Isi’s gaze fell to the floor and she reached down to step into her thong, pulling it up under the towel. The terry material parted as she slid the scrap of lace up over her hips, but by then the important parts were covered. Well, except her breasts. There was no way for her to put on her bra without him seeing. If she turned around, he’d just have a great view through the mirror. Her breasts weren’t overly large, but they weren’t small either. She thought they made a nice handful for any man, not that any had wanted to take them for a test drive before.
Steeling her nerves, she reached for the front of the towel. Her eyes flicked up once more. He was watching her every move, taking everything in. She loosened the towel and let it fall to the floor, trying to fight the blush rushing to her cheeks. Isi could see the strain in Garren and knew he was fighting his beast. With just one word, he would take her, if that’s what she wanted. Her nipples hardened in the cool bathroom air and his pupils dilated, then became slits, like cat’s eyes. They flashed gold again and there was a rumble deep in his chest.
With shaky hands, she slid her bra straps up her arms, fitted the cups under her breasts and snapped the front enclosure. The hands at her waist tightened for a moment and she felt the distinctive pinch of claws against her skin. Would he shift? Was he that far gone? And from what, sharing the bathroom with her while she dressed? She’d never really thought of herself as sexy before. Maybe she held more power than she’d thought.
He dropped to his knees before her and leaned closer, inhaling her scent once more. A purr rumbled out of him. It answered her question as to whether or not he was a cat—she was just still unsure of what kind. Her money was still on tiger. He was too bulky to be something like a jaguar or cheetah. Garren’s mouth opened and he breathed her in, taking her scent into his mouth. She’d done that before herself, but knowing he was memorizing her scent was… well, there were just no words.
She watched and shifted as fangs descended over his lower lip. What would it feel like to have him bite her? Cat shifters didn’t differ much from wolves in that they both bit their mates, usually during sex. What would it feel like to have him filling her, thrusting in and out of her hot, wet pussy and then clamp down on her shoulder with those beautiful teeth right as her orgasm hit? She shivered again.
“You’re cold.” His gaze met hers.
Slowly, she shook her head. Cold? Not hardly. No, she was very, very hot.
Green bled to gold again as his beast nudged a little closer to the surface. When the door began to open, Garren snarled and slammed it shut. Whoever was on the other side was determined though and tried to push it open again. Garren let loose with a roar that shook the walls.
Not a tiger. Definitely not a tiger. No, the man melting her bones, drenching her panties and sending her system into a tailspin was the king of the jungle. She heard a whimper on the other side of the door and realized it must have been Sean trying to enter. He might be the alpha’s son, but even he had enough sense to be scared of the big kitty.
Garren turned to face her, his golden gaze pulsing with energy. Wrapping his hands around her waist, he tugged her closer and buried his face in her neck. He began rubbing his cheek along her skin, his whiskers rasping against her. Down her neck, across the top of her breast and down her arm. She burrowed her fingers in his thick hair, letting her fingers sift through the silken strands. Closely cropped on the sides and back, there was still enough on top for her to get a decent grip. He nipped her hip as a purr rumbled out of him.
“Garren, what are you doing?” Was that her voice? All soft and breathy?
“Making sure everyone knows you’re under my protection.” His voice was more of a growl than that of a human.
“And do you, uh, do this often?”
His tongue had partially shifted with him and the sandpaper texture rasped along her stomach before he moved to her other side, rubbing and nipping his way to her neck. Pressing his fangs against her throat, he scraped them against the delicate flesh there. He was flirting with danger. It wouldn’t take much. Just one bite would tie them together for eternity. Surely he didn’t want that!
“Garren?”
“Do you know how good you smell? How wonderful you taste?” He purred.
“You don’t want this, Garren. You know you don’t. You have to fight your cat.”
He nuzzled her neck some more. “Don’t wanna.”
