His hands slid up her body to her hair, fingers sinking into the braids. He lifted his head and only then did his body weight change. She sucked in a breath, but something in his eyes kept her from complaining. He looked at her as if he’d nearly lost his world and she’d given it back to him.
She was terrified to face the change in her, and she was still angry with him that he’d made such a momentous decision without even consulting her, but she honestly didn’t know if she really could have left him. The lifemate bond aside, because she didn’t fully understand that, she knew she was in love with Andre.
It was all the little things he did that made her feel special and beautiful. She couldn’t work up the energy to tell him she was still angry with him so instead, she took the opportunity to run her hands slowly down his back to feel the delicious muscles there. She let peace steal over her, the warmth of his body and the solid feel of him surrounding her gave her that.
Teagan had never felt at home anywhere other than with her grandmother and sisters. She just didn’t fit. She liked people, but she never felt comfortable enough with them to share her body or soul. She was always on the fringe. She had friends, but even they didn’t really know her, not even the ones she’d grown up with.
Andre was in her mind. With her almost all the time. He knew her. The way she thought. What she thought. How she thought. He just knew. He got her.
“I will work very hard to fix this between us,” Andre said softly. He brushed kisses along her throat and up her chin to the corner of her mouth.
“And we’ll talk before making decisions. When we make them, we make them together,” Teagan prompted.
He kissed her. Her stomach did a roller-coaster number on her and she felt her inner muscles tighten around him. Her heart melted. She found her arms circled his neck all on their own so she could bury her fingers in his hair.
When he lifted his head and looked down at her, she blinked up at him several times, feeling a little dazed and even mellower. She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re doing it again,” she accused. Both hands went to his shoulders and she shoved at him.
“What am I doing?”
“Don’t look innocent. You know very well what you’re doing. You didn’t answer me. I said we’d make decisions.”
He rubbed his chin along her jaw. “Sivamet.”
“Oh no, you are not going to sivamet me in that voice or kiss me senseless. Get up, Andre. We’re going to sort this out right now, and I need clothes and you off of me to do that.”
“I kiss you senseless?” He smiled at her.
“You know very well you do, which is why you take every opportunity to kiss me when you want your way.”
“I was not doing that, but it seems a good idea.”
There was amusement back in his voice. She liked that too much. She pushed at him again and this time he slid out of her and instantly she regretted insisting. He was up in one fluid motion, reaching down for her. He waved his hand and she was clean, refreshed and fully clothed in the softest jeans she’d ever had, faded and vintage blue. She loved them. Her top was a soft, fitted sweater in a cream color.
Okay, that was just plain cool. She wasn’t a morning person. Without her preferred black tea she just wasn’t moving. Being able to do this would save time and effort. She ran her hands down her thighs, feeling the material. Andre wore similar jeans and a shirt that stretched tightly across all the amazing muscles he had.
“I love the jeans, Andre, but I usually wear pants I can climb in easily.” She had to say something because he looked gorgeous, and that was what got her in trouble in the first place. Who knew she was susceptible to cavemen?
His smile was faint, but there was amusement in his eyes. “Teagan. Seriously. You can fly. You can change your clothes with a wave of your hand and the image in your mind.”
She bit her lip. That was seriously cool. “Andre, I’m not hungry at all. Maybe I won’t need to take someone’s blood.” She said it hopefully because, really, she could get used to the cool aspects of being in his world.
“Before I woke you, I fed and then fed you,” Andre said. All trace of amusement was gone and he was watching her closely. Very closely. His eyes hooded and a little possessive. “You told me you liked to be held, so I brought you out of the ground where you were healing and made certain you were completely healed before I woke you.”
Her stomach lurched and she pressed a hand there. “I was in the ground?”
“You were in terrible pain, Teagan. The moment I knew it was safe to send you to sleep, I did. I put you in the ground to heal. You have been there for two risings.”
She knew he meant the rising of the moon. Two nights. Forty-eight hours. He’d fed her. That meant he gave her blood. He’d brought her out of the ground. Cleaned her. Cuddled her. She bit her lip again. As much as it was all his fault, he’d still been thoughtful. She couldn’t have faced all that. Not blood and dirt.
“Do bugs crawl all over us when we’re in the ground?”
His eyebrow shot up. “Bugs?”
“Andre, I don’t mind insects, but not crawling all over me.”
“I will do my best to keep that from happening.”
“And from now on we make decisions together,” she pressed.