EXCERPT FROM KING’S THRONE
©2017 Bianca D’Arc. All Rights Reserved.
Mitch woke to warmth and a luscious female form pressed against him. He didn’t immediately recall much about where he was or who he was with, but he knew he wanted the woman pressed against his side. She smelled of tall grass and moonflowers. She smelled…right. Perfect, in fact.
He was only half awake, but his body knew what it wanted. Her. Always. Forever. In every way.
Mitch reached out, absently noting the soreness of his muscles. Straining his muscles was nothing new to a man who spent a lot of time pushing himself to his physical limits in an effort to be the best he could be. He dismissed the tight sensations across his shoulders in favor of the soft fabric and even softer skin of the woman under his fingertips.
He rolled slightly, aligning his body with hers. She was a perfect fit. But she wore too many clothes.
He buried his nose in the curve of her neck as he dragged at the soft jersey knit of her top, pulling it upward to bare her midriff. He touched her bare skin and paused, learning the feel of her as his nose drew in the scent of her flesh. He licked her, tasting the salt of her skin as his body absorbed the shiver that went through her.
He liked the way she responded to him. Already, he could tell this was going to be a fuck to remember.
“Mitch?” Her groggy voice reached his ear and he liked the way it slid over his senses. She had a voice edged with sin that made him draw her closer.
But she slipped one small hand between them and it felt like she was pushing against his chest. Pushing him away.
The beast inside him growled. It didn’t like that. Neither did the man.
But her strength was nearly a match for his. That was new. Few women—even shifter women—could make an impression on him with their physical strength. She wasn’t large. She fit into the planes of his body with feminine petiteness, but there was a core of steel in her that made him pause.
Oh, he could have overpowered her easily enough. He was an Alpha in his prime, after all, but that wouldn’t be right. He was a Royal Guard and he lived by a code of chivalry handed down over the centuries through the ranks of Royal Guards. He would not stain his honor by forcing a woman. Not ever.
Slowly, the fog began to lift as his brain started to function.
“Where am I?” His voice was rougher than he expected. And his throat was raw with strain. What had he been doing to make his whole body hurt this much both inside and out?
The pain of his condition began to penetrate the sensual fog that had held him in thrall. As he drew back, he began to feel the aches in every muscle and the pain of healing wounds. He’d been in a fight. No doubt about it. He remembered very well what the day after a bust-up felt like.
Memories began to return. He’d been ambushed by a werewolf in half-shifted form outside Harris’s dojo. They’d fought, but the werewolf had had friends. Someone had come from behind and jabbed Mitch with a needle. He’d fought for a few minutes more, but then the lights had gone out. He’d only surfaced for short periods since then. It was all really foggy after the needle jabbed him.
“You’re in my family’s cabin. You’re safe.” Her voice comforted him and he began to recognize it.
“Gina?”
“Yes, Mitch. I’m here.” She pressed her palm more gently against his chest, but she was still trying to put more space between them. He took the hint and released her a little more but didn’t let her go completely. He wanted her inside the circle of his arms.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I got run over by a herd of elephants.”
The quality of her touch changed from pushing away to assessing. Her hands went to his shoulders, rubbing the tight knots of his aching muscles.
“What do you remember?”
“Guarding with Cade. Then the ambush. Getting slashed and stuck with a needle. Then…not much. Until you. And Cade and another woman in an unfamiliar apartment. Then a car ride. Then…you again, princess. How am I doing?”
“You’ve got most of what you were awake for at least. That’s a good thing.”
“So what did I miss?” He liked the feel of her hands on his body. She had a gentle, healing touch.
“Let’s see. Two rounds of convulsions and three jabs with a needle packed with universal shifter blood.”
“Your blood,” he confirmed. “I remember that part.” He raised one hand to take hers and squeezed gently. “Thank you for that, milady. If I didn’t say it before, let me say it now.”
“You’re welcome.” Her gaze held his for a long moment and he was about to say to hell with protocol and tradition. He was angling in for a kiss when there was a pounding on the door of the cabin.
Mitch instantly released her, climbing to his feet, hoping to defend her from any possible threat no matter how bad a shape he was in. His legs trembled under his own weight but he refused to acknowledge the weakness.
Gina came out from behind him and he growled low in his throat in warning. She only sent him a somewhat worried smile.
“It’s my dad. I’d know his idea of a gentle knock anywhere.”
Mitch tried to move but couldn’t seem to walk. He growled again in frustration and watched helplessly as she went toward the door.
“Be certain it’s him before you open up.” It was the only thing he could do to keep her safe, and it wasn’t much. He was in bad physical shape and he plopped down on the side of the bed as his wobbly legs gave way. One hand propped him up as he leaned heavily on his uninjured side, glaring at the door and the woman heading toward it.
“Dad, is that you?”
“Who else?” came the roar of a full-grown tiger from the other side of the heavy wooden door.
A tiger in human form, of course. The Tig’Ra. That much Mitch remembered. Gina’s dad was the rarest of the rare, the magic-touched, born-to-rule, tigre of all tigres. The white tiger. The Sun King. The one blessed by the Goddess and meant to govern all of his kind.
Mitch tried hard to stand up straight but he couldn’t even manage that as Gina opened the door and launched herself into the arms of the older man at the threshold. He hugged his daughter, but his sharp blue eyes sought and measured Mitch even as he greeted his daughter.
“How’s my girl?” The king lifted Gina off her feet for a quick moment as he stepped into the cabin. He let her go and shut the door behind him, securing it before he turned his full attention to Mitch.
Mitch felt every inch of the once-over he received. It was hard not to feel intimidated, even though Mitch was secure in his own skin. Or at least he had been—before meeting the Goddess-touched tiger king.
“And you must be Mitch.”
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