PrimalFlavor

by Danica Avet

  He hadn’t wanted to talk to her about his family, hadn’t wanted to appear weak or lacking in her eyes, but instead of concentrating on his mother abandoning him, she thought instead of his grandmother’s pride in him. Something he hadn’t thought about. She was his perfect opposite, seeing the good his mother’s leaving had wrought rather than the bad. And it would have been bad if he’d stayed with his mom. Looking back, he saw she’d been headed down a wrong-way street and would have taken him with her.

  Zach wouldn’t go so far as to thank the woman for giving him up, but he had to agree his life was a lot better for it. And Colette was the one who’d helped him see it. With that in mind, he caught his mate against his chest and rolled them until she was pinned beneath him, her hair fanned out around her face. Her breath caught and her heart rate increased, but it wasn’t fear that peppered the air. The sweet musk of her arousal was all he scented and it told him better than anything else that she would never be scared of him.

  “Thank you,” he rasped into her drowsy face, lowering his head until he could brush her lips with his. “You’re not bad yourself, baby.”

  Some of the intensity in her face faded, replaced by a smile that teased and turned him on until his cock ached as though he hadn’t used it in days rather than minutes. “Not bad? I call you amazing and you say I’m not bad?”

  Her bottom lip turned out in an exaggerated pout he had to kiss away and he didn’t lift his head until they were both breathing heavily. “Above average?” he asked with a playful smile. She growled softly and his dick started leaking. Damn, but he loved when she got all dangerous, even if she was only playing. “Slightly awesome?”

  He had the next condom in his hand, rolling it down his cock before she pushed him to his back so when they began wrestling, he could slide in the honeyed depths of her body with no fear of trapping her. Holding her hands high as she straddled his hips, his shaft buried balls-deep in her pussy, Zach watched his mate come to life, banishing the darkness in his soul.

  * * * * *

  Dawn was barely creeping across the sky when Zach felt Colette leave the bed. She didn’t try to keep quiet about it, moving around with minimal stealth as she dressed. He wanted to tell her to get her happy ass back in bed, but knew she wouldn’t. She was leaving to return home before she hit the water for a new day of alligator hunting. His tiger scratched at him, chuffing angrily. It didn’t want to let her leave, didn’t want her to put her life at risk for money, but Zach forced the animal back.

  Colette wouldn’t be the woman she was if it wasn’t for the life she led. Dangerous, wild and close to the swamps she loved so much, Colette was as much a force of nature as the animals she hunted and he wouldn’t change her for anything. Even if it did piss him off that she was slipping away like a thief in the night.

  Listening to her dress without moving was torture. He hated the idea of her covering up that beautiful body before he had time for some morning loving, but knew if she suspected he was awake, she’d feel self-conscious. His mate wasn’t quite as comfortable in her skin as he was. Yet. He’d change that with more fun of the naked kind.

  Then she walked to the bed. His body twitched with the need to grab her and roll her beneath him again, but he held back. Barely. She smoothed a hand over his hair, a gentle move that soothed the beast beneath the skin. When she leaned over to press a kiss to his forehead, his tiger settled down completely, purring with contentment.

  But then she murmured, “T’es mon Coeur,” before she straightened and left.

  Zach’s brain, not the sharpest thing in the morning and definitely not when it came to Cajun French, had to work to process her words and when he did, his eyes snapped open. The distant rumble of her truck came to his ears as he launched himself out of the bed just in time to see her drive away.

  His heart pounded and his hands shook with excitement. You are my heart, she’d whispered over him before she left. It wasn’t quite the pledge of love he’d been hoping for, but it was a good start. And she’d said it thinking he was asleep. That meant she hadn’t wanted him to hear her words. So they had to be true.

  Zach wanted to dance around his apartment, but that lacked a certain dignity he was doing his best to maintain. Instead, he leaned his forehead against the cool glass and sent a prayer to the man upstairs that his mate would be able to say she loved him before he went completely insane.

