“You are not weak, Valera, and if you want to focus on Rissa, you’ll stop saying those things.”
Her big eyes shone with unshed tears, and he could feel his wolf racing toward her. Kori licked his lips and pushed the bottle of water back to her. Focus, man, stop thinking about other things. Get this resolved then deal with the other.
“You don’t know what it’s like, Kori,” she said.
He hated the pain that drenched her voice. “Tell me, mo ghrá. Tell me.” For a transitory second, he thought she would. But just like a door closing, the sheen of tears vanished and he found himself staring at blank, emotionless eyes.
“We need to stay on target,” she whispered.
“You may not have abilities like your father,” he raised a hand to stop her reply, “but he taught you. So you would have picked up on things that others would overlook.”
Lera rubbed her hands over her face and sighed. “Okay, let me think.” Eyes closed, she rested her chin on her thumbs, and her index fingers lay along the sides of her nose. “I remember this guy, Steven, I think was his name.”
His lip curled up in a snarl. “What about him? Was he Rissa’s date?”
“No. He tried picking me up.”
Fingers dug into the flesh of his palms. “And?”
“He made my skin crawl. Then, he went to Rissa. She brushed him off, too, but it was like he always showed up wherever we were. I think I saw him the night she vanished.”
“What did he look like?”
Her eyes opened, and she shrugged. “I don’t know. Brown hair. Maybe black. I can’t remember.”
“You don’t know what he looked like?”
“I guess not,” she snapped. “I don’t pay attention to things like that.”
“Really?” he questioned. “Close your eyes, Lera.” With a deprecating sigh, she did. Kori got up and moved silently behind her. “Describe me.”
“What?” Her head began to turn toward him.
“No. Describe me, no looking.” He stared down upon the top of her head.
“Okay. You’re tall, strong, and powerful. Move like a predator, wild. Inky black hair, angular features, and charcoal gray eyes, not silver like I thought the first time I met you. But gray.”
His body ached for her so much it hurt. A deep, agonizing hurt. Leaning close enough he could lick her ear if he chose, he whispered, “Does this guy look like me?”
“No way,” she blurted, shaking her head and brushing him with her hair. “His eyes were small and close. They reminded me of a weasel. A pale green. Mud brown hair, and he wasn’t nearly as tall as you either. I don’t think he was over six feet. He was in shape but not like you. Not even close,” she said softly.
Kori retook his seat so she wouldn’t be able to see the erection he had from her description of him. He doubted she even knew the derision in her tone as she gave him a visual of this Steven guy.
She opened her eyes, and he smiled. “Guess you do pay attention to things like that.”
“I guess so,” Lera said, taking another drink of her water.
“Did he have any markings? Tattoos?” Kori stared at her lower lip and the drop of water which hung enticingly upon it. He longed to lick it off. His cock throbbed in his pants.
“Not that I could see.”
A whisper of feeling floated over him, and immediately, he was alert. Kori noticed Lera had a gleam of awareness in her gaze. Her body still and ready. His wolf was crouched and ready to attack; he didn’t like it. Whatever it was.
Fluidly, he pushed to his feet and scanned the area, both peering out the window and using his senses to check. Nothing. Whatever it had been was gone now, or had found a way to cloak itself from him. “Lera?” he asked without relaxing his guard.
“Do you still sense it?”
“No.”
“I felt something like that the night Rissa vanished,” she remarked offhandedly. “But, not exactly anything I could tell the cops.” She moved to his side. “I need to go.”
“Go where?”
“Out. I don’t much like sitting still.”
“We’re not done talking.”
“What more is there to say?” She looked at him and arched a brow. “You’ll go on about how dangerous it is for me and how I should let you do it. I’ll listen, all the while planning to do what I will anyway. You’ll escort me to the bar, even though you don’t want me there, and things will happen how they will. So, see, there’s nothing else to talk about.”
Kori almost laughed. She was dead on. For almost everything. But there was something else to talk about. “Are you running away, mo ghrá?” he asked in a rumble.
