Casey's Warriors (Bondmates) (13 page)

“Oh yeah,” Kimber’s eyes lit up and her full lips curved in a wicked grin. “It would be the polite thing to do.”

Even Paige looked excited at the prospect and she usually found men too intimidating to even be around thanks to her abusive shithead father. “I’m sure we could find something in Casey’s kitchen. She always has good snacks. Or we could make something. Guys like girls who can cook, right?”

Irritated, Casey glared at her friends. “Hey, I’m right here.”

Paige smiled at her and felt her forehead. “You’re looking much better.”

“Yeah. Why don’t you go take a shower and wash up? I bet you’ll feel even better, and then you can come with us to deliver cookies to the sex gods.”

“Yeah, come with us” Kimber grinned. “If we have you there we have an excuse for visiting.”

“Thanks,” Casey said and bit back a moan as she pushed herself up and her thighs pressed together over her swollen, wet sex. The thought of seeing Lorn again definitely interested her body. “Okay, okay, I’m getting up.”

“Perfect!” Dawn leapt up and sped from the room with Kimber hot on her heels.

With a worried look Paige lingered by Casey’s bed. “Are you sure you’re okay? I don’t want you making yourself worse by getting out of bed if you’re still feeling crappy. I can stay here with you if you want.”

The fact that Paige actually seemed interested in talking to the men was so unusual that Casey didn’t want to do anything to discourage her. The poor girl was still a virgin and had only been on two dates her entire life. Forcing herself to try to look perky, Casey shook her head. “No, I’m just going to wash up and get changed. I think I have stuff to make chocolate chip cookies, and brownies. Go be domestic while I get ready.”

Paige giggled, her pale blue eyes sparkling as deep dimples appeared in her cheeks. “Okay.”

Once the door slammed shut and the voices of the women faded Casey let out a sigh that was part relief, part pain. She was hyper aware of the scent of the sweat from her illness covering her and it icked her out. Moving as quickly from the bed as her still weak body would allow, Casey lurched across the room to her bathroom, leaving a trail of clothes as she went. With the removal of each article of clothing her skin tingled and burned, more sensitive than she’d ever felt. Even the caress of her long hair falling down her back as she took out her braid sent shivers of arousal through her.

The sound of her friend’s voices coming through the thin walls of the little house faded as Casey turned on the shower and waited until it was barely warm before jumping in. She sucked in a harsh breath of air as the cool water fell over her heated skin and quickly showered, replacing the smell of sick sweat with her peach body wash. While soaping up all she could think of was Lorn, his skin, his scent, his taste. The man was so fucking hot it should be illegal. After rinsing off she did a quick check of her legs and pussy to make sure they were still smooth from her last waxing. At the touch of her fingers on her slit she had to stifle a groan. God, she was so swollen down there it was embarrassing.

After blow-drying her hair until it was slightly damp she moved quickly into her bedroom, the smell of baking cookies and brownies filling the air. Her stomach growled as she jerked on a pair of jean shorts and a cute pink tank top with her best pushup bra. Looking at herself in the mirror above her dresser she had to admit she looked cute. After a quick application of light makeup she slipped on her sandals and went to the kitchen, following her friends’ excited chatter.

Kimber spotted her first and her eyes went wide. “Wow, you look a lot better.”

“You’re all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” Dawn added with a grin as she cut up a tray of brownies and put them in a travel container.

Paige shot her a quick glance then returned her attention to siding cookies off the baking sheet and onto a plate. “You look very pretty.”

Trying to pretend she wasn’t practically jumping out of her skin at the thought of seeing Lorn, she went to her fridge and pulled out a partially full case of beer from a bar/brewery in Ann Arbor where Dawn worked.

Kimber grinned when she spotted Casey with the beer in her arms. “Good idea.”

Paige bit her lower lip with a worried look. “Is it really a good idea to bring them alcohol?”

With a soft smile Dawn gave Paige a quick hug. “Honey, I’m sure these guys will drink responsibly, and if you feel uncomfortable, we can leave right away. Besides, as big as they are they’d need a case a piece to even get a buzz.”

Tears shimmered in Paige’s faded blue eyes and instantly her friends surrounded her in a hug. The young woman’s fear of men became almost a phobia around guys who were drinking, one reason she never went to a frat party or a bar. Casey hated Paige’s dad with a passion for the way he’d abused her friend, but most of all she hated how it had warped Paige’s way of looking at any man.

