To Love a Stray

CHapter 14

Micah’s story:

I watch Rosy as she lies sleeping, it is just after breakfast and she is curled up asleep on top of my bed covers. I would go in and put a blanket over her but I know any movement in the room is sure to disturb her, plus the morning is warm. The last week has been chaotic, phone calls to attend to and several Alphas turning up unexpectedly. The strain on Rosy has made her extremely nervous and she refused to let Doc do the ultra sound to check on the kitt when he arrived with the portable machine.

"She gone back to sleep already?" Steven asks quietly from just behind me and I glance over my shoulder at him.

"Yeah," I confirm as I move away from the door and head for the lounge room so our conversation doesn’t disturb her. "She said she wanted to change clothes to go into town about a quarter of an hour ago. I came to see what was taking her so long and found her asleep."

"She wouldn’t need to be sleeping now if you two hadn’t been going at it most of the night," Steven chuckles softly.

A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth and I feel a lightness of mood as I remember how Rosy encouraged my attentions the night before. It was the first time since I let her out of the cage and the sudden change in my status that she allowed me to do more than hold her. I explained to her several times that until there was an official engagement, announced to the werecat community at large, relationships were conducted openly in the presence of others. My main concern is how Rosy still insisted on retreating to my room for any intimacy between us as if it was something to be hidden from the others.

"Rosy nearly ready to go to town?" Jazzy asks eagerly as we walk into the lounge room.

"I’m sorry Jazzy, but Rosy is asleep," I tell her gently. Jazzy frowns and crosses her arms over her chest, annoyance clear in every line of her body.

"Maybe we can go tomorrow if Rosy doesn’t feel up to it later," Dwayne says quietly.

"But Rosy needs new clothes now! Everything is getting too tight, Rosy even said so herself," Jazzy snaps in irritation.

I think about the way most of Rosy’s tops now fit firmly over her breasts and I remember how she complained only this morning when her favourite jeans were uncomfortable over her stomach.

"I’m sure Rosy will want to go shopping later after she wakes up," I tell Jazzy soothingly.

"Rosy wouldn’t be sleeping now if you had let her sleep last night," Jazzy mutters as she turns away. I can’t help the chuckle that starts deep in my chest and bursts forth making Jazzy turn and frown at me in irritation.

"Don’t be so pleased with yourself," Jazzy snaps. "Being pregnant means Rosy needs all the sleep she can get."

"You had better tell Rosy that," I say with a wide grin. I can’t help feeling good about the events of the night before. "I wasn’t the one who started it and I wasn’t the one who couldn’t get enough of the touching."

"So things are getting better between you and Rosy?" Jazzy asks hopefully. "You’ll be asking her to marry you soon?"

"I’m busy building a relationship with Rosy at present," I tell Jazzy firmly. "Rosy and I don’t have years of knowing each other behind us. We need a good solid foundation to grow from."

I don’t tell her I have been desperately trying to rekindle a spark of the matebond I was sure was forming between us before Rosy lost control and nearly changed while wearing the collar. I don’t mention to anyone that I can no longer feel her presence at the edge of my mind. Every time I concentrate and search for her all I find is a weird nothingness where I am sure she used to be.