Rising Storm (Westin Force #2) - Julie Trettel Page 0,32
picked up my shirt off the floor and threw it to her. She understood without me telling her that I didn’t want her naked in front of our unwanted company.
I swung the door open, surprised to find Clara and Shelby there holding several bags.
“Oh, hey. Ben said Emma finally shifted. We brought her some clothes. Is this a bad time?”
“Obviously,” Clara teased.
I internally groaned, wanting Emma to fit in and make friends so she’d feel at home here, but I really didn’t want to share her either.
“Yeah, fine. Come on in.” I pulled the door back so they could come in. “I’m just going to go take a very cold shower,” I muttered under my breath, forgetting wolf ears picked up everything until our visitors started giggling.
I left the girls alone and headed for the bathroom to take care of my own business and recall every second of the look and feel of my mate falling apart in my arms.
Emma
Chapter 10
“So, um, things are going well with you and Painter, huh?” Clara asked.
I nodded. “He just made me feel so good. At first it was a little uncomfortable and then it was like I was floating. It’s quite addictive.”
Shelby blushed. “Yup, that sounds like an orgasm to me.”
“Is that what that was? Why would you ever want to do anything else?”
Clara and Shelby giggled.
“I love you,” Shelby said. “Trust me, sometimes I wonder the same things.”
“Are you really okay?” Clara asked. “I’m honestly surprised to see you so talkative. I guess since it took so much coaxing to get you out of your gorilla shell that I expected you to be, I don’t know, shy.”
I stared blankly at the both of them and sighed. “Females by nature are meek and shy.”
“Not all of us,” Shelby said.
“They are in the gorilla world though. I was the leader of my band. I sometimes forget,” I shared with them. “Do you think Painter’s upset by it?”
“Trust me, that was not the look of a man that was upset, except maybe by our intrusion.”
“You were the leader of a band of gorillas?” Clara asked curiously.
I nodded. “Their silverback was killed. They wouldn’t have survived on their own.”
“How long did you live in your fur?”
I shrugged. “I was seventeen at the time I turned my back on a human life.”
“How old are you now?”
I shrugged. I honestly had no idea what year it was or how long it had been. It hadn’t mattered the least in my life.
“Do you know what year you were born?”
“No.”
“Is there anything you can remember that was happening at the time?” Shelby suggested.
I shook my head. “My females went through two cycles of life though, so that would be approximately ten years. Others that were with me when I was captured said we were there about two years. Does that help?”
“What do you mean by cycles of life?” Shelby asked.
Clara answered for me. “Female gorillas are pregnant for nine months, just like humans, and then they nurse on average for four years before weening and working on becoming pregnant again. So two rounds of babies would be approximately a decade. Right?”
I nodded.
“Oh, okay. So that would put you around twenty-nine, thirty? You look younger than that,” Shelby said.
I shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. Do you think it would matter to Painter?”
She laughed. “No, I’d most definitely say he couldn’t care less.”
“So the real reason you wouldn’t shift wasn’t because you were shy or scared, but you just haven’t been in human form for so long?” Clara asked.
I sighed. “I swore I’d never live in my skin again.”
“What changed your mind?”
“Lost my temper,” I admitted. “Ever since I met Painter, it doesn’t seem to matter if I’m in fur or skin, I’m still affected by these human emotions. It’s terrible. I don’t know how to process them all.”
“Looks like Painter’s helping you process things just fine,” Shelby said.
I considered her words. “So you think more orgasms will help?”
Shelby started coughing like she was choking.
“You know what? You need some proper girl time. Tomorrow night my sisters and some of the local ladies are getting together, why don’t you come join us, Emma?” Clara said.
“I don’t know. Should I ask Painter?”
“Do you need his permission?” Shelby asked.
“I don’t know, but I feel like I should let him know.”
Clara smiled encouragingly. “Yes, let him know. I’ll have Ben text him the address. He can drop you off and go out for drinks with the boys.”