“Hey now,” Casey pulled back and wiped away a tear from her friend’s cheek. “We can leave the beer here. No biggie.”

Paige shook her head and gently moved out of their arms, grabbing some cling wrap to put over the plate of cookies. “No, it’s okay. My therapist and I think I need to start facing my fears.”

“Just think of those killer abs,” Kimber said with a forced smile.

“Or,” Dawn added, “those amazing back muscles. Good lord I just want to rub myself all over them.”

The tension broke as the women joked about the men’s physical attributes while they made their way down the gravel road to Lorn’s property. It was a beautiful, warm late spring evening in the country and Casey took a deep breath of the air, enjoying the scent of the grass and new growth in the forest off the road. Her friends were like a pack of excited puppies talking about the guys they were about to meet and despite her earlier sickness, Casey felt surprisingly good. She laughed at some outrageous thing Dawn said about calling dibs on three of the guys so she had a better chance of getting one with a big dick, while trying to spot Lorn among the throng of men around the big farmhouse. As they approached, their joking fell silent when at least a dozen half-naked men stopped their sparring and watched them approach. Even more unnerving, additional sex gods came out of the house until they faced a small army of yummy men as the sun set.

Kimber said in a low voice, “Why are they all staring at us?”

“Maybe they’re really hungry?” Paige replied in a whisper.

“Yeah, hungry.” Dawn swallowed hard. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Before Casey could suggest they turn tail and run, Lorn came out the front door and the smile on his handsome face as he spotted her made her heart do flip flops and butterflies filled her belly.

“Holy shit,” Kimber whispered. “He’s even hotter than last night.”

Casey couldn’t reply, her gaze devouring the handsome man coming down the front steps of the large farmhouse. Today he wore a pair of loose black pants and a black tank top that showed off his massive arms and chiseled chest. Almost against her will she followed the tight V of his waist down to his groin then jerked her gaze back to his face before she stumbled with the case of beer. Either he was really excited to see her or he had a water bottle in his pocket. His white-blond hair had been pulled back into a tight braid, and his teal blue eyes practically glowed as he quickly crossed the big grass-covered front yard.

By this point they’d made it to the walkway leading to his house but her friends moved closer together until they were practically touching as they approached the men.

When Lorn reached them he immediately took the beer from Casey and set it down, then knelt before her. “Hello, Casey.”

Kimber actually sighed at the deep rumble of Lorn’s voice and Casey wasn’t faring much better. “Hi, Lorn.”

He studied her from head to foot, then leaned forward and audibly took a deep breath of her skin before letting out what sounded a hell of a lot like a purr. “You smell delicious.”

“Peaches,” she blurted out.

His fair brows lowered as he gave her an odd look. “What?”

“Peaches,” she repeated again, trying with all her might to resist the urge to grab him and kiss him senseless. “Peach body wash. I don’t actually wash with peaches. That would kinda go against the point of getting clean. I mean then I’d be all covered in peach syrup and I’d taste good but I’d be really sticky. So. Yeah. Peach soap.”

Thankfully, Dawn came to her rescue while Lorn stared at her like he wanted to lick her, right here and now. “We saw you, um, working out and thought you might be hungry.”

“For food,” Kimber added then giggled like an idiot. “Of course, I meant food. What else would I mean?”

“Brownies,” Paige added in the shy whisper she used around men.

Dawn cleared her throat and her voice still came out high pitched as she said, “We have beer. It’s really good. I helped make it. I mean brew it. I work at a brewery and make beer. Good beer. That I brew.”

Casey wanted to groan at how dumb they all sounded, but she was having too hard of a time not molesting Lorn. “Is there somewhere we can put this stuff?”

He stood with a small, amused smiling curving his lips. “Please come with me. It is a nice evening and the men would enjoy your company.”

With her heart slamming in her throat and her nipples hard enough to cut glass, Casey had to remind herself to breathe as Lorn picked up the case of beer with one arm and held his hand out to her. She slipped her hand into his and barely held back a groan at the rough sensation of his skin against hers. The golden light of the setting sun deepened his already dark tan and when he smiled down at her she stumbled.

