by Zoe Chant
She clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from babbling. “Sorry.”
Grant glanced up at her from lowered eyes, and a brief smile brightened his expression.
“Frankie, yes. And her twin. They’re both lions from a local pride. And Lance is a snow leopard. It came in handy when we were tracking you.” His smile, already tentative, disappeared completely. “But you wouldn’t have been taken at all if it wasn’t for me. Do you remember what happened?”
Irina pulled Grant down beside her on the bed and held him close so she could rest her head on his shoulder. He stiffened slightly and then buried his face in her tousled hair.
“I remember…”
Images of men in masks flashed through her mind, but she pushed them aside. She wanted to see the whole picture, not just focus on her own fearful memories.
Francine had been the only one of her abductors who showed her face. And she had seemed to be in charge, but the moment she began to doubt her conviction that Grant was behind her brother’s disappearance, the guard had knocked her out.
“Frankie was being used,” Grant explained, echoing Irina’s thoughts. He lifted his hand to rest briefly against her cheek, and then started to stroke her hair as he talked. “She admitted everything. After she lost contact with Mathis a few weeks into his trip, she got a feeling something was wrong, and hired men to look into it. They came up with evidence that he’d last been seen in the Adirondacks, and that I’d been seen there, too.”
“They planted the evidence?”
“Made it up, planted it—who knows.” Grant sighed and knuckled his forehead. “Lance’s theory is that they were behind Mathis’s disappearance in the first place, and then used his sister as bait to capture more shifters. Poor Frankie. The first time she ever has a sisterly impulse, and it’s used against her.”
Irina thought of the expression on Francine’s face. She had been desperate to make someone pay for hurting her brother. How must she feel now, knowing she was duped? Would she feel guilty for putting Irina and Grant through that same pain?
Irina shivered, and Grant’s arms tightened around her. With him here looking after her, the cold, damp cave seemed like a distant memory. If it wasn’t for her aching scrapes and bruises, she could almost believe she had imagined it.
How easy would it have been for Grant to pretend none of it had happened? To say that Irina had been drugged by the bad guys or had to be drunk from dinner? To try to convince her that she’d hallucinated the whole thing? Instead, he was caring for her and offering to explain everything.
She sat up a little, so she could look him in the face.
“What was that you said? Shifters? Is that what you are?”
Grant sighed and dropped his head on to hers. “I’m not doing a very good job of explaining things.”
“I don’t know about that. I’m beginning to piece things together.” She took his hand, winding her fingers around his. It seemed impossible that his long, slender fingers could transform into the powerful paws she remembered from the night before. “Shifters are people who can turn into animals?”
“Yes. But there’s a bit more to it than that…”
Irina listened, fascinated, as Grant told her that there were people in the world who could turn into animals at will. Not just cats, either, but all sorts of animals. Lizards. Birds. Apparently the chef whose kitchen they’d bolted through on the night they met was a bison shifter.
She watched Grant’s face as he talked. His voice was smooth, as though he’d been rehearsing what to say all morning, but even when he was joking about being trampled by an upset chef, he didn’t meet her eyes. She could tell something was still worrying him.
“Are you all right?” A thought struck her. “Does it hurt, transforming like that? Are you in pain still?”
Grant raised his eyebrows. “Does it—? No. It doesn’t hurt. And we—shifters—heal quickly, anyway.”
He stroked her neck with one finger, along the fading bruise. His hand drifted along her shoulder and down to her hand, where he traced a red line of scabs that marked where Irina’s wrists had been bound together. A matching set of scratches on the palm of her hand showed how badly she’d landed on the cave floor. He was careful not to touch them.
“I can’t believe you’re asking me whether I’m hurt, when I’ve been the cause of so much hurt to you,” he said, his voice rough.
Irina flexed her hands. The grazes stung, but they were clean and already scabbing over. A fresh bandage covered the one deeper scrape. “Did you do that?”
