“Again?”
“Yes.”
Holy shit. “As incredibly confident as you sound, Lucas, I call bullshit on this one.” Her knees began to shake. Okay, so he had one massive ego to go with, if the bulge in his pants was any indicator, a big dick.
“Is that a challenge?” The corner of his mouth curled.
Crap. This wasn’t a game. Instinct told her intimacy came with complications, and what he’d said had been truth, even if what he’d said seemed to be fiction, something right out of a movie. How could Lucas be an alien, and worse yet, she also? They didn’t exist.
Despite the alerts flashing through her mind, she’d paid for the date. Why not take advantage of it? Scratch the itch and maybe she’d think clearer. Yes. Have him. Get it out of her system and move on. Easy. Even if he might not be quite right in the head, she could sense he’d never hurt her, at least not intentionally. But damn, she was thinking she wanted him to be a little rough. Her clit began to throb, agreeing with the route her mind jumped onto. “Take me to your room.”
Lucas scooped her into his arms, carrying her down the hall before she could change her mind. Nadia buried her face in his chest, inhaling his scent. Woodsy, like fresh-cut cedar and earth. Lucas opened the door with a pass card and carried her over the threshold, setting her on her feet between him and the door. He toed off his shoes and shed his coat, not taking his gaze from her. With a click, the door shut behind him.
Nadia reached for a strap, and Lucas shook his head. “No. You’re my gift to unwrap. Leave it.” Her hand dropped from her shoulder. She opened her mouth, but he shook his head again. “No.” Leaning in, he kissed her shoulder, taking in the essence of mate. “Don’t talk. I want to absorb you.” An odd thing to say but exactly what he meant. He inhaled her scent, tasted the unique mixture of passion, if it had a flavor, cinnamon, oranges, and vanilla. Her natural chemistry, perfectly orchestrated to drive him wild.
Could he tell her this one act would bind them together forever? Not without frightening her away. For a second, he considered not telling her, but starting off their relationship in such a manner would only cause distrust. He needed her to give herself to him. Everything. Her heart. Her soul. Her trust.
“Lucas.” She tipped her head back, offering her throat, inadvertently signaling she wanted to mate and trusted him explicitly. It took all his willpower not to pounce and maul her. His gland in the back of his throat began to excrete a binding agent, something that would change her on a cellular level, something he couldn’t take back, once given.
“If we continue, we’ll bond. I meant what I said in the hall. You won’t be able to have a relationship with another man.”
“What?” she mumbled and moaned.
“I won’t be able to walk away from you, nor will you have the power to leave me.”
“Don’t overthink this. I want you buried in me. I need you to make me come. God, I need an orgasm so bad it hurts.”
Every primitive switch in his genetic code flipped to on. Take her. Mate her. She’s yours. “God, you’re addictive.” He pulled her closer and stroked her hair, pressing his lips to her ear, he whispered. Sometimes, speaking softly could be heard better than a shout. “But you’re not listening to me. If we have sex, we will bond together forever as mates.”
Nadia froze. “I love what you’re doing, but I can’t think while you…oh. Wait. Did you just say forever?”
“Yes.” He nipped her ear. He slid the delicate strap down her shoulder, taking time to skim his palm over her silken flesh and commit her to memory every way he could. His cells fired, screaming he claim his woman. His control held, but had thinned. “I need you.”
“Lucas.” She groaned and grabbed his hand, putting the strap back. “I don’t know if I can do this forever thing.”
He furrowed his brow and nuzzled her nape. “You want to go?”
It would give her time to think, figure out how to get out of the situation she found herself in. Perhaps with a little space she could clear the lust from her mind, find the lucidity she’d lost. He couldn’t let that happen. He could smell her; she’d already started the transition, and if she did it while they were together, the link would be all the more powerful. The males of his world were lucky to experience a mating, but a transitional mating, rare indeed. Many never found the woman the universe had created for them. To pass this up would be the worst thing a Saarian could do. It was like denying his birthright.
But no matter how bad he wanted it, he could not force her. It wasn’t in his genetic makeup to hurt his intended. Even if ordered to assassinate her, he couldn’t. She owned him as much as he owned her.
Lucas planned to claim her, and though her body said the idea held a great deal of appeal, her mind hadn’t accepted what her every cell desired. He could and would give her time to adjust, but, in the end, their natures would call them together and their mating would be unstoppable. And perhaps if he timed the courtship right, he could claim her tonight, as she transitioned. A once in a lifetime experience.
Any way it happened, he wouldn’t walk away. They were meant to be, and no force in the universe beyond death had the power to keep them apart. She’d already taken on some of him in the kiss, a bonding elixir he excreted from glands in his mouth, meant only for the female who would be his. He would not have been able to share it with her otherwise. But that transfer of chemical could bring about other problems.
If the rut came upon him, if she fired up and started to shift, he’d lose control. There would be nothing he could do. Likely, he’d get rough. Saarian males in rut often were. And possessive, unable to stand their female near any other male, especially another Saarian. It was a good thing there weren’t many of his people on the planet, so the chance of running into another in Egypt would be almost a million to one. Nadia had already defied the odds when she’d first walked by him and caught his attention. It could be none other than fate.
