Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Josie

The warmth from Kellan's body made it impossible to move. I hadn't slept so well in so long that it felt like I'd been tossed back into my bed on Earth.

Kellan moved against me; his dick pressed into my backside like we'd been sleeping together for ages.

Not that I was complaining. It was impressive and made me nervously excited to explore our relationship even further. Everything the man had given me over the past day had my head reeling.

His kiss was nothing like Jacob's. It stirred something inside of me. It woke up this needy, greedy girl that desired his attention. Needed it.

Snuggling into his arm, I felt him laugh gently against the back of my neck. "Pretending to sleep is cruel."

I didn't dare turn and curse him with my morning breath. "How so?"

"It's cruel to keep your ass against me, wiggling and breathing hard, I'm already struggling to keep my clothes on."

Dear Lord ...

I closed my eyes and smiled softly to myself. "Says the anti-hero that pretends he doesn't like me. I knew I was more charming than that."

Kellan kissed the back of my neck and turned away to stand up. I watched as he walked around the room and got dressed in clothes that Ernest must have put out for us.

When he grabbed the hem of his t-shirt, he made eye contact with me while taking it off. Seeing the amused look on his face made me laugh. He wanted me to look just as bad as I wanted him to look at me.

"Amazing how much cuter your face is when you smile."

His smile dropped. "I wouldn't want to be too much for you," he said coolly. "We both know you're smitten."

I leaned up on my elbows, knowing my hair looked like a Chuckie Doll, but I didn"t flinch. "You're right," I said. "I might take off my clothes instead of put them on if you give me too much." I swung the covers from me. "I might fall over and die."

The small smile on his face followed me as I grabbed a long summer dress and a cardigan. I didn"t know where Ernest got these clothes from, but I was grateful. I angled my neck to look up at him. "I haven't told you everything about me."

Kellan tugged his T-shirt over his head. "What do I need to know?"

I held my clothes close to my chest. "Before I graduated, my ex-boyfriend proposed to me. It was caught on video, and it went viral."

"You're engaged?" he asked. I watched the anger travel over his face, and his fingers curl into fists. I loved the look of jealousy. It made the little girl inside of me squeal.

"I said no," I whispered. "It didn't feel right. He is mad and will most likely be waiting on me when I get back."

Kellan's heavy-lidded gaze swept over my face. "Do I need to fight him?"

A laugh bubbled up my throat. "Would you like to?"

"Very much," he admitted.

"No," I said, walking toward the door. "Unless he doesn't take no for an answer that is, and then you have my permission to obliterate him."

Kellan winked as I left the room. I took the back door out to the shower, so I could get dressed in peace.

The smell of rain hung in the air as well as a chilly morning breeze. I slipped into the new dress and brushed my fingers through my hair. I listened for Deidamia's crow. He wasn't near, or at least, not cawing. I opened the door and stepped into the back yard.

A soft noise drew my attention to the ground beneath the giant oak tree. Something small sat there. I eased closer, noticing the brown fur and spotted back.

When I neared him, it barked. It was the softest and sweetest bark I'd ever heard.

"Oh, you cute, little thing." Bending down, I picked it up and held it in my arms. He growled and protested but eventually gave up and went lax in my arms.

I chuckled while scratching the top of its head. Where had it come from? Did its mother abandon him? "Poor, little guy," I mumbled, turning toward the back porch.

Kellan stood there watching me. When I turned and he noticed the dog, his back straightened.

"Put that thing down," he demanded.

At first my heart was hurt. Was he not a dog guy? I desperately wanted a dog guy. The white-picket fence with a dog and babies—

"Josephine," his voice sliced through the air. "Drop him."

"What's the matter?" I asked, setting him back down against the tree. When I looked up, I saw why Kellan was so persistent.

The dog's mother stood by the tree line, along with three other beasts bigger than her. She was the ugliest dog I'd ever seen. Her back was arched. She had long legs like those dogs that raced but three times the size. I stumbled backward over a root, crashing down onto my butt and scurrying away.

The mother dog began walking toward me, her long fangs snarled and ready to tear me to pieces.

"What kind of dog is that?" I asked, running into Kellan behind me.

He helped me to my feet and guided me toward the porch. "They're hellhounds, and you've touched their baby."

I cringed. "I didn't hurt it," I whispered as Kellan pulled his sword from the air.

