Cougar Wants [Cougarlicious] (Siren Publishing Classic) (9 page)

Once he thought he could walk without his cock leading the way, he set the soda in the drink holder in the center console of his truck and continued on to work, knowing his mind was not going to be on the job, but on how soon he could return to his brown-haired mate.

* * * *

Within twenty minutes of Tate’s leaving, Kimber found herself wandering the house at loose ends. She ended up standing in the doorway to Tate’s room. His bed was still unmade with a stack of sheets, blankets, and two pillows on the floor in the corner. At least here was something she could do to take her mind off her needy pussy. As she made the bed, she hoped he would not mind that she was overstepping the bounds of roommateship. For anyone else
,
she would never take such liberties, but she wanted her mate to come home to a comfortable bed after a long night delivering food.

Once the bed was neatly made, she forced herself to walk out of Tate’s room instead of tidying up the rest of his things. At some point in the not too distant future
,
they would have to sit down and talk about what being mates versus roommates entailed.

She then kept herself busy organizing her new room and putting clean sheets on her own bed. Once her room was straight, she continued her cleaning efforts through the rest of the house.

When the house was cleaner than it had been in months, she curled up on the couch with her favorite fuzzy blanket. She turned on the television then picked up the sketchpad she kept tucked between the couch and the end table. Flipping to a clean page, she reached into the basket of pens, pencils, and crayons stored on the end table shelf that was supposed to hold books and magazines

Grabbing the first thing her fingers touched, a purple crayon, she set to work trying to capture Tate’s looks and spirit on paper.

“I found my cub,” Kimber announced after assuring that Stacy and Gwen could hear her and each other on the three-way conference call.

“Really? Who is he?” Gwen squealed.

“How? Where? Tell us all about him,” Stacy demanded.

Instead of sharing everything she had learned about Tate so far, Kimber hesitated. How much would the private loner really want her friends to know? Especially since they had known each other less than a day?

“His name is Tate Pierce. He’s twenty-nine and gorgeous. Light
-
brown hair and really beautiful blue eyes that look like worn denim.”

“He sounds perfect,” Gwen said, sounding a little jealous.

“Where did you meet him? Church? The grocery store? Run him down with your car?” Stacy asked when she went quiet.

Kimber giggled, feeling like they were back in high school again, sharing secrets and watching the clock because their parents didn’t want them talking on the phone after nine o’clock. “He delivered my pizza.”

“Oooo, the pizza delivery guy. You’re so lucky. The ones who deliver here are retired from at least one other job, bald
,
and sometimes forget to put their teeth in before going to work,” Gwen said.

“And all I get are ones too young to look at,” Stacy said. “When are you going to see him again?”

“Tonight when he gets off work. I...um…I rented him a room,” Kimber admitted, knowing the conversation was about to take a turn into the uncomfortable.

“You rented him a room? Why? What’s going on? Are you having money troubles?” Stacy, the ever
-
practical one drowned out Gwen who was asking the same thing.

Kimber closed her eyes and used two fingers of her free hand to rub at her forehead. Suddenly she could feel a stress headache coming on and wondered how she could cut the conversation short, even though these were her closest confidants.

“I had to put new tires on the car
,
and it put me a little behind. And I still haven’t heard from Midnight Seductions about the job I applied for. I figured renting a room was easier than finding a real job like Dad wants me to. Especially since he’s already told me he will not be help
ing
me.”

The deafening silence on the other end of the phone made Kimber wonder if the connection had been broken. “Hello? You guys still there?”

“I’m here,” Gwen said.

“Me, too,” Stacy said.

“Why didn’t you come to us? You know we would do anything to help you succeed in your new career.” Gwen sounded hurt.

“Wait a minute, before we get into that, I want to know more about this guy,” Stacy said before Kimber could answer. “Did you run a background check on him? A criminal check? Anything? Or did you just impulsively let a total stranger move into your house?”

Though Kimber knew she could allay their fears with one simple statement, she could not spill Tate’s shape
-
shifting and their being mates. She thought of that as their secret and did not want to share it even with her best friends.

“Well, uh, not exactly,” she finally answered. “He won’t be here much except to sleep anyway
,
and I really needed his rent money.”

She heard a gasp and knew it came from Gwen. Stacy
,
on the other hand
,
was strangely silent for once.

“What
do
you know about him?” Her ever-practical friend finally asked. Kimber knew Stacy only mean
t
to protect her, but Kimber hesitated.

When she remained silent too long, Stacy went on. “If you don’t tell me right now, I’m coming there and going to check him out for myself.”

“Me, too,” Gwen added.

With a deep breath
,
which she released on a sigh, Kimber told them everything she knew about the man
,
down to the make and model of his truck and license plate number.

“That’s not a lot of information, but it should be enough,” Stacy said. Kimber heard the tapping of a keyboard.

She remained silent as Stacy worked on her computer, knowing her friend would argue that she didn’t have to do it
,
though it would be interesting to hear what she had found.

After another minute, Stacy swore softly. “This guy is living off the grid. Other than confirming he was indeed born and has a cell phone, I can’t find anything out about him.”

“So, he’s not a sex offender, ax murderer
, and he doesn’t have
three wives,” Kimber said with a smile. “Admit it, he’s clean.”

“I still think we should meet him,” Gwen said.

