Secured Heart (Timberon Cat Book 1) (6 page)

When she lowered her gaze to him, she saw him staring up at her with lust-hazed amber eyes. The swirls of color made his eyes as beckoning as expensive marble.

“
I could enjoy your cream for hours.” He circled her clit without taking his sight from her.

“
Hmm. I see.” She was more than willing to let him, but more than she desired his oral play between her legs she wanted to experience his cock inside of her.

With a final lick, he sat up.

Her heart pumped hard with excitement thinking she was finally going to have sex with Kal, but he rose to his feet, then held a hand down to her.

She slipped her palm into his hand and allowed him to bring her up.

Once she was standing before him, he pulled her into his hard, aroused body and kissed her. The amalgam of tastes and scents that flooded her senses settled something inside of her—it was them. Her heart seemed to beat with the words that this was their essence. Yes, the sweet, spicy, floral, sage and cinnamon blend was uniquely theirs. She feasted on it.

Leaning away, he ended the kiss. He fingered her wild strands behind her ears and stared at her for a moment.

Feeling emotionally sensitive because of their conversation and the raw, spontaneous pleasure he’d given her, she lowered her gaze to his mouth. A sexy mouth framed by a goatee.

“
Lana.” When her gaze met his, he continued. “You are beautiful, smart, dedicated, kind and you’re mine.”

Did he think great…amazing…oral sex sealed the deal for them? “Kal, I still need—”

“
More time. I know. Which is why I’m going to leave now.” He stepped away.

“
What?” The word came out more sharp and loud than she would have intended if it wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction.

He winked at her as he headed toward the door.

She swallowed and tried to calm the sexual anxiety ripping through her body. “I mean, why? I thought things were going great between us.” Could be even greater in the sheets.

Dogging his steps, she tried not to feel hurt that he could so easily walk away from a night with her. But she was.

“
They
are
.” He stopped beside his shoes and slipped into them.

“
Why leave? Not that I’m saying we have to have sex, but…” She couldn’t even finish the lie. Of course that was exactly what she was saying. It’s what her body was primed and ready for even with two orgasms.

After tying his boots, he stood to his full towering height. He took hold of her hips, then squeezed them. “Leaving is just as hard for me. I want nothing more than to strip you naked and bury myself to the hilt inside of you. Fuck you until your mattress has a permanent print of our entwined bodies in it.”

Damn. If this was his walk away speech, she wasn’t sure if she could handle his ‘I’ll make love to you’ declaration. Everything he was saying just made her want to snatch his clothes from his body and drag him to her bed.

“
Then why do it?”

His thumbs stroked the front of her hips, making her shiver in response. “Because you’re my mate. Whether you want to believe it or not. As an
Amofeli
male, once I make love to my mate, my cat will claim and mark you as his. There will be no breaking of that bond, Lana.” His eyes darkened as they held hers.

It was all clear to her now. “Oh.”

“
So, get some rest. Take a few days to think.” He let her go and went to the door. Pulling it open, he captured her in his amber gaze. “But understand, I’ll return. Soon.”

That said, he was gone. The door closed with a firm click behind him.

Moving over the cool tile, she locked the door, but refused to allow herself a glimpse of him as he strutted to his vehicle. It was just torturing herself.

Going back to the living room, she collected their glasses from the table. In the kitchen she placed his tumbler in the sink, then grabbed the wine bottle from the cooler. She poured herself a glass and immediately downed it. Repeating the action again, she finally felt as if her brain was clouded by a fog.

After she returned the bottle with its quarter of wine back into the cooler, she headed to her room. As a lightweight drinker, she could feel the rapid effects of the wine tainting her blood. It was just what she needed—drunkenness. She didn’t want to think about the sexy alpha
Amofeli
who had left his captivating scent all over her and her home. Nor did she want to feel the throbbing of desire in her body. And trying to figure out how she was going to get Ben to get on with a life without her was the last thing she wanted to do.

All she wanted was to fall into a deep and mindless sleep. Alcohol always made her tired and she was looking forward to the oblivion the three goblets would provide. Clumsily, she removed her dress and bra. Normally she slept in a nightgown but the sedative effects of the alcohol were making her limbs heavy. Disregarding the pajamas, she crawled into bed. Her final thought as she allowed her lids to drift close were words from the infamous Scarlett O’Hara
‘I’ll think about it tomorrow…’
.

Chapter Three

He was back. After four days of being at his small cabin and running the woods of Timberon surrounding the pride lodge, he was more than ready to claim his mate. The fact that the Summer Solstice would happen in thirty-four hours placed urgency on his decision. Unlike some shifters whose heat level increased by the moon, cats were different.
Amofeli’s
mated from northeast sun up until it set in the northwest. After having tasted Lana and feeling her come apart in his arms, he couldn’t stay away from her any longer. He would need his mate.

