Bachar was waiting for her just as he said he would be. A moment of doubt had entered her mind as she’d finished her bath and dressed. He owed her nothing really. She and Nick were on shaky ground. Her brother had traveled into shifter territory without permission, and she had followed him. Also, without permission.
He was standing at the bank of windows, looking out as she had earlier. She walked toward him, knowing that he saw her approach in the reflection of the glass. Their eyes met through their reflections. She stopped a few feet away, suddenly unsure of herself and the hunger still blazing in his eyes.
“You are beautiful.”
His voice was low and deep and shot an arrow of need straight to her pussy. She had to bite her lip to keep back a moan.
Instinctively, she crossed her arms over her unfettered breasts, her nipples hardening at the desire racing through her. Were all shifters this dangerous to a woman’s virtue? “I’d rather you didn’t do that.”
His eyes narrowed, chasing away the warmth she had just seen in them. “Do what?”
“Flirt with me.” She stopped a few feet away from him, her arms still wrapped around her body. She cursed the fact that she hadn’t put on her damp bra.
He turned away from the window, and she was suddenly the entire focus of his attention. She looked at him and every muscle in her body tensed with desire. A desire so primitive that she wanted to leap across the space that separated them, straight into his arms.
He walked forward as if he too could feel the undeniable draw. Or should she say, he stalked toward her, the characteristics of his cat much closer to the surface than they had been only a moment ago. He stopped abruptly when a knock sounded on the door. He continued to look at her for one brief moment before he walked away to answer it.
A waiter with a room service cart was on the other side. Sally waited by the window as the two men exchanged greetings.
“Come, you need to eat.” Bachar pushed the cart past her, stopping by one of the large couches. “Come.” He barked out the order again when she didn’t move.
With great reluctance, she walked forward and took a seat on the opposite couch. Without asking if she wanted any, he uncorked the bottle of wine that had been delivered with the food and poured her a glass. Next, he uncovered the food. She didn’t know what she’d expected under all those fancy, silver domes, but it certainly wasn’t the pile of sandwiches, chips, pickle spears, and potato salad. Again, without asking, he passed her a plate piled high with food.
For a moment, she considered refusing just out of stubbornness. Highhanded men tended to piss her off. And there was no one more highhanded she was beginning to discover, than a lion shifter. The loud growl her stomach gave decided for her. She took the plate and leaned back against the couch, tucking her legs up beneath her. He frowned at her, and she questioned if she’d done something wrong.
He rose from his seat and came towards her, a dark frown upon his face. He leaned over her and for a brief—very excited—moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. And she wanted it. Oh, lordy, lordy, how she wanted it. She braced herself, her breath caught in her lungs as he…reached for the damn cover on the back of the couch and spread it across her lap.
“You looked cold.” His lips curved into a smile as if he knew exactly what she had been thinking. And hoping.
He turned and walked back to the other couch, the muscles of his ass bunching and releasing. She wondered what he would do if she reached out and gave his buns of steel a squeeze—or threw half of her roast beef sandwich at his backside.
They ate in silence for several moments, anxiety quickly robbing Sally of her hunger and she sat her plate aside and picked up her wine glass. He’d downed several sandwiches as she’d nibbled on her plate of food. She knew from her experience with her brother that shifting expended a lot of energy. And if he had been in his animal form for the last several hours, no doubt he was starving.
Again, without asking, he filled a plate with an assortment of desserts that had been provided and brought them to her. Instead of handing them to her and moving away as he had before, he took a seat next to her.
“A wolf pack reported a lost hiker.”
“They did?” Sally straightened in her seat, sitting down the half empty glass of wine on the side table and turning towards him. “Was it him? Was it my brother?”
“It would appear so.” Once they had received the message and been assured of the boy’s well-being, he and Tarek had stopped their search. The snow had deepened making travel dangerous, and Bachar’s lion had immediately started protesting being away from Sally.
