Claire glanced at Orrick before turning back to Leukos. “There’s something I want to discuss with you when we get back.”
“Okay. Let’s head back to the house and—”
“I want to discuss…this thing…in private…” she swallowed thickly, “if that’s okay?” Maybe she was making a mistake.
That sexy smile was back. No. She definitely wasn’t making a mistake. “I’ll take you to my nest. We can talk in private there.”
“O-okay.” Shit! She was nervous. Claire watched him transform in front of her. From a sexy-as-sin man into a beautiful beast. Her heart beat so fast she was sure that the inside of her ribcage must be bruised. She only hoped that she didn’t chicken out on the route home.
Chapter 7
What was it Claire wanted to tell him?
What could it possibly be?
Maybe more had happened with Orrick than she had let on. Maybe she hadn’t felt comfortable speaking her mind in front of him. Had the male hurt her? He was tempted to fly faster. To fly all out, but she had made him promise not to.
His feathers bristled. Leukos bit back a screech. He didn’t want to scare her all over again. The female had been terrified enough for one day.
It seemed to take an age, but he finally spotted his nest and descended – not too fast ‒ landing on the ledge. He was careful not to hurt the human as he placed her on the floor. They were such fragile creatures.
He quickly shifted, noting that her eyes were wide and her skin pale.
What the hell?
Whatever it was, it was bad. He took her hand and helped her through the doorway to his nest. “Are you okay?” He noted that she was breathing heavily. It was adrenaline. It coursed through his own system too, demanding he take action.
“Yes.” She nodded, still looking pale and frightened.
“You’re not.” He took a step towards her. “I can tell. What is it?” He furrowed his brow, trying not to be too gruff and demanding.
“I’m not sure I should tell you anymore. You seem angry. Maybe this was a mistake.”
“Are you hurt? Is that it?” He let his eyes drift down her lush body. So tall for a human. Her chest was plump. He felt his balls pull tight and quickly looked away, willing his prick to stay under control.
Blast! It wasn’t easy, since she smelled good too. Leukos breathed through his mouth.
“I’m not hurt.” She lifted her arm and touched her hand to her elbow. “This is nothing.”
“What is it then? I can see there is something on your mind. Something you are not telling me.” He forced himself to stay where he was. Forced himself not to walk into her personal space. To look her in the eyes and demand answers. “Is it Orrick? What aren’t you telling me?” He felt his feathers rub, felt his fur threatening to erupt. His jaw tightened. Hell, his whole body tightened, but it couldn’t be helped.
“It’s nothing like that. It’s just that I wanted to pick you when you gave us the opportunity and Amy beat me to it. I should have said something, but I didn’t. I guess I’m too nice,” she blurted, saying the whole sentence in one quick go. “There,” she looked down, before looking back up at him, the column of her throat working, “now you know.”
It was the very last thing Leukos had expected to hear. He found himself momentarily at a loss for words. He even, like a juvenile, took a small step back. What? He ran what she had just said through his mind a second time just to be sure he had understood that correctly.
“Oh no!” She covered her mouth with her hand for a second and then pulled in a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I just stuck my foot in my mouth, didn’t I? I mean, you and Amy were probably having a great time when—”
“No, we weren’t. Okay, that’s not entirely true.” He widened his eyes. “Amy was talking…she talks a lot. I couldn’t get a word in.”
Claire grinned. “Yeah, she does talk quite a lot but that can be nice, at least you don’t have to think of something to say.”
“It’s better when both people take turns. At least, I think it is. I was hoping you would pick me. I was disappointed to be going on a date with Amy. Not that there is anything wrong with her. I wanted you to pick me.”
She smiled broadly. Her gorgeous blue eyes lit up. They reminded him of the sky on a clear winter’s day. “You did?” Her cheeks turned a touch pink. “I didn’t think—”
He stepped in, cupping her cheek with his hand. He’d been right earlier. Claire had been – what was the human saying – checking him out. She’d kept her eyes on his prick for a good long time before averting her gaze. He’d known it. This female was interested in him. Backing off a whole lot had worked this time. Problem was, he was done backing off. Hearing about her interest in him made him want to dive in headfirst. He was done playing. Then again, maybe he was just getting started.
Her eyes widened and her pupils dilated. Her mouth parted around a soft gasp as he hooked an arm around her waist. He gave her a second or two to turn him down. Leukos captured her lips with his, tasting her…savoring her. Delicious! He pushed his tongue into her mouth and deepened the kiss. She moaned against him, her fingers digging into his biceps.
He groaned deep in response and squeezed her ass…so lush…so—
Then he felt her tense. Leukos broke the kiss, loathe to pull back completely, he hovered an inch or two from her lips. He realized two things, he had her ass in both his hands and his very erect prick was pushing up against her t-shirt clad belly. Claire was panting hard. Her eyes were filled with both shock and…what he hoped was excitement. Maybe a hint of fear as well.
Blast!
“Too quick?” he asked.
“I’m sorry but—”
He pulled away completely. “You have nothing to be sorry about. I am the one who should apologize. I stopped thinking there for a moment or two. In fact, I haven’t had a coherent thought since we arrived here…make that, since I heard of your abduction. I’m naked…” He looked down at himself, covering his erect prick with his hand. “I should change.”
