She’d never paid attention to men in her life, whether they were handsome or not, but her attraction to this shifter had gone beyond her reasoning. Her body vibrated with something she couldn’t explain, and her mind had gone back to when she had woken in his arms more times than she could count.
But she had to remember that he wanted to protect her, and that had nothing to do with attraction, only a sense of duty.
Lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t realize he had walked toward her until he bent down to meet her gaze. When she blinked, he lifted her as if she weighed nothing, and moved toward the living room to settle into an overstuffed armchair, with her on his lap. He tucked her face into his neck and rubbed her back, but she ignored the sensations that passed through her. She wasn’t the one who needed comfort.
“Are you okay?”
His arms tightened around her, but after a long moment, he nodded. She continued her story in order to distract him.
“When they couldn’t get my cooperation, they moved me in with the three shifters and the vampire. At the time, I had no idea that immortals existed, but they had protected me from the moment I walked in, and I did the same for them. The three shifters—Felix, Patrick, and Solomon—had worried that the vampire, Michael, would attack me since he had been starved for months, but he refused to drink from me. When they took me in for my daily blood draws, I would sneak out several vials of my blood and bring them back for Michael to drink, and it was enough to keep him alive.
“I grew close to Solomon during our time together, and what I didn’t know at the time was that they monitored us and used my affection for him against me. One day, he was sedated and taken from the room, which they had never done before, and he never came back. A week later, I was injected with another of many formulas they thought would control me and I became violently sick. As I was heaving, the man laughed as he told me that Solomon had died, and it was entirely my fault.”
She grew quiet as she remembered the giant blond who had been her one true friend. Somewhere deep inside, she knew that she hadn’t been responsible for his death. But if she had kept to herself like she had done throughout her entire life, Solomon would still be alive.
Reaper’s solid arms squeezed her, but she allowed the guilt to overwhelm her. Her feelings since finding out that he had been killed teetered between guilt and missing her friend, but there was one solid thought that never wavered. She hoped that Solomon had found peace.
“When you noticed that the others trusted me, why didn’t you come with me?”
“I don’t trust easily.”
“I can understand that, but I could sense that you trusted me a little.” His face pinched in pain and she found that she needed to explain.
“I’ve been on my own since I was fifteen. But even before that, I found that I couldn’t trust anyone. I learned it the hard way.” She glanced at him to make sure he listened to her next words. “It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you—I don’t trust anyone.”
A flash of hurt crossed his face, but before she could explain further, he asked her another question. “Why didn’t you leave Snowfall?”
“I tried. When I checked to see how much money I had in my bank account, I realized it had been emptied and closed. I searched for all the accounts I could remember, but they didn’t exist. Finally, I searched for my name and received zero results. Nothing comes up when you search for my name. I called every government office that I could find, and they all told me the same thing. I didn’t exist.”
For long minutes, he rubbed his hand up and down her back in a gentle motion, lost in thought. It felt nice to be held, to be cared for, and she sank into him. Her head rested against his chest. She closed her eyes and listened to the beat of his heart, relaxed by his warmth and the steady rhythm.
“What happened to the woman in the warehouse? Liv?”
She could feel Reaper’s gaze on the top of her head, but she didn’t want to move to read his expression. She’d cut him off earlier when he thanked her, not comfortable with taking any credit for saving the woman. Like Solomon, she hadn’t got there in time and found her powers ineffectual.
He chuckled and the sound rumbled over her, making her smile.
“Liv is better. She sustained some severe damage during the beating and we thought she might not pull through. Her mate, Kai, decided to turn her while she lingered in a coma. She awoke strong and healthy, as a vampire.”
She nodded against his chest, her hair brushing against his chin, but she could sense a shift in his demeanor. While she had the chance, she savored being held by this shifter who hadn’t stopped trying to find her. She didn’t think that she could stay with him, but hope had lodged in her chest that she could see him from time to time, even from a distance.
“There is something I need to tell you.”
“Okay.” Her voice sounded small.
“I wasn’t the only one who found you. After you entered the house, a man tried to force his way in. Before I killed him, I heard another man speaking through the earpiece, asking if he captured you. After I picked you up to get you out of the house, I sensed him outside. He never spotted either of us, but he’s looking for you.”
Fear overwhelmed her, even cocooned in Reaper’s arms, and her body started to shake. He pulled her closer until she could smell his familiar scent. It was becoming as recognizable to her as his growl. But nothing stopped the overwhelming dread that filled her chest.
“Shhh, it will be okay. I will never let anyone hurt you, I promise.”
“He won’t stop until I’m dead.”
“No, that will never happen.” A scoff sounded loud in the cavernous room. “Plus, you have some impressive gifts to protect yourself.”
She had no idea what he meant, but when she caught his gaze, he explained.
“You must’ve sensed that man trying to break in, because when I found you, the house started shaking. It almost knocked me off my feet. When I picked you up, you fought me, but when I growled, you must’ve unconsciously recognized it because you relaxed against me and the house stopped moving. Like I said, impressive.”
