by Emma Roman
They’d reached the restaurant. Chico jumped out of the SUV and rounded the vehicle to open the door for her.
She hopped out and their bodies collided. “Oops,” she said with a laugh—and then she stilled, staring into his eyes.
Chico brought his hands up, slowly, carefully. Her hair was in its usual braid. He drew his thumb and first finger down it. It felt exactly as he’d imagined—smooth, heavy silk.
He released the braid to run his knuckles down her cheek. Her skin was soft and a little chilled from the cold. He cupped her face, instinctively trying to warm her.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. She had something red and shiny on her lips that made them look supremely edible. “I’m going to kiss you. Is that all right?”
She nodded, her gaze solemn.
He lowered his head, and she tilted hers so that their mouths met at the perfect angle. He traced the seam of her lips with his tongue.
Damn, she tasted good. Like sunshine and summer fruit.
Her breath quickened. Her mouth parted and he slid his tongue inside. She was moist and warm. Heat balled in his stomach.
Slow, he told himself. Slow and easy.
But his cock felt hard enough to drill nails.
He curled his tongue around hers and then withdrew. Her hands were gripping his leather jacket and he ached to feel them on his body. But he’d promised her dinner, and anyway, he knew damn well Jenny wasn’t going to have sex with him tonight.
Her eyes were shut. He pressed a kiss to each of her lids and then turned toward the restaurant.
“Food,” he said in a hoarse voice. “I promised you dinner.”
She murmured a protest and his whole body went tight. Maybe the gods would be merciful and she’d tell him to hell with dinner, she wanted to make hard, sweaty love—now.
Yeah, right.
Jenny opened her eyes. She looked dazed and wary at the same time, and he knew his first instinct had been right. It was time to pull back, let her absorb what had happened.
He took her hand and headed with her into the restaurant.
4
Jenny was tempted, so tempted—and that in itself was a surprise.
After the mess with Ryan, she’d pretty much curled into a protective hedgehog of a ball. No man had been able to get past the spines.
That had been almost a year ago, which meant it had been a long, dry spell.
But she refused to let one asshole ruin her life. Ryan had been dark, hot, rich. He’d had a job in his dad’s movie production company and a pricy house in Coldwater Canyon just outside of L.A. She thought she’d hit the man-jackpot.
It had taken her a while to notice that she’d never met any of his friends. When she’d asked about it, he’d said, “That’s because when I’m with you, you’re the only one I want,” and then pushed her up against the wall and took her.
Then one day, she saw Ryan on TV, his arm around a famous model as they walked into the premier of his latest movie. She wouldn’t have minded so much if he’d been straight with her. But no, the bastard had told her he was working late at the office.
She was so fricking nice, she’d given him a chance to explain. But he’d brushed her off with a grin. “Christ, Jenn. You know I can’t take someone like you to something like that.”
“Someone like me? What’s that supposed to mean? No, don’t answer that.” Something in her broke. She pointed at the door. “Just get the hell out of my apartment.”
His handsome face twisted angrily. “You don’t mean that.”
“No?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t make me call the cops, Ryan.”
Within a month, she was back in Ohio, nursing her bruised heart.
Her dad had been thrilled to have her home again, but he’d remarried while she was in college. She liked her stepmom, but she felt like a fifth wheel.
Then in August, her dad had gotten sick—a rare blood-disease that had raced through him like fire. He was dead within a week, leaving Jenny and her stepmom, Tamara, stunned and rattling around in the old house that Jenny had grown up in. Her brother Sam was in the military. They’d given him emergency leave for the funeral and burial, but afterward, he’d returned to Afghanistan.
Two months later, Tamara told Jenny that she was selling the house. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but I just can’t stand living here without your father. I’ll give you and Sam half of what I get. Your dad would’ve wanted that—and I want it too.”
Jenny could’ve argued, but what was the use? As spouse, Tamara had automatically inherited the house since her dad had never gotten around to making a will. Not to mention that her stepmom had aged ten years in the past couple of months. She’d stopped eating, and the woman who was always neat and well-dressed was now in baggy sweats and had gray roots showing under her auburn dye job.
Maybe it would be good for both of them to sell the house. And Sam wouldn’t care—he was career military, and a nomad at heart. She wasn’t sure he’d ever settle down. In fact, even though Sam was sorry to hear they were selling the house, she could tell he was thrilled to get the money Tamara promised them.
So Jenny moved in with a friend from high school, and started thinking about what to do with the rest of her life, which had led her to Grace Harbor…and this date with a sexy shifter.
Her dad had always said life was damn strange.
Now as Chico took the seat to Jenny’s left, she saw the server’s eyes widen when the woman realized she was serving a fada—or maybe it was just Chico. The man was serious eye-candy.
They ordered drinks—red wine for Jenny and a dark Mexican beer for Chico. The server left, and Jenny picked up her menu.
But instead of reading it, she eyed Chico over the top.
He’d traded in his usual T-shirt and cargo pants for a soft green dress shirt and dark jeans. The top two buttons of the shirt were open so she could see the strong brown column of his throat. She had the urge to lean forward and lick him, right there in the restaurant. To find out how he tasted, draw his scent into her nostrils.
