by Aliyah Burke
She dropped her plate. “Would you stop that!?”
“Stop what?”
“Saying those things to me.”
A shocked guise crossed his face. “What?”
“The way you’re talking. Almost a whisper. Like you’re trying to drive me crazy speaking in that intimate, deep, sensual way. So stop it. You’re flipping driving me crazy.”
“What did you hear?” There was a low intensity to his voice.
“Oh no, you said it, so you know what I heard.”
“Tell me what you heard.” The command was forceful.
Aida opened her mouth, snapped it shut, and shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Aida, tell me.”
“Really? How’s about we just say it was about sex.”
Dane muttered something low she didn’t catch but his expression made her nervous when he glimpsed back at her. Something pushed at her mind, and she frowned, lifting a hand to her head and brushed at it like shooing away a fly. Tawny green-gold eyes watched her intently.
“What?”
“Aida. I haven’t said anything verbally about sex to you beside when we were driving here. I was thinking about it.”
She whimpered. “So, you’re telling me it was all in my head? Is that it? I’m losing it, right, that’s what this is. I’m losing my mind. I need to sleep.” Aida shook while she quickly rinsed off her dishes and dried them. “I’m going to go lie down and hope this nightmare is long gone when I wake. Good night, Dane.”
Aida.
“Would you stop it!” she wailed, her legs shook so bad she nearly collapsed on the bed.
“You’re hearing me, Aida. My thoughts,” he whispered, shock in his tone.
Hysterical laughter built up within her. “Of course I am. Silly me.” She whistled for her dogs and felt only marginally better when they lay beside her bedroll.
I’m not lying to you, Aida Roberts.
Had she not been staring at him and knew his mouth didn’t move, she wouldn’t have believed it for a second. Hell, she had seen it, and she still didn’t, but not even she could deny it was one hundred percent Dane Sidorov voice in her head. Dropping the blanket she’d been pulling up over her legs, Aida crawled back to where he still sat and stared in his eyes.
“I asked you this before and you ignored me. No more ignoring. What are you, Dane Sidorov?”
“I’m a shifter.”
She burst out laughing and fell back to land on her butt. “A shifter. That’s original. So, like what, you turn into a puppy, kitty cat, what?” In her mind flashed the image of a huge white tiger. Aida stared at him even as she thought a tiger kind of fit him. “Well? Come on, then, shift.”
“You want me to shift?”
Aida drew her knees up. “Yes. What, didn’t anyone else ask you to prove it?”
He narrowed his gaze at her. “What about your dogs?”
“What about them?”
“I don’t want them attacking me.”
“Why don’t you shift first, I’ll worry about them. Trust me, when or rather if I see the white tiger before me, I’ll be so shocked I won’t let them hurt you.”
Suspicion swarmed his amazing eyes. “How did you know I shifted into a white tiger? I didn’t tell you.”
The humor left her. “I saw it in my head. Oh God, here I go again.”
He grabbed her arms and shook her slightly. “Aida. I’m not lying to you. I can’t lie to you. I am a shifter.”
“Prove it,” she said over the pounding of her heart.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?” He frowned, and her frustration morphed into budding anger. “Look, I think we’re a bit past the point of secrecy. Why can’t you show me?”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
The anguish in his tone made her hesitate but she refused to cave. “Why would you hurt me? If you’re a shifter, aren’t you still in there?”
“It’s not that simple.”
She expelled a harsh breath, suddenly pissed. “I can’t do this, Dane. You want me to believe you’re a fucking shifter. Prove it, right now. Do it!”
For the first time since she met him, his eyes dropped from hers, in submission to her demand. “Very well, Aida. Keep your dogs ready just in case.” The reluctance to follow her directive extremely obvious.
He stepped away from the truck, the light from the lantern still allowing her to see him easily. Aida watched him take a long, deep breath, and then, she lost hers.
Deep rumbling growls filled her ear, and she had to throw out an arm to stop Ruger and Kamau from launching themselves towards the big cat that stood there. “Hold, boys,” she commanded in a shaky voice. Slowly, she moved from the vehicle to the ground.
A huge white tiger paced restlessly before her. “Un-fucking-believable.” Larger than any she’d ever seen even in a zoo. She’d bet everything he was close to a thousand pounds.
By all logic, she should be freaking out. But Aida was intrigued. From his gigantic paws to the enormous masculine head, the creature was absolutely beautiful. Wild, primitive, and breathtaking. He watched her with eyes that were identical to Dane’s, but these were even more primal. She took a step closer, and the cat snarled low in his throat. Behind her, she could hear the ominous sounds her boys were making. She didn’t even look at them; they were well trained and wouldn’t break until she gave the command. Unless the feline attacked her.
“Can I touch you?” she asked the cat.
His lips pulled back, showing her deadly piercing canines. Swallowing back her fear, Aida reached out toward the creature. The sound from its chest never stopped, and the tiger held her gaze. Licking her lips, she inched closer until her hand hovered above the massive head then she touched him. Her hand lowered into the plush coat, and she smiled.
