Chapter 5 #3
“That’s probably a good policy,” he quipped, feeling once more the triumph of knowing his mate was selective.
He would have to put some effort into winning her, which pleased his inner cat.
“But just in case you’re still worried about me prowling around under your window all night, in this particular case, I need to be seen leaving here and going about my business elsewhere.
I’m a little too high profile, and after the elevator incident, it’s possible you’re being watched.
If they see me arrive but not leave, that increases their interest in you, which is something I want to control while we can. ”
She looked as if she was considering his words. She was appropriately serious, but not afraid. That was good. He didn’t want her to be afraid of the challenges of a life with him.
“I understand. And I’m impressed at the thought you’ve put into this. Thank you for being concerned for my safety. I’m not really used to such treatment from my clients.”
“Querida…” He reached out to take her hand in his. He would be patient, but he also needed to make her aware of his interest in no uncertain terms. “I hope to be much more than a mere client to you.”
He brought her hand to his lips and placed a nibbling kiss on the back, moving up to her delicate wrist. She was fine boned, but fierce. His mate was a woman he would enjoy spending years getting to know. Starting right here and right now.
She didn’t move back when he moved closer. Her breath caught when he lifted his head and zeroed in on her lips. When his mouth touched hers, she melted into him, as if she’d been waiting all night for this. For him.
Oh, yes. This was the magic of a mate. The perfect alignment of souls. The desire that would never end and always be fulfilled.
Mark kissed like a dream. A fantasy come to life. A warm breath of spring on a long winter’s night. Welcome. Refreshing. Utterly enchanting.
But there was a dark side to him, as well. A secret purring beneath his skin. She remembered the feel of the big cat’s fur under her fingers and was seduced all over again by the magic of him. Was it her imagination or was something sparking between them?
Mark broke the kiss and moved back to look in her eyes. She didn’t want him to go.
“What was that?” he asked, as if he, too, had felt the sparks.
She just shook her head and moved closer.
This time, she took his lips, reclaiming what she wanted, taking as well as giving.
She would show him that she wasn’t just a female to be led around and cajoled into whatever he wanted.
She was a strong woman with a mind of her own. Best he knew that at the outset.
She wasn’t sure about the truth of it, but Mark had a reputation in the tabloids for being a bit of a chauvinist. She’d nip that right in the bud…
if it was true. From everything that she had seen so far, she didn’t think there was much truth to that story.
Sure, he surrounded himself with big burly security guards, but she’d seen a female face or two at his side, as well.
The press probably mistook the knockout babes who traveled with him as part of his supposed harem, but she’d seen the way he looked at them.
As equals. Not as objects. They were part of his Clan, she’d bet.
Female shapeshifters with unbelievable power.
Strong women whom he respected. It was clear in the way he dealt with them.
Shelly had watched from afar as he’d been about to take the stage at the dinner.
Others might have mistaken the woman at his side for his date, but Shelly knew differently.
She’d pegged the tall, dark woman as a colleague, not a bed partner.
Shelly was seldom wrong about these sorts of things.
She’d always had a special sort of radar when it came to judging relationships between people.
She could almost see the bonds that wove between intimate couples.
There was a special glow about them that she immediately recognized on some basic level.
She’d always known who was spoken for and who was free.
Shelly had managed to avoid some messy situations with married men that way in the past, and she trusted her own powers of observation.
Still… It wouldn’t hurt anything to double check. She broke the kiss and leaned far enough back to meet his gaze.
“You’re not involved with anyone, right?” It was a question, but the way she spoke the words made it more like a statement.
His grin lit his eyes from within. An unearthly light full of magic and wonder. She could get lost in his eyes if she wasn’t very careful.
“Querida, I would not be here with you if I was pledged in any way to another. You’ll learn that I am not that kind of man. The newspapers portray me as some sort of playboy, but the truth is a lot more sedate, I assure you.”
She believed him. She might be proven a fool at a later date—though, she thought not—but for now, she trusted her instincts.
“The women in your entourage,” she went on, wanting everything out in the open before they went any further. “They’re like you. Part of your Clan. Not a harem of girlfriends, like the gossip columns claim.”
His eyes narrowed, searching her gaze. “You realized that for yourself, didn’t you?”
Shelly shrugged. “I’ve always been good at reading people and situations.”