Trevor stepped away, distancing himself from the concept he’d battled with many times since he’d first seen Cassidy Sinclair.
“Can’t happen, Rekkus. Not for me.”
For the second time in a few short minutes, amusement laced a staff member’s voice. “The Fates choose your mate. That’s how it is for Paranormals. The sooner you quit fighting it, the better off you’ll be.”
Chapter 6
Ten minutes of hiking brought him to the forested edge of the pool at the base of the waterfall. Here he was in his element, surrounded by the rustling of the wind through the branches, the rushing water over the rocks and the smells of the pine, oak and cedar. The tension in his muscles faded as though the river washed it away. Here he could breathe and think clearly.
As he filled his lungs with air, he caught another scent. Citrus, soap, and woman. My woman. Cassie.
Shut up.
There she was, her skirt hiked up showing a tantalizing view of her creamy thighs and those muscular calves. The sight of her made his knees weak and his breath quicken. His cock swelled against his fly from a flashback of how she’d tightly wrapped her legs around his hips.
She picked her way across stones in the shallow section of the pool just as he’d seen forest faeries do. His breath caught in his throat. What would she think if he told her of the comparison? His heart beat faster and he yearned to tell her. He wouldn’t, of course. Paras kept their world secret from the humans.
Especially the Watchers.
He hated what most humans called his kind. Bigfoot. Native Americans were the only humans who respected and revered his people, considering them “elder brothers.” They were Watchers and always would be, never communing with humans who hunted them. Only the ability to simulate their surroundings and their super senses allowed his kind to exist in mystery alone.
Yet his heart and body longed for this woman who embodied everything good: kindness, spirit, courage, love, passion. How could he properly protect her—as was his assigned duty—with his emotions mucking up his ability to sense danger?
He blended into the woods, engaging his ability to camouflage barely a moment before she glanced in his direction. Had she heard him? Seen him? He’d been careful, choosing just the mossy spots to deaden the sound of his approach.
Had he lost his edge by falling for her? The realization jarred him.
I’m in love with her.
Shit.
What a cluster fuck. How could he ask for another assignment? Telling her the truth was impossible without sharing all his secrets. She was human; she’d never accept him for all that he was.
Damn it. He’d known the first time he’d seen her dressed in her simple pants, clogs and button-down shirt. How business casual made him hot he didn’t know but he’d been instantly infatuated. Wait—too nice a word. Horny. Needy. Hot for her.
Even the fluid way she moved turned him on. If she’d been wearing a nun’s habit, he’d have wanted to take her against the wall.
Sick, that’s what he was. Wanting to sink into his charge’s first grade teacher. Sweep all the papers and take her on top of her desk. Or the floor. Anywhere. Invisibly guarding Allen had been so fucking hard. While she’d interacted so sweetly and innocently with those little children, he’d wanted her with an intensity he couldn’t explain or escape. Seven months of watching and desiring her while cloaked during the school day. He was supposed to be guarding Allan, but much of the time the boy stuck so close to her, he’d had no choice but to watch her, too.
Cassidy reached the other side and edged closer to the falls. Mist thrown up by the frothing white water at the base of the falls shrouded the weeping willows and ferns, turning them from green to gray.
Is she humming? Hard to tell with the roaring of the falls drowning out all other sounds.
Is she going under the water? Fully clothed?
When her back was turned, he edged closer, barely breathing.
She stepped on a narrow ledge behind the waterfall and followed it until she stood behind it. Her image shimmered through the sheet of water as her fingers traced shaped in it. Minutes passed and he grew anxious, fearing what she might do next. Then she stepped off the ledge.
His breath caught as Cassie disappeared beneath the surface. With dread in his heart, he fought the urge to jump in after her. After what felt like a lifetime, she popped to the surface and flipped her hair back from her face.
She’d scared the living shit out of him, and he hated feeling fear.
This situation was untenable. He’d always had the ability to distance himself from his protectee, yet he’d let that little damaged boy into his heart. Look what had happened with that. He’d almost gotten the boy killed. Now his charge was the human woman he needed with every fiber of his being but couldn’t afford to trust. He had to protect his family, his kind.
Still, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. His charge was so damn sexy. Just look at her, lips glistening, rounded breasts heaving under the bodice now plastered to her body. What the hell had the chairman been thinking, assigning him to protect her?
His cock throbbed as she climbed from the pool, providing him with a fine view of her ample cleavage. Could he leave her alone and do his job after he’d taken her to bed? He’d have to. The occasional twinge of pain in his leg wouldn’t allow him to forget his failure.
Cassidy wrung out her skirt and hair as she passed him. He froze as she paused near him; her head swiveled as though she heard or saw something. Had he moved? Alerted her to his presence?
Slowly, she moved on, walking along the path back to the Haus with that long legged gait of hers.
Loved. Damn it, he had to stop using that word to describe anything that had to do with Cassie.