Nadia couldn’t wrap her mind around being claimed by a man from another world she believed fiction until now—juicy panties or not. Her father had told her when her mate came to claim her, it would be forever, and she would know when she met him.
And had he ever been right. But forever was a hell of a long time. Considering she barely knew this man, it also made it a very bad idea.
He stepped back and bowed. “It’s not a long time if it’s with the right person. And I am the right person, Nadia. You will see.”
She blinked. He could get in her head. She hadn’t imagined it earlier.
“You’re not imagining any of this. Let me slow things down. Tonight, we dance, and then you’re mine. Forever.” He took her arm and wrapped it around his, escorting her from the room and down the hall.
“And if I don’t want to be?” She pulled away and came to a stop in the hallway.
“You will. Let me show you why, my Saarian goddess.” He offered his arm again.
Nadia stared at it. “Okay. But if I decide I don’t want you, you have to walk away.”
“I’m not going to walk away, and you’re not going to either. We are meant to be.” He gave her a wicked smile, and her thighs quivered.
Maybe he had a point. There could be worse fates than being bound to a man such as Lucas. Wait, if he wasn’t in her profession, just what did he do—besides this tracking thing he mentioned?
“Philanthropist billionaire. I deal mostly in preserving the heritages and antiquities of countries.”
Nadia’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
He shrugged like it was no big deal.
“I thought you were from another world?”
“I am. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been living here for a while, making good investments. Plus, I come from a very important Saarian family, who holds a great deal of wealth and power on my home world.”
“How long is a while?” She’d thought he looked familiar, and now she knew why. The man had been on the cover of several magazines, and if she wasn’t mistaken—tele
vision. Shit. He was famous—or infamous if the shows she’d seen were true. Playboy. Jetsetter. Previous girlfriends had disappeared mysteriously. Maybe getting involved with him wasn’t a good idea.
“How long isn’t important. Nothing will happen to you when you’re with me. I can never do you harm. It goes against my nature. That, I can promise.”
“Can we have this conversation without you digging in my mind?” His mind trick already had her feeling as though she had multiple personalities, especially when he interjected on her personal thoughts. Even stranger than the telepathic communication, the mind reading had begun to seem normal, as if she’d done it all her life.
“Impossible. Saarians can only communicate this way with their mates. Clearly you belong to me.” They made their way to the elevator.
She waited until they stepped inside and the doors closed. “It doesn’t mean you have permission to dig in my head.”
“You’re projecting. I can’t help hearing your thoughts.” He gave her a smile, and her heart went thump, thump, thump.
“So, what happened to your previous girlfriends?”
He rubbed his palm up and down the bare flesh on her arm. His next words were a complete contradiction to the gentle action. “I vaporized them after they went through a shift. Most can’t handle the transformation and become, for lack of a better word, nuts. Killers.”
“Oh, my god. You are… You think they were….” She pulled free of him and put space between them, moving to the other side of the lift and turning her back to the wall to face him, not taking her eyes off him. “Shift. Like werewolves?” She swallowed.
“Yes. Like werewolves, and just about anything else they’d like to change into. You didn’t think the legends of monsters had no foundation, did you? I only go after those who are a danger to the people of Earth and the Saarian people here. They’re not innocent, no matter how nice they were before the shift. I only know one who didn’t become a killer. Most develop a taste for human flesh.”
“That’s disgusting. I suppose you vaporized the innocent one, too.” She had to get out of here. She’d been foolish to get on the elevator with him. Killer. Killer. Killer. And lunatic.
“She lives.” He shrugged. “And only because she proved she wasn’t a threat.” He stared into her eyes. “I’m not going to hurt you, Nadia. I’m not insane, and I only take out those who are dangerous.”
“Right. Said the serial killer.” Nadia eyed him. Could that be why they’d met so mysteriously? Screw coincidence. She wanted the truth. “Were you stalking me?”
“Yes.”
Well, she couldn’t have asked for a straighter answer. So, she tried another. Nadia shivered. “And you were going to kill me?”
“You had already begun the shift, except I’d been wrong. You’re not of mixed heritage—not a hybrid. There’s no chance you’d lose your mind.”
Hell, I already am. “Back the hell up. You were going to vaporize me.”
“I had to protect our people. It’s what hunters—trackers do.”
The doors took that moment to open. “Leave me alone.” She stormed toward the ballroom. “Date’s over. I’m going stag.”
You can’t change into a stag in front of them. I will have to intervene, mate or not.
Nadia spun around, her mouth dropped open. You are so not my mate, buddy.
We are communicating telepathically, or did you not catch that? We will bond. Actually, we’ve started to. You can’t stop the process once it starts. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “And you can lie to me, lie to yourself and anyone else you feel like, but there is one thing you can’t avoid. You are mine.” The last bit he said out loud as one of the male students walked by.
“Stay the hell away from me.”
“Can’t do that.” He pushed off the wall and walked—no, prowled toward her, and she knew she had seconds to act.
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Can’t.”
Nadia whipped around and ran into the ballroom and right into her ex’s arms.