She hadn’t known that she could move an entire structure, but it didn’t relieve any of her fear. His next words had that effect.
“I won’t leave your side until we figure out who is after you and we’ve taken care of them. I promise that I will see this through.”
And for a reason she still couldn’t understand, she believed him.
Chapter Three
Reaper
“Isn’t it better to know?” Reaper asked.
Before Ara could shake her head, he pulled her from her chair and onto his lap. She snuggled her face against his chest and relaxed into him, and he rubbed her back as he tried to control his reaction at her trust in him and having her so close.
It had been like this for the past three days and nights. He touched her, held her, and yet he held himself back from demanding more from her. He gathered from what little she’d told him about her past that she hadn’t had much affection throughout her years. He wanted to change that.
When he’d woken with her in his arms that first morning, something settled inside him and he knew that he would fight any of her demons to keep her close. The panic that had threatened to overwhelm him when he couldn’t find her had dissipated, and what had taken its place was a sense of satisfaction.
For the last several days, he made it a point to touch her at each and every opportunity. He reached for her hand whenever they left a room, and when they sat down to watch a movie or read, they were connected in a way he’d never experienced. When he moved, she sensed it and followed. It had been the same for him. Everything about her screamed innocent and because of that, he held back.
His wolf had other ideas. More than once the wolf had roared in his head when he denied himself a taste of her lips, but he warned his elemental side that she would run if he pressed her, and the wolf calmed. He didn’t want to lose her after doing so twice
before.
“Why?”
He tightened his hold on her and waited until she placed her hands on his chest before he spoke.
“I believe that you’re more powerful than you realize. If you can get control of those powers, then you won’t have to run any longer, or be afraid of what you can do. You’ll know.”
She grew quiet in his arms and he hoped that she at least considered what he said. Not understanding how powerful one could be was dangerous, and because of past experience, he knew the fear she would feel as she experimented. He squeezed her in reassurance, but he knew not to pressure her. She had been through an ordeal for most of the past year, and he would never take away her choice.
“Were you born a shifter?” she asked.
The thoughts long past buried, he had to take a moment to dredge them up from the depths of his memory.
“No. I was bitten by a rogue shifter when I was twelve.”
Her eyes met his and her earnest expression had him continuing.
“I grew up on a farm and it was customary to rise before the sun. That morning, I had the job of feeding the horses and mucking out the stables before school. I hadn’t been paying attention to the sounds coming from the barn because it was like any other day. But when I opened the door, something solid hit me in the chest and knocked the wind out of me. I didn’t even see who or what had hit me. But I felt teeth sink into my shoulder. The pain had been excruciating. He kept biting down, but I have no idea when he let me go, because blackness pulled me under.”
Her eyes were wide as she met his gaze, and he couldn’t help the smile that tilted up the corner of his mouth because of her concern.
“I woke up two days later with sharpened senses and strength, and when I went to my parents for help, they kicked me off the farm. They thought I was an abomination. I roamed around, working odd jobs, until Ghost, my boss and the owner of Dark Company, recruited me. I have been with him ever since.”
“What do you do?” she asked.
“Technically, I’m a government assassin. Well, me and the team of shifters and vampires who Ghost has working for him. We only kill those deemed a threat to the country, and only when our human counterparts have found the task too difficult. I’ve grown to love the people I work with. They’re more like my family than those I had before I became a shifter.”
“Why would you raid Standard if you’re assassins?”
“Because Liv used to work there. She stumbled onto the experiments they were performing on the immortals, and had a feeling that there were more held captive. And she was right. We had thought we planned for every contingency. You were a complete, but pleasant, surprise.”
Her brows drew down before she dropped her gaze to his chest. Again, brushing off his compliment.
Every word that he’d spoken to her over the past few days had been the truth. But whenever he called her beautiful, or commented on how much it meant to him that she was in his life and under his protection, she blew them off with a wave of her hand or wouldn’t meet his eyes.
He was obsessed with the woman who sat in his lap, but the importance of keeping her in his life made him hold back his true feelings. And he was willing to continue to hide for as long as it took her to trust him.
Quiet descended upon them as she thought about what he’d said, when another thought came to mind, something that might have her agreeing to work with him.
“Do you want to see me shift?” he asked.
Her eyes widened and she sucked in a sharp breath at his question.
When he studied her face, he could see the excitement that lit her eyes and could feel her pulse accelerate. He couldn’t help but smile at her excitement.
A blush darkened her cheeks. “I was going to ask you what animal you shifted into, but yes, I would love to see you shift.”
“Okay, but after, we will work up a list of your powers and see if there is any research that can point us in the right direction. Deal?”
She scrambled off his lap and nodded, eager to see what most humans would shy away from.
He almost growled aloud as his need for her flamed to life and almost overwhelmed him. There was no question that he wanted her from the moment he spotted her, but he needed her to trust him. He swallowed his desire, and willed his body to calm.