  * * * * *

  Roscoe chewed on a string of licorice as he watched Colette slip down the back stairs of the bakery. For nearly a whole week, he’d trailed her and the cat around the parish. With alligator season underway, they didn’t go far when they got together, something he was glad of. It was getting more difficult to keep the idiotic duo from going after her on their own, but for the moment, he was holding strong.

  That would change though. Soon, she wouldn’t be skipping and laughing with the tiger who still hadn’t marked her. He tilted his head to look at the sky, the moon was nearly full and when that happened Colette would go through an entirely different kind of chase. One without the happy endings she currently had with the tiger. He’d take her, the way he’d taken the others and the only one who could stop it was the male feline Colette was infatuated with.

  And you. You could stop it.

  His jaw popped as he chewed the strawberry licorice, disgust making his fangs threaten to pop out. When he’d started down this road, nothing and no one had mattered as much as the final outcome. Now though, he was beginning to doubt himself, doubt the way things were going. He wondered if it was worth it, if fulfilling the goal he’d set for himself would be worth the pain and suffering this woman would go through.

  He shook his head. He had to see it through. And if he was lucky, the tiger would mate her fully and it would be a moot point. That little female didn’t deserve the fate waiting for her with the full moon. But he couldn’t exactly stop the chase from happening. Only Zach Trahan could.

  “Poor girl,” Roscoe muttered under his breath as he climbed to his feet and ambled after her truck. She was so fucked.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Alcide honked his horn as Colette brought her truck to a squealing stop in her carport. She waved, but didn’t stop to chat. His frown was mighty, but all she had to do was point to her watch for him to grin in understanding. Yup, she had a hot date tonight and wasn’t going to waste more time getting to it than she already had.

  Hurrying up her steps, Colette cursed the boat for picking today of all days to break down. Thank God her dad had insisted on every boat carrying SAT phones, otherwise she and her dad would still be sitting out in Dead Man’s Bayou waiting for someone to track them down. As it was, they’d had to wait for her Uncle Frog to show and tow them back to the landing. Then she’d had to work on the motor with her dad. Only he’d grown fed up when she kept stopping to check the time.

  “Get out of here,” he grumbled as he cleaned the filters. “I don’t need no babysitter while I fix an old engine. And if that cat gives you any lip, you show him you’re a Robicheaux, hanh?”

  He didn’t like Zach, had made no bones about his disapproval when her lover was mentioned, but he hadn’t once suggested she was stupid. Colette suspected her mama was holding the reins on her dad and made a mental note to give her mom a very nice Mother’s Day present next year. She smiled to herself as she finished climbing the steps to her house.

  These last two weeks with Zach had been perfect. She swallowed a sappy sigh and shook her head. When she wasn’t at his place enjoying a spectacular meal he prepared just for her, he was at her place cooking for her. They hadn’t talked about a future, dancing around the subject like two cats on the edge of an puddle of acid, but something in the way he’d requested her to dress up tonight made her think that was about to change. Her entire body shivered at the thought of finally receiving his mark.

  He’d renewed his scent mark several times. Her body heated at the reminder of the way he stroked his cum into her skin, playing with her until
she demanded more and more. Her pussy throbbed because Zach definitely delivered as a lover, but it was her heart that wanted more and thought he might want more as well. Oh, she hadn’t missed all those times when his fangs grazed her neck while they were making love. Every time it happened, she held her breath, waiting to feel that exquisite bite and each time she was left trying to hide her disappointment.

  Especially when she let it slip that she loved him. She stopped on the top stair, staring at her feet. He’d been awake. She knew it as well as she knew he hadn’t answered her because he didn’t love her back. And the thought was enough to make her stomach twist into a perfect knot.

  She tried to tell herself it wasn’t his fault he was wary of feelings. With his past, he had every right to fear being hurt again. But oh, she dreamed of hearing those words on his lips, of him placing his mark on her. In fact, she was so ready for it, her soul ached for him even as her cynical side told her not to put too much store in his request that she dress up tonight.

