Tieris (Primal Impulse Shifters Book 1)

by Romi Hart

  Codut looked at me. “Sorry, he’s a bit unorthodox. And your name is?”

  “Linda.” The hairs on the back of my neck felt as if they were standing up as he reached out for my hand. I put my hand in his even though it felt uncomfortable. “It’s nice to meet you, Codut.”

  “As it is to meet you, Linda.” He kissed the top of my hand before releasing it and turning his attention to Tieris. “So, you’ve found someone, have you, old boy?”

  “I’ve met this wonderful young woman, yes.” Tieris reached across the table, taking my hand. His thumb ran back and forth over the place Codut had left his kiss. It felt as if he was trying to rub the kiss off my skin as he moved his thumb vigorously back and forth.

  “And how is that going? On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate the chemistry between you two?” Codut asked rather clinically.

  “Ten,” came Tieris’ quick answer.

  Nodding, Codut seemed to like the answer. I – on the other hand – felt it was a bit premature to say that our mutual chemistry was at a ten. Five? Maybe. Ten? No way in hell.

  When the man’s darker than night eyes came back to me, I shuddered. “And how would you rate your chemistry with Tieris, Linda?”

  “I wouldn’t rate it yet. We’ve barely met.” I wasn’t going to fall into this man’s game.

  Or maybe this is their game.

  5

  Tieris

  I couldn’t believe Codut stood at out table. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” I asked him with as much impatience as I could thread into my voice. “We are on a date here.”

  His dark brows lowered as he looked at me with narrowed eyes. “Your rudeness is becoming intolerable. But I am on my way out.” He turned to look at Linda. “It was nice to meet you, Linda. I hope you enjoy your night out.”

  “Thank you. I will.” She smiled brilliantly at Codut sending fire ripping through my heart.

  As Codut walked away, she watched him until he was out the door. Then her eyes came to mine. “I want to know what that rating crap was about. And I don’t want any lies. Just tell me the truth, Tieris. Is this date something more than just a date?”

  The truth wasn’t a thing I could tell her. “This is a date and that is all it is, Linda. That man is just odd is all. He’s always been odd, and I assume he will always be that way.” I had no idea why he’d asked us to rate our chemistry. Maybe he thought that was a natural topic of conversation. “He hasn’t left our village much at all. I suppose he’s just trying his best to fit in.”

  “Sounds like your village is pretty primitive.” She picked up her glass, taking a drink that left her lips stained red. “Your people don’t socialize or what?”

  Shifters didn’t socialize much at all. We all had pretty snappy tempers and being around a group of temperamental beings never ended well. “We keep to ourselves mostly.”

  Nodding, she seemed to understand. “No wonder you came on vacation alone. And now it makes more sense why you act the way you do. I met this guy once who had grown up on a farm in Nebraska. By the time he was old enough to walk, he was on the tractor with his father. As soon as he got the hang of driving the tractor, his father sent him out in the fields each day. He spent way too much time alone and you could tell that by the way he talked and how he acted.”

  “Did you have sex with that guy?” Jealousy rose up inside of me, making my backbone tingle as my inner dragon sparked.

  Her eyes went wide as she put her hand to her chest. “No. Damn, dude, you can’t ask things like that.”

  I couldn’t help myself and went on, “Why can’t I know about who you’ve had sex with? Is that such a bad thing to know about another person? Especially a person who you’re trying to get to know. I mean, if we were to become intimate, isn’t it smart to have a clear idea of how many lovers we’ve each had.” I knew I couldn’t give her my real number because it was far too high, but she could give me hers. “I’ve had seven lovers in my lifetime. How many have you had? Oh, and have they all been males or were some of them, females?”

  Shaking her head, she looked worried as she chewed her lower lip. “Uh-uh. Nope. We are not doing this. I am not about to tell you how many men I’ve been intimate with. And for the record, I haven’t been with any females. Not that any of that is your business and this isn’t a topic for a first date.” She looked at the waiter who had our entrees. “Yes, our main course is here.”

  The dragon inside of me relaxed and let me be. Linda wasn’t going to tell me much about her past love life it seemed. I had to be happy knowing that she’d never experienced love. At least I would be her first and only love. That had to count for something.

  We ate in silence for a few minutes before I came up with a new topic. “So, how many offspring do you want to have?”

  The way she sputtered and pulled the napkin off her lap to cover her mouth told me I’d stumbled upon another thing that people didn’t talk about on first dates. “Offspring? Do you mean kids?”

  So, she hadn’t smashed the idea of talking about children. “Yes, kids. How many do you want? Isn’t that a thing most people do? Plan on how many children they would like to have in their lifetime?”

  “Mostly, people who are in committed relationships think about that sort of thing. I have not thought about it at all since I’ve never been in one.” Dabbing at her mouth, she quirked her lips to one side. “But, I don’t dislike children. And I think babies are cute.”

  Nodding, I wondered if she would make a good mother to our eventual offspring. Not that it mattered to me in the least. As long as she was a good mate and lover to me was all I really cared about. “I think babies are cute too.” I had to agree with her on that. “But I don’t care for the way they smell.”

