She was perfection.
He couldn’t keep his eyes off her curves, or his thoughts off placing his hands on them and claiming them as he drew her against him.
The shy edge to her expression pulled words up from his heart, ones he couldn’t hold back, because he knew she needed to hear them.
“You’re beautiful, Aya… never hide from me… you’re beautiful.” He stepped towards her and she uncurled slightly, lifting her chin and slowly dropping her hands away from her bare breasts. He exhaled slowly and reached for her, brushed his fingers across her wet cheek and absorbed just how gorgeous she was. “I always thought you were beautiful.”
She blushed, the heat of it warming his skin and his chest.
His gaze roamed over her again, taking in that beauty. His primal side whispered to him, the voice coming from a part of him that he never knew existed, telling him that she would be a wonderful mother, a female who could only look more beautiful when she was pregnant with his cub.
He had never considered family before, not in his line of business, and he had no place thinking about it now.
No right to think of her as belonging to him.
Even if they were to mate, he couldn’t allow himself to think that she belonged to him, that she was nothing more than a possession or a trophy to do with as he pleased. He wasn’t his father, and he would damn well make sure he never turned into that cold son of a bitch. If Aya gave herself to him, she would walk by his side. No, she would walk ahead of him and he would follow her, her loyal male and mate. He would place her on a pedestal, and he would love her forever.
She was his everything.
“You’re pretty gorgeous too,” she said, a tremble in her voice, and he realised his staring at her in silence, lost in his thoughts, had unsettled her.
He smiled, stepped into her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pinning her against him. She tipped her head back and looked up at him, a rosy hue still staining her cheeks. He wasn’t sure he would ever get enough of her blushes.
She rose on her toes, caught him around the back of his head with her right hand and drew him down for a kiss that seared his blood and had him forgetting everything. Even his own name.
He groaned and gathered her closer, losing himself in her and the passion he could feel flowing through her, the hunger and need that called to him. The love and desire that purged the darkness from his soul and filled it with light.
Her belly pressed against his hard length, wedging it between them, and her slick breasts squashed against his chest, warm on his cooler skin. He ran his hands down from the small of her back and over her bottom, and swallowed the gasp that left her as he dug his short claws into her peachy globes. Her kiss grew fiercer, her lips clashing with his and fighting him for dominance. The passionate battle stirred his primal side, rousing it and making him fight harder, eager to subdue her.
She moaned and ran her claws over the back of his neck, and his eyes widened as an electric thrill ran down his back to his balls. He wanted more of that. He wanted to feel her marking him.
He backed her into the black tiles beneath the shower spray, earning a husky groan as his reward as his body pinned hers. He released her backside and pressed his hands to the wet tiles, caging her between him and the wall.
Or so he thought.
Her lips left his and he frowned and went to growl at her, reprimanding her for moving, but it came out as a feeble groan as she dropped to her knees and her breath washed over his rigid shaft. The first sweep of her tongue up the hard length of him had his fingers tensing against the tiles, and the brush of her mouth over the blunt head had his arms trembling as he leaned harder against the wall for support.
He hung his head and couldn’t take his eyes off her as she took him into her mouth. Her golden-silver eyes lifting to meet his stole his breath away and heightened everything, until each sweep and press of her tongue was pure torture, and he wasn’t sure he could last. His knees weakened and he groaned as she sucked him, hard and long, taking him deep into her mouth. Her tongue pressed into the underside of his cock each time she withdrew, sending a thrill shooting down to his balls as it flicked over the sensitive head.
Harbin grunted and tried to hold back, but couldn’t when she cupped his balls and rolled them in her palm. He gave tense shallow thrusts, pumping into her hot mouth, lost in the pleasure flowing through him, bliss that was made all the more intense by the way she kept her eyes on him the entire time, watching him as he watched her sucking his cock.
Gods, it was too much.
He needed to taste her too.
He jerked his hips back, pulling free of her mouth, and grabbed her under her arms. He dropped to his knees and he forced her to stand, and had her right leg over his shoulder and his mouth on her before she could utter a syllable. She cried out as his tongue probed her, her fingers swiftly grasping his hair and tugging on it as desperation rushed through her, a need for release that called to him.
Harbin groaned into her and licked her harder, stroking slowly from her entrance up to her aroused little nub. The tiny bead tensed beneath the touch of his tongue, eager for more that he willingly gave to her. He flicked his tongue around it, teasing and tearing moans from her, driving her wild as she clutched his head and pressed back into the tiles behind her. Her breath shuddered with each sweet groan of pleasure he elicited, her body tensing and relaxing, as if she wasn’t sure what to do, was lost and unable to find her way.
He was all too happy to direct her.
He took her nub between his teeth and bit gently, and she tensed and cried out, her body rocking hard into his face. She tasted divine. He licked his way down to her entrance, hungry for more of her sweet taste. She moaned and rode his tongue as he swirled it around her core, probing it before withdrawing and teasing her again.
“Harbin.” She shook against him, trembling with need.
