CHAPTER 7
MATHIS
“Hey.”
Mathis’ nose twitched as someone prodded his shoulder. He cracked one eye open, already bracing for the familiar tense restlessness to tighten its grip on his body.
But it never arrived.
Mathis opened both eyes wide. For the first time in years, he was utterly content. And the reason why was kneeling beside him with a shy smile on her face, gently but persistently poking him awake.
“Good morning,” Chloe said, her smile widening.
Mathis smiled back. The morning sun bounced off Chloe’s sparkling eyes—and her bare shoulders, and breasts, and bare everything else.
“That it is.” Mathis reached up and cupped her cheek in one hand, drawing her down until he could kiss her. Chloe made a small, delighted noise, molding her body against his as she returned his kiss.
Mathis let his hand slip down over her shoulder. Chloe’s skin was spotted with sand, and he brushed it off solicitously, his hand roaming further down her body. Everything about her was soft and warm. Even just touching her skin filled him with a sense of— wonder? Happiness? Fulfillment?
All of them at once, and more. Mathis had never felt it before, but he knew what it was. Love. The one thing he had been searching for all this time, without knowing it.
He wrapped both hands around Chloe’s waist, abandoning the already flimsy pretense that he was just helpfully brushing sand off her. Chloe arched her back appreciatively and Mathis sat up, ready to pull her onto his lap.
“Aha!” Chloe cried out in triumph, reaching around behind him to grab something. She held up her shirt with an apologetic grin. “Sorry… that was all part of my nefarious plan.”
Mathis sat back in defeat. Chloe’s cheeks were pink, and her eyes were shining. “You sure don’t look sorry,” he accused her.
“Oh, all right. I’m sorry I have to get back to work, instead of spend the morning here with you,” she admitted, standing up and brushing sand off her legs. “Thank God I’ve got the afternoon shift today. I think. Shit. It is Saturday, right?”
Mathis watched her pull the shirt on, and then wriggle into her pants. He was disappointed to see her body disappear under the sandy clothing… but the wiggling made up for that.
Chloe saw him watching her, and narrowed her eyes. “Oi,” she said in mock warning, but the smug expression on her face gave her away. She finger-combed her hair and surveyed herself with a grimace. “Damn. I hope I can make it to the laundry before my shift.”
Before her shift. Mathis’ stomach went cold.
Finding Chloe was the best thing that had ever happened to him. And now what? He’d lied to her last night, shied back from the truth like a jumpy cat, and now she was shaking sand out of her hair and getting ready to walk out of his life.
His lion stirred inside him. I can’t let that happen.
He stood up, and the satisfied ache of his muscles stirred something other than his lion. What he wouldn’t give to have Chloe on him again. Under him.
For her just to be there, in his life. His everything.
“Chloe,” he said, taking a step toward her.
“Yeah?” Chloe looked up from scouting the beach for her shoes. He didn’t even remember her taking them off last night.
“I—”
He hesitated, watching her beat sand out of one of her socks. His mouth was dry.
What was he going to say? I love you? You’re my soulmate? I’m going to fall asleep dreaming of you every night for the rest of my life, and wake up with your name on my lips?
And by the way, I thought I’d tell you now, the day after you’ve just had your whole world cracked open by the discovery that shifters exist, while you’re stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere. Hope that’s okay. Hope you’re not going to freak out about that.
Also I’m a billionaire. Just so you know.
He coughed.
“What about you?” Chloe asked, pulling on her shoes. “Do you have another… er… shift today?”
“Not a clue.” The thought of it made Mathis feel tired. “I’m a bit over it, to be honest.”
“One-night wonder, huh?”
He didn’t need enhanced shifter senses to catch the double meaning there.
“Maybe I’ve found something I like more than fighting,” he said, and his heart flipped at the delighted surprise on her face.
“That so?” The corner of her mouth twitched as she tried to sound nonchalant.
“Yeah.” Mathis rocked back on his heels, arms folded and a grin on his face that no power in the world could hide.
Chloe grinned back, and then groaned. “God. What am I thinking? I’m on week four of a twelve-month contract… and I bet you are, too.”