“Oh, Bachar.” She couldn’t prevent her next action. She launched herself against him, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing him tight. He managed to catch her with one arm and still keep the plate of sweets from falling to the floor. He also managed to turn her and the next thing she knew she was sitting on his lap, her arms still locked around his neck. The cover he’d placed on her early had fallen to the floor, so she was basically laid out before him, a banquet ready to be devoured, just like the food on the coffee table.
“I, um.” Sally quickly lowered her arms and started to squirm, trying to find a way out of his arms. As she did, she felt his body respond to her totally innocent movement. Her eyes flew to his, and she redoubled her efforts to free herself.
Bachar stared at her with his slumberous eyes, making no effort to help her. “You are only making the situation more difficult, Sally.”
Their gazes locked and Sally wasn’t the least bit sorry to say, she looked away first. She was honest enough to admit she didn’t have the sexual experience to go toe-to-toe with a lion. Once she stopped moving, he moved, setting down the plate he’d been holding. Next, he picked up one of the small brown chocolate squares and held it to her mouth. When she hesitated, he gave a little growl. Instinctively, she leaned forward, closing her lips around the treat. His growl turned into what she could only describe as a purr of approval. Thankfully, the brownie was small, and she finished it in two bites. Again, she tried to move off him, but his arm wrapped itself around her waist, pulling her closer. He reached over and picked up another brownie. This time she watched as he ate. Next, he selected a small puffed pastry and held it out for her. She opened her mouth obediently. It was small enough for her to eat in one bite. She chewed, feeling more and more self-conscious—and turned on. She swallowed and waited for him to eat one.
“You have cream on your lip.”
“I do?” She lifted her hand to wipe it away, embarrassed.
He grabbed her hand, stopping its upward movement. He leaned forward, their gazes locked. “Do you know how much a cat likes cream?”
“No,” her voice trembled, but she was proud that she could at least speak. Her body started to tremble as well, knowing she was about to feel the touch of his mouth on hers.
“We could live on the cream of a woman,” he whispered a second before his rough tongue came out and licked her upper lip. “Now, what aren’t you telling me?”
Her eyes had half closed in anticipation of his touch, but they popped open at his startling question. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Do not lie to me. That is something I will not tolerate.” He gripped her chin between his thumb and finger, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I know you were doing what you had to do to find your brother, but now you must tell me everything. There are forces at work that you know nothing about.”
Sally thought for a moment. She knew she needed to tell Bachar about her brother, but she was afraid as soon as she revealed the truth, he would send her packing and perhaps punish her brother.
He gave her chin a light squeeze before dropping his hand. Immediately, she missed the warmth of his touch. “Sally, you do realize that shifters can recognize other shifters.”
“How?” Her voice trembled.
“The same way I can tell that you are aroused.”
“What?” she squeaked.
; “Shifters recognize other shifters by smell. Just as I can tell if I am arousing a woman properly.”
“I. I.” Wow, Sally thought, that piece of information making her head swirl. She took a deep breath and tried not to move any other part of her body. There was no doubt he had aroused her with that sensual lick of his tongue. And the natural thoughts that had followed—about the feel of that tongue on other parts of her body. “Okay, here it goes, but please don’t be mad at me.”
“I would never harm you.” Bachar watched as Sally gathered her courage to tell him what he had already guessed. Truer words had never been spoken. There was no way he could ever harm her—his mate. Protecting her, keeping her safe, was embedded deep within his DNA.
“My brother is a shifter. I know he shouldn’t be here and I knew if you found out he was a shifter who had entered your territory without permission…” She took a long deep, breath. “I wasn’t sure what you would do.”
Bachar cursed the propaganda still being fed to the general population by The Group. That was the uncreative name the humans had given themselves who were still intent on robbing shifters of their natural rights much as they had other groups of humans throughout history. Unfortunately for humans now, those outcasts—shifters—could fight back. With teeth and claws. But that only gave those humans more of a reason to make trouble in the name of their cause. If he had not been there when she’d arrived at the hotel…if she had entered his lands, unaccompanied…been found by humans…
Thankfully, her brother had been found by an honorable wolf pack. “Has he shifted yet?”