Taking deep breaths, he realized that being near her since she arrived at his home had mollified the wildness inside him, especially his wolf. He’d never met a shifter who had taken a mate, so he had no idea whether she settled him for that reason or another, but he knew that he loved it when she was near. He hated when she ran from him. The instinct to chase and claim grew each time he’d lost her. But she had trusted him this time, and he wouldn’t break that trust.
“You might want to close your eyes,” he said.
Her brows drew down in confusion but didn’t move to do what he suggested.
He shrugged before he reached for the back of his shirt and pulled it off over his head, taking the time to toss it onto the chair they’d vacated. Her eyes grew wide as she glanced over his naked chest. When he heard her breath catch, he willed his body to still, even though all this instincts had him wanting to pounce on her. Her eyes on him alone had his lower body responding and he swallowed, hard before he turned his eyes toward the ceiling.
“I have to get naked because I grow larger in my wolf form.”
A flush spread on her cheeks, and before he could appreciate the brightness that shone from her eyes, she flung her hand up to cover them.
His fingers fumbled on the button and zipper of his jeans, and by the time he slid out of the rest of his clothes, he could feel the heat of her gaze on him as if she stroked his body from head to toe. Her eyes landed on the intricate sleeve tattoo that covered his right shoulder and bicep.
“It’s—”
For the first time since they’d met, she took the initiative and stepped forward to touch him. The light caress of her fingers traced over the intricate design of sharp angles etched in black on his skin. Her touch was the most exquisite feeling he’d ever experienced in his existence and he found the next words flying out of his mouth.
“The assassins all have sleeve tattoos.”
Her soft touch as she studied the ink had his wolf howling to get out and for a split second, his tight control slipped. His hand slid underneath her hair and cupped her neck, holding her gaze as her loud intake of breath caught his attention.
The silent question hung between them and she answered when she closed her eyes and slanted her body closer.
His other hand slid to her hip and the moment her softness pressed against him, he could no longer hold back. He brushed his tongue over the corner of her bottom lip, loving the vibration of her moan against his mouth that encouraged him to continue. She lifted herself on her toes to get closer to his mouth, and his mouth curved against hers.
“Please,” she begged when he didn’t deepen the kiss.
What was left of his control snapped and in the next moment, he devoured her mouth in a kiss that devastated his senses. He could smell her sweet desire that drifted around them and loved when her body arched into his, as she kissed him back with abandon.
When she moaned aloud, he took advantage and slid his tongue inside.
He quickly grew addicted to the sounds he drew from her and the taste he sipped from her lips, and for a long while, forgot about everything but Ara in his arms.
He hadn’t meant to get carried away with the passion that threatened to drag him under. With a rush of clarity, he knew he had to end the kiss. She needed to become comfortable with her powers, and as much as he wanted to continue to explore the heat that flared between them, they needed to learn and develop them to keep her out of danger.
With trepidation, he broke the kiss before he trailed his lips to the spot underneath her earlobe. They would have all the time in the world to explore. Later. Fuck.
“Ready?” he asked.
A shudder passed through her. “
Yes, I would like to see.”
He gave her a smile before he stepped back, giving himself room. The heat that indicated the shift had begun shivered down his spine, and he closed his eyes as instinct took over. Falling to his hands and knees, he could feel his back arch, but not from pain. He relaxed the muscles that wanted to tense and let the natural process take over. A few moments later, he opened his eyes and searched for her reaction through his enhanced vision.
The heightened senses he experienced as a wolf focused on the flecks of gray in her light-brown eyes as they roamed over his form, and the infinitesimal tilt of her mouth as her heart beat faster at the sight of a giant timber wolf so close to her. He could feel her excitement at what she had witnessed, but he didn’t move as he studied her emotions to see whether she feared him. When he found no fear in her, he let out a whine of warning before he paced toward her.
“Reaper?” she asked in disbelief.
He moved closer and let out the low growl she had become used to.
She surprised him when her smile widened and she dropped to her knees, her gaze even with his. She studied his eyes for a long moment before she lifted her hand. Her hand stilled as if she were unsure whether she could touch him, but he couldn’t stand the distance between them.
He butted her hand with the top of his head, letting her know that he wanted her touch.
He must’ve taken her by surprise because she slid down until she sat on the floor. But instead of being intimidated, she reached for his chest and slowly slid her fingers through his fur. He let out a low, satisfied growl that encouraged her to continue. Her fingers moved to thread through the thicker fur on his neck and shoulders. Warmed and relaxed by her touch, he lowered himself onto his belly and burrowed his head into her stomach as she continued to explore him.
Her exploration turned into a massage that melted his bones and had him growling in ecstasy. She started with his neck, adding pressure until he could feel the muscles twitch, violently, before relaxing under her firm touch. She proceeded down his neck to his spine, adding just enough pressure for his muscles to react, before she soothed him with the slide of her fingers. By the time she reached the middle of his back, the farthest distance she could touch, he felt boneless and needy.
Reaper (A Dark Assassins Novel Book Two) Page 3
