She stopped and couldn't help staring at him. His physique had always been nothing short of amazing, breathtaking. It had always taken hers away anyway. The firelight danced across his bronzed skin, highlighting the taut muscles of his torso as he moved. She could feel his eyes on her, boring into her and raising her temperature higher until it burned her. She didn't stop staring at him, couldn't stop. He knew what he was doing. He knew how much she was attracted to him and that he could easily get her attention by lounging half naked.
When he looked like that, she just wanted to slide into his lap and throw her arms around his neck. She wanted to explore every inch of him, slowly taking him all in and memorising his body all over again.
She tore her eyes away from him but only managed to move them far enough to stare at his legs instead of his chest and stomach. He was wearing black jogging bottoms, his lithe and powerful legs stretched out in front of him.
Swallowing hard and then taking a deep breath to steady her pounding heart, she gripped the tray a little tighter and continued towards him. She cursed her hips as they wiggled side to side, ignoring her when she told herself to act demure.
Erik raised a brow and narrowed his eyes on her legs, raking them upwards to her hips and then her breasts.
So she was acting up a little, trying to get his attention. It was harder for a plain Jane like herself to draw a man's attention, or at least she thought it was.
Erik purred.
The tea cups and pot rattled on the tray, sounding like a discordant melody when the knives joined in, clattering against the plates. She frowned at him, cursing the way he could so easily fluster her, and blushed deeply when he smiled. Her knees trembled and she sat quickly in the armchair opposite him, taking the tray with her and not daring to pause long enough to put it on the small side table.
She busied herself with rearranging everything when she finally put the tray down. She wasn't going to let him fluster her. It had been almost two years since they'd met but he could still make her knees go weak and bring a blush to her cheeks with a single heated look. He'd quickly discovered what effect his purring had on her and he happily abused his power, stirring her hunger for his touch at the most awkward times.
Namely very public places, like her work and coffee shops. He was shameless.
Still, she gave as good as she got. All it took was a tickle behind his ear and she could get anything she wanted.
Composing herself, she poured two cups of tea and pushed his towards the edge of the tray nearest him.
She slowly raised her eyes to meet his and when she saw the hunger in his honey eyes, she dropped them again. She toyed with the spoon and told herself to get a grip.
Her heart leapt into her throat when his hand covered hers, his thumb lightly caressing the back of it.
Bringing her eyes back up, she stared into his, forcing herself to hold his gaze so she could drink up all the love she could see in his eyes. She smiled, wrapped her hand around his, and wondered just when she'd fallen into this dream. It was too good to be true. It really was. Maybe they had died that day they'd got stuck in the lift at her work. The memory of it sent a shiver through her and it was hard to tell whether it was residual fear of lifts or desire from the way he'd touched her.
“Something wrong?” he said, his voice calling her back to him.
She sighed and shook her head and then frowned. She nodded.
“Yes...” she said and her gaze dropped to his body again, hunger rising inside of her as she watched the way his muscles bunched and relaxed as he moved to pick up his tea. Damn, he was Adonis in human form, or lycan form anyway. “How am I supposed to concentrate on eating breakfast when all I want to do is eat you up?”
She blushed at the fact she'd actually said that out loud and he grinned at her, giving her a look that said he'd noticed how much more confident she'd been getting lately. She couldn't help it. It was his fault. Having the attention of a gorgeous man like him made her feel incredibly sexy and not at all plain like she really was. The side effect of feeling sexy seemed to be confidence.
It was no wonder Erik was so confident. Growing up with such good looks and money, he was bound to be sure of himself. At least he wasn't conceited. In fact, he never seemed to notice his looks. Whenever she told him he was handsome, he managed to brush it off, as though he didn't think he was.
He was. She'd never seen a man like him. It wasn't just his beautiful face, athletic build, broad shoulders and to die for abs that made him gorgeous. It was more than that, although it helped. It was all the love he held inside of him, the affection and the need. It was who he was as a whole.
“I can arrange that,” he said and a frown marred her brows.
“Arrange what?” She looked at him.
He smiled. “All those naughty thoughts drifting about in the back of your head.”
She blushed again. “I thought you'd taken care of that this morning.”
His smile became a grin and she could see he was remembering what had happened after her bath. There was nothing quite as satisfying as making love first thing in the morning, especially when they both let go and showed each other everything they were feeling. It was frightening sometimes, but thrilling too.
She sipped her tea and then made a little growling noise when he stretched, muscles going taut as he yawned.
“It's too damn comfortable here. I could fall asleep.” He rolled his shoulders and then gave her a look she couldn't quite make out. There was a hint of something in it. Fear? It couldn't be. There was nothing for him to fear, not that she knew of. She was probably reading him wrong. His look shifted into a contented smile and she remembered how he'd looked when she'd first met him. She'd never seen someone take so much pleasure from something as simple as sunlight bathing their skin and warming them. Of course, back then she hadn't known he was a black panther shape-shifter. Now his affinity for the sunshine made perfect sense. All cats loved the sun.