“Well, hello, beautiful.”
The growl behind her told her she’d just made a big mistake.
Things just got a hell of a lot more interesting, as his mate just ran into a killer’s arms, a hybrid who had already shifted, and from the stench he wore, he’d been killing women for a while. The hybrid made eye contact with Lucas over Nadia’s shoulder and had the nerve to smile. His eyes flashed from red back to their normal hue. He raised a brow, as if to say, there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.
Of course he’d be right. Saarian law forbade him to give away his true identity to anyone but his mate. Obviously, the asshole had run into a hunter or two and understood just how far he could take things.
Fuck. The man had to know from her scent, she belonged to him and had already started to bond, and things got worse from there. If Lucas could smell the shift coming on in her, the hybrid definitely had, and that made her a target. Males wanted transitional sex. Craved it like a narcotic. Probably the reason he hadn’t killed her yet.
“Do you want to dance?” the bastard whispered in Nadia’s ear.
If not for his superior hearing, Lucas wouldn’t have caught it, which told Lucas the guy also knew who he was.
Nadia glanced back. “I’d love to.” She had no clue how much trouble she’d jumped into.
Get away from him.
You don’t own me, Nadia projected back, a quick study. She tossed her hair and accepted the beast’s arm. Lucas ground down on his back teeth and balled his fists so tight, his knuckles cracked.
The man flashed him a devious smile as he led her onto a packed floor with too many witnesses around for Lucas to kill him.
Bloody, hell. Time for plan B. He’d have to get rid of the witnesses. He searched the room, and his gaze landed on a wall mounted fire alarm.
Game on, fucker.
Chapter Three
Whah, whah, whah. The fire alarm wailed and lights flashed seconds before the sprinkler system went on. As Nadia turned to follow the crowd, the hybrid grabbed her arm and hauled her against his body, wrapping an arm around her neck in a chokehold. “You’re not going anywhere, dear.”
Nadia yanked down on his elbow with all her strength. “Let me go, Wes.”
“When I’m damn good and ready.” His grip tightened, nearly cutting off her air. “You need to harness the force.” He chuckled.
“You’re not funny. We need to evacuate. Release me.”
“No, we stay here. Your boyfriend is trying to lure me outside.”
“My boyfriend? I came alone.”
He pressed his lips to her ear. “No, you didn’t. Lookie, lookie by the doors, doctor. That brooding young gentleman. Oh, he’s got his knickers in a knot.” Wes mimicked a British accent.
Nadia looked in the direction Wes referred. Lucas leaned against the wall next to the exit, his arms crossed over his chest, watching, waiting. Nadia could swear his eyes had gone red.
“He doesn’t like me much.” Wes took her earlobe in his teeth and bit lightly, not breaking the skin, but hard enough to let her feel the sharp teeth, almost pointed, like fangs.
As the last person exited, Lucas slammed the doors shut and wedged a chair back into the press bar to prevent anyone from entering. “Let her go. This is between you and me.” He yanked off his tie then unbuttoned his shirt, tugging off it, along with his tee. Water rained on him. Rivulets raced down his shoulders and chest, over muscles even sexier than she’d imagined.
“I don’t think so. I let her go, you kill me. I haven’t stayed alive this long by being stupid.”
“I’m going to kill you, whether you release her or not. You stink of the women you’ve murdered and eaten.” Lucas kicked off his shoes and unbuttoned his trousers.
“You can try. I’ve taken out my share of hunters, not just Terrans. Actually, you’ll be joining our girl’s parents. Too bad about that accident. Never did find their bodies, but they were
so yummy. Tasted like chicken. I plan to add your notch to my record when we’re done here, along with the pretty doctor. Two hunters for the price of one. Why it’s a buffet fit for a king. What do you think of that, Saarian?”
Nadia gasped. He’d killed her parents? Had eaten them? Her father, mother. It hadn’t been an accident, or a pack of wild animals that dragged their bodies away, never to be found. Her stomach rolled, and a lump lodged in her throat. Why?
Because that’s what hybrids do. It’s why hunters exist. To stop monsters like him.
I’m a hunter—like you?
Yes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Wes laughed. “Oh, this is priceless. You’re doing that chat thing with each other. Telepathic texting. So sweet. Ah, young love between hunters. How perfect. I bet he hasn’t told you about the transitional fuck he’s after, though, has he?”
“What are you talking about?” Nadia tried to break his grip. “Let me go.”
“My dear, you’re about to change on an epic level, and sex with you while your body goes through the chemical conversion is the most sought after thing for male Saarians. You’re a hunter. A killer by instinct. I researched your parents, your father was a well-known tracker. I’ve developed a taste for hunter pussy and think I’ll have another go after I take care of your boyfriend. One last hurrah for old times. What do you say, sweetheart? You wanna fuck again, give me some of that transitional love your boyfriend has been sniffing up your skirt for?”
“You’re a pig.”
“When it suits me.”
“Speaking of pussies.” Lucas stalked forward. “Stop hiding behind the woman.”
He Sphinx I'm Sexy_1Night Stand Series Page 3