Crouching down before him, she touched both sides of his face, petting, stroking, and exploring. The cat growled the entire time but never made a move that made her think he would injure her. In fact, the tiger began leaning into her strokes. Holy shit! “Okay. I believe you. You’re a shifter. Now, shift back.”
The cat pulled away from her and yawned, showing her all thirty of his lethal teeth. Gulping, Aida ignored the curl of fear in her belly and said, “Shift back.” The animal turned and began to walk off into the night, making zero noise.
Dane. Damn you, shift back. The cat froze and looked back at her. The large head swung between her and the awaiting darkness. Don’t you leave me, Dane!
The animal blurred and in its place, on his hands and knees, was Dane. Naked as a jaybird. “Dane,” she gasped, running to his side.
His gaze was haunted as he stared at her. “Okay? Believe me now?”
You could say that. “Come on, let’s get you some clothes. Then we need to have another talk.”
He stood and walked beside her. Aida bit her lower lip as she stared at his naked body. Her eyes honed in on his large cock. As she stared, it stiffened and grew.
“Aida,” he rumbled low. “Don’t do this.”
Yanking her gaze away, she stared ahead. Her dogs were standing in the back, heads lowered and teeth bared. “Back off, boys, it’s okay. You know him.” She jumped up and grabbed him some clothing from the container. Tossing him the pants, she watched surreptitiously from beneath lowered lids as he tugged them up. Damn. I’d love to—
You’re projecting your thoughts still, Aida.
Her gaze snapped up to find him staring at her with unconcealed and barefaced need in his expression. “Sorry,” she whispered.
“Don’t apologize,” he said. “Never apologize for wanting me.”
Wanting him was the understatement of the year. Aida bit her lip as she watched him prowl closer and jump up from a standstill onto the tailgate. His eyes still simmered with feral fire, and she whimpered.
“You didn’t want to change back. Why?”
He moved closer, stopping to pull up the tailgate and drop the tarp, enclosing them all inside.
“I haven’t been in tiger form for a while.”
“Why not?” Part of her realized she was discussing this with him as if it were a natural thing, a man who shifted into a tiger. The rest of her pumped with intrigue, and she longed to know more.
Dane moved to her on his hands and knees, looking just as predatory as he had in the form of a white tiger. Stopping before her, he sat back on his haunches and pushed one hand into her hair.
“My life is complicated, Aida.”
She didn’t pull away from his touch nor did she lower her gaze from his arresting one. Deep within her, she felt his pain. And it was killing her for some reason. She needed him to feel better. If that meant facing her own fears then she could do it. She would.
“Do you still think I can help?”
“No.” Her heart plummeted at the single word. “I know you can.”
“Then don’t shut me out. Let me help.”
Dane leaned in and kissed her gently but thoroughly.
Aida felt herself respond and ignored it. “No distracting me, Dane.”
“Can I hold you while I tell you?”
For an answer, Aida reached up and turned off the lantern before lying down and tugging him to the bed with her. Pressing her cheek against his bare chest, she whispered, “Start talking.” In the dark, she heard her dogs shifting and settling in as well, apparently appeased and okay with Dane once more.
“You know how things have a balance. Good versus evil. Even within you. I don’t have the good anymore, so when I shift or rely on the strengths gifted to me, I risk losing myself. The evil, darkness, has no counterpart now, and it’s a constant battle. Tonight was the first time in months—since the attack in Siberia—I’d allowed myself to shift. My tiger didn’t want to let me back. He hates to be caged. And battling them both hurts, not to mention tires me out.”
Aida frowned and ran her fingers along his defined abdominals. “Where’d your ‘good’ go?”
“I gave it to protect someone.”
She narrowed her eyes and frowned at the tenderness in his tone. “Zora?”
He chuckled slightly and tightened his hold on her. “No. I gave it up to save my best friend’s mate.”
“His mate?”
“Yes. Soul mate. Life mate. His other half. His reason for living.”
Her fingers stilled. “You gave up a part of yourself to save a woman for your friend?”
“He isn’t whole without her.” The statement was issued so matter-of-factly.
“But now you suffer.” She shifted to press tighter against him. “You give so much, who protects you, Dane?”
“No one.”
“That’s not fair.” It’s just not. A memory flared, and she asked quietly, “Back in the village, you said you’d already found what you needed to free yourself. What did you mean?”
“I was talking about you.” Dane spoke in a low voice, and it resonated through her.
“Me?”
“You, Aida.”
“So you think I’m your…mate?” The real question was why any of this didn’t freak her out.
“I know you are.” His lips skimmed her forehead.
“Then why do you still seem so lost?” What is wrong with me that I can’t help? “I thought you said I grounded you.”
“You do. Aida, there is nothing wrong with you. My demons are still strong because we’re not mated. You are my mate, but I haven’t marked you. Our mating bond isn’t complete.”
“Why not?”
He sighed heavily. “Because I don’t want to force you into something.”
“So again, you’re sacrificing yourself for someone else.”
“I will always put you before me, Aida. It’s what a mate does.”
Aida stared through the dark. “But you said we’re not mated.”
A low grunt escaped him. “Doesn’t change the facts. You are my mate.”
Aida frowned and pulled a blanket over them. “I need to think about all of this. You will talk about this again, right?”
