Chapter 1 #2
“Of course. You’ve had a rather rude introduction to me and my people.
We’re going to have to work hard to change your opinion of us.
” He stood from his perch on the arm of the chair and walked up to her.
He came close. Almost too close. She had to crane her neck upward to meet his mesmerizing gaze.
“I’m sorry we scared you, Shelly. Nick is naturally protective of me, which I count as a good thing, but in this instance, I could wish he’d gone a little easier on you.
I don’t want my future mate afraid of me. ”
“Your what?” Had she heard him right?
“Mark?” Nick spoke at nearly the same moment as she did, confusion and concern clear in his tone.
“You both heard me.” Mark’s smile was for her alone as he gazed deep into her eyes.
She felt drugged by his presence, unable to move, even as he stepped closer and caught her in his arms. “You two are going to have to learn to get along,” he whispered as his lips dropped to hers, claiming her in a kiss that she should not have allowed but was powerless to resist.
Mark purred as he kissed his woman. Purred. In human form. Lady Bless! What he had suspected when he’d first scented her was true. She was his destined mate. The woman he had searched every continent to find…and here she was. In his arms at last.
The wave of recognition and longing that had hit him when he first entered her hotel room had only gotten more urgent the longer he breathed the air that still held her scent. He had lifted her garments out of her overnight bag and sniffed the heady aroma of his woman.
At last. At long last.
Then, anger had filled him as he remembered why he was there.
He’d stalked to the would-be assassin’s room, sniffing loudly and not caring who heard or saw him.
His men surrounded him, and he knew they wondered at his silent anger, but he had no words for them.
He wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d sniffed every last article in the man’s room and was certain there was not even the faintest trace of his mate on the other man’s things.
To think she would betray him was a dagger through his heart. He didn’t breathe easy until he was certain there was no lingering connection between her and the man who had tried to shoot him.
There wasn’t. Praise the Mother of All. Mark didn’t need that kind of complication on top of everything else. His mate was innocent.
And human.
And totally unaware of what he was, or that his kind even existed.
But the man who’d tried to kill him had known. The bastard’s gun had been loaded with silver bullets. More specifically, silver hollow points, packed with powdered pure silver dust. Poison to his kind. Being shot by one of those bullets would have guaranteed an agonizing death.
That thought alone allowed him to break the kiss and step away. He had to play this game, and play it well. She didn’t know what she was dealing with, and someone very dangerous was gunning for him. Not the man who’d shared her cab. He was just a pawn in a much larger game.
But the one who’d sent him had known when and where to strike.
The attack had been designed to either kill Mark or make him expose himself.
Few shifters could control their transformation when in the extreme agony of silver poisoning.
Mark could, but few realized just how powerful an Alpha he truly was.
His enemy knew Mark was a shifter but was still probing to find out how strongly his beast rode him.
This little feint had all the earmarks of a test. Fortunately, his men had neutralized the threat before it had reached him.
With any luck, the enemy was still in the dark about the extent of Mark’s abilities—although they had no doubt learned to respect those Mark kept around him as security.
The next feint would not be so bold, nor so easy to evade. The thought sent a chill through Mark’s blood, effectively cooling his head enough to think of his mate’s welfare.
“Miss Howell, forgive me. I know you are neither easy nor likely to give yourself to me for selfish reasons. I will put no pressure on you in that way, rest assured, but there is a deeper game afoot here than you realize. First, you need to know that I’m not entirely human.”
“Mark!” Nick objected, as Mark had known he would. The first rule of being what they were was not to reveal themselves to the outside world. The secrecy of their kind had to remain sacrosanct.
The one exception was when one of their number found a mate among the humans. As Mark had just done.
Sweet Mother of All. He really, truly, had a mate, and she was standing right there, in front of him with disbelief and a bit of fear on her gorgeous face.
He grimaced. It was going to get worse before it got better, but he had to believe the Mother of All would not have granted him a mate with a weak character.
Shelly was going to learn some hard truths in the next few minutes, and how she reacted would tell him a great deal about how they would go on from here.
“Is the room secure?” Mark spared a quick glance for Nick, a hand signal telling his best friend to stand down.
“As secure as it can be off our home turf,” Nick replied. The tilt of his head spoke volumes about his skepticism and worry over what Mark planned to do next.
“She needs to know.” Mark gave Nick a longer look that said not to interfere.
“What do I need to know?” Shelly whispered, drawing his gaze back to her lovely face.
She was trembling, as she had been since he’d given in to desire and kissed her. Damn, she was beautiful and tasted so sweet… But he didn’t have time to linger. Her introduction to their world was going to have to be brutally short, but there was no help for it.
“Watch and learn.” He began to remove his clothing, and her eyes grew wide with alarm.
“What are you doing?” She moved back from him, probably fearing rape or worse.
He had to admit, he probably seemed like a madman at the moment, but there was no quicker way to prove he wasn’t insane. He had to shift. And to shift, he had to get naked. She’d calm down—or not—after she realized what he was up to.
“Don’t be afraid. You’ll understand it all in a minute. I promise. And nobody’s going to hurt you. Believe me, that’s the last thing on my mind.” He was bare-chested, and he liked the way her eyes followed his every move.
If he’d been the modest sort, he might’ve gone behind the couch to shuck his pants, but he’d never been especially reticent about getting naked in public, and he wanted her to see his body.
He wanted her to see every last detail of the shift, so she’d believe it.
He didn’t want there to be any doubt in her mind that he was what he was. She had to know and believe.
Her life might very well depend on it.
Mark called the beast and let the magic take him. He held her gaze as his body began to change, welcoming the blissful agony of the half-shifted battle form and then letting it go, all the way to his beast form. Jaguar. Black as night and twice as deadly.
He stalked forward silently on four paws, scenting his mate.
She didn’t back away, and the beast liked her courage as he sniffed at the soft fabric of her dress.
Other scents mingled on the fabric—cleaning chemicals, other people, the aromas of the food and drink that had been served at the party—but under it all was the warm, welcoming scent of his woman.
The one the big cat recognized as his alone.
The one the man inside the beast reveled in.
Her fingers reached out, and he placed his head under her hand, loving the feel of her fingers running over his scalp. Then his back. She moaned, her scent full of confusion and…wonder? It was a good sign.
“That’s enough, Mark.” Nick’s voice cut through the soft sound of her breathing.
She was nervous, but not afraid, and that gave him the strength to pull away from her touch. He’d showed her his beast to make her understand, but now, he had to talk to her as a man.
He stepped back from her and allowed the magic to overtake him once more.