She shoved against him, not that his big, bad self budged an inch. “You don’t want to mate me, Garren. Think about what you’re doing. Get control of your beast!”
She felt his teeth against her throat again and tried to shove him away once more. “Garren, listen to me! You don’t want to mate me.”
He growled. “You don’t want me? You would prefer Dagan?”
His insecurity was a little cute. “No, I don’t want Dagan. And it isn’t that I don’t want you, it’s just… you don’t know me. We only met today, and I was unconscious for most of the time. Besides, you deserve better.”
Garren grunted and began licking the skin where her neck met her shoulder. “Better than my mate?”
She curled her hands against him. “What makes you think I’m your mate? What makes me different from the countless women you’ve no doubt fucked?”
“No one smells like you. Even before your shower I knew who you were, but now that you’re all nice and clean…” He purred. “I would very much like to get you dirty.”
His words made her blood heat.
“Garren, I can’t shift. I wouldn’t be a proper mate for anyone, much less someone like you. Who knows in how many ways I might be defective. What if I can’t give you cubs? Did you ever think of that?”
He stopped licking her long enough to look her in the eye. “The gods gave you to me. I find it hard to believe they would bless me with a mate and not allow me to have cubs. Your fears are unfounded.”
“I’m not letting you mate me.”
He nuzzled her jaw before rising to his feet. “We’ll discuss it more after you’ve had time to rest. You need a decent meal and a good night’s sleep.”
Garren lifted her bag and pulled out a white t-shirt and a soft pair of knit-pink shorts. He helped her into both, then lifted her into his arms. She felt his beast recede as she reached down to open the door, his nails returning to normal. When she looked up at him again, his eyes were back to that beautiful shade of green she’d become so familiar with in such a short amount of time.
Silence greeted them as they stepped into the living room. Sean looked torn between wanting to cry over the loss of his favorite toy or fight Garren for the right to keep Isi in his home. The members of Garren’s team had various expressions from smug to outright amused. She was happy someone was enjoying this.
She nudged Garren’s shoulder. “Put me down.”
“You don’t have shoes. There’s no way you can walk to the house we’ll be staying at for the foreseeable future.” Garren transferred his gaze to Lee. “Grab her bag from the bathroom. It’s time for us to head out.”
Sean rose to his full height, which was still a few inches shy of Garren’s. “You can’t take her with you. She needs to stay here, where things are familiar. I can protect her just as well as you can.”
Garren cocked a brow. “Really? And if the town riots and comes to drag her away, what are you going to do then? What weapons do you have to protect her with? Do you have a military background I don’t know about?”
Sean set his jaw. “No, but I don’t think it will come to that.”
Dagan snorted. “What you think doesn’t matter, pretty boy. You hired us to keep her safe and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Lee returned holding Isi’s bag and Garren headed for the front door. Sean looked like he was going to stop him, but something held him back. Isi figured he was remembering the roar Garren had let loose in the bathroom. It would certainly make her think twice about going against him. She tried to give her friend a reassuring smile, but he looked less tha
n happy when Garren carried her outside.
Chapter Two
“Do you know where you’re going?” Isi asked.
“To our temporary lodgings,” Garren answered.
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, but do you know where that is?”
Garren shrugged his massive shoulders. “I figured we’d track it down by scent. If a lot of different people use it, it shouldn’t be hard to differentiate from the regular homes in town.”
“Or I could just tell you how to get there,” she said.
Garren grinned. “Or that.”
Dagan tugged on a lock of her hair. “So where are we going, sweetness?”
Garren growled at his friend, but Dagan merely smirked at him.
Isi watched the exchange curiously. “You’ll need to take the Jeep you used earlier. It’s too far to walk to town from here. Sean’s cabin is a good three miles from town and the house you’ll be staying in—”
“We,” Garren interrupted.
“We will be staying in,” she corrected, “is in the heart of town, so that’s another two or three miles. Our town is about seventeen miles across. The houses are spread out a bit to give the pups running room, all of our shops are down Main Street, and the pack’s meeting house is in the center.”
