GAGE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Gage cups the back my neck and his other arm comes around my naked waist before engulfing me in a warm, tender hug, mindful of my injuries. Static electricity shoots across my skin from the contact, reminding me of the power only Gage has over me.

I kiss the side of his neck softly, wanting him to uncoil from the tautness riding every inch of his frame.

His rigid frame unwinds every so slightly and my heart flutters, loving the knowledge of having power over him too. I place soft kisses up his neck and across his jaw, relishing the feel of his scruffy stubble on my lips. Running my fingers over the back of his head I sigh in contentment as silky strands caress my skin.

Gage's body relaxes completely, his hard and heavy breathing turning soft and light.

Placing one last kiss on the side of his full lips I pull back and stare deep in his warm blue eyes. "I'm okay now that you're here."

The little bit of fire burning in eyes simmers down entirely, leaving only warmth behind.

"Kiera..." Gage breathes before his lips meet mine in the softest of kisses. His lips brush tenderly against mine, caressing the cold flesh and bringing it back to life. My lips heat up from the warmth of his lips and I kiss him back just as affectionately. The slow kiss depicting more feelings than any of our previous intense kisses.

With a slow swipe of his tongue across my lower lip, he sucks on the it gently before pulling back.

Gazing into my eyes, Gage whispers across my lips, "Don't ever scare me like that again. Ever."

"Promise." My voice is breathless and thick; breathless because of the kiss and thick because of emotions. Emotions that took root from the moment I locked eyes with his for the very first time. I knew something had taken place deep inside me, something I didn't want to acknowledge then. But now, being held in the same arms as that night, they're brimming stronger than ever before, forcing me to acknowledge and accept them- I have feelings for him. Strong, powerful, undeniable feelings.

Cupping the side of my face in his hand, he rubs his thumb across my cheekbone. "Tell me everything."

And I do.

I open my mouth and everything pours out of me. I tell him about heading into the woods, going in search of the Phoenix waterfalls and coming up short, losing track of time, and trying to make it back home before dark. When I think about what happened next, my throat closes up and my blood runs cold. The tingles buzzing on my skin from the connection with Gage no longer helping me keep warm.

I'm once again sucked back in time. I'm once again in front of the black beast; once again in front of the void yellow eye and scarred blind eye. Once again gazing back at death.

The creature drips its massive head, going for my feet and I squeeze my eyes shut tight, mentally preparing myself for the bite.

A rough abrasive slime darts across my feet and I snap open my eyes, my body's every motion functioning on autopilot. My saucer wide eyes lock on the animal's thick tongue scraping over my injured feet, licking away every drop of blood. It's razor sharp teeth catches the glint of the moonlight and I tremble staring at the long deadly canines that could easily tear off my limbs in less than a minute.

I open my mouth to scream, to raise alarm, to call out for help but no sound comes out of my lips as fear chokes my throat.

Sensing my fear, the predator lifts its head, saliva dripping from its mouth and onto my legs. It flashes it's sharp teeth in a menacing smile and edges closer. Its prowl sure and confident. Its eye promising death.

It's a predator stalking its prey.

"Kiera!" Gage's voices penetrates my mind, halting the nightmare. For now.

Once my eyes focus back on his, I see the calmness in his eyes. But it's not the kind of calm that holds the mind tranquil; it's an eerie calm not to be mistaken for anything else. It's the calm before the storm.

"You're here with me, you're not back there. You're not in the forest anymore." His strong voice cocoons me in its strength, protecting me from the terror consuming my mind. "I want your eyes on mine, okay? No one is going to hurt you. Nothing is going to get close to you again." He waits a beat, making sure that my eyes are focused on his before continuing, "Be here with me, love. I'll protect you."

The certainty in his voice and the promise in his eyes are my undoing. I clutch my arms tighter around his neck and get as close as possible, letting the tingles soothe my skin, letting the heat from his body bring warmth back to my cold one. Gazing deeply into his beautiful blue eyes, I let them fight the beast in my head and keep away the nightmare.

With a new found strength I forge on with the details, "On the way back I heard something in the bushes. At first I chalked it down to a rabbit, then seeing a yellow sphere I deduced it to a firefly." A humourless chuckle bubbles up my throat at my naïvety. "But, it was no rabbit or firefly. It was a panther." I finish in a small voice, no longer carrying the strength from earlier.

