“More.”
“I hope you don’t kiss your momma with that—oooh, yes. Yes. More.”
She tweaked his nipples. She pushed his shirt off and nipped his shoulder. And that sweet core of hers rocking against him had him about to explode through his jeans. “Kaci?—”
“No talking,” she said again. “Oh, my holy sweet heavens, who taught you to—yes.”
“You need to get naked,” he murmured into her elbow. He flicked his tongue over the silky skin.
She arched into him, her legs a vise grip on his hips. “If you think I’m taking orders from?—”
Kissing her was remarkably effective.
But if he didn’t get both of them out of their clothes, his main event would be over before it started.
He lifted her shirt, letting his knuckles brush her ribs and lacy bra.
Something furry brushed his leg, and a long, snuffly wheeze broke through Kaci’s gasps and whimpers.
Lance pushed the cat away and pulled Kaci’s shirt over her head. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and planted those sweet lips back on his mouth.
The cat hacked out another wheeze. It yowled an unholy sound, as if it had a hairball from hell stuck in its throat.
“Miss Higgs.” Kaci shoved him away and dropped to the ground.
Her cat’s frosted eyes bulged out and its tongue hung limp. Its chest heaved, but the rest of it twitched and spasmed, its paws stretching and contracting involuntarily.
Kaci pulled the cat into her lap. “Oh, no, baby girl, don’t you do this. You’re gonna be okay. You’re gonna be fine, sweet kitty. You just hang on.”
Shivers went down Lance’s spine.
The yowl dropped off and the twitching stopped, and the cat seemed to melt into Kaci’s lap. Its foggy eyes drifted shut, chest still heaving, but the rest of it—the thing looked dead.
She leapt to her feet, cradling the cat, and pushed past him.
She didn’t look at him, but he could see the gloss in her eyes and the fluttering of her pulse in her neck while she spun until she found her keys. “Sorry I can’t see you out, sugar.”
“Kaci—”
“I gotta get Miss Higgs to the doctor.”
The cat wheezed a desperate, gasping breath. Its front legs went stiff again, paws stretched out as though it were reaching for the doors to heaven.
Kaci sucked in a breath that would’ve sounded like a sob coming from any other woman. “Holdon, Miss Higgs. Just hold on, baby.”
“Kaci, your shirt.”
She whirled around, eyes wide, lips parted. She glanced frantically at the moaning cat in her arms, then at the shirt Lance held out.
His hard-on whimpered in frustration. And if the cat hadn’t looked about three centuries old, Lance might’ve suspected it was playing him.
“Here.” He gingerly reached for the furball, surprised to find it lighter than a six-pack under all its white fur and scarily stiff. “Letme take you to the vet.”
She had her shirt on and was reaching for the cat before he finished asking. “I got this. Thanks for—” Her chin wobbled, and this time, when she looked at him, there was an uncertainty he wouldn’t have expected from her a week ago. “Just…thanks.”
She ducked her head again and barreled for the door. The cat let out one last whimpery yowl.
Lance was right on her heels. “Kaci, you can’t drive and hold a cat. Let me take you.”