He probably should quit calling her by his pet name for her, too. Be more professional—
A gawky man approached Cassie. What the fuck does he want?
Why is she smiling at him that way? Fuck me, my emotions are all over the place.
He hung back while Cassidy politely disentangled herself from the uninvited hand covering her arm.
He’s not hurting her and she’s leaving, so calm the fuck down.
When she entered the lobby, he slid up much closer. He’d have to get in the elevator with her since he couldn’t access it by himself. Damn those uber cautious siblings. Couldn’t they just do alternating weeks to keep the humans and Paras apart?
Holding his breath, he silently crept behind her into the lift. He flattened his back against the wall. She stayed near the doors and quickly exited as soon as they opened. He kept pace with her in chameleon mode.
How am I going to get in her room? There’s no way she’s going to leave her door open just in case an invisible man needs to get in.
To his great relief, she unlocked and threw open the door. He hurried through and took up a spot against the wall in the corner of the room when she dropped her key a good five feet from the entrance.
By all that was holy, he hoped she didn’t undress in front of him. All the blood in his brain was already on its way south from being alone in the same room with her in those clinging wet clothes molded to her curves. He had to keep his wits about him and he couldn’t do that if his brain disengaged due to lack of blood flow.
While taking slow and shallow breaths, he tried to minimize the shimmer that occurred whenever he moved. It could be a dead giveaway to anyone who knew what to look for. Even so, he swore the blood pounding in his veins had to be audible.
Focusing on a spot on the opposite wall—after all he was here as her protector—he couldn’t help but notice her unbuttoning the shirt. He held his breath when she shimmied out of her skirt and let it plop on the floor to form a wet pool at her bare feet. When she reached around to unfasten her soaked bra, he lost control and sucked in a b
reath. Hell, he barely managed to focus enough to maintain his cloaking.
The lacy bra hit the floor, followed immediately by her matching panties. His pulse raced, his heart thumped, and his blood pounded in his head. To hell with strictly professional, he was outright staring.
Her breasts—so round, so firm, so full—bounced slightly as she glided toward the bed. Maybe she’s going to take a nap.
Then his mouth dropped open and his heart thudded against his ribs.
She lowered to the edge of the bed, facing him, her legs spread apart slightly. She loosened her hair from its pins and it cascaded down to her shoulders. Her fingers traveled down her neck and stroked her nipples before lightly tweaking the perfect pink peaks.
Oh. My. God.
He closed his eyes, counting first to ten, then all the way to one hundred to keep enough focus on remaining invisible. If she was angry before, she’d be furious he’d sneaked into her room without her permission.
When he’d calmed his nerves enough, he opened his eyes to discover she’d lain back on the bed, one hand stroking the tender skin of her inner thigh.
His inner beast clawed for release. She obviously wanted sexual release. He could give her that and more. Much more.
Duty. Honor. Protect her at all costs.
When her knees fell apart, her fingers lightly stroking her folds, his brain short circuited. He had no idea how she couldn’t see him, because he couldn’t have any functioning brain cells. Her hips rose as first one finger slid inside her core, then another, while the other hand kneaded her breast. A soft moan came from her open lips, and he bit back his own. He fought the urge to slide his hand down to his cock that pulsed impatiently against his fly.
Was she thinking about him? Or maybe that guy from earlier? Jealousy, hot and furious, flooded his veins. He shouldn’t care who she thought about when she masturbated. But he did care and he couldn’t deny the longing for her that surged through him.
After a difficult moment of struggling for control, she surprised him by getting up to turn off the lamp. The lamp on the table right next to him.
Shit! Freeze and don’t breathe.
He became a statue. As she clicked the switch, her breasts jiggled and her perfect ass, so muscular, flexed, nearly pushing him over the edge.
With the light suddenly extinguished, he no longer had the advantage. Closing his eyes to force his vision to adjust more quickly, he almost jumped at the warmth of her fingertips unfastening the buttons on his shirt. He sucked in air like a bellows.
“Trevor,” she whispered between soft kisses as she uncovered his hairy chest, “just like you know my scent, I know yours.”
He hissed as she took one of his nipples between her teeth and gently bit down, soothing afterward with her tongue.
“That show was for me?” he said, his voice gravelly from restrained lust.
He should be irritated and exasperated that she beat him at this own game, that she played him. But hell, her mouth felt so damn good on his skin and his body reminded him that she was made for him. He couldn’t summon anything but lust.
“It was. How did you feel watching me?”
Her mouth traveled to his navel, swirled there then followed the trail of hair to his rock hard shaft. In the darkness, only the rasp of her tongue existed. Her tongue circled the head, licking with broad strokes until she took him into her mouth.
So soft, so damn hot. Holding back was torture. He strained against jolting forward into her mouth. He was too big for her to take fully, so he remained as still as possible, letting her do what she pleased.
“Well?”
“Huh?”
Her soft chuckle vibrated on his cock, sending a shock of pleasure up his spine.