Right away he stopped and gave her a concerned look. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” she replied while her cheeks heated up enough to fry an egg on.

“She was sick earlier,” Kimber said as she trailed behind them when Lorn continued to move toward the back yard and the mass of silent men watching them intently.

Lorn stroked her hand with his large thumb, sending tingles of desire spilling through her blood and moving to her already needy sex. “But you feel better?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

Behind the house there were two wooden picnic tables set up and Lorn placed the beer on one while Page and Kimber put the cookies and brownies on the other.

Glancing at the still silent men, Casey tugged at Lorn’s hand until he leaned down so she could whisper in his ear. “Um, is it okay for you guys to have sweets? I mean I don’t want to mess with any diet you’re on or anything.”

He took a seat on the bench of the picnic table and pulled her closer until she stood between his spread thighs. His muscular, warm, massive, spread thighs that she wanted to rub herself against like a cat in heat. When he pulled her closer so he could whisper back in her ear goose bumps raced through her body at the brush of his lips against her oh so sensitive skin.

“Do not worry, Casey, we are honored that you seek to care for us.”

She turned and hoped he didn’t notice how she inhaled the scent of him before replying, “Why aren’t they saying anything?”

Lorn moved her so she at on his knee and had no choice but to cuddle up against him. “They are waiting for you to introduce yourselves. In our culture it is considered rude to speak to a woman before she permits it.”

Tearing her gaze from Lorn, resisting the need to kiss him until she couldn’t breathe, Casey looked at her friends. “Say hi.”

Dawn was the first to raise a hand and smile. “Hi, my name is Dawn.”

With an unusually shy grin Kimber waved as well. “Hi, I’m Kimber.”

The gaze of all the men focused on Paige and her friend swallowed hard and moved slightly behind the other two women before saying in a barely audible voice, “Paige. I’m Paige.”

Lorn gave Casey an odd look and she quickly whispered, “Paige is really shy around men.”

“Shy or scared?” Lorn whispered back while her friends busied themselves unwrapping the sweets as the men approached.

Not wanting to reveal Paige’s history, but needing Lorn to know so he could pass it along to his friends, she said, “Both.”

With a nod Lorn gently moved her off his lap then stood and said something in a language she didn’t understand. The men making their way to the table paused and she watched them all visibly relax and their looks went from hungry to friendly. One man with long whiskey brown hair said something and looked at Dawn, then back to Lorn.

While they conversed Casey made her way over to the other women and whispered, “It’s okay. They’re not going to bite you.”

“I wish they would,” Kimber whispered back and the women giggled.

One of the men came out of the house with a portable stereo and soon music filled the yard while another group of men started to build a bonfire. Dawn quickly opened the case of beer and began to hand them out with the practiced ease of a bartender. Casey was puzzled as she watched the men take a drink of the beer as if unfamiliar with it while others sniffed the cookies before eating them, then giving surprised but pleased smiles. Almost as if on cue the men began to approach her friends in sets of two and three. Soon the other women were surrounded by extremely hot guys who were showering them with attention. Even Paige was giving an older man with some visible scars on his face and body a shy smile while he made an obvious effort to put her at ease.

Lorn grabbed her hand again and pulled her to her feet. “Come with me.”

She shot her friends a look over her shoulder but they were all too busy drooling over the beefcake buffet to notice.

Following Lorn into the house she smiled as memories of visiting this home when she was a little girl. Her grandmother had been good friends with the family who used to live here, but all traces of them, other than the fussy floral wallpaper in the kitchen, were now gone. Instead of country style, it was clearly a man’s domain and as he continued through the living room to the broad front porch that faced the gravel road she caught glimpses of a massive TV and comfortable grey leather furniture along with a bunch of electronics she couldn’t identify.

Once they were on the wraparound porch out front Lorn took a seat on the padded swing hanging from thick brass chains screwed into the wood beam ceiling of the covered porch. The chains creaked alarmingly but held as Lorn tugged her down until she was draped across his lap with her head resting on his bicep. The position was very intimate, yet she wasn’t uncomfortable, at least not because of embarrassment. Now that they were alone—voices from the backyard faintly reaching them along with feminine laughter blending with the soft chirp of crickets—she could devour him with her gaze as much as she wanted.