ALPHA SPEED DATING (BBW) (Rocky Mountain Shifters) (10 page)

“It’s complicated. I didn’t expect to find her.”

“Mari?”

“My mate,” he responded, his need growing stronger to bond with Mari.

Sonya stared, unblinking at him. Silent for seconds. “Does she know?” she finally asked.

“Well, if she doesn’t, she soon will.”

The coyote shifter inhaled and looked him over as though seeing him for the first time. “Jesus. Her brother is going to kill me. One night at the Den, and my best friend’s life is about to change.”

“There’s a chance it could be the right road for her. I’m not an ax murderer.”

“If you break her heart, is there a difference? For your sake, you’d better hope this goes well.”

“So are we good?”

“No. But what would it matter?”

“Just so you know. It does.” He extended his hand, half expecting her to refuse.

Sonya laid her hand against his and shook. She rose, and Conrad followed suit.

“No one will bother you both.” Sonya stopped and turned toward him. “She likes champagne and candles. History. And don’t talk about the ocean. The rest you’ll have to discover on your own.”

It was his turn to stare. “I’m looking forward to getting to know Mari and protecting her.” That was his mission in a nutshell. Claim. Protect. One woman.

Mari’s friend nodded and left the table as the conversation hit home within him. He pressed his fingers against his brow. The startling truth of what Sonya had shared settled as a weighty mantle across his shoulders, then dissolved the hardened outer layers of his being, sinking deep within his bones. Not oppressive. Enlightening. Mari had been hurt on his account. Recently. His beast growled at the idea of someone causing her pain. More so because it was his fucking family.

He walked toward the exit, and Louis met him at the door. “So, you’re leaving.”

Conrad grimaced. “It’s getting late.” He extended his hand. Louis grasped and shook, a lopsided smile unfurling on his friend’s face.

“Or early.” Louis shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. “Take care.”

“Thanks, mate.” Conrad punched Louis in the arm and exited the bar into the outer hall, where subdued lighting fell and cast shadows on either side of him.

This time he didn’t stop to study the photographs he had taken on a journey where Sherpa people had led him and a small group of men and one woman, a healer, if he remembered correctly. They’d taken a week, winding through the Himalayas. One of the men was Shawn Barclay, a leopard shifter he’d not fully known at the time, except he was in trouble. They’d become friends on that trip when Shawn, accompanied Quinn, Tristen and Fin, had been on his way to rid his mind of demons or something equally toxic.

Their destination had been a Tibetan monastery. Unusual as hell, a mixture of wolves, a leopard, and a healer forming an extremely protective pack of friends.

Conrad’s arrival here tonight and the idea of finding oneself surprised the hell out him. When Sonya mentioned healing, it all made sense. A club like this for shifters, skating the edge of society as exotic creatures. A half-truth. Mysterious as an iceberg.

The dark wooden walls hugged in close as he walked over the polished floors. Each of his footfalls echoed down the passage. He found the back staircase without encountering another soul. Opened the door with a
whoosh
and then scaled the steps two at a time. Upstairs, he veered left down a wide corridor as his steps were hushed, cushioned by the plush carpeting. He stopped and deeply inhaled before room 19.

His senses locked onto one scent. He griped the doorknob. The fur underneath his skin prickled, the beast in him ready to burst into motion. His canines lengthened, scraping against the inside of his lips.

He opened the door and entered, shutting and locking the door behind him. The click of the lock broke apart the silence. He moved ahead, running his fingers over an entry table in a room that was more suite than bedroom. He scanned the room in search of Mari. Doorways opened to the right and left of the main room where sofas and chairs were arranged. His wolf eyesight adjusted to the lack of lighting easy enough. He used the information Sonya had provided, opening a drawer in a desk.

“What are you looking for?” Mari’s voice titillated his senses.

He glanced upward. Unprepared for the intoxicating sight of her, he tripped over his tongue. Her dark hair cascaded in waves, framing the jewel of her face.

