Chapter 3

J o worried her lower lip in her teeth as she stared at her phone. The annoying tapping noise pulled her from her musings as she realized that she had been creating that sound. Her nails were drumming a quick cadence on the iridescent dragon scaled phone case.

She looked around at the people who were all enjoying their vacation. Like she’d been doing. Before she went and robbed the fucking cradle. With a heavy sigh, she stared at her breakfast of Creole-based fry jacks, scrambled eggs, Chaya, breakfast sausage and more.

No denying her hunger. Last night—and into this morning—Kenan had worked her in ways no other man had even come close to doing. He’d wrung so many orgasms from her, she honestly wasn’t sure she could have come again. But he’d been relentless in his demands and she had. More than once.

She’d bolted while he’d been in the shower, after pretending to be sleeping. Then she’d run. Even hopped on a bus and went to another part of the city, so he wouldn’t step out of the hotel and see her.

Staring at the phone screen, she took a deep breath and pushed the button for the number she would be calling. As it rang, she adjusted her earbud and picked up her fork, stabbing at the delicious food on her plate, that she’d yet to taste. After two rings, she ended the call. Eating and drinking, she worried her lower lip before doing it again.

“What’s wrong? And don’t you dare hang up on me.”

Jo flattened her lips as she heard Emily’s familiar voice on the line. She’d not spoken to her since their big blowup over her racist parents and Emily’s own behavior to the man she had now married. A wedding she’d not attended.

Hell, she’d not even taken into consideration the time difference. Was it night there?

I’m a shit friend. If I can be considered a friend at all.

“Jo? What’s wrong?”

Tears burned her eyes. Gods she missed her friend so fucking much. And she’d been a shit one.

“Dang it, Jo! Talk to me or I’ll have Femi track your daggum phone and find you.”

“I’m here.” A smile turned up the corners of her mouth as she listened to her friend, who wasn’t much of a swearer, do what she considered a ‘bad word’ in conversation.

“What’s wrong? Who do I need to kill? I’m fine with lending out the husband to do such things.”

“I miss you.” The words were blurted in a rush.

A pregnant pause. “I miss you too.” The sigh was heavy. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to bother you with my problems.” She shook her head. Emily had enough problems on her own, dealing with the reemergence of her cancer.

“Femi!” The screech was loud enough for Jo to wince and wish she could pull away from the sound. “We have to leave. Something’s wrong with Jo but she’s not telling me anything. Track her phone.”

Emily’s tone was one hundred percent teacher and she didn’t doubt that the man himself was getting ready to head out and track her phone. She sipped her coffee, needing the bracing jolt of caffeine.

The chuckle couldn’t be stopped. “I’m fine, Em. No need to send in the calvary.”

“Talk to me.”

“I fucked Kenan.”

The silence stretched on to the point Jo reached for her phone and stared at the screen to make sure she’d not had the call dropped.

“I’m going to need to have you start at the beginning and then tell me why you sound like this is a bad thing.”

“He’s a fucking baby.” A groan. “And I fucked him.”

“You’re both consenting adults, Jo. And from the way he’s looked at you since the day we met him, it’s not like he didn’t want you as much as you did him.”

“You don’t get it, Em.” She slowly chewed a bite of her delicious breakfast.

“I’m not seeing what the problem is, Jo.”

“He’s younger than me. Can we please table that and you tell me how you’re doing? Just for a bit forget what I said, then we can get back to raking me over the coals.”

Emily, like usual, handled it like a pro. Then again, growing up in the household she had, it was a matter of survival for her.

“I’m well. I love it over here. You will too when you come for a visit. His mother is a force to be reckoned with. It’s almost like I get to see how Selene will be like in fifty years or so.”

“She must be beautiful.”

“Incredibly so. And dangerous, smart, loving. Everything a mother should be.” Wistfulness coated her words.

“Sounds like a great one for you to have then.”

A small laugh. “Considering she only had boys, yes, I’m being spoiled and I love it. She is waiting to meet her other three daughters, though. When can I tell her you will be coming over?”

Jo finished her breakfast and waved for a coffee refill.

“Are you sure I’m welcome?”

The air around her chilled and she fought the urge to rub her arms. Emily had that ability about her. All of her friends did to make you regret what words had just popped out of her mouth.

“And we’re done with the delaying part of the conversation since you want to ask questions that don’t deserve a response. So let’s go back to my original line of questioning and yes, this is the raking over the coals bit.”

Jo nodded her thanks to the waiter, not noticing the flirty look he gave when he topped off her coffee.

“It’s not like he’s a senior in high school. He’s what seven years younger?”

She flinched like someone had taken a swing at her. “Yes.” Her response was hissed. She gulped coffee, relishing the burn that lanced her throat.

“And what if Femi was seven years older than me? Would that matter in how you look at our relationship?”

As she picked up the last of her second cup of coffee and sipped, she lifted her face to the warm breeze that flowed past. She shook her head.

“No, of course not. But it’s so different for a woman to be with an older guy.” She paid for her meal and got up to walk, needing to move, do something , to help assuage the nervous energy building within her body.

“Jo, listen to me. You and I have been friends for years. All this time I’ve seen you flit from guy to guy, nonapologetic and completely in charge and owning who you are. A stunning, sexy woman who knows what she wants. This is the first time, I’ve ever heard you hesitate.” A door shut. “Sweetie, do you think this is because he means something to you?”

In a park, she began walking along the edge of the water, sidestepping the smaller children who were enjoying their time in the late morning.

