Hell, she was well on her way to already hitting that point. He was so likeable and charming and according to her cousin, not a player like she’d assumed. Damn it, Ella needed to make a decision.
“No,” he rumbled out, the word breaking through her convoluted thoughts.
She blinked. “No, what?”
“We didn’t find out anything about your possible intruder. If someone broke into your office from the outside, they were very careful about avoiding detection.” His jaw tightened, his frustration clear.
She’d almost forgotten she’d asked him a question. Stepping away from the stove, she asked, “Do you want to go for a run? I know you’re tired, but…” She shrugged. Sometimes going shifter for a couple hours could release all sorts of tension. Whenever she let her jaguar take over, it was better than getting a massage or pedicure. Nothing could compare, not even her delicious hot cocoa.
His green eyes lit up, as if her question had surprised him. “Yeah.”
She didn’t bother changing out of her pajamas before they headed out of her condo. She also didn’t lock her place. The entire building was owned by the Kincaid pack, guarded almost 24/7 and there was a high wall around the parking lot in the front. After they exited out the private locked door on the first floor, Asher made sure the door was closed all the way. To get back in they’d need to input a code on the electronic keypad.
Ella savored the feel of sand beneath her toes as they walked down the short path that led directly to the beach. On either side of them sand dunes and foliage surrounded them. When they reached the end of the sandy path, they both scanned the area, looking for humans. They weren’t in a touristy area and the pack owned a lot of the property along this stretch of beach so she wasn’t worried about anyone seeing them. But they always had to be vigilant when shifting. Especially since so many humans had recording capabilities with their phones.
Once they were sure the coast was clear, they stepped into the shadows created by the foliage.
Ella paused, waiting for Asher to turn around, but he just stood there watching her as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt. His green eyes were piercing under the moonlight and his gaze was definitely challenging. Each button he removed revealed another inch of rock hard, delicious male. As he shrugged his shirt completely off, revealing all those muscles, she swallowed hard.
Sin and sex.
That’s what she thought of almost every time she looked at him. It was hard not to think about that intensely raw night they’d shared, especially now.
He neatly folded his shirt before laying it on the sand. When his fingers moved against the button of his pants, she made a decision. She had to stop being a coward. The only person she was hurting by holding back was herself. She couldn’t let her past poison her future. As a supernatural being, she had a long damn future ahead of her and she couldn’t live in fear. She refused to.
Not when her present was so damn sexy.
Taking a steadying breath, she reached for the hem of her shirt and tore it over her head. Without looking at him, worried she’d lose her nerve if she did, she stripped off her bottoms. Since she hadn’t been wearing anything underneath, she was completely bare. Cool air rushed over her, but she hardly noticed it. Unlike him, she tossed her clothes onto the soft sand. When she met his gaze, she realized he was frozen with his fingers still hooked on his pants button.
He looked like a big, sexy statue standing there. His breathing was erratic and his eyes had gone pure wolf as they raked over her.
The sight made her grin. And it also pushed down some of her insecurities. She sauntered toward him, closing the short distance between them. His breaths got even more unsteady, but when he reached for her, she jumped away.
“Catch me if you can,” she whispered before letting the shift overtake her. Unlike wolves, jaguars shifted much quicker. In seconds, her cat had taken over. The sand was cool beneath her paws.
Risking a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw Asher hurrying to strip his pants off. Without waiting, she raced away, keeping close to the shadows of the sand dunes as she ran. The night was silent and it was late enough that most people wouldn’t be out anyway.
She’d never thought much about the male-female chase she’d heard her cousins and pridemates talk about before, but she understood it a little better now. Especially since she wanted to be caught by Asher. Ella wanted Asher to chase her, wanted to go running with him and relax. To see what he was like in his wolf form, to know both sides to him. It was important for her jaguar to accept his wolf and vice versa.
As she ran along the sand, she kept her pace steady, but she wasn’t flying. She was fast in her feline form, but she didn’t want to actually outrun him. Just play with him.
She felt more than heard Asher a moment before his big body playfully tackled her to the ground. He nuzzled against her neck, nipping softly. She rarely let herself be in this vulnerable a position with anyone—it was instinct not to—but on her most primal level she knew Asher would die before hurting her.
She jumped onto all fours then nudged his shoulder with her nose. He was a large black wolf, and absolutely beautiful. Intelligent green eyes looked back at her for a long moment. Yipping, he ran ahead, but waited to make sure she followed. She wasn’t sure how long they ran, but it seemed to stretch on for an eternity as their paws pounded along the beach. Eventually he slowed and they turned around. Keeping the same intense pace as they headed back, she savored the feel of freedom.
There was truly nothing like being in her jaguar form. It was as if all her problems melted away. The wind rushed over her dark fur and she inhaled the salty ocean scent. Mixed with the earthiness of Asher, that scent was like heaven. Her legs were starting to burn by the time they reached the hidden pathway where they’d left their clothes.
Once they reached their belongings, Ella collapsed on her belly instead of changing back to her human form. Asher did the same, sidling up next to her so that their bodies were lined up and touching, though he was a lot bigger than her.
