A Stroke of Enticement

by Nalini Singh

  She glanced at him, smile changing into a very feminine look of realization. "Zach." Her lips parted.

  It was all the invitation he needed. Dipping his head, he claimed another bold kiss, curving his hand around the silken warmth of her neck. When her hands came to rest on his chest, the cat stretched out in pleasure within him. He wanted those hands on his bare skin, his hunger for her so extreme it would make her bolt if she knew about it.

  That thought in mind, he pulled on the reins. Even so, he couldn't keep from nipping at her lip.

  Her eyes widened even as her hands clenched on his chest. "You only had one forfeit."

  He felt his mouth curve. "Put it on my account," he said without an ounce of repentance.

  She laughed, and he knew that today was going to be one of the best days of his life.

  * * *

  Several hours later, Annie sighed and rested her head back against the seat as Zach drove them to the Pack Circle. "That was wonderful. Thank you."

  "You fit here," he said quietly, his voice lacking its usual playfulness. "The age of the trees, the immensity of the forest, it doesn't scare you."

  "It makes me feel free," she admitted. "Out here, no one's watching, waiting for me to stumble." She wondered how she'd come to trust him so quickly—quickly enough to reveal a vulnerability she kept hidden from even her closest friends.

  It scared her a little, the intensity of the emotions growing in her heart. She tried to tell herself it was nothing but a silly crush, but all she could think of was the way his kisses had tugged at her soul. All day long he'd stolen them, until her lips remembered the shape of his, and her breasts ached for his touch. Swallowing, she attempted to redirect her thoughts. "The Pack Circle's usually kept secret."

  "We don't take strangers there" he acknowledged. "Only those we trust to honor our faith."

  Her heart warmed from the inside out. "Thank you."

  "Don't thank me just yet. Wait till you meet the pack—they're a nosy bunch."

  Nerves snapped to full wakefulness as Zach parked his vehicle behind several others and turned to run his knuckles over her cheek. "Don't be nervous."

  "How do you know—"

  "I can smell the change in your scent."

  She was still sitting there, mind awash with the implications of what he'd said, when he walked around and opened her door. "Come on, Angel. Let's go face the masses."

  She got out but didn't take his hand. "You can smell the changes in my body?" She watched him reach in back for the picnic basket.

  "Yes." Basket in hand, he tugged her hand from where she'd wrapped her arms around herself. "Does that bother you?" A direct gaze.

  She saw no flirtation in those eyes for the first time in hours. "A little," she admitted.

  "You'll get used to it." He said that as if it was inevitable.

  She wasn't sure. Privacy was a big deal for her—she'd spent almost a year in the hospital, only to go home to her mother's constant hovering. Those experiences had combined to make her zealous about guarding her personal space, and what was more personal, more private, than her body itself?

  Zach glanced at her as they walked past the other cars. "It's natural to us," he said. "We don't tend to notice a particular scent unless it's something that matters."

  "But other people will know," she said, her stomach in knots. She could accept her hunger for Zach, accept that he knew, but to have everyone else be aware of it, too?

  Zach raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, the tenderness undoing her. He was, she realized, far more a threat to her than she'd initially thought. If she wasn't careful, Zach Quinn would steal her heart and leave her with nothing, her worst nightmare come to life. But even knowing that, she couldn't help moving closer when he tugged at her.

  "Your arousal is a vibrant thread to me," he whispered, voice husky, "but for the others, it'll simply be background noise. They'll be focused on their mates, lovers, children—different threads. There are millions of them in any one instant."

  His explanation made sense, enough to release some of the tension in her stomach. However, she couldn't help but be a little wary as they entered the Circle. Then several people cried out hellos, and, to her shock, she realized that though they weren't all parents, she knew a good number of them from various school events. The friendliness washed over her in an effervescent wave.

  "Miss Kildaire, you came!" Bryan skidded to a stop by her feet. "Did Uncle Zach show you the forest?"

  Conscious of several interested adult gazes, she nodded. "What have you been up to?"