She didn’t try to stop him.
* * *
What the heck was that?
What had just happened?
Claire’s mind was reeling, but only because she hadn’t wanted to stop. Claire wanted more, which was insane. She’d never done anything like this before. She’d never had sex with a guy on the first date, and they hadn’t even gone out on a date yet. Not to mention that she had just been through a rough ordeal. Sex should be the last thing on her mind…only, it wasn’t.
She’d never known someone this manly. This captivating. This…gorgeous. She enjoyed his company. Claire wanted to get to know everything about him. He ticked every box and then some. Heck, there were some boxes he ticked twice. How was that possible?
Leukos came back into the room, which she noticed was light and airy. The fittings were gold, as was the floor. Bright, gleaming, polished gold. How had it taken her so long to notice? Maybe because she’d been too busy ogling him.
Leukos wore jeans and a black, collared shirt. “Again,” he put up a hand, “I have to apologize. I shouldn’t have…done that. I—”
“I liked the kiss very much. I just couldn’t…you know…yet.” She widened her eyes.
He squeezed the back of his neck. “No…I get it. I do. We don’t know the first thing about one another. If you were Feral, it would be different. We’d…we’d be…”
“Having sex.”
“Most definitely, but you’re not a Feral, so…” he shrugged, “I’m fine with that. Let’s just enjoy the weekend together. Getting to know one another. There are more things between males and females than just mounting…than sex,” he quickly added.
Her sentiment exactly. “Why does your species refer to sex as mounting?” A stupid question. One she instantly regretted.
“Traditionally males…” he looked unsure, even a little shy. “Well, our males tend to crouch over females from behind. That’s why we call it mo
unting. Most of the other species refer to sex as rutting.”
She giggled, feeling all hot and bothered.
“I know, pretty crude, right?”
“Hey, who am I to judge? Humans call it screwing or fucking.” She got a strange feeling in the pit of her belly.
His cheeks had turned red. A massive, beautiful man like him was getting flustered and shy. It was incredibly appealing. “Sex aside,” he cleared his throat, “let’s have some…non-naked…fun together first.” His eyes widened. “I don’t mean that the way it sounds.”
She shook her head and laughed. “Don’t beat yourself up, it sounds good.” She smiled.
“Great!” He smiled back. Dimples appeared. Was there anything wrong with him? It didn’t seem like it. The man ‒ shifter ‒ was perfect. “Getting to know you would be good, since I don’t know very much yet. Let’s see. I know you’re too nice. Although I must say, I don’t really believe that a person can be too nice. You’re beautiful. You get nauseous when hanging upside down in mid-air…” He grinned.
Claire laughed.
“Oh, and you’re smart. How was that?”
Her laughter eased up into a giggle. “Very good. Let’s see what I know about you. I know your name is Leukos and that you don’t like being called Leuk.”
He chuckled wryly.
“You’re very strong. You’re a great flyer. I actually enjoyed the trip back here.” Then her expression sobered. “I also know that your fellow griffins call you…” she paused, “lord or sire. What’s up with that? Why would they call you that?”
He got this weird look. “It wasn’t something I planned on mentioning. I told them not to call me that,” he said, almost to himself. Then he sucked in a deep breath. “I guess some habits are just too ingrained. They call me sire and lord because I’m the Feral king.”
“King?” She frowned. “As in, you sit on a throne and wear a crown?” She hadn’t been expecting that.
“No.” He shook his head, smiling. “Of course not.”
Oh good, for a second there she thought she might be losing her mind. “So, you’re not actually a king then?”
“Although we refer to one, there is no actual throne, only a crown. I am ruler of all the Feral – except for the Fallen – but that’s a story for another day.”
She felt her jaw drop. “King,” she whispered. “You’re a king?”
“Is it going to be a problem? I’m hoping you’ll still want to date me.” He looked concerned.
“You tell me,” she prompted. “Should it be a problem? Should I be worried about dating the Feral king?”
“No.” He smiled, looking relieved.
“Okay then…I don’t think it’s a problem.”
“So, you still want to go on a date with me?” Despite being so strong and powerful, there was an insecurity about him. A hint of shyness. Claire found it endearing.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “Only, we have to let Worth and Amy know about the change.” She bit down on her bottom lip, feeling apprehensive all over again. Amy might be upset.
His eyes widened. “I hadn’t thought about that. Not for a second. We should let them know. In fact, I asked Worth to keep an eye on the female. He should be with her now.”
“Oh, shit! Worth!” She covered her mouth with her hand. “How is he? He was in bad shape earlier.”
“Don’t worry about Worth. He’ll be all healed up by now. It was Worth who alerted me to your abduction. That’s how I found you. He’s fine.”
“He was out cold when Orrick took me. There was plenty of blood.”
Leukos touched the side of her arm. “He’s fine. They were superficial wounds. No silver was used in the attack. You will see for yourself soon enough. Shall we go now and let them know? I think the sooner the better.”
“What will Amy say? I feel kind of bad now.”
