Billionaire: Billionaire Romance: Billionaire Tiger (A Billionaire New Adult Shifter Contemporary Romance) (14 page)

Unable to stop herself, Alexa lifted the necklace and placed it around her neck. she reached up under her long black hair. Before she could secure the clasp, she felt a pair of hands on hers take the necklace and fasten it for her. She gasped and spun around, jumping back when she found Dane standing before her.

"Oh my gosh! I...I didn't even hear you. I'm so sorry! I--I feel awful!"

She reached up to try to remove the necklace but when she locked eyes with him, she stopped. He had a slight smile on his face as he stepped toward her. It was like he was moving in slow motion as he reached for the pendant and touched it. His fingertips grazed her skin and she immediately felt a surge of electricity pass between them.

"Please, don't apologize. After everything you've done for me, allowing you to wear this is the least I can do." His gaze followed the necklace, moving down to where the pendant rested between her breasts. "It's like it was made for you."

"But I--I've only done what any decent doctor would do. And even then I've hardly done anything at all."

"Nonsense. You saved me."

It was strange but the more she looked into his eyes, the more she felt like he wasn't a stranger. There was an intense draw that he had on her. She felt intimidated by him. Not to mention the dream she'd just had.

She tried to brush off the thought and moved away from him. "Now that you're feeling better, I...I should probably go."

Alexa turned and had every intention of leaving the house, but what she saw behind her made her stop dead in her tracks.

Above the fireplace was an oversized oil painting. The room, like much of the rest of the house, was dimly lit, so at first, she was only able to make out the flowing gown on the subject of the painting. The fabric was a deep crimson that pooled on the floor around the woman's feet. As Alexa moved closer and her eyes adjusted to the darkened room, she looked up at painting and at first, thought maybe she was dreaming again. As she followed the woman's figure up to her face, she was immediately confused and it took her brain time to process exactly what she was seeing.

Long, dark curls cascaded down the front of the dress and when she looked at the face of the woman, she felt her heart skip a beat. The face looked so much like Alexa's that she felt confused, enchanted and afraid all at once.

The deep, violet eyes, the lips pursed together in a slight smile that turned up at the corners and displayed two tiny dimples on either side. A small birthmark nestled above the cupid's bow of her lips. It was like looking into a mirror.

The skin was white and as pale as porcelain and the eyes glowed violet, almost otherworldly.

She started to back away from the painting, unable to understand exactly what she saw. It was somehow her in the painting and yet...not her.

Her heart raced, her body shook, her hands had gone stark freezing cold. Alexa spun around and was about to run out of the room when she ran smack into Dane. She screamed, her legs went weak and collapsed under her. Dane managed to catch her before she fell completely.

For a moment she looked up at him. His eyes flickered and sparkled golden in the firelight. She couldn't explain it but she wasn't exactly afraid of
him
. She was afraid of what she saw.

"I've got you. You're fine."

"N-no! I'm not fine! I don't understand this...any of this!"

"Please, everything is fine. Don't panic, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Would you stop saying that? It's not fine! What is...is....is...that?!"

She reached out with a shaking hand and pointed at the painting, unable to look at it again. Before Dane could give her an explanation, she backed away from him. "I have to get out of here!"

Alexa spun around, but in her attempt to run, she tripped over her own feet and nearly fell to the floor. Dane managed to catch her and effortlessly lifted her back onto her feet. Not expecting his touch, she staggered and fell against him. She tried to push away from him and placed both her hands on his chest, but he held her there. For whatever reason, she didn't protest. No matter how much she was screaming inside her own mind to get the hell out of there.

Her heart raced so fast that she was sure he felt it through her chest, but he was calm, his face serene, a soft smile on his lips as he watched her reactions. She kept her hands on his chest but couldn't feel his heart racing at all.

"I told you, I won't hurt you. I never would, never will."

Alexa was shivering. "Please," she whispered. "Let me go."

For a moment, his gaze softened and he looked almost sad, but he nodded softly before releasing her.