“I did all of it.” Grant paused, and then it was as though a dam had broken. Words tumbled out of him in a flood. “The biker who attacked you was one of Frankie’s mercenaries. Lance found a tracking device in your handbag. That’s how they knew where you were last night. And in the cave—you could have died, and it was all my fault.”
“Don’t,” she protested, cutting him off. “That’s not true. Besides,” she added, feeling him draw breath to respond, “I meant, did you put this bandage on me?”
Grant sagged. “Yes.”
“Thank you.” She wound her non-bandaged hand around his neck. The muscles there were tight. Something was still bothering him. She leaned forward to kiss him, but he turned his face away.
“Wait. Please. There’s more I haven’t told you. And I can’t keep it from you anymore. I thought I was keeping you safe, but I only put you in more danger.”
Irina’s eyebrows shot together. “Stop. Let’s get one thing straight. The only person we are blaming for what happened is the person who kidnapped your friend and duped his sister into getting you captured, too.”
“I should have told you that I was a shifter from the start.” Grant sighed and knuckled his forehead, not meeting her eyes. “I was worried about pressuring you, but I didn’t even think about how it could put you in danger. Irina…” He sighed, covered his face, and then looked directly into her eyes. “There’s more to shifters than just the ability to turn into an animal. Every shifter has a mate—someone they’re destined to be with. Their soulmate. Some shifters go their whole lives without meeting their mate, and I thought—I hoped—I would be the same. Until I met you.”
Irina stared at him, stunned. His mate? What does he mean?
Something fluttered inside her. She remembered how she had felt from the moment she first met Grant. His attention had been so surprising, so flattering—but there was something more than that. Irina had felt an instant connection to him. She’d certainly let things move far faster than she would on a normal date.
But did that mean it was magic?
“I’m… your mate?” Irina asked uncertainly.
“Yes.” Grant’s mouth twisted. “I felt it the moment I met you. All my life, I’ve been afraid of what would happen if I found my mate—and then you appear, and my fears came to life.”
Irina’s heart sank. She didn’t really understand what he meant by mate, but she understood the angry regret on his face.
“You don’t want me?” She let her hands drop away from Grant and pulled back, but he grabbed her desperately.
“Of course I want you. More than anything else in the world. But I was so scared of hurting you. My father abandoned my mother before I was even born, and he was a panther shifter, the same as me. What if I did the same? What if our connection was just because of my panther, and once it got bored, I left you, like he left my mother?” Grant grimaced, his dark eyebrows drawing together. “I thought that if I didn’t say anything, we could get to know each other like… like normal people. And you wouldn’t be under any pressure to stay with me, just because my panther thought we should be together.”
Irina’s mouth was dry. She licked her lips. “And what does your panther think now that he—you—what do you think now?”
Grant drew a ragged breath. His Adam’s apple stuttered. “I think that I love you, and I can’t bear the thought of being without you. Not after last night. Not ever.” He droppe
d his head. “And I think that I don’t want to trap you, just because I put you into danger. If you want to leave, I understand.”
“Leave?” Irina’s head was spinning. “No,” she said. “No, I’m not going to run off. Grant, you just saved my life. I’m not going to stay with you out of any sense of obligation. I’m going to stay with you because you’re the most incredible man I’ve ever met.”
Irina put one hand on either side of Grant’s face, gently drawing him toward her. His stubble scratched against her grazed palms, but she ignored it.
“Until I met you, I never had anyone who made me feel special. Who didn’t make me think I had to pretend to be someone I wasn’t. And then, last night… I thought I’d be left alone down there. You came for me when I thought no one would.” She stroked his cheek. “You did that. A panther shifter did that. Your father might have been a deadbeat, but you are one hell of a man.”
She kissed him, and he kissed her back, hesitant at first and then with passionate hunger. His hands found her waist and pulled her forward to lie on top of him as he lay back.