Gage stares impassively at me for several seconds before his thick brows wrinkle in a frown, "A panther? Are you sure you saw a panther?"

"Yes, it was huge, black and had razor sharp teeth. It's eye was a hollow yellow too." A shiver snakes up my spine, cold and unwanted.

Having felt it too, Gage runs his fingers lazily up my spine, starting from the base all the way to the top. This time a different kind of shiver travels through my body making my eyes flutter shut- the pleasant and wanted kind.

"Eyes on me. What happened next?"

Opening my eyes I continue, "It pounced on me out of nowhere and that's how I ended up with the gashes. My head connected with a tree from the force of the impact, and the panther's claws embedded deep in my shoulders and feet. Then it started licking the blood clean from my feet..." I trail off seeing his pupils dilate in an emotion I've never seen on him before.

"He tasted your blood," Gage mumbles so quietly that I wouldn't have heard him if I wasn't pressed up against him.

"Well it could've been a she too, you know." I try to lighten the sudden tension in the room and crack a smile hoping he'll join in.

Gage just keeps staring me dead in the eyes.

Okay then!

"How did you manage to get away?" His body is stock-still again, the strange emotion still in his eyes.

"I threw a rock at it but it wasn't of any help. Just when I thought it would attack, growls echoed throughout the forest, hindering its advance. As the sounds gets louder and closer, the panther darted away. That's what saved me- the growls from other animals, because if it weren't for them I was sure it would ki-"

Gage puts his finger on my lips, silencing me.

"Don't." He says firmly before bringing me impossibly closer to him in a strong embrace. His arms are thick bands of steel, holding onto me like I might disappear any second.

I melt against him and rest my cheek on his chest, my ear right over his heart beat; its loud and fierce pulse reaching my ears.

Resting my chin on his chest, I gaze up at his eyes, trying to decipher the strange emotion filling his dark blues, an emotion that's not suiting him one bit. "Gage, what's wrong?"

His breath tickles my forehead as he peers down at me. "The thought of...of...losing...you is the greatest agony in the world. The fiercest pain I've ever experienced in all these years. Seeing you hurt in my city, under my watch is ripping my heart right out of my chest."

As his words register in my mind, I finally understand the heavy emotion filling every millimeter of his dark blue eyes. Fear.

Fear of losing me.

Seeing this big, powerful man being at his most vulnerable, bearing his emotions and soul for me, my conversation with my mother from when I was a little girl floods my mind, taking me back in time to my seven year old self.

I gaze up at my mother as she tucks me in bed, my big brown eyes locked on the radiating smile on her beautiful face. Securing my favourite plush peach blanket lovingly around my tiny frame she mumbles how pretty I looked as the flower girl at uncle Steve's wedding.

"Mom why did uncle Steve have tears in his eyes at his wedding? Was someone mean to him?" My brows pull together in puzzlement as I try to figure out who made uncle Steve cry.

Her soft laugh fills the room with its beautiful melody. "No sweety, no one was mean to uncle Steve. He was emotional reciting the vows because he's deeply in love with his wife, aunt Addison."

"Doesn't that mean he's weak? The boys at school call any guy who cries weak."

"Oh no, sweety. That doesn't mean uncle Steve is weak. It shows he's man enough to reveal his feelings in front of his woman; to show her what she really means to him. When a man truly cares for a woman, he's at his rawest, Kiera." She combs her fingers through my dark hair, drawing the wayward strands away from my eyes.

"Really?" My eyes get big as I stare at my mother in wonder.

"Yes sweety." She chuckles, her light brown eyes growing soft as she gazes warmly at me and whispers, "Always remember this Kiera, only a real man shows his emotions to a woman he loves."

My heart hammers against my ribs as her softly spoken words resonate in my mind.

Fresh hot tears gather in my eyes as my mind, body and soul understand the meaning behind the emotion engulfing every fibre of his being.

Pain quickly replaces the fear in his eyes as he mumbles brokenly, "Please don't cry. Every tear that falls is a tear in my heart. It's shredding my heart, love."

His soul-stirring words has my throat closing up. The admission unleashes the floodgates on my tears and they cascade rapidly down my cheeks.

