They are the eyes of my clan—the Lion Clan—and they only shift when I’m angry or really turned on. He waggled his eyebrows at her, which made her laugh out loud. Her hands settled on the small of his back, and her fingers drifted over the top of his ass. And that’s only the beginning, Annabelle. When you wake up, I’ll show you that—and more.
Yeah, right. Annabelle rolled her eyes. This is just a dream. How on earth are you going to know what I dreamt about?
Shit. His brow furrowed and he let out a sound of frustration as his eyes shifted back to their human hazel. Holding her close, he rested his forehead against hers and slid one hand over her butt. I’m not doing this right.
It’s my dream, so isn’t it really me who’s not doing something right? She popped up on her toes and nipped his lip playfully. This part feels pretty right to me.
Aha! Zachary pulled back and slipped out of her arms before looking frantically around the sandy beach. I know how to show you, well, at least begin to show you.
What are you doing? Annabelle gathered the skirt of her sundress in her hands to keep it from getting soaked. She watched him curiously as he scanned the sandy shore before finally finding what he wanted and scooping it up. Zachary?
Here. Moving closer to her, Zachary brushed the sand off the shell and held it up for her to see. The heart-shaped shell was an unusual shade of brown and pink with white streaks rippling through it.
It looks like a heart. Annabelle grinned at him and was about to take it from him when, to her surprise, he broke it in half before handing one piece to her.
Tomorrow morning, to prove this isn’t just a dream, I’ll give you my half. An adorable dimpled grin cracked his face. Then you’ll have my whole heart.
Your heart? She laughed and shook her head. Curling her fingers around the smooth shell, she looked at him curiously as he backed away. Why would you give me your heart, Zachary? You don’t even know me.
Because it belongs to you, Annabelle. The gray mists rolled onto the beach and curled around them. As Zachary was swallowed by the thick lavender fog, his voice surrounded her. It was yours from the moment you were born. You are my mate.
***
Annabelle woke up with a jolt, forgetting for a moment where she was. Pushing herself to a sitting position, she swung her legs over the side of the couch and rose carefully to her feet, her body still sore from yesterday. Looking around the room, everything came roaring back into focus and it took her a moment to realize she was holding something in her hand.
Her entire body stilled as the dream from last night came rushing back one piece at a time. Zachary had been in the dream with her and told her he was Amoveo…and that they were mates. But that was crazy. This entire experience made Annabelle feel like Alice in Wonderland, and with every minute, she was sliding farther down the rabbit hole, with no end in sight. Lifting her hand, she slowly uncurled her fingers. What she saw lying in her palm made her heart skip a beat.
It was the shell Zachary had given her in the dream.
Annabelle ran her fingertip over the smooth surface of the brown-and-white shell that did indeed look like half of a heart. She swallowed back the lump in her throat and curled her fingers around the tiny gift once again. Holding it against her chest, Annabelle felt her heart beating a mile a minute, and she squeezed her eyes shut as the world started spinning.
“How is this possible?” she whispered through trembling lips. A million different ideas swirled through her head at once. In the dream, Zachary said she was his mate. Didn’t he? She was human. How could she possibly be the mate of an Amoveo? It didn’t make any sense.
Not only was she human—she was Caedo.
“Annabelle?” Zachary’s voice interrupted the quiet, and Annabelle let out an undignified squeal before turning to face him.
Standing to her right, wearing only the same pair of gym shorts he’d had on in the dream, he looked dead sexy. His hair was adorably messy and reminded her of a little boy with bed head. He moved closer, stalking toward her with a predatory look in his eyes. She knew she should run. These shifters were dangerous, weren’t they? At least, that’s what she’d been told. The Amoveo killed humans. They were savage, vicious creatures that would sooner tear your heart out than look at you.