“Beautiful. You’re mesmerizing,” he murmured, a man in a voodoo trance. She stunned him. His gaze lowered to the body-hugging slip she wore and his pulse climbed.

“Did you think you’d find me inside the desk?” she laughed softly.

“Oh, this. Matches,” he replied, amused, as his muscles tightened in an uncontrollable desire to take possession of this enchanting woman.

“Yes. It is rather dark.” Mari walked forward, the short hem of her slip hiked up her thighs with the sway of her hips. Miles of lush curves were hinted but not revealed. His wolf sat up and took notice.

He flicked a match, and a small flare burst. A speck of heat close to his fingers reminded him to get a candle and stop staring. Reaching for the candle on the cocktail table, he was fully captivated by this alluring woman and her she-wolf nature. The combination overtook him, and his fingers were all thumbs. He held the candle, savoring the way the flickering flame cast sensuous shadows, licking across her satiny skin.

“And this one.” Mari held a candle out to him, dipping the wick into the flame.

He forgot his next thought, how to breathe, his own name. Nothing mattered beyond her. A mystery. He was caught without witchcraft. His mate stood before him. Her scent overpowered him. Branded him.

“Mari,” he said hoarsely, struggling to put his thoughts in order. Never would he get her out of his mind. “Are you still angry about being forced to come upstairs?”

She softly laughed again, the feminine sound raking across his body, scattering shivers over his skin. “You didn’t exactly force me. I’m here and had time to consider this attraction we’ve got going on between us. There’s no point, as you said, to pretending. I only ask that you don’t lie to me. If this is one night, then fine.”

This powerful side of her beguiled him, another in the endless facets he was discovering about the woman he intended on claiming. A diamond hidden in plain sight. His. “I take it you’ve never been claimed.”

“You’d know. An alpha such as yourself. There isn’t much in my wolf shifter side that I could keep to myself this close to you. Scent, arousal, where I’ve been. A gift. Or a curse to be a female wolf.”

“Pure gift in your case.” She was right. The question was more to see if she’d admit to being in love. Not the same. They could mate, and love might or might not come. Nothing was certain when it came to the need to claim a mate. A risk he was willing to take. It was a full moon. Time. He took the candle from her hand and set it down. “How about a drink? A glass of champagne to celebrate.”

“New beginnings?” she asked.

“And journeys. A step we’ve taken coming up here.” He entwined her fingers in his and pulled her toward the bar. A wine cooler with a glass door was stationed behind the counter. “Champagne is in order.”

“Candles, champagne. What other weaponry should I expect?”

“Your friend merely mentioned what you liked. She obviously cares for you.”

“What else did Sonya say?” Mari shook her head and disentangled her fingers. “I hope this isn’t some random act of kindness on your part.”

He closed the distance between them, placing his hands on her shoulders, and gently shook her. “You already admitted we can’t fight our primal instincts. Same city. Chances are some day we’d find one another when you were in heat. Don’t go back to square one. I will claim you. Fuck you so hard and for so long you’ll know this isn’t an act. Baby, you’re a heartbeat away from wearing my scent. Only mine. The only thing you need to decide is, can you handle that I’m not into sharing? I want you for my mate. You can work, travel, do your own thing, but you’re mine. I’m a one-woman man, and I expect my mate to sleep in my bed.”

She pushed her hands against his chest. “Laying it on thick. How is that supposed to work when you travel to destinations that I can’t even pronounce the name of?”

“Been there. Done that. I was searching. I found who I was looking for.”

“Don’t lie to score.”

“Honestly, sweetheart, if I wanted strictly sex, that’s a phone call.”

“How’s that boot taste?” Her face reddened. “Ever been told less is more?”

“Don’t shut down on me.” He pulled her into his arms. “I didn’t mean that, love. Point is, there won’t be any more trekking. I’m putting away my traveling pants. From now on, the only photographs I plan on taking will be exotic and in the form of your face and body. For my eyes only.”

