help support him so he wouldn’t get shredded. So far, Louie had been great about not putting the claws to him, but his shirt could only take so much of Louie’s enthusiasm.
Nadine sighed. “Ah. He missed you.”
Her gentle expression fired his blood even more. Shohn wanted to see her looking at him like that, maybe after a really hot orgasm. “He could miss me a few minutes more, damn it.” What lousy timing the cat had! But Shohn pet him, anyway, giving him the greeting he wanted.
The rumbling purrs started to sound like a broken truck engine. Eyes closed, Louie continued to rub against him.
“Take it easy, buddy.” Shohn managed to get the cat away from his face and settled more on his chest. “Ah, that’s better.”
Nadine smiled.
“Now I can kiss you.” Her smile froze, but Shohn took her mouth too quickly for her to object.
Only she didn’t. She kissed him back. Awkwardly because, yeah, they had a big old rumbling tomcat between them, but still, it was pretty hot the way she turned her head, how she willingly parted her lips.
How she accepted his tongue.
She tasted even better than he remembered, hotter and sweeter. She made a small sound that he took for encouragement. He answered with a low groan, his thoughts already on getting her naked and under him.
Suddenly Louie butted his head up between theirs, and Shohn pulled away with a “Bleh.”
Breathing fast, Nadine asked, “What?”
“I had cat ear in my mouth.” He used a shoulder to wipe his face.
She snickered then took his arm. “I’m sorry. Why don’t we sit down for a bit? Are you hungry?”
Was that nervousness that had her talking so fast? “Not this time, thanks.” Shohn dropped onto her couch and again tried to rearrange the big cat. Louie was so muscular and rangy at the same time that doing anything he didn’t fully approve was damn difficult. “I grabbed some fast food to eat on the way here.”
“I wouldn’t have minded fixing you something.”
“Thanks, but it wasn’t food I had in mind.”
“Oh...well, a drink, then? I’m out of Coke, but maybe some iced tea?”
Shohn grinned over the way she avoided his innuendo. “With you looking like that, yeah, iced tea with plenty of ice would be great.”
She smoothed her hands over the shirt then tucked her hair behind one ear. “I took a really quick shower just before you got here.”
Damn, he was sorry he’d missed that. “If you’d waited, I could have showered with you.” To keep her from reacting to that too much, he went on in a casual tone. “It was one hell of a day and I’m grimier than usual. Not that Louie seems to mind, do you buddy?” He tickled under the cat’s chin.
Eyes widening, Nadine opened her mouth twice before she finally said anything. “You, ah, found the missing camper?”
“Yeah. The drunken dumbass had completely left the trails. I found him snagged up in a briar bush, sniveling and ready to wet himself. Apparently he fell in there and then kept getting scratched worse every time he tried to free himself.”
“Serves him right for getting drunk.” Nadine headed into the kitchen to get the drinks. “Will he be fined?”
“Who knows? I turned him over to the local authorities. He’s their problem now.” Shohn liked watching Nadine move in the kitchen, seeing the way she turned this way and that in the shorty-shorts and clinging T-shirt. She had supershapely legs and her bare feet made it all more intimate somehow. “Love the new outfit.”
She ducked her face, letting her hair hide her profile. “It’s just an old shirt and shorts.”
No, it was a sexier shirt and shorter shorts that she’d put on for him. “I like your hair loose like that, too.”
She dropped an ice cube on the floor. “Thanks.” She accidentally kicked it when she went to pick it up, then had to chase it before it went under the fridge.
“Nadine?”
“Hmm?” Face flushed, she tossed the ice in the sink and, with trembling hands, poured the tea.
Shohn understood, because he felt a little shaky himself. Lust had never hit him so hard. “You have a kickin’ body with killer curves, honey. I hope you know that.”
She twisted her mouth then squared her shoulders as she faced him with the glasses of tea. “I’m satisfied with it.”
Leering a little, Shohn said, “I’d be more satisfied with it if you were naked. But this display is great for starters.”
She stumbled over nothing.
Shohn bolted forward in his seat, ready to grab for her. “Easy.”
Face flaming, Nadine managed to catch herself without spilling the tea. “Sorry.”
“I should be the one apologizing.”
“You do tease a lot,” she agreed.
He wasn’t teasing, but no reason to tell her that. She was already looking very unsure of herself. Because he’d jostled the cat, he said, “You okay, Louie?”
Head tipped back over Shohn’s arm, Louie watched Nadine, still purring.
She set the tea on the end table. “I think Louie’s content as long as you’re holding him close and stroking him.”
If only Nadine had the same preferences. Another thought to keep to himself, at least for now. Shohn patted the seat beside him. “So tell me how he did today.”
“He owned the place.” Nadine sat by him, close, but not quite touching. “He could be a sheepherder, only for the dogs.” She ran one finger over Louie’s big block head. “Everywhere he went, the dogs followed.”
“So it wasn’t a problem having him here?”
“Not at all.”
Perfect. Then she could continue to watch the cat, which would give him a reason to keep coming back. “I’ll hold him a little longer, okay?”
She stared at Louie instead of meeting his gaze. “Before you leave, you mean?”
“Before I kiss you again.”
An expectant stillness fell over her. She licked her lips, slowly turned to put her tea on the end table and finally looked up at him. Their gazes met, held, as his heart beat a little faster.
“I was hoping you would.”
Damn. Her honesty put him on a low simmer. “To hell with waiting.” Keeping Louie relaxed in his arms, Shohn leaned down to take her mouth.
Meeting him halfway, Nadine put one small hand to his neck, the other flat to his chest. He meant to keep things easy—after all, he had Louie sprawled in his arms—but he couldn’t hold back, not from Nadine.
Her tongue touched his, and he groaned low. He leaned closer, kissed her deeper—and Louie put his claws to his thigh.
Shohn jumped so fast that he and Nadine bumped heads.
“Ow, damn it, cat. That hurt!”
He rubbed his inner thigh where Louie had gotten him.
Nadine rubbed her forehead where they’d bumped and rushed to the cat’s defense. “Maybe you squeezed him.”
“Or maybe he’s just too damned possessive!”
She laughed, tried to muffle it, and ended up making a ridiculous sound.
“You find it funny that he scratched me?”
She said, “No,” but she