Melted By The Lion: A Paranormal Lion Shifter Romance (17 page)

“I’m really sorry, Savannah, but I think I’m going to be sick.”

She immediately ended the call without even saying bye, and I sat at the table worrying about her and hoping her sickness would pass soon. But then I recalled her recently telling me she’d been feeling a little dizzy, and I began to suspect that maybe her “sickness” wasn’t actually sickness. I wondered if she was pregnant. I knew she’d been growing just a bit concerned about the fact that she and Aaron had been together for five months without her conceiving, despite their very frequent bedroom activities, and despite the fact that most frozen women tended to conceive almost immediately. If she really was pregnant, I knew she was going to be overjoyed on so many different levels, Aaron, too.

Before I’d even finished eating my lunch in the kitchen, Princess on my lap, Bridget sent me a text apologizing for so abruptly ending our call earlier and saying that she was going to take a long nap, because after getting sick, she’d felt “weirdly starving” and had wolfed down a “disgustingly huge” bowl of pasta salad, and now she suddenly felt so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. Smiling to myself, I responded by telling her to feel better and get some rest, ending the text with two hearts, one for her, and for the baby I was getting pretty certain she was carrying.

After lunch, I introduced Princess to Rascal, Buddy, and Snowball, or
re
introduced her rather, since it was clear by the very friendly, un-shy way she reacted to all of them that they’d likely all spent lots of time together in the forest. Princess was the friendliest with Buddy, who was probably her brother, chasing him up and down the main hallway in the animal wing, yipping in such a rapid, energetic way that it kind of sounded like giggling.

Once I was sure all the animals were going to get along perfectly fine in my absence, I headed to the shelter, where I spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with the couple dozen resident animals and taking the dogs out for exercise. Dr. Ericson was there, as was his assistant, and they told me that Trevor had stopped by briefly that morning to tell them to prepare for a large influx of animals by the end of the day. So that I’d no longer have to go out in the woods to round them up anymore, he’d hired a team of townspeople to do the task that day, and every day, until it seemed like all the cats and dogs had been rescued. I figured he probably thought that townspeople a little less animal-crazy than I was would be able to do the job more efficiently, without running headlong into gator territory if an animal strayed, which was surely correct.

Over a dozen animals were delivered to the shelter around five, and I helped them get settled in, giving three Buddy and Princess lookalikes baths while Dr. Ericson tended to an injured mutt and his assistant cleaned up the cats.

By the time I began heading home around eight, I was a little tired and hungry, though eager to see Trevor and talk to him. To my disappointment, however, as I reached the house, I got a text from him, apologizing and saying that we’d have to reschedule for the following evening. I responded saying I understood, figuring that maybe the Renards had become an even bigger problem since Trevor had rejected Emile’s offer, which I was just assuming he’d already officially done.

Again that night, I slept like the dead, only waking up once after having had a dream where Trevor’s strong arms were wrapped around me, but then when I tried to kiss him, I couldn’t quite reach his mouth, because in the dream, he and his face just kind of kept floating away every time I got close.

I slept in a little bit, but woke up much earlier than I had the previous morning. After rolling out of bed and checking my phone, I saw that Bridget had already texted at nine, when I’d still been sleeping.
At the doctor’s office in the hospital. WE ARE PREGNANT!!!!!

Thrilled for her, I immediately sent a congratulatory response with lots of smiley faces and exclamation marks, though soon, while I ate breakfast, my mood became a bit more serious. I wondered if I’d ever get the chance to send a message similar to hers someday, if Trevor and I were able to work out our problems. I wondered if he was ever going to be able to forgive me for what I’d done, so we could try to move past it.

Finally, that evening, after I’d spent a long day at the shelter, even eating dinner there, I got the chance to find out. I’d just showered and dressed in a shorts-and-camisole pajama set when Trevor knocked on my bedroom door.

*

I opened the door with my pulse accelerating, and saw that Trevor had recently taken a shower, too. With his brown hair a darker shade than usual, indicating it was still damp, he stood in a white t-shirt and gray sweats, expression serious.