Zachary smirked, bringing out one of the dimples in his cheeks, and she almost laughed at the ludicrous notion. The Amoveo she’d heard about were nothing like this man. He was kind, sweet, sexy, and doting, and as she stared into those smiling hazel eyes, Annabelle didn’t want to be anywhere but here—with him.
Clutching the trinket to her chest, she looked at him through wide eyes, uncertain of what to do or say. With a dimpled smile, Zachary reached out and took her hand in his. The heat of his flesh against hers made her breath hitch in her throat, and memories of their kiss in the dream realm filled her mind. While holding her stare, he gently uncurled her fingers and placed something in the palm of her hand. He covered his hand with hers and whispered, “Verto.”
An odd tingling sensation rippled through Annabelle’s hand and up her arm. It wasn’t painful; it felt like static electricity surrounded her for a few seconds.
“There.” Zachary dropped his hands to his sides, but remained just inches away from her. “Now you have my whole heart.”
Annabelle flicked her gaze to the contents of her palm and let out a sound of wonder. The shell was no longer in two pieces but merged into one. Lying in her palm was a perfectly shaped heart, just like the one from her dream last night.
She was about to batter him with about a hundred different questions, but before she could, everything around her spun and a tidal wave of images filled her mind.
Annabelle and Zachary making love in a lagoon, with a waterfall behind them. Their naked bodies were intertwined, and she heard her own laugh when Zachary swept her into his arms and dunked her under the rushing water.
This wasn’t a vision of the past, as she’d always had—it was a vision of the future.
As the vision faded and the room came back into focus, Annabelle swayed on her feet and would have fallen over if Zachary hadn’t grabbed her. Everything was becoming more confusing by the second.
Her cheeks heated with embarrassment from the erotic images, and even as she tried to push them aside, her body continued to respond to him. Of course, being plastered against Zachary’s rock-hard torso wasn’t helping either. Her hands were pinned between their bodies, and the muscles of his chest rippled against her enticingly. Her nipples peaked into sharp points and heat pooled between her legs as she stifled a moan. Annabelle’s body felt totally and completely out of her control and all she could do was feel.
“You had a vision, didn’t you?” he asked quietly. Zachary’s fingers pressed into her upper arms as he held her against his body, which was hardening by the second. He swept his thumb along the curve of her bicep and kept his voice just above a whisper. “What did you see?”
Annabelle blinked. “How did you know about my visions?”
“Last night.” Zachary tightened his hold on her as his gaze skittered over her face. “You told me about it in the dream realm. Remember?”
Annabelle’s body quivered from a combination of fear, lust, and confusion. Holy shit. It had been real. The dream. She had told him about her visions last night in the dream that wasn’t exactly a dream. She squeezed the shell she held in her hand and returned his heated stare.
Thank God she hadn’t revealed her true name or that she knew about the Amoveo. The cold hand of fear trailed up her spine, and she swallowed hard as she stared into his face. He was looking down at her with a concerned expression.
What would he do when he found out who she really was?
“I—I’m not sure what’s going on.” Her tongue flicked over her lower lip, and she struggled with how much she should tell him. “Last night…the dream…that was all real? You know a
bout my visions and…?”
“Yes.” Zachary nodded and rested his forehead against hers. His hands loosened their grip on her arms before drifting over her shoulders and trailing down her back. “And I told you that I’m an Amoveo from the Lion Clan…and that we are mates.”
“This is crazy,” she whispered in a quavering voice. Annabelle shook her head and pushed him away, effectively extricating herself from his grasp. “I can’t be your mate, Zachary.”
“Oh really?” He narrowed his eyes and folded his arms over his chest, giving her a lopsided grin. “So it’s totally okay that you are a psychic human who dream-walked with a shapeshifter last night, but it’s not acceptable that we are mates?”
“No…I mean…yes.” Annabelle let out a growl of frustration and backed farther away from him. “I don’t know what I mean. Everything’s all mixed up and I don’t know which end is up.”
“That’s okay…I do.” Zachary’s grin broadened just before he whispered, “Verto.”
