Paige's Warriors (Bondmates Book 3) (5 page)

BOOK: Paige's Warriors (Bondmates Book 3)
7.85Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Paige’s anxiety increased the closer they got to the front of the neighboring farmhouse, and she stumbled a bit as her sandal kicked a big rock in the gravel. Back at Casey’s house, she’d had a mini freak-out about going over there, but her girls had pulled her through it and given her the strength to do something she found almost impossible. Go to a party where there would be men drinking alcohol. Her father was a terrifyingly mean drunk, and she’d been conditioned to associate alcohol with danger and fear. While her logical mind knew that was stupid and irrational, she couldn’t help her inbred fear. But that didn’t mean she had to give into it. She was strong, stronger than her base instincts, and she was going to enjoy meeting Casey’s new neighbors and maybe, if she was feeling very brave, she’d speak more than a word or two and stay longer than ten minutes.

She was so busy giving herself a pep-talk that she didn’t realize they’d arrived at the men’s home until she abruptly walked into Kimber’s back. Flushing, she hoped no one had noticed, but that hope died a quick and miserable death when she realized there were a ton of men now watching them, all with intense looks on their attractive faces that triggered her fight or flight response. Her body froze, ready to bolt, then she got a good, up close look at Casey’s man, Lorn.

Handsome, with tanned skin, light blond hair and bright blue eyes, he was a feast for the female senses, but that wasn’t what had caught her attention. It was the way he was looking at Casey—no, gazing at her. She’d heard the phrase ‘gazing with adoration’ before but had never seen it in real life until this moment. This Lorn, whoever he was, looked at her friend like she was the most amazing thing in the world. Paige was so focused on watching him that it took her a second to realize Casey was babbling, her nervous jumble of words barely making any sense.

When Lorn looked at her, Paige managed to spit out something stupid about making brownies while held by his bright blue gaze. Jeez, no wonder Casey was babbling. She was stunned stupid by him, and he wasn’t even unleashing that hot ‘do me’ stare he’d been giving Casey. Her friends weren’t much better, and by the time they’d managed to stammer out why they were there, they were making their way to the back of the house where the rest of the men were.

While her attention had been focused on the unfolding drama of Casey and Lorn, she’d almost forgotten how many half naked men were standing around. That is until they reached the back of the house and a whole army of them froze and stared. Kimber let out a little squeak, and Dawn gasped, while Lorn led Casey over to one of the two picnic tables situated near the house in the backyard. Dawn fumbled with the case of beer she held, and Paige managed to steady her, the weight of what felt like a thousand stares dissecting her bit by bit. The men’s stillness was unnatural, reminding her of the way cats would freeze right before they pounced on a plump, tasty little treat.

A shiver of fear ran through her, and the men closest to her took deep breaths, then frowned as if displeased by her.

Confused and starting to get freaked out, she was mentally making up excuses for being a chicken and running away when Casey said, “Say hi.”

Dawn went first, and then Kimber, but it took Paige a second to force her mouth open to speak, and even then her voice came out in a whisper as she said, “Paige, my name is Paige.”

Throwing an elbow gently in Paige’s side, Kimber muttered, “Let’s unwrap this stuff and set it out before I drop it.”

While they were doing this, Lorn said something to the men in a language Paige had never heard before. It was guttural, but smooth and totally foreign. Whatever he said made the man slowly stalking toward the table stop, give her a searching look, then relax. A few friendly smiles broke out here and there, and she marveled that they were able to go from predator to friendly guy in less than a heartbeat. A few started to head in her direction, each amazingly good-looking in their own unique way, but they quickly stopped and appeared almost alarmed for a moment before either returning to their training or going to talk to Dawn and Kimber.

As she removed the cling wrap from the still warm brownies, she wondered why no one was coming near her. Did Casey share with Lorn about Paige’s fear of men? If so, that pissed her off. Yes, she appreciated that her friends were trying to protect her, but how was she ever going to talk with a guy if they knew she was damaged goods? She didn’t want a man’s pity, she wanted his love.