“I feel as though I’ve been waiting my whole life to find you,” she said earnestly. “And I’m not about to lose you when our adventure is just about to start. And…”
“And?” Grant’s voice betrayed his nerves.
“And,” Irina said, smiling, and then paused. “Grant, you were worried your panther’s feelings for me were superficial. That it would betray me—us—when things got tough. But you were in your panther shape when you stood between me and gunfire last night. You, or it, or whatever you want to call it didn’t abandon me. You defended me.”
Grant’s eyes widened. “I—you’re right. All this time, I’ve been trying to repress my panther’s instincts or ignore them because I was so terrified of what it might do. But we were like one in the cave. United.” His brow cleared, and Irina’s heart swelled.
“Panther, shifter, whatever you call it, last night I saw the real you. And you’re someone I want to spend more time with. A lot more time with.”
Irina gazed into Grant’s eyes as her body pressed against his. Her breasts against his chest, her legs sliding apart over his hips.
“I love you,” he whispered, and Irina’s heart fluttered. “All of me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered back, and Grant’s hands tightened around her waist. His warm green eyes almost glowed as he gazed up at her, all the tension easing out of his face.
“I might not understand everything about shifters, but I want to learn,” she said, brushing a curl off his forehead. “We’ll figure it out together.”
“Together,” he repeated, his voice husky.
She guided his hands to the hem of her t-shirt, and he pulled it off her, slowly, as though he was unwrapping a precious treasure. She wasn’t wearing any panties, and by the time he dropped the t-shirt off the side of the bed, her naked skin was burning for his touch.
“God, you’re so beautiful,” he breathed, green eyes gazing hungrily at her.
Irina lowered herself down again, kissing him deeply. An electric hum of arousal was building inside her, sensitizing her skin. But she didn’t want the fast, hectic lovemaking they had enjoyed their first time. “I want to take my time,” she said, murmuring into his lips.
Irina moved her hands down Grant’s chest, enjoying the solid curves of his muscles under her fingers. His nipple hardened as she brushed over it, and she stroked it again, amazed at how quickly Grant’s body reacted to her touch.
Grant moaned as she bent down and licked his nipple. Her own body was responding, too, her pulse quickening as she explored Grant inch by inch. Grant swept her hair back off her face and she looked up at him. His eyes were heavy with lust.
Irina looked away and began to kiss her way down his torso. Her full breasts brushed against his abs, and she felt him tremble with desire.
At last, her lips met fabric.
She slipped her fingers over the hem of his sweatpants and eased them down slowly. Grant’s cock was already fully erect, straining against the fabric. She couldn’t help but stroke it as she pulled his pants down. It was as thick and long as she remembered, and she licked her lips as she remembered how Grant had plunged into her the last time, pinning her to the bed.
She ran her fingers along the shaft of Grant’s cock, up to its heavy head. Grant moaned and she grinned up at him before sinking her lips over it.
“Oh, God,” she heard Grant gasp. His hips bucked a little, pushing his cock deeper into her mouth.
Irina swirled her tongue over its head, slowly, savoring Grant’s arousal. Her own pussy throbbed. She was wet and ready to be filled… but as she had told Grant, she wanted to take her time.
She hummed, taking him deeper into her mouth so he would feel the vibration. Grant clutched at her hair.
“Oh, God—Irina—I want you so much—” He brushed her face with one thumb, and she locked eyes with him, still holding his cock in her mouth. As he watched her, she licked her way down the shaft, listening to him moan, one hand gently holding her head, the other desperately clenching onto the bedsheets.
She gave his cock one last, lingering lick, and then pulled away. “I want you too,” she breathed, pressing her body again his. Her whole skin felt as though it was on fire.
Irina nuzzled her way back up Grant’s body, tangling his hair in her fingers as she pulled him into a deep kiss that left her panting. Grant stroked his hands down her back and waist, rounding the curve of her ass with a squeeze.
Grant groaned and gripped her around the waist, rolling on top of her and positioning himself between her open legs. The tip of his cock pressed against the wet folds of her pussy, tantalizingly close.