  God, what if he just wanted to take her somewhere to go dancing or something? What if tonight’s dinner was no different from the others they’d had? Or what if he decided to dump her in a nice, public place in the hopes she wouldn’t cause a scene? It couldn’t be a coincidence he’d asked her to dress up the night after she told him she loved him. He was totally breaking up with her. She shook her head again and finished the trek upstairs. No, tonight was special. She could feel it in the air.

  Laughing at herself, she unlocked her door and stepped inside, kicking it closed behind her. She was halfway across the room, her shirt tossed to the side as she hurried in the direction of the shower when she sensed she wasn’t alone. Without turning around, she dropped to her stomach and kicked back at the large body behind her. Her intruder cursed loudly, falling to the ground somewhere out of sight. Heart pounding as adrenaline replaced her lovelorn happiness, she tried to crawl in the direction of her gun room when a set of brown cowboy boots appeared in front of her.

  A quick glance up and her gaze was captured by a very familiar pair of eyes. The game warden who’d been haunting her swamp tipped his baseball cap back with a smile. “It’s nice to run into you again, Miz Robicheaux.”

  She sucked in a shocked breath that turned into a shriek when a hand grabbed her ponytail. Reaching up to claw at the arm holding her, Colette wasn’t quick enough to catch herself when the man behind her slammed her into the floor. Once. Pain exploded in her face, blood gushed from her mouth and nose, threatening to drown her. She let out a gurgled scream, scrambling to get away, to do something, but before she could, her face met the floor a second time and she knew no more.

  “You stupid motherfucker,” Roscoe said as casually as he could manage, crouching over the unconscious female bleeding on her floor. “You’d better hope you didn’t kill her.” He kept his voice calm even as his heart threatened to burst out of his chest.

  Vernon Schumacher stood, breathing harshly as though it took a lot of strength to pound a petite woman into the floor. Roscoe had come very close to dealing with the idiot jackals without waiting for orders, especially when he noticed how they eyed her.

  Dreading what he might find, he pressed his fingers to her pulse and swallowed down a sigh of relief when he felt the strong, steady beat. He hadn’t gone through hell for four months to lose everything now. He had enough on his plate already. If the dumb fuck had killed her… He shook the thought away. There were a lot of pieces in motion in this game and unfortunately, Vernon wasn’t his responsibility.

  “The boss don’t like damaged goods, dumb fuck.” He scooped up the woman and looked for Antoine who stood off to the side, quivering with excitement. “Get somethin’ to clean up this blood. We don’t need the tiger to come for her.” At least not until he gets my message. If the dumbass cat is smart enough to figure it out. Yeah, he wasn’t holding out much hope for that though. Stupid tiger couldn’t even mark his mate properly.

  Vernon snorted and spat on the floor. “He ain’t comin’ for that putain,” he said confidently. “He just wanted hisself a piece of ass and she gave it up nice and easy.” He reached down to adjust his erection. “Just like she’ll do for us if she knows what’s good for her.”

  Shaking his head because good ole Vern would learn the way of Fang and Claw on his own, Roscoe carried his light burden to the window. It would be sunset soon, the perfect time for the hunt to begin. If Colette woke up in time. He glanced at her slack face, the trickle of blood from her nose and mouth slowing. She smelled of the tiger, but not enough to protect her. The members of Fang and Claw would think the same way the Schumacher brothers did, that she was a passing fancy to a fickle cat. The hackles rising on the back of his neck told Roscoe it was a stupid conclusion to draw just because she wasn’t permanently marked.

  But if things happened the way he’d planned, he’d damn well ask the tiger if he was slow or something. Stupid-ass cat. Colette would have been safe from this. He could have told his boss, the one he would meet in person for the first time tonight, that she was under the protection of a shifter.

  * * * * *

  The clock’s ticking drove him to leave his kitchen to prowl around his apartment. Zach refused to look at it again. She was late. No, she was later than late. She wasn’t coming. And she hadn’t called to tell him, or sent him a goddamn text even. He growled, the tiger on edge. She must’ve realized he planned to mark her tonight, good idea or not, and decided she didn’t see anything in him worth being permanently attached to.