Annabelle’s hand flew to her mouth as she watched Zachary shimmer, as if he were underwater. Static filled the air, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished into thin air. She’d heard about this particular Amoveo ability but didn’t really believe it was real…but, boy, oh boy, was it ever real.
A split second later, his strong arms linked around her waist and his hard body pressed against hers as he materialized behind her. She let out a squeak as he nuzzled her neck and murmured, “There’s still so much to show you.”
Her hands settled over his, which were resting on her lower belly, and her head lolled back as he sprinkled kisses along her neck. Annabelle’s eyes fluttered closed and she let herself sink into the intoxicating mix of sensations. The warm, wet feel of his lips on her throat was as enthralling as the hot length of his rigid cock pressing against her lower back.
Soft met hard. Steel met satin, and her head spun.
This was crazy. Everything she’d ever been told about the Amoveo was terrifying, and yet everything she felt for Zachary was exhilarating. He was Amoveo. She was Caedo. They were sworn enemies with nothing in common—except for the way they made each other feel.
Annabelle knew she couldn’t stay and that there was no future with him. All she had was the here and now. And the here and now felt pretty freaking great.
She spun in his embrace and linked her arms around his neck before pulling his face to hers. He groaned, his tongue seeking entrance into her mouth, and she opened to him willingly. He tasted like sin, seduction, and sex, and Annabelle couldn’t get enough.
One hand cradled the back of her head and his fingers tangled in her hair as he angled her head, taking control of the kiss. He licked and suckled, taking all she had to give and more. Annabelle whimpered as little zings of pleasure whipped over her and the delicious flare of lust tightened between her legs.
Clinging to him, Annabelle arched back, giving him clear access to the sensitive flesh of her neck. She wrapped her leg around his, seeking some relief from the throbbing pressure that only he could satisfy. While he licked and nibbled his way down her neck, one hand settled under her knee and hoisted her leg higher. Annabelle gasped as her clit rubbed against him and sent ripples of pleasure through her body.
He brushed his lips over hers as he tangled his fingers in her hair, scraping them along her scalp in a slow, seductive stroke. Zachary urged her to look him in the eye while he continued to rock her against him with one undulating pass after another.
With her body on fire, her mind raced with a hundred different reasons why she shouldn’t be doing this. Here she was dry-humping a man she’d known for less than twelve hours…and not just any man. An Amoveo shifter who would probably kill her if he knew who she was. But all of that, every shred of doubt, each shaming whisper, was drowned out by the tsunami of sensations her body was experiencing beneath Zachary’s touch.
However, every thought was driven from her when she found herself staring into a pair of glowing amber eyes. The eyes of the lion.
“This is who I am, Annabelle.” Zachary’s voice was tight with desire. His hand curled around the crook of her knee, he lifted her leg and rocked his hips against her while his other hand pressed against her back, holding her to him. Annabelle’s body quivered with lust, need, and anticipation, making her feel like a rubber band that was pulled too tight. One wrong move and she would snap. He placed a kiss at the corner of her mouth and whispered, “Now tell me. Who are you running from?”
Annabelle froze in his embrace, and her body went from hot to cold in a split second as reality came crashing down around her. Shaking her head slowly, she pressed her hands against his chest and pushed him away from her as her leg slid down his. He didn’t try to stop her, but his eyes continued to blaze brightly at her with that predatory stare.
“I can’t do this. I can’t be with you,” she said in a surprisingly steady voice. Annabelle opened her hand, removed the shell, and held it out to him. “And this is not mine to take.”
Zachary took the shell from her but said nothing as she turned and ran out the sliding glass doors to the beach.
Chapter 5
Zachary swore under his breath and stuck the shell in his pocket before running after Annabelle. He was cocking this whole situation up in a big fat way because he had no idea what he was doing. All he knew was that he had to stop her before she ran off and got herself lost or worse. She had no money and no identification. Where the hell did she think she was gonna go?