  “Me neither,” she said with a grin. “Spit-up and other bodily excrements are most likely the reasons Mother Nature made the little buggers so darn cute. I’m an auntie to five nieces and nephews.”

  “Does that mean you have some experience in child-rearing?” It wouldn’t hurt a thing at all if my mate had experience with children.

  “I’ve babysat a lot. My older siblings have kids. Only my younger sister and I are kid-free. Lisa and I are a lot more alike than our older sister and brother. They took after our mother. All of them are tall, lithe, and they’ve got good hair too. My father’s family all have issues with weight and none of them are very tall either. They’re about average when it comes to height. Lisa and I take after that side of our family. What about your family, Tieris?”

  I took a big bite of the chicken to give myself some time to come up with something I could actually tell her about my parents. She couldn’t know that my father was a dragon and my mother a sorceress.

  Swallowing the food, I said, “Father lives in the country now. We rarely see him anymore. And our mother moves around a lot. She does stop by on occasion, but she’s got her own life to live.”

  “So, they’re divorced?” Her dark eyes drooped a bit as if she was sad.

  My parents were never married. But I had to say something, “Yes. They’ve been divorced for years now.”

  “How old were you when they broke up?” She reached out, patting the top of my hand that rested on the table. “That had to have been hard on you and your brother.”

  It wasn’t hard at all, but I figured most humans though it to be that way. “He and I had already moved out to our own place, so it didn’t affect us.”

  “I would hate it if my parents broke up. I would hate to think of them ending up alone.” She sighed. “I don’t like to think about myself ending up alone either. But it might end up happening that way. I suppose I would deal with it in a positive way.”

  Her entire demeanor changed as she thought about being alone for the rest of her life. I hated to see how deflated she became. Her hand still rested near mine and I took her hand, interlocking our fingers. Soft music played in the background and I thought a dance would help ease her mind. “Dance with me.”

&nbs
p; She looked at me for a long while before nodding. I got up, went to her chair and pulled it out for her. As she rose, I ran my arm around her body, pulling her close to my side and led her to the dancefloor.

  Resting her head on my chest, she followed my feet easily as we swayed together to the music. Holding her that way felt right. I had practice with finding mates and quickly forming bonds. Linda had no practice and no idea that things could happen like that.

  I had to let her have the time she would need to gain an understanding of what we shared. A common bond that would unite us forever, if she allowed that, would form within us both. But she had to see it and had to take hold of it.

  This wasn’t a thing that I could do on my own. Not in this day and age. The female had to agree to things now.

  In the old days, when you took a female who didn’t want to be taken, knights came after you to end our immortal lives. Severing the head of an immortal was just about the only way to end one of us.

  To keep the heat off all shifters, a band of them had formed to enforce new rules that the new age had put into place. No longer could we take our mates without their consent. We had to follow the rules and that meant if an intended mate refused an immortal, then that had to be allowed to occur. It didn’t mean you had to stop trying to win them over, but you couldn’t just throw them over your shoulder and take them away.

  As I held Linda in my arms, I had to fight the urge to do things the old way with her. She was obstinate and full of fire when she wanted to be. Her low self-esteem would interfere with a quick courting process. And I wanted her with an insane passion already.

  Running one hand down to catch hers, I pulled it up to my lips, kissing her palm and loving the way she moaned as I did. The woman hadn’t had any good men in her life, so she had to be ready for one.

  It had been a long time since I’d had a female too. My loins ached to feel her body against them. I had no idea how long I could wait, but I knew that I had to wait for her consent.

  Kissing the top of her head, I whispered, “You dance like a goddess.”

  She looked up at me with a lopsided grin. “This isn’t dancing, Tieris, it’s swaying. But thank you.”

  The fact that she’d been more appreciative of my compliments, instead of pushing them off meant a lot to me. “Would you like to kick up your heels a bit? I happen to be a pretty good dancer. I’m game if you are.”

  “I would like that. If the next song is fast, let’s try it out.” Her radiant smile gave me the feeling that we might share more in common than I’d thought.

  While I loved holding her and dancing slow, I wanted to have fun with her. And I wanted her to know that she could have fun with me as well. Showing my mate pleasure in every way imaginable was my ultimate goal.

  When the next song began, it had a faster beat. Moving back a little, she took my hand as I wrapped the other around her waist. “Here we go, Linda.”

  Moving with the music, I took her all over that dancefloor. The way she lit up as we danced stirred something deep in my soul.

  I’m making her happy!

  The way to a female’s heart was to make her happy. Keeping a smile on her face for an extended period of time felt just as good as keeping a sexually satisfied expression on her pretty face did. Sure, I hadn’t done the latter yet, but I’d nailed the first one.

  Once the music stopped, I spun her around then pulled her back into my arms as we both laughed. “That was fun.”

  “Glad you liked it.” I had to admit that she was much lighter on her feet than I had anticipated. “You and I make a great dance-team.”

  “I have to agree.” With a sigh, she slipped her arm around me, leaning into my side as we headed back to our table. “My sister, Lisa and I dance together. I’ve never danced with a man before. It’s better with a man.”