“If that is what you wish, solnyshko moyo.”
“Good night, Dane.” Aida kissed his chest and tried to make sense of everything she’d just learned. There was something else going on, and she didn’t know what it was.
“Good night, my love.”
Aida snuggled close to his warmth. Despite all she’d gone through tonight with him, she still trusted him and, now, felt even closer to him than before. The man who held her so protectively had given up so much for others. It may be time to let someone protect you, Dane.
“Dane?”
“Yes, Aida.”
“You’re wrong, you know.”
“About what?”
“Not having any good inside you anymore. It overflows from you, you just have to learn to recognize it.”
She smiled over the tender brush of his lips along her forehead before submitting to the exhaustion lingering near.
Chapter Eight
Dane woke early and allowed Aida to continue to rest. He took the dogs out with him and watched the sun rise over the park. Ruger and Kamau stayed near as a herd of springbok moved past them in the distance. He could sense the group’s nervousness at the scent of his predator but Dane just sat and observed them. Finally, he turned his attention to the mountains the general had pointed him towards then he scanned the horizon.
He sat against the tire of Aida’s 4x4 and sighed. What was I doing telling her those things? Dane wanted to be buried within her so badly he could taste it with each breath he took. But he didn’t know if he had the control not to mark her once he sat immersed inside her. The night he’d allowed himself a taste of her, he had almost lost it just with his fingers and tongue being in her.
Thrusting his hands into his hair, he dropped his head. Aida had taken it all in stride last night. The shifting, the questions, his answers. He’d never met another woman like her in the world. And never would again.
“One thing at a time, man,” he muttered to himself.
Slim needed to be resolved then Dane would figure out what to do with the luscious vixen named Aida Roberts. He heard her stirring inside and looked over his shoulder and saw her lowering the green material. Pushing to his feet, he smiled at her.
“Morning, Aida.”
“Good morning, Dane,” she said quietly.
He frowned when she put her back to him. Maybe she hadn’t taken it as well as he’d believed. Dane sprang up easily into the back and stepped toward her when she turned.
“Oh!” she gasped. “You…you surprised me.”
She licked her lips, and his body jolted in response. “Sorry,” he mumbled.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“How am I staring at you, Aida?” He purred her name.
“Like…like you want to eat me.”
“I do.” He grabbed the edge of her shirt and pulled her close to him. “Are you scared of me now, Aida?”
“No. I believed you when you said you wouldn’t hurt me.”
He smiled and pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth. “I would sooner cut out my own heart than cause you pain. Can I help?”
“Help?”
He tugged on the tarp in her hand. “Yes, help. Folding.”
She flushed and ducked her head. “Yes. Please.”
They worked quickly together and in silence. It didn’t take long and the vehicle was once again open, and he ogled her ass while she bent over, straightening out the dog beds. His beast made his wishes known, and Dane ignored him.
“Aida,” he said. “About last night.”
She got to her feet, pulled on the hem of her shirt for a bit then met his gaze. The warm African wind blew through her multihued hair, and she tucked some behind her ear. “I’m still working on that. I don’t understand why you’re doing what you are.”
He cocked his head. “You don’t understand what I’m doing?”
Aida sat on the wheel well. “Since I’ve met you, Dane, you’ve
told me how I belong to you. How there’s no one else for you, hell, even how you’re gonna knock me up. And yet, you keep me at a distance, saying it’s me who’s putting it there between us. I’m not stupid, I know you want me. I can feel it. In my head and in my heart.” She pushed to her feet and stood directly before him. “If you have a chance of being stronger and fighting whatever is warring within you, why don’t you take it?”
“Stupid you most definitely are not, Aida. And I do want you, every inch of you.” He licked his lips and grabbed her hand. Dane pressed it against his rock-hard erection. “Every single inch. I dream of what it will be like to be deep inside you. I don’t know if I’m strong enough not to mark you while I’m there. Making love to you and marking you is not the same thing. And you’re not a woman I can fuck just for the sake of fucking.”
She lifted a brow. “Thank you…I think. And you’re telling me you’re not strong enough to do one without the other.”
“Exactly,” he ground out.
“What happens if you mark me?”
Dane could see the wheels turning in her head, and it frustrated him to no end that he couldn’t break in and find out what she was thinking. “We’re bound together for the rest of our days.”
“But, you could go on with your life and I could mine?”
He scowled since he didn’t like the direction this was taking. “In a manner of speaking, yes.” Dane held her chin in his hand. “But not like that, Aida. I’m a fiercely jealous man. No other men would be able to touch you. Hell, I wouldn’t want you away from me.” I wanted to kill Christopher, Kees, and Kgosi for daring to touch you with such affection and familiarity.
“That just doesn’t make sense,” she said, pulling away and jumping out of the truck.
“Yes, it does.”
“No. You’re a military man. You’d be leaving anyway. Look, I’m trying to figure out a way to help you here. Now, come eat something.”
Dane frowned. Aida made a very good point. He jumped down and sank to his haunches next to her. “So you’re telling me men touch you?”
She cut her gaze to him and snorted before shoving against his shoulder hard. “I’m telling you to mind your own business. There are other things to think about right now.”