On the precipice.
He growled and shot to his feet, her right leg caught over his arm as he clutched her backside, and entered her with one swift thrust, right to the hilt.
Aya cried out again, the sound the sweetest thing he had ever heard as her core quivered around his cock, throbbing and milking it as release took her. She breathed hard, little moans leaving her lips in time with each undulation of her body, her hands grasping his head and his shoulder, anchoring herself. Her silver eyebrows remained furrowed, her black hair hanging in slick ribbons against her pink cheeks, her mouth open and eyes screwed shut as she slowly came down from her high.
He withdrew and plunged back into her, tearing a new moan from her lips as he easily slid into her, as deep as she could take him when she was slick with her climax. He rode each quiver of her body, thrusting with long leisurely strokes of his cock, withdrawing right to the point of coming free of her body before pushing back in, making sure she felt every hard inch of him and knew what she did to him.
The calm from her climax slowly faded as he moved inside her, the desire he could sense in her building again towards her next peak. He clutched her backside when she wrapped both of her legs around him and began to join in, rolling her hips and meeting his thrusts. He groaned and kissed her, claiming her mouth as his as he claimed her body, pumping her harder and driving her higher.
Her moans teased his ears, each flex of her body against his making his balls draw up and tighten, pushing him closer to his own release. He ground his teeth and tore himself away from her mouth, burying his face in her neck as he fought for control, mastering his body so she would find another release before his overcame him.
He clutched her tighter and thrust harder, his control slipping as his primal hungers took command again, thundering in his blood and awakening his need to have her as his mate, to sink his teeth into the nape of her neck and mark her as forever his.
Harbin bit down on his own lip to quell those hungers, satisfying them with the taste of his own blood on his tongue as he drove into her, harder now, unable to hold back the feroc
ity of his need as it overwhelmed him. His balls grew tighter, his shaft thickening as he thrust into her. She moaned hotly in his ear, his name falling from her lips in a chant like a prayer, a plea for more. She was close.
He growled into her throat, grasped her backside and quickened his pace, frantic wild thrusts that had his body slamming against hers. Awareness grew at the back of his mind, a fear that he was hurting her with his roughness, his need to have her and release inside her, spilling his seed and marking her in a most primal way. He couldn’t bring himself to heed it, and the way Aya was urging him on, her feet pressing into his backside each time he withdrew and forcing him back inside her, said he had nothing to fear anyway.
She was as wild with need as he was, as lost in their passion.
Her fingers tugged on his hair, yanking his head back, and he groaned into her mouth as it seized his. She moaned back at him, her tongue sweeping over his lips, over the points where his fangs had broken his skin. Her moan turned into a growl and she kissed him harder, gripped him tighter, and did something that catapulted him over the edge.
She bit him.
Her small fangs sinking into his lower lip sent a shockwave through him that stole his breath, made his ears ring and had white spots dancing across his vision. He slammed into her, hard enough to smash her against the tiles and knock the breath from her lungs, and shuddered as his cock throbbed, shooting hot jets of his seed into her.
She quivered around him again, throbbing with her own release, a climax that rolled through him too, their pleasure mingling and heightening, until he couldn’t think.
He could only feel.
Pleasure. Bliss. Warmth. Hunger. Desire. Lust.
Love.
It all rolled through him like a wave and crashed over his heart.
Aya stroked his shoulders, her body trembling against his as he held her in place, struggling to bring himself down and find his balance again.
She swept her tongue over his lip and he moaned, shook as the hunger and need that never seemed quite satisfied where Aya was concerned began to bubble up again, simmering in his veins.
He wasn’t sure he would ever get enough of her.
The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted her. The more he craved her.
Now, he craved her more than the quiet emotionless calm that had once been the balm for his troubled soul.
He wasn’t sure what lay ahead of them, but he knew one thing with startling clarity.
Neither of them could move on with their lives until their pasts had been laid to rest.
If he was going to win Aya as his mate, he had to give her the vengeance they both needed, but to achieve that, he had to place her in danger.
He had to risk losing her in order to win her.
CHAPTER 20
Aya huddled into her thick grey wool coat, wrapping her arms across her chest and tucking her hands under her armpits as she hurried along the quiet street. The lamps were spaced far apart, allowing dark patches between the yellow pools of light. It had never bothered her before, but it set her on edge now.
Truthfully, she had been on edge since Hartt had teleported her back into her apartment, setting their plan in motion, and had announced that Harbin would return to the mortal world and would be tracking her, lying in wait to attack her.
She hadn’t slept well that day, or any day after it. She hadn’t realised that playing bait would take longer than a day at most, hadn’t considered that she would be constantly on alert, waiting for Harbin to launch his attack and trigger the second phase of the plan. It had been over seventy-two hours since Hartt had dropped her off and it was growing increasingly difficult to relax and act normal, going about her usual business.
Harbin had to attack her out of the blue to make it look real.
That really didn’t help.
