Chapter 37: My House Cat
Sleep eluded them both.
Yoa lay tense, every muscle tight with the urge to claim Nova in every way he craved. He was too pent up, but he reined himself in, fighting his urges with the sobering reminder that his little mouse was fragile and delicate, and he’d let instinct take over. That instinct left scratches on her soft skin.
Meanwhile, Nova wasn’t just restless from that teasing encounter and what didn’t happen between them, but her thoughts spun in endless circles, jumping from thought to thought. Was she really going home tomorrow? And if so... why didn’t it feel like complete relief?
What did Yoa mean by going back to the lake? What did he plan to do to return her? If returning was possible, why was her heart thudding so disturbingly, as if it was slowly breaking?
"Sleep," Yoa murmured softly, his thumb caressing Nova’s thigh where he held her to him.
"I’m trying," Nova pouted into the night. "How come you’re not sleeping?"
She peeked up at him, but in the darkness, she could only make the outline of his huge form. Then his eyes snapped open, and gold glowed in the dark, reflecting back at her. "Because I can hear your heart racing," he said gruffly, not daring to admit how his own pulse thundered, heat flooding downward just from having Nova nestled against him.
Yoa’s hand slid up her back, the touch featherlight. Nova almost combusted under the teasing action. This man, hands down, had to know what he was doing! She narrowed her eyes at him, and he chuckled deeply before that same hand slid into her hair.
"What.... Oh..." Nova hummed, eyes closing to feel his fingers pressing into her scalp. He played with her hair and massaged her scalp. "Can’t you come with me," Nova joked with a low sigh, enjoying the feel of her hair being played with.
Yoa chuckled, watching her in the dark, seeing how clearly she loved her hair being played with. His lips twitched into a small smile as Nova’s breathing started to even out, her shoulders sagging from all the tension bottling up there. Her calming heartbeat seemed to steady his own, grounding the wild energy pulsing through him.
He curled around Nova protectively, one hand remaining in her hair as he continued to massage her scalp. The sound of her even heartbeat and breathing soothed the part of him that liked to stay awake at night. Fortunately, nobody knew about his hideout—besides Atia. So he could always rest easy here when rest was allowed as Yiska.