“From what?”
A predatory smile turned up his lips. He stalked her, backing her up until the wall prevented her from going any farther. Putting his hands on either side of her head, he lowered his face to hers. “From me.”
He expected her to deny it. Expected her to lift her chin and look down her nose at him with ice in her veins and that damn cool, composed look on her face. Her eyes met his, and he almost drowned in the deep pools of brown.
“Yes.”
It was hard to breathe. Her simple admission did things to him no one in the world had ever done. She did so anyway, but that one word, that single word…made it so much more. “Why? You know I won’t hurt you.” Kori smoothed some hair back from her face. He was addicted to touching her and couldn’t seem to stop. Her skin was so soft and her hair like silk. “I would never do that, mo anam.” I could never do that.
“Not intentionally.”
He stared at her. “Not at all.”
“You make me feel things I’m not sure about. You know I don’t like being close or being touched, and yet, when I’m near you, that’s all I want to do. And it scares me.” Lera nibbled on her lower lip. “I’ve tried, you know, tried burying my memories so I could experience what my friends talked about. The supposed amazing experience of sex.”
Kori forced himself to remain immobile and not react. It killed him to imagine her looking for another male to sleep with, to share the pleasures of her body with. He wanted to maim every single male who had looked at her with lust.
“Twenty-five years,” she mumbled, as if unaware he stood right there listening. “I just wanted to know what was so good about it. But I can’t.” Her voice caught. “I can’t. I’ve barely tolerated guys putting their arms around me, much less a kiss. Not a good way to be. In college, I was dubbed ‘The Ice Queen.’ So then it was a test to see if they could be the ones to crack the ice.”
He pressed against her, letting her feel his hardness. Holding her gaze, Kori trailed a finger down the smooth skin of her cheek.
“There’s nothing wrong with you, mo ghrá. Nothing at all.” Up and down, his fingertip moved.
“There has to be,” she said with a whimper that tore through him. “I always froze up and hated them for touching me.”
“You’re not frozen now, Valera. Do you hate me for touching you like this?” he asked, continuing to stare at her. Refusing to release those pools she called eyes.
Lera shook her head. “It’s different with you, Kori. That’s why I have to keep away. As hard as it is for me to not know what they talk about, it would be worse to experience it with you and then be thrust back into the cold world I’m in now.”
Of course it’s different with me, Lera. You belong with me. “Who says you’d go back to a cold world, Lera?”
“The day you found your mate would make you off limits to me. I’m better off not knowing.”
I have found my mate. You, Valera. And I’m never letting you go. “I don’t think so, Lera.”
“You make my insides feel funny. Make all the walls I’ve erected crumble.”
“And?” He delved his hand into the hair at the back of her skull and nuzzled her neck. Her fresh scent poured new life into him. How the hell did I manage without you?
“And I don’t like being out of control.” Her body shud
dered.
Kori kissed her lightly. “Okay, Lera. Ball’s in your court. You want something from me, you take it.” Another light kiss. “Let me tell you something, though. There is nothing wrong with you. Not at all. But if you want to ride, do so. We’ll leave for the bar this afternoon.”
He stepped back, ignoring every instinct screaming within him to make her his. This woman wasn’t like shifters he knew. One, she wasn’t even one, and two, her past made him need to tread even more cautiously for, if he moved to fast, he could lose her forever.
Lera blinked a few times before looking back into his eyes. “You know something, Cormac MacLochlainne?”
“What?”
“You’re going to be a great mate to someone. If only…” She trailed off and slipped by him to grab her jacket.
Kori faced the wall until he heard the low hum of her bike. His head rested against the coolness of the wallpaper. Deep, harsh breaths were taken in as he fought for control. His cock ached and pressed against the material of his jeans, and the wolf was howling to escape. Not someone, Lera. You! Only you.