Ernest walked out onto the back porch. "Dear God, you three showed up, and the entire damn realm decided to attack you."

"I touched its baby," I said.

Ernest watched as Kellan swung at the mother. "I've lived here for decades, and I've never had a hellhound come here. That's not by chance."

He took his time walking down the steps.

"You think she sent them?" I asked.

Ernest wobbled toward Kellan as he fought the dogs. It was impossible not to fawn over him as he fought. The way he moved, so big but graceful, each swing deliberate and precise.

The horny woman inside of me questioned what else he would be good at. I knew what he tasted like and how each touch tortured me. What would it be like to have him inside—

"Dear God, Josephine," Kellan said, slinging his sword around and killing the second hound. "Stop it."

Dang it. I forgot. Keeping my mind as blank as I could, I watched one of the hounds grab Kellan's forearm. Blood squirted around him while Ernest finished him off.

The third one went limp, and it tore Kellan's arm. He dropped his sword and wrapped his palm around it.

Ernest motioned him toward the house. His eyes, despite fighting hounds with sweat on his brow and blood dripping down his forearm, there was so much lust on his face that it embarrassed me.

"I forgot," I said when he took two steps to stand in front of me. "The mind thing. I forgot."

Kellan mumbled under his breath. "You're awfully distracting," he whispered, bending down to add, "I'm beginning to think you want me to say screw my morals and screw you into the side of the house."

A feverish blush traveled along my skin. I eyed him playfully. "Now who is putting words in whose mouth?"

"Kellan," Ernest said hurriedly. "We need to get you cleaned up."

Kellan's dark gaze smiled for him. He hurried off the back porch, leaving me hot and on the verge of a no-contact orgasm.

Fern sat at the table, holding the supplies for Ernest while they cleaned his wound.

"—I don't know, Ernest. I encountered a hound the second I was transported into this realm," Kellan said.

Ernest shrugged. "I think that Deidamia sent them. She's going to tear us down one peg at a time, or she's trying to see how much we can handle."

I sat beside Fern. "Wouldn't she just send an entire pack of hounds to off us? Why send three? Or do you think she likes the chase?"

Ernest gestured toward the small scissors, and Fern handed them over. "Deidamia is playing the water. She doesn't know me and doesn't know why you all are here."

Ernest tied the last part of Kellan's makeshift stitches. "We need to do what we can to protect this place. I have a few things that ward off evil but nothing that can keep her out forever. She'll be here for Josephine. If the spindle does what the elf says it does, then she'll be back. Let's get breakfast finished before I make my protection spell."

He scratched his head, frustration lurking on his face, while Fern ran to help him finish the breakfast they'd started.

Kellan stepped in front of my line of sight, gesturing toward the living room. I followed him toward the front door and then the steps. He stopped on the bottom one, while I stayed on the tallest one, coming face to face with him.

"I want to be honest with you," he said, his voice softer than before. It still gave me goosebumps but in different ways. "There have been so many times that I wanted to die over the years. The dread of living forever is as bad as it sounds. I won't die. Ever. Unless it's reversed–and I doubt our friend will do that–I'll always be here." He stepped forward, forcing me back a step toward the side of the house. "Before now, I've wanted to die. I wanted to be reunited with my family. I wanted to ... well, it doesn't matter because I don't feel that way anymore," he said.

"What changed?" I challenged.

Kellan took another step, trapping me between his chest and the outside of the cabin. "You," Kellan said in a gravelly voice. "For the first time in what feels like forever, I look forward to something other than killing her. I look forward to being alone with you. To getting to know you. To ... touching you." He went to touch my face but dropped his hand. "I want nothing more than to consume you, Josephine. Do you understand? I need you."

"I do," I said.

"Do you understand that I'm broken?" he asked. "That I'm not whole in here?" he asked, picking up my hand and placing it on his chest. "I don't expect you to understand it all, but I do hope you'll be easy with me."

This man asking me to be gentle with his heart nearly broke mine. A blanket of warmth seeped over me, burying me in the feeling of his needs. "You deserve to be happy, Kellan," I said. "I hope that you know that."

Kellan leaned in and pressed a hot kiss to my mouth.

The dominance of his kiss was a stark contrast to the man he hid inside. The man that was broken yearned to be touched, to be loved, and the man protecting him was a shell of muscle.

I planned to strip him down of all of it and put him back together again.