Her inner thighs clenched.
Chico’s nostrils flared. She recalled how he’d seemed to scent her distress yesterday, and her cheeks heated. People said the fada possessed animal senses, that their sense of smell was a hundred times better than a human’s.
“You can smell…me?”
He shrugged. “I’m a shifter.”
“So you’re scenting these things about us all the time?”
“Yeah, but we focus on whoever we’re with. Just like you—right now, you can see everyone sitting around us, but you’re focused on me. The brain can only take in so much information at a time.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense.”
He slid her a look. “Does it bother you, my being part-animal?”
“Of course not. If it did, I wouldn’t be out with you.”
“You mean that, don’t you? Some humans look down on us for our animal genes.”
“But then, some people are afraid of anything different.”
“True.”
“Besides,” she added, “deep down, we’re all animals, aren’t we? No, I find it interesting.”
“Interesting,” he repeated. “Can we change that to hot? Irresistible? Or even crazy sexy?”
She chuckled. “We could. But I’ll need proof…”
The look he gave her made her toes curl. He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “I’d be happy to provide any proof you want, pretty Jenny.”
Maybe I’ll let you. But she didn’t say it—not yet. Instead, she just smiled.
The server returned with their drinks. “Are you ready to order?” she asked, and Jenny realized she hadn’t even looked at the menu.
“Try the rockfish,” Chico said. “I hear it’s good here.”
“Good choice.” The server gave him a bright smile that made Jenny want to elbow her—hard.
“All right.” Jenny closed her menu.
They bo
th ordered the rockfish and salads, and the server left again.
Dinner passed quickly. The two of them started talking and didn’t stop. Jenny told Chico more about crafting jewelry, and he told her about life at the Rock Run base. She knew it was located somewhere on their property west of town, but the base itself was hidden underground, its actual location a well-kept secret. Her impression of the fada was that they were tough, unfriendly. Tyler, the owner of the coffee shop, said they were one step from being a gang.
But Chico’s stories about his family and friends made her a little envious. Here she was practically an orphan, and he had a whole clan.
Before she knew it, a couple of hours had passed. The server took away their food and asked if they wanted dessert.
The two of them looked at each other and grinned.
“Do you have anything chocolate?” Chico asked.
“Chocolate lava cake.”
“We’ll take one of those,” he said. “And two cups of coffee.”
When their dessert arrived, Chico scooted closer until their thighs touched. “Here.” He scooped up some cake and held the fork to her lips.
She opened her mouth without taking her gaze from his. The cake was dark chocolate outside with more chocolate melted in the middle. She gave a small moan. If heaven had a dessert, chocolate lava cake was it.
Chico’s eyes darkened. “Good?”
She swallowed the rich, gooey morsel. “God, yes.”
He took a bite himself and then said, “Have some more,” and fed her another mouthful.
When she was done chewing, he touched the corner of her lips. “You have a tiny piece here. Do you mind—?” He leaned closer.
She shook her head, mesmerized. He was so big, so warm. He smelled of chocolate and his own spicy self. Just like yesterday, she wanted to curl into him and stay for a while.
His fingers curved around her nape. He licked the crumb off the corner of her mouth and then nibbled her lower lip before sitting back again.
Jenny took a ragged breath and then picked up her coffee cup with both hands. She held it for a few moments to center herself before taking a drink.
The pendant on her chest had heated again. The warmth seemed to go clear through to her heart.
And suddenly, she knew.
She would’ve realized it before, but he was a river fada, which to her meant fish, otters—river animals, in other words.
A weird mix of excitement and wariness washed over her. She took another sip of coffee and then set the cup on the saucer. “What’s your animal, Chico?”
He raised a brow, but said, “Water fada have more than one animal.”
“But you probably have a favorite, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Mine’s a dolphin.”
~ * ~
Chico watched, puzzled, as Jenny’s eyes widened.
“But how?” she asked. “Dolphins aren’t river animals.”
“Sure they are. Haven’t you ever heard of the pink dolphins in the Amazon?”
“Pink dolphins?” She gave him a suspicious look. “You’re messing with me, right?”
He grinned. “No—they really exist. But I’m a river dolphin. Our skin is dark gray, not light gray like a bottlenose, and we have a longer beak. But even a bottlenose can survive in tidal rivers or estuaries like the Chesapeake.”
Jenny’s hand went partway to her throat, and then back to the table. She shook her head. “It doesn’t mean anything,” she muttered.
“What?” he asked, still mystified. Sure, he’d noticed the dolphin on her pendant, but she’d said it had something to do with her father. He’d figured it was a Native American thing.
“My spirit animal.” Her voice was hushed. “My grandma always said I’d find him—it.”
“And the dolphin is your spirit animal?”
“Yeah. Remember the dream I told you about—the one after my dad died? In it, he led me to my spirit animal—and it was a dolphin.” She grimaced. “Okay, here’s where you back away slowly and tell me it was fun, but you have to leave now.”
His lips quirked. If it were any other woman, she might be right. But this was Jenny, and as far as he was concerned, he’d be happy to be her spirit animal.