She nodded and rolled her eyes. “Good comeback.”

“This is going to be an arduously slow, intoxicating journey where I plan on memorizing all points along the terrain of your amazing body.”

“How are you so certain?” She looked up at him. Their gazes locked, a hit to his heart.

“Just am. Completely.”  He kissed the side of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair and skin.

Mari pressed her soft body into him. “Conrad, please.”

“God, I want you like no other. Ever.” He lifted her face and crushed his mouth down upon her lips.

He pulled Mari to him, tasting her. Opening his mouth, he swept his tongue across her lips. A wildfire spread through his body. She held back at first, but he teased her, sucking on her lower lip until she moaned and softened under him.

Mari parted her lips, inviting him to partake of her sweet mouth and slide his tongue against hers. She tasted of ripe berries and cream, a hint of lime prompting him to kiss her deeper, longer. The flavor of her mouth completed her erotic scent. Perfection. The essence swam in his blood. Marking him in ways impossible to describe or erase. His wolf craved her entirely. A primitive growl formed in his chest and expanded.

He prolonged the kiss, running his hands down her body, encircling her waist with his arm and drawing her up to him. It wasn’t enough. His cock pulsed inside his pants. Painfully ached each time she bumped against his shaft. He groaned at the fragrance of her perfume, her wolf scent, and he’d be on his knees if he didn’t find a way to control the urge to claim her. He towered over her, this fragile woman—his mate.

Conrad desired that she come willingly to him, for all he’d tricked, forced, and cajoled her presence. From this point on, he hoped that she desired this bond as much as he did. “I must have you. She-wolf and woman.”

“We hardly know each other,” she said when he relaxed his hold.

“Isn’t it enough we both hunger for this? Unbreakable. Unshakable force.”

“Yes. And no,” she whispered, pulling back and licking her lips. Her mouth tingled from his tantalizing kiss. “You’ve changed from when we first spoke about the Den. You’ve suddenly done a one-eighty. What gives?” She smiled up at him, but inside was dead serious. Sonya couldn’t have convinced him. This wasn’t a man who was swayed unless it suited him.

“One of the reasons we’re so good together—your instincts do you justice. For all my blockhead ways, you’re sharp, baby. I do listen. And after what I’ve seen, this place isn’t exactly a shack where sex is delivered down and dirty on a corner.”

“You’re a man accustomed to luxury, so none of the outer trappings mean much. Something changed your mind.” The devil was most assuredly in the details and she wasn’t about to accept his change in position lightly.

“I sympathize with the problems plaguing shifters. It might have been me coming here if I didn’t have an escape route. My family, for all I avoid them, still gave me the financial means to make sense of my life, but now they’re out for blood.” His eyes beguiled her in wanting to reach out to him.

She stopped to consider whether or not to tell him the truth about her experience with his family. “You, or rather your life is well-known.” She knew she had to admit she was one of the press involved. The words stuck in her throat.

“This isn’t just about me. I get that other shifters need help. I’ve been searching a lifetime for something meaningful to do. No sense in letting my experience, connections, and understanding go to waste when I’ve finally found a place to build a life. I’m ready to pitch in and do my part. I don’t expect it to be easy.”

Conrad’s admission hit home within her. “You impress me,” she whispered.

“I want to come clean. There isn’t any room for lies between us. You’re too important to me.” He pulled out the bottle of champagne.

“Can we skip the champagne?” she asked, leaning over the counter.

He twirled the bottle in his hand, showing her the label. “Not even a sip? I would gladly drink from your slipper.”

“No, you won’t. These shoes were worn by Elizabeth Woodville. Please, please. I’d end up in prison or worse.”

“I’d never let anyone take you away.” He laughed. “Just my luck…”

“That you’re attracted to a woman wearing a queen’s clothing.”

“That I’m attracted to a princess worried about clothing.”