Page 39 of Cold Foot King
Silver’s eyebrows rose. “Oh, I know. So does Damon. So does Wreck. We’re all patient hunters.” Silver slung her arm over her shoulders. “Come on, Kitty Kat,” she said, using the old nickname she’d used way back when.
“Okay, Silver Fish.”
“You’re going to like Wreck’s Crew,” Silver chattered. “You’ll have females there that are cool. Wreck’s mate, Timber, is a hoot, and her sister, Sasha, is a healer and will be there too. And Wreck’s mom is moving near his mountains too and she makes the best cookies in the world. And I’ll come and visit you sometimes, and sometimes you guys will come visit us…”
Katrina smiled and smiled as Silver chattered on, leading her deeper into the woods so they could Change into their lionesses and spend the morning hunting. It would be a perfect getaway and reset. She was going to fix things with King. She’d already decided.
She couldn’t do her normal thing and run from her problems, or get quiet and let her problems fester until they were unmanageable. She didn’t think King would do well with those habits.
She would get some time with her friend in the forest, and later, she would make an apology and bring them to a better place—friendship.
Their lives were so clearly in transition, and the timing was wrong for anything more than that.
Just like he’d advised her to just breathe?
King deserved time to just breathe too.
Chapter Seven
Katrina lit the last candle and set the tumbler she’d bought King from the store by the bed. A knock sounded on the door. She padded across the hotel room and opened it to find King.
“I left my key behind earlier,” he said softly.
“So did I. I had to go to the front desk and ask for a new one.” She opened the door wider to let him in.
He stepped inside and looked around the room silently. The five candles she’d bought flickered with the entrance of the hallway air. “What is this?”
“An apology.”
“No, no, no, you don’t owe me an apology for anything.”
“I do. Just…listen. I went out and had a heart-to-heart with Silver, and she said some eye-opening stuff. I think sometimes I get so lost in my own head, I forget there is an outside world. I shouldn’t have used that word with you. I can understand how it is a trigger, and I won’t ever use it again. You had already explained that what happened was hurtful to you, and I—”
He stepped to her, and kissed her into silence. She was shocked into stillness, eyes still open.
King’s lips softened as he pulled her in closer and moved his mouth against hers. A breath of relief escaped her, and Katrina rolled her eyes closed and got lost in him. His hand was on the small of her back, pulling her in close, and his other gripped the back of her neck gently. She hadn’t done this in so long, but with him, it was natural, and filled her with a fluttering sensation she’d never known. King angled his face the other way and kissed her deeper, slipping his tongue against her lips, and she opened for him, desperate to taste him. His big, powerful hands were so gentle against her body, and his lips so soft, and the movement of his mouth so fluid against hers. She didn’t know how long he kissed her for. All she knew was that she never wanted this feeling of connection to end.
When he did ease out of it, she kept her eyes closed for a few seconds more, just savoring the moment they’d just shared.
“I wanted to come back in here and do that right after I left. I knew you were overthinking what I’d said, and I didn’t want you to be upset. I got to the hall and I knew I needed to Change, and I spent the entire time out in those woods thinking about getting back here to you. I wasn’t rejecting you.”
“You…” She swallowed hard, grasping his wrist so he would keep his hand at the nape of her neck. “You ruined my speech.”
A slow, sexy smile took his masculine lips, and with purpose, he stepped back and leaned against the dresser, one leg locked, the other crossed at the ankle, and one of his hands wrapped around his other wrist. She knew what he was doing. How fast was his heart racing right now? Was it as fast as hers?
“First of all, I have never in my life been kissed like that, so you’re going to have to be a little patient while I get my thoughts back on the right track.” He’d said kissing was big to him, and he’d shared that with her. It felt like he was giving her a part of himself. A gift. “Whoo.” She flapped her shirt a few times. “Is it getting hot in here?”
His amused smile stayed right where it was. “Feeling okay?”
“Um, better than okay.” She blew out another breath and hooked her hands on her hips, stared at the pattern of the floor to try and remember even one thing she’d been planning on talking to him about. “Oh! Okay.” She sat on the edge of the bed. “Okay,” she repeated. “I am going to be honest here. I am a disaster, right in the middle of maybe the biggest storm of my life, and I feel like the earth is cracking under my feet. I have these moments where I want to push you for more, and moments where I feel like I can’t breathe and the world is caving in. I think you’re getting the brunt of that roller coaster, and I’m asking you to be patient with me. Um, also I was going to talk about how we could try to be friends? Build up a friendship because I clearly need a friend, and you could probably use one too, after everything, but then you kissed me, so now I’m confused about that part of my speech and will have to think further on that. I also got the okay from Wreck to move back into my other room and give you space—”
“I don’t need space.”
“Well, I was unaware of that until right this second.”
“You overthink.”
“I am very good at that. I have always been confused by people, and have a hard time understanding intentions. Usually, my habit is to lash out and push people away if they confuse me, or if I feel like they’re testing me. Unfortunately the overthinking isn’t something that will probably ever go away. It’s how I’m wired. Or maybe how I was built. In my old life, I was always being told I was doing something wrong, so I tried to adapt and do things perfect, you know? But all that did was steer me away from being myself, and got me into more trouble. So I think now, in my new life, I need to maybe just learn who I am and be myself.”