The breeze shifted and the most delicious smell of earth, coffee, and musk washed over her a moment before a deep, super gravely man’s voice said, “Hello, Paige. It is my greatest pleasure to meet you.”

Everything, every tiny bit of her exploded into a million flares like someone had given her an electrical shock. Her whole body jolted, and even as her brain tried to process his odd and weirdly formal words, the entirety of her being swung in the direction of that remarkable voice. She’d never heard a man with a voice that deep—he put James Earl Jones to shame—and as she lifted her face way up to meet the owner of that voice, her senses heightened to the point that the sunset around her burned with colors brighter than anything she’d ever seen. Far above the rainbow ribbons of light from the Event undulated lazily in rippling displays of opalescent color.

This amazing sight illuminated a stunningly handsome man with a tortured face.

She gasped, unable to help herself, as she gazed upon the ruin of scars that ran from his temple to his jaw on his far left side. The tissue was twisted and thick, evidence of great pain and suffering. She had scars like that beneath her clothes, where no one could see them. And if she was being honest with herself, those ugly pink slashes over her stomach and thighs, places where glass had cut her when her father kicked her through a window, were a big part of the reason she’d avoided getting intimate with a guy. Eventually he’d want to touch her, and even her lower left breast had a long strip of raised skin going across the underside.

Yes, she knew what suffering felt like and her heart twisted in instant sympathy for this man. Her reaction was so intense that she failed to notice her silence was disturbing the big man staring down at her. And by big she meant huge. He had to be close to seven feet tall, but he wasn’t lanky. No, he was solid slabs of muscle that leant to the feeling of strength and control that radiated from him. Returning her gaze from his impossibly broad chest to his face, she found he had the most beautiful eyes, a pale gray surrounded by a ring of pure ice blue. Unusual eyes that stared at her with a desperation she didn’t understand. He had thick, short black hair threaded with platinum. Not a dull gray that made him appear old, but rather a distinguished silver that she found utterly sexy.

If her brain had been functioning at all, she would have also registered the way many of the men now openly watched them, something akin to awe filling their faces.

But none of this made even a blip on her normally hyperactive internal radar. The only thing she could do was drink him in, to slowly stare him up and down in a bold way she’d never done with a man before. Thick shoulders blending into a beefy chest with a light dusting of dark fur, again with bits of pure silver here and there. His body was amazing, his skin a dark tan that glowed with health. Normally the sight of burly, intimidating men turned her completely off, but this man, this stranger now backing away slowly from her—

Wait, why was he moving away with a crushed look on his face?

“Hey, where are you going?”

He paused, his chest now heaving as if he couldn’t catch his breath. “You fear me.”

“Pardon me?”

“You fear me.” He raised his hand to the damaged portion of his face, infinite sadness in his stormy gaze. “Forgive me.”

Sudden realization slammed into her, and she strode across the lawn toward him. When she reached up to touch his face he flinched back, something she did whenever anyone came near her marks, but she persisted. To her annoyance, he was so tall she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach him, but he made a strangled sound then lowered his head to her touch. In many ways it reminded her of the way the Beast had lowered his head for Belle’s caress. Somehow she just knew this large, battered man with a deadly presence craved her touch. A distant part of her mind was freaking out that she was petting some strange guy, but that was exactly what she was doing.

And he loved every minute of it.

Heat rose from his skin, and along with it more of that delicious earth and coffee scent. She traced her fingers over the scarring, noting the way he’d closed his eyes, how his breath had steadied. The pulse beating on his thick neck had slowed as well, and an almost drugging warmth flowed between them.

“I wasn’t scared by your face,” she said in a low voice. “You’re very handsome.”

He slowly shook his head. “Please, do not lie to me. I seek truth between us, if nothing else.”

Puzzled again by his formal speech, she let her fingers trail from his jaw, over another scar on his neck, before dropping to his chest. With her hand resting lightly on his heart, it was hard to do anything but feel him, lose herself in his presence. The faint scent of burning wood came to her, and the first stars began to appear on the horizon. Dimly she was aware of the sound of her friends laughing, but she couldn’t look away from the man staring down at her.