  "I'm playing hide-and-seek with Priyanka." With that, he ran off. She was still smiling after him when she felt Zach's hand on her lower back.

  "Come on, I want to introduce you to someone."

  She walked with him, cognizant of the possessiveness implied by his touch. A warning bell rang in her head, but she silenced it. His dominant nature wasn't going to be a problem—it wasn't as if she was his mate. He'd be gone as soon as he'd satisfied his curiosity about her. "Where's the picnic basket?" she asked, trying to ignore the stab of pain provoked by that last thought. After all, she had no desire to tie herself to a man—even a man as enticing as Zach.

  "I gave it to one of the juveniles," Zach answered with a smile so bright, she couldn't help but smile in return. "Cory will stick it with the other food so everyone can grab what they want." He stopped beside an older woman with snow-white hair and a face that echoed his own so strongly, Annie knew they were related. Not only that, it was clear where Zach had inherited his sun-kissed skin and bones.

  As he leaned forward to kiss the woman's cheek, she said, "Zach, my dear." Her eyes went to Annie, and they were as sharp as her body was toned. Given the way she stood, her supple strength, Annie guessed her to be a soldier, too. It wasn't surprising—changelings didn't really slow down until well into their eighth or ninth decade. "And who have you brought me?"

  "Grandma, this is Annie," Zach said, his love for his grandmother a shining light in his eyes. It hit her right in the gut, making her wonder what it would be like to have that open and powerful love directed at her. "My grandmother, Cerise."

  Cerise held out both hands, her smile so welcoming that Annie accepted the touch without hesitation. "Don't let this boy talk you into anything wicked," Cerise said. "He's been getting his own way since the day he first looked at his mother and batted those pretty eyelashes."

  Annie felt her lips curve, but before she could answer, Zach was set upon by a pair of identical teenage girls. "Zach!" they screamed, wrapping their arms around him from either side. "We haven't seen you in ages!"

  "You saw me three days ago." Laughing, he hugged them to his sides.

  Sparkling eyes landed on Annie. "Oooooooh," one of them said, "you brought a giiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrl."

  "Who is she?" her twin whispered, brushing aside a waterfall of sleek black hair. "Where did you meet? How long have you been dating?"

  Cerise frowned. "Girls, manners!"

  The girls dimpled. "Sorry, Grandma."

  Zach looked at her. "Annie, meet my baby sisters, Silly and Giggly."

  "Hey!" They both slapped his chest. "I'm Lissa, and that's Noelle," the one on the left said.

  Annie was beginning to be able to tell them apart. They were both confident and cheerful, but Lissa had more mischief in her eyes, while Noelle's smile was wide enough to light up any room she entered. "Nice to meet you."

  Cerise squeezed her hands before letting go. "Where are your sisters?" she asked the twins.

  Annie felt her eyes widen. More sisters? Zach saw her look and began to laugh. "Four of them," he said. "Four. Jess—she's Bryan's mom—and Poppy, are older than these two brats."

  "Aw, you know you love us, big brother." Lissa reached up to press a kiss to his jaw. "I'll go look for them. They'll want to meet your girl."

  "Talk to you later, Annie." Wiggling her fingers, Noelle ran off with her twin.

  Annie didn't know whether t
o laugh or shake her head in amazement. "Four younger sisters?"

  He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and cuddled her to his side. "They're the reason for my gray hairs. See?" He dipped his head.

  The dark silk of his hair made her want to stroke it. "You big liar. You don't have a single gray hair." Held against him, she'd never felt safer or more protected. Fear ignited. Okay, she thought, quashing the emotion, this relationship was becoming more important than she'd originally believed it would, but it wasn't as if she was going to do something stupid—like begin to rely on Zach.

  Cerise laughed. "She's on to you, boyo. I bet she gets along with Jess like a house on fire."

  "Speaking of Jess"—Annie frowned—"doesn't Bryan have an older brother? When did Jess get married? Mated," she corrected herself.

  Cerise was the one who answered. "At twenty. She's thirty now, only a year younger than Zachary here. Her oldest is nine."

  "Twenty's so young," she murmured.