Parker jingled a set of keys and tipped his head toward the driveway. Garren slipped into the passenger’s seat with Isi in his lap; Parker drove, with Dagan and Lee taking up the backseat. Isi gave directions as they pulled into town, pointing out the alpha’s house and her parents’ place along the way.
“Where do you live?” Garren asked.
“I have a duplex a few blocks from where we’ll be staying. I’d invite you to stay with me, but I only have one bedroom. It isn’t much, but it’s home.”
“Why don’t you live with your parents?” Lee asked.
She looked out the window and shrugged. It was hard to admit that her parents felt the same as the rest of the pack. Perhaps they were worse since they felt betrayed in some way by her inability to shift, her differentness. She stayed with them every once in a while, tried to be a good daughter, but no matter what she did she couldn’t make them love her.
“I like my independence.” It wasn’t completely a lie, but she knew they could smell the untruth on her.
Garren’s arms tightened around her.
Parker pulled into the drive of the cabin they would be sharing and put the Jeep in park. “Why don’t you take Isi inside and I’ll run and grab our bags?”
“I’ll go with you,” Lee said. “I think it’s better if we move around in pairs while we’re here, and Isi definitely should have two of us with her at all times.”
“I agree,” Garren said. “If what Sean said is true, then we need to treat this like a hostile situation. No one in this village can be trusted.”
“That isn’t true,” Isi said. “I do have a few friends. Well, one good friend and a few acquaintances. But I know those women would never harm me.”
“Your duplex-mate?” Garren questioned.
“Yes, Tomi. She’s my friend and I know she’d never do me harm. We’re like sisters. Don’t be surprised if she comes by here looking for me once she knows where I’m staying.”
Garren caressed her arm. “If she’s your friend, she’ll be welcome here. Just the same, you won’t be left alone with her. One of us will always be around.”
“Do you really think someone in the village set out to hurt me on purpose and that they were behind my kidnapping? How could the people I’ve known my whole life be so cruel?”
“You tell us. According to you, they don’t like you. Is it really such a stretch that they’d try to get rid of you?” Dagan asked.
“I guess I just hate to think that it’s possible.” Isi rested her head on Garren’s shoulder. “I’ve thought of these people as my family since I was three. Do you know how hard it’s been, having everyone turn their backs on me? I went from having friends and possible boyfriends to being a pariah overnight.”
Garren rumbled at the word boyfriend.
“Since the time of my first non-change, I’ve had very few people in my village remain my friend. Sean remained my best friend through the years, and Tomi and I became close after I moved into the duplex.”
“I’m glad you’ve had someone in your life you can rely on,” Garren said. “But now you have us. We’re here to protect you, and no matter what, we’re going to make sure you’re safe.”
“I know Sean paid you to come find me, but I’m sure I’ll be fine, Garren. You don’t have to babysit me.”
“Is that what you think? That we’re babysitting you?” he asked.
“What else would you call it?”
“Making sure my mate stays in one piece,” he growled. “I didn’t find you to lose you. Once the danger is behind us, we’ll discuss our future. For now, just deal with the fact that I’m going to be stuck to you like glue.”
She had to admit that her heart melted a little. Yes, she had Tomi and Sean in her life, but no one had ever cared about her. There had never been anyone at home waiting for her to return, no tender smiles or warm hugs. Prior to her attempted shift, she’d kissed one or two of the wolves in the pack who were close to her age, but since then, she’d been a pariah.
Garren opened the door and stepped out with her in his arms. Shoving the door closed with his hip, he carried her up the walkway to the front door of the cabin. It was a rather large structure, with a long front porch and doghouse windows up top. It boasted four bedrooms and three and a half baths. She’d only been inside once, but it had left an impression on her. She’d never been inside anything so grand before. Her parents had a rather modest two-bedroom cottage near the woods, and her duplex was nothing to brag about.