Leukos smiled the half-smile that made her belly feel weird. “Don’t feel bad. Not when this feels like it could be…” He looked like he was searching for the right word.
“Could be what?”
“I don’t want to come on too strong, too soon, but it feels like this could be right. Us, I mean.”
“You’re not,” she assured him. It was moving fast but it did feel right somehow. It was definitely the lust talking. The attraction between them. It might not be more than that though.
He smiled and touched his lips to hers. The kiss over almost as soon as it began. It took her breath away. She had been wrong before about this being her second crush ever. This felt like a crush on steroids. A crush to rival all crushes. This made what she had felt for Steve ‘Blue-eyes’ Jackson seem like just a drop in the ocean. It didn’t matter that she had pined for the quarterback for two long years. It was nothing in comparison, and she’d only just met Leukos. Like a freaky animal attraction. She wondered if him being Feral had something to do with it. Like some or other pheromones were rubbing off on her.
Her heart was going nuts in her chest. Her lips tingled from the kiss. She wanted more – lots more ‒ it scared her but not enough to back off. Not nearly enough for that.
Chapter 8
The house was quiet. They’d expected to find Worth and Amy on the deck or in the living room. Claire picked up an empty glass on the dining room table. She held it up. “They were here.” She gestured to another half-empty glass.
The picnic basket was also on the table. There were two plates out, both bearing remnants of food scrapings as well as breadcrumbs and an apple core.
“Yes, they were here.” Leukos frowned. “Where would they have gone?”
“Maybe for a walk. Maybe looking for us.”
“Maybe.” He shrugged. “I just realized that you haven’t eaten anything.”
Her stomach grumbled…loudly. Claire clutched her belly and laughed.
Leukos laughed too. “Right! Can I fix something for you?”
“You can cook?”
“I’m a decent cook. ‘Good’ might be pushing it a bit.” He leaned on the kitchen counter.
“Wow! That’s impressive. A king who actually takes the time to cook. I’m terrible. I would burn water if that was possible.” She snickered. “I’ve had eggs burst and the food inside a casserole dish was so badly burned I had to throw away the whole dish.”
“That bad, huh?” He threw her a half-smile.
“Worse.” She bit down on her lower lip, trying to keep herself from laughing. “I forgot a pan of oil on the stove once and it may, or may not, have caught fire and destroyed half the kitchen.”
Leukos laughed. “That is pretty bad.”
“It wasn’t even my kitchen. I was trying to cook for a guy I was dating. I was trying hard to impress him and ended up burning down half of a room in his house.”
The skin around Leukos’ eyes crinkled. “I’m sure he would have been very impressed at all the effort you took.”
“He broke up with me.” She shook her head.
Leukos’ face darkened. “He broke up with you over a mistake? I assume you didn’t burn his kitchen down on purpose.”
“No, of course not.” She snorted. “I would never do such a thing. I went over about an hour before he came home from work to prepare him a lovely dinner. I had studied various recipes. I watched a couple of cooking shows. I thought I was prepared. I put the oil on to heat up. I was making twice-fried chips. I mean,” she grinned ruefully, “how do you get that wrong? Anyway, I got so busy making the salad and marinating the steaks that I forgot to check on the oil. It caught alight and…you know the rest. By the time I noticed, the curtain had caught fire and I couldn’t get the flames out. I tried…believe me I did.”
Leukos laughed. “I can picture it.”
“You’re laughing at me?” She joined in, unable to stop herself. “I had to call the fire department.” She managed between fits of laughter. “It wasn’t pretty. Rob was so angry when he arrived shortly after all hell broke loose. He ended it with me that evening.” Her laughter dried
up.
Leukos sobered. “Your story is really funny. I think it’s great that you tried to surprise your boyfriend. That you went to so much trouble. He should never have broken up with you over something so trivial.”
“I think he was having second thoughts about the relationship at that point. He used the fire as an excuse.” She held up a hand. “I can’t be sure, but I suspect as much.”
“Sounds like a loser to walk away from a female like you.” His eyes dipped for a split second before locking back with hers. The look in them made her breath quicken and her cheeks flush.
“I think we should perhaps stay away from actually cooking anything this evening, although I would love to see you in action.” He got a glint in his eyes that hinted that he might not be talking about cooking.
She smiled, feeling flustered. “Good idea.” Her stomach grumbled. “I guess I’m hungrier than I realized, so a quick fix might be in order.”
“Let’s have a look—” He began to open the picnic basket when a loud yell sounded. It was a woman, and most likely Amy.
“What?” Her first thought was that Orrick was back. “Is she…?” Another loud yell punctured the silence. It seemed to be coming from... She wasn’t sure. “Is she okay?” she asked.
There was another cry and then another. “It sounds like she’s being tortured! We have to find her!”
“Hold on—” Leukos began but she couldn’t stay to listen. Not with Amy in need of help.
Amy cried out. It was high-pitched and quite pitiful. Someone was hurting her badly. She could feel her heart thumping wildly as adrenaline flooded her system. She had to find the other woman. They had to save her.
Hate Awakened: Book 3: The Feral Page 6