“Did you like watching me?” she repeated, tracing the vein on the underside of his penis.
“Yeah. Oh yeah, Cassie. You know how much I want you.”
“No.” Her voice was right in front of him. “Show me.”
The cloak vanished along with his control and most of his sanity. Before his brain could reengage and scold him for not performing his duty, he peeled off the already unbuttoned shirt and removed the shorts and boxers. He grabbed her rounded ass and devoured her mouth. She writhed beneath him.
What the hell was she doing? Her plan had been to tease him, to show him she knew who and what he was.
The plan had changed. She should be mad at him for keeping secrets from her, she should be screaming at him, not moaning as his mouth ravaged her breasts. She should, but she wasn’t and she’d think about that after.
He found her core and stroked and filled with first one, then two fingers, providing the rhythm she needed. Yesterday, he’d proven to be a sensitive and giving lover. Today, he proved demanding and masterful. And God help her, she loved every minute of his frenzied attack.
He flicked his tongue and she jerked in electric delight as his fingers plunged bringing her to a fast and furious climax. With her brain total mush, her breathing ragged, she gasped when he drove into her.
“Are you okay?” he asked gruffly.
Okay? She’d never be okay again. Her need for him outweighed all common sense as she lifted her hips in supplication for fulfillment.
“Trevor, please…” Her tone must have satisfied him for he rocked into her again, hard and deep.
Only his feral groans answered her feminine whimpers as he set a relentless pace. Her whimpers turned to deep moans.
Oh, God, she couldn’t take any more pleasure. Surely, she was coming apart. And then she did, her scream echoing against the walls, an overwhelming relaxation washing through her like lava. All her limbs went numb, heavy, every part of her except that bundle of nerves still excited as Trevor chased his own release.
He tensed, plunging deep into her three more times as he roared. She’d never heard him make such a wild sound but she wasn’t frightened. He collapsed on top of her, trapping her between his perspiration-coated body and the bedspread.
She closed her eyes, exhausted from their frantic coupling. She dragged each breath in then forced it out, her body still full of him. How could she fall in love with someone who was dishonest with her, who didn’t trust her?
Tears streaked down her cheeks and she didn’t care. Couldn’t care anymore. She would have to go home and forget him. Tell him to leave her alone and release him from the duty he hadn’t even shared with her.
She’d gambled with this game. She’d seduced him while he was camouflaged to get him to see she knew his secret. The only reason she’d ever step so far out of her box of inhibitions was to prod him to trust her.
He hadn’t told her his secret and he’d hidden his duty to protect her. Frustration and hurt tightened like a fist around her heart.
“Why can’t you tell me the truth?” Her anger had drained, along with her energy, but disappointment burned hot and bitter in her throat as she attempted to hold back more tears.
He rolled from her, levered himself up, and strode to the bathroom. He returned and sat on the edge of the bed.
His mouth drew to a hard line and the muscle that twitched when he was unhappy or angry jumped like crazy beneath the skin of his jaw.
She drew the sheet up to her chin, needing the cover since he’d retreated from her with his warmth. “I know it’s not some top-secret military issue camo armor you wear to disappear.” She lost the battle with the tears and they ran unchecked down her cheeks. “Tell me, Trevor. I deserve to know the truth.”
Yeah, she deserved to know the truth. How much to tell her remained the problem. How much to divulge without losing her, but still protecting himself and his kind.
Damn her tears. She wasn’t using them to control him. She wasn’t like that. She’d tried to hold them back. He understood her emotions as well as he knew her
body and its responses to him. He no longer questioned his fate. She was his mate.
Fuck me! Why have the fates chosen this woman, this human for me?
He needed a Watcher female, someone he could be his true self with, in all his forms. He didn’t want to scare Cassie, nor did he want her pity. He was proud of his heritage but this situation was too complicated.
His mate. His mate who sat propped up against the pillows awaiting his response. Answer her question. The simplest one.
“I’m a Para. Paranormal.”
She narrowed her eyes but said nothing.
“I can disappear, creating a reflective field around me, camouflaging my body.”
She glanced down at the sheets, her fingers rubbing the fabric as she chewed her bottom lip. Her brow furrowed and she cocked her mouth to one side in the way she always did when considering a problem.
She locked her gaze on his, her chin lifting and firming. “So I wasn’t crazy and I didn’t just see things. And that’s what you did the first day I was here?”
He stayed very still, assessing her mood. She gripped the sheet and her nostrils flared. She was building a head of steam and he tried to prepare for the questions she might have.
“Why did you scare the shit out of me that day?”
He kept his voice calm, even though a dozen butterflies fought to escape his stomach. “Paras arrive through a very loud portal, not on the ferry with humans. I had to keep the secret.”
“And now that I know there are others like you? What now?”
“I have to ask you to keep that secret.”
She squinted at him and ground her teeth.
Oh, shit, here it comes. He knew a pissed off woman when he saw one.
Guarding His Heart Page 5