The heat of the early morning sun fired over him the instant he stepped foot on the sand, and panic filled him when he found the beach empty. He ran past the privacy fences that lined the sides of the property, and as he approached the water’s edge, a wave of relief flooded him when he spotted her. She was about thirty feet down the beach to the left, sitting in the sand with her face buried against her knees. His sense of relief was swiftly replaced with concern when he realized she was crying.
Shit. He’d made her cry. Nice move, asshole.
He ran one hand through his hair and approached her cautiously, trying to figure out what the fuck he was supposed to say or do. The woman was obviously in some kind of trouble and on the run from someone or something, and he went and dumped all the shapeshifter and life-mate stuff on her.
Wait a minute.
Zachary’s eyes narrowed and he studied her more closely. Running over everything in his mind, it dawned on him that she hadn’t seemed terribly surprised about the revelation that he was a shapeshifter—an Amoveo. Annabelle was more upset—or shocked—about being his mate than anything else. Could she already have known about the Amoveo? No way. The only humans who knew about the Amoveo were the Caedo, and there was no chance she was Caedo. He’d encountered plenty of those jerk-offs over the past year and they were nothing like Annabelle.
All of his thoughts were swept aside when the sadness edging her energy signature rippled over him in jagged strokes. Her long hair fluttered off her back and the red highlights glinted in the sun as her shoulders shook. Her arms hugged her legs and she kept her face buried against her knees. The woman looked utterly and completely alone, and in that moment, he made himself a promise.
No matter what happened, regardless of whether or not she wanted to be with him, he would help her. That had to be his top priority. Hadn’t he just told Dominic that it wouldn’t be fair to bring a human woman into the Amoveo world? He had to help her with whatever mess she was running from. Then, after that, they could deal with the whole life-mate thing…or not.
From this point forward, Zachary’s number one concern was to help Annabelle. But to do that, he had to get her to tell him what kind of trouble she was in.
He stopped about three feet away and looked around, grateful that no one else was out on the beach this early. There were more people farther down by the town beach, but it looked like most of these houses on the strip weren’t occupied a
t the moment.
“Annabelle?” Zachary kept his tone gentle, worried that he’d upset her enough already. “Look, I know I just dumped a bunch of crazy stuff on you, and I’m sorry. I guess finding you here like this just caught me off guard. I never really believed I had a mate, and to be honest, I wasn’t even looking for mine. So if you don’t want to pursue it, that’s fine. But you can’t sit here all day. Come on.”
She didn’t answer and kept her face turned away from him. She sniffled and her shoulders shuddered with a deep breath, as though she was doing her best to get her tears under control. Damn it. He could take anything, absolutely anything, except hearing her cry, because it made him feel helpless and out of control.
As a Guardian and Amoveo warrior, there wasn’t anything worse.
“Listen, come back to the house and let me make you some breakfast.” Zachary stepped closer and extended his hand. “Come on. I promise I won’t say another word about the mate stuff or being an Amoveo unless you ask me about it.”
Annabelle sniffled and turned to face him. His heart squeezed in his chest when she looked up at him with a tearstained face and watery eyes. She swiped at her cheeks and glanced at his extended hand, obviously weighing her options—which weren’t many.
“I won’t ask you about it,” she murmured. Her pale green eyes latched onto his and her voice took a serious tone. “I can’t, Zachary.”
Zachary nodded. He wouldn’t push her on the subject, but he sure as hell was going to get her to tell him what kind of mess she was in. In order to do that, he had to get her to trust him.
“Understood.” Zachary waggled his fingers at her and jerked his head toward the house. “Come on. Breakfast first, and then I’ll take you into town. We’ll file a report about the robbery and you can find a phone. Maybe someone found your bag or wallet or something and turned it in. Hell, it could be down at the local police station right now.” He put one hand to his heart and made the sign of an X over it. “I promise I’ll behave myself.”
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