Alexa bolted around him, ran out of the room and rushed down the hallway. She took the steps as quickly as she could, almost tripping a number of times but soon, she was down on the main floor. As she approached the door, she saw the old man standing there. She stopped in her tracks, afraid he was going to stop her or try to restrain her but instead, he held her coat out for her.

She went to him cautiously, studying his face for some sort of sign but he simply lifted the coat to her. She spun around, shoved her arms into the sleeves before she bolted past him, flinging the door open and running down the steps. She ran to her car and tore the door open. She took one last look up at the window on the top floor. A tall, thin figure silhouetted against the blackness. She knew it was him, it was almost as if she could see a soft green glow - his eyes. Those emerald eyes.

CHAPTER 5

For the next two days, Alexa felt haunted. Every thought she had was of Dane. Around every corner, she almost expected to find him. More than once, she caught a whiff of something the smelled similar to his cologne and she spun around in circles, searching the crowd to find him, but he wasn't there.

At home, it was worse. She fell into feverish dreams where she was running through the forest, scraping her legs on thorns and overgrown roots, tumbling into the darkness, only to be saved by a strong hand reaching down and pulling her out of the darkness. They spiralled up into the sky, spinning around in the starlight.

A few nights after she finally forced her to stop thinking of him, she was in a dead sleep, the first dreamless night in so long. She was trapped in a dream-state, unable to stop it. She couldn't see him, couldn't smell him, but she could sense his presence.

Instead of the forest dream, quick flashes of Dane's face came to her, rushing out at her from the darkness. But instead of his sexy, smouldering look and shining emerald eyes, his face was twisted and contorted in pain.

He reached out for her and even as Alexa reached for his hand, he was always just out of reach, screaming in agony, fading away from her.

Alexa bolted up in bed and threw the covers off. She jumped up before she could stop herself. She snatched her jeans off the chair next to her bed and slipped them on. She was halfway toward the door and grabbing her shoes before she stopped herself.

“
What am I doing?”
she said, spinning around and throwing her hands up in the air.
"What the hell am I doing? What is it with this guy?"

But the look on his face, the pain. She took two steps toward the door, then stopped herself again, taking another step back then forward again.

"Argh!" she screamed. "What am I doing to myself? Why am I putting myself through this for some stranger?"

But even as she said the words she knew she was lying to herself. A stranger, yes, but there was some reason she felt connected to him, like she'd known him all her life. She couldn't bare to sit there if there was really something wrong with him. She was in him now, her blood flowed in his veins. She had to know why he had this hold on her, why she felt like she'd known him all her life when she only just met him a few days ago. Why his face haunted her dreams long before she'd even met him.

Before she could talk herself out of it, Alexa grabbed her purse, went out the front door and locked it behind her.

"He's going to think I'm nuts, showing up in the middle of the night," she said, starting her car and peeling away from her apartment building.

Through the darkened city streets Alexa sped. She skimmed through red traffic lights and barrelled around corners out to the edge of town where Dane's house stood. As she came to the long driveway, she slowed the car and sat there for a moment. But as flashes of Dane's face came to her, she couldn't stop herself. She floored it, sped up the drive and came to a stop at Dane's door.

In two seconds flat Alexa was out of the car and up the steps, pounding on the front door. She waited as she shifted from one foot to the other. She was freezing, but she wasn't sure if that was from the cold night or rush of adrenaline wearing off.

When the door opened, he was standing there. He didn't look surprised to see her.

Alexa shouted and held the necklace out to him. "What is this all about then, huh?"

When he didn't take it, she tossed it on the floor. The moment she did it, she felt afraid of what he might do, but he remained calm and bent over and picked it up. He stood and held it out to her.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Look, I don't know what games you're playing but I want to know the truth. Now!"

"I told you before. I won't lie to you."

"Really?! Okay then!"

"What is it you want to know?"

"Everything!"

"Starting with?"

