by Reina Torres
When her father grabbed her shoulder she turned, blinking at him in confusion. “Dad?”
“What was he doing to you?”
“Doing?”
The Mayor stabbed a finger in the direction of a nearby officer. “Where were you while he was mauling my daughter?”
“Daddy, stop.”
Jameson pushed between them earning a low growl from Devlin’s throat. “I’ve sent men after the photographer, sir.”
Photographer?
Oh, no. What had she done?
She reached out a hand to steady herself and felt someone take hold of her hand.
She felt the heat through his skin and strong caress of his thumb under her palm. She didn’t have to look to know that it was Devlin.
“We have to get in front of this, sir.” Jameson stared at her and she felt something crawl across her pulse. “We’ll have the police charge Kerr with attempted rape.”
“No way!” Paige tried to get in Jameson’s face, but Devlin still had a hold of her hand. “He didn’t do that.”
“We need a plausible story,” Jameson began, turning to face her straight on, “about why the Mayor’s daughter was about to let a monster between her thighs.”
“Jameson, that’s enough!”
Paige winced at the pain in her father’s voice.
“You’ve worked hard to build a public image that Sylvan Citizens can trust and respect. And maybe it’s my fault that we allowed the ‘innocent’ label stand where it comes to Paige-”
“Leave her alone!” Devlin pulled her against his side. “You watch yourself when you talk about my mate.”
“Mate?” Jameson’s laughter was as grating as the nails on a chalkboard. “is that what you animals call your whores?”
Jameson was suddenly against the wall, his legs dangling as his fingers struggled to loosen the hold that Devlin had on his throat.
She heard hammers on guns pulling back and Paige acted purely on instinct.
Rushing forward she stepped up behind Devlin and tried to reach around him. “Devlin, please. Stop. They’re going to shoot you.”
She struggled with her hand on his arm, but all she could feel was corded muscle and determination.
“Devlin-”
“You’re no whore.” His tone was full of murderous intent.
“No, I’m not, Devlin, but killing him isn’t going to solve anything.”
“It’ll feel really good, Paige.”
“Damnit, Devlin. Let the man go!” Officer Charlie Butler was at his other shoulder. “Some of the men are afraid.”
“Good,” Devlin didn’t lower his hands a bit before turning to look at Charlie. “Let them be afraid. No one talks about Paige like that.”
“Think about Paige more than your instinct to shed some blood,” Charlie tried again. “If one of those officers gets an itchy trigger finger, and she-”
Jameson’s feet hit the floor with a heavy thump and the Mayor’s Chief of Staff managed to gasp in a breath.
Devlin turned to the Mayor. “Sir, I wouldn’t hurt your daughter. Not ever. You don’t understand my people. Hell, shifters don’t understand humans much either. But you should know this. Paige is my mate, the woman meant to make me whole. I would never do anything to hurt her.”
“Except ruin her reputation?”
Paige’s gasp of outrage filled the silence in the room. “We didn’t know there was a camera outside, Dad. I wasn’t doing anything wrong!”
“This is going to be a disaster, if you ask me.”
Paige turned and looked at Kelly, who was smirking at her from behind one of the officers. Only a few years older than Paige, Kelly had always made it her job to criticize everything about her, but this time, what Paige read in her eyes was jealousy.
And it only made her stronger.
“There’s another option here.” She looked at her father, “because I’m not going to allow anyone to say that Devlin attacked me.”
She couldn’t meet Devlin’s eyes. What she was about to suggest was just as bad as if she’d put a gun to his forehead. Or a noose around his neck.
“What we could do is-”
“Paige is going to marry me. Today. As soon as someone gets me a pair of pants.”
Chapter Three
There was just something about chaos in politics. Jameson Favreau had shown up when her father had started to garner local support for his campaign and he’d provided the much-needed political savvy that a man with a strictly grassroots campaign, just didn’t have.
And when her father was voted in as Mayor, her father had told her again and again that it was all because of Jameson.
Her father really trusted the man. Listened to him. Relied on his judgement.
“This is political suicide!”
Paige watched her father’s normal pale complexion turn as white as his dress shirt.
Kelly, Jameson’s assistant was quick to pipe up. “I agree, this is the worst thing that could happen.”
“Having my father murdered would be the worst thing that could happen!” Paige felt her stomach twist in her middle. “If the people see those pictures, it’s trespassing and an invasion of our privacy.”
“Standing in front of a bank of windows rubbing up against a naked man isn’t just desperate it’s pathetic. If you must get an itch scratched, Paige, at least try to be a little more… discreet, hmm?”
“If it’s so pathetic, lady, why do you keep sneaking looks at me when your boss isn’t looking?”
Paige turned her head and caught the heightened color on Kelly’s cheeks and she stepped in front of Devlin to provide him as much cover as she could. She wasn’t ashamed of Devlin’s body. How could she be? She’d seen her share of hot guys online, and Devlin put them all to shame.
But the idea of having anyone ogling him, especially Kelly, had her teeth grinding together, and had something inside of her growling its displeasure.
She felt Devlin’s hand on her hip, his fingers digging ever so slightly into her flesh.