  “No,” he muttered under his breath. He ran a hand through his hair, nearly crawling out of his skin as old insecurities reared their ugly heads.

  He called her cell phone again. It rang and rang and rolled over to her voicemail. “Hi, this is Colette Robicheaux. I’m unable to answer my phone—” He cut the connection, swearing under his breath.

  Colette wasn’t the kind of woman who’d say one thing and mean something else. She’d told him she loved him. She hadn’t meant to. He’d heard it in the way her heart skipped a beat and her breath caught. He’d played possum, pretending to be asleep but his own heart had thundered with hope and fear. Maybe she thought he didn’t care. He spun on his heel and slammed his hands against the wall. She loved him. She had to because he was eaten up by love for her.

  And he’d planned to prove it to her tonight. He’d pussyfooted around it for nearly two weeks, listening to her whisper her love in so many different ways, planning tonight down to the minute.

  Except she wasn’t here, hadn’t called, hadn’t sent him a text, a homing pigeon or a big fuck-you. Nothing. And she wasn’t answering his calls. Like a coward. He pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing the negative thoughts from his mind. Colette was the least cowardly person he knew, shifter or human. If she hadn’t wanted to see him again, or changed her mind about loving him, she would tell him straight up. She wouldn’t just not show up for a date.

  Something had to have happened to keep her from coming over. Maybe her dad was being a dick and was reading her the riot act for dating a shifter. He shook his head. That didn’t sound right. Or maybe she got caught up with her cousin in New Orleans. He’d heard a lot about the infamous Kanda Banthao who danced burlesque in the French Quarter, but that didn’t ring true either. Maybe her truck broke down. That was possible. The truck was a piece of shit he planned to replace once he figured out a way to get the stubborn woman to accept a new one as a gift. Except, she would’ve called him if she was stranded. Unless she didn’t have her phone with her for some reason.

  He tossed around so many ideas in his mind, he gave himself a headache. In the end though, there was only way he’d find out and that was to confront her at her house. He grabbed the keys to his Jeep, slamming out of his apartment, the boom echoing around the empty building. An empty building at seven thirty on a weeknight. But it was only one improvement Colette had made in his life since she burst into it.

  Zach stormed down the steps, his gaze sweeping the l
ot, but there was no sign of her. He jumped into in his Jeep and turned the ignition, throwing it into gear and hightailing it down the road before he’d even turned on the headlights. That woman, the woman who’d sat on his floor in nothing but a blanket and let him feed her bread pudding wasn’t the kind of person who’d break off a date without letting him know. Colette was salt of the earth. She was the kind of honest and true woman who’d always stand by her word and she’d said she would meet him at his place tonight. And that could only mean one thing. Zach’s heart clenched. Something… God, something was wrong.

  But even as he thought it, he prayed she’d changed her mind about coming to his place tonight. Prayed that she got her days mixed up. He prayed harder than he ever had before as he raced to her house. If she was home, he wouldn’t yell at her. If she was at her parents’ house or any of her other relatives’ houses, he wouldn’t paddle her ass.

  “Please let her be home,” he muttered to himself as he took the road for Bayou Ange.

  But when he got there, tearing down her family’s street, Colette’s home was dark and quiet. Her truck was still parked in her carport though, which meant what? That she was sleeping? Pretending to be home? Had left with someone else? His tiger snarled at the last thought.

  Ignoring the lights that came on at her parents’ and uncles’ houses, Zach pounded up her stairs. He’d damn well call her out in front of her relatives if that was what it took, but he was going to talk to her. He banged on her front door and waited, the scent of Colette, bleach and a slight musk like deer urine wafted from inside the house, making him sneeze. She’d cleaned house, put perfume on and then went deer hunting? He didn’t think so, but the combination of bleach and animal scent was enough to confuse his tiger.