“And you will
,
in three months at our next weekend. Just hope I can make it,” Kimber assured her friends.

“You’ll be there with Tate in tow
,
even if we have to come and drag you there by your chestnut hair,” Gwen assured her, sounding unusually bossy. “Now
,
about the reason you had to rent out a room to a stranger. Why didn’t you come to us?”

“I’m forty years old. I have to stand on my own two feet. I am, after all, supposed to be an adult and self-supporting, not a sponge off my family and friends,” Kimber said, her earlier buoyant mood deflating like a balloon with a slow leak as she justified herself to the two women who she thought always had her back.

“Girl, you are an artist, not a financial planner. You need to concentrate on your art and following your passion, not worry about how to pay the bills and keep the lights on,” Stacy scolded. “Do you need money now? Are you sure renting the room will be enough?”

Kimber smiled. Her friends were so loyal and loving, but she could not take from them. “Renting the room to Tate will more than fill the gap between bills and income. And I’m still waiting to hear back from that new publisher. I’ll call them next week if I don’t hear before then.”

“You keep your phone on you at all times. If Tate does anything, and I mean
anything
, to make you feel uncomfortable, I want you to call one of us immediately. Do you understand?” Stacy sounded like she was giving orders to the troops and not talking to her best friend.

“Yes, mama,” Kimber said with a chuckle.

Kimber was grateful when the conversation finally moved the spotlight off her and onto Stacy’s latest charity endeavor, training to run a half marathon to help raise money for cancer research. She and Gwen teased her that maybe the trainer she was to meet the following week to help her get into shape would be her cub.

When Kimber finally hung up the phone, her mood had flip-flopped
,
and she was suddenly sad and nervous about Tate coming home. As her friends had so easily pointed out, what did she really know about him, other than he claimed they were mates and meant to spend the rest of their lives together?

* * * *

Exhausted and driving on automatic after a long shift deliver
ing
pizzas, Tate was halfway to his old place of residence before he realized it.

“Wake up, buddy
,
or you’ll be embarrassing yourself,”
h
e muttered as he used a gas station driveway to turn around.

When he reached his new home, he sighed as he parked. Climbing from the truck, he took a few minutes to stretch out the kinks before heading to the house. A light glowing in the living room window brought a smile to his lips as he climbed to the front porch. His mate had thought of him and left a welcoming light.

Glancing at his watch, he sighed. He had to be up in less than five hours to get to his weekend job helping a friend who was adding a room onto his house. Tate sighed, half
-
tempted to call and cancel, but knew he wouldn’t. The pay was too good to pass up even a single day of work. Another couple of months and he would have the money he needed to quit working all the time and go back to school.

He only hoped that Kimber would understand. Most women he dated in the past were impressed with his goal until they didn’t hear from him for weeks at a time. At least with his mate
,
he could hold her while he slept
,
even if nothing else happened.

Entering the house, he took off his shoes and left them near the front door. Turning off the lamp still burning, he walked down the hall to his bedroom. Flipping on the light, he blinked and frowned at the bed. It was neatly made, but empty. He took a moment to pull the covers back. Stripping off his clothes, he tossed them in the full basket and headed to the bathroom.

After a quick shower, he dried off before pulling out clothes for the morning and putting them on the dresser. Turning off the light, he went down the hall to Kimber’s room. She had closed her door, but when he turned the knob, it moved easily. He pushed the door open and saw his mate lying curled in a ball in the center of her bed, sound asleep.

Though tempted to crawl in beside her and crash, Tate knew her bed was too small for the two of them. Pulling the covers back, he smiled when he saw she was wearing a T-shirt. Leaning over, he easily lifted his mate. She murmured a protest but snuggled into his chest as he carried her back to his room.

He laid her on his bed then climbed in to curl up behind her. After pulling the covers up over them both, he kissed the side of her neck and breathed in her delicious scent.

“Good night, mate,” he whispered before kissing her again. “Have sweet dreams of me.”

After setting the alarm on his watch, he wrapped his arm around her middle. He snuggled closer behind her until the only thing that separated them was her T-shirt. Laying his head on his pillow, he was asleep in minutes.

* * * *

Kimber woke with a jerk as something started beeping. She did not recognize it a
s
her phone or computer or microwave. Opening her eyes, she found herself face to chest with a naked man’s chest. She frowned but remembered going to bed. In her own bed. Alone.

Lifting her eyes, she met Tate’s worn
-
denim eyes smiling sleepily down at her. “Good morning, mate,” he said before reaching around her back and silencing the alarm.

“Morning. How did I get in here?” she asked, lifting her head and looking around what was now his room.

“We both won’t fit in your bed, so I carried you in here.”

“Why?”
s
he asked as he sat up and stretched.

“Because we’re mates
,
and mates sleep together
.
”
H
e leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips. At the same time, his hand cupped her breast and massaged it as his thigh moved against her clit, sending fire through her. She brushed her fingers down the front of his body to find his cock hard and thick.

When she wrapped her hand around it and began to slowly stroke, he shifted his hips back. A moment later
,
he pulled away and rolled out of bed with a sigh.

She frowned and fought the urge to drool as his kissable ass and broad, naked back crossed the room
,
and
he
grabbed a stack of clothes off the top of his dresser and head
ed
toward the hall. “Where are you going?”