Mathis shrugged. He didn’t remember the details—but he was sure it wouldn’t be that hard to get out of. While he was trying to think of a way to not say ‘Well, if Harper kicks up a fuss, I’ll call in a plane’, Chloe’s eyes started to sparkle.
“Mind you,” she said, swaying her hips as she walked up to Mathis, “there is that fraternization clause…”
“Oh?” Mathis reached out as soon as she was close enough to touch, running his hands down her sides. God, those curves, he thought. “Reckon that would get us a quick trip back to the mainland?”
“Something like that.” Chloe grinned, standing on tip-toes for a kiss. “Then you can tell me all about—oh, shit.”
She stepped back, her face white. Mathis stepped with her, his chest going tight at her obvious distress. He slid his arms around her waist. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s—oh, hell. I told my roommate Thandie that I’d see her after my shift last night, but she wasn’t in our room when I got changed and grabbed my—stuff—and… oh, shit. I’m such an asshole.”
Running her fingers through her hair, Chloe pulled away from Mathis’ embrace.
“I’m sorry, I’ve got to go. I have to find her—she was so upset—I can’t believe I forgot.”
She thumped the heel of her hand into her forehead, grimacing. Mathis grabbed her hand and kissed it while she groaned.
“You were distracted. Blame me. I’m very distracting.” Mathis kept his tone light. Chloe just groaned again and, because her hand was unavailable, thumped her forehead against his chest.
“I don’t know. She was super freaked out by all the predators in the viewing room. All the VIPs.”
Mathis captured her head with his other hand and held it against his chest. Chloe grumbled, but didn’t pull away.
“I’d better go,” she said again, sounding more reluctant. “I don’t know if Thandie is working this morning, but I really want to check on her.” She sighed and tipped her head up, resting her chin on Mathis’ chest and looking up at him. “So. Walk of shame together, or solo?”
“I guess that depends on how fast you want to get fired.”
Chloe squeezed her eyes shut. “Damn it. I want to talk to Thandie before we get chucked off the island. Can I sneak off now, and you follow in a few minutes?”
“Only if I get to come find you later.” Mathis dipped his head to rest his forehead against Chloe’s.
“Deal.”
Mathis watched her make her way slowly back up the bluff. She was somehow even more attractive in her rumpled t-shirt and sweatpants than she had been in her fancy dress the night before. And he was sure she would have been able to move more quickly if she hadn’t kept shooting glances back over her shoulder at him.
Even with her constant obviously-intentional micropauses, Chloe disappeared over the ridge too soon. Mathis’ lion grumbled and huffed, treading in dissatisfied circles inside him.
Patience, grasshopper. He chuckled. His heart was lighter than it had been in years. You heard her—she just wants to check on her friend. Like any of us would do for our pride. You’ve waited for her this long—what’s a few more hours against your entire future?
He stretched, reveling in the feel of the morning sun against his bare skin. His mate! And all he’d had to do to find her was…
…Pretend to be someone he wasn’t, join a questionably-legal fighting ring on a private island owned by a man even his sister wouldn’t do business with, and convince a beautiful woman to quit her job over a one-night stand.
Doubt started to gnaw at his insides. Meeting Chloe like this, with no plans, no expectations—it felt perfect. Nothing like the torturous matchmakers’ dinners that Mathis knew Grayson’s nephew Leon suffered through as the young alpha of his pride.
But once he got past how amazing he felt, and tried to look at the situation from the outside…
Shit. Is it really that bad?
Mathis shook himself. There was no point worrying. He had a plan, now he just needed to stick with it. And, God, did it feel good. Suddenly the future wasn’t just night after night of chasing adrenaline in the ring. It was bright, and beautiful, and had a smile like the sunrise.
He picked up his shirt, which he and Chloe had slept on, and raised it to his face. He could still smell her on it, her delicate, womanly scent. It sent warmth flooding through his body… and to one spot in particular.
Mathis stretched again, flexing his leg muscles until his body calmed down.
Pulling his shirt back on wasn’t nearly as good as having Chloe’s arms around him again, but until he caught up with her, it would have to do. He inhaled deeply, then, judging he’d given her enough time, headed up the slope.
Her scent was still on the wind when he crested the rise, but there was no sign of her. She must have put on a turn of speed as soon as she was out of sight. Mathis didn’t blame her—he was itching with anticipation, ready to get moving and get off the island.