“I’m not lying.”

“I know females find them unpleasant to look at.”

She frowned up at him, then took her hand off his chest and put it on her hip, secretly unable to believe she was being so brave with this scary stranger. “So you’re saying your scars make you ugly and unworthy of love?”

“I…” He appeared to snap out of his melancholy, and a grin teased his lips that turned him from handsome to panty dropping hot. “No, little one, they do not.”

“Darn right they don’t.” She looked up and noted a few guys watching them closely. “Give me your hand.”

“Pardon me?”

Not waiting for him to act, she took his large hand in her own small one, a shiver of delight rasping through her at the feel of his hot skin. She should have known then what she planned to do was not a good idea, but she hated the thought of this obviously remarkable man feeling bad about himself. It must be hard for him, being surrounded by all these supermodel hot guys with his noticeable injuries. Without giving herself time to think, she slid his hand beneath the hem of her top, shivering at the feeling of his rough skin scraping over her soft belly with its hard lines of healed skin.

“I have scars. Does that mean I’m not worthy of love?”

Her voice came out in a broken whisper, and the man made a low sound of pain. “No,
alyah
, you are unbelievably worthy.”

She pressed her hand over his. “Then so are you.”

His large fingers spread out, almost spanning her rounded waist. “How did this happen?”

Abruptly her heart slammed in her chest as memories she kept at bay filled her. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Honest to God, he
growled
at her. “You will tell me.”

Jerking his hand from beneath her shirt, she stepped back from him. “Excuse me?”

His whole body seemed to swell with anger, but she didn’t fear him. “Tell me who did this to you so I may avenge you.”

Blinking at him, she took in a deep breath and held her hand out. “Okay, that was very sweet in a totally creepy way, but I don’t need anyone to avenge me.”

“It would be my honor to slay—”

“Stop. Just stop right there. You have an accent, so I’m guessing you’re not from around here, but in the United States we don’t do honor slayings, or whatever the heck you were talking about. Justice was served, I’m okay, and that’s all you need to know.”

His nostrils flared, but to her surprise he didn’t argue with her. “As you wish, Paige.”

She glanced toward the picnic table where Kimber was watching her with her mouth hanging open in shock. Flushing beneath her open disbelief, she rolled her eyes at them before turning back to the man…whose name she didn’t know. Her reaction to this delicious monster of a man was disturbingly strong, yet she couldn’t make herself care. Being in his presence invigorated her, but also soothed her at the same time. She felt almost like she had when she’d been on heavy pain medications, fuzzy and blissfully happy.

“So, uh, what’s your name?”

To her shock, he went to one knee before her, as gallant as any knight of old she’d ever read about. “My name is Trenzent al’Doun.”

“Trenzent.” His exotic name rolled off her tongue like candy as she smiled at him. “What does it mean? What language is it?”

“Touch me again, please.”

“What?”

His gaze bore into hers, and she found her clit tingling as blood rushed to her pussy. Hunger filled his gaze, so thick she could almost taste it like honey melting on her tongue. Another tingle had her nipples hardening, and she was sure he could see them pressing through the sheer silk of her top. When he licked his lower lip her pussy tightened, and a soft sound of need escaped her before she could stop it.

“Kiss me.”

“I—”

“Please, one kiss.” His entire body strained toward hers, yet he didn’t touch her. “One taste of those beautiful lips. I have never seen any as perfect in all my years. Sweet and bowed like the delicate line of
cura
flower. Soft and pink like the froth of a
dintar
.”

BOOK: Paige's Warriors (Bondmates Book 3)
7.85Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Rogue Oracle by Alayna Williams
Don't Call Me Mother by Linda Joy Myers
One Night Rodeo by Lorelei James
Tortured Spirits by Gregory Lamberson
A Dad At Last by Marie Ferrarella
The Salvagers by John Michael Godier
Cross My Heart by Abigail Strom