“I don’t want things to be awkward when it ends and I have to see him because I’m visiting you or Selene. Hell, or if you come back to the States and they come along.”

“Who said it had to end?”

She immediately shook her head, fast and firm. It didn’t matter than Em wasn’t even on this same continent and had no way to see her, she did it.

“He’s a young man. I’m not going to be able to keep up with him and he’ll push me aside or even just walk away without a look back because some young, tight thing flashed a smile in his direction.”

While her words were lower in tone as she thought about all the young impressionable ears around her, even she couldn’t ignore the hurt that framed them.

“That’s a bull answer and you know it. Where are you anyway, right now?”

“In Belize. I wanted to do some fun tourist thing.”

“And ended up doing the horizontal dance with Kenan.” Her tone teased.

It wasn’t only horizontal. “Something like that. It was only once.”

Emily snorted.

Jo amended. “One night.”

“Talk to him, Jo.”

She shook her head and stared out over the water. “And say what, Em? That I’m fucking neurotic because my parents couldn’t ever show me what a decent relationship should look like? That I fuck guys and move on to not get attached and that I’m fucking panicking at the thought of how I’m going to look him in the eye when he decides an eighteen year old will be better on his arm than me and brings her to some function that we’re all at?”

Strong arms slid around her waist and her squeak of shock faded the second his scent hit her. No man in the world smelled like Kenan. There was something pure and fresh around him that combined with the heady masculine scent she’d already become addicted to, and that was just after one night.

“Not running while he is in the shower is a great place to start. Say goodbye to Emily, Jo.”

His words were low and full of sexual heat. Kenan pushed a hand into her pocket and withdrew her phone as she mumbled a farewell to Emily. Then he ended the call and turned her in his embrace so they were chest to chest.

“How much did you hear and how did you find me?”

“Enough to know this isn’t the place for the conversation we are about to have and, really , how do you think I found you?”

Kenan brushed their mouths together but didn’t allow her to chase him, desperate for more contact.

“Let’s go.”

The incredible aromatic scent of the rainforest flowed into his nose and he groaned as that was intermixed with the perfect one of Jo. He’d tracked her the second he stepped out of the shower and realized she’d ghosted.

Not hard for him to do, even if she’d taken buses to get across town. He observed from the perch of a building as she at her breakfast, then walked down the street. He shifted with a blur and moved up behind her as she talked to Emily.

He didn’t see it, she had no idea that she was his mate and there wasn’t going to be anyone else for him, ever.

Needing to get her away from others before they had this conversation, he took her back to the rainforest. He loved the admiration in her gaze as she looked around, up and down, taking in the gift presented them.

“You know our ecosystem here is often considered as the ‘lungs’ of the planet. We have over four thousand flowering plant species that have been recorded.”

Her gaze wove around, taking in all she could and yet, he knew she wasn’t able to see all of it, but it didn’t stop her from trying.

She squeezed his hand. “I’ve always enjoyed the Everglades because it was a place that reminded me how small I was in the grand scheme, and how important a place like it was. But here,” a small huff of air escaped her delightfully plump lips, “I’m constantly blown away. Here and in Brazil. It’s like no matter how many times I step into the rainforest, I’m guaranteed to see something new. Somewhere.”

Kenan led her along the path, until he found a place they wouldn’t be disturbed. At least not by other humans.

“Jo, I know this is a lot for you and I want to hear you talk to me about your family. Why you think I would ever want to walk away from the woman who I have wanted since the first time I saw you in Brazil?” He put a hand over her mouth when she went to answer him. “Let me finish first. Please.”

“I know you’re older than me. I don’t give a fuck. You, Josephine Carlile, are the sexiest woman I have ever met. I worry that I don’t and won’t have enough to keep you around. But I will spend all of my days doing my best to prove it to you.”

“Guys always want women younger when they get older.”

“Dad did a number on your confidence and I’m guessing some other guy as well.” He flattened his lips as he shrugged before skimming his hands up and down her arms. “I’m not a typical human male of my age, baby. I’m a shifter and I’m sure about what I want. And who.”

He watched her as she held his gaze. Deep in those dark brown pools he saw her desire to trust his words. However, for that to reach the surface he also saw all the betrayal, heartache, and pain that had to be traversed. It wasn’t an uncomplicated trail he had before him to get her to see he meant what he said.

Kenan tucked some of her hair behind her ear as he tried to slow the clench in his gut. He couldn’t tell her they were mates, she would flee. He knew that as he knew how much he loved to soar through the air.

“Let me show you, my rainforest.”

There it was.

The spark of excitement and joy that had been there the first time he’d met her. Jo hadn’t been able to slow her gaze from taking in the majesty around her. Kenan wanted that look back in her eyes but wanted to be the one who placed it there.

“Yours?”

He nodded, cupping her face in his palms, trilling over the way she pushed into him. Whether or not she was ready to accept it, her body knew. Deep down, her soul did as well. He just had to get her brain on board.

“Yes. Let me take you to a place and show you what tourists rarely get a chance to see.”

The glimmer in her eyes grew and hell, he felt ten feet tall. He fought the urge to puff out his chest because damn it, he loved being the one who brought that look into her eyes.

Jo canted her head to the side. “What will I get to see?”

“So much more than you could ever believe possible.” He put his forehead to hers, inhaling her minty breath like the lifeline it was—and would forever be—to his heart. “Will you come with me?”

Thumbs brushing along her sides, he held still, waiting for her response. His heart nearly burst with pleasure the moment she nodded in the affirmative.

You’re never going to want to leave, baby.