His cat had needed the freedom that he couldn’t truly find in the city, just to keep it from tearing down Lana’s door to get to her. Sampling one’s mate was just as powerful of a hormonal boost, if not more, than when an
Amofeli
male went into heat for the first time. He had to place distance between them. Each day he still sent Lana flowers, cards, dipped fruit and an amber pendant set in a sunburst with the word MINE engraved on the back. It was important for him to ensure that even though he couldn’t be around her, she knew she was still paramount on his mind.

Kal didn’t warn her of the date of his return, because he couldn’t risk her deciding to leave town or trying to avoid him. Parked in the garage by her job for the last two hours, he waited patiently. By the time the weekend was over, she’d be calling in sick on Monday in order to recover. His and Dwayne’s company was always closed on the twenty second of June, just for that reason.

A sound drew his attention away from the elevator where he’d been staring for the last hour waiting for Lana to leave work. Glancing left down the end of the temporary visitors’ parking at Tyler, Bridge and Anderson firm, Kal spot Ben picking up his cell phone from the cement floor. The Sri Lankan man, who believed himself to be Kal’s competition for Lana’s affections, carried a large stuffed elephant and a flat box, of what most likely was chocolates. What had him getting out of the car was the small velvet box that was balanced on top of the candy. That damn ring again.

Kal had had enough. In the four days he’d been away if Lana hadn’t managed to get this sappy clown to stay away from her, it was time for him to do it.

Thankful that the wave of employees leaving work for the weekend hadn’t started yet, Kal silently approached the man. “Hello, Ben.”

“
Excuse me—” The professor didn’t recognize him, focused so hard on heading to the building, then his eyes grew large. “Ah, Lana’s friend. I don’t believe I caught your name the other day.”

“
Kal. I’m more than Lana’s friend. You headed to see her?” He folded his arms over his chest and widened his stance before the man, keeping them both out of the line of the security cameras.

“
Uh, yes.” Ben attempted a faulty smile.

“
She expecting you?”

“
Ah, no. But, she likes surprises.” His eyes lit up. “So, I’m hoping she’s free for the weekend. I made plans.”

His fists tightened below his biceps. “She’s not.”

“
Well…I think I should hear that from her.” Ben sidestepped and attempted to move around him.

Moving with him, Kal blocked him again. “That’s not going to happen, Ben.” He released the growl his cat pushed up his throat. His feline abhorred other males sniffing around women he wanted, and a mate was the ultimate desire.

Ben’s hands began to shake so bad they caused the small jewelry box to bounce on top of the chocolates. It took several times for him to swallow before he spoke. “I-I-I-” He cleared his throat. “Think I should hear that from Lana.”

Grabbing his shoulders, Kal slammed him into a cement pillar. “She already told you too many times. Now you’re going to hear it from me, once.”

The items in his hand toppled to the ground as Ben clutched at his sleeves. “There’s no need to get physical.”

Kal leaned in to the man’s face and snarled. “I think there is. I need you to understand so you’ll stay away from Lana.”

“
But we have a future together. The pattern of our birthdays and years are aligned. She’s Hypathia to my Isidorus…” Ben babbled.

Not understanding, nor caring what the man was spouting, Kal understood one thing, the man was whacked in the head. Even as a philosophical genius as Lana had described him, Ben lived in a space all his own. He didn’t love Lana, but was more fixated on her, the idea of her.

Seizing the man by the throat to silence his nonsensical talking, Kal waited until Ben’s eyes cleared and he was focused on him.

The thin man gasped and pressed his head back against the column, then blinked a few times before he met Kal’s gaze.

Seeing that the man was semi lucid, Kal spoke slow and low, keeping his words short and to the point. “
Lana
is
my
mate
. If. I. Ever. See. You. Around. Her. Again. I. Will. Drop. Your. Crazy. Ass. Into. The. Woods. Hunt. You. Down. And. Rip. You. To. Shreds. Until. You’re. Dead.”

Ben started to whimper and struggled against the hold. “Oh, my god.”

“
Do I make myself clear?” Kal allowed the claws of his left hand that held the man’s throat to come forth and pierce him just enough to draw a little blood.

“
Yes! Yes!” Water filled Ben’s mud-brown eyes.

The scent of urine because strong, assaulting his nostrils. Kal released the soiled man and leaped back.

Slumping against the pillar, Ben swiped at the droplets of blood on his neck as he stared down at his wet pants. “Please don’t kill me,” he mumbled.

“
If you keep away from what’s mine we won’t have any problems.”