“That's not good. It's barely ten.” She stifled her own yawn. “It must be the fire and not having anything to do. You're horribly used to working. I, on the other hand, am perfectly adept in slacking off when needs be.”
He frowned, as though he didn't need the reminder of how busy he'd been recently. She was glad they had this time together away from the city and their work. She had to go back to the lawyer's office after Boxing Day, but then they were coming back here for New Year's.
She jumped when he slapped his hands down on the arms of his chair and sat up.
“I need a run,” he said and stood.
She watched him, studying his back as he walked. She could spend hours just watching him walk around when he was nude. His body was a work of art.
He opened the French doors that led onto the garden and a chill breeze blew in. It seemed the weather was finally giving up its battle against winter. Up until now it had been quite mild and there'd been no frosts yet. She looked at the garden, thinking about how beautiful it would look covered in snow, and then back at Erik.
Her brow rose when he pushed his jogging bottoms down, exposing his bare backside for a brief second before he was suddenly in his panther form.
He stretched, his long thick black tail swishing side to side, and then he was running out of the door.
She got up and walked over to his clothes, picking them up as she watched him heading towards the maze. She hugged his jogging bottoms to her chest, breathing in the lingering scent of his aftershave on them, and smiled when he disappeared from view.
One day she'd be able to do that.
She'd never asked Erik how he did it. Maybe she should, just to be prepared for when she had to make her first change. She was ready for the pain. She'd seen Erik change a lot since the night he'd revealed what he was, and each time there had been a look of pain in his eyes. The clicking and cracking of his bones as his body distorted into another shape sounded as though it hurt a lot, possibly more than he was letting show.
Walking out in
to the hall, she retrieved her coat and Erik's and carried them with her back into the living room. She put his coat and clothes down on the chair and slipped her coat on, not bothering to button it. She grabbed his clothes, and his trainers from beside the door, and followed him out into the garden.
The air was crisp and refreshing, chasing away all the sleepiness that had been invading her body and mind. She hugged Erik's clothes to her chest as she walked slowly towards the maze, taking her time so he'd have a good run before she found him.
The wind blew against her, cutting through her clothes and making her feel chill.
Her gaze trailed over the low box hedges that formed the patterns on the gravel in front of the maze. The lavenders and annuals that had been planted in them were all neatly trimmed back and there were no insects to be seen.
She smiled to herself as she thought about the first time she'd walked down this path. It had been the first time she'd seen Erik in his panther form, not that she'd known back then that it was him. She'd had her suspicions though. The fact that he'd always begun to change in her dreams and always purred in them gave her reason enough to believe that there could be a connection between the panther and him.
To think, she'd soon be ready for the mating and then they'd be together for eternity. It seemed like decades since the night Erik had told her he couldn't go through with it. She'd tried to be okay with it, but it had been hard. She knew in her heart that in a way Erik had been right and she hadn't been ready then, but she didn't want to lose him and she had been desperate to make sure that he'd always be hers. Alistair's threat of killing him had shaken her up. In a way it still shook her up. The thought that Erik could've died that day made her heart ache and her stomach turn. She couldn't face life without him.
She walked into the maze and began following the route she'd put to memory so she'd never get lost. How did Erik feel whenever he came in here? It had been at the centre of this maze that he'd killed his brother. Did he regret what happened that day? He never spoke about what had happened.
Neither did she.
Her stomach rolled at the memory of Alistair trapping her in the house and what he'd done.
She stopped, closing her eyes and then screwing them shut as she tried to shut out the memories of what had happened. She hated how it had stayed with her. It made her sick and it was only getting worse as time wore on. She wished she'd told Erik, but it hadn't seemed right to tell him back then, not even if he could've given her comfort and helped her get over it.
A flash of something in front of her closed eyes made everything drift away and she instantly forgot about what she was thinking of. She grinned when another came and she saw the statue at the centre of the maze.
Redoubling her pace, she was almost jogging before long, determined to get to the middle of the maze before Erik moved. Excitement bubbled up inside her and she wanted to scream for joy about seeing through his eyes again.
She turned corner after corner, cursing each one for keeping her from Erik but praising them for bringing her closer at the same time. When she turned the final corner and came out into the small square in the middle of the maze, she stopped dead.
The panther turned to look at her. She had grown used to thinking of it as Erik, and not an animal.
He lowered his head and looked up at her with yellow eyes. They were bright in the winter sunlight, boring into her and flustering her as easily as they did when he was in human form. She kept still, her instincts kicking in as her mind screamed that there was a dangerous animal in front of her, watching her, waiting for her to make a move. She didn't. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, but it made no difference to her instincts. They were telling her to run and it thrilled her in a way.