“I love you,” Grant breathed as he sank home into her.
He was slow and controlled, but Irina still caught her breath as the thick girth of his cock stretched her. She could feel every inch of him, hard and thick, pushing her closer towards release.
She gasped as he buried himself completely inside her. Somehow, the slowness made him feel bigger, as though her body had more time to understand just how massive his cock was.
Irina rocked her hips gently, feeling Grant’s cock press against every nerve inside her. Her fingers tightened instinctively around his waist as electric bursts of desire thrilled through her.
Above her, Grant moved with a cat’s grace, pulling out with painful slowness and filling her again. Irina’s whole body was focused in on the connection between them, her arousal so intense it was almost painful.
“Look at me,” Grant whispered, and Irina opened her eyes, falling into Grant’s forest-green gaze. His eyes, half shut, smoldered with lust, and Irina was lost inside them, tumbling headlong into an orgasm that shook her from head to toe.
She cried out as she heard Grant groan above her, his cock pulsing deep inside her as his own orgasm struck. They clung to each other, gasping as waves of pleasure rolled through them.
Irina was panting as though she’d been swimming and just breached the surface. Her nose was full of the scents of sweat, and sex, and Grant. Her Grant. Her mate.
“Oh, my darling,” she murmured, knotting her fingers in his hair. “How was I so lucky as to find you?”
“I’m the lucky one,” Grant murmured into her shoulder, his breath caressing her skin. Irina wriggled happily as he nuzzled along her collarbone and up her neck. “I’m the one who…”
The sound of a cellphone buzzing interrupted him. Grant groaned.
“…I’m the one who told Lance I’d go along to his debrief after you woke up,” he admitted. “Damn it.”
“Debrief?” Irina pushed herself into a sitting position. Lance, the snow leopard. The PA who took out a team of soldiers as easily as cutting flowers. “Is Lance ex-military, or something? He really seemed to know what he was doing yesterday.”
“Or something,” Grant said. “That sounds about right. His aunt’s high-up
in the Army, and Lance…” He shrugged. “I don’t know exactly what he did before he started his shifter PA work, but I’m sure he was as good at it as he is at spreadsheets and scheduling.”
He pulled himself up beside Irina, offering his chest as an alternative to the backboard. Irina took up the offer without a second thought. Her mind was still deliciously hazy from their lovemaking, and really, she couldn’t think of anything better than lazing here in Grant’s arms.
She tipped her head back and gazed up at him. He stared back, a smile twitching at the corner of his lips. One of his hands drifted down her side to the curve of her hip.
“What are you thinking?” he asked softly.
“About Lance?” she teased.
Grant groaned, and she laughed.
“I was thinking… oh, it’s silly, but I was thinking how safe I feel. How happy.” She reached up to stroke Grant’s cheek, feeling his stubble under her fingers. “And I was, very slowly, coming around to the thought that I need to get out of this lovely, warm bed, and we need to go and find out what Lance has to say.”
Grant closed his eyes briefly. “You’re right,” he said. “I don’t know how much he will have found out in twelve hours, but it’ll be best to touch base with everyone.” He paused. “No more keeping people in the dark. Not you, and not my friends. We need to work together if we’re going to figure out what the hell is going on.” Irina found his hand and squeezed it. “Let’s get moving, then.”
22
GRANT
Grant’s panther senses went on high alert the moment he stepped through the door. He frowned and pulled Irina closer to his side, trying to figure out what his panther was telling him.
It was strange, working with his panther’s instincts, rather than against them. But it felt good, too. It was right. Just like being with Irina was right, good, and the best thing that could possibly have happened to him.
He concentrated. What is it? Something unusual…
Grant had followed Lance’s directions to this building to the letter. It was an unremarkable office block on an unremarkable street, and he and Irina had walked through the unremarkable front door into an unremarkable, beige-colored foyer.