Reviving Bloom (22 page)

After pa
rking in front of the cabin I get out and pull
Bloom out my side of the car
,
since she’s
sitting right beside me in the m
iddle. Taking her hand we walk up the steps, unlock
the door,
step
into th
e living room and then I drop
onto the couch pulling her down on top of me
. She giggles
as she cuddles in closer to me.

Taking a seat in o
ne of the recliners Emily huffs
, “You two do realize that I’m super tired and you’ve taken over my bed for the night
,
right?”

Bloom props
h
erself up and looks
over at Emily, “I wouldn’t make you sleep on the couch when there’s the spare room now that Billy cleaned out d
a
…” A wistful expression crosses
her face for less than a heartbeat as she th
inks about her
Dad
then she clears
it away replaci
ng it with a smile and continues
, “It’s not much but it’s just been cleaned and I think he even put new sheets on the bed. So you’re more than welcome to use that room while we’re here.”

“That sounds per
fect. Thanks, Blu!” Emily gushes
.

“No problem, plus your brother will need the couch to sleep on anyway.”

Sliding out from under
neath her and standing I snarl
, “The hell I am!”
She must have lost her mind if she
th
inks
I
’ll
be
sleeping on that couch.

She stares
up at me stunned for all
of
two second
s
before she rights herself on the couch and flatly asks
, “And where the heck do you think you’ll be sleeping?”

Crossing
my arms over my chest I answer
, “Right beside my mate.”
Where I belong!

Standing she mimics
my stance by crossing her arm
s
and staring up at me, “The hell you are. I’ve never had a man sleep in my bed before and that’s not gonna change tonight.”
Well
,
I like hearing that no other man’s been in her bed, but still, I’m her mate.

“How quick you forget darlin’, I’ve been sleeping b
eside you all week.” I uncross my arms and reach
out
to
place my palm to her cheek.

She pulls
back. “That’s not the same Pike Masterson and you know it. I thought you were a freaking dog!”

“I am not a dog!” I growl
then lifting her up
,
I
thr
o
w her over my shoulder. “And I will be sleeping right beside
my mate tonight.” Emily giggles causing me to remember we have
an audience
.
“Goodnight, little sister. Make sure the doors locked
, please. I kind of have my hands full.”

Kicking her legs and scra
tching at my back Bloom demands
, “Put me down now!”

“Scratch a little lower, will ya
darlin’? I have an itch I can’t reach.”
I chuckle and wink
at my sister who
laughs
at the two of us some more.

“Scratch yourself, you overgrown dog!”
She still kicks but stops
the scratching.

“I’m not a dog
,
” I correct
,
swatting her butt which causes
her to go still.

“
Good gir…” I start
to say but
I’m
stopped
short
when Bloom
hauls back and slams
her elbow into the back of my head.

“Don’t ever smack my ass again!” She growl
s
then continue
s
to try to wiggle free while I
’m
stunned. By sure will
,
I ke
ep
her on my shoulder as I head us toward the bedroom.

Emily
’
s laughing so hard I c
an
barely understand her when she
call
s
after us
, “Goodnight, big brother. Goodnight, Bloom.”

Resigned to her fat
e, for the moment, Bloom stops kicking and sighs
, “Goodnight, Emily.”

I ki
ck
the door shut with my foot,
toss
her on the bed and then spread m
yself out beside her. She jumps
up and th
ro
w
s
her hands on her hips all the while glaring at me.

“You arrogant, over bearing, pain in my
…”

“Now, now darlin’, a lady doesn’t use that kind of language.”

“And a gentleman wouldn’t throw a lady around like a sack of potatoes, so you can bite me!”

I arch
an
eyebrow and a wolfish grin overta
k
es
my face. “My pleasure, mate, just show me where you’d like it.” Her checks bec
o
me flamed and I
grin wider at
the delicious thoughts that are
going through her mind. As mad as I may
make
her, she stil
l wants my mark and I want
to see it on her.

I slid
e
to the edge of the bed and grab the loops in her jeans to pull her closer.
She drop
s
her hands from her hips but ke
e
p
s
the glare on her face as I circle my arms around her waist and look up at her with puppy dog eyes.