He leaned against her back and she fought to keep herself from sagging against him. Being that close to him, she felt the hard ridge of his erection against her backside. She felt powerful and desirable and that was heady stuff for someone who normally didn’t want to be seen.
“I can’t allow this.”
Paige snapped her head around to look at her father.
“Paige isn’t ready to get married and to a man she just met. This isn’t how things are done.”
“Doesn’t anyone care about the public relations nightmare that we have on our hands?” Jameson looked like he was in dire need of oxygen or a valium. “That’s what we need to be concerned about, not how many inches he’s packing.”
Paige reached her hand back in a protective gesture and realized a second too late that what greeted her hand was Devlin’s bare backside. She was hoping no one would notice, but Devlin did. She felt the flex of his muscles under her fingers and prayed she didn’t go up in flames from the need that flooded through her.
“We need to come up with a story that the people will believe. Something where they’ll understand that what happened was because of the strain of the attack? Some kind of temporary insanity?”
“I know a doctor who owes me a favor.”
Kelly’s eyes had turned cold and Paige felt a real stab of fear in her chest.
“I’m not insane!”
She felt Devlin wrap his arms around her and he tugged her back away from the group, toward the door.
“Of course you’re not, Paige.” She felt his cheek brush against hers and heard the purr of his voice in her ear.
One of the security men reached for his gun and Devlin shoved Paige behind him. She stumbled but managed to keep on her feet as she watched the unfolding scene before her.
Devlin went from more than six feet of muscle-bound male to a tiger nearly as tall as he had been. At the reception, she hadn’t been able to see the shift because she hadn’t known
what was happening.
Even at that moment when something inside of her told her it was about to happen, she still wasn’t ready to see it happen.
And even when she saw it, she wasn’t sure what she saw. One moment he was standing there, ripped muscles and gorgeous body and a moment later, there was a tiger in his place. From head to tail, it was fur covered muscle. Gone was the police-standard faded buzz cut, replaced with white and black striped fur and a form that was majestic as hell. She couldn’t tell how tall he was compared to her, all she could tell was that his backside… hind-quarters?... came up to her elbow. His head? He looked straight into Jameson’s eyes. Paige was stunned.
The man who had his hand on his gun made the mistake of turning his gaze toward Paige.
The tiger paced backward, turning his body to fence her in and push her back against the doors, covering her with his larger form.
The room was alive with fear, but Paige could only feel amazed. Reaching out her hand, she smoothed her hand over his back, feeling the fur covering his skin, but also the roll of muscle beneath.
“Devlin,” she sighed, “you’re beautiful.”
The room went silent.
She traced one of his stripes down the side of his body and she smiled. “So amazing.”
“She is insane!”
Before Paige could react, she heard her father’s voice rising above the raucous tumble of the others in the room. “Everyone out!”
She heard the grumbling as the others left, and the final caution by Jameson as he pushed past her Uncle Charlie. “Why does he get to stay?”
Charlie answered right before the door closed. “Because I’m family.”
And it was true.
Her father took a hesitant step forward and the tiger turned to look at him.
He didn’t snarl. He didn’t hiss, or bare his teeth.
Her father met his eyes with caution. “Can you understand me?”
The tiger, no… Devlin, gave him a nod in response.
“Can you speak?”
Devlin opened his mouth and a soft roar filled the room. Paige giggled and leaned against his side.
“We need to have a conversation, son. You’ll have to,” her father made a vague gesture of his hand, “you know.”
Standing right next to Devlin, Paige felt his shift. It felt like that moment when her ears popped on an airplane, staggering her into his arms.
She felt laughter shake through her body as Devlin‘s eyes met hers. “It’s like gravity pulled me toward you.”
Devlin swept his hand up her back and pressed her closer against him and leaned down with his lips hovering over hers.
“Can someone get him some clothes?” The Mayor turned away to focus his eyes on the wall. “Until then, I have to insist that you let go of my daughter.”
“Sir,” Devlin didn’t try to let go of her, instead, he leaned in closer to breathe in her scent, “ask your questions, but I’m not letting go of Paige unless she wants me to.”
He saw Charlie’s cautionary look, but it didn’t matter to him, not when he felt the heat of Paige against his skin. He felt her breath on his shoulder, smelled her arousal. He wanted her, and he wanted her quickly.
“This tiger,” the Mayor asked, “it’s real, not some kind of hallucination?”
Paige answered first. “I touched him, Dad, it’s real.”
The Mayor turned an odd shade of green. “Is it… I mean, are you, contagious?”
Devlin had to give the man credit for speaking, he was obviously a moment or two from fainting. “You mean, like werewolves?”
“Are those real too?”
Devlin managed not to laugh. He understood what it was like to be afraid of something different than you were. “Wolf shifters, yes. Bears. Lions.” He saw the fear on the Mayor’s face. “You don’t become a shifter with a bite. We’re born this way. We’ve been around as long as humans, living side by side in the same world.”
Charlie stepped up beside his old friend. “And we’re only finding out about it now?”
Devlin felt the reverberations of the other man’s words and then the guilt a moment later. “We’re not supposed to reveal who we are. Not in public. Certainly not in front of cameras.”