"Gage, what are you doing to me?" My voice cracks as I gaze at him with blurry eyes.

"The same thing you're doing to me, Kiera. The same thing." He cups my face tenderly in his hands and kisses away every tear drop, his whiskers rough in contrast to his smooth lips. His minty breath overwhelms my senses and binds me in their familiarity.

With a gentle kiss on each eyelid he draws back. "Let's go pack you a bag for a few days, love, you're staying with me."

My eyes fly open and I ask flabbergasted, "What?"

"If you thought that I'm going to let you stay here alone and hurt, you thought wrong. After we pack a few of your clothes we're heading to mine, where you'll be checked out by a doctor." And bossy Gage is back. His eyes are devoid of pain and fear, now they're hard and unrelenting.

"I don't need to be 'checked out'." I air quote the words with my fingers, matching his hard stare with my own. "I cleaned out the wounds with antiseptic. I don't need a doctor."

His arm goes around my waist and only then do I realise that I'm still semi-naked. I move my hands over my breasts and cover them as best as I can, my cheeks heating with embarrassment. I look around for my tee but immediately find myself facing Gage again as his fingers dig into my cheeks. His touch not rough to cause pain but firm to hold me in place. "Never cover yourself in front of me, Kiera."

I don't acknowledge his words, I spot my tee on the ground from my peripheral vision and wish it was within reach to cover up my not so endowed breasts. His fingers dig into the side of my waist, exactly over my sensitive spot, making me jolt in his lap. I squeal out his name loudly as I lock my eyes back on his impish dark blue eyes.

I narrow my eyes and threaten, "Don't you dare."

His face splits in a wolfish smirk as his fingers dig into my sensitive spot again and again and again.

"Okay, okay. I won't...I won't cover myself up. Stop!" I manage to shout in between gasps and giggles. My hands landing on his broad shoulders as I try to push away from his hold and end the sweet torture.

I don't move an inch.

Having got what he wanted, he stops when my hands unravel my breasts. His eyes darken to a navy blue as they land on the soft flesh. He smooths his fingers down my cheek, neck, collarbone, heart and finally stops on the swell of my breast. My breasts are rising and falling with my heavy breathing, and with each rise and fall the breast pressed up against him scrapes my n****e on the fabric stretched over his broad chest, causing delicious frictions and pebbling it into hard points. Circling his fingers to the underside of my other breast, he cups the neglected tender flesh in his palm. Heat radiates off his hand and my n****e peaks, begging for attention.

He grants its wish and rubs his thumb across the hard point. "You've beautiful rosy n*****s, Kiera. I could suck on them forever." He squeezes the breast softly, eliciting a deep moan from my throat. "And these creamy breasts, I could gaze at them till the end of time."

His fingers smooth over my aching breast and caresses the underside of the perky flesh before tugging on the needy bud. My eyes close at the exquisite sensation and my body hums with pleasure at the electricity sizzling through my skin under the ministrations of his adept fingers.

"You're perfect, love. Never doubt that." With a lingering kiss on my temple, he reluctantly drags his hand away.

Fetching my tee off the floor he drapes it over his shoulder then places his arms behind my back and knees before getting to his feet.

"What are you doing? Put me down, Gage!" I exclaim, unfamiliar with being carried in anyone's arms, let alone in bridal style.

"Carrying you to your bedroom." He replies dismissively, not bothering to look my way and easily navigates through the hallway, my weight having no effect on his strong physique.

"I can walk by myself," my yell finally draws his attention but his icy blues make me wish for his focus to be back straight ahead and not trained on me.

"You're not walking till the injuries on your feet are healed." His voice is laced with finality and his eyes warn me not to go against him on the matter.

I forget all about my sharp retort when he enters the right room without any indications. "How did you know that this is my room?" My brows pull together in a frown as I gaze at him questioningly.

"Wild guess. The door was open so I assumed it to be yours." He stops on the threshold and stares at me blankly. "Am I wrong?"

"Oh, no. This is my room." I mumble distractedly as my mind races with the events of Gage's abrupt arrival. All the questions that were clogging my mind when I saw him at my door spill past my lips in rapid succession, "Gage, how did you find me? How did you know that this is my apartment? Why are you here?"