“Oh, I don’t think so mister. If you think I’m gonna forgive you just because you mention marking me and give me that look you are sadly mistaken.” She trie
s
to remove my arms but I tighten my grip pulling her closer to my chest.

“Darlin’, I really am sorry. But I need you to see it my way.”

“And what way is that?” She ask
s
crossing her arms in front of her to put some distance between us, once she realize
s
she
i
sn’t getting out of my arms until I decide to let her out.

“Twenty-four hours
ago
you were attacked and I could’ve lost you and I haven’t ripped the man apart, yet, like my wolf is demanding. So until this threat to your safety is over, I will be glued to your side and if that means I sleep beside you so be it.”
Though I would’ve insisted on sleeping beside my mate even if there was no threat.

“Pike, you do remember I can read your thoughts to
o,
right? So I hea
rd that unspoken part.” She reminds me
looking awful proud of herself for catching me.

“Sorry darlin’, but that doesn’t change the fact that there is a threat and I’
ll
feel much better if I kn
o
w I
’m
in here protecting you.”

“Fine, but there will be no funny business. Mate or not, I am not ready for
…
that.” Her cheeks blush a little and I reach
up and brush my thumb along the pinkened spot. The fact that I c
an
make her body react to me even in these little ways ma
k
e
s
me long for our bonding to be complete so I c
an
have her completely. I won’t push her, because I know she’s not ready, but someday she will be and I’ll take great pleasure in seeing if the rest of her body blushes like her cheeks.

She clear
s
her throat. Dang she must have caught those thoughts as well; I really need
to remember to block my mind
.

“Umm
…
I need to go get changed and brush my t
eeth.” She steps
out of my arms and
goes
to her dresser and pull
s
out some night clothes. She turn
s
to me before heading out the door. “You can get changed in here. I promise to knock before I
come back in.” Then she slips
out the door shutting it behind her.

I d
on
’t think she’d like it if I sle
ep
in my boxers so I grab my bag out of the living room and f
i
nd a p
air of pajama bottoms Emily
packed me. I strip
down then
pull them on and decide to go without a shirt. I
c
an
handle the pants but I kn
o
w a shirt w
ill
get tangled in the sheets and make me uncom
fortable, plus without it I ha
ve
a good chance of feeling my mates hands against my bare chest. Climbing into the
bed I
ma
k
e myself comfortab
le as I wait on her to join me. She
’
s
dressed and has
brushed her teeth but I c
an
hear her givi
ng herself a pep talk and it mak
e
s
me smile.

Come on Bloom, you can do this. It’s Pike, your mate
…
your very attractive mate. You’re just going to sleep beside him, nothing else. You both will have clothes on. Oh crap, what if he sleeps naked? No, he wouldn’t do that. Would he? Ugh! Alright suck it up. He’s probably listening to this little rant and laughing at you.

“Pike?”

“
Sorry darlin’, I c
an
’t help myself. You are pretty darn adorable when you’re flustered. If it helps put you at ease, I promise I have pants on.”

“That does help, a little. I’ll be right there.”

The door opens slowly and she steps in then closes it back. She has
on wh
ite cotton sleep shorts that have
popsicles printed on them and a red racer back tank top and I have to say it
may be the sexiest thing I have ever seen. I push
the cove
r back from her side and pat
the spot on the bed beside me.
She climbs
in and I d
o
n’t hesitate pulling her into my arms so her head
lies
against my bare c
hest. To my surprise she relaxes
,
letting out
a contented sigh as she tangles
our legs together so
we’ll
be closer.

“Tennessee?” I love when she calls me that.

“Yes, darlin’?”

“Will you tell me what it’s like to be a wolf?”

Her question shocks me and I lean
back so I c
an
look at her face, something
i
sn’t right. “What’s wrong?”

She waited a few moments then sa
ys
, “I keep wondering why I never shifted. From what you and Emily have told me, I definitely should have and now that I know that I feel like I’m mourning the loss of
a huge part of myself.”

“Your wolf.” I ru
n my fingers through her hair pushing it away from her face.