  "She found her mate early," Zach said, a shimmering joy in his tone, the love of a brother for his sister. "And that was that. She always wanted a big family, so the kids came soon afterward. She's happy." A simple statement, and yet it spoke of such love, such trust. Annie couldn't imagine taking that big a leap of faith, putting that much of herself into a man's hands.

  "Yes, she's very happy," Cerise agreed. "But enough of family talk—why don't you two grab some food before the juveniles inhale it all. I swear, I don't know where it goes."

  "Into the hollow leg every teenage boy possesses, of course." The voice was male and familiar.

  "Lucas." Cerise hugged the tall man with green eyes, as Annie pegged him for the DarkRiver alpha. "Oh dear." Zach's grandmother drew back, her attention on something over Lucas's shoulder. "I think I need to go rescue a cub that's climbed a bit too high. And if that's not one of Tammy's boys, I'll eat my boot." She headed off in the direction of an ancient fir, from where Annie could hear the pleading strains of an adorable growl.

  "Hello, Annie, isn't it?" Lucas held out a hand.

  As she took it, she had the strangest sensation that everyone was watching her. "Good memory. You only met me once, at last year's Christmas pageant."

  He grinned. "Let's just say I had some advance intel. So, how was the tour?"

  "Perfect," Zach said, arm tightening around her. "But for some unfathomable reason, Annie's still deciding if she wants to date me."

  "Zach!" She glared up at him.

  He grinned and dropped a fast kiss on her lips. Blushing, she wondered if such public affection was normal within the pack. She got her answer a few seconds later as an exotically beautiful woman wrapped her arms around Lucas's neck from behind and pressed a kiss to his jaw. Her eyes, when they met Annie's, were the night sky of a cardinal Psy. White stars on black velvet.

  "Hello, you must be Annie." Her voice was summer breezes and open fires, welcoming and gentle. "Lissa and Noelle," she explained, at Annie's surprised look. "They've been telling everyone they covet your jacket. They're planning to charm it off you before you leave. Be careful."

  Annie couldn't do anything but smile in response to the warmth in that voice. "Thanks for the warning."

  "Sascha," Zach said, "Annie made chocolate mud cake."

  Sascha's face lit up like a child's. "Really?" She moved to grab Lucas's hand. "Come on, or the juveniles will eat it all. Talk to you later, Annie!"

  Annie watched the pair leave and breathed out a sigh. "Your pack's . . . overwhelming."

  "You'll get used to them." He rubbed the back of her neck. "They're just curious about you."

  She felt another warning flicker in her mind, but then someone else was calling out Zach's name, and she was being introduced to more people, and then Zach was feeding her with the teasing smile of the cat flirting on his lips, and she forgot what it was that she'd worried about.

  Chapter 7

  They arrived at her apartment a few minutes after six. "I'll shower and change quickly," she told him as she unlocked the door and entered.

  "Can I use your shower after?" He lifted up the suit bag he'd carried inside. "I got a packmate to drop by my house and bring this to the picnic. Want to make a good first impression on your folks."

  Her stomach sank. "It probably won't make any difference."

  "I told you, don't worry." Draping the suit bag over the back of her sofa, he prowled over. "Go, shower." It was a whisper that implied all sorts of sinful things. "I'll just sit out here and imagine the droplets racing over your skin, touching you . . . stroking you."

  She felt her legs tremble. "Come in with me." It was the boldest invitation she'd ever made.

  He smiled. "I plan to. But not today." He brushed his lips over hers. "When I shower with you, I don't want a time limit."

  "Oh." Her mind bombarded her with images of the undoubtedly delicious things he'd do to her in the shower. "I should go . . ."

  He rubbed a thumb over her bottom lip before shaking his head and pulling back. "Go, before I forget my good intentions. We'd never make it to the dinner then."

  She hesitated.

  He tapped her lightly on the bottom. "Don't even try it. I'm meeting your parents." So he could look them in the eye and let them know that regardless of what they thought of him, he was now in their daughter's life, and they had to deal with it. No more blind dates.