Willing myself not to focus on how the soft cotton of his t-shirt lightly clung to his very well-defined pectorals and abs, I invited him to come in and stepped aside so that he could do so.

But he just frowned, not moving. “Why don’t we go someplace other than your bedroom, so that we don’t become distracted from talking?”

As long as I’d already waited, I didn’t want to have to spend several more minutes moving to some other part of the massive house.

“No, let’s not wait any longer to talk. Please come in. I’m sure we can manage to keep our hands off each other.”

I honestly wasn’t a hundred percent sure about that, at least when it came to me and
my
hands. The smooth, lightly tanned skin of Trevor’s muscular arms was practically begging me to touch it, the urge made stronger by me catching a whiff of the faintly soapy, woodsy scent emanating from his body. However, I was determined to restrain myself. Obviously, we really needed to talk.

Lifting his broad shoulders in a slight shrug, Trevor entered my room, shutting the door only halfway behind him, as if thinking that the absence of complete and total privacy would ensure that we
did
keep our hands off each other.

With that goal on my mind as well, I wasn’t quite sure if I should ask him to sit down on my bed with me, or if that would be too dangerous. And as far as chairs in the room, there was only one, at a small writing desk in the corner, and it just didn’t seem that it would feel quite right to have only one of us sitting while we talked. If the person sitting was me, I was sure I might feel like I was being lectured, which I knew I might feel like anyway. While I contemplated whether one of us should sit on the bed and the other in the chair, we stood for a long moment or two, not entirely without awkwardness.

Finally, I spoke, just had to, though having not made up my mind about our seating arrangements. “I’m sorry for my hair being so messy and tangly. I just got out of the shower and haven’t had a chance to comb it yet.”

My long, reddish brown, not-quite-auburn hair, hopelessly prone to snarls, whether wet or dry, even though it was fairly straight, always tended to look like a soggy bird’s nest until I’d had a chance to spend some quality time with a bottle of detangler and a wide-toothed comb.

Hands in his pockets, Trevor surveyed my hair in the pale, early evening sunlight filtering in through the sheer white curtains that covered the windows behind me. “No, your hair is… it’s fine. It looks perfect, actually.”

“That’s not true.”

“Well, it always looks perfect to me.”

With a smidgen of warmth creeping over my cheeks, I gave him a little smile, recalling when he’d told me that my hair was the exact same shade as the cypress forest out back shortly after the sun goes down, when everything goes dark but is still subtly lit by the sun’s very last light. “Dark brown with just a touch of golden red,” he’d said.

“Well, thank you.”

As if my smile and thanks had reminded him that we weren’t supposed to be getting so cozy that we became distracted from our talk, Trevor suddenly cleared his throat. “Gerald told me you actually thought I was going to hand you over to Emile Renard.”

“Well, at the meeting, it definitely sounded like you were leading up to saying that you were going to.”

“You need to learn to trust me more, Savannah.”

Just then, the sound of tiny little nails clicking over the hardwood flooring announced Princess’ arrival. She, Buddy, and Rascal had been very energetically playing with some new squeaker toys in one of the other bedrooms, Snowball supervising from a windowsill last time I’d checked, but it seemed Princess must have heard Trevor’s voice and had been compelled to come out and say hello. She came to a stop just a foot or so behind his feet, looking up at him quietly and what seemed to be a bit shyly, as if she wasn’t quite sure if he’d remember her, and was slightly embarrassed to be interrupting our conversation.

I smiled down at her, heart melting. “Oh, hi, sweetheart. Did you come to say hello?”

Ignoring me, she hesitantly clickety-nailed her way over to the side of Trevor’s feet and then sat and looked up at him again, as if she was still a little bashful but wanted to make sure he saw her. Suppressing a giggle at the extreme preciousness of her very specific fondness for Trevor, I watched his face as he looked down at her for a moment. But then I was surprised when he lifted his gaze to me again, wearing a slight frown.

