Scent : Animal Senses Series Book 2

Chapter 36

36

Gage glanced over to see Rayne walking toward them. His heart stuttered when he realized she was focused on him, not her mate. Glancing at Devin, he noted he realized it too.

"Gage?" Rayne's voice was soft.

He frowned, then answered. "Yes?"

She smiled, which made him realize why Devin could never say no to her. "Do you have a few minutes? Kelsey needs to speak with you."

His heart stopped. With a nod, he realized he was already heading to the house. "I'll be back."

As he stepped into the kitchen, he kept talking to himself. Just breathe, it's okay, it's nothing bad. Everything is fine. When she wasn't in the kitchen, he had to stop and inhale to find where she had gone.

She was in the living room, looking out the window. "Honey? Is everything all right?"

She gave him a look. "That's a loaded question, Mister Lockman."

Gage nodded, rubbing his jaw. "I suppose it is right now." He swallowed, loudly. "Rayne said you needed to speak to me?"

"Yes, but I don't know where to begin."

Gage tried to ignore his pounding heart. "Is something wrong?" He inhaled subtly to see if he could determine her mood. She stamped her foot, exasperated. Slowly, he stepped further into the room. "Okay, that was a dumb question ..."

"Ya think? That's only part of it." She turned so he could see her face. "This was so much easier when I was talking with Rayne."

"Do you..." he hesitated, "do you want me to go get her?" What he really wanted was to scream, just tell me what's going on! But he dug deep and tried not to freak out.

Kelsey sighed, just looking at him. Each second felt like minutes before she started to speak again.

"I'm overwhelmed with all of this, Gage."

He wanted to pull her into his arms, her voice held so much pain he only wanted to erase it. "I know, honey..."

She laughed quietly, shaking her head and he was even more lost, not sure what was wrong.

"I wanted to come home," she hugged her arms around herself, her expression hurt, "for the last year, that's all I wanted. To come home." She looked at him again, her amber eyes forlorn. "I wanted to see if I was still attracted to you, to see..." she blushed, "to see if there was anything between us, now that I'm older."

Gage swallowed, not sure if he was supposed to comment or just let her talk through it all. He decided the longer he kept his mouth shut, the better his chances would be.

"I'm not sure how to say this, without inflating your already large ego..." she shrugged, "but you were the object of all my fantasies for years."

He opened his mouth and then shut it, and jammed his hands into his pockets. How long did she expect him to just stand here and not touch her when she was telling him all of this?

She made a little noise in the back of her throat, he was pretty sure it was one of surprise, but continued before he could figure it out.

"Now, I don't know if what I feel is some residual thing from my adolescent fantasies, or what is from this mating stuff..." she waved a hand indicating herself. . "I just don't."

Gage struggled to get the idea of fantasies out of his brain and focus on her. To know she wanted him for all the years he'd been waiting wasn't helping him keep his feet planted in place instead. "What are you saying, honey?" He shrugged, "I'm not getting it."