Hell, he’d be happy to be her animal, period.
“Hey.” He took her hand. “I’m a fada, remember? We have fae blood in us. My alpha is mated to a fae queen. I’ve seen her work her magic on someone who was about to die and bring him back to life. And the woman can ’port herself from place to place. Maybe we don’t have spirit animals, but all of us have a magical Gift.”
“What’s yours?”
He hesitated. There was no reason he couldn’t tell a human about his Gift, but he wasn’t the type to spill about things to someone he barely knew.
But then, Jenny didn’t feel like a stranger.
She pulled back a little. “That’s okay. I shouldn’t have asked.” She smiled and he knew she really meant it.
But Chico realized he wanted her to know. She’d find out sooner or later anyway—because as far as he was concerned, she was going to be his woman.
“I’m a protector. In the clan, my rank is warrior, but I’m usually assigned to guard duty. I work as a sentry when I’m home, and I also hire out as a bodyguard.”
“And your Gift makes you extra good at that?”
“Yeah. It’s hard to explain why it’s different from the men who are hunters or trackers, but it just is. When I’m in protector mode, nothing gets by me.”
She nodded. “I think some humans have Gifts, too. My grandma Lou could talk to spirits, but I can’t do anything. The blood is too diluted in me.”
He indicated her pendant. “Maybe your magic is in your craft. And I kind of like being your spirit animal.”
She raised those brown doe eyes to him—and his heart clenched. She was wary of him for some damn reason. It was time to back off.
“Here.” He released her hand and nudged her cup in her direction. “Finish your coffee.”
As Jenny pulled on a knit hat and gloves, he set an arm around her shoulders and looked down at her. “What do you think? If you’re too cold, I could take you home, but if not, we could go for a walk.”
She slipped an arm around his waist. “I vote for the walk. I could use some exercise after all that food.”
He hugged her closer. “I promise I’ll keep you warm.”
He felt rather than saw her smile.
Grace Harbor was bordered on two sides by water. To the north was the Susquehanna River, and the Chesapeake Bay was to the east. He guided Jenny down the street until they reached the Promenade, a boardwalk that ran for a half mile along the bay. They had the Promenade to themselves. They walked in a companionable silence until they reached a place where the boardwalk jutted into the bay.
They stopped and gazed out at the quiet black water. To the east were the lights of the towns on the opposite side of the bay, and above, clouds drifted moodily over the stars. To the west, the waxing moon was sliding down the sky.
Jenny leaned against his shoulder. “I’d like to see you as your dolphin.”
“Maybe someday.” He’d never shifted in front of a human.
“Sorry, was that rude? I don’t know shifter etiquette.”
He suppressed a grin. Put like that, it was funny. Because yeah, it was an etiquette thing, but it was also that fada learned early to hide their animal sides from the outside world. There’d been a time when humans had hunted shapeshifters with fire and wooden stakes, which was one of the reasons his clan lived deep underground in a base protected by magical wards.
But Jenny was so damn cute, worrying about shifter etiquette.
He bobbled his brows at her. “I don’t shift for just anyone. For one thing, I have to get naked.”
She blinked, and then chuckled. “Guess I asked for that.”
He broke into a grin. “You did.”
He turned so his back was to the wooden rail and drew her so she
was standing between his legs—and suddenly he was dead serious.
He slid an arm around her waist. With his other hand, he grasped her braid and pulled gently, tipping back her head and exposing her throat.
Her breath sped up and her fingers curled into his coat.
“Ask me nicely,” he husked, “and I will.”
Her pretty red lips parted. “Ask you what?”
“To get naked for you.”
“So I can see your dolphin?”
“Mm.” He brushed his mouth over hers. “That’s a thought. Although I can think of a better reason…”
He moved his lips to her throat. Deus, he loved her scent—warm, feminine musk. The punch of it went straight to his balls.
He wanted to bite. To leave a mark behind so she’d think about him for the next few days.
But he contented himself with a kiss. Beneath his lips, her pulse ratcheted up. He sucked gently—and then he felt her throat work.
“Chico—please. I—”
He stilled. He wouldn’t mind hearing her beg, but—“That was a ‘please stop,’ wasn’t it?”
She nodded. “I’m sorry, but this is moving too fast.”
He grimaced against her throat. His animal scented her arousal and wanted to go full-speed ahead, but the man knew when it was smart to back off.
He released her braid and moved his hands to her hips. “Hey, there’s nothing to be sorry about. I can slow down.”
Because she was going to be his. But he could be patient. When he finally got her into bed, he wanted her as hot for him as he was for her.
She gave a jerky nod, and then shivered.
He muttered a curse. “I’m an ass. You’re cold—let me take you home.”
At least she trusted him enough now to give him her address. Her apartment was on the second floor of an old Victorian on Union Avenue. There were two units on her floor. He followed her upstairs and waited while she unlocked the door of the apartment on the left.
A big tabby cat strolled out to greet her, and Jenny lifted him into her arms and rubbed her cheek against his fur. “Max. What have you been doing all night?”