“Anyway. As I was saying about you needing to trust me more. If you—”

“Sorry, but first before we talk, do you think you could give Princess some attention?”

“What?”

“Just give her some attention. Yesterday when you texted, I told her you were coming, and even though I know she can’t understand language, I think she’s been kind of waiting for you. She really seems to like you.”

With a frown and a sigh, Trevor raked a hand through his thick, honey-toned brown hair. “Well, what do you want me to do?”

I sputtered briefly, incredulous that he needed to be told. “Just pick her up. Cuddle her a little. Tell her she looks pretty with her new, freshly cleaned fur.”

“I am not telling a dog she looks pretty.”

Folding my arms across my chest, I just looked at him for a long moment, for some odd reason taking his comment a bit personally. “Please just pick her up and give her some love, Trevor.”

Sighing again, he raked his hands over his face now. “Oh, for the love of—”

“Well, how would
you
feel, if you’d been sweetly and patiently waiting to see someone, and then that someone finally came home, and you sweetly and patiently sat down at their feet to say hello and—”

“I’m commander-and-chief of this nation. I’d never sit down at someone’s feet.”

I looked from Trevor to Princess, who’d now turned her little face down and to the side, as if sorry she’d ever thought he might pick her up, and then I looked up at Trevor again. “You know what? Maybe this was a mistake to invite you into my room tonight. If you don’t want to take thirty seconds to pick up Princess and give her a little cuddle, then maybe you should just go on upstairs to your own bedroom for the night, and just—” I struggled to think what he should
just
. “Just go sleep with Veronica again or something, for all I care.”

“I’ve never slept with Veronica.”

I just stood speechless, knock-me-over-with-a-feather-level stunned for the second time in three days. After a few moments, I was only able to get out a single word. “What?”

Trevor didn’t repeat himself, just finally picked up Princess, took her over to the bed, and sat down with a sigh, holding her to his chest. Now happy and animated, all traces of shyness gone, she wiggled and yipped, licking Trevor’s face with a level of zeal that would make a person think they’d been the best of friends for years.

Kind of pulling his face back from Princess’ furious affection assault, Trevor actually cracked a smile. “She
is
cute.”

As much as I’d wanted him to focus on Princess earlier, now I could barely even think about her. All I could think about was what Trevor had said not even a minute earlier.

“Have you really never… Trevor, are you telling me the truth?”

Pulling his face fully free from Princess’, he moved her lower on his chest and held her firmly, scratching her neck and shushing her. “Time to settle down now. Time to settle down.”

Very obediently, she soon did after just a few more happy wiggles and yips.

Cradling her in one arm, Trevor looked at me, patting a spot next to him on the bed. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

After crossing the room, mind reeling, I sat down beside him, and he took a deep breath before speaking again.

“My intention really was to impregnate the both of you and have as many heirs as possible, materially caring for you both, though without getting too emotionally close to either of you, making what I thought would be a satisfactory business arrangement for us all. But then, as you know, one of you came into the house with snarly hair, a menagerie of scrawny, flea-infested animals, and the prettiest heart-shaped face I’d ever seen, somehow ensnaring my heart and throwing a wrench in my plans. From your first bang of a butter knife on the counter, Savannah, I knew I was without much hope, and if I’m being completely honest, I probably knew it even before then. Maybe even from our very first meeting in the hospital. You rattled me and even irritated me, and in a way that I couldn’t stop thinking about how much you rattled and irritated me, and did so in a way that seemed to make be numb to the charms of all other women. At first, I thought I could fight it, thought that if I could just force myself to take a roll in the hay with Veronica, it would help push you out of my mind. So, I eventually invited her to visit me. But when she showed up, after I’d spent all evening thinking about you, and all day, too, I could barely muster a hello, let alone take her for a tumble between the sheets. As much I tried to tell myself that sleeping with her was the right thing, that this was what I wanted, and what I needed to do to accomplish my goals, I just couldn’t force myself to go through with taking her to bed. She just wasn’t the right woman. She wasn’t you. Several other encounters went very similarly.”