She angled her body so that her head was curled up against his. Taking her by surprise, he lifted a paw and laid it over her neck, tugging her close. Feeling more safe and secure than she ever had, she snuggled up to him and let herself relax. The melodic sound of the crashing ocean waves was soothing. She could hear a few packmates on their balconies nearby talking, but it seemed from a distance as she started to doze.
Part of her wanted to sleep out under the moon and stars, but knew it wouldn’t be wise. She also knew that once they shifted back into their human forms, he’d want to talk about them. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to just yet. She didn’t want to talk or think.
When Asher stiffened next to her, she tensed, her ears going back. As he removed his paw and stood, she did the same. But when he shifted back to his human form, she realized why.
An insistent buzzing penetrated the quiet night air. Cursing under his breath he reached for his discarded pants. As he answered his phone, Ella shifted.
As always there was a small bit of discomfort that was quickly followed by a rush of euphoria as she stood on her human legs. After expending so much energy, the cold was more biting now. When she bent to pick up her pajamas, she realized Asher wasn’t watching her.
His profile was to her as he clipped out one word answers to whoever was on the other line. She could have eavesdropped if she’d wanted, but chose not to. It was impolite and most shifters learned to ignore background noise from a young age.
She quickly pulled her thin top on. As she tugged her pants up, Asher let out an angry curse before ending his call.
He pinned her with those piercing green eyes and she knew that whatever he was about to say, she wasn’t going to like it. A shiver of fear threaded up her spine.
“Someone broke into your office. It’s been trashed.”
Chapter 7
Asher pressed the button to the elevators as he waited with Ella. “Why don’t you just wait in my office and
—”
“No.” Ella stuck her chin out mutinously. “I’m going to check out the damage in my office. I want to see how bad it is.”
He resisted the urge to order her to the security floor instead. It would be a fruitless effort, especially when she was this agitated. He didn’t blame her, not when it was her office that had been trashed. One of his security guys had contacted him when a guest had called making complaints about strange noises above them. He and Ella had hurried back to her place where she’d changed clothes, then they’d headed straight over.
“Fine,” he muttered as the doors whooshed open.
Annoyance rolled off Ella in waves, the scent growing stronger as they rode the elevator in silence. When the doors opened on her floor, she darted past him before he’d taken a step.
Gritting his teeth, he hurried after her. It wasn’t that he was worried about her safety, not with so many pack members and himself around, but he wasn’t sure how bad the damage was yet. He didn’t want it to upset her. Grant, Max and a few of the security guys were standing outside her door talking. They stopped when they saw him and Ella striding toward them.
Grant seemed surprise that Ella was there, but didn’t say anything about her presence. Just nodded at both of them, then held his arm out to the open door. “We haven’t touched anything, just scented the scene.”
Asher’s eyes widened at the destruction. In front of him, Ella gasped, but he couldn’t see her expression as she turned, taking in the entirety of the room. The window had been opened again, but part of the latch was on the ground. Clearly someone had just torn the window open using supernatural strength. And he had no doubt that whoever had done this was supernatural.
Holes had been punched in the ceiling and through the walls. Oddly enough, the art had been removed and placed against the big windows. It hadn’t been destroyed. And neither the desk nor her chaise had been broken. So he didn’t think this was about random vandalism. No, someone was looking for something. Plaster littered everything, making the scene initially look worse than it was. The cleanup would be a pain.
He frowned when his gaze landed on the chaise again. “Where’s your computer?”
She glanced up at him. “I took it and a couple boxes home with me.”
“Good.” He turned as Grant and Max entered the room, their expressions grim. “Do we know if they took anything?” His security team had already let him know that there was no video feed of the intruder, though there were a couple guys still combing over the videos anyway.
“Not sure,” Grant said as he looked at Ella.
She shook her head before turning back to the scene of chaos. “I need to check my files, but there’s not much in them anyway. I took almost everything home. This scene is weird though…” She trailed off, shaking her head.
Asher nodded in agreement. “It’s like someone was looking for something.” Otherwise, everything would have been destroyed. “Who had this office before?”
“The human I bought this place from.” Grant’s voice was tight with restrained rage.
Asher knew he had to be keeping a tight control on his wolf now. Breaking into a pack’s place of business like this was just not done. Not without definite retaliation. Grant couldn’t appear weak to anyone so they needed to find whoever had done this, and soon. “I’ve got a file on him. I’ll start running all his records, see what I come up with.” That was just the beginning.
Grant nodded. “Good. I’ve already put out feelers to my human contacts in the city, looking for any whispers of someone with a beef against the pack.”
Though he hated to ask, he turned to Ella. “Do you have any enemies, anyone who would want to hurt you?”
Frowning, she shook her head. “No, and this doesn’t feel personal anyway. Otherwise, they would have destroyed my stuff or broken into my home. Not my office. Right?”
He nodded slowly. “Probably.” Asher still wasn’t ruling anything out. Since he wasn’t sure the threat wasn’t personal, he was going to make sure Ella had security 24/7. “I want to go through all the files you received from the previous owner.”