Whenever she left her apartment, she was constantly on high alert, her senses scanning as far and wide around her as they could reach, monitoring everything for a sign of him. Whenever she caught his scent, or felt him near to her, she grew tense, her body coiling in anticipation and her snow leopard side pacing restlessly beneath the surface, itching for her to change and defend herself against the invisible threat.
Now, she was tired, both physically and emotionally exhausted. She had barely caught a few hours’ sleep during the past three days and being on alert all the time was draining her. If Harbin didn’t attack her soon, she wasn’t going to have the strength left to fight him and make it look convincing.
She unfurled her arms and pushed her hood back, sucked down a deep breath of cool night air and blew it out. It had to be soon. She didn’t think she could take this uncertainty for much longer. Even with her training, she felt exposed and vulnerable.
Her ears twitched, her senses sharpening when she felt someone watching her.
Not Harbin.
Aya kept walking, heading along the silent street and then banking right at an alley between two brick buildings. The shortcut would bring her out near the entrance of Switch. She had been walking the same route each night, going about her normal routine of heading to the club, chatting with Rocky, and then dancing for a few hours before heading home.
She was glad that Rocky had returned to the club, and that Archangel hadn’t had a chance to study him. He had escaped the compound before his scheduled time with the scientists. When she had braved a visit to the club on the first night of her return to the mortal world, he had greeted her with a hug so tight that she had almost cried. She had wanted to tell him that she was sorry, that it was her fault he had been caught, but she had been aware of the other people on the street and that any one of them might have been watching her and listening in on their conversation.
When everything was over, she was going to sit the big guy down and tell him straight what had happened. She valued their friendship too much to lie to him and in her heart she knew that he would forgive her.
Maybe she would tell him tonight that she needed to speak with him in private, because it was eating away at her.
A shadowy figure dropped right in front of her and she staggered back a few steps, heart racing as she gathered her wits and quickly focused.
Not quite quickly enough.
She grunted as a fist connected with her jaw and the male muttered a curse under his breath.
Harbin.
Dressed head to toe in black combat gear, he was a wraith in the darkness. His eyes caught the dim light, flashing silver at her, and her pulse accelerated as he advanced on her. She sucked down a deep breath and tried to quell the trembling in her body, preparing herself for his next move.
The smell of him, spice and snow, awakened her body and mind, and triggered her training. She blocked his next attack and landed her own. He was faster than he had been in the gym and she struggled to keep up with him and his moves, tripped over a few of the ones they had run through, allowing him to land more blows than she should have. She swiftly blocked the kick he aimed at her head, using both of her forearms to stop his shin, and then shoved against his leg. He lost balance and barely recovered, giving her an opportunity she couldn’t waste.
Aya spun on her heel and brought her own foot up in an arching kick. It connected hard with the side of his head and he staggered sideways, hit the wall and braced himself against it. He growled and shook his head, tossed her a black look that she could easily read.
She was breaking with the fight they had planned together and it was pissing him off, but he really had caught her off guard and her instincts had seized control, her primal side rising in response to the danger he represented. She couldn’t move as swiftly as he could, not when it came to fighting. She hadn’t expected him to crank up the speed this much. It was impossible for her to keep up, so she was going to wing it.
He launched at her and she flipped backwards, landed in a crouch and kicked off. She sailed through the air, effortlessly gliding over his head. He skidded, twisted and pushed off again, running right at
her. Her feet hit the tarmac and she sprang right, kicked off the wall and landed behind him again. He snarled and turned on her, his frustration rolling off him in warning waves that she chose to ignore.
She was a female shifter, more agile than the males of her kind. It was more realistic that she would use her speed to defend herself rather than attack someone stronger than her.
The second he neared her, she swept her leg up into another fierce kick. Her boot hit him hard on the jaw, snapped his head to his right, and sent him crashing to the ground.
He pushed himself up on his hands and roared at her, his silver eyes flashing dangerously.
Her primal side responded in an instant, rising to the threat he had issued and refusing to back down. Stupid male. If he wanted a fight, he would have one.
She tore her coat off and was out of her boots before he had even found his feet. The shift was quick to come, her bones aching as they stretched or shrank, distorting to new forms beneath her skin. Fur rippled over her body, sweeping up her legs first as they shortened inside her jeans. She landed on all fours and growled as she kicked her trousers off, freeing herself, and then shuddered and mewled as the change reached her arms, the pain of the shift almost blinding her. She hated calling it quickly and was ridiculously out of practice.
Harbin was faster than her, his shift complete well before her tail had finished growing from the base of her spine and her ears had rounded and moved up her head.
Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at him, seeing the majestic male he truly was staring back at her through bright silver eyes. He was larger than her in his cat form, a beautiful big male with thick lustrous silver fur dotted with dark crescents and spots. The sight of him in his animal form sent an unexpected response through her, a powerful urge that she struggled to deny.
She wanted to rub against him, wanted to scent him and get his attention. She wanted him to rub her in response, to show her affection and attention, as a mated male would.
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