“Yes. He turned sixteen a few months ago.” She looked up at him, unshed tears making her brown eyes dark as the mountain night. He pulled her into his arms, unable to stop himself from offering comfort. His mate was in pain, and it was his natural instinct. “Hush, Habibi.”
“His first shift was awful, he was in so much pain.”
Her words made him frown. The first few times a person shifted were painful indeed, but usually, a parent was there to help, to guide, to encourage. He could only imagine how difficult it must have been for her, seeing the transformation and knowing there was nothing she could do to prevent the pain. “He is your step-brother.”
“How did you know?”
“There is no animal inside you. A mating with a human always results in a shifter. We are the dominant species.”
He held her for a moment, stroking the dark fall of her hair. So beautiful. Finally, he thought, he had found her. The other half of his soul. His lion purred in satisfaction reminding him they both would be much more satisfied when he took her to their bed.
“Which parent was the shifter?”
“My step-father. He was killed by a pack of rogue wolves. As far as we could determine, he was attacked and left for dead. He would go to the mountains once a month, and my mother would tell me and Nick it was to hike.” She grimaced slightly. “After he was killed, she told us about him.”
“They should not have withheld such important information from either of you.” Bachar pulled her closer. “Tell me how your mother died.”
“They said it was a heart attack, but she was so young. I think she died of a broken heart, she missed my stepdad so much.”
“That is possible. If she were his true mate, the shock of losing him would have caused grave physical illness. She probably held on as long as she could. Until you were old enough to take care of the cub.”
“We’ve been on our own since I was sixteen.” She mumbled the words into his chest, and his heart tightened within. So very young for such responsibility.
“Mating is a very special bond.” He held her for several more moments before tilting her chin up.
Sally’s heart stilled, knowing that he was going to kiss her. Her first thought was to move away. Her second thought was to stay a moment and finally know what it felt like to be kissed by this man. There wasn’t time for a third thought because by then she was lost in the wonder of the first touch of his lips on hers. She looked into his dark eyes, then slowly closed her own.
“No,” he commanded gruffly. “Keep them open.”
She did as he asked, keeping her eyes open as his mouth descended on hers. She’d expected a kiss filled with fire and passion and that was what she received. He made no concession to the fact that they barely knew one another. His kiss was dark and intimate, his tongue sweeping through the slight part of her lips to conquer her. He tasted of the wine they had drunk with dinner and the chocolate of the dessert he had consumed. Dark and delicious. She hummed as he tasted her, her arms going around his neck once again to pull him closer.
While her experience in the sexual realm was limited, that did not mean she was a sexless individual. She longed to be kissed and caressed, held and enjoyed, the same as any other woman regardless of her size.
But never had a kiss been so sensuously demanding. He ran his tongue over her bottom lip and took it between his teeth, giving it a sharp bite as if the animal inside him needed to show its dominance. She was only half aware that his hands moved to cup her breasts. The soft fabric of her borrowed t-shirt proved no barrier. He lifted the hem exposing her naked flesh. All evening her nipples had been engorged and ridged, but with the heat of his gaze and the caress of the cold air over them, they hardened into painful points of lust. He bent his head and she shivered as the tip of his tongue flicked across one. He did it to the other one, and her hands moved to sink her fingers into the overgrown locks of his hair. For an instant, she almost followed the new instincts she felt growing inside her. The ones that told her to pull him closer, beg him for his touch.
But the older, deeply ingrained ones that said he was simply using her for a night of pleasure, that she was simply a woman in a long line of women, won out. So instead of pulling him closer, begging him to close his mouth over her aching flesh, she pushed him away. “No. We can’t.”