“Fuck!” he uttered, slapping the wall before spinning around and flopping over on the bed, burrowing his face into the pillow which still had the faint scent of Lera on it. All of his iron control, all of his emotionless actions faded the second she was involved. Suddenly, he was overly possessive and feeling very predatory toward anything near her.
He closed his eyes and prayed for the strength needed to make it through this.
Chapter Three
Lera was quiet when she returned to the room and entered cautiously, not knowing what she’d find. Her gaze landed upon the sprawled body of one Cormac MacLochlainne across the only bed in the room. He lay on his belly, head buried into her pillow.
She stared, waiting for him to sit up and look at her. He never moved. Slipping out of her jacket, which she’d unzipped before entering the room, she hung it over the back of a chair and turned her head back to where he lay as she removed her gloves.
Hotness personified. Biting her lower lip, she continued to watch him. For some reason, when she looked at him, she wasn’t scared; she didn’t want to curl up in a ball. She wanted him to touch her, to show her that there wasn’t anything wrong with her.
It was going to break her heart when he found his mate. There hadn’t been another person she’d ever been so open with before. Not even in her own family. But with him, it seemed so natural and the right thing to do.
And that kiss! Her body shivered when she remembered how it felt to have his arms around her and his lips upon hers. There was no mistaking his arousal, and it only increased her own. I wonder what he’d do if I walked up to him and kissed him. She laughed at herself and shook her head, sitting and pulling out the postcards she’d picked up.
As she wrote on them, her gaze continued to find its way back to the man on the bed. Finished with all except one card, her pulse so high, she pushed to her feet and walked to the bathroom, grabbing her bag along the way. Her hands shook as she turned on the shower and stepped inside. Eyes closed, Lera fought to find and hold onto the control she knew she had. The water hot as she could handle it, she dropped her head and let it sluice over her skin.
The image of Kori wouldn’t leave her mind. A wail rose up within her. and she barely managed to clamp it down behind her lips. Why do I want things I can’t ever have? Allowing herself a few moments of weakness, Lera cried until she managed to pull herself back together. She finished her shower and stepped out. Once dry, she began to dress and tugged her shirt down over her belly, hiding the scars. Facing herself in the mirror, she took stock of what she saw.
Black leather pants which would flare over her heeled boots once she got them on. A skintight dark green shirt with a spade royal flush spread across the front and the word “Lucky” beneath it.
“We can do this,” she said softly to give herself a much needed burst of confidence. “Rissa’s depending on us.” And she knew it was true. She would be willing to walk through hell in order to get her friend back.
Brushing her hair, she quickly drew it up into a high ponytail, only to take it back down seconds later. Lera made sure her necklace was tucked in. Another deep breath, and she grabbed her bag then headed back out into the room. Kori sat at the table, and she wanted to smirk at the heated look his eyes got when he stared at her.
“Have a nice nap?” she asked as calmly as she could manage.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice more graveled than normal. “That’s what you’re wearing?”
“Yes. It is a bar. I can dance in this, and I like it.”
He jerked to his feet and strode toward her, his face set grimly. Lera swallowed back her yelp. Kori stopped right before her and gazed at her.
“You want to dance, Lera, you dance with me. I will kill anyone—”
“Who tries to touch me. I know how we’re supposed to act, Kori. Don’t worry.”
She moved to the bed and sat to put on her boots. His eyes followed her, and Lera fought down the desire to shudder. The way he continued to stare at her made her feel like his next meal. Tossing her head, she looked at him while tugging down her pant leg. “Are you ready?”
She saw the flash of wolf in his gaze and refused to cower. Something was riding him hard, and he was close to losing his control. Lera didn’t fear for herself, but she didn’t want him battling his wolf.
“Ready,” he bit off.
Pushing to her feet, she walked toward him and stopped. “You seem edgier than usual, Kori. Are you okay? Do you need to let your wolf run? We can go in a bit; I don’t mind.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “You’re very astute. I’m okay, mo anam.”