"That...that...painting you have upstairs. Why does the woman in it look like me?"

"Does she?"

"You know she does!"

He remained quiet, studying her. "Do you dream?" he finally said.

Alexa threw her hands up in the air. "What does that have to do with any of this?"

"It's a simple question, Alexa. Do you dream?"

"Of course I do. Everyone does."

"Perhaps," he said, taking a step closer to her. "But not everyone lives to experience a dream that comes to fruition."

Alexa shook her head. "I thought you said you weren't going to play games with me, Dane."

"I'm not."

"Then what is this all about?"

"Your dreams. My dreams."

She felt her face grow warm. The way he stared at her, his emerald eyes flickered gold, it made her stomach do somersaults. It was almost as though the longer he looked at her the more of her he could see; her thoughts, her fears. Her dreams.

She snapped back to reality. He couldn't know, could he? The things she'd seen in her dreams? The things she'd seen him do, the things she wished he'd do to her.

Dane took another step forward, lifted his hand and placed it on her face. His skin was cool, fragrant, but in a few moments, she could feel her warmth radiating to him, making him warmer.

"I've had dreams, Alexa. For so long, I've dreamed of a shining light that would save me from the darkness in which I live. After waiting for so many years, I've finally found that light. And I will not let it go."

The moment his skin touched hers, Alexa saw a bright flash of light. Everything around them dropped away and instantly she was transported to that forest again, the place of her dreams, to a different time and place where Dane was as beautiful as he was now, just as young, just as magical.

She watched as he turned to look at her, and when his face came into focus and his lips pulled back into a grin, two white fangs peeked out from under his perfect lips.

Alexa gasped, catapulted herself out of the dream and back to reality where she was standing face-to-face with Dane.

"You see it now, don't you? Your blood...it saved me. You are the one I've been searching for all this time. Finally I found you. And now we will be together."

Her chest rose and fell with the excitement and fear of the vision and when he smiled at her, those two fangs slid down to reveal themselves.

For a moment, her heart fluttered but unable to stop herself, she reached up and with the tip of her finger, touched the tip of one of the fangs. It pricked her finger and as she drew it away, a tiny dot of blood formed at the tip.

Her gaze met his. It seemed as though neither of them was breathing, she tentatively lifted her hand and offered her finger to him.

He paused for a moment before lowering his head ever so slightly and when Alexa didn't pull away, his lips parted and he drew her finger between his lips.

The warmth of his tongue on her skin made her thighs instantly throb. She held her breath, waiting, and after a few moments, he licked her finger, drawing it deeper into his mouth.

Unable to stop herself, Alexa drew her finger out sharply, lunged for him and pressed her lips to his. He pulled her against his chest, kissing her firmly. She made a soft noise in the back of her throat as he kissed a trail from her lips to her earlobe.

Before things went any further, he pulled away from her momentarily. She looked up at him from under hooded eyelids, searching his face, and when she smiled softly, playfully at him, his lips curled back, revealing his teeth before he leaned in to kiss her on the neck.

Alexa could feel her pulse race as he pressed his lips to her soft skin, she was sure he could feel it to. She felt his lips part, his breath on her neck made her entire body tingle, and when she didn't think she could wait any longer, his fangs plunged into the crook of her neck.

Alexa gasped, threw her head back and dug her fingernails into his back, which only made him clamp his mouth more tightly against her skin. Dane picked her up easily in his strong arms. He took the staircase two-by-two until they were on the top floor. In a few steps, he'd gone down the corridor to the study, pushing through the doorway until they were in front of the fireplace.

Softly, Dane laid Alexa down. Alexa wanted more and she traced her gingerly along her neck, enticing him..

He let out a moan as he clamped his mouth to her neck again. She cried out, giving herself to him completely. She allowed him to rock her body, drink from her, to take her life force into him. She felt lightheaded and she was sure she floated in a dream. He slipped his hand down her front, sliding it between the thin fabric of her panties and slipped two fingers inside her.