Dagan opened the door and Garren carried her over the threshold. She wiggled a bit, thinking he’d put her down once they were inside, but if anything, he seemed to hold her even tighter. He tipped his head at Dagan, sending him a silent signal, and the other shapeshifter disappeared.
“Where’d he go?” Isi asked.
“To scout out the place. Since we didn’t require a key to come in, I want to make sure we’re the only ones here. And we will be remedying that. I’m not about to have you stay in a place that doesn’t lock.”
“Oh it locks. It’s just that the alpha is the only one with a key to the place. Good luck getting it from him.”
Garren grinned. “If he won’t give it to us, we’ll just change the locks on him.”
Her eyes widened. She’d never known anyone to go against the alpha before.
Dagan returned a few minutes later and gave Garren some sort of signal, she assumed it meant it was all clear. Garren slowly eased her down his body until her feet touched the floor, the polished wood cool beneath her feet. Whoever had been in the house last had really cranked the air conditioning. Her skin pebbled as the air chilled her now that she wasn’t cradled against Garren’s warmth. She would definitely be burrowing under the blankets tonight.
“There are four bedrooms,” Dagan said. “Two have their own bathroom and the other two share a bath.”
“Why don’t you take one of the bedrooms with a private bath and let Lee and Parker share?”
Isi looked up at him in surprise. “You’re going to sleep on the couch?”
He gave her a slow grin. “No, sweetheart. I’ll be sleeping right where I belong, beside my mate.”
He couldn’t be serious! Surely he didn’t really expect her to share a bed with him. He was joking, right? She watched him closely, but he seemed to have spoken honestly. He truly expected to share her bed.
“You can’t sleep with me. We aren’t mated, and I don’t plan on letting you make me your mate.”
“Honey, you’re already his mate,” Dagan said. “It’s just a matter of him getting around to marking you.”
She folded her arms under her breasts. “We’ll just see about that. Just because you say you’re going to claim me, doesn’t
mean I’ll let you.”
“You aren’t still going on about how I don’t deserve to be saddled with a defective mate, are you? Because I can tell you that there isn’t a damn thing wrong with you. If you think I care one way or another whether or not you can shift, then it just goes to show how little you know about me.” Garren glared at her.
“Of course, I don’t know anything about you! We just met! That’s sort of my point. You take one sniff of me, decide I’m yours and I’m supposed to roll over and be thankful? I’m sorry, but I don’t work that way.” She had to admit he was rather tempting, though. The lion brought new meaning to the word sexy, even when he was all rumbly and grumbly.
“Well now, we just can’t have that.” Without giving her time to pull away, he snatched her wrist and pulled her closer. She watched in absolute fascination, and a little bit of dread, as his lips descended. The first brush of his mouth against hers was pleasant, the second made her skin flush, and the third had her melting into a puddle.
As her body relaxed against Garren’s, he released her wrist and wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her to him. Isi succumbed under his expert assault, finding that it was much better to give in to him than to fight him. It didn’t mean she was going to sleep with him, but why deny herself the pleasure of his kiss? The man definitely knew what he was doing!
Garren pulled away, releasing her, and Isi blinked slowly as she swam out of the fog of desire her supposed mate had created. The man was dangerous, lethal, and he had her in his sights. If his kiss alone left her wet and wanting more, what would happen if he were to touch her? Her breasts felt heavy, aching at the mere thought of his hands cupping the tender mounds.
“You may or may not want to admit it, Isi, but your place is by my side. And that’s exactly where you’re going to be for the foreseeable future. Until we figure out exactly what happened to you, or more accurately, how it happened to you, I’m not letting you leave my sight.”
Dagan rested a hand on her shoulder. “I know he can be a little overwhelming, but Garren has made a good point. You are his mate and all he wants to do is protect you. Let him do his job. Nothing in this world is more important to him than you.”
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