She wouldn’t argue with him on it. No one could know better than he could if he was fine or not. “I can’t figure it out; what language is that?” she asked, grabbing her jacket off the chair and slipping it on.
“Gaeilge.”
Lera smiled. “Gonna teach me to speak the language?”
“Would you like to learn?” he questioned from behind her.
“Yes.”
“One day, beag amháin, I’ll teach you.”
She sighed and faced him. There was a hungry look in his eyes again. Lera pulled her hair out from her jacket and zipped it. “Let’s go.”
“We’re taking—”
“Your Humvee,” she broke in. “I know.”
“This going to be a habit of yours, Lera? Finishing my sentences?”
“I don’t know. Gonna say something I may not expect?”
His gaze became molten as it raked over her. “Remember what I said about tempting the devil?”
“Yes, I remember. You’re a scary man, Kori, but believe it or not, I’m not scared of you. You wouldn’t lay a hand on me in anger. Come on. The sooner we find this Butch Caine, the closer I am to finding Rissa. And the closer we are to going our separate ways.” I may not be scared of you but I sure as hell am scared of how you make me feel.
He muttered something she didn’t catch but was right behind her, pulling on his black trench coat as they walked to his vehicle. Lera couldn’t meet his gaze when he held the door for her. She felt small sitting in the interior. And the interior shrank when his large body filled it.
“Nice Humvee,” she commented, looking over her shoulder into the back. That’s a lot of space back there. Imagine what he could do you with all that room. Lera slammed those thoughts to an abrupt stop and stared out the windshield as the powerful vehicle started.
The closer they got to the bar, the calmer she felt. Focusing on Rissa took pressure off sorting out the feelings that Kori created within her. Despite her anxiousness, Lera didn’t jump out the moment they stopped; she waited until the vehicle had been shut off and Kori walked around to open her door.
They walked to the door, side by side, but before they entered, he touched the sleeve of her jacket. “Be cautious of your surroundings, Lera.”
“I will. Besides, what c
an go wrong? I have you with me.” She smiled and pulled open the door. After pasting the mask of indifference upon her face, she stripped off her gloves before shoving them in her pocket, then entered.
Lera strode up to the bar and saw the same man there from yesterday. He looked up and raked his gaze over her before glancing past her to where she assumed Kori stood. She didn’t turn to look; there was no point. He was watching over her.
“Well, well, if it ain’t One-oh-eight,” he said.
Propping one foot up on the step, she arched a brow. “One-oh-eight?”
“Honey, we don’t get many in here who can down Fighting Cock like you did, so I’m callin’ you One-oh-eight.”
She smiled. “I’m guessing that’s the closest thing I’ll get to a compliment here, so thanks.”
“You’d get other ones, but guys are scared of your man.”
“It happens,” she said with a shrug. “Now, what about Butch Caine?”
The bartender bent down and slapped something on the scarred bar top before sliding it toward her. “This is where he hangs out. Otherwise, he’ll be in here after eleven tonight.”
Lera reached for the paper, and the man stepped back and raised his hands. She cocked a brow at him. The man didn’t say anything just glanced in a direction past her shoulder. Turning, she saw Kori leaning against a wall, women on either side of him, but his gaze was on the bartender, and it was cold and dangerous. Then, he placed his eyes upon her, and they softened. Shaking her head, she faced forward again, ignoring the feeling doing its best to grow in her belly.
“Thank you.” She slipped the paper in her pocket.
“You the one they call One-oh-eight?” a guy slurred from beside her.
“So they tell me,” Lera said, slanting a gaze at him. Unwashed, big, burly, and the way he looked at her made her skin crawl. It’s like he’s a relation to Stinky, Nasty, and Ugly.
“Don’t believe it. Prove it.”
“What’s in it for me?”
He grabbed himself and chuckled. “Me.”
Lera yawned. “Not interested. I have a man. Make it money, and we may be able to talk.”
“Money?” he said.
A Love For Lera (Haikon) Page 4