“Of course.”
“And I’ll be staying with you until we figure out who’s behind this.” He wasn’t asking.
It was as if his announcement sucked all the air out of the room. Grant and Max were silent and even the shifters hovering outside the door seemed to have grown quiet too.
Her gaze narrowed a fraction. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”
Hell yeah, he did. She was his whether she realized it or not and he was going to make sure nothing happened to her. “I’m not taking the chance with your safety.”
Sighing, she nodded. “Okay.”
Could she sound any less enthusiastic? Asher hated the circumstances, but he was still looking forward to sharing a roof with her. Unfortunately she didn’t seem to share the sentiment.
“Is there a chance this has anything to do with why you left your pride?” Max asked, his expression thoughtful.
Ella paled at the question, quickly shaking her head. “No.”
Frowning, Asher looked between the two of them, then focused on Ella. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Grant cleared his throat when she didn’t respond. “Listen, meet me in my office in a few minutes,” Grant said to Asher, then nudged Max.
When they’d left the office, Grant pulling the door shut behind them, Asher turned to face Ella again. “What was Max talking about?”
Her chin came up. “It has nothing to do with this. Trust me.”
“Ella.”
She rolled her eyes, but wrapped her arms around herself defensively. “The reason I relocated is because my ex-boyfriend and sister, uh, recently got mated. And married. It’s not a big deal, but I just didn’t want the hassle of all the stupid pitying from my pridemates. I’m the one who dumped him, but…” She trailed off again and even though she tried to hide it, he could see the hurt lurking in her dark eyes.
The loser had lost Ella, then gone after her sister? Asher’s hands automatically balled into fists. It pissed him off that anyone would hurt her like that. “Did your sister talk to you about it first?” he asked.
Jaw clenched, she shook her head. “I found out when they announced it to the entire pride. I just wish she’d told me first. After that things were awkward between us. It was like she was avoiding me, but then when we were in the same room she’d be overly excited to see me and overly nice. It made things weird and uncomfortable.”
Oh, shit. Some things were inevitable and her sister mating with her ex was in the realm of possibilities in a big pride or pack. The choices of mates could be smaller if a shifter wasn’t interested in humans. But to not tell her sister first? “That sucks.”
She let out a startled laugh at his words as she let her arms fall from their tight grip around herself. “Yeah, it does. But, I’m almost ninety-nine percent sure that has nothing to do with this,” she said, motioning to the room.
He agreed. Seeing the remnants of pain lingering in her eyes, he reached out and cupped her cheek. She looked surprised as he stroked his thumb over her soft skin, but didn’t pull away.
“I didn’t realize that’s why you’d left your pride. I’m sorry that was the reason, but I’m not sorry you’re here, Ella.”
She swallowed hard. “I’m not sorry either.” The heat simmering in her gaze was enough to make him throw all common sense out the window.
What he wouldn’t give to lean down and kiss her, to claim her full lips so that she’d know she belonged with him. But now was definitely not the time or the place. Though he hated to lose that contact, he let his hand drop and took a step back. “I need to take care of some stuff here and figure out a plan with Grant and Max, but I’m sending one of the guys home with you—Davis if you’re comfortable with him. If you don’t mind, would you start looking through the accounting files to see if anything sticks out to you? I want to look at the records and I kn
ow Grant will too, but you’re the pro.” It was after midnight so he hated asking her to stay up, but he wanted to hit the ground running with this investigation.
She nodded. “Of course. I couldn’t sleep now anyway.”
She definitely wouldn’t be if he was next to her. “I wasn’t kidding about staying under the same roof as you. You can stay with me or I’ll stay with you. You can choose.”
She paused for a long moment and when she finally spoke, she stole his breath. “Stay with me. I want your scent on my sheets.” Face flushed, she turned for the door.
Those few words made him go rock hard in an instant. Asher forgot how to speak. Hell, he forgot how to breathe. By the time his brain had registered what she’d said, she’d turned and made it to the door. She was already leaving with Davis when he finally got his body under control. Probably a good thing because right now he didn’t trust himself around her.
* * *
Asher quietly shut the front door to Ella’s place behind Davis and locked it. He’d taken a lot longer than he expected outlining an investigative plan with Grant and Max, and meeting up with a couple human contacts who knew about the existence of supernatural beings. His alpha had also reached out to some of his vamp friends, but so far no one knew who might be targeting the Kincaid pack.
Of course they hadn’t ruled out the possibility that this had something to do with the previous owner. If anything, Asher was more convinced that was the problem. The destruction was so targeted. Right now, he shoved those thoughts aside and let all his focus stray to the sensual jaguar shifter sleeping just down the hallway.
According to Davis she’d finally gotten tired and headed to her bedroom half an hour ago. He couldn’t blame Ella; it was three in the morning. Her comment about wanting his scent on her sheets was still driving him crazy. Though he’d never been to her room before, the layouts of the condos were similar, so he easily located the master bedroom. He could have just followed her scent anyway. That sun, sand and sex scent consumed him in her home.
Tempting His Mate Page 5