It really didn’t surprise her, when he leaned back without protest and this time even helped her as she struggled from her perch on top of his lap. She walked to the wide bank of windows, the magical enchantment of before missing. She felt his presence behind her before she saw his reflection join hers in the window.
“Is that the payment you’re expecting in return for finding my brother?” She said the words, determined to erect some type of barrier between them.
They stared at each other for several moments. “I should be offended by your question, Sally Wilder, but I understand.”
Her brow furrowed. “You understand what? That I’m not for sale?”
He moved closer. “Comments such as that will earn you a punishment.” His heavily muscled arms closed around her, pulling her against his rock hard body. And she did mean rock hard. The erection she had felt pressed against her buttocks the entire time he had hand fed her the scrumptious desserts was still there. Continuing to hold her, he pushed the dark mass of her hair to the side, giving him complete access to her neck. His lips pressed against the side of her throat. He took the lobe of her ear between his teeth, making a full body shiver run through her. And, of course, more moisture to flood her pussy. She closed her eyes, embarrassed. No doubt he could smell her desire now, she thought a little darkly.
“It was not my intent to make you beholden to me,” he whispered, his tongue coming out to slowly pump inside her ear. “You are a beautiful woman, and I desire you. It is quite simple really.”
“But I’m not,” Sally protested, turning in his arms.
His mouth curled into a devilish smile. “Allow me to be the judge of that.”
She knew it was wrong. Knew she shouldn’t. She was here to find her brother and return to her normal, routine life that didn’t include a sexy lion shifter.
But, maybe it was time to grab on and go with the moment.
“There is only one thing you must decide. Only one question you must answer.” His deep velvet voice washed over her.
“What’s the question?”
“Do you
want me?”
Sally’s breath left her in a gasp. That was the last question she had expected. She’d thought he’d ask something else about her brother, or her father. Anything but…that. She bit her lip, preventing herself from blurting out how much she did want him. What red-blooded woman wouldn’t? But was that part of the problem. She was human—opinionated and obstinate—just to name a few of the characteristics she knew she had in abundance right along with her curves. She in no way resembled the meek women she had a feeling he usually gravitated towards.
But she didn’t want to hold back any longer. Not tonight. She wanted to feel the warmth of his body as he covered hers. The hardness of his cock as he stretched her, took her. Possessed her. “I want you, Bachar. More than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life.”
She waited for him to repeat the words to her. Instead, he nodded. “Good. That is a very good thing. Now show me.”
A dangerous heat flaring in the hypnotic depths of his eyes. Her stomach jittered. Hardly daring to breathe, nerves racing with excitement, she shifted closer. Close enough so the tips of her breasts pushed against his chest. Desire, hot and molten, flowed to her pussy. The intensity of it made her dizzy. Just a simple touch and she were teetering on the edge of an orgasm. Or what she assumed was one. She wet her lips. With her eyes locked on his, she leaned in and brushed her mouth over his jaw. Soft and unthreatening. The male scent of his skin and hair drifted over her. She didn’t know what was happening to her. Didn’t know where this courage came from. His expression didn’t change. But his eyes? They were a flaming gold now, filled with a passion that excited, thrilled and terrified her all at the same time.
Sally’s hands rested on Bachar’s shoulders for balance, her fingers lax. Her lips, sweet and yielding, moved hesitantly. Innocent, his lion whispered in his head. Was it true, did she not know how to return a kiss of passion? His knees trembled thinking of teaching her exactly how to please a man—to please him.
She tasted delicious. Like sweet cream with just a hint of something dangerously addictive. He couldn’t wait to taste the cream he smelt between her legs. He’d need more than a sip. He ran the tip of his tongue slowly over her lower lip. Then he gave a gentle suck. “Open for me,” he growled. Her fingers spasmed, then dug tight into his shoulders before her mouth opened, welcoming and eager. Bachar dived into the deliciously warm depths, wanting to eat her up in fast, greedy gulps.
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