.”

“No.”

“I’m going to squish you.”

“Stay.”

“I’m just going to lie next to, not leave the bed
or the room. Just let me pull up the covers and we’ll cuddle.”

Gigi eased her grip, tense about him grabbing his
clothes and running out. Maybe some part of her did think sex would make things
permanent, yet another part was certain that once a male slept with her, he
would no longer need her. Finn though just rolled to his side and pulled her
against him as he yanked the covers over them.

“Was your first time like this?” Gigi asked as he
brushed hair away from her face.

“You don’t want to know about my first time. It
was pathetic, but no one was injured so it wasn’t a total disaster.”

Gigi smiled and leaned her face against his hot
skin. “You definitely got better at it. That was so good. I think it was too
good.”

“I’ll try to be a little worse at it next time.”

Gigi laughed even as her face stayed pressed on
his chest. “I’m sorry I got freaked out.”

“Freaked out because it was good, I can live
with. After all the begging you’ve done for sex, I was worried you’d be
disappointed.”

Gigi looked up at him and kissed his chin. “I
only begged once and it was so good. Did it feel good for you too?”

Finn cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t take this as a
criticism, but you really get into your head during sex, don’t you? Just ignore
everything around you,” he said then added with a grin, “It was the best.”

“Yeah, because I did such a good job ignoring you
during sex.”

Laughing quietly, Finn kissed her softly. “You
ignore me better than anyone else. You’ve got a talent, Gigi Monroe.”

Gigi felt calmer once she realized how sex wasn’t
a prize Finn wanted and having attainted it, he would abandon her. What
happened with Anton hurt and confused Gigi who thought she understood the Were.
Part of her had expected something similar with Finn, but he wouldn’t leave. He
was hers and she was keeping him.

Gigi couldn’t help going overboard with the lunch
for Roger and Kyle. Whether it was to put Kyle in his place or because she
wanted to be a chef so badly or maybe she just wanted to show off, but Gigi
made way too much food and spent more than the hundred dollars Roger gave her.

Serving the food, Gigi tried not to seem overly
excited, just in case they didn’t like her cooking as much as Finn did.

“I made a little bit of Cajun, a little bit of
soul food, and some regular southern cooking.”

Roger beamed at her and Gigi was happy he wanted
to have sex her because it made him nicer and less likely to make fun of her
cooking. Kyle still refused to make eye contact as if she was beneath the effort.

“Okay, I was thinking you could serve seafood
gumbo because people like seafood and it’s not as expensive as it sounds to
make. I also made you dirty rice and chicken fried steak. Oh and I wanted you
to try a soup because you had some soups on your menu. I made hkatenkwan which
is a spicy chicken soup from Ghana. Oh and I really like crawfish pie so I made
that. I also made my favorite cake, Mississippi mud.”

Roger looked at all the food before him then
frowned. “You didn’t have to make all this, Gigi.”

“I’m sorry. I got excited. They don’t sell this
kind of food around here and you could be different that way.”

Roger grinned. “Luckily I’m a big eater and Kyle
is a pig.”

Kyle looked at all the food and his face seemed
unhappy. Maybe he was upset to learn she could actually cook and now he
wouldn’t be able to make fun of her. Gigi also hoped the food would force Kyle
to acknowledge her standing there in front of him, but he didn’t look at her.

Roger started trying everything and made lots of
approving noises. Kyle only tasted the gumbo then closed his eyes and held his
head like he had a headache. Gigi worried the food wasn’t good and Roger was
just being nice.

“What’s up?” Roger asked Kyle who just shook his
head, his eyes still closed.

“If it’s not good, tell me what you don’t like?”
Gigi asked, hoping she wouldn’t cry if he started criticizing her food.

Roger was digging into the crawfish pie when Kyle
finally looked at Gigi. His gaze held hers and she saw such pain in his expression.
Gigi felt his pain too and it startled her because she didn’t understand. She
also didn’t understand why her body betrayed her so completely. The moment
Kyle’s gaze met hers, her panties grew moist and she had to cross her arms to
cover how hard her nipples had become.

Ashamed by how aroused she was, Gigi waited for
Kyle to say something. Maybe mock her because she knew Weres could smell
arousal. He didn’t mock her though, didn’t say a word to her. Based on his gaze,
he hadn’t used his Were ways to get her riled up either. He looked so unhappy
as if being in the room with her for a second more was intolerable. Finally he
looked away and stood up.

“Just tell me what you don’t like?” Gigi said
quieter now, bothered by this stranger’s ability to torment her so easily.

“It’s all good,” Kyle said, without looking at
her. “Roger, I’ll be back later.”

Gigi watched Kyle leave and felt like crying even
though he didn’t criticize her. Her food made him sick or sad or something, but
he didn’t even try more than a few bites before leaving. She shouldn’t care
what any male besides Finn thought, but Kyle mattered even if she didn’t matter
to him.

“Ignore him,” Roger said. “He’s not used to the Circle
and all the magic and noise gets on his nerves.”

“You can tell me if the food isn’t good.”

“Hell, it’s better than the stuff they serve at
the club. You should cook for Silas and have him put this on the menu,” Roger
said then frowned. “No, scratch that. Cook for me instead. You can be my head
chef, pick the menu, everything.”

Gigi knew the rules in her head dictated she had
to work at The Moon Rises, but she wanted to cook like Mamma Celeste. Whenever
Gigi cooked, Mamma was with her, giving her comfort. Tobin said Gigi would
suffocate Finn if he alone was her only source of love. Cooking made her happy
and she could cook what she wanted here, but Gigi didn’t trust Roger.

“I’m not sure.”

“Think about it and let me know,” Roger said,
looking ready to eat both his and Kyle’s servings. “I don’t want to shut this
place down. I worked here when I first came to the Circle, but the food’s always
been iffy and I don’t know how to make it better. I own the place, but I don’t
cook. It’s why I eat at the club every night.”

“You really like it? You don’t have to be nice
because I’m not going to have sex with you just because you say nice things.”

Roger laughed. “I heard you and Anton were
together.”

Frowning, Gigi shook her head.

“Doesn’t matter. This would be business and
business only. If you and I hook up one day, it’ll have nothing to do with your
position here. You think about it and let me know.”

Returning to the kitchen to clean up and get the
leftovers for Finn, Gigi wasn’t sure what to do about her job. Aware if she
found the master she might not be around to work anywhere, Gigi felt the lure
of a life with Finn and working as a chef. This new direction for her life
tempted Gigi to let someone like Tobin deal with the master.

After she packed the leftovers into her car, Gigi
made another quick pass through the day’s designated section. Not a single
tingle, so she returned home wondering if she was selfish enough to leave
Sara’s safety to someone else.

Finn was happy his work day was over. All
afternoon instead of focusing on work, his mind wandered to the life he wanted
to make with Gigi. He also mulled over how he could get his mom to back off. By
the time he headed to Michael’s for the poker game, he had no answers regarding
his mother, but was feeling pretty optimistic nonetheless.

Sitting at a light, Finn’s phone rang and he
smiled when the caller ID said Gigi Monroe.