He growled, a strange short sound that made her heart beat harder, thumping against her chest as blood rushed through her ears, drowning out everything except her breathing. It was rough, ragged as she waited, staring into his eyes, transfixed. He took a step towards her, black fur glossy as it reflected the sun, making him look sleek. His shoulder blades showed as he moved, bobbing up and down with each step, made all the more clearer by his lowered head.
She brought her hands up, holding them close to her chest along with his clothes, and wondered just when he was going to stop his game.
A growl, lower and deeper this time, rumbled through him and a shiver ran through her, making her legs tremble.
He'd never stalked her for this long before.
He raised his head and sniffed the air.
She held her nerve.
She knew if she told him to change back, if she mentioned that he was scaring her a little, that he would return to his human form, but there was something exciting about what he was doing. She felt like his prey, but more than that. It wasn't food he was after, it was a mate. When he was like this, she could see how much this mating meant to him. He wanted another like him to be with and he wanted her to be that one. She knew that destiny had picked his mate for him and that it was exclusive, meaning she wasn't available for mating to anyone else, but it was still a little overwhelming to think that he loved her and wanted to spend eternity with her.
It was a little overwhelming to know that she'd soon be able to transform into a panther herself and that once she'd matured, she'd no longer age and would live forever as long as nothing bad happened to her.
Something nudged her hand and she smiled as she ran her fingers through the thick velvety fur on the back of his head. He was so soft. She'd never get used to how it felt to stroke him.
“It's getting cold,” she said and he purred as he rubbed against her hand. “I brought you a coat and your clothes.”
He moved away, tickling her palm with his tail.
She forced herself to watch as he transformed back into his human form again and when he was stood naked before her, she held out his clothes.
He slipped into his jogging bottoms and put his trainers on before taking his coat off her. She pouted as he buttoned it up, hiding his bare chest from her. He heaved a sigh and then grinned at her.
“Have fun?” she said, seeing the satisfaction in his eyes.
He nodded. “You make wonderful prey.”
She rolled her eyes as he put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close to him. The words she'd been ready to say slipped away as he wrapped her up in his arms and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“Mmm, you're cold. You should've said something earlier.” He drew back and a concerned look surfaced in his eyes.
She took hold of his hand and started walking out of the maze with him.
“I didn't want to... you weren't the only one having fun.”
He chuckled and she couldn't help laughing along with him.
It felt so good to be here with him, spending some much needed time alone together.
Erik's voice broke the silence and shattered her thoughts at the same time.
“I forgot to mention that Sean is coming down.”
CHAPTER 3
“What did you say?”
Erik looked across at Kim as she ducked out of his embrace, right into her wide eyes that were full of disbelief. He knew that when they'd come here, he'd said that it would be just them and Rose, but he couldn't see what the problem was, and neither would Kim when he explained himself.
“I said that Sean is coming down for a couple of days.”
She put her hands on her hips and her eyes darkened.
He shrugged. “I didn't think that you'd want to go and see him, so I convinced him to come down here instead. We've been telling him for months that we'd meet up.”
Her face blanched and all sign of anger disappeared, draining away with her colour.
“Flying?” She swallowed hard.
He nodded and couldn't help brushing the backs of his fingers across her cheek when he saw how frightened that one word made her. He'd thought that she'd just been scared of lifts but last year Sean had invited them up to Edinburgh and she'd had a full scale panic
attack when he'd mentioned flying. In the end, they'd driven the five hundred mile distance.
“Hell no, I'm not flying.” She backed away, her eyes widening further.
Clasping hold of her shoulders, he guided her into his arms, wrapping them around her slim shoulders and savouring the feeling of her nuzzling against his chest.
“Nobody said you had to,” he whispered, feeling her shaking and smoothing her hair in an attempt to calm her down again.
It was always the same whenever he mentioned flying. She'd either completely panic or it would be more subtle, like this. It was hard to spot the signs sometimes, but he was getting used to looking for them. It was worse when she held it inside. He preferred it when she outright panicked so he could be more of a comfort to her rather than having to draw it all out of her carefully. She was so stubborn sometimes, refusing to admit her fear even though he knew all about it.
“That's why he said he'd come down here. He hates panicking you almost as much as I do.” He smiled at her as she leaned back, coming out of her hiding place in his arms.
A tiny smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
He pouted and swept a strand of her dark brown hair from her face, smoothing it back into her ponytail. She looked so beautiful when she was scared, looking to him for comfort and protection. Her rich brown eyes were wide with fear and hope, searching his as her soft lips struggled to hold her smile. He ran his hands down over her shoulders, holding her and letting her see that he wasn't going to let her go, or let anything happen to her.
She smiled properly and her eyes brightened with it. He could never understand why she couldn't see how beautiful she was. He'd never met a woman as beautiful as her.
“What are you thinking in there?” she whispered, as though she feared breaking this spell they were under as they stared into each other's eyes.
In Heat: Mating Call (In Heat Shapeshifter Romance Series #2) Page 2