  "Bossy." Annie shot him a scowl but went into the bedroom to grab her stuff.

  She was going to be all hot and wet and naked soon.

  "Christ." Shoving his hands through his hair, he tried to get the hard thrust of his cock to settle down. It refused. Especially since he could hear the rustle of cloth sliding over skin, of boots hitting tile, of lace being peeled off. . . or maybe that was his imagination.

  But he definitely heard the shower come on. Groaning, he began to pace around the room, distracting himself by looking at Annie's things. Aside from books, she had several holoframes on the walls. Family photos, he guessed, noting her resemblance to the older woman in the central portrait. The man in the photo—her father, he assumed—was smiling genially, but there was something about him that struck the cat as distant.

  The shower shut off.

  "Shower's free!" came the call a few minutes later.

  He gave her another couple of minutes to close herself in the bedroom, not sure he'd be able to resist if he saw her swathed in the tempting impermanence of an easily removable towel. When he entered the small, tiled enclosure at last, it was to find it steamy with the lavish scent of some feminine lotion. But the soap, he was glad to see, was nothing too girly. A man had to have standards, he thought, and programmed the shower to freezing. It finally succeeded in cooling down his body.

  Annie sat in Zach's car in her parents' drive and twisted her fingers in her lap. "I've never brought a man home," she blurted out. "It didn't seem worth the fuss."

  "I'm flattered."

  She frowned at him. "Don't tease me now." But she felt her nerves loosen a fraction. "Come on, we might as well get this over with." Opening the door, she stepped out.

  They met at the front of the vehicle. "At least it's a nice night," she said.

  Zach put an arm around her with the lazy grace of the leopard he was. "I like your dress," he murmured, playing his fingertips over her hip.

  "Oh." Her nerves frayed again, for a different reason. She'd chosen the black crossover dress because it would give her mother nothing to complain about. But Zach's words made her realize it might actually qualify as sexy. "You don't think I'm not thin enough for it?"

  "I'll tell you tonight . . . after I unwrap you." He made her sound like a present.

  She felt her eyes widen, her pulse jump. "Behave."

  "Do I still get to unwrap you?"

  A moment of silence, the night sky cut with shards of glittering diamond.

  "Yes." She wanted to dance with the wildness in him, wanted to feel what it was to be treated like a beautiful, sensual woman. But more, she wanted t
o lie with this man who'd already made a place for himself in her heart.

  She knew she was about to break one of her most fundamental rules in deepening this relationship, in putting her heart on the line, but she also knew that if she didn't love Zach, she'd regret it for the rest of her life. Perhaps, she thought for the first time, perhaps her mother's choices hadn't been as simple as the child in Annie had always believed. Perhaps with that one man who mattered, there was no choice, no protecting yourself against the inevitable end of the dream. "Yes," she said again. "You get to unwrap me."

  "Then I'll be on my best behavior." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Let's go, Angel."

  She was already used to the nickname. Strange as it was, it felt as if he'd been calling her that forever . . . as if it was right. Walking up to the door, she held that sense ofTightness to her like a talisman. "Here we go." She pressed the doorbell.

  Her mother opened it a couple of seconds later. Dressed in a severe black dress accented with a discreet string of pearls, her dark hair twisted into a sleek knot, Kimberly Kildaire looked what she was—a successful, sophisticated, professional. No one could've guessed at the deep vulnerability that Annie knew lay beneath the polished surface.

  "Angelica." Her mother leaned forward to allow Annie to peck her on the cheek.

  After drawing back, she said, "Mom, this is Zach Quinn."

  Her mother's expression didn't change, but Annie knew that Kimberly would have noted everything about the man by her side, from his black suit, to his sleek silver belt buckle, to his crisp white shirt. Open at the collar, it looked both formal and relaxed. She'd about swallowed her tongue when she'd walked out of the bedroom and seen him waiting for her by the door. Zach wild was enough to blow her mind, but Zach playing at being tame . . . wow.

  "Mr. Quinn," her mother now said, holding out her hand—Professor Kildaire might not think particularly highly of changelings, but no one would ever criticize her manners.