He forced himself to walk, not sprint, over the manicured grounds back to the residential area. He was poking his way through the gardens when he caught sight of Julian.
The shifter—Mathis frowned as he realized he still didn’t know what sort of shifter Julian was, then shrugged it away—was lying back on a bench, soaking in the sun.
“Slacking off?” Mathis was in a good mood; he couldn’t help poking fun. Julian had seemed so tightly-wound the day before, and he still was—except he was also lying on his back on a stone bench, for all the world looking like a man sleeping off a night of hard partying.
Julian jerked as Mathis called out to him, and then slid smoothly into a sitting position.
“Ah. Mr.… Dell,” he said, blinking slowly. His bottle-green eyes took in Mathis’ sand-mussed hair and wrinkled clothes. Something that might have been a smirk lurked at the edge of his mouth. “Did you enjoy your first night under our benefactor’s hospitality?”
“First and last night.” Mathis ran his fingers through his hair, scattering sand over his shoulders. “I’m out.”
“You…” Julian got to his feet. His eyes widened. “You can’t be serious.”
Mathis laughed. “Come on, man, what are you on about? Harper’s great, but there’s more to life than whaling on some other poor bastard while he and his friends gulp down champagne. Maybe I didn’t realize that yesterday, but I do now.”
“What’s changed?” Julian was standing perfectly still.
Mathis’ lion twitched its nose. That sort of stillness was unnatural. It was deliberate, wary—but was it the wariness of prey, or the watchfulness of a predator?
“I met someone,” he said, narrowing his eyes as he waited for Julian’s reaction.
To his surprise, the expression that passed like lightning over Julian’s face looked something like fear.
“I see. Do you intend to tell Mr. Harper that you’re leaving, or will you disappear like a thief in the night?” Julian asked, tight-lipped.
“In the night? Hell, that’s a whole day away—I’m not waiting that long.” Mathis flashed a wide grin. “Even if I have to swim.”
The corner of Julian’s mouth twitched downwards, so fast it had to be unintentional. All traces of any hidden smile were gone now. “I hope you will reconsider. Mr. Harper isn’t—”
“Isn’t what?” Harper’s voice cut through the morning air like lightning.
The hairs on the back of Mathis’ neck went up. How did I not notice him coming over? He checked in with his lion, who was as surprised as he was. Neither of them had sensed anything—not smelled or heard Harper approach, or sensed him through the shifter’s animal sixth sense.
Harper gave a friendly smile as he walked over. “Not bothering the guests, are you, Rouse?” he called across to Julian.
“Not at all.” Julian’s face smoothed over. “If you’ll both excuse me, I need to attend to my duties.”
“Good man.” Harper’s eyes sparkled as he watched Julian head back to the house. “Now, Matt,” he said, turning his pale eyes on Mathis. “What was that I overheard about you leaving us so soon?”
Mathis ruffled his hair. “Ah… something like that, yeah,” he muttered. Except it wasn’t him, was it? It was good old down-to-earth, down-on-his-luck Matt Dell.
Was now a good time to reveal his true identity? Probably not, Matt decided. Don’t want to drop that on the poor guy’s head at the same time I tell him I’m skipping out on the rest of the season.
Harper narrowed his eyes mockingly. “‘Something like that’?” he echoed. “Come on, Matt, out with it! Why am I losing my best fighter after just one night?”
Mathis gave in. He explained about Chloe—but not that Matt Dell was really Mathis Delacourt, heir to one of the most powerful prides in the continental United States.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity you’ve offered me, Harper, but Chloe? She’s my mate. I might have gone my whole life without meeting her, but now that I have, I have to do right by her.” Mathis’ heart squeezed as he said the last bit. He laughed it off, adding, “And part of that is not getting my pretty face messed up, right?”
“You make a good point.” Harper clapped him on the back. “Well, tell you what. You head back to your quarters now and get your stuff in order, and we’ll get this sorted out by lunchtime.”
Mathis grinned, relieved. After Julian’s reaction, he’d expected push-back to his decision to leave, but Harper seemed to be taking it in his stride. “Great. Thanks, boss.”
“Thank me later.” Harper returned Mathis’ grin, his teeth catching the morning sun.