  “There are a few things that are better with a man.” I pulled her chair out for her to take a seat. “So, do I rival your sister’s fancy footwork?”

  “You beat hers and mine. We take turns leading.” She took a drink of her wine. “Whew! That was something.” Getting back to eating her meal, she stabbed a piece of chicken. “You know I have to admit that I’m having a great time with you, Tieris.”

  “I am also having a great time with you, Linda. But I knew that I would.” I took in a deep breath, inhaling her wonderful aroma. “You are one unique woman.”

  A blush filled her plump cheeks. “You are a unique man, Tieris. I have to admit that you are so very different from anyone I’ve ever known. I mean that in a good way. I just hope that something doesn’t happen to make me regret letting myself go this much.”

  “Regrets aren’t things that come along with me.” I held out my glass to her. “This is to you, Linda, my sweet. And to us having the most enjoyable times from here on out.”

  Picking up her wineglass she tapped hers to mine. “To enjoyable times.”

  As we took drinks, we looked into each other’s eyes. I found my world in hers. And I hoped she was beginning to see her world in mine.

  When I left home, I had no idea a mate was calling out to me. Rome came to mind and I went that way. Fate led me all the way to the woman. And I had to believe that fate would stick with me until I won my intended mate’s love.

  So far, I’d done everything right. “I hope you will allow me to walk you home tonight after this.”

  Tapping the side of her glass, she nodded. “If you’re going to walk me home, I can have some more wine.”

  Picking up the bottle the waiter had left at the table, I refilled her glass. “Yes, drink as much as you want to. I will walk you home this evening, so you don’t have to drive. This night is too lovely to waste a moment.”

  “I agree.” She took another drink, leaving red on her lips once more. I wanted to lean over and kiss the wine right off them. But that would have to wait.

  Making her ask for my kiss sounds a hell of a lot better than merely stealing one from her.

  6

  Linda

  After more wine and dancing, I felt as if my head was spinning, I’d never had such a great time in my life. “Tieris, you sure know how to show a girl a good time. Thank you.” Although it didn’t make even an ounce of sense why a man like him was into me, I found myself not trying to overthink it.

  Just enjoy it while you can, girl!

  Holding my hand, he swung them between us like we were a couple of kids. “Thank you for accepting my invitation. I hope you know that I am already planning at least three more dates as we speak. Would you like to go ahead and agree to join me for them as well? I can assure you that each date will be better than the last.”

  I couldn’t believe he was already asking me out again. “Are you sure you don’t want to give things a minute, Tieris? I mean, I’m not exactly a hot commodity. You don’t have to hurry up and try to fill my calendar. It’s wide open and no one else seems to be trying to fill in any of the dates on it.”

  He stopped swinging our clasped hands to pull me close to his side, then wrapped one arm around my waist. Not many men had long enough arms to completely be able to hold me the way he was able to. “I’d like to see you every day now that we’ve met. It’s not often that I’ve clicked with anyone so rapidly as I’ve done with you. I see no reason to play mind games with you. And you should see no reason to play them with me either.”

  “Mind games?” I supposed he’d meant traditional ways people took time to get to know one another before they got too serious. “Those games, as you call them, are meant to give each person time to fully get to know the other person. Plus, given time, the bad parts of a person can show up. Especially when they’re provoked in some way.”

  “Provoking a man like me is never a good idea, Linda. If you have a legitimate complaint about anything I do, you simply have to tell me, and I will fix it. Playing mind games with me won’t get anyone anywhere with me.” He kissed my cheek, playfully. “I am an open book and you are invited to ask me anything you want
about myself. And you are welcome to express how you feel about things – all things. I welcome your opinions with open arms, my sweet.”

  At least he wasn’t the type of man who didn’t want to hear a woman’s opinion. And knowing that he knew he could be wrong and could fix things about himself that bothered me seemed like a dream come true. Maybe too good to be true.

  When things are too good to be true – they usually are false.

  I had to hang onto my head and not fall for everything the gorgeous man said. “I’m not into playing games either, Tieris.” Mostly because I’d never really had the chance to learn how to play any. “So, I will be upfront with you and get right to the point. You talk a good talk. But will you walk a good walk?” I held up my hand as his mouth opened as he was about to tell me what he thought I wanted to hear. “Before you say anything, let me finish. See, you are saying all the right things. And I do mean all of them. But actions speak louder than words. And actions mean more to me than all the words in the world.”

  “As they should. For if I had no tongue with which to tease your ear, then how would I find my way into your heart?” He kissed my cheek again. “You are delicious, I can’t stop kissing you. Anyway, I should go on. I will show you how much I adore you and that adoration will only grow with each passing day. I can assure you of that.”

  He’d only seen me at my best. Not that I was at my complete best at the bookstore, but I’d made myself the best me that I could be to go out on our date. I had my off days and I wasn’t so sure he would adore me in sweatpants with my hair in a knot on top of my head. No makeup, no perfume, no smile on my face – I was sure he wouldn’t adore that part of me. “I suppose we shall see about that then. I’m not going to make it easy on you either. I am going to be the me I always am. And that doesn’t include nice dresses, makeup, and my hair done. I can be a little on the lazy said too.”