He felt Paige tremble beside him, and when she touched the side of his face with her hand, he leaned into the comfort she offered him.
“I’m sorry, Devlin.”
He shook his head. “I did what I had to do,” he lifted a hand and smoothed it over her hair. “You’re so beautiful. I’ve waited so long to find you.”
Her father’s voice drew Devlin’s attention. “If you weren’t supposed to show yourself, then why tonight? All of the other men hung back waiting, why didn’t you?”
Devlin didn’t look away from Paige, he couldn’t tear himself away. It was the same thing with thieves who got themselves caught when they couldn’t keep their hands off what they desired the most.
If someone asked him to keep his hands off Paige, the answer would always be no.
“I did it, because it was the only thing I could do. Paige is my mate. The other half of my soul. The one person I would put above my own survival.
“When I saw her standing beside you. Saw the gun pointed at her, there was only one thing I could do… save her life.”
The words seemed to settle on the Mayor’s shoulders, weighing on him heavily.
“Paige, Charlie? A moment please?”
Devlin felt Paige hesitate. Felt her fingers bite into his hide. He pulled her in for a soft kiss on her lips. “Go, Paige. I’m not going anywhere without you.”
She hesitated for a moment and then walked to her uncle, giving her father a kiss on his cheek.
He gave her a pat on her shoulder and Charlie a pleading look. “For the love of all that is holy, get him something to wear!”
When it came down to a decision, there wasn’t one. At least not where Jameson was concerned. Mayor Lundin had his priorities in his own order. He’d gone into politics to make sure that Sylvan City was a place where all its citizens were protected by law and allowed to pursue happiness and exercise their own rights.
And Paige, his daughter wanted to marry Devlin.
As the press began to call for statements about the photos, the Mayor and a few chosen people piled into a tinted SUV and driven to the courthouse. Once there, they were ushered up to the second floor where they were met by a clerk who hand processed the marriage license.
The final little bit of their preparation came from Uncle Charlie who dashed in at the last moment with a handful of flowers that he’d picked up at a corner bodega, a clutch of white tulips gathered into a bouquet with some cellophane paper and tape.
Paige gazed at the flowers in her hand and felt her Uncle press a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you for the flowers, and for being here.”
“You know I’ll always be here for you, Paigey.”
Someone cleared their throat and Paige turned to the front of the room.
The Justice of the Peace looked like he was swallowing glass, but that wasn’t going to stop what was about to happen. “Time’s a wasting.”
Walking up beside Devlin, Paige held tightly to the bouquet of flowers.
The officiant didn’t waste time. “Do you, Paige Lundin, take Officer Kerr as your husband?”
Paige winced. The older man was going to do his job, but he was going to follow the word, but perhaps not the feeling behind the marriage ceremony.
It was hard on Paige. This certainly wasn’t what she had in mind when she’d thought of her wedding as a child. She’d wanted a pretty wedding dress. She’d wanted a chapel with flowers everywhere. And she wanted a groom who looked at her like she hung the moon.
Looking over at Devlin, she saw him watching her, but she was fairly sure it wasn’t because she hung the moon. No, the kind of look Devlin gave her made her suck in a gasping breath and squeeze her thighs together. She may be a virgin, but there was something about Devlin Ker
r that gave her the shivers and set her heart beating a frantic rhythm. She wanted him, not just because she felt desire for him, there was something deeper under it all. She couldn’t call it love, but then again, she didn’t know enough to be sure of that either.
“Paige?” The mayor stepped closer, his face full of concern for his daughter. “You don’t have to do this-”
“I do.” She lifted her chin and looked at the man at the front of the room, nodding.
Devlin listened to the man ask him the same question before he nodded and replied. “I do.”
The man continued, reading off of the card in front of him. “And now I need the rings.”
Devlin shook his head and saw the officiant look up at the Mayor before turning back to him.
“You don’t have rings?”
A ripple of tension shot through Paige’s shoulders and the head of one of the tulips shook off the stem, falling to the floor at her feet.
“I’ll get one later.” Devlin’s tone was clear. Back off.
Shaking his head, the man let out a sigh. “Okay then, um…” he scanned the card in his hands, mumbling to himself. “By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you married,” the corner of his mouth twisted up toward his cheek, “as the case may be. Go ahead and kiss, if you want.”
He knew he had to. It wasn’t just because it was expected, but he was fairly sure his tiger would literally eviscerate him if he didn’t. Turning toward Paige, he ignored the anxious look on her father’s face and reached out to take hold of her arms. Closing his hands around her upper arms, a scant inch above her elbows, he stepped into her and lowered his head.
Devlin couldn’t see through the fall of her hair. “Paige? Look up,” he waited a moment and when she didn’t move, he tried again, “look at me, baby.”
She lifted her chin and looked at him and he felt the connection through every inch of his body. Her eyes were mesmerizing. They’d been beautiful the night before, even in the harsh lighting of the venue, but now, standing just shy of the old-fashioned sash windows that nearly extended from her waist to just a foot before the ceiling letting in all the pure afternoon sunlight. Her eyes weren’t just warm, they were a burnished amber that reminded him of glowing embers in a fire.