“Be crazy with me and say yes,” he said against her mouth before he nipped her bottom lip gently with his teeth. “Take a chance.”
Throwing caution to the wind, she blurted, “Yes.”
His happy rumble vibrated through her and Katherine couldn’t help but smile against his lips as he kissed her again.
Kong walked them into the bedroom and kicked the door shut behind them as Katherine tugged his t-shirt out of his pants.
His hungry kisses moved from her mouth to her ear, and Katherine shivered in his arms as he whispered, “You won’t regret it, Katherine. We’re going to be great together.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
It hadn’t taken longto move Katherine’s things from the administrative building to Kong’s apartment, but over the next few days, Perrin, Lark, Paige, Jayla, and Lynx – sometimes one or two at a time or the whole group, depending on their work schedules – insisted on helping her put her stamp on the place.
Katherine had been hesitant at first and hadn’t wanted to overstep, but Kong encouraged her to, in his words, go nuts. “This is your place now too,” he’d told her.
Shopping was fun. She bought draperies for the windows, pillows, and a warm, colorful throw for when she and Kong cuddled on the couch and watched a movie. Frames she intended to fill with pictures of her and Kong and their friends and hang on the walls along with other decorative tidbits she’d found. At the women’s urging, she’d also indulged herself witha bit of a wardrobe makeover. As they’d put it, her work clothes were for work but she needed clothes to play in as well. Because she didn’t just work at Black Bay anymore. This was home now.
But while shopping had been enjoyable, the best part about it was the friendships she was building with the other women. Such different personalities that ran the spectrum from Perrin who was often scarily serious to Jayla who was the bubbly gossip queen, and everything in between. But they all somehow meshed well together.
Tonight, they were gathered at her place just to hang out. They’d showed up with wine, declared it a girls’ night, then kicked Kong out and told him to go play with the boys.
They were all standing around the breakfast bar and Katherine had just taken out the wine glasses, when Paige, seeming excited, announced, “Jace and I are thinking about starting a family.”
The happy news was met with congratulations and well wishes and had Jayla squealing excitedly and bouncing up and down for almost ten straight minutes before she turned her attention to Lark. “How about you, Lark? Are you and Grady thinking about babies yet?”
Lark’s cheeks turned a bit pink, but she shook her head. “Not yet. But maybe someday.”
Perrin nodded shrewdly. “Sensible.”
With an evil smirk, Lynx poked Perrin in the side. “Are you saying Paige and Jace aren’t sensible?”
The glare Perrin shot the other woman was downright frigid.
“Come on, Perrin,” Lynx continued to tease. “You know you want to build a nest with someone. Maybe a certain lion?”
Perrin moved toward the smaller woman like she was going to do some bodily harm and, with a frightened squeak, Lynx hid behind Lark.
Jayla quickly jumped in to defuse the situation before it got out of hand, announcing, “Lynx is all hot and heavy for one of the Resurrection soldiers.”
“Hey!”
Unruffled by Lynx’s angry interruption, Jayla kept right on going. “She tries to act all cool, but she practically has hearts in her eyes every time she sees him.” Jayla laced her fingers together under her chin and batted her eyelashes in demonstration.
“Oh, do tell,” Paige encouraged. “Which one?”
The gossip queen shook her head and pretended to zip her lips. “I promised I wouldn’t say anything.”
Lynx let out a derisive snort. “Yet here we are.”
“What about you, Jayla?” Katherine asked. “Who are you shooting heart eyes toward?”
“She’s been in love with Nova since they were kids,” Lynx volunteered. “She’s too scared to make a move though.”
Lark shot a chiding glance at the woman who was still hiding behind her. “Quite the pot stirrer tonight, aren’t you?”
Lynx just shrugged, her face all innocent.
Paige bumped Katherine’s hip with her own. “How about you and Kong? Are there wedding bells in your future?”
